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The element of lightning was not unfamiliar to Harry; in fact, it was something he was very familiar with—extremely familiar.
The awakened spell "qo-lightning," which allows him to shape and materialize lightning, was something Harry used with great skill. Although the amount he created each time might seem a bit modest, it did not hinder him from accumulating enough experience.
However, using spells, magical runes to summon or create lightning, and converting one's magic into lightning-based energy are different. For Harry, the feeling was akin to "I'm all set, but then I realize I'm constipated." Converting magic into elemental energy, but not performing the final step of casting a spell, left things in a halfway state that felt quite counterintuitive.
But Uncle Tian was very serious when he told Harry, this was the correct feeling.
The magic converted in this way was similar to taking a shell from an artillery box, loading it into a chamber, and waiting for it to be fired. Their bodies acted as the barrel, and once the "shell" was loaded, it would explode at a moment's notice when needed.
This was precisely why practitioners of martial arts could stand toe to toe with spellcasters and sword cultivators. Both spellcasters and sword cultivators needed time to prepare before casting a spell or drawing their sword. But martial artists, whether on offense or defense, did not require any preparation time. They were always the first to react in the face of sudden situations.
This was a precious ability on high-risk battlefields.
Moreover, no one had stated that martial artists couldn't use spells. As long as they didn't convert all of their magic into elemental energy, they could still mix in spells during battle.
The process of transforming magic into elemental energy was somewhat new for Harry, but the accompanying meditation felt a bit redundant.
Awakened beings' magic inherently contained more spiritual will than any other magic, and meditation was a method of enhancing this spiritual concentration. The process of granting magic elemental properties was something Harry would need to practice, but transforming his qi energy seemed unnecessary. After all, awakened magic already served as a higher-level substitute for qi energy.
However, this led to an awkward situation.
Qi energy with a lightning attribute should have manifested as a white glowing form, but Harry's "qi energy" was the same dull gray as his magic. After the transformation, it looked eerily similar to dark storm clouds gathering in the sky.
"Hmm, this situation of yours…" Uncle Tian said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "I've never seen anything like it. What is this, lightning qi energy from the sewers?"
"Sigh, it's fine, as long as it works. It's black, so what? At night, it's even better for stealth. All the other qi energy users are walking flashlights, making it impossible to see at night. But this way, it actually seems okay!"
After coming to this realization, Uncle Tian chuckled and patted Harry on the shoulder. If there was any weakness to a qi energy user—who was skilled in both long-range and close combat—it was their brightness, which made them easy to target. Even though their bodies were the toughest among spellcasters, it didn't guarantee they would always emerge unscathed from danger.
"Damn it! How am I supposed to show off with qi energy that doesn't shine?"
When Harry first encountered qi energy, he had already imagined himself as a glowing, radiant superhero, blasting waves of energy everywhere. But now, with his qi energy transformed into black, he felt more like a plague-bringer, laughing maniacally as he spread corruption and despair to the world.
"Why the long face? Black has its advantages too, you know. You can hide at night. If you want to shine, just use a light spell. Simple."
"Come on, come on, try making a qi energy orb. I saw you pick it up pretty quickly earlier. Let's hurry up, it's almost dinner time. We're eating at your uncle's today. Bring that little girl of yours too. You haven't been with her all day, huh? You can't be doing that. When you're dating, show some attitude. Good girls are to be cherished."
Upon hearing this, Harry awkwardly stiffened before quickly nodding, putting aside his pointless thoughts.
"Making a qi energy orb isn't just about forming a little ball. It's a precursor to learning the qi energy cannon and also a way to practice control over qi energy. The only difference between a qi energy orb and a qi energy cannon is that the orb doesn't fly out, but the cannon can shoot a great distance."
"Simply put, both the qi energy orb and cannon are basic uses of highly compressed qi energy. If I wasn't so bad at this, I'd show you some of the more impressive techniques, like the spiral qi energy field, beast shaping, or even using qi energy wrapped around the body for close-range attacks. When it comes to those external qi abilities, things can get really… well… strange!"
Uncle Tian scratched his head, unsure of how to describe close combat for qi energy users. If he had to, he would say, "It's like fighting with a mutated octopus. Those punches are wicked, to say the least."
"I'm not really specialized in qi energy. I just learned the qi energy cannon to make up for my weak ranged abilities. My spellcasting skills aren't great; I don't have that talent. But Black Boy, he's good at it—he's always been able to pick up spells pretty well."
