Garment and Lock

On the fourth night, the trainees followed their respective captains into a building.

"303... this is it." Before pushing the door open, Zhao Jingzhong turned to the trainees and said, "Don't touch anything once you're inside. If anything gets damaged... bear the consequences yourselves."

Over the past few days, the Eighth Team trainees had basically figured out Zhao Jingzhong's character.

Though he had come from the military, whether because Jie Qiansi had challenged him or simply because that was his nature, Zhao Jingzhong spoke about everything calmly and never liked stressing this or that.

He said what needed to be said, but brushed over matters such as consequences in a single sentence. Whether the trainees listened was their own business. Calling him perfunctory or lazy would not have been unfair.

When they went to train at the Third Training Ground on the morning of the third day, Zhao Jingzhong casually mentioned that equipment marked with a red star was not to be used, without explaining why. Then one trainee went over and tried it once, only to have all his strength instantly drained by the equipment. His limbs remained weak for the entire morning, and he could only wait until mealtime to drink spirit fluid and replenish his energy.

It turned out that section of equipment was specially intended for first-rank cultivators. Using it consumed Active Aura, and steadily, gradually consuming aura in a healthy manner could slightly increase one's total aura capacity. But trainees who were still in the Formation Stage would naturally only end up being drained dry.

Therefore, everyone treated Zhao Jingzhong's words with extreme caution and did not dare take them lightly. Upon entering, they saw what seemed to be a classroom, complete with a blackboard, podium, and three rows of long tables. On each table sat a hexagonal tray, above which floated an almost transparent square Crystal Body.

There were ten people in the Eighth Team and thirty square Crystal Bodies in the room. They stood behind the tables, carefully observing these crystals that stirred an inexplicable feeling in their hearts.

"Magnetic levitation?" someone asked.

"If you insist on calling it that, it should be aura levitation." Zhao Jingzhong said flatly, "Let me ask first: is there anyone who hasn't opened their qi vortex yet?"

No one spoke.

"Good. In that case, only those who have opened their qi vortices will benefit from this lesson."

"Today, you will learn the most basic Aura Technique."

Aura Technique!

Everyone grew excited. They were finally going to master Transcendent power!

If Transcendents were compared to firearms, then cultivating a qi vortex was like accumulating ammunition, while Aura Techniques were the firearms themselves! A Transcendent's strength naturally was not determined by how much ammunition they possessed, but by how much power that ammunition produced when fired!

Zhao Jingzhong used magnetic clips to stick the two large diagrams on the table before him onto the blackboard. Everyone saw that each diagram showed two little figures interacting. Written above them were, respectively: "Garment" and "Lock."

"The Aura Techniques you will learn are 'Garment' and 'Lock.' 'Garment' consumes the Active Aura in your Inner Qi Vortex to drape an invisible garment over yourself, which can offset external harm."

Zhao Jingzhong said, "You encountered someone awakening at noon, didn't you? That Awakened's Awakening Skill was quite good. Not only could he transform, he could also control flames. But as long as you use 'Garment,' you can completely ignore damage from flames."

"When swimming, casting 'Garment' can simply push the water away and allow you to obtain air."

"During external force testing, cultivators can use 'Garment' to withstand the impact of a large truck traveling at sixty kilometers per hour, without being sent flying by the collision. Of course, that assumes you have enough aura. As for attacks from ordinary people, those are naturally no problem at all."

Zhao Jingzhong pointed at the image on the large sheet, where one little figure attacked another wearing invisible armor. "Blades, fists, chainsaws... as long as your aura can maintain 'Garment,' it can block almost all of them. Bullets, however, can break through 'Garment's' defense. Remember this: if you encounter someone with a gun, run."

"Besides, 'Garment' has other useful applications, such as..."

Zhao Jingzhong took down the diagram of "Garment," then extended a finger and slashed it sharply through the air!

With a ripping sound, a neat tear appeared in the paper, splitting it cleanly in two with a single finger. Yet the cut looked as though it had been made with a blade, not torn apart by a finger.

"If you study it thoroughly and compress the aura of 'Garment' until it becomes extremely sharp, you can achieve the effect of blades as well. Of course, it is difficult and entirely unnecessary," Zhao Jingzhong said. "If you truly need to fight for the country, you will naturally be taught Aura Techniques meant for combat. But 'Garment' is the starting point for most Aura Techniques. You can't go wrong practicing it often."

Ren Suo was certain that Zhao Jingzhong had absolutely gone easy on them when they sparred before. If Zhao Jingzhong had used this move during their earlier fight, then even with Physical Enhancement and Introduction to Fighting, Ren Suo still would not have been able to touch a hair on Zhao Jingzhong's head!

"This is 'Garment.'" Zhao Jingzhong showed them his right arm. "Though it is called invisible armor, you can still see faint traces of it if you look closely. Watch carefully..."

In the trainees' eyes, Zhao Jingzhong's palm seemed slightly hazy—like air distorted by rising heat.

"After using 'Garment,' an invisible aura film forms outside the body. This aura film filters gases, creating a slight displacement with the air. That is why all harm is unable to endanger cultivators. Once you become proficient, this film can be deployed at will and appear only on the parts of your body where you need it. Naturally, that is much more difficult, but it consumes far less aura."

"At present, the types of damage 'Garment' cannot resist are supersonic kinetic impacts from firearms and the like, light-based attacks, poison gas attacks, and sonic attacks. Hmm, as for jumping from a building, it depends on the circumstances. From within thirty meters, you should emerge unscathed. Any higher, and it will depend on your personal fate."

Zhao Jingzhong pointed to the other diagram. "Besides 'Garment,' you will also learn 'Lock.'"

In the diagram, little figure A gripped little figure B's right hand while pressing down on the back of little figure B's head.

"Aura is invisible, and qi vortices are invisible as well, but attacking qi vortices with aura is possible." Zhao Jingzhong said, "'Lock' is an ultimate technique for dealing with ordinary people. It directly suppresses the human body through aura. When activating 'Lock,' a cultivator can only restrain the target and cannot do anything else. The target, meanwhile, will be completely unable to move because key areas throughout their body are locked down by aura."

"If you encounter an Awakened, 'Lock' is still effective and can even restrict the target's aura flow. Of course, that assumes the target cannot use aura to offset your aura attack. In other words, 'Garment' can perfectly deal with 'Lock.' But if you encounter an Awakened who cultivated on their own, using 'Lock' can basically render them incapable of fighting."