Standing before an army of wooden dummies staked to the ground, Baiyun leapt in the air towards the foremost target.

  With a single kick angled downwards, it was slammed face-first into the ground.

  He absorbed the rebound and spun through the air, launching punches and kicks that redirected his aerial movement, sending him shooting from dummy to dummy with blazing speed. Every attack spun him faster, until it looked as if he could fly.

  Only after the last dummy was toppled did he finally land, skidding to a stop as he suppressed the spinning. His head throbbed for a moment, sharp pain from the violent momentum.

  "Well done." Crow nodded. "You actually mastered the Whirlwind Basics so quickly even without sight! You just might have a knack for this."

  Baiyun nodded in satisfaction. This was the result of careful calculation, him learning to plan ahead even despite the delay of his body. Combat wasn't exactly his speciality, but when he looked at it like a puzzle, it was a little more interesting.

  Though in a battlefield where the opponents constantly moved instead of being static, trying to predict everything was far less practical... There was also the issue of his armour weighing him down, preventing him from "flying". Undesirable, but it was a trade-off he was willing to take for better safety. He would be a madman to enter a battlefield unarmoured with such lacking cultivation.

  "Whoa! I want to do that too!!" Rabbit jumped excitedly.

  It seemed to have been inspired by Baiyun's display, and began jumping around as it did random punches and kicks. Every now and then it would tumble to the ground, but its light body and body cultivation prevented any injury.

  But Gale was not doing as well. He laid on the ground in a miserable pile as he heaved.

  "Crow... this is so hard... how is it even possible to move through the air like that?" he whined.

  "Blindfold is just abnormal. Don't worry, you're making good progress for your first day." she reassured him.

  "Un..." Gale didn't seem convinced.

  Seeing Crow access Baiyun and Gale, Rabbit suddenly ran up to her. It raised its paws eagerly and punched the air, waiting to hear from her.

  Crow stared in confusion for a moment. Then she realised what it wanted.

  "Uh... You're doing well?" she didn't seem convinced despite her words.

  It was enough to make Rabbit ecstatic however, and it ran about excitedly, training even harder than ever.

  Hah... this creature...

  The first day of training soon came to a close, Baiyun returning to his room in good spirits. For the rest of the night, he trained with Rabbit's ears as it slept.

  Things were going smoothly; it seemed he would be able to make excellent progress with training round the clock. It was almost strange to think of it that way, but perhaps it was actually a good thing he was sent here?

  ...But that optimism would swiftly be challenged.

  2 days passed in an instant, the group gathered in the training room again today.

  Crow watched as Baiyun performed the Whirlwind Arts, executing near perfection with his physique. Any critique she offered was quickly swallowed up, adapted and accounted for near-instantly.

  But this was exactly the problem. He had already reached this standard on the very 1st day.

  In other words. He had stagnated for 2 entire days, with no progress to show for it.

  "Strange..." Crow mused. "Your execution of the Whirlwind Art is textbook at this point. But somehow, you seemed to have gained no Martial Attainment."

  Baiyun wiped the sweat off his face as he landed on the ground.

  "What exactly even is Martial Attainment? How is it possible for me to have made no progress if I'm doing it perfectly?" he said. "I've been asking you for the past few days, but you've only given me vague answers!"

  Crow could only shake her head.

  "It's not that I wish to hide anything from you. Martial Attainment is simply just fickle. Some comprehend it even without formal training, while other can struggle for decades with little progress. But even so, it's very rare to reach your proficiency with no progress to show for it... I wonder why."

  Baiyun cursed inwardly. That was what he wanted to know too!

  Meanwhile, Gale showed no consideration for the mood as he ran over excitedly, swinging his fists like a maniac.

  "Master! Master! I think I'm finally starting to understand, look!"

  Gale rushed over to one of the dummies Baiyun had knocked over, punching it while it was down. It was a barbaric move that showed no refinement or technique, none of the momentum conservation that was the heart of the Whirlwind Arts.

  But a mysterious force surged from his fist into the dummy, rattling it even as it laid on the ground.

