"Behold, the second form of our scripture, The Fifth Limb!" Kong Ye declared proudly, waving his hands around a new silhouette made of qi.

Mu Ran's expression did not resemble any type of appreciation as he entirely ignored Kong Ye and scrutinized the silhouette of meridian structure which Kong Ye had conjured up.

Han Xuhan understood his sentiment. 'Special' cultivators like Mu Ran and Yuen Zhou definitely had some special traits related to their cultivation, physical or mental. For example, he had overheard Mu Ran multiple times blabbering about some special physique called the Twin Dragon Devil Reverend something something...

Kong Ye so far had been careful not to poke at any of those, so what was he doing right now? Casually displaying each of their meridian structures to the rest of the audience hardly seemed like a wise thing to do...

But as Han Xuhan kept on examining Mu Ran's expression, he realized that the tension and concern were receding from his face. Since he had been that worried, something special had to have been at risk of being leaked. Yet neither Han Xuhan nor anyone else had noticed anything special or noteworthy about the meridian structure in front of them. Didn't that imply...

That Kong Ye already understood what each of their specialty was and the man had hidden those secrets intentionally while creating the four different meridian structures and qi circulation systems!!!

What was this if not psychological manipulation of the highest order? Han Xuhan was in absolute awe! This man, Kong Ye, was truly someone he could learn from!

Another possibility was that Kong Ye did not know about their exact specialty at all

Sight locked on Mu Ran, Kong Ye added as an afterthought, "this is the form you'll be pursuing. Astral combat shall be quite a fascinating skill to master with this, no? Any questions, disciple?"

"...Is that a tail?" Mu Ran asked, an extreme concern discernible in his tone. "I'm not attaching a limb to my ass."

"Yeah, if the ten qi accumulation points in sister Zhou's meridian system sprout tentacles, then...this accumulation point in the butt-"

"It'll be an extension of your tailbone, stop butting into this, " Kong Ye spoke up, interrupting Han Xuhan. "Besides, it's an astral extension, not like it's gonna be real tail attached to you in this corporeal world."

"Accurately speaking, that would be an appendage, not a limb," Xiao Wu added.

"No technique sounds decent with the word appendage in it. We're calling it a limb." Kong Ye's tone was as flat as it could be.

"...Right," Xiao Wu concurred.

"We could call it the Return to Monke technique!" Han Xuhan suggested enthusiastically. But the glare Kong Ye and Mu Ran sent toward him made him recall that he was no longer on earth.

Mu Ran wore a shifty look on his face as he accepted that his new cultivation technique was primarily about sprouting a tail. "Maybe this is a sign that I should mingle with those spade-tailed ladies from the succubus race, hehehe..." he whispered to nobody in particular as Kong Ye handed him a scroll containing the brand-new cultivation technique. Sitting nearby, Han Xuhan's imagination suddenly got colored by a demonic tint, some depraved elements crawling into his mind about succubi of all sorts...

Even his recently enlightened mind wasn't enough to keep away the waves of envy.

"Now, Xiao Wu, my disciple, you wish to cultivate a spirit beast-rearing technique according to the Shadowbeast nurturing manual. So in your case, we'll have to change things up a little-" Kong Ye began manipulating the qi in front of them once more, waving his hands around emphatically, which Han Xuhan was fairly certain was a mere dramatic flavor to add to the sense of mystique in his actions.

As a new silhouette made of qi began to take shape rapidly, all of their brows creased, especially Xiao Wu's. Because...

"I know my physique doesn't exactly come off as super healthy... But there is no way my face looks that horrifying," Xiao Wu protested as the basic shape of the silhouette formed and stabilized.

"My good disciple, this is an octopus."

"...Why... Why is it an octopus? There are hundreds of thousands of spirit beasts to choose from. Why does it have to be something this hideous?"

Xiao Wu's sorrow was something Han Xuhan couldn't quite sympathize with. He wasn't picky when it came to cultivation techniques, or maybe his experience as a summoner of near-useless zombies had guided him into adopting such a mindset. Han Xuhan found the prospect of rearing a giant, horrifying eight-limbed octopus inside his soul much more interesting than all of those predictable divine phoenix, heavenly dragon, and golden crow beast spirits that he used to read about in stories. Just imagining the scene of a giant monstrosity rising from behind his comparatively tiny figure, to face off all sorts of powerful enemies by using eight...tentacles-

Ah, so that was the link connecting all of these forms of Kong Ye's new cultivation technique.

