10. First time

  Maria left the town of Duk, and the townspeople's lives returned to their usual tranquility. If there was one difference, it was that Armon had become a qualified miner. Every day when he saw this familiar small town, he found that the streets, houses, and the air filled with the smell of stoves were no longer as attractive to him. He felt like something was missing. In his heart, there seemed to be an inexplicable emptiness, or as if something had been taken away.

  Ah Mon always recalled that scene, he didn't understand but somehow seemed to comprehend why she did it. In her room, their gazes scorched each other, he placed his hand on her chest, just about to kiss her scorching lips, when a strange force suddenly pushed him away.

  This power seemed familiar to him, somewhat similar to the fluctuations emitted when opening a mine core with a large hammer. The next morning, Maria left in a hurry, of course following Lord Dick, but in Amun's eyes, it was as if she deliberately avoided his temptation - Amun would rather think so, although this is impossible.

  At night, when the world is quiet and he's alone in bed, Amun looks up at the low ceiling, those blurry shadows and ambiguous lights seem to have a halo flashing in between. He can't help but think of her, even wondering what would have happened if she hadn't pushed him away back then, and Lord Gabriel hadn't come in.

  The fourteen-year-old boy had no experience with what was to come, but as he thought about it, a certain part of his body hardened shamefully and popped up uncontrollably, making him excited and unable to help feeling ashamed. In fact, Armon was obviously more robust than children of the same age and more mature in development. He didn't think he just wanted to do something with her, but really yearned for that feeling, and he was a little puzzled and at a loss about it.

  In the end, Ah Mon finally thought he understood, but in fact what happened at that time had nothing to do with his decision. He let out a sigh and got up from bed, slipping out of the house to take a bath in the cold spring.

  For some reason, Amun felt a longing for the first time - this icy spring could be even colder, soaking every pore of his body to bring him inner peace. But he hadn't lost his mind yet and forgot the old man's warning, when a warm current rose in his body it was time to get out. He moved around on the shore for a while, then sat down quietly to adjust his breathing, closed his eyes and listened to the sound of blood flowing through his limbs, carefully feeling every pore slowly opening up, as if he could see and control his own body.

  According to experience, at this time, there will be a warm current overflowing throughout the body, making people feel very comfortable and quiet, so comfortable that they want to sigh, and quiet to the point where they don't want to think about anything. But today's feeling is not quite the same as before, both physically and spiritually, there is an unusual **, the warmth becomes scorching hot, like a surge of emotions, the cold spring in front of me seems to emit an unusual fragrance - that is her breath.

  The cold spring bath didn't bring the same tranquility as before. After dawn, Amun habitually went to chat with Old Crazy. He wasn't someone who liked to reveal secrets, but this matter was suffocating him. After all, he was only a fourteen-year-old kid, and he absolutely trusted Old Crazy.

  Amun didn't mention what happened in the room that night, only talking about the trouble he encountered while bathing in the cold spring. As he spoke, he hung his head and looked at his toes, as if he had committed some kind of sin.

  The old madman listened and didn't feel surprised at all, instead he chuckled and handed him a cup of wine.

  Amon instinctively shrunk his body and replied, "I don't drink." His father was an alcoholic, and Amon had seen enough of his drunken appearance since he was young, developing an inexplicable aversion to liquor.

  The old madman laughed and said: "Not everyone will become a drunkard, child, you have grown up and should taste many things in the world, just like this wine."

  The old man's words were like a temptation, and Armon took the wine cup as if possessed by a ghost, lightly tasting it. There was a pungent feeling and an unfamiliar aroma, the taste wasn't very comfortable, but it seemed to be exactly what he wanted. He couldn't help but take another big sip, letting that pungent heat flow directly into his body through his throat.

  The old man raised the wine jug and filled his cup again, with a profound smile, he asked: "If you have any confusion and want to ask me, just say it clearly, is it related to that Maria? Don't think I don't know, kid, so I said you've grown up."

  Amon was somewhat surprised, his face also turned red, and he didn't know if it was because of the wine. He asked back: "What do you all know? How did you know?" Then, with a slightly evasive look, he lowered his head and took a big gulp of wine.

  The old madman continued to refill his wine cup, shrugged and said: "I know what's my business, whether you say it or not is your own business. Don't forget that you came looking for me, with a look like you had something to say."

  Amon was drinking for the first time, and Lao Feng's wine was so strong that after a few big gulps he felt somewhat drunk. He finally said everything out loud, then looked at his cup and muttered to himself: "Is this not very shameful of me?"

  The old madman suddenly burst out laughing, his messy beard trembling along with it: "What's shameful about that? It seems you like her, it's just human nature! ...However, the way you look now is quite as if you've been tempted by a demon."

  "No, Maria is not a devil!" Ah Mon exclaimed in discontent, raising his head.

  The old madman put away his smile and shook his head seriously: "You misunderstood, Maria is not a devil, but there is a devil in your heart."

  "What devil? What devil?" Ah Mon was stunned, in his impression, devils were representatives of evil in myths and legends, hated and killed by gods.

  "The old madman explained slowly: 'You're wrong, this devil is not that devil, but the turmoil in your soul. This devil lurks in the heart and desires. If you get lost in this turmoil, the devil will occupy your heart, which is equivalent to selling your soul, also known as falling. In fact, one of the tests that a divine practitioner faces during their cultivation is the 'devil's temptation'."

  Amun wondered: "I'm not a divine magician, will I also encounter 'devil's temptation'?"

  The old madman shook his head, and his disheveled hair fluttered: "No, no, no, anyone can experience the devil's temptation, but for a divine technique practitioner, to reach the peak of intermediate divine techniques, one must go through this test. As for you, you haven't reached that step yet, the current test you're facing is 'Awakening of Desire'. The little story between you and Maria also has something to do with this."