  "Oh? Well done." Crow nodded approvingly. "Attaining the novice state so quickly is a sign of true martial talent."

  "Yay!"

  Gale practically bubbled in joy as he jumped around, the sight making Baiyun's eyes twitch.

  As if his body was acting on its own, before he even realised it, he grabbed Gale by the robes and shook him.

  "What is it you feel? Explain it!" Baiyun said with deep frustration.

  He was so caught up in the moment, he didn't even realise he was acting abnormally; such rash anger was something he would never show in his past life.

  Martial Arts was never a true interest of his to begin with, and he had only taken it up to help survive, perhaps aided by some curiosity of the unknown.

  But he wasted a rare training opportunity and came up with nothing to show for it! Two days was not a long time, but it was a luxury here at the border. That was time he could have spent gathering alchemic materials and making connections instead!

  All of that boiled into resentment that had now begun to spill over.

  "Eh? It's hard to put it into words." Gale pushed the hands away, intimidated. "It's just feeling. Once you know it, you know it!"

  "Unhelpful, but I suppose it truly is that vague." Crow nodded. "Attainment is loose to begin with, and each person's understanding is unique to them. Trying to define such a thing with theory is futile."

  Baiyun gritted his teeth. What a load of bullshit!

  The scientific method was core of nearly every art, from spells to alchemy, formations and beyond. If anything in the universe was so vague and nonsensical, that only meant they failed to understand what it truly was!

  If his previous motivation to figure out Martial Attainment was curiosity and betterment, it was now spite that fuelled him; Baiyun furiously researching it for the next 2 days.

  In that time, Crow decided to take a new approach.

  Tiger strike, Turtle Guard and Bull charge.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Since the Whirlwind Art was now a dead-end, Baiyun unable to use the later forms due to his lacking physique, she decided to teach him a new art, Earth aligned and suited for his physique.

  It was named "Myriad Beast Transformations" and was quite a strange art.

  Unlike Whirlwind which operated by strict and consistent rules, it had no rules and encouraged the practitioner to observe beasts in combat, taking inspiration and creating their own arts with enlightenment.

  When high attainment with the art was reached, the ground would move in accordance to the practitioner's will. Claws of earth would match the furious swipes of tiger arts, shells of fortified stone encasing the user for turtle arts, and so on.

  It was such a ridiculous art that Baiyun was dumbfounded. He couldn't even observe beasts properly without eyes, so why was Crow even teaching it to him?!

  Apparently, she hoped an instinctive art would help him cover the gap he lacked towards attainment.

  But it was futile in the end, so she relented and taught him a few moves she enlightened herself. As he could not see, she had to teach him by adjusting his body like a puppet.

  Gale had not gotten any better at the Whirlwind Art, but he was steadily accumulating martial energy. Baiyun gritted his teeth. How was it he had done it perfectly with nothing to show for it, while some kid who barely understood theory was on the right track? It was beyond infuriating!

  And to rub salt in his wound even further...

  Rabbit jumped around excitedly, kicking from dummy to dummy and shooting through the air. Soft paws and a light body was a recipe for pathetic attacks, but mysterious energy rippled through the wood and rattled it.

  This little bastard... even it had gained attainment!

  Baiyun marched over to Rabbit and snatched it out of the air.

  "Eek! What are you doing?" it squeaked.

  "Be quiet!"

  He stormed out with the poor critter in hand, quickly returning to his room. Crow shook her head at the sight but didn't stop him.

  If attainment existed within the body of the rabbit, he would use divine touch to ascertain what it was. This was good old fashioned research, the way things were meant to be!

  "Eek!"

  Rabbit squeaked as Baiyun forcefully channelled divinity through it. His senses surged through its entirety, through veins, meridians and the dantian.

  ...But try as he might, he found nothing new.

  Tsk. Then he would dig even deeper!

  Divine touch entered bone and sinew, then searched from organ to organ. And at last, he even searched the brain with heavy restrain, careful not to cause harm.

  ...

