Chapter 17: The Initial Awakening of Qi (Part 1)

  "Not everyone in this world can sense the existence of magical powers, nor can everyone who senses magical powers learn magic. Similarly, not everyone who learns magic can become a great magician."

  In the late afternoon, the sea breeze on the deck was gentle, and the sailors who had been busy all day gradually went down to the deck, leaving only a few sailors on duty at night still sticking to their posts.

  There was no one in sight at the stern of the boat except for Tang Jie and Nia.

  After Niya deeply hid her emotions and shyness in the depths of her heart, she once again became a fierce and cold female pirate, even being meticulous when teaching Tang Jie.

  "Similarly, every person has the existence of Dou Qi in their body. However, not everyone can feel the Dou Qi within themselves, and those who can feel it are not necessarily qualified to become a Sword Duelist." Nia held up a beautifully crafted short sword with one hand, her internal Dou Qi bursting forth, as a faint golden light began to emanate from the entire length of the sword.

  Niya stared at Tang Jie, holding the long sword horizontally in her hand, and said: "You touch my aura with your hand, then feel the aura inside you again."

  Tang Jie looked at the golden aura on Nia's long sword with some admiration and envy, then reached out to gently touch the aura on her sword.

  With a "zi" sound, Tang Jie felt like he had been struck by high-voltage electricity, his fingers were bounced back, and they hurt with some numbness.

  "Nia shouted coldly: 'Don't let go!'"

  Tang Jie glanced at her and sighed inwardly: Would she take advantage of the situation to strike back at him because of what happened before?

  With a deep breath, Tang Jie still didn't hesitate and grasped the hilt of his long sword with one hand.

  A fierce surge of Dou Qi suddenly burst out from Tang Jie's arm, like a poisonous snake drilling into his body.

  Excruciating pain!

  Tang Jie almost shouted out loud, he gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulged, and sweat beads rolled down like soybeans. He could clearly feel a wild beast rushing into his body, charging recklessly. His calm and gentle breath was tangled by Nia's fighting spirit, becoming a mess, just like the originally peaceful river water suddenly surging up, turning into a dangerous torrent, turbulent and roaring.

  Niya looked at Tangie's forehead, where beads of sweat were rolling down, and his teeth were chattering with a "kaka" sound. She couldn't bear it in her heart, but still maintained a cold face, without any weakening of the fighting spirit on the long sword in her hand.

  Just as she said before, every person has Dou Qi in their body, but not everyone can sense the existence of Dou Qi, and even fewer people who can sense the existence of Dou Qi can become a Soul Master.

  Nia started learning to control her Chi at the age of five under the tutelage of Old Barl. It took her three whole years just to sense the Chi within herself, and another two years to master its manipulation, turning it into a powerful force in battle.

  An ordinary person wanting to learn how to harness their inner energy is actually not difficult, as long as the direction of practice is correct, persistent, and putting in hard work, one will eventually be able to grasp the principles of harnessing inner energy.

  However, for an ordinary person who has mastered the basic skills of internal energy, it is even more difficult to make further progress.

  There are many people in this world who can fight with energy, but there are few swordsmen with combat ranks, and the promotion between each rank of swordsmen is as distant as a chasm.

  A warrior without rank and a first-class sword fighter are like kindergarten children compared to university students.

  One has just started, and the other is already well established.

  When a first-class sword fighter encounters a second-class sword fighter, the former has almost no room for counterattack in front of the latter. Although they differ by only one rank, the gap in their strength is not on the same level at all.

  From zeroth-order to first-order, from first-order to second-order, every promotion requires not only willpower and endurance but also talent.

  "Genius, this cursed and blessed thing, it created this colorful world, it divided people into three six nine classes, it made the world unequal, every higher class person is looking down on those below them, we swordsmen are no exception. Genius, its existence makes the gap between each class like a chasm, impossible to cross!"

  Niya spent five years from sensing to grasping the aura, during which she grew into a ten-year-old little girl.

  And the time it took her to grow from an unranked fighter to a first-class swordswoman was also five years. Until recently, in the past two years, Nia participated in more sea battles and gained more insights, which allowed her to enter the realm of a second-class swordswoman.

  At the age of seventeen, she is already a second-level sword fighter, which can be described as a rare talent. In any warrior guild, her age and rank would be admired.

  To know, her father Bal, in his fifties, was only a third-rate swordsman.

