Li Xingkong's attack nearly knocked Tang Cheng out of his skin, but fortunately, the attack landed on his Spiritual Qi and didn't cause him any real harm.
He was still drenched in sweat from the shock, and sat there stunned for a while before finally recovering after taking a deep breath.
"Holy crap, that really scared me half to death."
Tang Cheng had finally calmed down, his hand still clutching his chest. He was mentally recovered, but his body was still tense.
"Are you alright? You'll feel better after some rest."
Li Xingkong forward and cast a Restoration Technique on Tang Cheng. Although Tang Cheng's current state could not be considered an illness, the Restoration Technique itself had the effect of restoring his condition and could also help alleviate the various hormones produced by high stimulation.
After this Restoration Technique was cast, Tang Cheng's tense body relaxed.
" Brother Li, that move you just used was too powerful! You used so much force!"
After recovering, Tang Cheng carefully reviewed the move he had just made, still feeling somewhat frightened.
"I used that move when I was in a state of control comparable to yours; I didn't use any force that exceeded the limits."
Li Xingkong said with a smile.
"Impossible! With my skill level, how could I possibly unleash such a powerful attack?"
Tang Cheng was somewhat skeptical.
"Of course there's a technique to it. Before I exerted force, I did a shaking motion in place. Did you see it?"
"Is that so?"
Tang Cheng clearly didn't notice.
"By using the ground-shaking technique, I amplified the force of Spiritual Qi energy multiple times. If it were a human body, the combined force would tear it apart. However, Spiritual Qi's resilience far exceeds that of the human body. Therefore, this technique, which is useless in real-world combat, can be used without restraint in Spiritual Qi battles."
Li Xingkong gave a simple explanation without going into too much detail. The principle was quite simple, and Tang Cheng actually understood it as well. However, when he manipulated Spiritual Qi, his thinking was still that of a human, so he couldn't unleash the power of Spiritual Qi most of the time.
"The difference between Spiritual Qi and the physical body is quite significant. When manipulating Spiritual Qi, many concepts need to be adjusted accordingly."
After this battle, Li Xingkong discovered that they still had many problems with their manipulation of Spiritual Qi. However, these were minor issues that would gradually improve with prolonged use and as their control over Spiritual Qi energy increased.
Compared to themselves, they didn't lay a solid foundation, which is why they have all sorts of problems.
"That's true. When I was controlling Spiritual Qi, I subconsciously focused on controlling my body, and many of the unique characteristics of Spiritual Qi weren't utilized."
Tang Cheng also reflected on the differences between this battle and the previous ones, and summarized the problems.
"In the past, when we played against each other, our control levels were about the same, and we didn't notice these problems during the game. But Brother Li, you're amazing. This game felt like I was being completely outmaneuvered by you."
"There's nothing special about it; practice makes perfect. If you practice sparring for a long time, you'll definitely catch up to me. After all, real combat has the greatest effect on improving your strength."
Speaking of actual combat, Tang Cheng and his group had plenty of opportunities for real combat along their cultivation journey, but Li Xingkong was different. At his current level, it was difficult for him to find a worthy training partner, and he rarely had a chance to make a move.
This won't do. Having cultivation without practical combat experience will put you at a disadvantage when fighting others later on.
However, this problem can be put aside for now. At least for now, there is no one or matter on Earth Star that can get him involved. Right now, no matter what happens on Earth Star, he can simply crush it with his cultivation level. There is nothing that can make him compete in actual combat skills.
"By the way, the cultivation method is also ready. You can try practicing it first."
Having just finished a battle, Li Xingkong almost forgot why he came here. He weighed the token in his hand and tossed it to Tang Cheng.
Tang Cheng reacted quickly, clutching the token to his chest.
After receiving the token, Tang Cheng examined it repeatedly, but no matter how he looked at it, it was just an ordinary token.
"This is the cultivation technique?"
Looking at the unremarkable sign in my hand, I couldn't find anything special about it.
"Try touching the image on the sign with your Spiritual Qi."
Li Xingkong gave a reminder.
"Okay, I'll give it a try."
After listening to Li Xingkong's words, Tang Cheng affixed his Spiritual Qi to the token.
As soon as he touched it, the pattern on the token seemed to come alive. In Tang Cheng's view, after twisting rapidly a few times, the pattern produced a thread-like thing from somewhere. This thread, like a snake, sniffed around on the token a few times, and then suddenly lunged straight at his head.
Before Tang Cheng could dodge, the thread shot directly into his mind. Then, as if receiving a signal, the pattern on the token surged into Tang Cheng 'Tang Cheng mind along the path opened by the thread.
In Tang Cheng's mind, a strange roulette wheel appeared, with a five-pointed star pattern engraved on it. On each point, a character was engraved. Upon closer inspection, they were the five characters: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.
After Tang Cheng came into contact with the roulette wheel, he learned its function: it was a lock, constructed from the pattern he had just seen and his own memories.
To unlock this lock, he needs to recall a fragment from his memory that matches the corresponding conditions. If the fragment matches any one of the five points, then the corner of the corresponding large character will be partially filled, until one corner of the five-pointed star is filled, at which point the roulette lock will open automatically.
Because everyone's understanding of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness is different, when the roulette wheel is constructed, it first finds the individual's own understanding of these five points from their memory, and then analyzes this understanding to construct a pentagonal roulette wheel that is unique to that individual.
As long as a person's actions align with their own understanding of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, then the roulette wheel will fill a section.
For Tang Cheng, the roulette lock was clearly no problem; he unlocked it in just a few breaths. A seemingly profound cultivation technique was then revealed from the roulette and engraved in his memory.
"You saw the cultivation technique?"
Seeing Tang Cheng quickly beam with joy, Li Xingkong knew that he had most likely succeeded.