  ...

  Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

  Baiyun gritted his teeth and was about to press on, until he realised Rabbit was frothing at the mouth. He slammed his fist on the bed and clutched his head.

  Ahh! This was genuinely so infuriating!

  Even if this Martial Attainment nonsense was related to Daos, his "Divine Touch" was an aberration effect too, so how could there be no results?

  It felt almost as if he was being mocked, failing to rise to the task even after being challenged.

  No. He refused to accept it.

  There was nothing in this world that didn't adhere to the scientific method!

  Day after day passed, poor Rabbit was occasionally tormented by his searches.

  Baiyun even went as far as listening for news of deceased inmates, heading to the burial grounds to "ransack" their corpses with Divine Touch, all in hopes of unravelling this absurdity.

  Nothing. Nothing. Nothing! Even his desperate and vile action was useless!

  After another night of constant failure, Baiyun arrived at the training room in a daze. It was so early that the skies were still dark, giving him a moment of solitude. He stumbled to a bench and sat, hunching over in deep frustration.

  By now, a week had passed since training first begun.

  He suddenly felt the presence of someone approaching and nearly jumped, until he realised it was just Crow.

  Ah... he was so out of it, he didn't even realise she was in the room. What was she even doing here so early?

  She patted him on the shoulder.

  "It's too early to give up." Crow said reassuringly. "But too much time has passed. I understand a week is not a lot of time to train, but management is already getting on my case. I can't drag this on any longer, so the two of you will have to return to the battlefield later today."

  "I see..."

  So he was returning already. Perhaps that was for a best; better to grasp spoils in the battlefield than muddle uselessly on training that made no progress.

  Come to think of it...

  "Is Stone back yet?" Baiyun asked. "Or is he still trying to look for Hermit?"

  "Hah... he had no luck and was scolded for wasting resources on a dead man. So management sent him on a punitive mission."

  "Ah."

  "It's still early. Do you want to train before grabbing a bite?" Crow asked.

  Baiyun paused for a moment, then nodded.

  For the next few hours, Crow taught him another form of the Myriad Beast Transformation art, named "Rabbit Leap".

  Apparently, Crow got inspiration for it while watching Rabbit train.

  Baiyun was somewhat speechless. Her being able to enlighten a new move so casually felt almost like rubbing salt in the wound.

  Still, it was quite the useful move, allowing him to leap with twice as much force. If he was ever up against an opponent like the Blackhorn Beetle again, he wouldn't have to resort to "barrier jumping" with the Thousand Wills ring just to land onto its back.

  The sun soon rose.

  "Good work." Crow said. "You'll be assigned to a new squad today, so prepare for a busy day ahead. Go get something to eat, patrol begins soon."

  "Thanks."

  Curt as his response was, he felt genuine gratitude. She had gone through so much effort to train him and Gale alike. Failing until now... he had no one to blame but himself.

  Baiyun nodded to her politely, before grabbing Rabbit before heading to the canteen. As it was still early, it had been asleep the entire time.

  He inwardly sighed.

  The clatter of cutlery and the laughter of rowdy inmates filled his ears before he even entered the dining hall. Unpleasant as always, but it was somehow comforting to hear in his current mood.

  Baiyun made his way to the usual table.

  "Ehhh! You can't be serious!" Gale's shout came from afar. "What will I do then?"

  "Sorry... I can't turn down an order from management after pulling that stunt." Stone laughed weakly. "Well, Fracture is a reliable ally. You'll be fine under his command."

  Hm? The monk was actually here today. Crow's words led him to believe Stone had already been sent off.

  "Reliable ally? You say that every time, even about Cobra..." Gale grumbled.

  "Eh?" Stone scratched his bald head awkwardly. "...Do I really always say that? Well, trust me this time. Fracture is far more reliable than Cobra!"

  "Promise?"

  "Promise."

  Hah. Baiyun had just arrived and Cobra was already being slandered again. He shook his head inwardly.

  "Oh, Blindfold! You are finally here, take a seat!" Stone said.

