It was some time before the scolding, crying, and apologizing died down, and finally Charles asked the all-important questions everyone had been wondering about, "Eris, how did you think to cultivate while practicing the Unarmed Foundation Forms? And how did you break through so quickly?"
As far as Lucas knew, his Big Sister Eris had broken through to the Fourth Step Body Tempering Realm about 4 months ago, and from what he could gather from the bits and pieces of conversation that had just gone on, his parents, aunt, and uncle didn't expect her to reach the Fifth Step for at least another month or two.
While he was unaware of what exactly this meant, it seemed that breaking through a month or two in advance was a huge accomplishment and shouldn't have been possible under normal circumstances.
Having composed herself now, Eris bashfully lowered her head and muttered quietly, "It was an accident…"
Looking up and seeing 5 pairs of eyes staring at her curiously, the young girl knew she couldn't hide anything, so she began telling her story, "Ever since I started practicing the Unarmed Foundation Art, I felt like my cultivation speed had increased, almost like I was cultivating while I was performing the Forms."
This revelation puzzled the adults, causing all of them to look around at each other. From the confused looks on each of the others' faces, they could tell that none of them had experienced anything similar.
"Maybe it's because Eris is in the Body Tempering Realm?" Drake proposed, drawing nods from the others.
"Perhaps, but the effect is probably quite minimal, and it still doesn't explain what she was doing just now," Anna shook her head before turning to her student and asking, "There must be something more, right Eris?"
Looking a bit sheepish, Eris nodded and continued, "About a month ago, I was supposed to be practicing the Flowing Flame Art Mom taught me, but I found it hard to sit still and focus that day for some reason. Since I was feeling restless, I decided to move around a bit by practicing the Sun Rises Above the Horizon Form Lucas had taught us that morning."
"I though it would allow me relax a bit, but as I was practicing the Form, I also remembered how it felt like I was cultivating and began thinking about the Flowing Flame Art's Mantra. Not long after, I found that as long as I matched the rhythm correctly, my Cultivation Technique began circulating properly."
Of the 284 Forms, Sun Rises Above the Horizon was one of the least strenuous as it focused on balance building Stances and Motions. As such, it was one of the first Forms Lucas had taught to his students as it could be used as a platform on which to master other, more complex Forms.
The Flowing Flame Art was the Cultivation Technique that Sasha had learned as a child back when she was still living in the Balfour Family. This Cultivation Technique was part of the Balfour Family's core inheritance which pre-dated the founding of the nation itself and was one of the reasons why the Matriarch, Celestina Balfour, was one of the strongest Masters in the entire Rockwell Kingdom.
While Sasha hadn't learned the full Flowing Flame Art, and could only teach her daughter the sections of it she knew which were appropriate for the Body Tempering and Vein Opening Realm, it was already a huge shock that Eris had found a way to essentially merge it with the Forms of the Unarmed Foundation Art.
However, upon reciting the Cultivation Technique's Mantra to herself while also envisioning the steps of the Sun Rises Above the Horizon Form, Sasha was shocked to find that the two really did harmonize together perfectly.
Eager to learn more about her daughter's shocking discovery, Sasha hurriedly asked, "What happened next, Eris? What made you decide to practice the two Arts simultaneously?"
Realizing that she didn't seem to be in as much trouble as she thought she would be, Eris' lips became looser as she said with some enthusiasm, "At first, I didn't realize what I was doing, but when I finished the Sun Rises Above the Horizon Form, I noticed that I couldn't complete a full circulation of the Flowing Flame Art, so the World Qi I had gathered all escaped from my pores before I could properly refine it."
"Being able to cultivate and move around at the same time seemed less boring that just sitting and meditating, so I began looking for other Forms which matched with the rest of the Mantra. It took me a while, but about 10 days later, after Lucas taught use some more of the Forms, I found what I needed."
Eris went on to list 7 other Forms from the Unarmed Foundations Art that she would practice in a specific sequence while cultivating the Flowing Flame Art. She even described how she had slightly altered 2 of the Forms in order to match them with her Cultivation Technique's Mantra.
All in all, everyone in the training room understood that while the 12-year-old girl had indeed only stumbled upon this innovative method of cultivation by accident, that didn't detract from her genius.
What she had done was equal parts reckless and astonishing.
As the only other one present who knew both the Flowing Flame Art and the Forms Eris had listed, Sasha went over and over the process her daughter had described to her and her shock only grew.
Lucas, however, had his attention drawn to something different. He had noticed earlier that the two Forms his Big Sister had altered actually closely resembled two other Forms which he hadn't taught everyone yet.
Considering this, the young boy didn't think it was a mere coincidence and wondered if those Forms would be a better fit; unfortunately, since he had no knowledge of the Flowing Flame Art, he couldn't be certain.
"So, the reason you broke through so much sooner than expected was because you were cultivating more frequently to figure out how to combine the two Arts?" Anna suddenly posited, thinking that this was the most logical explanation.
As one of the ones who instructed Eris frequently, Anna was well aware of her young student's inability to sit and concentrate for long periods of time. Eris much preferred swinging her sword around to meditating in silence.
