Shanglin Neighborhood, Chen Residence.
Chen Mu raised his hands towards the sky, slightly crouched, eyes squinting, breathing inconsistently fast and slow.
Under his clothes, his muscles slowly writhed with his breath, as if they had minds of their own, continuously contracting and relaxing.
After a good while, Chen Mu, drenched in sweat, stopped his cultivation.
“No wonder it’s a high-end Shape Cultivation Technique.”
The Bone Transformation Stage of the Blue-eyed Golden Ape Shape Cultivation Technique was more complex. Two hundred and seventy breathing rhythms, thirty-six variations of motion and stillness.
A single error meant the practice was in vain.
An ordinary person, fully focused every time they practiced, could still not guarantee a one hundred percent success rate.
“No wonder it takes ten years of Shape Cultivation.”
Given such a difficult success rate, one could imagine the efficiency of cultivation.
Those who could cultivate for ten years, weren’t they all born with exceptional insight and gained through diligent study and practice?
As for someone of average aptitude like me, I can only keep trying over and over with sheer effort.
Between murmuring complaints, Chen Mu completed another round of practice.
Blue-eyed Golden Ape Shape Cultivation Technique: 9390/10000/Second Rank;
Proficiency rose again by ten points.
“It’s still going to take several days to reach Perfection… so difficult,” Chen Mu faked a shake of his head and a sigh.
…
Chen Mu thought of a problem.
If ordinary Shape Cultivation Techniques are this hard, then the heirloom Shape Cultivation Techniques of major families must be astronomically harder, right?
And yet those scions manage to achieve major success in Shape Cultivation within five or six years?!
“Ancestral fortunes are really a blessing,” Chen Mu sighed helplessly.
There’s no comparison!
…
“Who told you that the families’ Shape Cultivation Techniques are difficult to practice?” Jie Jia asked coolly.
“The bloodline Shape Cultivation Techniques of major families are simple and easy to learn,” Jie Jia stated indifferently. “Some can be mastered just through breathing.”
Breathing can cultivate skills? Chen Mu instantly drooled with envy.
“Where can one find such techniques?”
Jie Jia glanced at Chen Mu, “You can’t practice them.”
Chen Mu rolled his eyes, understanding there must be stringent prerequisite conditions.
“The bloodline Shape Cultivation Techniques of major families focus on tapping into the potential of one’s bloodline.”
Fine, for a commoner like him, it was probably just something to hear about.
“Apart from the bloodline Shape Cultivation Techniques, the higher-end the Shape Cultivation Technique, the more complex it tends to be.”
“Complexity is necessary for all-around transformation,” Jie Jia added.
“Where else can one find such high-end Shape Cultivation Technique?” Chen Mu asked eagerly, looking at Jie Jia.
“I don’t have it,” Jie Jia replied indifferently. “I’ve already cultivated the Shell Soul, what use do I have for Shape Cultivation Techniques?”
Chen Mu: “…” He was let down by the old man again.
“Startling Swan Gang, Zhu Yi Pavilion, Nanyang Prefecture City yamen have it,” Jie Jia finished and gave Chen Mu a look. “Do you want it?”
Chen Mu immediately shook his head.
Recently, the major powers of Nanyang Prefecture were recruiting new members with generous terms, including cultivation techniques and secret techniques.
But joining those forces would mean losing one’s autonomy.
Who knows what kind of dangers one might face.
He had three other Shape Cultivation Techniques to practice, and his desire for a new Shape Cultivation Technique was virtually nil. He’d be mad to throw himself into that vortex.
…
Over the next few days, Chen Mu stayed home and focused on his practice.
He smoothly reached Second Rank with the Blue-eyed Golden Ape Shape Cultivation Technique.
His bones became even harder, and he suddenly shot up by a finger’s length in height.
Strength, reaction speed, balance ability, and other aspects all improved to varying degrees.
By this point, the Blue-eyed Golden Ape Shape Cultivation Technique had begun to reveal some of its wonders.
Shanglin Neighborhood, Chen Residence.
Chen Mu stood with his feet on the railing of the pavilion, his body stretched out, forming a thirty-degree angle with the vertical direction, half of his body leaning out of the pavilion, hanging over the pond edge.
It looked as though he was about to fall, but he stayed steadily positioned at the edge of the railing.
It was only after a while that he flipped back down. Your journey continues at m v|l-e-NovelFire
“This ability to balance… tsk tsk.”
