Making Preparations (1)

//Last Updated on June 22, 2024

//Please comment, and let me know your thoughts about this chapter.

***

The cheerful audience gasped in surprise, shifting their attention to Liu Feng, waiting for his response.

But before the tension could escalate further, Zhang Yan suddenly appeared in front of Liu Feng, seemingly out of nowhere, with his sharp claws. He pointed his weapons at Ye Ming and warned, "Before you challenge the boss, you'll have to go through me."

Liu Feng couldn't help but chuckle at Zhang Yan's action. He playfully tapped Zhang Yan's head and said, "Stand down."

With Liu Feng's intervention, the atmosphere lightened, and the onlookers felt relieved, thinking that Liu Feng hadn't taken the challenge to heart.

However, when City Lord Li, tried to interject, "Young master Ye, Senior Liu is our guest, he…"

"Sorry to interrupt City Lord Li, but", cutting the city lord off in the middle, Liu Feng gave Ye Ming a cold stare, "I have nothing to prove to you and I have no interest in wasting my time on some petty challenge."

"Now if you'll excuse me," Liu Feng nodded at the city lord before calmly making his way into his room, taking the city lord up on his offer earlier.

Unintentionally, this minor annoyance caused him to exude a trace of bloodlust that caused Ye Ming to take a step back.

This fact did not go unnoticed by the elder present at the scene. Stroking his beard, he uttered something in silence, 'Interesting…'

"You…!!!" confused Ye Ming, unable to contain his irritation, began to approach Liu Feng, but the elder swiftly intervened.

With a calm demeanor and a wise look, the elder stood behind Ye Ming,

"Tch…tch…Ye Ming, my stupid disciple! Junior Liu is not someone you can challenge. Your reckless behavior and disgraceful actions have brought shame to our sect. Go to your quarters and reflect on your mistakes."

The elder's words further fuelled Ye Ming's jealousy and frustration. He was not even sure why his master was taking the stranger's side, but he knew better than to defy his master's instructions.

"Junior Liu, I hope you will be able to forgive my foolish disciple."

Liu Feng nodded in agreement and decided to take up the city lord on his offer.

***

With the matter settled, Liu Feng took a moment to enjoy a warm bath while checking his progress.

[STATUS]

[Name: Liu Feng]

[Age: 18]

[Dao Points: 6969]

[Spiritual Roots: Low Grade Dao Roots]

[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 4(91%), Blood Refinement Stage 4(62%)]

[Cultivation Technique(s):

> The Eight Trigram Dao Convergence Scripture (Beginner)

> Ancestral Origin Physique Refinement Technique (Intermediate)]

[Martial Technique(s):

> Beast God's Movement Art (Intermediate)

> Beast God's Claw Art (Advanced)

> Beast God's Whip Art (Advanced) ]

[Collection(s):

> {Unnamed Wood Dao} (Origin: Dao of the Five Elements) (Lesser Grade) x20,

> {Unnamed Fire Dao} (Origin: Dao of the Five Elements) (Lesser Grade) x18,

> {Unnamed Fire Dao} (Origin: Nine-Tailed Fox) (Lesser Grade) x5,

> {Unnamed Earth Dao} (Origin: Dao of the Five Elements) (Lesser Grade) x15,

> {Unnamed Water Dao} (Origin: Dao of the Five Elements) (Lesser Grade) x13]

***

"Not bad... it was a good decision to go for that hunt. My body cultivation has progressed well, and so did my Qi cultivation, but here comes that bottleneck again... Sigh~"

Although it was not much of a change, Liu Feng was satisfied.

'I've observed something interesting though, and this hunt finally confirmed it'

'Whenever I add new Dao Fragments into an existing technique, it becomes more complex and my progress tends to increase rapidly for a short time…,'

'like a couple of percentages, and it again stagnates', Liu Feng thought silently.

'Whether it's martial techniques or cultivation techniques, this pattern remains the same. Could it possibly be because of the quality of the technique?'

