Zed arrived at the library with Mr. Liu.
After telling Zed to wait at a table, he went and returned in five minutes. With him were ten scrolls.
"These are cultivation manuals, and the only way to get them is from Playgrounds. They are methods of forming Ki or Spirit cores using resources. Once you form the core, you can gain powers and attributes depending on the manual. These ten scrolls are Tier-1 Cultivation Manuals of the Ki system."
Mr. Liu laid out all ten scrolls on the table. "These are magical, as you can infuse Ki or Spirit energy and get their copy in your mind with extra clarity. So read and pick the one you like."
"Alright, I choose this." Zed made a random choice in a second.
Frozen Spark Manual.
Zed looked at the manuals and picked one that sounded coolest to him, pun intended.
"Alright, let's go. You can train it in tlass and tell me if you can't understand anything. You will be provided the resources to form your core once you finish the first step of the manual."
As both of them started walking back to the class, Zed asked Lapis, 'So how does this work? Can you tell me briefly and clearly, Lapis?'
[My lord. There are two steps in every cultivation manual. The first step is to lay the foundation by creating a formation using your Spirit and Ki energy. Nobody can help with this, as it depends on the user. By following the method in the manual, one can finish the first step. The speed depends on the control and focus of the user.]
[Afterward, one needs to use the resources of attributes mentioned in the manual to form a core upon the formation you made. Once the core is formed, it creates a complete system connecting your energies and body together, giving you certain powers and buffs depending on the Cultivation Manual.]
[Each Tier also has different grades of Cultivation Manuals. The one you have is a B-rank Tier-1 Cultivation Manual, so the powers its core provides are as such. A-rank is better, and S-rank is the best.]
'Interesting. I also just got the memory regarding Cultivation Manuals I practiced in some of my past lives since I was thinking about it.'
Soon, he arrived back in their classroom—or rather, classground—and sat down like the others before closing his eyes.
The print of the scroll was already in his mind as he could read and see the diagram inside in 3D.
The diagram reflected his body and had formations drawn in it with clear blue lines and a sequence flow telling him where to start.
Mr. Liu told him that since everyone was just starting to learn to control their Ki or Spirit energy, it could be hard to follow the diagram, and it was common to make mistakes.
Most of the freshmen took over fifteen days to complete the first step, though three talented freshmen were exceptions. One of them was Lina.
'Let's see how long it takes for me.'
Lapis chuckled. [You jest, my lord. You have completely mastered the beginner stage of Ki control and Spirit control. Just start and see how long it takes.]
'Oh?' Zed began without further ado.
And in just three seconds, he realized just how broken his control was.
Because two seconds later, he finished the first step, establishing the formation flawlessly.
Zed also realized that his returning memories helped in the formation's structure, so he couldn't even make a mistake even if he wanted to.
'What the fuck?'
[My lord. Having 100% mastery of beginner-stage Ki control means that you have the same control of Ki and Spirit as Lord-rank Players. You have reached the ceiling in control. All you lack is exploring that control to expand your arsenal of power, but this will also happen as it is just a matter of time—a short time.]
'Well then…' Zed's eyes glinted with a shrewd light. 'Let's make use of my excellence.'
"Teacher Liu!" Zed raised his hand and shouted.
Some students opened their eyes, frowned, and looked annoyed.
Teacher Liu appeared before Zed like a light gust of wind.
"Yes? Did you hurt yourself? It could happen, but no need to worry."
"Err… no," Zed said with a wry smile. "I called you to tell you I finished the first step. The formation is completed."
"What?!"
"Huh?" Jason opened his eyes. He was one of the three exceptional students alongside Lina and Katy.
"Ain't no way, brother?!" The student next to Zed uttered with a dumbfounded expression. "You're kidding, right?"
"Hmm, I can show the proof by projecting it outward, right? Here." Zed's eyes glinted as he circulated Ki in the formation before projecting the flow above him, perfectly showing the formation he had just created in his body.
Everyone looked and was shocked.
"What the…"
"That does look like a complete formation."
"Duh, how could he project it outward so fast if he didn't complete it?"
"But he just arrived here and sat down!"
Mr. Liu's mouth was wide open, and his mind short-circuited briefly before he started fact-checking.
'This is definitely the Frozen Spark Manual's formation. And he couldn't have acquired it before. He took it in front of me.'
'And he completed it in what? Ten seconds? What the fuck?'
"H-How did you do that?" Mr. Liu asked.
The entire class was silent. They wanted to know Zed's answer to that question.
"I just followed the diagram and completed it in one go. It wasn't as difficult as you said." Zed answered before blinking. "So can I move to the next step?"
Mr. Liu took a deep breath and said, "Wait here. I'll be back."
But just as he left like the wind, he stopped at the entrance and returned in front of Zed.
"Here, you can practice this in the meantime." Mr. Liu took out a scroll and handed it to Zed.
"Sure. What is it?" Zed curiously looked at the scroll and infused Ki in it.
"It's a skill."
Swoosh!
Mr. Liu left.
'If he indeed has genius control of Ki, then he should be able to learn that skill quickly.'
Zed got the information from the scroll in his mind while the students burst into discussion and started asking Zed questions.
But Zed was deaf to everyone as he stood still and read the scroll's details.
[Icicle Fist]
Rank: D
Cost: 5 Ki per second; 50 Ki per Icicle Spear.
Effect:
— Coat your fists with ice gloves that deal 10% extra ice damage and allow you to shoot an Icicle Spear from the fist at the cost of 50 Ki. The projectile speed depends on your attack speed when releasing it.
"Bro, what skill is that?"
"Is it an ice-attributed skill?"
"He trained in the Frozen Spark Manual so that it could be Icicle Fist. It's a pretty famous and tough skill for novice-rank Players who practice Ice-attributed Cultivation Manuals."
Zed was not responding to anyone and was quietly learning the skill.
'So we basically need to create a formation of the skill and turn it into a skill rune to use them. But the skills I got from the shop directly formed the rune in me, and I got its information ingrained automatically.'
[Indeed, my lord. The skills from the system will work like that, allowing you to learn them instantly.]
'Nice.'
Zed was done learning the Icicle Fist in half a minute as he raised his fists in a boxing stance; they were coated in shining blue ice gloves.
He turned to the students and asked, "It's fine if a couple of bamboo trees break, right?"
"…"
Swoosh!
A pink-haired girl with twin ponytail style jumped from the middle and landed in front of Zed.
"Hi, I am Katy." Katy smiled as she stretched her hand. "We can spar if you want to test the skill."
In the class, only Jason, Katy, and Lina had learned a skill enough to execute it so far.
"Sure." Zed shook her hand once before both of them went farther up into a spacious area and created a distance of ten meters between them.
Katy gestured with her hand. "Shoot."