Van pushed down the pain.

"What do I do?"

[The wandering stream seeks the ocean and dreams of becoming a river. These are the only words I can give you.]

Van shut his eyes. Within his core, he saw a misty stream.

This was the result of his months' worth of cultivation.

As it was made up of gas-like particles, the stream held no shape of its own. As he watched, misty strands of qi left the bigger body and began to drift away. The strands of qi that left the stream then started to push against Van's meridians, trying to escape.

So, this was the cause of his bloated feeling!

The spiritual stream was undefined and lacked purpose. As he watched its mist-like pa.s.sage, he felt that it indeed resembled a lost and wandering stream on the mountain.

Van thought of the flowing water inside a river and realized something. The spiritual stream right now did not actually 'flow'!

Van thought of something.

He would compress the foggy spiritual energy until it became a spiritual liquid! And to do that he needed something to help compress the power!

A small black tornado formed between his brow. As it had already been opened that day, the meridian resisted strongly.

Van pushed harder. His 99th meridian remained open but only by a fraction. But due to its immense attractive force, this was already enough. More spiritual energy was sucked into him.

Yes!

Van concentrated. He sent all the newly drawn in spiritual power into himself and used it to compress the spiritual stream. The stream writhed. It had had less and less s.p.a.ce to move in to. Finally, it began to shrink and compress.

At the critical moment, the misty stream collapsed in on itself. The pressure within Van immediately disappeared.

He let out the breath he had been holding.

The black tornado on his forehead also collapsed. He had only managed to open it for the second time that day through sheer force of will power.

Shhhhaaaaaah!

The collapsed stream started to expand. It rushed outwards and grew until it exceeded its previous size. The sound of flowing water filled the surroundings. Then finally, it became a river with a vague embankment.

Van looked closer within himself.

The substance within the river had a crystalline sheen and flowed as water would. It glowed with an inner light. It was different from the substance within the spiritual stream! The spiritual energy had condensed into something vastly more powerful.

Van could feel that his internal power had grown by an immense amount!

[Congratulations, kid. You are now a cultivator of the 3rd level of Qi Distillation.]

Van couldn't help the blissful smile that crossed his face. He had done it! He was now qualified to become an outer disciple!

Once he was an outer disciple, it wasn't too far off before he became an inner disciple. Once he reached inner disciple he could go and fetch Finn from Mountain Village!

His heart immediately felt lighter.

[Now that there is a spiritual river within your core, you will be able to project qi outside of your body. Like we did that day on Mount Steady. Do you understand what this means?]

Van nodded enthusiastically, "I can now learn martial skills and techniques!"

[I have something for you.]

Van's ears p.r.i.c.ked up.

A small dog-eared book appeared in Van's hands. It had small golden lettering and was bound in leather.

"The Book of Origin," Van read the t.i.tle out slowly, "What does this do?"

[I don't know. Open it.]

Van lifted the cover. The first page was blank.

[…]

"…"

One ring and one boy made identical gobsmacked faces. Or at least, Jet would if he could.

[Cough cough]

"All the pages are blank," Van said as he rifled through the remaining pages.

[Um. Yes. Maybe there was a mistake?]

"Where did you get this from?" Van asked.

[It just. Appeared inside of me.]

Van raised his eyebrows.

[Well. Don't ask me I don't know what it does. You'll have to find out for yourself.]

Van scratched his head, a little disappointed. He had just broken through to the 3rd level, and he wanted a cool skill. Yes, it was slightly immature to be impatient but he was only thirteen!

"Would you ah, have something else you can give me."

[…]

"…"

[…]

"…"

[Call me Granddaddy Jet.]

Van's face went black.

"Forget it."

"Outer disciples get to pick three skills from the Misty Tree Library anyway," huffing, Van walked away.

[Call me Granddaddy. All your problems will be solved~]

Van kept walking.

[Are you sure~]

Van stopped. He poked the ring mentally.

"Stop teasing unless you never want to find that person that you are looking for!"

The ring tsked.

[What a child. That book definitely has some more secrets to it. This is the only other thing I have on me. It appeared a while ago. It looks pretty basic...

But I have something to tell you, Van. Remember how I gave you Thousand Saints Sacrifice manual before? There seems to be a block on what I can give you, Van. It's like that section of my memories has been sealed away since I slept.]

Van barely registered Jet's words. He was too excited by the idea of learning an offensive skill!

A sheaf of papers landed into Van's hands.

'Fists of Devouring Flames'

Van quickly started reading. Spitting flames from your fists? Setting a mountain ablaze with a punch? This was right up his alley!

