His face was red and large beads of sweat dripped form his forehead, falling in the floor like raindrops. His breathing was rough and his ashen hair was wet and sticking to his face. In his hands was a crude sword that was obviously too heavy for him to lift, as he was holding the handle while supporting the blade on the floor.

He gave Lya a glance full of resentment, but closed his eyes and focused, trying to control his breathing. He tightened the grip on the sword and his hands seemed to glow. Small lines of light started appearing in the sword, coming from his hand.

Like snakes, they slithered on the sword, making the blade s.h.i.+ne. They started dividing and multiplying, like branches on a tree, eventually covering the whole sword in a strange pattern. The entire sword started glowing, except for a small corner of the blade that the lines didn't reach.

"Again!" Lya said with an unsatisfied voice. Her blue eyes shone with a fierce light, making Amon cower.

He retracted his hand from the sword and the lines of light disappeared, returning the sword to its original state.

He took a deep breath, but it didn't help much. His hands were pale form the excessive strength he was putting in his grip and he was trembling. His whole body was sore.

Lya made him circulate all of the Qi in his body once before trying to imbue the sword with it. It was a way to test his control and get him used to circulating his Qi when he started his Body Tempering.

"Come on, stop stalling and do it again!" Lya said again, her voice louder.

Amon felt she was heartless. He had been going through this h.e.l.l for almost two days straight. From morning to night, he would repeat the cycle nonstop. In the first day, he actually pa.s.sed out from the effort.

Keeping his focus at its peak and maintaining his divine sense for this many hours took a toll on anyone. And controlling the Qi to make sure it pa.s.sed through each and every one of his meridians was exhausting in both body and mind.

Still, even if he felt somewhat resentful, he couldn't deny the results. He had advanced by leaps and bound under Lya's constant pressure. Plus, even with her nagging he was still thrilled by what he was doing. Learning about the intricacies of Qi made him fascinated.

The reason why he simply didn't bombard the sword with Qi to cover it all was a good example. Some artifacts of lower grades couldn't handle much Qi, so they would break if one did that. It was also a huge waste of Qi to do things that way.

Controlling the Qi and spreading it the way Amon was doing, using lines to form pathways for the Qi, was a good way to optimize its use and not overcharge the sword with it. The problem, however, was that if he missed a spot, it would turn into a weakness. The artifact could break if it was. .h.i.t with a strong strike in a 'dead spot', as Lya called it, leaving Amon unarmed and putting his life at a greater risk.

He let out a long breath and held the sword again. The lines of light spread again, slowly covering the sword. This time, however, as the last line was drawn, the sword flashed with a blinding light and the lines disappeared.

The blade started to glow as Amon injected Qi into it.

"I did!" He shouted, dropping the sword to the ground as he raised his hands in victory. A satisfied smile spread through his face. As soon as the sword left his hands, the glow disappeared, revealing the lines of light before they slowly faded again.

"Good job." Lya said as she nodded to him. "You even managed to be a bit faster than what I expected."

Amon gave a satisfied smile as he fell on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

"I think you are ready to start your Body Tempering." Lya fished the Skyreacher Body manual from the pile of books beside his bed and pa.s.sed it to him.

"Read this very carefully and be sure to memorize everything properly. When you do, we will practice it for a bit before properly using the technique." Lya said with a serious tone.

Hearing that, Amon frowned. Lya gave a chuckle "Did you think it would be easy to just read it and use the technique?"

Amon diverted his eyes, confirming her suspicions. She shook her head "Things are never easy, Amon. You must always be sure to be perfectly ready before using a technique. You don't want to try it without proper preparations and ruin your body, do you?"

"You are right, I don't want that." Amon shook his head. He promptly took the thick manual for the Skyreacher Body and started reading. To his surprise, the first few chapters were an introduction to the human body.

Amon raised his brow as he read. The first lines on the book were a long string of runes, probably the Divine Language. He would have to memorize all of the runes perfectly and in order to mentally recite them as he used the technique.

There were detailed explanations and drawing of a human's anatomy, as well as the meridians. It also explained in detail what Body Tempering really was. Amon's eyes grew wider and wider as he read, surprised by the contents.

"So this is what goes on in our body during the tempering?" He glanced at Lya, that just gave an uninterested nod.

Amon knew some basics of the human body. He knew about the acupuncture points and meridians. He also knew about organs, bones and a bit about cells, but just from the explanations of the manual alone he suddenly understood that knowing anatomy was essential for a proper Body Tempering.

Body Tempering wasn't simply breaking down one's body and channeling a technique to increase the healing speed and perfect one's cells. That was an overly simple explanation. Much like imbuing and artifact with Qi, there was a proper method to imbue one's cells with it and increase their efficiency.

The great disparity in strength in the Body Tempering realm came not only from the limits a cultivator would go through to temper their bodies, but also because of the different methods used in the imbuing of Qi.

Human bodies were incredibly feeble next to spirit beasts. Their cells had a low capacity to handle Qi, so one had to find a proper way to compress the Qi and distribute it to maximize the efficiency, as they saturated quickly.

A great Body Tempering technique would allow one to heal their injuries faster, compress the Qi better and store more Qi in the new cells produced during the healing process.

Not only that, but a proper Body Tempering technique would enhance a cell's functions rather than simply strengthening it. If someone managed to temper their nervous system for instance, they would have greater reaction speeds. If one were crazy enough to temper their eyes, their vision would be enhanced.

Of course, this was all in theory, as a single mistake could make one ruin their bodies beyond help when they dealt with such dangerous ideas.

A cultivator would extend his lifespan in the Body Tempering stage. If a mortal's lifespan varied from seventy to eighty years, a cultivator who properly tempered his body with a strong technique would live from three hundred to four hundred years. They would also start aging slower, being able to retain their youth for decades.

