Chapter 188: A Challenge
Chapter 188: A Challenge
"Spiral Force!"
Zhao Manying's eyes lit up. "Have you found a way to learn the Spiral Force?"
She had tried to find a way before, but the number of people who mastered the Spiral Force could be counted on one hand globally, and they were mostly direct descendants of the Extreme Martial Arts Gym. She only had access to two or three of them, and after inquiring, they all refused for some unknown reason.
"I didn't find it myself. Someone offered to teach me," Ji Xinghuo smiled and nodded, revealing some inside information but without mentioning Fang Songhe's identity.
The identity of the Xuanyuan Swordsman had to remain a secret.
"There are indeed some perks to being in the Sword Bureau," Zhao Manying said with a sudden realization. "Why don't you ask the leaders of the Sword Bureau if they would be willing to take me in as well?"
Ji Xinghuo was surprised. "You want to be a swordsman too?"
"Is that a problem?"
"I'm afraid it might not be suitable," Ji Xinghuo shook his head. "You're too famous, everyone on Earth knows you. With countless eyes watching, it's almost certain your identity will be exposed."
"I guess you're right..."
Zhao Manying pondered for a moment and then dropped the subject.
Then, full of enthusiasm, she pulled Ji Xinghuo into the training room. "Come on, teach me the Spiral Force."
Ji Xinghuo didn't have Fang Songhe's tutorial video, but there were similar pictures online. He explained to Zhao Manying based on his memory and understanding.
Just as he finished explaining, the 'Stellar Force Manifestation Agent' that they had ordered online arrived.
A moment later.
Ji Xinghuo stared at Zhao Manying's transparent arm, within which seventy stellar force curves were perfectly following the trajectory of an Archimedean spiral. He was left dumbfounded.
Zhao Manying smiled triumphantly at him. "It wasn't difficult at all."
At that moment, Ji Xinghuo understood how Fang Songhe had felt earlier and exclaimed, "Quantum Mind is too overpowered! No wonder it's an Eclipse Variant!"
This level of control over one's stellar force even surpassed his own.
While Microscopic Perception was superior in 'perception' and 'information gathering', Quantum Mind excelled in 'computational power' and 'internal visualization'. For any task, be it martial arts, cultivation, combat, or daily life, Quantum Mind was more comprehensive and overall more powerful.
If these two abilities could be combined, it would be truly perfect!
Putting his thoughts aside, Ji Xinghuo continued with the lesson.
It only took half the night for Zhao Manying to drain him of all his knowledge. She easily mastered all ten types of spiral lines that he had learned from Fang Songhe the day before.
Moreover, she improved upon what she had been taught, requiring almost no practice to achieve complete proficiency as if it were instinctual.
"The Spiral Force indeed suits you better," Ji Xinghuo remarked.
"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Teacher Ji," Zhao Manying said humbly with a smile.
Ji Xinghuo put on a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "You're not a well-behaved student, and I ought to teach you a lesson."
"Oh no, Teacher, please don't," Zhao Manying teased.
They bantered and laughed together.
Ji Xinghuo checked the time and realized it was already late at night, so he bid his farewell. However, Zhao Manying teased him, "Don't be so formal. Just stay here for the night. My house is huge, and I have plenty of guest rooms for you to choose from."
"Alright," Ji Xinghuo agreed without hesitation.
The next morning.
Ji Xinghuo woke up in Zhao Manying's bed, feeling content with the soft and fragrant presence in his arms. He got up, washed, and after breakfast, the two of them went their separate ways, just like a couple.
Soon after riding to the Qinling Base, he entered the martial arts field and waited briefly before Fang Songhe arrived punctually.
"Today, we'll be learning about three-dimensional spiral lines," Fang Songhe said without any preamble.
Three-dimensional spiral lines included conic spirals, cylindrical spirals, conical spirals, and more, with complexity increasing geometrically. In a day, Ji Xinghuo only managed to master three types, but even this progress left Fang Songhe secretly astonished, far surpassing anyone he knew.
In the following days.
Ji Xinghuo spent his days at the Sword Bureau base learning spiral lines and his evenings imparting his knowledge to Zhao Manying. In doing so, he reinforced his own memory and understanding.
Sometimes he stayed at his own home, and sometimes he stayed at Zhao Manying's.
The two of them became accustomed to sharing a bed and being intimately close, but they never took the final step.
In the martial arts field.
Ji Xinghuo stood in front of a humanoid training post, concentrating his stellar force. He clenched his right hand into a fist and swung it at the alloy-cast humanoid post.
In this seemingly simple punch, the stellar force within his body condensed into dozens of curves, twisting together and focusing on his fist. In that instant, the stellar force curves changed multiple times, following the trajectory of a mathematical function, running, advancing, converging, and then...
BOOM!
A loud blast echoed through the room like thunder.
The heavy humanoid post trembled, leaving a shallow dent where Ji Xinghuo's punch had landed, surrounded by radiating lightning scorch marks.
"I did it!"
Ji Xinghuo's face lit up with joy.
It was his fifth day of learning the Spiral Force, and the previous day, he had already mastered this powerful stellar force technique, reaching the beginner level. Then, after another day of practice, combining rotational magnetic fields, he was able to generate electricity with his Spiral Force, finally cultivating the Electric Light Spiral Force.
Fang Songhe stood by his side, nodding in approval.