The manual showed images of a youth practising several moves, and the methodology was simple and direct. Van sat down and absorbed it quickly. By late afternoon, he was ready to try it the first move.

Standing up, Van took a deep breath.

"Flaming Bull Fist!" He shouted and punched out. A thick column of flame charged out of his fists and set a patch of flowers on fire. The feeling was amazing!

Smoke curled up into the sky.

"Ah, f.u.c.k!"

Hurriedly, Van doused the burning flowers with some water.

Despite the damage to the garden, Van was elated. The flames had come out naturally and effortlessly as if Van had practised this skill countless times. Van thought that his affinity for fire must have something to do with it.

He finally had a martial skill!

Van grinned. Now that he had arrived at the 3rd level of Qi Distillation, he no longer had to hold back. With the status of an outer disciple, his destiny would once again change!

"Let's go to the Misty Tree Library!"

________

The Misty Tree Library was a very important ground in the sect.

Thousands of years of martial arts skills collected from far and wide could be found there. Most impressively, the library existed upon the branches of an immensely old Cedar Tree under which the Founding Father had nurtured from a seedling.

Being as wealthy and rich as the Cedar Sect was, the tree's ma.s.sive and winding branches held the biggest private collection of martial arts in Cloud River. It was just one of the reason's why many cultivators chose to enter the sect.

The Misty Tree Library could be roughly split into three portions.

The lowest branches were the widest, and they held the most variety of techniques. However, the majority were low ranked.

The middle portion had fewer branches and fewer books but had many precious martial arts that could only be loaned for a few hours at a time. However, to enter the middle branches of the tree one had to be at least be in the 6th level of Qi Distillation.

The highest branches were lofty and high; often they were covered in mist. Rumour was that those few branches at the pinnacle held the sect's most precious techniques. However, who knew if this was the truth, for n.o.body had ever been permitted in there.

Van stood calmly in front of the foot of the tree. He held his jade tag in one hand and gazed upwards through the s.h.i.+ning leaves.

One could almost see hearts in his eyes as he drooled over the countless martial arts that were in there.

Okay, he couldn't help himself. He was a martial fanatic!

He sighed and sobered slightly. Although he now qualified for outer disciple, he was only from a small village and had no background in the sect. Someone with a background like him and with low cultivation would not be permitted into those vaunted branches. At least he had his Fists of Devouring Flame skill, which apparently was a high ranked martial art.

[Small steps!] He thought to himself, [One day I will make them scramble to give their skills to me!].

Now that he had broken through to the 3rd level of Qi Distillation, Van had the right to enter the lowest branches and take three martial arts for himself!

Van clenched his hands once more around his jade tag and then went up to the old servant at the entrance of the library.

"Senior," he greeted, "This one's name is Van. Please test my qualifications."

The old man blinked his eyes at him and gestured for Van to place his hand on a misty crystal ball. Van recognised it. It was a miasma crystal, the same type of object they had used in the servant's entrance examinations.

Under his palm, the fog dissipated rapidly until only a clear crystal ball was left. This confirmed that he indeed had the qualifications to enter. The elder raised his brows and confirmed Van's jade tag. He gestured for Van to continue in.

"You have one hour to select three skills and bring them back to me. You will only be able to access the lowest branches – the fog at the higher levels will cause anyone not of the appropriate level to suffocate, so the best advice is to steer well clear. Good luck."

Van climbed the stairs around the base of the tree and stepped onto a branch that was as wide as a building. His breath was rapid in his chest. Further down, he could see other people absorbed in selecting their martial art skills.

"I have one hour, and I need to choose three suitable skills from the thousands in front of me!"

Van took a deep breath and began to scan the bookshelves, heart beating at a galloping pace.

___________________

[About two hundred metres away.]

A servant carrying basketfuls of dried herbs stopped and stared dumbly. He turned to his side,"Did you see who just went into the Misty Tree Library!? It was that kid!"

"...Do you expect me to believe that? That meat-for-brains went into Misty Library?"

"Brother, I swear!"

"Hahahaha. He went in there to dust the shelves and tidy the place. So, what? Unless... you think he broke into the 3rd level and has become an outer disciple?"

The other servant laughed so hard he felt as if his stomach was about to burst. He thought he had just said the most ridiculous thing in his life. He had to put down his basket of herbs, "Bahahaha…!"

The servant who originally spoke looked embarra.s.sed. Finally, he started to chuckle as well.

"Haha... You're right. What was I thinking? How could a country b.u.mpkin advance so quickly? Pigs would fly before such a ridiculous thing happened..."