Chapter 39: The Device for Gathering Lunar Essence, Mastering the Five Elements

The trip lasted three days, and Zhang Ji boarded the plane home. Hanging around his neck was a new pendant: the golden Moonlight Cup. Its size was perfect for a pendant, making it convenient to carry at all times. Zhang Ji had already ordered a drone online; once home, he could attach the cup to the drone at night, send it into the sky, and harvest moonlight.

For Zhang Ji, half a cup of lunar essence was equivalent to several Essence Pills. Unlike Essence Pills, which did not actually restore mental energy, required a digestion process, and could impose a burden on the body if taken in excess, lunar essence worked almost instantly. It could be rapidly converted into the nutrients his body needed to restore both physical strength and stamina. Zhang Ji estimated that if he could guarantee a cup every day, his training speed would increase significantly.

After a long journey, Zhang Ji returned to Jinhou Mountain. He showered, ate some roast duck rice, and waited for dusk to fall. He unpacked the courier package that had arrived at his courtyard: a new model of drone. This device, dubbed "Eagle Eye," was designed to fly high and see far. Zhang Ji had contacted Zhou Hao to purchase it, claiming it could easily reach the stratosphere. It was perfect for moon-viewing, and with its ultra-long battery life, hovering for an entire night was no dream.

Zhang Ji moved the drone—which weighed a little over two hundred kilograms—into the courtyard. He placed the Moonlight Cup onto the custom-fitted platform at the rear and secured it with buckles. He had instructed the seller to customize these buckles under the guise of holding a phone or camera. The seller had suggested a magnetic attachment, but fearing the cup might fall, Zhang Ji insisted on a more reinforced design.

He flipped the switch, the system self-checked, the propellers spun, and the drone quickly ascended. Zhang Ji maintained a stable signal, watching the feed from below. As the altitude increased, the landscape blurred into a pitch-black void, stripped of all light. Monitoring the data, he watched the drone hit 10,800 meters when the feed suddenly changed. The eight cameras, capturing various angles, confirmed it was now above the cloud layer. Illuminated by the moon, the swirling clouds were a breathtaking sight.

What concerned Zhang Ji more, however, was the cup facing the moonlight. Without any obstruction, the cup rapidly absorbed the surrounding moonlight, shimmering brilliantly. Occasionally, a gust of wind would cause the drone to sway, but it was minor; the tilt was so slight that it did not affect the cup’s ability to absorb the light.

After setting the hover coordinates, Zhang Ji began his training. Having mastered the basics of Snake Style Boxing, he started experimenting with the other four styles of the Five Forms School. He wanted to see if, once he mastered all five, he could find the unifying point and achieve the "Five Forms Co-cultivation" that Li Long had mastered. Currently, he was practicing Crane Style Boxing. Although it was a form of boxing, it focused more on footwork. Zhang Ji moved rapidly, adhering to the essence of the form with precise explosive power. Each time his feet touched the ground, he transitioned seamlessly, utilizing the movement to unleash swift, sudden attacks.

The most powerful move in Crane Style Boxing was the "Crane Beak Peck," where the fingers and palm were curled to strike with the fingertips. When Li Long performed it, it could create sonic booms and punch holes directly through steel plates. Zhang Ji had the physical strength to do this, but he relied on his own hard-qigong techniques rather than the specific technique of the Crane Style. To reach that level relying solely on the mechanics of the Crane Style, he still had much to learn.

Two hours later, Zhang Ji checked the drone. The cup was already four-fifths full of shimmering lunar essence. In other words, at this altitude, it took only two hours to fill a cup. Zhang Ji smiled. Technology was truly a wonderful thing; combining the two had vastly improved his efficiency. Even accounting for travel time, he estimated he could collect about four cups of essence in one night.

After waiting a bit longer, he saw the cup was nearly full and commanded the drone to descend. During the descent, the drone vibrated in the wind, spilling a little bit, which made Zhang Ji frown. "I need to add a cover, or it’ll be a waste if it spills on the way back," he thought. He hadn't considered the details initially, as this was his first attempt at such an experimental setup. Fortunately, it was a minor issue that could be fixed with a simple patch—a remote-controlled lid to cover the cup would suffice.

Soon, the drone landed in the courtyard. Zhang Ji eagerly took the cup and drank it in one gulp. "Aha! Refreshing!" A surge of vitality flooded his body, and his fatigued muscles were instantly restored to peak condition.

