Chapter 275: New Traits, Writing the Fist Manual!

Chapter 275: New Traits, Writing the Fist Manual!



Inside the house, Jiang Ning sat by the stove, his brush moving gracefully in his hand, like a dancing knife tip, as each character filled with sharpness appeared on the paper.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

Beside him, Lu Yi quietly ground the ink, creating a soft scratching sound.

The black ink gradually spread.

After grinding for a while, she went to the nearby ceramic stove and added some small pieces of wood.

Steam rose from the stove, making gurgling sounds.

A moment later—

The water in the kettle started to boil.

Hearing the sound from the kettle, Lu Yi immediately paused her ink grinding.

She went to the tea table, scooped some tea leaves with a teaspoon, and placed them into a tea bowl, covering it with the lid slightly tilted.

Then, she picked up the kettle, the snow-like water inside already boiling.

The tea in the bowl was aged, and it required boiling water to unlock its rich aroma.

The next moment, Lu Yi poured the water slowly along the edge of the bowl, causing the tea leaves to swirl in the water, aiding in extracting their essence.

She used a technique called "Phoenix Three Nods," lifting the kettle high and pouring the water down, then using her wrist to lift and pour repeatedly, three times, making the tea leaves dance in the water and heat evenly.

This showed that Lu Yi had received extensive training at Wanhua Tower.

She was also well-versed in the art of tea.

Jiang Ning, focused, continued writing with his brush.

Prompts occasionally flashed before his eyes.

[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +2]



[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +1]



[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +2]



[.]



Since he started writing the improved Five Beasts Fist Manual, these prompts had been appearing from time to time.

After seeing these prompts, his motivation surged.

Writing the improved Five Beasts Fist Manual increased his Calligraphy Mastery experience, an unexpected joy.

Moreover, this not only saved time but also accelerated his skill growth.

After paying slight attention for a while, he realized that his current method of practicing Calligraphy Mastery was far more efficient than his usual reading speed.

The improvement in Calligraphy Mastery would enhance his mental power and grant him new traits.

He clearly remembered that the last time he broke through in this skill, he gained a trait that boosted his comprehension.

This comprehension-boosting trait significantly increased his efficiency in practicing other martial arts and experiencing growth.

It also transformed his mental power, expanding its reach from three feet beyond his body to a hundred-meter-wide mental power field.

A significant advancement indeed.

Furthermore, the increased mental power enhanced his bone tempering efficiency.

He could now refine thirteen bones simultaneously, thirteen times more efficient than an ordinary Sixth-Rank Warrior.

This alone demonstrated the immense help gained from breaking through in Calligraphy Mastery.

As the saying goes, sharpening the knife won't hinder chopping firewood.

Jiang Ning's Iron Bones were now forged, and at the Sixth-Rank of Martial Arts, he was only a step away from forging Jade Bones.

If he could break through Calligraphy Mastery once more, his mental power would surge again, and the efficiency of forging Jade Bones would skyrocket.

After writing another complete page—

Huff—

Jiang Ning exhaled, releasing the turbid air from his stomach.

He put down his brush, his wrist rotating 360 degrees, flexing his hand.

At the same time, he opened his skill panel for a glance.

[Skills]: Calligraphy Mastery (Four Breakthroughs 2637/5000) (Traits: Photographic Memory, Extraordinary Senses, Quick Thinking, Enhanced Comprehension)



The experience in Calligraphy Mastery had already surpassed the required amount.

Not far from the fifth breakthrough.

The fifth breakthrough required only 200 Essence Energy points, and he currently possessed over 200 points.

[Essence Energy]: 313.7

"Young Master, the tea is ready," Lu Yi said, bringing the tea bowl she had set aside to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning took the tea from Lu Yi.

He opened the bowl's lid and gently blew away the floating tea leaves.

Then, he took a gentle sip.

"Delicious!" Jiang Ning exclaimed. "Much richer and more fragrant than the tea I usually brew."

Hearing this, Lu Yi smiled serenely.

"Young Master, I've studied tea-making for half a year. From now on, leave the tea-making to me!"

"Alright," Jiang Ning nodded. "I'll leave it to you."

He took a few more sips of tea before setting down his teacup.

He raised his head to glance out the window once more.