To be fair, most children Eris' age were the same. It was rare to find an adult who preferred tedious, even somewhat boring tasks to moving around, much less a child.
To everyone's surprise, though, Eris shook her head meekly and spoke the most shocking words yet, "After I worked out my new way of cultivating, I didn't really spend much more time doing it than normal."
The 4 adults in the room went stiff when they heard Eris say this, and it took them a moment before Charles stutteringly asked, "H-How much more time did you spend cultivating?"
Tilting her head slightly, not understanding why her parents, aunt, and uncle, seemed so concerned about her spending more time cultivating, especially since they would often nag her to do just that, Eris simply said, "Before, I would be able to complete 5 circulations of the Flowing Flame Art in a little less than an hour if I concentrated hard. Now, I still do 5 circulations, but it takes a bit longer, almost exactly an hour, to finish."
Once again, the 4 adults fell into a stunned silence, and this time, their jaws had all dropped slightly, which went to show just how shocked they were.
"Is there something special about what Big Sister Eris did?" Lucas asked after a while, hoping to break the awkward silence which had fallen over the training hall.
Charles, Sasha, Drake, and Anna still seemed to be in a daze, even after hearing Lucas' question, but the young boy's father managed to mutter, "How fast one cultivates depends on 3 factors, the density of World Qi where one is cultivating, a person's Innate Talent, and the efficiency of one's Cultivation Technique. How much time one spends doing a single circulation basically plays no role at all."
Lucas quickly sifted through this new knowledge and reached a stunning conclusion, "Since Big Sister Eris cultivated in the same place, and her talent couldn't have changed because it's what she was born with, the only way she could have reached a breakthrough faster while still cultivating the same amount is by improving the Flowing Flame Art's efficiency."
"But I didn't do anything different with the Flowing Flame Art," Eris protested her innocence. Going on to say, "Mom told me that changing the circulation method would at best stop it from working, and at worst cause the Qi to go wild, so I made sure to always strictly follow the Mantra I was taught."
"That's precisely the problem," Sasha said with a sigh, finally coming back to her senses as she felt an even bigger headache coming on.
Back when Lucas had begun teaching them the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art, Charles, Sasha, Anna, and Drake already recognized it as a valuable treasure. At the time, they thought it was a very profound and comprehensive Body Tempering Art which could help increase all aspects of one's physical fitness, but now it seemed that they had greatly underestimated this Martial Art's value.
In fact, calling it a 'Martial Art' now might be wrong, for if what Eris had said was true, the Unarmed Foundations Art had become something far, far greater than that.
Calling it a Cultivation Technique would probably be wrong as well, as it didn't seem to be a method for absorbing World Qi and refining it into Spirit Qi all on its own, but if it could pair with the Flowing Flame Art and improve the latter's efficiency, it was probably more valuable than an ordinary Cultivation Technique.
"How many Cultivation Techniques in the Rockwell Kingdom are superior to the Balfour Family's Flowing Flame Art?" Drake asked with some trepidation in his voice, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Frowning deeply, Sasha gave it some thought before replying, "The Flowing Flame Art is a High-Rank Spirit Grade Tier Two Cultivation Technique, so there probably aren't more than a handful other techniques on par with, or better than it in the entire Rockwell Kingdom. I can't be certain, though, as I didn't have much interaction with the higher nobility. The best publicly known Cultivation Technique in our kingdom is the Grand Mountain Record which belongs to the Rockwell Royal Family and is a Peak-Rank Spirit Grade Tier Two Art, but there are some other forces which have ties to organizations outside the kingdom that may have better techniques."
"D-Does that mean that combined with the Unarmed Foundations Art, the Flowing Flame Art might be superior to any Cultivation Technique in the Rockwell Kingdom? Even the exclusive Art of the Royal Family?" Charles asked, his voice trembling with anxiety and a hint of excitement.
"It's hard to say," Sasha shook her head, "There are many factors which determine the Grade of a Cultivation Technique. It would require a lot of testing and investigation to see all the benefits of this new combination, but I wouldn't say it's impossible…"
The thought that they were now possibly in possession of a treasure that even the Royal Family would kill to obtain was equal parts awe-inspiring and terrifying to the adults. Just imagining what would happen if word of this leaked out was frightening to the point that Anna, Drake, Sasha, and Charles almost felt like locking up the Unarmed Foundations Art and never using it again.
However, as if determined to frighten them all to death, Lucas, while not unaware of their concerns, felt he needed to ask, "If the Unarmed Foundations Art can enhance the efficiency of Aunt Sasha's Flowing Flame Art, what about other Cultivation Techniques? After all, Big Sister Eris only used 8 Forms together with her circulation Mantra..."
Stiffening up for the who knows how manyeth time today, the 4 adults quickly realized that even now, they were still undervaluing the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art.
If what Lucas had just proposed turned out to be true, forget about a Mid-Sized nation like the Rockwell Kingdom, even the true overlords of the Blue Sky Continent would be tempted to snatch it. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this Art that the young 9-year-old boy before them had seemingly randomly inherited had become a priceless gem that wars would be fought over!