As the drone ascended again, Zhang Ji began practicing Dragon Style Boxing. Within him, waves of warmth collided, and his internal energy (Yuan Qi) was constantly refined. Supported by the lunar essence, he felt no exhaustion. It was far superior to any medicinal pill. This treasure hunt had been risky, but overall, it was well worth it.

Throughout the night, Zhang Ji practiced Dragon Style Boxing three times more than usual. He consumed the refined Yuan Qi using the "True Qi Nourishing Technique," and with his overflowing mental energy, he practiced the "Waterfall" combat technique, alongside several rounds of Crane Style Boxing. He now had a rough idea of how much essence he could collect. From moonrise to moonset, there were about twelve hours. Including transit time, and assuming no leakage, he could obtain up to five cups of essence per night.

This boost would more than double his current training efficiency. In direct terms, the Dragon Style Boxing, which might have taken three months to master, could now be completed in just over a month. The Snake Style Boxing, which originally required fifty days, would take just over twenty. If he was given a year, he had a real shot at reaching Grade B. If he focused entirely on low-star grandmaster martial arts like Snake Style, he could reach Grade B in less than a year.

However, after becoming a grandmaster, Zhang Ji began to have other thoughts. A high-level skill crystal synthesized from ten low-level ones would not necessarily be truly high-level. This would mean that, after his breakthrough, his combat power would be significantly weaker than that of fighters who broke through using advanced combat techniques—much like the "Iron Body Technique" synthesized from "Iron Shirt." If Zhang Ji mastered the Dragon Style, he was confident he could crush his former self who had mastered the Iron Body Technique. Therefore, if possible, the combat skill crystals used for synthesis should be of a higher caliber. Ten Dragon Style crystals would certainly be more potent than ten Iron Body ones.

Yet, uniformity wasn't necessarily the only path to strength. While specialization was powerful, it meant obvious weaknesses—just as his Iron Body mastery left him with a clear deficiency in mental control. A truly top-tier fighter must be well-rounded, capable of unleashing powerful combat potential in any environment. Zhang Ji secretly decided that when he broke through to Grade B, he would dedicate one slot each to the five complementary styles of the Five Forms School, and choose the remaining slots carefully, refusing to settle for inferior skills. This way, he wouldn't be too weak after his breakthrough. After all, the climb to the next major level would take a long time, and he didn't want to spend that entire period as the weakest at his rank. He didn't demand to be invincible, but he didn't want to be beaten to a pulp every time he encountered a peer.

The next day, Zhang Ji, who hadn't slept but remained incredibly energetic, ordered a cover for the cup online. Thanks to the efficient industrial system, it arrived in half a day. He installed it onto the drone, and his system was now perfect. He would no longer be short of five cups of essence a night.

In the following time, Zhang Ji began to improve his strength rapidly. On October 27th, he mastered the basics of Crane Style Boxing and turned to Leopard Style Boxing. On November 1st, he mastered Leopard Style and began practicing Tiger Style. On November 2nd, he mastered "Waterfall," a skill of the Flowing Water School, which formed a Green-tier (Excellent) combat essence. In areas with sufficient water, he could now unleash a powerful offensive, making the water surge out like a waterfall, with a strength comparable to a professional Fourth-Dan. This was the advantage of the "Mysterious Heart Flow"—in the right environment, his combat power far exceeded that of his peers.

On November 3rd, he mastered Tiger Style. By now, he had mastered all the grandmaster-level martial arts of the Five Forms School. With a thought, Zhang Ji sank his consciousness into the Boundary Space. It was filled with points of light; besides the "Iron Body" crystal, there were many other skill essences. He counted them: Raccoon Claw (Common) *1, Dragon Style (Excellent) *4, Snake Style (Excellent) *1, Crane Style (Excellent) *1, Leopard Style (Excellent) *1, Tiger Style (Excellent) *1, True Qi Nourishing Technique (Excellent) *2, and "Waterfall" (Excellent) *1.

"It's a pity. Even after mastering all of them, I still don't feel the connection point for 'Five Forms Co-cultivation.' The Yuan Qi from Dragon Style does provide a boost to the other four, but compared to the lunar essence, it's negligible. I'd be better off using the Yuan Qi for the True Qi Nourishing Technique..." Zhang Ji sighed, then began planning his future training. He decided to master each of the five styles of the Five Forms School one by one before considering anything else.

The first to be mastered would be the Snake Style. He had enough explosive power but lacked flexibility; mastering the Snake Style would perfectly compensate for this weakness. With the support of the lunar essence, Zhang Ji calculated that by the end of the month, he would be able to fully master the Snake Style.