The snow still fell heavily, but the wind had calmed significantly. The howling winds from before were gone, and the rustling of tree branches outside was no longer audible.

"This weather is perfect for staying at home and enjoying the snowfall!" Jiang Ning suddenly exclaimed.

Yu Li smiled softly, "Who can argue with that? Listening to the sound of snow falling has its own unique charm."

Jiang Ning smiled in response.

Then, he picked up his brush and continued writing the Five Beasts Fist Manual.

[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +2]



[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +2]



[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +1]



[.]



As he wielded the brush, the tip danced on the paper like a knife's edge, and characters leaped onto the page.

After a moment, he began to sketch some patterns on the paper.

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

Now, only six days remained until the New Year.

The snow outside had stopped yesterday.

However, the sky was still overcast, with clouds completely blocking out the sunlight.

During these two days, Jiang Ning hadn't had the opportunity to absorb the essence of the sun, hindering his progress in Inner Essence Cultivation, an inner fortitude technique.

Jiang Ning felt slightly annoyed about this.

According to Ji Minghao, the eighth prince, the natural disasters over the past two years had been caused by certain people.

He didn't care about the conflicts between major powers.

But having his cultivation hindered made him quite frustrated.

His Inner Essence Cultivation was not far from reaching the stage of Mastery.

At his current rate of progress, he would only need a little over a month to achieve the state of Mastery.

Once he reached the Mastery stage, his inner essence would be refined to the level of Celestial Yang.

At that time, his strength would greatly increase.

But now, this weather was endlessly delaying the day he would achieve Mastery in Inner Essence Cultivation.

For every day the sun didn't appear, he would have to wait another day to reach Mastery.

This winter, either it snowed or the sky was overcast, affecting his mood and preventing him from absorbing the essence of the sun, which was essential for increasing his experience in Inner Essence Cultivation.

Glancing at the overcast sky outside, Jiang Ning shook his head.

Then, he opened his panel and took a look.

[Skills] Calligraphy Mastery (4th Limit Break 4589/5000) (Characteristics: Memorize at a Glance, Extraordinary Senses, Keen Mind, Exceptional Insight)]



"I only need about four hundred more points to reach the fifth Limit Break. It's not much!" Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He took a few sips of hot tea and rested for a moment.

Then, he wrote six large characters on the blank paper.

Five Beasts Fist, Third Layer.

Based on his Limit Breaks, he divided the fist technique into layers.

After reaching Perfection, he would take another step forward and enter the First Layer.

The Third Layer was also the layer where he could cultivate the fist forms.

[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +2]



[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +1]



[Calligraphy Mastery Experience +2]



[.]



He contemplated while slightly furrowing his brows, writing down his insights and the various realizations he had during his Limit Breaks.

With each Limit Break in his cultivation technique and skills, he could feel countless flashes of inspiration in his mind.

He felt as if he had undergone a much longer cultivation journey than before.

The countless months of cultivation allowed him to gain new insights, understandings, and realizations about his cultivation technique and skills.

This led to a qualitative leap from quantitative change.

At this moment, he was freely writing down all his insights, understandings, and realizations.

If others were to read what he wrote, they might find it somewhat chaotic and disorganized.

But Jiang Ning didn't mind.

He was doing this over the past few days as an experiment.

He wasn't entirely sure if it would work.

As for the experience gained in Calligraphy Mastery, it was an unexpected delight for him.

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Killing two birds with one stone, this further motivated him.

Several hours later, he finished writing.

He read through it from start to finish and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad!"

"Next are those five paintings!"

Then, he set aside the pages of the fist technique manual he had written to dry and opened his panel to take a look.

[Skills] Calligraphy Mastery (4th Limit Break 4793/5000) (Characteristics: Memorize at a Glance, Extraordinary Senses, Keen Mind, Exceptional Insight)]



Writing the Five Beasts Fist, Third Layer manual, he gained about two hundred points of experience in Calligraphy Mastery, bringing him closer to the five thousand points needed for the fifth Limit Break.

He closed the panel.

Then, he took out a blank white scroll from the side.

"Make the ink a bit thicker!" Jiang Ning instructed.

Hearing this, Yu Li nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Young Master!"

She then lifted the wide sleeve of her right arm with her left hand, also revealing the white undershirt that hugged her wrist beneath the sleeve.

