“`
After sending off a delighted Shang Huan and Old Hao,
Chen Mu sat on the rocking chair, moving the small table in front of him.
With a rustling sound, a pile of White Jade Coins appeared, which he began to count one by one.
“Four hundred and sixty-six,” Chen Mu’s heart leaped with joy.
Unintentionally, he had saved up so many White Jade Coins.
“It’s a pity it’s still a little short.” Thinking of the Scripture Transmission Institute’s price list, Chen Mu shook his head, “Even the cheapest Hundred Intentions Illusion Breaking Technique costs six hundred White Jade Coins.”
The matter of Shang Huan purchasing the Spiritual Light Method had given Chen Mu a wake-up call.
This year, he would be able to cultivate Spiritual Light, and he needed to plan for his subsequent cultivation.
“I still have three Mustard Seed Talismans, which could also sell for over a hundred White Jade Coins,” Chen Mu thought to himself.
“I’ll have Shang Huan sell some Hidden Qi Powder as well, that should be nearly enough.”
He had no intention of emulating Shang Huan, insisting on choosing a top-grade secret technique for cultivation.
Instead, he was fond of the cheapest Hundred Intentions Illusion Breaking Technique.
This secret technique had minimal requirements in terms of natural talent, was of a neutral and gentle nature, but it was extremely slow to cultivate, requiring diligent, day-and-night practice.
“To have created such a secret technique,”
“This Mr. Hundred Intentions must have been just like me, a person of ordinary talent but a diligent and hardworking good man.”
He glanced at the progress of proficiency on the gray wall.
Chen Mu couldn’t help but mull over, “Should I start cultivating a new secret technique now?”
After all, one can’t always grind the same experience; it’s good to change things up occasionally.
…
Two days later, under the wooden shed in the Low Mountain Courtyard,
Chen Mu held two copies of secret techniques, undecided.
One was the Mechanical Thread Technique, which could refine Soul Strength into threads that could be easily manipulated.
It could be used for defense, attack, and also act like invisible hands to assist in many tasks.
With a little thought, many scenarios came to mind where it could be used.
The other was the Void Cloak Technique, an art that allowed one to walk away from the ground and move at extreme speeds.
After much hesitation, Chen Mu ultimately chose the Void Cloak Technique. Running fast was key to survival.
“I’ll cultivate the Mechanical Thread Technique next,” Chen Mu put away the Mechanical Thread Technique reluctantly.
He opened the Void Cloak Technique.
First, there was a long passage of meaningless text hiding the curse words of the secret technique.
The back side briefly introduced the capabilities of the Void Cloak Technique. It said that once the Void Cloak Technique was cultivated, some Soul Strength beneath the soles of the feet would transform and generate a strong repulsion force, greatly enhancing movement speed.
After flipping through the pages briefly, Chen Mu began to recite the gibberish-like scripture.
Before long, a sense of understanding struck him.
The chaotic text gradually merged into a long curse word.
A new entry appeared on the gray wall.
Void Cloak Technique: 3/10000/First Rank;
“Success.”
…
In the courtyard next to a Yellow Bud Rice field at the edge of Xinchou District, beneath Jilong Road,
Pfft!
Blood splattered.
A fist burst through a man’s chest.
The man’s eyes were bulging, and his mouth opened in an attempt to scream, but a bloody hand had already gripped his throat.
Crack!
“Xu Rao, this guy’s probably another broke fool,” said the owner of the bloody hand, a husky man dressed in apricot-yellow tight clothes.
The man was at least one meter ninety in height, with long arms that almost touched his knees when they hung by his sides.
“Can’t we target some older disciples?” The long-armed husky man voiced his dissatisfaction, “These new disciples from last year have no loot to speak of.”
“Ai Ji, if you keep blabbering, I’ll kill you,” said Xu Rao, dressed in black and standing only up to the chest of the long-armed husky man, his face indifferent.
Ai Ji, with a look of disdain, parted his lips and began searching the deceased for any valuables.
Xu Rao moved slowly around the room, looking for possible hiding spots where money could be stashed.
But Ai Ji soon started to prattle again, unable to contain himself for long.