  Tang Jie wanted to learn Dou Qi, but it was clear that he couldn't spend a full twelve years like Nia did to cultivate into a 2nd rank Sword Fighter, he didn't have that much time.

  Niya also knew this point, so she could only choose a most dangerous way of cultivation.

  Helping it grow by pulling out seedlings!

  Magicians often infuse their magic into the bodies of their apprentices to test their sensitivity and responsiveness to magic, a method also adopted by swordsmen when teaching their disciples.

  However, the invasion of magical powers into the body will only cause people to lose their vitality and feel tired and sleepy, while the invasion of demonic energy into the body will cause internal organs damage and meridian rupture!

  Using a method of invading with aura to stimulate the opponent's internal aura response, this is an extremely dangerous method.

  Some famous swordsmen were often bothered by some eager learners who came to study under them, so they would use this extreme method to scare away those who wanted to be their apprentices and reduce the number of people.

  Those who were eliminated had their meridians completely destroyed, rendering them almost useless for the rest of their lives and unable to cultivate Dou Qi again. Meanwhile, those who passed the test were chosen by the Swordsmen Masters as their own proud disciples.

  Everyone yearns to be a strong person, but the road to becoming a strong person is filled with the cruel natural law of survival of the fittest and elimination of the weak.

  Pirates at sea are even more so!

  When Nia saw the rolling veins on Tangie's forehead, she felt a pang in her heart, as if that severe pain was happening to her.

  She didn't want to use such a terrible method of accelerating growth, but Old Barl told her: Do you think he has several more years to start from scratch? Moreover, he won't be able to defeat any strong fighter and win over a third-level sword fighter, can't he even pass this level?

  This sentence instantly dispelled Nia's doubts, so she made a bold decision for Tang Jie on her own initiative, and even she herself didn't know what kind of consequences this decision would bring to Tang Jie.

  Tang Jie only felt that his body was like a stormy sea, as if he had returned to the turbulent waves of those days.

  Although he looked normal from a distance, he could feel the stormy waves inside him, one wave after another, almost swallowing and drowning him!

  Niya's aura burst into Tang Jie's arm and charged into his body, rampaging through his internal organs. Although the aura inside Tang Jie was not as powerful as this invading force, the years of cultivating internal energy had not been in vain. He mobilized the aura inside his body to set up layers of defense along the path of the invading aura, resisting it at every turn.

  But unfortunately, this fierce and sharp aura was like a hot knife cutting through butter, destroying the defenses of Tang Jie's meridians and swiftly invading his lower abdomen, the most vital place in the human body where the breath is strongest - the Dan Tian!

  As soon as the infuriating energy rushed into his dantian, Tang Jie felt like a knife was twisting his intestines into knots in his lower abdomen, the pain made him see stars and he almost fainted.

  At this time, the evil energy invaded his body. If he fainted, the five internal organs and blood vessels would be damaged, and he might become a man with no strength from then on.

  Fortunately, he had an unyielding determination and willpower that was not ordinary. Just as he felt himself going dark and about to faint, he bit his tongue hard and forcibly pulled himself back from the brink of unconsciousness.

  He has been practicing for many years, first to cultivate internal energy, second to develop explosive power, and third to temper his composure in the face of great danger and risk.

  A person with exquisite martial arts skills and profound inner strength can often burst out with a swift counterattack as fast as lightning and as fierce as thunder at the most critical moment. Tang Jie has been practicing martial arts for many years, although his skills may not be exceptionally deep, he can still maintain absolute calmness in life-and-death situations.

  He saw that his method of setting up layers of defense in the meridians was completely useless, and with a turn of thought, he remembered the "Snow Avalanche" realm he had previously comprehended. His heart moved, and he decided not to defend against this surge of fighting energy anymore, letting it overturn and churn in his dantian.

  Tang Jieqiang endured the intense pain, silently feeling every impact of this power, its direction and force, just like when he was steering the "Hell's Gate", holding the helm and feeling the interaction between the sea breeze and the sail.

  This force came, and Tang Jie retreated along with it. As he retreated, Tang Jie followed the direction of its retreat, sending a push in the same direction.

  Slowly, Tang Jie was able to clearly "see" the changes in the movement of the Qi in his body and the direction of this fierce energy's impact.

  Since it can't be blocked, then follow its power and divert it, pulling it along!

  There's still one more post tonight. Also, a shout-out: Kids with flowers in their pockets, collect them, click on them, don't be shy, call me!

  "If you don't laugh after watching this, I'll be killed"