After so many days, Ezra Zephyr was finally going to begin guiding them.
The past few days had been rather vexing for them. They had heard whispers that Drake had managed to pull some strings, and arranged for personal tutors to guide some of the better ranked unofficial outer mountain disciples such as Toria and Usopp, allowing them to rapidly grow stronger.
This news made them feel very uneasy. After all, if the gap started to widen, their chances of winning would drop in the peak selection ceremony, making it extremely difficult to vie for the top ten spots.
However, they did not have the connections Drake had, and were thus unable to obtain personal guidance from these tutors.
Hence, they could only place their hopes on Ezra Zephyr. However, the prince had not even hinted at this matter for the past few days, leaving them no option but to wait in silence.
Now that Ezra had finally voluntarily brought it up, they were naturally elated.
However, there was still a little doubt mixed in with this happiness. After all, although they knew that Ezra Zephyr seemed to have astonishing talent in spiritual techniques, each of them practiced a different technique. Would Ezra be proficient in all of them?
Hence, with regards to Ezra's promise to give them guidance, they were still holding a 'seeing is believing' mind-set.
Rock felt a little awkward as he asked, "Brother Ezra, will you really be able to help me with the Land Vandal Hand technique? You've yet to see its prowess method, right?"
Ezra nodded and said, "I've not seen it before."
He had indeed not seen the prowess method for the Land Vandal Hand.
However, he possessed the unlimited talent and Fenrir, and could clearly find the weaknesses or deficiencies in any spiritual technique. Therefore, he only needed to bring their attention to places, naturally allowing them to avoid making such mistakes, allowing them to progress more efficiently.
This was something that no other instructor could do.
Of course, this was the extent of the aid he could give. Each individual had to continue spending time practicing and better understanding their techniques to improve. All Ezra had was talent, he doesn't possess any decoding treasure.
Rock could not help but let out a bitter laugh in response to Ezra's honesty. "There are three levels to the Land Vandal Hand. I've managed to master the first level, but am having difficulties with the second for quite some time.
The one you suppressed a few days ago, Toria, also practices this technique. I've heard he's made significant progress during the past two days, and will likely reach the second level before the peak selection ceremony.
Rumour says that Drake has found some instructors to personally guide them."
At this point, Rock grinded his teeth in regret. The disciples from the Shiyan Continent did have several advantages over the rest of them.
Ezra gave a slight nod upon hearing this. He was naturally also aware of this piece news.
It was this very information that caused the minds of Rock, Ray, Ash and the rest to wander, and also hence why Ezra had brought up this matter today. If he were to delay any further, Rock and gang would likely soon lose their morale, let alone the other disciples.
This was obviously another one of Drake's schemes that aimed to destroy everyone's faith.
The prince did not want to waste any more time, and directly instructed, "Activate the Land Vandal Hand."
The sight of Ezra's calm appearance made Rock feel a little less awkward. It seemed that he had some confidence?
Rock took in a deep breath as the spiritual energy inside his body began to ripple. His hands started to grow a little, spiritual energy light swirling around them to form glowing patterns.
Sections of vandal earth attribute formed on his hands, powerful enough to shatter the ground.
With a loud yell, Rock swung his hand. Earth made shards immediately swept forth, chopping open a 90 feet long cut on the ground in front of him, the dreadful force splitting even the boulders in its path.
The surrounding disciples inwardly sighed in amazement. The Land Vandal Hand was indeed ferocious and domineering.
"The levels of the Land Vandal Hand are marked by the power of the vandal earth shards. It's said that the second level can reach over 240 feet, while I am currently only capable of about 90 feet." Said Rock in a somewhat regretful manner.
"But my progress has slowed to a crawl recently, only making 3 feet of headway after several days of nonstop practice. At this rate, it will take at least half a year to reach the second level.
Brother Ezra, what do I need to do?" He gazed the prince, with a flash of hope in his eyes.
The others also awkwardly looked towards Ezra. If he could solve Rock's problem, they would naturally have more faith.
Ezra's eyes narrowed and he called Fenrir. When Rock used the Land Vandal Hand earlier, he had clearly seen how the spiritual energy circulated along the channels and meridian points in the latter's body.
At certain locations, Ezra had sensed the circulating spiritual energy turn a little sluggish.
While Ezra did not speak, everyone else fell silent, causing the atmosphere to become extremely suffocating.
Moments later, the prince finally withdrew his gaze. He looked towards the grim faced crowd and chuckled. "No problem. It's quite simple."
Everyone was stunned, even Rock also a little in disbelief and unable to speak for a time.
Exra was not offended by their response. He walked up to him and swiftly marking out several locations on Rock's body. "When you circulate your spiritual energy through these locations, increase the speed by 30% and power by 40%"
Rock was taken aback. Although he was utterly confused, he still nodded in the end, still sceptical as he began to circulate his spiritual energy. When it flowed through the locations indicated by the prince, Ezra followed the instructions given, increasing the speed and power.
~BZZZ~
Vicious earth made shards exploded from Rock's palm as he ferociously chopped downwards.
~BOOOM~