"I heard the Bai Family recently recovered their clan's 'Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual' from the 'Red Fort Cult', but it seems like some parts of the technique were maliciously burnt away by Red Fort Cult members, making the technique useless."
"Yes..." Elder Bai sighed; his playful nature for a moment was overtaken by genuine grief as he explained, "It's as you say; it's not much of a secret anyway. The technique isn't something extraordinary, but it was something my father made. It's just I who have a personal attachment with it."
The old man who had seen decades pass by couldn't help but feel his dry eyes wet with emotions remembering the old yard where he, as a boy, Jun Soryu's age, used to practice every day with his father when he was alive and well.
"But alas..." Elder Bai frowned. "There is no use regretting the old past. If only I had cared when I was still young and learnt my father's technique instead of just chasing better opportunities, this hole in my chest wouldn't be such a pai—"
"I can help you restore it," Jun Soryu suddenly interrupted the old man's words.
"Huh?" Elder Bai also paused, shifting his gaze towards the child, who just finished eating his ice cream, all neat and clean with his molten amber-like eyes, which can be seen through the mere mask.
'I already did my research...' Jun Soryu didn't come unprepared. 'Last evening the system told me to find a backing from someone. I had a question: why should I grab fruits from just a branch when the whole tree is loaded and empty? The answer was... grabbing fruit from a branch is easier than that tall tree.
"Do not cross the lines with the jokes, child." Elder Bai's kind presence changed to a violent storm; he didn't show a hint of internal energy, just the sheer will made the wind around him act fierce like a heavy sharp hammer waving in all directions.
'As expected!!!' Jun Soryu gritted his teeth, tightening every fibre of his muscles to not faint at that moment.
"What am I doing?" Elder Bai finally snapped out, and with a sigh, stood up. "I'm sorry, child; I let my emotion—"
"Reasonable enough" Jun Soryu cut in once again, and with a sigh, he also stood up, tossing leftovers of his ice cream over the dustbin nearby, and turning towards Elder Bai again, he remarked, "I did indeed cross the line, but I still request you to let me see the manual; I demand a reward. I will accept my punishment equal to the reward."
'This child...' Elder Bai felt it; experience and instincts hovered over his mind, and both leaned in favour of that child who stood like a stone wall in front of him.
"What an impressive willpower!" Elder Bai chuckled, finally revealing his light smile again as he took out a manual book from under his robe. 'Maybe it's just a whim or desperate hope that's making me fall so low, but somehow I don't feel disappointed at all!'
"Here." Elder Bai passed the manual over to Jun Soryu's hands.
But Elder Bai was awaiting some childish play; to his surprise, he was left stunned by the composed and concentrating eyes of the child in front of him. 'Colour me impressed...' he remarked in amusement, 'What kind of kid has such remarkable concentration? '
He couldn't help but smile. 'My Doudou is also a genius talent, but I feel like when compared to this child, even she is but a speck of dust in a desert. Just where did this kid come from?'
He was impressed beyond words, but that was but a tip of the iceberg for his morning, as barely 13 minutes later, Jun Soryu closed the manual with a smirk clear on his face.
[Earth Grade Illusion Technique—'Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual' (Incomplete) successfully registered!]
"To dare call Earth Grade Techniques, nothing extraordinary..." Jun Soryu mumbled, "Only a few in the whole province can dare."
"You – you actually guessed it?" Elder Bai exclaimed in shock, but that wasn't even the start of the surprise.
"Guess it?" Jun Soryu chuckled, and with a scoff, the next instance Elder Bai found himself standing in an entirely different sight, the backyard where his father trained him; this was the place he found himself standing, all in a daze.
'... This illusion' Old Bai recognised it, not just a familiar environment but the technique he was wrapped in, and suddenly as he looked at his body, he noticed his wrinkly body had changed to his young self, just as he remembered.
A small stature with the upper body exposed under the sun's heat, the experience which he hated the most in childhood and what he missed most as he grew older, the old Bai was already almost on the verge of crying, and just then a familiar arm covered his head. As he looked up, he was greeted by the sight of that confident grin of a man in black robe pants with a muscular upper build exposed.
