The Path of Acquired Power

"Eh? Holy shit!"

Wang Wu stood there dumbfounded, his mind completely blank. Ice Spirit Energy? Beginner Ice Spirit Root?

That worked too?

I'm not dreaming, am I?

But after his shock, the first thing he thought of was those five White-Haired Rats.

If he had guessed correctly, those five White-Haired Rats had probably gone through an experience much like his own last year. They had first raised their ice resistance, gained Perfect Ice Resistance, and then muddle-headedly acquired Ice Spirit Energy.

He just did not know whether those five had cultivated a Beginner Ice Spirit Root.

As Wang Wu pondered this, a sense of urgency rose within him.

By his calculations, it had already been a month and a half since the first winter snow fell. The Cold Air Gale would weaken, and it would disappear.

No matter where this thing came from, whether it was a variant of the Golden Particles or some benefit a Great Demon had bestowed upon the Sprites...

He had, at most, one month left.

He had to seize the time.

With that thought, Wang Wu swiftly returned to his cave abode and slept like a log. After waking up, he began stuffing himself wildly, gathering 500 points of Satiety before charging into the tunnel and crawling out of the snow burrow.

The Cold Air Gale still showed no signs of weakening. Even though Wang Wu now possessed a trace of Ice Spirit Energy and had opened a branch meridian, it still hurt when it blew over him. It still mercilessly pierced through his fur, flesh, bones, internal organs, skull...

Wang Wu gritted his teeth and endured, but he could only barely last twenty-one seconds before being utterly defeated. He burrowed into the tunnel and began his frantic collision routine.

With his previous experience, his collisions were more effective this time. Which spot to strike, how much force to use—through repeated impacts, he gathered the cold air running wild throughout his body into one place: the branch meridian he had opened before.

The entire process took only five minutes.

Once the gathering was complete, the pain vanished in an instant. Then a message quickly appeared.

"You have successfully harvested 0.04 points of Ice Spirit Energy."

--

No way, only this little?

Wang Wu froze, then calculated it. The day before, he had indeed endured for nearly five hundred seconds in total outside before successfully gaining one point of Ice Spirit Energy.

Converted like that, this was indeed the correct amount. Ice Spirit Energy was harder to obtain than the Spiritual Qi formed from Golden Particles.

What was the difference between the two types of Spiritual Qi?

Wang Wu pondered. He could now clearly sense the short branch meridian that had been opened inside him. It was like a road that had been carved out, tangibly existing there. The trace of Ice Spirit Energy within it was also within easy reach. He truly could use it, though it was destined to require long-term training.

But what about the Spiritual Qi he had acquired before? Where was it hidden?

It seemed to be hidden within his bloodline, naturally controlled by his Spiritual Resonance Talent. It came at his call and left at his command, like a child sheltered by its parents, doing whatever it pleased and willful to the extreme.

"If I have to compare them, they are probably like the difference between innate and acquired."

"I have never raised my Spiritual Resonance Talent, so I haven't felt it that strongly."

"But if I raise my Spiritual Resonance Talent to Level 5, I should be able to see a very obvious contrast."

At that moment, Wang Wu could not help thinking again of the five White-Haired Rats and the Flame Scorpion King.

Before, he had been unable to see the difference between them. But now, it seemed clear that the White-Haired Rats had acquired their ice spells through acquired cultivation.

That was why none of the Gray Rat Knights in their tribe could wield ice spells.

Because this was an individual endeavor.

That was why the White-Haired Rat had been able to obtain an official position so quickly. It was weak, but special, and thus received considerable care.

But looking at the Flame Scorpion King, it could fire fireballs itself, which did not seem any different from fire spells.

Yet the issue was that its offspring could also produce fireballs.

That was the essential difference.

It was like two roads: one followed acquired cultivation, while the other followed innate Bloodline Talent.

Neither path was bad.

In fact, Bloodline Talent might even be stronger.

Wang Wu was extremely certain of that. The power of his four Bloodline Talents was proof enough.

And from beginning to end, he had never raised his Spiritual Resonance Talent. If he raised that as well, he might not be unable to fight the Flame Scorpion King.

