"Haa! All that serious talk and he ends it with a joke. I can't take this anymore. I am going to eat." The young girl grabbed her plate and walked toward a cave.
"I think we should eat first. After that, we can decide on what to do." Azur nodded his head and spoke. Everyone scattered as they took their plate and walked toward the cave.
Azur also took his plate but instead of going elsewhere, he walked to Garven's cave. The cave was really small. It could barely fit more than three people so he just stayed outside.
"Can we talk while eating?" Azur asked.
"I don't mind." Garven replied as he started eating.
"You said we need to find a line between being optimistic and pessimistic. What do you mean by that?" Azur asked with a serious expression but he didn't forget to eat. He put a drumstick in his mouth and started chewing.
"If you think this is all about numbers, then you are wrong. If I think this is all about power, then I am wrong. We need to find a way where even if we lose, we won't go bankrupt." Garven replied.
"You mean to keep the number high but also prove to them that we are strong. But how?" Azur looked at him with confusion and asked.
"Let me ask you something. What are the strongest forces in our kingdom?" Garven asked.
"Obviously, it's going to be Royal. They have the most authority and the most powerful people. Although Twelve Great Sects don't lose power, they can't oppose the authority of the Royals. But, what does this got to do with my question?" Azur answered.
"That means this power is someone who will try to oppose the Royals. In other words, this wouldn't be the only place where they did this. Four provinces mean four places."
"If they can produce twenty talents from these kinds of trials, then they can produce eighty talents. How many talents does a single sect have?" Garven asked.
"It depends. For example; I am just Sixth Rank Talent based on my ability to comprehend a certain Martial Technique. If you are talking about third, second, and first rank, there would be less than five from one sect."
"So, each sect would have around fifty disciples with talent ranging from fourth to sixth. And, then they would have hundreds of disciples with talent ranging from seventh to ninth." Azur explained.
'So, talent is measured by the ability to comprehend a certain martial technique. I need to ask him about this later on. First, I need to get some basic information.'
Garven nodded his head and said.
"Since you are sixth rank talent, there got to be a lot of others with similar kind of talent or even higher. But, if you go through all these extreme conditions and manage to survive, your powers wouldn't be lower than those with third or fourth-rank talent."
"So, if this power is trying to go against the Royals, they would need to have at least ten to twenty people from each province. But even so, this number is still too low for a power that wants to rival other powers."
Hearing his Azur thought for a moment and asked.
"What if they are trying to raise killers? If a person who can survive their trials can take down dozens of other disciples, isn't it the same having the numbers like the other sects?"
"That could be true. But, how could a person take down more than one opponent at the same time?" Garven asked.
Azur looked at him with strange eyes and said.
"Don't you know? If you practice Spirit Tier Martial Art, you can crush dozens of people with a single wave of your hand. If you practice Earth Tier Martial Art, you can crush the earth and if you practice Heaven Tier Martial Art, you can destroy the sky."
"That much power martial artists of higher realm possess."
'Ohhh! So, Martial Arts are divided into Spirit, Earth, and Heaven-Tier. I didn't know what. Of course, I know martial artists can take down dozens of people. Even Knights who are known to weakest ones can take down hundreds of people.'
'So, what else do I need to know? Oh yeah, I know.'
Garven looked at him with wide eyes and asked.
"Wait, what if we practice two martial arts? Will it make us stronger?"
Hearing his words, Azur shrugged his shoulders.
"It depends. If you practice basic martial techniques that can be bought from the market, and then train a martial technique like the one we were given then it wouldn't make you stronger."
"But if you train two power martial techniques from the start, then it would make you stronger. Of course, there is a high chance that the internal energies of two different techniques might not be good for each other. In that case, they would destroy your cultivation."
"In many cases, people use a certain martial technique and then used the evolved form of that technique to make the progress. So, if we practice this new technique, we would need to drive out our original internal energy and fill ourselves with this new internal energy."
"Wait a minute! I have been talking about martial arts for a long but it isn't related to my questions. Aren't you just trying to get more information from me?"
Azur suddenly paused when he realized something and asked.
"As I said, you are a smart one so you figure out what to do. Now that I have finished my meal, I need to train." Garven put his plate away and took out the book.
Hearing his words, Azur clenched his fist.
"Damn it! You just said those words because you believed that I would be curious and ask you for more, didn't you?"
Garven raised his eyes and asked.
"Do you really think I would waste so much time rambling about my opinion if I just wanted some information? Although my goal was to learn more about it, my words weren't false."
"As I said before, don't think like a person, think like a merchant. Make a plan where even if we do something good, it won't backfire us. In this case, if you help them, just make sure that it won't hurt those who are inside."
"Now, leave me alone. I need to focus."
Azur thought for a moment and left. He didn't care about being used for information. He understood what Garven was trying to say. He had to find that line.
Because if his idea was correct, then helping them would be good. But, if his idea was incorrect, then helping them would be dangerous for those who are inside.
He looked at the table and saw nearly half of the food was still there.
'Haaa! I guess I should rest a little before making any decision. For now, the door is closed so they wouldn't even know what we are eating.'
'But, what's his deal.'
Azur turned around and stared at Garven.
'Why is he so calm? Is he not afraid of those people? Could he be confident that he can train in just five days? Whatever I don't have time to focus on him. Right now, I should be more focused on it.'
After Azur finally moved away from his sight, Garven put the book inside and took out another book. Just like the Blood Harmony Technique, it also had three words written in front of it.
[True Mystic Technique]
He turned the first page and started reading the book silently. While the first page had some instruction in words, the latter pages only consists of different martial arts styles.
This technique was truly peculiar. Unlike the Blood Harmony Technique which was very thin, it had a lot of pages. And, each page consists of a certain style. Every martial art style had a certain advantage and a certain disadvantage.
And, each one of them was explained carefully.
[First Style- Moonlight Fangs]
This technique reflects the attack of a wolf underneath the moon. Whenever this move was used, internal energy would be released from his fingers and his eyes, creating a mental image in his opponent's mind.
By doing so, he would be able to forcefully suppress his movement. If a person has internal energy and knows how to use it properly, then it would be easy to destroy that mental image of suppression.
This was an offensive movement. It had one specific use and that would be attacked. But once he attacks, if it doesn't land properly or if his opponent successfully defends it, he won't be able to move for few seconds.
Garven finally understood why his snake was able to bite Jin. This was a pure disadvantage but it also makes this an ultimate move if executed properly.
'If I want to master the first style within five days, I have really work hard. This style isn't something that I can use within this cave. I should try using passive method to absorb spiritual energy.'
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