Exposing a section of her frosty white wrist, she held the ink stick with her right index finger, middle finger, and thumb, and slowly ground the ink with her raised pinky, creating a rhythmic scraping sound.

Scrape... Scrape... Scrape...

The scraping sounds were harmonious, without any hint of chaos.

Outside the window, an unusual tranquility prevailed.

Although the weather was gloomy, there was no wind or snow.

Moreover, the lake's surface was completely frozen, devoid of any waves.

At this moment, Jiang Ning closed his eyes.

The first image that appeared in his mind was a tiger formed from raging flames.

Within the tiger's pupils, an overwhelming rage burned.

As the king of beasts, a ruler who once roared through the mountains, it was now confined within a tiny cage, stripped of its freedom.

The once-proud ruler was now a prisoner.

How could a king not be furious?

The accumulated fury would one day break the cage, and the king would return.

That day would mark the return of the ruler.

'Tiger Form' was the first stance of the Five Beasts Fist.

Jiang Ning continued to meditate on this caged fire tiger, deepening its influence.

After an incense stick's worth of time...

"Is the ink ready?" Jiang Ning suddenly asked.

"Young Master, it's ready," Green Ripple replied softly from the side.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning kept his eyes closed.

Through his constant meditation, the image of the caged fire tiger in his mind became exceptionally clear.

There had never been a moment when it was clearer.

He picked up the brush, dipped it in the ink, and began to paint on the blank scroll.

The third layer of the Five Beasts Fist, as he defined it, was based on the five viscera gods that had already taken shape in his mind.

These were his intentions, the fundamental images from which the fist forms would emerge.

His task now was to paint these five viscera gods from his mind onto the blank scroll.

In his past life, he had studied traditional painting for a few months, but his skills were not exceptional; he was only a beginner.

However, he knew that in traditional painting, the spirit was more important than the form.

The beauty of the painting was not as crucial as capturing the spirit within.

The same principle applied to his current painting of the caged fire tiger—emphasizing spirit over form and intention over style.

Soon after...

With his eyes still closed, Jiang Ning quickly completed a painting on the blank scroll.

It depicted a fierce tiger trapped within a cage.

Meanwhile, Green Ripple watched this process intently from the side.

Then, she saw Jiang Ning dip his brush into the thick ink once more.

With a flick of his wrist, two drops of ink flew from the brush tip and landed precisely in the tiger's pupils.

The ink spread, transforming into two blazing flames.

At that moment...

Green Ripple witnessed a scene.

A ferocious tiger, its body bathed in raging flames, was trapped within a tiny cage.

She saw the once-proud king of beasts roar towards the heavens, its voice filled with intense rage and its eyes blazing with unyielding fury.

She couldn't help but take a step back in fright.

At that instant, a prompt appeared before Jiang Ning's closed eyes.

[Obtained new skill: Dao of Painting]



[Skill]: Dao of Painting (Beginner 1/100)



"Dao of Painting?"

"Is it the path to enlightenment through painting?"

Jiang Ning silently mused.

The appearance of this skill, Dao of Painting, did not surprise him.

It was not unusual for painting to be recognized as a skill by the panel.

Apart from this skill, he had numerous other skill speculations in mind.

However, having too many skills held no significance for him.

After all, time was limited; there were only twenty-four hours in a day.

Subsequently, he slowly opened his eyes.

This painting had consumed his heart and soul.

But he didn't know how well it had turned out.

After opening his eyes...

"Not bad!"

He nodded lightly.

With his progress in martial arts, his control over his body had significantly improved.

Consequently, his painting skills had also advanced.

As everyone knew, fundamental skills were of utmost importance.

In his past life, there was a great artist who, to perfect his fundamentals, spent day and night painting eggs.

The artist's dedication was all for the sake of mastering these basic skills.

The first hurdle in painting was also these fundamental skills.

Now, due to his progress in martial arts, his fundamentals were naturally solid, and his brush strokes flowed effortlessly.

Even without any practice, his painting skills had improved.

After a brief rest...

He continued painting.

[Dao of Painting Experience +1]



[Dao of Painting Experience +1]



[Dao of Painting Experience +1]



[.]



As he painted, the experience points for the skill Dao of Painting steadily increased.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end