Tentacles.

No wonder Kong Ye was unwilling to share the title of this technique! He could guess what it might be.

Wait a second...so what would the fourth form of the technique be? Wasn't that the one allotted for him?

Suddenly, Han Xuhan began to feel a sense of crisis. Meanwhile, Kong Ye confronted Xiao Wu's insistent badgering coldly.

"Do you want to have the chance to make a stand against the Beasthaven sect? Or would you be happier to rear something that looks cute?"

Grumbling inaudibly, Xiao Wu chose the former and accepted his new aim in life as an octopus cultivator. Handing over a scroll to him after explaining some details about his form, Kong Ye turned to face Han Xuhan.

For a brief second, Han Xuhan noticed his teacher's eyes flicker towards the three minions at the back, and then become vacant for a few seconds.

"Lastly for you, disciple Xuhan, I have here the fourth form of the technique, the Astral columns!"

"THANK THE HEAVENS!"

"Didn't know you were that religious, disciple."

"I'm just glad that it's not named Astral Tentacles or something like that, teacher."

Kong Ye pointedly ignored his reply and began to create the meridian structure representing Han Xuhan's physique. Realizing that this was a good chance to confirm his suspicions about Kong Ye's little scheme, Han Xuhan closely examined every millimeter of the silhouette that took shape in front of him.

As it turned out, Kong Ye had no qualms about revealing the heaven-defying physique Han Xuhan had been born with.

"By the nine hells, that thing looks more terrifying than my octopus..." Xiao Wu wondered out loud.

"This would be a hundred times scarier to any cultivator compared to your future pet, Xiao Wu," Mu Ran said. "Truly befitting of my underling and martial brother; only someone of that caliber can be expected to live well with this physique."

Han Xuhan's emotions were in turmoil. He didn't know whether to feel happy by the awe of his peers or to lament the reason for their awe.

Yuen Zhou's brows were furrowed. Perhaps she too had noticed that Kong Ye had hidden the rest of their speciality while revealing Han Xuhan's weakness. Han Xuhan almost began to wonder if his unnecessary, snide remarks had flipped a switch inside Kong Ye...yup, that was probably it.

Adopting a saccharine-laced smile, Han Xuhan said, "Teacher, where are the qi accumulation points of this form? And what will they sprout?"

"The qi accumulations points in the meridian systems of your martial siblings were all about the astral totality. Yuen Zhou would use her ten accumulation points to sprout ten tentacles of fate, which can latch onto the astral projection of a thing or a person. What results this attachment would lead to is up to her performance and luck.

In Mu Ran's case, the accumulation points shall all lead to one center point, the end of his tailbone, and together they shall form a tentacle that can be used as a fatal weapon in the astral world. The performance of that weapon, of course, would depend on his performance and luck.

Xiao Wu's accumulation points shall form a network of external meridians belonging to the octopus he shall rear as a pet," Kong Ye steadily recapped the role of the accumulation points so far before stopping for a breath.

"For each of you, I have fashioned a different form of the same technique by overlapping the principles underlying across multiple cultivation methods. As for you, I have fused together the Snowfall Garden and the Skeletal Monarch, and some minor astral cultivation manuals working as supplements. But the mutations your dao base has undergone by now have essentially become impactful enough to influence the outcome of this new cultivation method."

The more Han Xuhan listened, the more he found all of this to be following a familiar path. Whenever Kong Ye was about to drop some verbal bombs, he gave off this exact aura. And the sinking feeling in his guts made Xuhan recall that Kong Ye's verbal bombs had a tendency to leave him in tears.

"Your qi accumulation points shall generate columns that will support your dao base and strengthen its foundation, which right now is the thing you need most. Only when you finish up reaching the peak of this form, the tenth layer where ten columns will reinforce your dao tower, you can think of cultivating other techniques. For now, this has to be the only technique you can cultivate. This is for your safety and the survivability of your dao foundation."

Silence followed Kong Ye's explanation. Han Xuhan contemplated his words for a long time before asking, "so...where are these accumulation points? I can't see them in this meridian structure."

"They're not inside your body, Han Xuhan, for you no longer are the sole owner of the dao foundation you make use of."