When Aren officially became an outer disciple, a new part of sect life opened before him—mandatory contribution tasks.
You couldn't just sit around cultivating forever.
You had to do something.
Guard a gate, harvest spirit herbs, deliver letters between mountain peaks, clean sword-testing arenas, chase away wild beasts from mortal farms…
There were dozens of options. Most were short-term, random, and required way too much running.
Aren, of course, chose none of those.
Instead, he picked the Island Protection Task—a long-term duty posted at the edge of the sect's territory, offering low effort, guaranteed merit points, and best of all… quiet.
---
The next morning, Aren was already on a small ferry boat gliding across Azure Lake, the morning mist curling like dragon whiskers around the waves.
Before him, an island gradually came into view—shaped like a ring, with green hills surrounding a central lake. Mortals in straw hats fished and harvested reeds along the shore. Simple tiled homes dotted the landscape. It looked peaceful.
This was Ring Island, one of the thirty-three mortal islands protected by the Sword Sect.
A lone, flickering spirit vein—classified as Level 1, Low Grade—ran beneath the central mountain, just enough to support one low-stage cultivator for long-term cultivation.
Which suited Aren perfectly.
---
The local elder in charge—a hunched man named Uncle Wu—handed him the island's jade seal, a room in the shrine, and a basket of dried sweet potatoes.
"You're the new protector?" Uncle Wu asked, squinting. "You look younger than my grandson."
"I cultivate efficiently," Aren said with a straight face.
Uncle Wu nodded as if that explained everything.
---
Aren spent the next few days walking the island, introducing himself to the villagers (who offered him more sweet potatoes than he could ever eat), and settling into the old shrine at the hill's edge.
He also began reviewing the Five-Element Lotus Art, his new cultivation technique.
Unlike the smooth, custom method he had built earlier, this art was far more formal and structured. It required visualizations—picturing a lotus blooming inside your dantian to stabilize elemental qi flow.
Aren frowned as he read.
"…Imagine a lotus? Why?"
He gave it a try. Closed his eyes, breathed evenly, and visualized a lotus forming in his belly.
After ten minutes of this, he opened one eye and looked down.
"…Still just a belly."
He leaned back against the wall, tossing the scroll onto his lap.
"Why do cultivators always have to imagine something? Dragons, swords, lotuses…"
He stared up at the ceiling beams. His fingers tapped absently against the wooden floor.
Then a thought struck him.
"Do spirit beasts imagine anything when they cultivate?"
He sat up.
"Does a bear visualize a lotus? Does a tiger chant internal mantras?"
He leaned forward, voice rising slightly with excitement.
"They don't! They just… exist! And eat spirit grass and punch things!"
Aren slapped his thigh.
"So why should I imagine a lotus?"
He looked down at his belly again, then shook his head.
"I'll imagine myself. Just me."
---
That night, Aren entered his meditative state.
He circulated his qi slowly, following the rhythm of his unnamed technique. But this time, when it came time to imagine the qi center, he focused on a simple thought:
"I am here."
The image formed in his mind—a tiny version of himself, sitting cross-legged within his dantian, surrounded by slowly swirling qi.
Not glowing. Not dramatic. Just… him.
> Ding!
Cultivation Visualization Modified
New Form: Qi Statue – Stable Configuration
Properties: Reflective, Synchronized State
Matching Rate: 100%
Passive Feature Unlocked: Background Cultivation Mode
"…Huh."
The tiny statue wasn't doing anything, but qi naturally flowed around it. Aren didn't even need to focus that hard—his breathing guided the process like a gentle wheel turning in the background.
Over the next few weeks, Aren made a discovery.
When he entered full cultivation, the Qi Statue would mirror him, and the cultivation speed doubled. It was as if both he and the statue were drawing from the same method, reinforcing each other.
And when he stopped, the statue would keep cultivating, albeit more slowly, maintaining a low hum of qi circulation even while he napped.
He discovered something else.
When he stubbed his toe on the shrine's bamboo stairs one morning, the statue inside his dantian trembled.
When he cut his palm on a fishing hook, a crack appeared in the statue's hand.
The two were linked.
> "Qi Statue Link: Active"
"Synchronized Mode: On (Manual Override Available)"
Aren stared at the little crack in the statue's palm and flexed his hand thoughtfully.
"So… if I'm injured, the statue shows it. And maybe vice versa."
The possibilities buzzed in his head.
But for now, he let it be. He didn't turn off the link.
Instead, he let the cultivation continue, gently and silently.
---
Six months passed.
The villagers grew used to their "lazy protector," who smiled often, helped with roof repairs, and spent most of his days either meditating in the shrine or walking barefoot around the lake.
But beneath that calm rhythm…
Aren soared.
From Level 6 to Level 9 of the Qi Cultivation Realm.
The combination of a peaceful environment, the Qi Statue's passive cultivation, and his unmatched compatibility with his self-made method created a kind of quiet storm in his dantian.
His qi pool deepened. His senses sharpened. Even his presence—once soft and forgettable—began to take on a quiet gravity.
---
Meanwhile, his combat technique, the Great Club Form, reached perfection—and then, broke through.
> Ding!
Limit Break Achieved – Great Club Form
Transformed to: Juggernaut Strike
Description: A devastating, momentum-based blunt weapon technique. Can fracture spiritual shields and crush elemental defenses.
Shortly after, his movement art, the Ox Charge, also reached its peak.
> Ding!
Limit Break Achieved – Ox Charge Art
Transformed to: Juggernaut Step
Description: Converts continuous motion into unstoppable acceleration. Can create shockwaves upon sudden stop or impact.
Aren blinked as the notifications rolled in.
Then he looked down at his two fists and wiggled his toes.
"…I think I'm becoming a human battering ram."
---
He spent a few days testing his new combined form.
He dubbed it the Juggernaut Art—a fusion of charging movement and earth-shaking attacks.
When used together, he became a force of nature: building up speed with Juggernaut Step, then smashing through obstacles with Juggernaut Strike. He even knocked down a small boulder on the island, which tumbled into the lake and caused a minor fish migration.
(He later apologized to Uncle Wu, who lost a laundry line in the wave.)
But… there was a flaw.
The art required brute physical power. Speed alone wasn't enough—his bones had to endure the pressure, his muscles needed to absorb impact, and his flesh had to survive the recoil.
Without a strong body, he was like a porcelain cannon.
So finally, Aren returned to the sect's inner hall and used his accumulated sect points to unlock the technique he'd been eyeing for months:
> Iron Ox Body Refinement Art
Compatibility: 92%
Status: Purchased
Description: Muscle forging and bone strengthening through compression breathing and posture holds. Grants endurance, stability, and base power.
He held the scroll in his hands and exhaled slowly.
"No more running away from this," he muttered. "If I'm going to charge like an ox… I should probably train like one."