“Boss is just too cautious. With the strength of the seven, no, now six, brothers of Wu Mountain…”
“With the combined forces of us six brothers, if we targeted a big fat sheep and struck together, the profits would be many times that of these new disciples!”
“Indeed, these new disciples are easy to handle and not troublesome.”
“But if our target is a big fat sheep, we’d just have to put in a bit more effort into disguising ourselves, and there wouldn’t be any trouble.”
“Not like now, with many attempts but little reward.”
“Although it seems safe on the surface, if someone notices a flaw just once, it may invite investigation.”
“This is not worth it…”
Clang!
“`
A crisp sound.
Ai Ji’s right hand suddenly appeared in front of his throat.
Firmly blocking the palm of Xu Rao that was shaped like a knife.
“You really do want to kill me!” Ai Ji said with a helpless face, “Alright, alright, I’ll stop talking. If you don’t find it dull, then we can continue to hassle the newcomers.”
Whoosh!
Xu Rao’s figure disappeared and he appeared in the corner of the room as if he had always been there.
His right hand plunged into the wall with a plop and slowly pulled out a string of White Jade Coins.
“Hey! A pleasant surprise!” Ai Ji was immediately all smiles.
…
Half a month later.
Under the wooden shed in the courtyard of Low Mountain, a lengthy and awkward incantation spilled from Chen Mu’s mouth.
A wisp of black Soul Strength appeared below his feet like a ripple.
Chen Mu gently stepped on it, and indeed, a counteracting force bounced back. He lifted his right leg, which fell back down naturally without any effort.
Thump… thump thump… thump thump thump thump thump…
The ground underfoot seemed to become a trampoline, causing his right leg to bounce up and down on its own.
Chen Mu immediately found it amusing.
“It’s like having springs under my feet.”
At present, it’s only at First Rank, and the effect is at most like a pair of running shoes with bounce.
But if it advances to the Perceptive Stage, the Repulsion Force will increase, and the effect is unimaginable.
He was playing with great enjoyment.
Suddenly, his whole body shook, and a surge of cold air was abruptly drawn into the vital point at his back.
Then, this cold air quickly converged with the one already roaming freely within his body, gathering at the center of his forehead.
Chen Mu felt a tingling on his scalp, and his mind instantly became three times clearer than usual.
“Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique?”
He quickly called up the gray wall.
Written: 6556/10000/Second Rank;
Painting: 5967/10000/Second Rank;
Cooking: 8370/10000/Fourth Rank;
Pharmaceutical Technique: 4857/10000/Fifth Rank;
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 9721/10000/Seventh Rank;
Shape-shifting Technique: 5937/10000/Fourth Rank;
Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique: Limit;
Planting: 1203/10000/Third Rank;
Hundred Intentions Spirit Light Technique: 6598/10000;
Void Cloak Technique: 1800/10000/First Rank;
“Limit?!” Chen Mu couldn’t hide his disappointment.
This skill was too easy to master. He could gain experience just by breathing. He didn’t even have to manage it himself. And now, it had finally reached its limit.
“It seems that I’ve also awoken a special ability,” Chen Mu raised an eyebrow.
He raised his hand towards the low table beside him.
Pop!
A brown wooden teacup levitated out of thin air and flew swiftly into Chen Mu’s hand.
“Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles?!”
No way…
Feeling the name of the ability that came to his mind, Chen Mu wore a complex and indescribable expression.
Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique?
I think it’s more like a Ghosts Spirit Armor Technique!
Black cloud-like creatures, aren’t they just Ghosts?
He wasn’t that surprised by this truth.
“Bloodline secret technique…”
Jie Jia had suspected that Chen Mu had a special bloodline when he discovered Chen Mu cultivating Spirit Armor Technique.
It’s imaginable that Spirit Armor Technique must require a bloodline to cultivate.
Now it seems, his ability to cultivate Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique is likely related to his former body being possessed by Ghosts.
“It’s good that I’ve trained it to its peak,” Chen Mu felt relieved.
He had been on Jilong Road for not a short time and had seen many strange Exotic Beasts with thick skins and enormous strength.
He had also seen green beetles that could continuously split and rapidly form groups.
He even killed an Exotic Beast comparable to the Perceptive Stage, the Earth Stripper.
But Ghosts are not like ordinary Exotic Beasts; these creatures are still too bizarre.