'What are you dazing out for?'
"What are you dazing out for?"
The same sentence he had heard countless times during the training with his father, the man patted his head before walking ahead.
'Watch and learn...'
"Just watch and learn, you foolish child!" The man confidently addressed Old Bai and, showing off the reliable back, proceeded to release an extraordinary fist in the air.
A moment is silence.
Followed by the sound of a flame cannon.
Then a storm in wind which pierced through earth and trees alike up to hundreds of metres at once.
"Father..." Old Bai mumbled, unable to hold his tears watching this sight he had seen again and again all his childhood, once again as he was old himself.
"Why is a man crying like a girl? Tsk tsk! Don't embarrass my Bai family, you foolish heir!"
"I definitely won't, Father..." Old Bai, dripping with tears, almost fell to the ground, feeling his knees weak as, in the next instant, the image of his father standing in front of him was dissolved with the wind, revealing the fox-masked child standing in front of him.
[Earth Grade Illusion Technique—'Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual' successfully registered! ]
"It's a beautiful technique," Jun Soryu stated as he returned the manual to Old Bai, who also returned to his real stature, and even the made-up illusionary space around them vanished in air, revealing the fresh early morning park with bird noises everywhere.
"For starters, I will request you get a bigger ice cream." Jun Soryu chuckled. Old Bai also couldn't help but chuckle all the same as he stood up straight and sat back on the bench along with Jun Soryu.
"As many as you want," he said while commanding the guards.
'I didn't train for 10 years in an elite guard organisation for this!' They wanted to cry, but what could they do?
Now with a big glass containing various scoops of different flavours in his hand, Jun Soryu started explaining.
"It's difficult for me to explain, but just so you know, the creator of this technique was a very soft-spoken man with bright vision. I could feel life through strokes left by the man in this manual; his energy was something else."
"... Indeed." Old Bai nodded along while staring at the leaves of the tree with a soothing gaze.
"So with this I have finished my side of the deal correctly?" Jun Soryu questioned as he took another spoon of ice cream inside his mouth. Old Bai immediately nodded, "You have, I won't ask how you did it, and the Bai Family is in your debt. Ask whatever you desire, and I will do my best to meet your demands."
[Quest: Gain the favour and backing of a young miss from a Bai family in Tianhai City.
Reward: Hidden Technique Scroll (Earth Grade).
Time Limit: 7 Days.]
[Cleared!]
[It's been observed that the host has far surpassed quest conditions!]
[Reward—Earth Grade Hidden Technique Scroll has been upgraded to Saint Grade 'Heavenly Pulse Surge Sutra' to match achievement.
'Over-achievement, huh?' Jun Soryu smirked, 'But not done yet, though.' A crafty grin took over his face as he turned towards Old Bai and remarked.
"You mentioned this technique wasn't extraordinary..."
Old Bai turned to Jun Soryu, hearing the sudden remark, and with a sigh explained, "The Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual is a low Earth Grade Technique, illusion type at that. Compared to combat-type Heaven Grade Techniques, used by the various clans and organisations, it isn't extraordinary but still precious, at least to me."
"Haha! Is that right?" Jun Soryu giggled, and with a deep breath, he stated, "But I seem to have different beliefs; the Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual has more potential than just being a low earth grade technique."
"What?" Old Bai's eyes sparked with the same instinct, and as his eyes met with glowing molten amber pupils, he confirmed it. Jun Soryu chuckled and remarked, "I will be taking extra payment for this."
Old Bai understood the signal, and with a snap of his finger, a barrier isolating the sound just between them covered them both as Jun Soryu's face got filled with a cheeky grin from corner to corner.
[Earth Grade Illusion Technique—Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual]
'Big potential indeed...' Jun Soryu chuckled, and finally the calculations and alternations going on inside his head finally finished, adding some quick but sharp changes in the original technique.
[New Technique has been created by revising 'Clear Flow Heaven Vein Manual']
"I call it—'Flowing Shadow Scripture (流影經)'!" Jun Soryu declared.
['Flowing Shadow Scripture (流影經)' has been registered as the 'Heaven Grade Illusion' technique.]