  Amon became even more perplexed, suddenly remembering something and curiously asked: "The other day, Lord Gabriel asked me if I had learned any martial arts, and today you mentioned divine techniques. Can you tell me what's going on? Why did Lord Gabriel ask me that? And why do you say I'm facing a test? I haven't learned anything!"

  The old madman snorted, poured himself a cup of wine: "How come you haven't learned? The mining skills in Duoke Town have this, it's just that no one understands! And the way I teach you is different from others, if you want to listen, shut up and don't ask any more questions, let me finish speaking."

  Amon fell silent, and the old madman explained what divine art and physical art were while drinking. On the Tianxu continent, slaves were not allowed to learn physical arts, and only nobles had the qualifications to learn divine arts. Amon was hearing this for the first time and didn't know that the old madman's words contained many heretical contents.

  Magic and martial arts can both grant superhuman power, but they are two different paths.

  The power awakened by Tai Chi is the human body's own strength, stimulating the greatest potential in the blood vessels. According to myth and legend, humans were created by gods, and the divine bloodline remains in the body. Awakening it can make muscles and bones strong, increase strength and courage, and also make people more resilient and responsive. When this power is fully stimulated to a very high degree, it can be emitted from inside out.

  It is said that Taijutsu was originally just a way for people to train themselves to become stronger, but later it was used more in battles and killings, and many techniques were developed, so it is also called Bujutsu. Practitioners of Bujutsu are also known as Bushi. Taijutsu is divided into nine levels: First to third level bushi are usually referred to as low-ranking bushi; Fourth to sixth level bushi are usually referred to as mid-ranking bushi; Seventh to ninth level bushi are usually referred to as high-ranking bushi or great bushi.

  It's especially difficult to become a high-ranking warrior, which means you've already joined the ranks of the top warriors on the continent.

  The divine art awakens the mysterious power between heaven and earth, and the divine artist communicates with various energies from the outside world, controls, transforms and uses them. This is an ability that ordinary people do not possess, and it should be possessed by gods, so it is considered a gift from the gods. The divine art, like the physical art, is also divided into nine levels.

  Seventh- to ninth-grade high-order mages are also known as great mages, and they are transcendent beings on this continent, almost as magical as gods in the eyes of ordinary people.

  Learning divine techniques and physical techniques both require awakening power, but the awakened power is different. Awakening the power bestowed by the gods is much more difficult than awakening the power hidden in the body's blood vessels, and only a few people can do it. Generally speaking, as long as the body is healthy and strong, the will is firm, and the faith is devout, one can awaken the power in the blood vessels and learn physical techniques.

  The first power to be awakened determines the direction of a person's cultivation. Therefore, the number of divine artisans on the Tianxu continent is far less than that of warriors; on the other hand, those who are qualified to learn divine arts are also much fewer.

  There are a few people who may awaken to both powers, and there is also a strange phenomenon where when one power is cultivated to a very strong degree, the other power will also be gradually awakened. Some people practice both martial arts and magic, mainly among warriors. The process of cultivating magic is much more difficult than cultivating martial arts, so magicians generally do not cultivate martial arts, as the profound and complex magic already requires them to pay out their life's energy.

  Whether it's an ancient myth or a real situation, it tells people that it's impossible to cultivate both divine techniques and physical techniques equally, and one can only be the main and the other auxiliary. For example, warriors like Gabriel cannot cultivate their divine techniques to the same level as their physical techniques, but simply use simple divine techniques to assist in combat.

  The divine art and the physical art are both divided into nine levels in three stages. The difference between the same stage is only the mastery of skills and the proficiency of application, but the power usage between different stages has a qualitative difference, which is called: Awakening of Power, Control of Power, Transformation of Power.

  Cultivating divine techniques is more difficult than cultivating physical techniques. On the one hand, there are few people who can awaken the power bestowed by the gods. On the other hand, each level of divine technique must undergo the trial of the gods.

  Acquiring the power bestowed by the divine spirit, the trial that must be passed at the entrance is "the awakening of desire".

  To cultivate lower-level divine techniques to their peak, one must pass the "Trial of Faith".

  To cultivate the intermediate divine technique to its peak, one must pass the trial of "Devil's Temptation".

  Before becoming a great magician, there is another difficult test "Faith Fusion". ——To merge the world you believe in your heart with the world you are in, you can transform the power you have to an incredible extent.

  While the physical technique seems to not require these, as long as the practitioner is strong and persevering in their training, it also contains an inexplicable element of luck. This doesn't mean that advancing in physical techniques is easy; it's just relatively easier compared to spiritual techniques.

  These are all for the lower and middle levels, when reaching the seventh level or higher, whether it is a divine technique master or a warrior, it becomes extremely difficult to advance further. The secret of this may only be known by the high-level officials of each kingdom's grand temple. Especially the highest ninth level, which is extremely rare throughout the continent, regardless of whether it is a ninth-level divine technique master or a warrior, it is said that in the mortal world they possess the power to fight against the gods, and are even called semi-gods.

  At this point, Amun couldn't help but interrupt and ask: "Half-god? How can a mortal possess the power to fight against gods?"

  The old madman was speaking with one hand holding a wine cup and the other hand waving and gesticulating non-stop. Interrupted by Amun, he asked back somewhat unhappily: "Why not? Some of those who claim to be gods in the mortal world may just be demigods after all... It's said that people like this are descendants of gods and mortals, which is why they have such power." — I think these words are lies!

  Amon asked inexplicably: "Sarang, how did you know?"

  The old madman drained the wine in his hand, his eyes deep and staring at some unknown place, answering clearly: "Because I know one, he is my student, a ninth-level great magician."

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  PS: After midnight tonight, a new week begins, new book on the chart, begging for votes!

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