  Gale nodded at Baiyun as he sat but didn't really seem to care, returning to prodding Stone.

  "What are you even being sent out for anyway?" Gale grumbled.

  "Ah. They found a new gravel beast den recently, and they want to exterminate it. Asked to kill again... hah..." Stone sighed. "I wish there was a better way to resolve this."

  Gravel beast. Baiyun was in the know for once, thanks to the information Cobra sold.

  These beasts were strange armadillo-like giants covered in shells of absurdly dense rock, their habitat located deep underground beneath the ocean floor. Every now and then, they would unearth rock from the planet's crust and pile it upon the oceans above.

  Quite the strange behaviour, but it was just as unnatural as it sounded.

  They seemed to have modified parasites in their minds that would spread even to offspring, forcing them to cultivate a hybrid earth/water path. Because of that, breaching into the ocean for advancement was mandatory for them, creating a species that automatically piled endless rock into the sea.

  As a result, a makeshift bridge had formed between the two continents over the decades, allowing dangerous beasts to cross on their own accord. The stage for war was being set, and WanLing was located in a position most unfortunate.

  There were many efforts to cull the population of the gravel beasts, but it was deemed a lost cause at this point; most of the Elders had since given up. At this point, inmates were only sent to cull them as punishment for neglecting duties.

  Gravel beasts were very dangerous, able to create deadly mudslides that often led to earthquakes underground. And due to their extreme durability, only Advanced Martial Practitioners could fight them effectively with defence penetration. Their corpses were also worth little, as earth/water was a self-defeating path where both elements eroded each other.

  Baiyun patted Gale on the shoulder.

  "That's enough. We should be thankful Stone even chose to protect us. Now that he has actual duties, we shouldn't bother him."

  "But..." Gale said tearfully.

  Stone sighed.

  "I shall complete my mission as quickly as possible, so I can return to protect you once more."

  Baiyun nodded, but deep down he felt apprehensive.

  Now that he deemed Cobra trustworthy for the most part, that warning about Stone had weight to it. Perhaps it was a good thing they wouldn't be grouped together for a while.

  Besides, their philosophies were opposed to begin with.

  Stone seemed to want avoid killing if possible, while Baiyun wanted to snatch every last spoil from the beasts to advance his cultivation. It was a perspective he could respect, but he didn't want to be held back from hunting.

  "No, don't go!" Gale continued to plead.

  "Now, now..."

  Baiyun didn't feel in the mood to listen to more whining, so he went off to collect his food. As usual, he picked only earth organs and thoroughly cleansed them, creating a crude body strengthening elixir.

  The gong soon tolled, Crow's voice urging them to finish up their food as a shrill whistle blew.

  "Let's get going." Stone said.

  Gale still clung to him reluctantly as the group headed off.

  Rabbit seemed particularly excitedly today, jumping in the air and miming punches with its paws.

  "Hehe. I'm going to beat up some baddies with my new martial arts!"

  Baiyun nodded dismissively. It still remained to be seen if Rabbit could maintain that bravado, after being so terrified of a single wolf back in the servant garden.

  The week long training was good timing, as he finally received his order from the blacksmith several days ago.

  He placed the Thousand Wills Ring into his mouth and put on his new armour, its imposing presence changing his demeanour.

  A faceless helmet lacking even a visor, mounted upon dense armour by tendons of steel. It was specially designed to divert the force of head impacts towards his shoulders, preventing his neck from being snapped.

  The downside was that he could barely turn his head, but there was little need if he could not see. It also meant he could not tilt his head to evade, but he decided the trade-off was worth it.

  Breathing was difficult as the faceless helmet limited airflow, but his cultivation allowed him to survive on less oxygen. Hearing was hard as well, but Rabbit covered that weakness too.

  Where his missing arm once was, a long shield with a sharp point jutted out, sharpened into a fine razor point. In his functional arm, he held a simple long mace.

  Baiyun observed his outfit with divine sense and nodded inwardly. Unburdened by neither sight nor sound, his armour had few weaknesses.