The Skyreacher Body, when properly cultivated, would allow one to live at least five hundred years. This was the greatest proof that this manual was miles above the others.

"This is mind-blowing." Amon said as he flipped the pages. He couldn't take his eyes away from the manual as he read it nonstop. Lya chuckled hearing that, her eyes wistful. Arthur had really been a cultivation genius.

"I told you it was a great technique." Lya said with a smug face.

Amon didn't answer her as he was too focused reading the book. He also took this time to properly rest his body, recovering a bit of his energy.

He ended up skipping lunch without realizing it, and only closed the book by nighttime. He had a headache from spending the day reading such complex contents nonstop. He rubbed his temples with his eyes closed, trying to absorb what he just read.

"Are you finished?" Lya asked when she saw him putting the book aside. He nodded with a tired expression.

"Go eat something and go rest, tomorrow we will start practicing it." Lya said as she saw his condition.

Amon nodded with a weary face. He left the room, had something to eat and went to sleep.

On the next day, he woke up early, made some breakfast for him and his mother and read the manual again. It was a habit he was starting to develop, and that way he could properly remember the contents of the manuals and minimize mistakes.

He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. He slowly gathered the Qi surrounding him and absorbed it until the replenished all of the reserves of Qi he had used in the past days.

When he was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy, he started practicing the movements of Qi in his body according to the Skyreacher Body manual. To complete a single revolution of the technique took a few minutes of intricate and complex maneuvering of the Qi in his meridians that spanned the entirety of his body.

As he wasn't using the Divine Language runes described in the manual, moving his Qi that way was inconsequential and served only as training. At the same time, he took a blank piece of paper and a pen and started inscribing the runes of the technique as he circulated his Qi. It was a way for him to make sure he properly remembered all of the steps necessary.

At first, it was incredibly hard, almost like trying to look at two directions at the same time. He made many mistakes and had start over from scratch as Lya carefully observed his training. The effects of making a mistake in such a technique were unknown; it might even lead to deformities in his body, so Amon took the task very seriously.

It was during the practice that he realized how important training in the Lesser Sword Art manual had been. Had he not spent almost ten days of nonstop practice, it would have been impossible for him to complete even the first few steps required in a revolution of the Skyreacher Body.

It took him a few hours to finally complete the first revolution of the technique perfectly. He didn't stop after the success, instead, he tried to do it with a faster speed.

He failed and failed, but the more he failed the more proficient he got with the technique. Eventually, he started succeeding more than failing.

Amon entered a trance as he mindlessly trained without stopping. It reached the point where he was almost doing it on instinct. Looking at it made Lya somewhat worried, but she didn't dare to interrupt him.

The pile of used papers slowly started growing in height as Amon trained repeatedly. Eventually, his body s.h.i.+vered and he snapped out of the trance. He was ghostly pale and his limbs were trembling.

"I… think…. I'm ready." He said with great difficulty as he gasped for air. His chest was burning, and he felt as if he had been holding his breath. He had rehea.r.s.ed dozens of times, and succeeded his last twenty tries in a row.

"I think so too, but take a break and recompose yourself." Lya said gently as her expression loosened.

Amon closed his eyes and was trying his best to control his breathing. He was feeling very confident on his chances.

"So, are you planning on telling anything at all to your mother?" Lya asked as she sneak him a glance. Amon shuddered hearing that. What would he tell his mother?

"I do have to tell her something, but I can't talk about you. It would only bring trouble to all of us." He said, pondering what to do. "I think all I can do is tell her that I found a treasure that increased my talent, but I didn't tell her to not have her worried for me."

As he nodded to himself, satisfied with the answer he would give, Lya rolled her eyes. Amon didn't realize it.

"Maybe lying isn't a good idea." She said in an uninterested voice, as if it had nothing to do with her.

"I have no real choice, Lya. I will do anything to save my mother from trouble, even lying to her." He answered while looking at her intently. His golden eyes showed no hesitation, making Lya sigh.

"Well, are you ready?" She asked as her gaze turned serious. Amon silently nodded.

"What I will do now will hurt. It will probably hurt more than you might believe possible, but you must not give in, no matter what." She silently approached Amon, making his hair stand on end.

"We will use your Body Tempering to boost your Soul Cultivation too." She said as she glanced at him. Amon gulped hearing that.

"You don't mean…" His voice s.h.i.+vered in fear.

"I'm sorry, but you will have to use the first line of the Soulrousing Technique. It will boost the pain even further, but it will be the fastest way for you to produce more Nebula and further develop your soul." She said with a somewhat worried expression.

"What will you do?" He asked with a low voice.

"I will send my Qi into your meridians. I will make sure the Qi spreads through your whole body." She said casually. "Then I will use the Qi to slowly grind away at every inch of your body."

"I will leave no organ untouched. I will make sure to slightly damage every cell in your body, just enough for the technique to work, but not enough to compromise anything. This is the only way to guarantee a uniform tempering in all of your body and attain the best results." Amon grew paler at each word she said.

"I don't think this is a good idea..." He started retreating, but soon his back hit the wall.

"You want to become strong, don't you?" Her question made Amon's resistance disappear.

"You can start using the first line of the Soulrousing Technique." She said with a gentle voice. Cornered, Amon could only pray for things to go well as he started focusing. The runes of the Divine Language appeared in his mind, and started to spin around.

"I'll try to be as gentle as possible." Lya tried to rea.s.sure him. Amon was too worried to notice the hint of hesitation in her voice.

She extended her hands and reached for him. Amon closed his eyes, focusing solely on the runes of the Soulrousing Technique. Still, a little part of him was screaming, saying that he had made a grave mistake.

Then, for the second time in his life, he felt as if he had been thrown in h.e.l.l.