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Ren also improved the Calm Spirit Technique.

Previously, it required chakra to be converted into something that had calming properties. At most, it helped the practitioner stay level-headed, especially in the middle of a fight. But since this technique was only a level above the basics, it didn’t really provide much boost.

It’s useful to teach beginner martial artists more about chakra control and chakra property changes. Its actual effects were minuscule.

Ren changed in a way similar to what he did to the Green Lotus Core Technique and the Golden Fleece Technique 1.0. He overhauled the chakra conversion formula and the chakra attribute formula as well. He made it so that practitioners could create a Calming Spirit Chakra ahead of time, which mostly went to an individual’s psyche, allowing its calming effects to last longer.

Instead of producing chakra on demand, he turned it into a ’buff’ instead, that lasts for the next 24 hours as well, just like the Green Lotus Core Technique. It also doesn’t require a lot of setup to convert the chakra; it could be finished in under five minutes.

Additionally, this improved technique increased Ren’s sensitivity to his surroundings. He’s more aware of the movements and dangers around him, and with calming chakra on his psyche, he could react faster and better too.

With these three techniques improved, Ren solved his immediate needs.

He now had techniques that would allow him to utilize his raw power even better. It will also help him continue his practice, speeding it up with the added pressure and requirements for himself.

This accelerated his muscle-forging practice. It allowed him to push more chakra into his flesh, pushing out more impurities in them and allowing him to store exponentially more chakra than before.

The larger drain on his chakra also meant that he needed to move more and convert more chakra. This, in turn, made him tire out more easily but also accelerated the growth of his chakra seed even further.

With more chakra spent and converted, his chakra seed retained more to spend in its own growth.

The root network of his chakra seed was more noticeably firmer and resilient. They could now support more chakra flow, which meant a little increase in how much chakra output he could use at once, which also pushes more chakra to his flesh, which accelerated his practice.

This is the whole reason why he, and other practitioners in his level of martial practice, search for martial arts techniques of higher grades, because it allows them to utilize their power better compared to the basic techniques, and it also accelerates their practice speed through pressure.

With this solved, Ren doesn’t have any worries for quite some time. These three techniques will serve him well until he reaches the Marrow Cleansing Stage—the 4th Stage of the Human Realm of martial practice.

As for his major creation, the martial art that he’d use to bridge the gap between him and those who followed the ’Path of Arms,’ Ren had some realizations.

’I am too ambitious for my current level of strength.’

He realized that he had been too eager and too arrogant in thinking that he could make something right away, that he could just neutralize the ’Path of Arms’—something that had taken generations of humanity’s accumulation of knowledge—just because he had the ’qualifications’ to do so, completely forgetting that qualifications alone weren’t enough. Strength and power were needed too.

Ren’s demands for himself were too high. Although that shows that he had that much faith in himself, he’s reaching way beyond what he could handle right now.

The framework of his creation, even as just a mere framework itself, tells him that his technique would require an obscene amount of chakra to use. Something that a little Muscle Forging Stage martial artist like himself was simply unable to produce at his current level.

Hell, it’s not until he steps into the Marrow Cleansing Stage that he might just be able to use his own technique, and even that would be pushing it.

He’s creating something that even Inhuman Realm experts would find difficult to use. Yeah, he had gone a little too far indeed.

Thankfully, Ren caught himself quite early. He hasn’t gone deep enough yet into the process, so he was able to pull himself away from it. Otherwise, he would’ve wasted his precious time and effort for something that he wouldn’t have been able to use for quite some time.

So, he shelved it for now, which is the wise thing to do.

Instead, he planned on focusing on what he had right now. He will prioritize his current needs. However, this doesn’t mean that he’s completely abandoning his goal. He would still work on it, just slower this time. He will prioritize his martial practice first and will slowly build his path on the side.

With his priority sorted out, Ren felt lighter and his thoughts clearer.

He refocused and thought that while the Nine Echoing Canons Technique, the Golden Fleece 1.0, and the Calm Spirit 1.0 did cover his requirements, there were still some things in his arsenal that needed some boost.

His speed was once such an example.

The basic footwork technique had served him well, but he had outgrown it. Just like before, he needed something better.

So, he pondered over all the movement techniques he had seen and decided to make something for himself.

Flash Steps was its name. A movement technique that makes the practitioner so fast that they appear to others as a flash of light. The concept was simple, and thanks to his unparalleled comprehension talent, creating it wasn’t troublesome.

Ren didn’t demand too many things for his movement technique. Its entire purpose was to help him move faster so he could dodge attacks that hurt or kill him and to take him from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time possible.

Flash Steps had that in spades. It could amplify Ren’s raw speed by 2× at base and 5× at perfection.

This was insane because most of the movement techniques at the mortal grade, low or high, could, at most, only boost the practitioner’s speed by 2× at maximum; anything beyond that would be considered an Earth Grade movement technique, one that is harder to practice and more demanding in its requirements for the practitioner.

Ren just casually made something simple enough to remain at the Mortal Grade level while having the effects of an Earth Grade movement technique.

The best part? Ren wasn’t an ordinary practitioner. With the Banished Arsenal Martial Physique adding 30% to his physical gains every breakthrough and the Limitless Martial Physique doubling all his gains on top of that, Ren had the stats of somebody who should way be beyond his actual martial realm.

His raw speed alone would make his fellow Muscle Forging peers speechless; add the Flash Steps on top of that, and he’d be able to run laps around them effortlessly.

And with his Green Lotus Core Martial Physique increasing the effects of the Green Lotus Core Technique on him by 300%, Ren doesn’t have to be afraid of overexerting himself.

Ren’s advantages just grew immensely. And this was just the beginning.

The techniques in his arsenal he improved using his gifts were more than enough for his current level, and if there’s ever a moment it becomes insufficient, Ren could just improve them again.

He could keep doing this because he could and he had the ability to do so.

And eventually, Ren would create his own martial art. One that would allow him and his clan to level out the odds. One that could compete or completely neutralize those who followed the Path of Arms.

By then, the clan’s weakness will no longer be a thing. They will be treated as a true ancient martial arts clan, and they won’t have to lower their heads and endure the mockery of other martial clans out there.

Ren would make it so that the Banished Arms Clan could walk around the Central City with their heads held high, respected and strong.

But that’s a matter for the future.

The martial arts practice frenzy in the clan had calmed down lately. Although the energy within the clan was more charged with positivity and activity, it’s only a minor improvement.

At the end of the day, their situation hasn’t improved that much. The clan still has to rely on offering their services to the public for quite some time.

And obviously, this includes the potion stores and healing services.

Speaking of which, Raymond—Grandma Allen’s son and Ren’s tutor for medicine and potion making—finally deemed Ren more than prepared to start his practical training.

Starting tomorrow, Ren would finally put all his memorization and theoretical practice into actual potion making.

These past few days, Ren had been making pastes and ointments for his beginner’s practice. He made ones that could alleviate soreness, untangle knots, disperse colds and bruises, and so on.

Totally beginner level stuff.

And thanks to his stellar and consistently perfect performances, even Raymond could no longer find an excuse to delay his actual practice.