As if he could freely adjust his center of gravity.
“Am I training to become a Weeble that doesn’t fall down? Heh!”
“Nearly twenty days of hard training, ah! Not easy! I need to reward myself.”
Chen Mu rarely left the house, going on a major shopping trip for fresh ingredients.
Braised pork knuckles, spicy boiled fish slices, fresh spicy shredded beef, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, fish ball soup, and a large basket with over thirty of Old Qi Family’s stuffed pastries. He managed to put together a full table of delicious food in the middle of the day.
He bit off half of the filled cake, and the rich meaty aroma spread around him. Hmm… that taste…
Gulp!
A loud sound of swallowing saliva suddenly arose.
Chen Mu looked up.
At the doorway, on top of the courtyard wall, a head with a full beard appeared without him knowing when.
The man stared greedily at the filled cake in Chen Mu’s hand, unable to look away.
Gulp!
The dark-faced, bearded head swallowed again and gave Chen Mu a flattering smile, just about to ask for some.
But he saw Chen Mu expressionlessly stuff the rest of the cake into his mouth.
Dark-faced, bearded man: “…”
…
A few minutes later.
The dark-faced, bearded man sat inside the pavilion, devouring filled cakes one after another with both hands.
Chen Mu didn’t want to let this robust man come in.
He looked like a rash person, and who knew what kind of trouble he could cause.
But then… Chen Mu glanced at the Gold Cake lying quietly inside the Five Ghosts Bag.
He had given too much…
“Brother Chen, your cooking is this!” Kui Tuo, the bearded robust man, praised with a thumbs up.
Chen Mu nodded nonchalantly.
“You’re not from Nanyang Prefecture?” Chen Mu asked casually.
“No,” Kui Tuo replied, swallowing a piece of braised meat. “The Startling Swan Gang is recruiting, right? I went to sign up. I easily became a Helmsman.”
Kui Tuo boasted proudly about his experience joining the Startling Swan Gang.
“I didn’t expect you to be a Helmsman of the Startling Swan Gang. My apologies for any disrespect,” Chen Mu said indifferently.
Kui Tuo laughed loudly: “Those guys are weak as chickens, I easily took the title.”
“Is the Startling Swan Gang recruiting virtuous talents to expand its power?” Chen Mu probed without revealing any emotion.
“I don’t know. They have us gather every day to practice some sort of formation,” Kui Tuo said, puzzled. “But that formation doesn’t seem like a battle formation, we train in a daze.”
Chen Mu was also perplexed.
Recruiting people but not training in combined attack formations, what exactly are they planning to do?
Forget it, I shouldn’t worry about this. Let’s get rid of this robust man first.
…
“When is the neighbor next to you coming back? I went to visit earlier, but the door was locked, and nobody was there,” Kui Tuo asked.
No, you have already met.
Chen Mu calmly replied, “I’m not sure.”
“And that house at the corner of the street, right next to mine, is also locked. I don’t know who lives there,” Kui Tuo continued.
No need to wonder, it’s me.
Chen Mu shrugged: “I don’t usually go out much, so I’ve never seen them.”
Kui Tuo sighed: “I just arrived today, and I wanted to visit the neighbors, but it turns out nobody’s home in the surrounding houses. I guess I’ll have to try again tomorrow.”
Chen Mu smiled and nodded in encouragement.
As long as I’m at home, you won’t meet anyone tomorrow either.
“They say a rabbit has three burrows, and being human, it makes sense to prepare seven or eight safe nests,” Chen Mu thought to himself.
…
Night.
Kui Tuo lay sprawled on his bed, mumbling in his dreams.
Now talking about drinking, now about fighting, now about good food, now about beauties.
At the head of the bed, a small paper man sat straight and proper.
Its eyes unwavering as it stared at Kui Tuo.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours…
Until the break of dawn, when the little paper man turned into black smoke and disappeared.
In the adjacent Chen Residence, Chen Mu, sitting up on his bed in Pan Xi, opened his eyes.
“Looks like he really is just a rash man who happened to move in,” Chen Mu murmured to himself.
“Poor judgment.”
“The tenant of that residence moved away quietly. It would have been great to know earlier, I could have had another safe house.”
“Now with a stranger around, there’s indeed some risk.”
Chen Mu silently thought: “I’ll have to keep watch again tonight.”
Anyway, with the Blue-eyed Golden Ape Bone Transformation, his energy was getting better and better. Losing a little sleep wasn’t a problem.