Cultivation, Bottleneck & Picking Weapons

//Last updated on June 20, 2024

***

Liu Feng woke up the next morning after barely 2-3 hours of sleep. However, he didn't feel drowsy or sluggish at all. On the contrary, he felt more energised than ever.

He quickly checked his cultivation in his status.

[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 1(37%)]

This was the culmination of his long night of cultivation. He made significant progress. It rose from 13% to 37%.

He began practising his martial arts methods after cleaning himself up.

He did not waste any Qi to launch his claw attack or the super-fast movement technique. He attempted to acquaint himself with his newfound abilities.

He saw that without employing Qi projection strikes, his stamina and power had greatly enhanced.

"It appears that being able to use Qi is not the sole advantage of cultivation; my body also feels stronger."

He rejected his idea of frequently practising Qi projection-based strikes since it quickly exhausted his Qi reserve.

"Let me try to reinforce my body using Qi. Let's check if this makes any difference."

Thus, he began by regulating his Qi around both his arms and legs. He realised that the flow of Qi throughout his body was quite smooth, and he had good control over it.

He soon concentrated on training in his martial techniques. He practised it for hours before becoming tired of it.

After a while, he believed he was on the verge of reaching the Intermediate level in his martial arts.

He projected Qi along with his movement art at the end of his practice session, conserving his remaining Qi reserves. In a moment, he landed 10-12 feet away.

He chose a large tree as his target to put his claw attack to the test. He began his Claw strike, mobilising the remaining Qi in his body.

Although the tree did not fall, three half a meter deep cuts appeared on it. It is worth noting that the diameter of the trunk of that tree was rather large.

Liu Feng soon kneeled due to fatigue as he was running low on Qi.

He began cultivating after taking a rest. His goal was to make as much progress as possible.

"They said they'd return in 5 days before departing, and this is already the second day. I still have three days left, and even if I attack that place on the fourth day, I'll still have a day to spare. So, the danger will be minimal."

"I'll attempt to finish the snake by that time, but I'm not even close to that level."

His martial arts skills were still at the beginner level.

Taking some time off, he chose to continually exercise his martial arts and cultivation.

He cultivated every few hours to restore his Qi and spent the accumulated Qi practising martial arts.

He checked his cultivation after nearly a full day of cultivation.

[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 1(68%)]

He awoke the next morning after taking a little nap. Liu Feng began practising his martial arts skills immediately, fortifying his body with Qi.

He was already used to this strategy of strengthening his arms and legs, but he soon realised that essential areas of his body such as his head, chest, and stomach were not covered with Qi.

"If I receive an attack in these areas while fighting, it might be deadly."

He quickly thinned his Qi and scattered it all over his vital places before beginning to practise his martial arts. His strength was lowered slightly, but his weak places were covered overall.

As he began to use this modified strategy, he quickly mastered it.

After practising for almost half a day without taking a day he finally noticed a few changes.

Both his martial techniques proficiency has increased to an Intermediate level.

[Martial Technique(s):

>Beast God's Movement Art (Intermediate),

>Beast God's Claw Art (Intermediate)]

"Huff…huff… huff…finally,,,"

He sat panting, ultimately deciding to take a rest.

Liu Feng began cultivating after taking a bath and eating some fruits. He intended to increase his cultivation base as much as he could.

It was well beyond midnight. He examined his state again after 10-12 hours of cultivation.

[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 1(99%)]

His cultivation remained at 99%. Even after a few more attempts, his cultivation did not improve.

"Is this what you mean by reaching a bottleneck?" wondered Liu Feng.

Liu Feng chose to sleep for a while because he wasn't making any progress.

It was already dawn when he awoke. He wanted to start cultivating again after cleaning himself up.

Unfortunately, his cultivation level remained the same. He chose to attack the cave after calculating for a while with his cultivation at [Qi Condensation Stage 1(99 %)] and his Martial Techniques at the intermediate stage.

He soon arrived at the cave where he had seen the giant snake.

The entrance was already open from the previous time he came here and destroyed the array formation. Liu Feng approached carefully as he assessed his surroundings. He was tempted by the potential reward from the cave, whether it was killing the snake and collecting Dao Fragments or any other goods that could come in handy later.

He will eventually leave the forest so had to be prepared for it and currently, he is not ready for that in any shape or form.

"Anyway, let's take a peek inside; if I can't manage it, I'll flee at full speed," Liu Feng said as he entered the cave cautiously.

He stepped inside the dark tunnel for a few metres, but there was no sign of the snake.

The inside was dark and strangely quiet. He picked up a rock from the ground and flung it far within the cave. The stone landed on the moist ground and rolled over inside.

There was no response from the other side so He decided to proceed slowly and carefully.

He soon arrived at the end of the dark tunnel, which led to a bright and spacious area. He went inside and looked around.

"Wow," he said as he witnessed a magnificent sight.

The cave appeared ordinary from the outside, but the interior was anything but ordinary. Many items inside the cave became visible under the strange yet gentle glow of the ceiling rocks. Even though it wasn't as bright as day, spotting the end of the cave was no difficulty.

There were several nicely cut and positioned stones in the centre of the cave, and there was some trace of an extinguished bonfire in the centre of it.

"As expected, it's cold", he said as he touched the cold ashes and inspected them.

He turned around to investigate and soon discovered several large crates lying around in a corner. He pushed on the box's cover to open it, and the box opened without a hitch.

"They should invest a little more in security," he chuckled.

Various weapons were lying about, including swords, sabres, and spears.

"Nice!!!"

He held a sabre in his right hand and a sword in his left, attempting to walk around while striking a cool pose.

He tried to put the swords and sabres in the scabbards after playing with them for a while, only to realise he didn't have any.

"Fuu…..khh….I still don't have proper clothes. I need to change them."

Soon after, he glanced into the box for a few moments, only to discover several unusual weapons such as claws, daggers, and a few scabbards, among other things.

"The claw appears to be unique. I'm curious whether I can utilise that with my [Beast God's Claw Art]." He chose the claw from among the weapons and laid it on the ground.

He continued to the next box, where he discovered many gold, silver, and bronze coins.

"Oh, money, I need some before I leave."

He chose one gold coin to examine. On one side of the coin was an engraving of a king's visage with a crown, and on the other, there was an engraving of a two-horned dragon.

Playing with the coin with his left palm, he moved on to the next box. He was intrigued by this currency because one of his hobbies before transmigrating into this world was collecting unique coins.

"Finally!!! At long last!!! Finally!!! Some clothes"

As he opened the third crate, he noticed various clothing. Some garments were completely black, while others appeared to be expensive.

He stripped off his garments and changed into some normal-looking clothes without more delay.

He chose a white shirt of the proper size among many other options after taking his time to wear a trouser and a vest.

After putting on the basic garments, he wore two scabbards from the weapon crate around his waist. He picked up the sword and sabre that he had previously placed on the ground and placed them inside.

He then picked two claw-shaped weapons, one for each of his hands, and placed them into the scabbard. He also "borrowed" some gold, silver, and bronze coins from the box and placed them into a pouch that he had found with the clothes.

"Phewww... this went well", although it was early to say he felt everything went smoothly as he did not even have to encounter the snake either.

With this, he was ready to leave the cave.