'Huh?' Dyon asked in confusion.

'Your training is too poor, I'm unsatisfied.'

Dyon couldn't help but smile widely. He wasn't offended at all. This was the first opportunity he had to seek his master's guidance, how could he not accept it happily?

'Don't be happy too quickly.' The 25th White Mother continued, trying to maintain her stern expression despite a sweet smile and feeling creeping up on her lips. 'When you hear what I want you to do, you might start hating me.'

'Hate you?' Dyon grinned. 'Never.'

He dodged a punch, swinging a leg to send an essence gatherer crashing down below.

A battle erupted, a single man weaving and bobbing through hundreds of fists and kicks, completely unperturbed. Even Elder Bowa couldn't help but let a slight look of admiration slip onto his old, wrinkled features.

"A core disciple is truly special." He said in approval. But, his admiration still gave way to a cold expression. The more outstanding Dyon was, the more eager he was to kill him.

'Although I can't pass on our sect's core teachings to you, what I can do for you is prepare you for the day that you'll receive them.' Dyon's master continued seriously. 'Don't ask why or for any other explanations. I'm restricted from telling you too much because of the Sect Master's seal. Just know that I'm doing this for your benefit.'

Dyon nodded. He was becoming very much used to this He was numb to the curiosity by now. Luckily, at least he could speculate without dying this time. However, his master's next words almost made him fall out of the sky.

'You're no longer allowed to use any techniques above the lower common level. In addition, before you're allowed to learn any techniques of the middle common level, you must master 100 lower common level fist techniques, 100 kicking techniques, 100 of each of the nine central weapons, 100 movement techniques, 100 defensive techniques, and 100 energy manipulation techniques. And by master, I don't mean to the completion stage, I mean to the One with Self realm.'

Dyon was so distracted by his master's words that he accidentally let a fist slam into his chest. Although he didn't move an inch due to the punch, he was still so pissed by it that he slapped the essence gatherer's head who hit him into a mist of blood.

It also didn't help that Dyon's master giggled like a little girl when she saw her treasured disciple's reaction. No matter how many years she had lived, this incarnation of her was from her youth, she didn't have the same mature air she had when she first met Dyon, despite having all of the same memories.

To begin with, that was 1400 techniques! Plus, considering his master's phrasing, he assumed that she would want him to redo this feat with middle common level techniques, then high, then peak. 5600 techniques before he could even touch an Earth level technique? This wasn't training, it was torture!

Even this wasn't the worst part.

To enter the 'completion stage' meant to enter the peak level of a technique. For example, for Dyon's Demon Emperor's Will, this would mean reaching the third stage of the third act.

However, to enter the One with Self realm meant to make the technique your own, to master it to such an extent that it surpassed the original intent of the creator. Even for a common level technique, a genius might take decades to reach such a level. And that was just for one technique!

Dyon vented his frustration on the poor souls stupid enough to attack him, sweeping through effortlessly as though they weren't there at all. Before even a minute had passed, the saints realized that essence gatherers weren't a match for Dyon. It was as though they were sending ants to stop a behemoth. They had no choice but to step in themselves.

'Does the Celestial Deer Sect Library even have that many low-level techniques?' Dyon suddenly asked.

'Of course. I just assume you ignored them all for our heaven level techniques. I doubt you even touched the earth level ones.'

Dyon coughed in slight embarrassment because of how right his master was. He didn't even bother to look at low level techniques. This entire time, he had been using the best of the best.

'That's no good.' The 25th White Mother continued to lovingly berate Dyon. 'Techniques are the means by which many come to understand the martial world. Leaping to the highest-level techniques, unless they're specifically cultivation type techniques, can be more of a detriment than a help.

'Also, you're not yet powerful enough to make full use of even an earth technique, let alone a heaven one. I wasn't there to guide you, so I take responsibility, but you have to listen to me from now on.

'Earth level techniques cannot be fully mastered until the peak of sainthood. Heaven level techniques cannot be fully mastered until the peak of the celestial stage. Divine level techniques cannot be fully mastered until the half-step transcendent realm. There are always exceptions, but this is the framework.

'You are a 1st stage essence gatherer, what business do you have using heaven and divine level techniques as freely as you do? You're wasting energy when you could be optimizing your stamina.

'I promise that if you master even one lower common level technique to the One with Self stage, it'll become more powerful than any technique you've ever used.

'If you master ten, you'll be more powerful than you've ever been. You could sweep across those of your generation with ease. If you master 5600? When our core teachings are within your possession, you'll be unmatched.'

Hearing this, Dyon's eyes blazed. His previous dissatisfaction disappeared.

So what if it was normally as difficult as ascending the heavens to reach the One with Self level of a technique? So what if doing so with 5600 was a fool's dream? So what if his future opponents laughed at him for using such seemingly simple techniques? If his master said so, he'd do it.

What Dyon's master didn't tell him was that normally, this was far above the pale. The core teaching she was preparing him for required only 10 common level techniques. That was right, 10, usually two to each discipline someone practiced, making for 40 total at the common level. However, the 25th White Mother scaled it upward considerably for Dyon.

Not only this, but the technique only required to learn to the completion level, nowhere does it ask for the One with Self level. This was yet another upscale.

However, the 25th White Mother was accounting for other things. One was her disciples otherworldly comprehension and the other was his Weapon's Master will.

The nine core weapons in the martial world were the sword, the saber, the rod, the spear, the bow, the halberd, the glaive, the battle axe and the knife. Even though the Weapon's Master will was heaven defying, allowing Dyon to pick up any weapon and immediately master it to the 9th will level despite still being at the 1st will level, the ironic part was that unless Dyon master many weapons, it was impossible to improve. It worked hand in hand.

Taking this into account, the 25th White Mother chose to make Dyon master 100 techniques for each weapon. Should he succeed, his Weapon's Master will would improve by leaps and bounds.

'Since your cultivation is still partly sealed, you're limited in what techniques you can use. The good news is that certain lower common level techniques don't require wills, thus why they're ranked so low. It is difficult to perfectly integrate wills into techniques.

'Begin with [Overbearing Mountain Bear Fists], [Whipping Wind, Galloping Steps] and [Sweeping the Clouds with One Leg].'

The moment the 25th White Mother's delicate voice finished sounding out, Dyon found the relevant techniques within her memories and fell into a selfless state. His mind went blank and his intentions became pure, there was nothing else in his thoughts aside from these techniques, his focus reaching a level that most could only dream of.

When Dyon's master saw this, her eyes blinked in surprise before they beamed with pride. Since when was achieving a selfless state of cultivation so easy? Especially in the midst of being bombarded by hundreds of enemies? This was simply too amazing.