The next day, the first of the eighth month, he again left his physical body in Carefree Cave to refine qi and sent his Bamboo Body to the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Palace to study the arts. This time, however, he specifically moved the blood dragon from his Heart Mansion into an aperture in his Bamboo Body.
Several months earlier, after roughly a year, Cheng Xinzhan had gained an initial grasp of the Divine Thunder Method. He had then applied to transfer from the North Pole Bureau's Evil-Subduing Office to the Penglai Bureau's Sweet Rain Office to continue cultivating Water Thunder.
But over the year from last year's Awakening of Insects to this year's, he had not merely gained an initial grasp of the Divine Thunder Method. More importantly, he had gained an initial grasp of Thunder Arts. Cultivating Divine Thunder alone had not taken up much of his time, so he had also dissolved the True Baleful Intent very quickly.
The same held for Water Thunder.
The instructor teaching Cheng Xinzhan Water Thunder was Daoist Jianping, He Jiyuan's master. He believed Cheng Xinzhan's ten days of cultivation each month equaled several months of He Jiyuan's. Of course, this was not to say He Jiyuan was poor at it. Daoist Jianping also believed his own comprehension fell far short of Cheng Xinzhan's.
Hearing that Cheng Xinzhan wanted to cultivate Dragon Thunder, Daoist Jianping nodded and said,
"You have indeed gained an initial grasp of Water Thunder. From here, it's a matter of patient, grinding work. But only those who possess draconic might can cultivate Dragon Thunder. You know that, don't you?"
Cheng Xinzhan nodded.
Daoist Jianping understood and continued, "Very few people in the palace cultivate Dragon Thunder. The Office Chief of the North Pole Bureau's Demon-Slaying Office is one,