'I remember the system needs a minimum of 10 fragments to combine into a medium and I can also upgrade the grades of the techniques by adding more. Unfortunately, I cannot see any kind of progression bar for my techniques to confirm the exact number of fragments I need to upgrade it to a Grade 2 technique. Sigh~'

Liu Feng leaned back, pondering, 'But then there is the matter of the Low Grade Dao Fragments after Lesser Grade. If I remember correctly, each Low Grade fragment is equivalent to 100 Lesser Grade fragments. So, if I do the calculation… 10 multiplied by 100…"

'Well, I guess I need to add 1000 Lesser Grade Dao Fragments in each of my techniques to upgrade it to a Grade 2 technique. Sigh~

He shook his head slightly, "Let's put that aside for now and focus on the present,"

'Let's see if I can make a breakthrough in body cultivation today,' he anticipated for his next breakthrough.

Staring at his fragment collections, Liu Feng thought, 'There is really no good reason for me to keep these fragments in my collection, but...'

Liu Feng had decided to do something truly remarkable, he wanted to fully understand the changes in his cultivation technique, and the new fragments brought with them.

His current version of [The Eight Trigram Dao Convergence Scripture] was several times more powerful than before, similarly, it had become more complex.

However, Liu Feng's recent busy schedule caused him not to fully digest what he is doing.

'…It has become quite complex after integrating all these new fragments,' Liu Feng admitted with a hint of frustration.

He wanted to have clarity and mastery over his technique to teach Mei Lin better. The responsibility he felt he had to guide her was a lot.

'Tch... but the proficiency declined as expected. Although I did anticipate it, it just doesn't feel good', Liu Feng muttered, letting his current situation sink in.

***

A dark greenish-purple aura followed as he waved his hand. The Qi he displayed now had significant changes due to his modified cultivation technique. The changes were evident, and it was not only a change visually but also a change in quality. Its potency has now upgraded to a lethal level.

Earlier to test the changes, he used a lower-level demon beast as the guinea pig for the experiment. A mere cut with his Qi-infused bade was enough to confirm it. Within seconds of making contact, the demon beast's wound turned into a shade of purple, the wound started to sizzle as burning steam rose from it. Sometime later, it died painfully crying in agony.

The most remarkable changes in his martial techniques, he witnessed were in his [Beast God's Movement Art] and [Beast God's Whip Art].

'The whip technique's firepower has increased significantly, It is as if the flames before were just the flame of a candle but now it's more like the flames of a burner in medium flames.'

'Well, it is yet to become something like a black flame that burns till there is nothing…I guess I have to work with this for now.', he chuckled.

'But the movement technique got more complex. My stealth ability increased, my range increased and my agility went through the roof.'

'I guess increasing it batch by batch did help, unlike my cultivation technique.'

'Well, it cannot be helped…the last two beasts were too dangerous to handle initially'

***

At the same time when Liu Feng was enjoying his soothing bath, in the guest quarters of the city lord's residence, Ye Ming was having a discussion with his master.

"Master, why did you stop me from exposing that imposter? It was clear that he did not possess any cultivation."

"I couldn't sense any trace of Qi from him. Even if we gather the most talented of our generation's disciples, defeating so many demonic beasts single handedly is imp..."

"Stop it, Xiao Ming," the elder interjected gently, stroking his thin white beard.

"This is precisely why I have always advised you to observe the world more carefully. Your nature to draw conclusions quickly hindered your judgment once again."

His master, his eyes full of wisdom, continued, "Yes, you were right to doubt. Even I, a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment realm, had difficulty discerning his true cultivation. But rest assured, he is a cultivator and an incredibly talented one at that."

Ye Ming stood there in disbelief as he listened to his master's explanation.

"The world is vast, Xiao Ming. There are as many cultivation techniques as there are people. He must be using a unique technique to conceal his true cultivation level."

"But, when you provoked him, his Qi did fluctuate slightly. He's at least in the middle stages of Qi condensation, just like you,"

"And unlike us who rely on pills to advance our cultivation for the major part, his power does not contain the breath of any pills, and the quality of Qi he cultivates felt rather very pure."

"So, had you engaged in a duel with him, you would have definitely lost."

"He must have a formidable teacher behind him. It would be wise to establish a friendly relationship with him," his master advised.

"Having more friends is always better than making enemies."

"And that display of the bloodlust he showed, tch...tch...tch...it was quite something," the elder mused.

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If you like the story please vote with power stones.

If you have any suggestions for any weapon techniques like sword, spear, etc. comment them and let me know, I'll try to use them in the story if possible. I am mostly looking for techniques that will mostly be used by others.

Fist Technique

Palm Technique

Sword Technique

Cultivation Techniques

Others