Pan Chao greeted his parents as he sat down and left what was left on the table. Usually he would just run out the door ahead of his parents to start his day of cultivation training, but this time his body craved food and water. Seeing this scene confused his parents slightly since this was much different compared to what they had seen their son doing, but they could only shrug and head out so they would not be late for their own responsibilities.
Left alone in the house, Pan Chao decided before heading out to train that he should examine the object that he placed in his storage pouch from the night before. The main reason he had only done this briefly before, was because he did not want to be killed by a peerless expert if there was one watching from the sidelines to make sure that the woman was fully decimated.
Withdrawing the small sphere-like object, Pan Chao analyzed every little section of it, but was unable to find anything unusual. If he was of the Intermediate stage of cultivation, he would be able to bind a magic treasure to himself which was a grade higher than an ordinary item, but since he was not, he could only hope that the reason the small sphere-like object was a magic treasure and that the reason nothing was occurring, was because he was not strong enough yet.
On one hand, he was upset because if it was a magic treasure, it would take quite some time if he was fortunate enough to surpass his parents in order to eventually use it. On the other hand, the fact that it was a magic treasure, meant that the value of it had already surpassed any ordinary item including pills used by cultivators.
Pan Chao immediately put the object back into his storage pouch and told himself that if he were to take it out again, it would only be when he became an Intermediate stage cultivator. Even if it took him one hundred years to accomplish such a feat, it was worth the wait to him since it seemed like that peerless female cultivator held importance concerning it.
Technically speaking, Pan Chao did not have to leave his home when it came to cultivating his Qi technique because there were no special places to do it within the Pan clan or Crimson Circle itself. And so, Pan Chao decided for the day to remain in his room because he was still mentally drained concerning the events that transpired the night before.
Feeling that it was time to check out if his spiritual energy had grown through the night, Pan Chao quickly withdrew the small crystal which the elder had given him, in order to check his cultivation. To his surprise, he had barely broken into the Elementary level one stage of cultivation. This explained why although he felt mentally exhausted, that he was bustling with energy throughout his body!
Even with his cultivation reaching the point where his elder would accept him back and make him his only personal disciple, Pan Chao had other plans. Thinking for several minutes, Pan Chao felt that it would be wise to push back learning formations from the elder, and begin learning a handful of basic martial arts techniques so that he could make his foundation much stronger.
Pan Chao was not in a position where he even needed to learn how to wield a weapon due to the path he took being one of formations. However, this did not stop him from wanting to be able to protect himself against others. And so, Pan Chao exited his home and began walking towards the Pan clan's library where all of the strongest and weakest techniques were stored for anyone within the clan to borrow.
If he chose to, Pan Chao could actually take out up to five scrolls that were very formidable, however, Pan Chao did not want to draw so much attention to himself since he was hiding his strength from even the elder who was considered to be his master. "Oh, it is you Pan Chao. Have you come to visit, or are you here to return some of those scrolls you took out to replace them with other scrolls?" an old man sitting on a very comfortable rocking chair asked while stroking his beard.
Even though there were a handful of elders who were actively working on clan affairs, there were several retired elders who held similar strength. This old man sitting on the rocking chair was none other than Pan Xi, a retired elder of the Intermediate stage of cultivation that looked after the Pan clan's library. He had a long white beard and was dressed in a blue robe with a cloud like pattern.
"Elder Pan Xi, it is correct that I wanted to exchange the formation scrolls with at least one basic martial arts technique. But if the elder is willing, I would much prefer to take out the maximum amount allowed." Pan Chao respectfully replied to the elder while cuffing his hands out of respect. Pan Chao was raised to respect any and all of the elders of the Pan clan, which is why many of the clan's elders doted quite a bit on him, at least enough to not give him any unnecessary troubles.
"I see, I see. Very well, as long as they are basic scrolls, feel free to take out as many as you would like. But beware, your master might not be thrilled with your decision of doing this if you go overboard. I would recommend you take a scroll out for a fist, kick, and movement techniques and would disregard any weapon based techniques at least for now." Pan Xi hearing Pan Chao's request was rather stunned.
Any cultivator with a head on their shoulders would recommend for someone just starting out to learn some basic martial arts skills so that their survival rate would be increased from a literal no chance. However, Pan Xi was told by some of the other active elders including Pan Chao's master, that Pan Chao seemed to have the qualifications to become a two star formations expert in his lifetime.