"Come on, I'll teach you. Learning the qi energy orb is pretty easy. To put it simply, it's all about two things: spinning and compressing. You need to condense the loose qi energy into a ball, making sure there's no leakage. If you do that, the qi energy orb is done."
Uncle Tian sat in front of Harry and guided him step by step in how to form the qi energy orb. After just a few minutes of trying and practicing, a small, black sesame-sized ball appeared in Harry's palm.
"You're learning fast! Remember that feeling. Once you can create nine orbs at once, the qi energy cannon will be within your reach."
"Is it really that simple?"
Harry looked up at Uncle Tian and then spread his hands wide, with a qi energy orb floating at the tip of each finger, about the size of a ping pong ball. "This isn't so hard. Controlling magic—I'm pretty good at that."
The hardships Harry endured while training his body with magic weren't for nothing. Unlike the people of Taishi Heavenly Dynasty, Harry's body didn't naturally adapt to the fusion of magic. Every inch of his muscles and bones merging with magic had been accompanied by excruciating pain. Although this pain could eventually be endured, no one was foolish enough to keep choosing the most painful method to torture themselves.
The key became figuring out how to reduce the pain without affecting progress. This required precise control over magic, and as for the control needed for the qi energy orb, Harry could say that after learning the method and necessary precautions, casually creating dozens of them for fun wasn't a problem.
Every bit of effort and suffering you endure isn't wasted. It might not seem significant at the time, but one day, this accumulation could turn into a unique ability that sets you apart.
"Six."
Uncle Tian blinked, clicking his tongue in discomfort as he recalled the times when his second uncle would beat him up. His second uncle would curse while beating him: "What's wrong with your brain? I told you to spin the ball, and here you are flailing your hands around, shouting at me asking if it's spinning fast enough. I swear, if I don't kill you today, I'll be a laughingstock!"
"I get it now," Uncle Tian shuddered, shaking off the unpleasant memory. He stood up and sighed. "My second uncle really didn't go easy on me, but if I'm able to learn this, I owe it to him."
"I'm not sure where your talent level is, but it's definitely better than mine."
He waved Harry over. "Come on, let's go find your girl and then head to my place for dinner. Tonight, I'll take you to meet my second uncle. If everything goes well, you can study with him tomorrow. He's way better than me. I'm actually a little hesitant to introduce you to him—I might lead you astray. But if you want to learn my stiff, panda-style punches, haha!"
Uncle Tian straightened up, puffing his chest out with pride. "This is my thing—I'm the best at it. You won't have any problem learning it from me!"
Unlike what Harry had expected, Furong didn't seem to notice that she had been "lost" by him. The two of them had lunch at a café full of baby animals, particularly an abundance of adorable cubs. Whether the food was good or not, Harry couldn't say, but the cubs were undeniably cute, and there were so many of them.
The most numerous were the magical panda cubs. As top-tier magical beasts with combat power comparable to the Frost Tyrant, magical pandas had a significant weakness: their long juvenile phase. While regular panda cubs are no bigger than a small mouse when born, magical panda cubs are quite different. Their juvenile stage lasts so long that they remain the size of a body pillow for at least 20 years. After that, their transformation is rapid and drastic. In just two and a half months, they grow from cute little creatures munching on bamboo and meat to fierce beasts with fangs so large they can crush bones and pots with one bite.
It's said that the Iron-Eating Beast that Chiyou rode was a magical panda in its adult form, capable of pulling down Oriental Dragons from the sky like they were mere snacks. While their young are adorable, when they grow up, they become formidable creatures.
Surrounded by these panda cubs, Furong completely lost track of time. She spent the afternoon feeding each cub snacks and cuddling them, and by the time she looked up, the sky had already begun to show signs of dusk.
"Harry, look! Guess what I got!"
Furong came running over to Harry with a little booklet in hand, her face bright with joy. Despite the long afternoon, there wasn't a trace of fatigue in her smile, only an overwhelming sense of happiness.
"Panda Honorary Caregiver?"
Harry took the booklet and couldn't help but grin. "You fed over three hundred cubs this afternoon. Didn't that tire you out?"
"Not at all!" Furong shook her head, her excitement palpable. "The manager said there's another shop across the village. There are over seven hundred cubs here in total, and I've only fed half of them! I'm going back tomorrow. You have to take lots of pictures for me!"