"Not bad," he commented. "The power of the Electric Light Spiral Force far surpasses that of a regular Spiral Force. However, you've only barely scratched the surface. You're still far from unleashing its full potential. At least, you'll need to reach the Proficient level before you can use it in actual combat."
The slightest mistake would result in a failed Spiral Force strike, devoid of power.
And the Electric Light Spiral Force was even more challenging, introducing an additional parameter and increasing the complexity by an order of magnitude.
It took Ji Xinghuo over twenty hours and thousands of attempts, but he finally succeeded in executing the Electric Light Spiral Force just once.
However, as long as he succeeded once, the rest would be easier.
From then on, he just needed to refer to this successful strike and repeat it over and over, increasing his proficiency until he could raise his mastery to the next level.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom, boom, boom...
Ji Xinghuo's fists overflowed with electric light as he relentlessly struck the alloy humanoid post, leaving behind scorch marks and causing it to tremble violently.
The entire martial arts field echoed with the sound of thunder.
Fang Songhe watched with his arms crossed, noticing that Ji Xinghuo's Electric Light Spiral Force was becoming increasingly proficient. In the beginning, he might have only succeeded with two out of five punches, but his success rate quickly improved. After five minutes, he would occasionally miss with one punch out of ten.
After twenty minutes of continuous practice, his success rate had reached 100%
Then, his power began to increase.
Each punch was faster and stronger than the last, causing the heavy humanoid post to shake violently. The indentations left by his punches grew deeper, and the electric light burst forth like a storm, each strike more ferocious than the last.
"He's reached the Proficient realm!"
Fang Songhe thought to himself.
Even though he had spent the past five days with Ji Xinghuo and witnessed his terrifying talent firsthand, he was still astonished at this moment.
For a talented martial artist to master a Stellar Force to the Proficient realm usually took a few months, or even two to three years for more complex Stellar Forces.
And the Spiral Force was a hundred times more difficult than a regular Stellar Force. For Ji Xinghuo to reach the entry level in just five days, and then to advance to Proficient in less than half an hour, was truly shocking.
At this rate, it would probably only take two or three days for Ji Xinghuo to cultivate his Electric Light Spiral Force to the "Extremity" realm, where he could unleash it from any part of his body, not just his fists or feet, and its power would surpass that of the "Proficient" realm.
Boom!
With a mighty blast, the nearly ten-ton, sturdy alloy humanoid post was shattered by Ji Xinghuo's full-force punch, breaking into over a dozen pieces that clattered to the ground.
Each metal shard was pitted and scarred with lightning scorch marks.
Only then did Ji Xinghuo stop.
"Haa..."
He exhaled, the electric light fading from his pupils, and the scales and currents on his skin receded, returning him to his normal state.
"As far as the Spiral Force is concerned, there's nothing more I can teach you," Fang Songhe said.
"Thank you, Senior Fang, for your guidance," Ji Xinghuo sincerely expressed his gratitude.
"I merely talked; it was your own effort that led to your success." Fang Songhe nodded indifferently, then suddenly said, "When you have time in the future, you can come find me at the Extreme Martial Arts Gym's headquarters in Chang'an. If you have any questions about martial arts, as long as it's within my knowledge, I'll answer them for you."
Ji Xinghuo solemnly said, "Okay, I will definitely visit."
Without further ado, Fang Songhe left the Sword Bureau base.
Ji Xinghuo continued to practice the Spiral Force on his own, sweating profusely as he exhausted his stellar force. This was also a form of cultivation.
After two consecutive days of grueling training, his Electric Light Spiral Force finally reached the "Extremity" realm.
At this realm, any part of his body—his head, shoulders, back, or even his buttocks—could deliver devastating attacks, turning his entire body into a weapon, akin to a humanoid weapon!
Beyond the "Extremity" realm lay the "Simplicity" realm.
In this realm, one could unleash the Electric Light Spiral Force at will, as if it were second nature. One could execute it effortlessly with every movement.
However, this required at least a Level 5 "Stellar Force" ability, and Ji Xinghuo's Stellar Force was only at Level 3, so he hadn't reached the "Simplicity" realm with any of his Stellar Forces. Additionally, to reach the "Simplicity" realm with the Electric Light Spiral Force, one would likely need more than a Level 5 Stellar Force and an incredibly fast thinking speed to support it.
"High-Frequency Thought."
Ji Xinghuo looked at the "Acceleration Ring" on his hand, which only provided a Level 1 High-Frequency Thought effect.
For now, it was sufficient, but he would definitely need to replace it in the future.
That evening, Ji Xinghuo returned home alone. Zhao Manying had a match that day, and the Emperor Star Team had left Chang'an early in the morning to travel to Yuewan City as the visiting team for the match.
It was the second match of the new season, and Ji Xinghuo had watched the game with his family in the virtual network.
As expected, the Emperor Star Team emerged victorious.
Ji Xinghuo had no interest in the post-match interviews, so after chatting with Zhao Manying on the phone for a while, he was about to go to bed when he suddenly received a message.
It was from Shi Renzhong.
"Brother Ji, we've set our spar for tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. at the private training ground of the Emperor Star Club. What do you think?"
Ji Xinghuo immediately replied, "Sounds good."
"Then we'll see you tomorrow. The Emperor Star Club is looking forward to your visit," Shi Renzhong sent another message, his excitement evident.
Ji Xinghuo tossed his phone aside and quickly fell asleep.
(End of Chapter)
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