Divine Convenience Store

Lin Mo's initial shock of the phantoms' incorporeal nature quickly gave way to his focused calm. The lesson of the waterfall was still fresh in his mind. Something along the lines of, 'don't fight the nature of the opponent, harmonize with it'.

The opponents before him were beings of pure starlight qi. It stood to reason that only his own starlight qi could interact with them.

The first few exchanges he had with them were clumsy. He would infuse too much qi, wasting the precious reserves from his four nodes for a single strike. Or if not that, it would be too little, causing his spear to pass through with minimal effect.

The phantoms were relentless, making their attacks flow from one to the next without any breathing room, forcing him to constantly move, dodge, and counter.

He understood. This was giving him a different kind of pressure from the waterfall. The waterfall was a constant, crushing force. The phantoms were an unpredictable storm of attacks from all angles.

[Combat Analysis: Starlight Qi expenditure is currently inefficient. Leakage at 22%. Recommend synchronizing qi flow with the initiation of the spear movement, not as an afterthought.]

Somehow, the synthesized voice of the training room's system popped up to guide him. He reluctantly took its advice to heart but after getting proven how useful it was, he started following it. He stopped thinking of his starlight qi as ammunition to be loaded into the spear. He treated it as an extension of the spear itself, like an aura that would make him and the spear as one being.

He practiced flowing the silvery energy from his dantian, through his meridians, down his arm, and into the weapon in a single, seamless motion. And he was successful. At least, that's how it felt to him.

His [Starcoil Thrust] became tighter, the spiraling starlight qi became more focused, further condensing his spiritual energy. His [Dragon Crescent Sweep] left behind a sharper, more defined arc of light.

He started anticipating the phantoms' movements, not with his eyes, but with the subtle resonance that he could sense between their starlight essence and his own.

The Stillwater Body he'd acquired now helped him absorb the faint kinetic impact of their near-misses, converting their aggressive energy into his own stamina.

The hours became a day once again. And although he would fail at times, he'd just stand back up to face another wave, repeating the process until the utilization of starlight qi became second nature, a fluid and instinctive part of his every move. The Foundational Martial Technique also reached a proficiency enough to achieve the initial mastery of the spear.

Gradually, his fight against the phantoms transformed from a desperate defense into a controlled rhythm, allowing him to take them down in as few moves as possible.

"I don't know. Why does it feel like I'm turning into a martial artist more than a manager of a damn convenience store?" He murmured to himself as he took down three more with a swift [Dragon Crescent Sweep].

Ruminating over his new life after weeks of staying in this realm somehow kept him grounded. Not once had he thought himself special. And everything he could achieve, especially the repelling of that Grand Elder of the Violethaven Temple, was attributed to the Divine Pantheon.

However, at this moment where he's under a gruelling training regimen where he had to endure the overwhelming pressure as she went up the thousand steps under a raging waterfall, and fighting phantom entities specially designed for the starlight qi he cultivated, Lin Mo felt like, for once, he finally accomplished something once through his own ability and perseverance.

"Let's see where this will go… I just have to protect this realm, right? Prevent the Outer Realm from encroaching while utilizing everything they will hand out to me. Mhm. I miss the revolver too." His lips curved up slightly as he found his chest lightening up. Having accepted his role, he's now fully on board with whatever the Divine Pantheon was planning for him. As for his future… it depends on whether they'll still stand behind him or not. At his current state, his fate is tied to them.

A while later, after destroying a wave of ten phantoms with an almost contemptuous ease, the simulation shifted.

The remaining phantoms dissolved, and the synthesized voice echoed once more.

[Combat Efficiency Benchmark Reached. Initiating Phase 2: Technique Synthesis.]

"Phase 2? Alright. Bring it on."

Before him, a single, larger phantom coalesced. It was denser, brighter, and its form was not vaguely humanoid but was a perfect, starlight replica of the spearman he had fought in the Heavenly Mirage Illusion Orb. It held a spear of pure, solidified light.

