The night passed without issue. It seemed they were safe for today, but Li Jun was preparing. His uncle had always been ruthless and quick to blame him every time his son made up a lie to frame Li Jun.
As the next head of the family, Li Hong purposely put pressure on Li Jun, his mother, and the family of his younger brother, Li Yang. Although, unlike Li Jun and his mother, Li Yang held influence within the capital city, there was only so much Li Hong could do to ensure that he didn't compete for the seat of the family head.
Sweat dripped down Li Jun's face as he stood in his room with his arm outstretched. A strange feeling made the palm of his hand tingle as he repeatedly struck out his hand.
"It's not working," he muttered as he picked up one of the books he had found within the magic silver ring. He read through it once more.
"It says I have to channel spiritual energy through my arm and into my palm. But how do I do that exactly?" He wondered. He put down the book with a frustrated sigh and lay on his bed, then stared at the ceiling with a defeated frown.
Li Jun tried to recall everything he knew about martial arts, but he didn't know much at all. However, there was one thing he always found strange.
When his father wasn't out fighting in wars the emperor waged, he would spend most of his time sitting with his eyes closed. He called it meditation but sat there for hours, sometimes even days.
A sudden image flashed inside Li Jun's head. A golden light shone before his eyes, and he could see the outline of a person sitting with their legs crossed and their hands facing the sky.
A voice whispered into his ears as the figure vanished. Li Jun's face was pale.
'What was that?' He asked himself, but whatever it was, he learned something.
Without another word, Li Jun sat down in the same position that he had just seen an image of in his mind and closed his eyes.
The voice he heard didn't say anything he could make sense of, but it gave him a warm feeling. It was as if his body wanted to sit in that position, and he couldn't fight against the urge to do so.
The room fell quiet as Li Jun listened to his breath, the only noise that could be heard. His eyes remained shut as a slight burning sensation, equivalent to the heat of a flickering candle, emerged from the location near his stomach where the tendon-repairing pill had targetted.
A prickly feeling ran across his skin as he felt something move around him. His eyes shot open as he thought there was something in his room, but as he looked around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
He closed his eyes once more, tried to relax, and soon found himself breathing slower and slower. A few moments passed, and despite his eyes being closed, the outline of bright golden text appeared in front of his eyes.
Li Jun's heart raced for a moment as he looked at a list of instructions.
"Cultivation technique: Freezing Fire and Burning Ice."
Li Jun followed the instructions listed. It required him to remain seated in that position with his eyes closed. It then told him to imagine a ball of light within the area above his navel.
Then imagine that ball spinning. With each rotation the ball made, it would require energy to power its next rotation. The energy that it required was, of course, spiritual energy.
Li Jun tried his best to visualize the ball and make it rotate, and after what seemed like hours, he finally managed to do it. A cool breeze washed over him as he visualized the ball spinning faster and faster until a sharp pain made his eyes shoot open.
"Agh!" He let out a cry as his mouth filled with blood. His eyes were bloodshot as he spit out the blood onto the floor.
"What the hell was that?" He thought. He tried to figure out what he had done wrong. He had followed the technique exactly as it had instructed him to. He remembered the cool feeling as he visualized the ball of light spinning within him. As he imagined the ball speeding up, that coolness was replaced by a burning feeling that grew stronger until he spit up a mouthful of blood.
"Did I do it too fast?" He asked with a questioning look in his eyes. He closed his eyes once more.
The night passed as the ball of light within his body moved in a circular pattern. Unknown to Li Jun at the time, with each rotation, a small amount of energy from the world around him was absorbed into his body.
As he opened his eyes, he saw sunlight flicker in from behind the curtains. It was morning, but somehow, he didn't feel tired despite staying awake all night.
Li Jun stood up and looked at the book he had thrown onto his bed. A thought came to mind as he bent his knees and threw out his hand with as much strength as he could muster.
A gust of wind fluttered gently through the room in response to his palm strike.
"I did it," he said idly as his mind raced with excitement. "Does this mean I'm now a martial artist!?"
He rushed out of his room and then downstairs before making his way into the courtyard.
An old apple tree stood in the center of the yard, surrounded by stone paving that stretched around his entire house.
Once Li Jun reached the tree, he struck out toward it with another palm strike. As his hand touched the tree, the branches shook, and a handful of apples fell to the floor.
"Again!" He shouted excitedly as he struck the tree once more. More apples fell as he repeatedly hit the tree, as if he held a grudge against it.
A gentle breeze awoke Li Jun's mother as she felt a change in the atmosphere around the house. She made her way to the window and looked out to see Li Jun hitting the old apple tree.
She watched as the tree shook in response to his attack, and a smile forced its way across her lips.
"So you've finally awakened, huh? It looks like I no longer need to protect you." A quiet whisper escaped her lips as she watched on with a smile, but her eyes remained locked on the spot above his navel where she had stabbed the needles into his body the day before. She then vanished from the window, moving even swifter than the wind as every trace of her existence disappeared.