Chapter 44: Greatly Improved Control, Chidori Enters the Next Stage
By the afternoon of the next day, the sun was already sinking toward the western horizon.
On the surface of a quiet lake, two figures, one male and one female, stood side by side. They were Yu Tianlin and Shui Bing'er.
The difference between them was clear at a glance. A thin layer of ice supported Shui Bing'er's feet, while Yu Tianlin stood directly on the water, with no ice beneath him at all.
From standing still, to taking slow steps, Yu Tianlin soon began to move faster. He ran lightly across the surface of the lake, his feet kicking up waves as if he were sprinting on solid ground.
Shui Bing'er watched him and smiled.
"Congratulations, you succeeded so quickly."
Yu Tianlin stopped and walked back to her, his tone relaxed.
"I should be the one thanking you. Without your help, I would probably have needed two more days."
If one wanted to fully master water treading, constant attempts were necessary, which meant constantly falling into the lake. Every time he fell in, he would have to swim back to shore, wasting time, and his clothes would be soaked and uncomfortable.
With Shui Bing'er helping him by freezing the water under his feet whenever he misstepped, most of that was avoided. His efficiency had increased by more than half.
Shui Bing'er smiled lightly.
"It is fine. It is what I should do."
Yu Tianlin shook his head inwardly, no longer putting on polite airs. He knew exactly how much she had helped him.
Freezing the lake surface was not free. Shui Bing'er had to consume her own Spirit power every single time. She was also training her own water treading at the same time. At only level 25, her total Spirit power was not that great, yet she had spent these two days constantly assisting him.
Turning his attention away from himself, Yu Tianlin asked,
"What about you? How far have you gotten now?"
Shui Bing'er answered calmly,
"I can now completely suppress the cold in my Spirit power. As long as I do not want to, even if my Spirit power touches the lake surface, the water will not freeze. And if I do want to, I can instantly release the chill and freeze the surface."
Although there was still a thin layer of ice under her slender feet, it was ice formed when she intentionally released her cold attribute when stepping onto the water. It was no longer the result of her chill leaking out uncontrollably.
Yu Tianlin nodded.
"You have already contained the cold. Next, you just need to stand on the water using only the repulsive force of your Spirit power, without using the ice at all. That should not be too hard for you. You should be able to do it within two days."
The sky was already growing darker, and Shui Bing'er had clearly consumed a lot of Spirit power that day. The two of them ended their training and headed back to the cafeteria for dinner.
After dinner, because SkyWater Academy was an all-female academy, it would have been inconvenient for Yu Tianlin to visit Shui Bing'er in their dorm area. The two of them agreed to meet the next morning in the vice dean's private room on the second floor of the cafeteria.
After they parted, Shui Bing'er rejoined the main group of SkyWater Academy students and returned to the accommodations that Thunder Academy had arranged for them.
As for Yu Tianlin, his schedule remained unchanged. He went back to the pointed-roof building by the lightning rod in the southeast corner, meditated to restore his Spirit power, and quietly waited for night to fall.
The night passed quickly.
Around four in the morning, the thunderclouds once again gathered above Thunder Academy. Yu Tianlin drew in another one hundred and forty bolts of lightning, slightly increasing the age of his first Spirit Ring.
Only after that did he return to his dormitory and sit down, beginning to think seriously about the development of Chidori.
Now that both tree climbing and water treading were complete, his control over lightning attribute Spirit power had improved dramatically. It was as natural to him as moving his own arm. Under these conditions, continuing to develop Chidori would no longer be the suicidal gamble it had been at the beginning.
Unknowingly, the sky brightened.
The sounds of students chatting and walking drifted in from outside the dormitory windows. Yu Tianlin knew it was about time for breakfast, so he temporarily set aside his thoughts and headed to the cafeteria to meet Shui Bing'er.
When he arrived at the second floor, he could already see Shui Bing'er from a distance, waiting outside the private room.
Today, Shui Bing'er was wearing long pants instead of a dress, clearly prepared for the coming tree climbing training. Her long light blue hair was tied into a high ponytail, making her look energetic and spirited.
Yu Tianlin quickly walked up and apologized,
"Sorry, I am late. You must have been waiting."
Shui Bing'er shook her head and smiled.
"It is alright. I just got here too."
After the two finished breakfast in the private room, they left the cafeteria together. While the other students headed toward the playground to watch the exchange matches, Yu Tianlin and Shui Bing'er slipped away and returned to their familiar lakeside.
Shui Bing'er went straight to the water to continue her water treading training.
Yu Tianlin, on the other hand, sat cross-legged on the shore and once again focused on developing Chidori.
When he had first practiced tree climbing and water treading, his training had actually been far more difficult than that of the ninjas in Naruto. He had needed to maintain attraction or repulsion at his feet while also suppressing the destructive power of lightning inside his Spirit power at all times.
Now that he was working on Chidori, the situation was reversed.
In Naruto, to use Chidori, one first had to transform one's chakra into lightning attribute, then compress and control that lightning chakra into a high density electric current, which in turn stimulated the body and increased cutting and piercing power. That process of nature transformation and control was very difficult.
But on Douluo Continent, Yu Tianlin's situation was completely different.
His Spirit power naturally carried the lightning attribute. There was no need for him to perform any nature transformation at all. He only needed to activate the lightning within his existing Spirit power.
The only thing he needed to do was control the intensity of that lightning. Not so strong that it damaged his body, and not so weak that it lost all effect. Because of that, the difficulty was greatly reduced compared to the original version of Chidori.
With that thought in mind, Yu Tianlin began to experiment again.
This time, he did not transform his right arm into a dragon. First, because he was out in the open and could not reveal his martial soul casually. Second, because after completing tree climbing and water treading, his control over lightning had risen to a new level.
He was confident that even if something went wrong, it would not injure him as badly as before.
He guided his Spirit power into his right palm and lightly activated it.
A thin electric current flashed across his hand.
Still too weak.
Yu Tianlin had expected that, so he slowly increased his Spirit power output, carefully raising the strength of the current bit by bit. After some time, he finally brought it to the maximum level his palm could endure.
Crackle, crackle.
A dense electric current gathered in Yu Tianlin's right palm, emitting a low humming sound. He could clearly feel that this was already the limit his palm could withstand. If he increased it even a little more, his hand would probably be ruined.
From his perception alone, this current was already terrifying.
If it struck a Spirit Master below level 30, unless the opponent possessed an extremely powerful defensive Beast Spirit, they would likely be paralyzed on the spot, their body twitching uncontrollably.
However, while Chidori did indeed carry a strong electric attack, at its core it was still a thrusting type close combat technique, a physical attack sharpened and enhanced by lightning.
Right now, what he had was only a mass of powerful current. That cutting and penetrating feeling was still missing.
It seemed there was still a long way to go before Chidori was fully developed.
Next would be the truly time consuming stage, using fine control to constantly adjust and guide the powerful current in his palm, stimulating the activity of his arm and hand, sharpening the palm and fingers, and forming true piercing and cutting force.
Only when he reached that point would the development of Chidori be considered complete.
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