"It would've been great to take one home, but the manager said no. Even regular pandas aren't allowed, sigh…"
"This is a national treasure." Harry teased, gently squeezing Furong's face, which now wore a hint of regret. "But we can come here often. Tonight, we're going to have dinner at Uncle Tian's place. He's going to take me to meet his second uncle to learn some things. If I manage to apprentice with him, it'll be much easier for us to visit the panda village in the future."
"Really?"
Furong's light blue eyes sparkled with joy, reminiscent of tiny, twinkling stars that made it hard to look away.
"Of course." Harry smiled, feeling a brief pause in his thoughts as he took her hand and nodded. "Uncle's waiting outside in the square. Let's go."
At Uncle Tian's house, Harry finally met the famous mother of Xiong Dezhen. While she wasn't a panda person, she belonged to the Moon Bear clan, a sub-group of the Bear people. On her chest was a crescent-shaped patch of white fur. Compared to Uncle Tian's robust build, she had a slender, graceful figure with curves that made her seem elegant. When Harry first saw her, he was deeply impressed.
Even though they came from different races, her beauty was striking from any aesthetic perspective. Harry could tell that Uncle Tian must have been quite the handsome guy back in the day.
Each family in the panda village had its own distinct style of bamboo tube rice, and the dish Harry ate here was different from what they had at the café. Harry happily devoured eight bamboo tubes, each the length of a small leg and as thick as a child's calf. This appetite, however, was considered perfectly normal among the panda people.
After dinner, Furong was warmly invited upstairs by Auntie, who led her to the workshop. Harry soon learned that Uncle Tian's wife was a renowned seamstress in the village. She was skilled at creating everything from fashionable clothing to combat-ready soft armor.
"She's worried about me getting hurt, but she can't come with me to the battlefield because her health isn't great. After giving birth to Black Boy, she suffered a lot. So, she started learning this craft to make clothes that would protect me. That way, if I get hurt, it won't be as bad."
As Uncle Tian spoke, a silly grin spread across his face. He patted his chest. "There were a few times I nearly didn't make it back. If it weren't for your aunt's clothes, I'd definitely have a few more holes in my chest."
"Have you eaten enough? Wait for me while I grab the jar of wine, and then we'll go find my second uncle. When you meet him, just call him 'Sir.' He used to be a teacher, but now he's not. You'll see what kind of temper he has. He doesn't tolerate any nonsense, but honestly, how many good people are willing to teach him?"
"If he doesn't think much of you, I'll find you another teacher. Although their level definitely won't match my second uncle's, they won't be bad either. At least they'll have a graduate degree to start with. If you're studying here, it'll be easy—I'll ask around for some good teachers, no problem. But I don't have much time left in my vacation. If I come back next time, it'll be next year, so there's not much that can be done under the current circumstances."
As they spoke, they boarded a special bamboo raft with a panda-style design, flying along a quiet path. They had already left the panda village behind and entered the bamboo mountains that were connected to the village. Harry's residence was located on the opposite side of the village.
Ahead stood a grand bamboo house, about five stories tall, giving off the feeling of a small palace. However, its lack of decoration gave it the appearance of an incomplete building. While the frame was beautiful, the absence of adornments made the structure seem somewhat odd, almost unfinished.
"Second uncle! I brought you some wine!"
Without knocking, Uncle Tian shouted loudly at the door, his voice echoing through the tranquil forest, startling a number of animals living in the bamboo grove.
"Shout your head off, get lost!"
Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and a whip-like tentacle shot out from the bamboo house. No matter how Uncle Tian tried to dodge, his backside still wasn't spared.
"You little bastard! You come here to steal my wine and deliver it back to me? Are you asking for a beating today?"
After the strike, the white tentacle wrapped around the wine jar and pulled it back inside. The jar, weighing around a hundred pounds, vanished behind the window.
"I'll bring you another jar another time. Today, I've brought someone with me—your good student! Your wife's not marrying, so you're just stuck at home with nothing to do. Oh, by the way, my old man wanted me to tell you something: When he comes back in the next couple of years, if you're still alone, he's going to hang you up and beat you. Having kids is a KPI, you know? If you don't have kids, and I don't have kids, then there won't be anyone left in Panda Village. Start popping out second and third children, and happiness will knock on your door."
"You damn bastard!" A gritted voice shouted from inside the bamboo house. "Get lost! Come in, I swear I've done something wrong in my life. I've run into you two old idiots—one I can't beat, the other I can't outrun, and you two always bring me trouble... sigh."
With a deep sigh, the closed door slowly creaked open. Inside, one light after another flickered on, revealing a dark interior.
(End of chapter)