Still, he ultimately possessed a human soul. The angle, breadth, and depth from which he viewed matters were beyond anything these Sprites could compare to.

"Both paths, I will walk."

"But I absolutely will not be high-profile or get carried away. Lying low to develop and creeping forward in a cowardly fashion—that is the creed of our kind!"

--

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Inside the dark tunnel, Wang Wu continuously rammed himself against the walls, sorting out and gathering the Cold Air Gale that had invaded his body. At the same time, he was trying hard to summarize the patterns behind these impacts.

Because he was also searching for an effective method to perfectly release this Ice Spirit Energy.

He could not possibly absorb Ice Spirit Energy and never use it.

"If I were human, perhaps I could use all kinds of incantations and release Ice Spirit Energy with a wave of my hand. But I am a bear, so I cannot use humans as my reference."

"My only reference target right now is actually that White-Haired Rat."

Wang Wu quietly pondered and recalled.

How had the White-Haired Rat he had fought several times released its ice spells?

"It seems to have used only three methods of attack."

"The first was an area-of-effect freezing attack. The maximum measurable freezing range was around ten meters. It could Ice Seal a target in an instant, but the spell's power and duration depended on the surrounding environment. There had to be enough water nearby, or it had to be raining. Before casting it, it would stand upright and fiercely press its two little paws forward."

"The second was ice spikes. This seemed to be a rather complicated spell with a long windup, requiring at least nine seconds. But once the windup was complete, it could fire up to nine ice spikes at once."

"The third was the use of talismans, but it was still unclear where the White-Haired Rat had obtained them."

At that thought, Wang Wu tried standing upright and slamming both paws downward, but there was no reaction whatsoever.

"Perhaps that's not it. I cannot apply human habits and ways of thinking. These Sprites could not possibly possess such delicate thought processes, so the medium for activating Ice Spirit Energy is best kept to movements. There's no need to overthink it—it needs to be released naturally along with the rhythm of an attack."

Wang Wu then thought of the impact movements he had summarized to sort out the cold air, and an idea gradually formed in his mind.

So he continued ramming the tunnel walls, striking once with the left side of his body, then once with the right.

This collision movement could be developed into an attack movement.

Humans had Iron Mountain Lean. His could be called Bear Mountain Lean.

For a time, Wang Wu no longer deliberately obsessed over releasing Ice Spirit Energy. Instead, he focused on the attack method of Bear Mountain Lean.

For example, he first needed to run, accelerating as he ran. At the moment he rushed toward and closed in on his target, he should not try to stand upright or strike with his paws. Doing so would actually slow him down and cause a massive loss of the inertial force gained from running.

But if he used Bear Mountain Lean instead, he would not waste the inertial impact force built up by running.

And in actual combat, he could switch between Bear Mountain Left Lean and Bear Mountain Right Lean according to the target's movements.

Once he had thought it through, he simply began practical testing inside the tunnel. He first retreated some distance, then began accelerating, accelerating. Just as he was about to reach the end of the tunnel, he immediately made a slight adjustment to his center of gravity and body angle, naturally smashing the right side of his body viciously into the tunnel wall.

At that instant, it was as though fortune had descended upon him, as though everything had fallen into place, or perhaps the inertial force of his body had spontaneously stirred the Ice Spirit Energy within him.

The opened branch meridian was like a switch that had received a release signal.

The instant he successfully struck the wall, a stream of Ice Spirit Energy rapidly burst forth, instantly covering the entire wall with a thick layer of ice!

It worked!

Although that Bear Mountain Right Lean had directly exhausted all the Ice Spirit Energy he had stored, Wang Wu was so delighted that he jumped high into the air.

That was it. That was exactly the feeling. There was no need to be like humans, pinching hand seals, chanting spells, and pacing the cosmos before releasing a spell. His attack movements were the signal!

There was no need to imitate humans.

Humans were too frail, so they tried to attack from as far away as possible. But he was a bear, thick-skinned and sturdy-bodied. Close combat suited him just fine.