For the first Special Training Class at East Blade Military Academy, Lin Yi didn't bother with any elaborate opening ceremony.
He arrived at the large lecture hall right on time and stood before the students, his gaze sweeping over their eager faces.
"The Special Training Class has one purpose: breaking through."
Lin Yi's opening remarks were exceptionally brief. "All ceremony and red tape are a waste of time."
"Now, we begin the first lesson: intensive training in Source Energy control."
Lin Yi raised his right index finger. A soft blue sphere of Source Energy instantly gathered at its tip, like a dancing sprite.
"Gathering Source Energy is the first step."
Before he had finished speaking, the sphere began to collapse inward at a visible rate. It grew smaller and smaller, while its light became increasingly concentrated and dazzling.
At last, it became a blue point of light no bigger than a soybean, yet radiating an astonishing energy.
"Compression is basic control. I imagine you've all learned how to perform the most basic compression by now," Lin Yi continued.
Next, the point of light, compressed to its limit, slowly stretched and changed shape until it became a Source Energy blade, thin as a cicada's wing, hovering quietly above his fingertip.
"Shaping is a demonstration of fine control."
"I doubt turning it into a blade will give you much trouble, either." Lin Yi paused, then set a higher goal. "If you're confident in your control, you can try the next step."
The Source Energy blade changed again, growing narrower and thinner until it became a blue thread of light, fine as a strand of hair and about a foot long. It twisted faintly like a living thing, radiating a heart-stopping sharpness.
"Stretching it into a thread. A thread is harder to control