[Objective: The techniques you have created are simple, raw and separate. To achieve the Ideal State, they must flow into one another. Defeat the Starlight Spearman. It will adapt to your movements and counter your individual techniques. Victory can only be achieved by seamlessly combining your spear arts.]

His brows curled a bit as he tried to process it. Raw and separate, huh? Of course it will be. His techniques were only derived from the Basic Spear Techniques within the Foundational Martial Technique. They're the culmination of what he'd learned.

Back at that mental simulation where he fought another spearman, all he needed were techniques that could counter his opponents and deliver his victory. It didn't have any flow.

Now… Taihao was probably telling him to tie them up and create his own style.

The Starlight Spearman didn't wait. It lunged, executing a perfect, textbook thrust.

Lin Mo met it with a [Starcoil Thrust].

The two spiraling attacks met, erupting in a shower of brilliant sparks. Lin Mo staggered a bit but the Spearman was faster on the recovery. It immediately flowed from its thrust into a sweeping arc, forcing Lin Mo to disengage and dodge.

He tried a [Dragon Crescent Sweep], but the Spearman parried it with a precise, economical block that absorbed his momentum before countering with three lightning-fast jabs aimed at his chest.

[Combat Analysis: Predictable attack patterns detected. Technique transitioning is disjointed. Exploit window between techniques: 0.8 seconds. Unacceptable.]

"Unacceptable, huh? Looks like the old man programmed this regimen to analyze everything." Lin Mo grunted, narrowly evading another strike.

In any case, the system was right. He was using his techniques like separate tools from a toolbox. Thrust. Sweep. Defend. There was no synergy, no flow.

He recalled the waterfall again. The endless, powerful, unbroken flow. He recalled the dragon-like presence from his spear. It moved with a single continuous motion.

"... So, that's how it is, huh?"

The Spearman lunged again.

This time, Lin Mo didn't counter with a single technique. As he executed a [Starcoil Thrust], he didn't let the motion end.

He used the rotational momentum of the thrust to pivot, twisting his body and seamlessly transitioning the spiral into a wide, powerful [Dragon Crescent Sweep].

The thrust became sweep. His offense became a wider offense. It was a single, fluid, figure-eight motion of destructive starlight.

The Starlight Spearman, programmed to counter a single technique, was caught off guard by the transition. The sweep connected with its side, shearing away a large chunk of its essence.

A fierce grin lit up Lin Mo's face. "Got it."

The battle became his drawing board for creativity. He started weaving his techniques together, creating new ones and improving the basic techniques to an improved style.

He learned to feint with a thrust, then transition into a sweep from a different angle. He used the defensive posture of a parry to build momentum for an explosive counter-attack.

Additionally, his [Crimson Flow Phantom Steps] were no longer just for dodging. He incorporated it with his style as it became part of the offense, creating phantom afterimages that would initiate one technique while his real body executed another.

Little by little, his style was gradually formed. A continuous, flowing combat art that mirrored the stars in their endless, graceful dance.

Finally, in a burst of inspiration, he leaped back, channeled all the starlight qi from his four nodes, and thrust his spear at the empty space above him. "[Stellar Cascade]!"

A fan of starlight lances erupted, but instead of letting them fly straight, he performed a sweeping arc with his spear. The lances followed the motion, curving in the void to form a massive, inescapable net of starlight that descended on the Spearman from all sides.

The phantom raised its spear in a final, futile defense as the net of light enveloped it. It dissolved not with a shriek, but with a silent, brilliant flash that illuminated the entire void.

[Module 2: Combat Comprehension - Complete]

[Starflow Meditation Manual – 1st Layer]

[Current Progress: 100% – Ideal State Achieved]

[Self-Created Spear Techniques – Initial Integration Achieved]

[Starlight Qi Control & Efficiency – +400%]

[Flowing Star Combat Style – Allows for seamless transitioning between spear techniques, reducing spiritual energy cost for combo attacks.]

[Assessment: Ideal State Achieved. All modules of 'Taihao's Regimen: Foundation of Convenience' are now complete.]