Chapter 34 - Mystical Eight Steps
“The Mystic Spirit Sect is located in the north of the Luo River Kingdom. We will arrive in roughly nine days’ time.” Bai Heng said to Qin Nan, as they arrived at a valley after a day’s journey.
“Nine days? If that’s the case, I’ll be cultivating during the journey.” Qin Nan nodded his head and unleashed his Divine Battle Spirit, which started to absorb all the Qi from the surroundings.
Beside him, Bai Heng was staring at him in disbelief, with a sense of jealousy rising in his mind, together with a hint of fear.
An Eighth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit is terrifying indeed.
Xiao Qingxue frowned her eyebrows slightly, and said with her pleasant voice, “Qin Nan, it’s no use to cultivate like this. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the Body-Tempering Realm, Xiantian Realm, or even the Martial Emperor Realm, as long as you are cultivating, you must be calm at all times. If you cultivate as you are walking, you will exert your Qi which you have just absorbed—hence, hindering the Body-Tempering effect.”
“That makes sense.” Qin Nan was secretly impressed. Xiao Qingxue had indeed reached the Martial Emperor Realm with her cultivation as she had substantial experience in cultivation.
There was no sign of improvement when he tried to cultivate just now after unleashing his Divine Battle Spirit—it was exactly as she had mentioned.
“When I observed your battle last time, it seemed like you had not learned any movement technique.” Xiao Qingxue let out an attractive smile, which stunned Qin Nan and Bai Heng instantly. “I happen to have a skill book of an ultimate martial skill here called ‘Mystical Eight Steps’—here, take it and have a look.”
“An ultimate martial skill?” Qin Nan was shocked as he looked at the skill book before him. He hesitated as he hadn’t expected Xiao Qingxue to be so generous.
“Come and take it, what are you waiting for?” Xiao Qingxue batted her eyes at Qin Nan.
When he saw such ladylike behavior of Xiao Qingxue, Qin Nan felt his heart skipped a beat; he then had to force himself to calm down as he reached out his hand to receive the skill book.
In the meantime, Qin Nan swore in his heart that he would pay back Xiao Qingxue’s good deed one day.
Not to mention during the previous Disciple Recruitment Ceremony, Xiao Qingxue had lent a hand to help Qin Nan—who was considered ‘trash’—and protected the Qin Clan at the same time. Now, she had given him a skill book of an ultimate martial skill; all these were merely from her friendliness.
Beside him, Bai Heng appeared to be more jealous of him; it’s more than enough for this Qin Nan to have such talent—he is even winning Xiao Qingxue’s favor.
One has to know that even the top talents of the Mystic Spirit Sect failed to win Xiao Qingxue’s favor!
What kind of good fortune has this Qin Nan stumbled upon?
Meanwhile, Xiao Qingxue continued, and said, “Qin Nan, remember this. When facing your opponents with martial arts, there are two basic rules; first is the offensive skills, second is the speed.
“Now that you’ve mastered the Great Success Stage of One with the Saber, your offensive ability when facing opponents with the same cultivation base is considered overwhelming. Therefore, you should focus on practicing this ‘Mystical Eight Steps’ to improve your speed…”
Qin Nan kept nodding his head while listening to the advice; even Bai Heng had lifted his ears too. It was a precious chance to receive advice on cultivation from a Martial Emperor Realm cultivator.
Moments later, the three decided to rest at a spot in a small jungle so that Qin Nan would have some time to learn ‘Mystical Eight Steps’.
“Let’s see what kind of sorcery this ‘Mystical Eight Steps’ possesses.” Qin Nan held the skill book in his hand with a pair of fiery eyes focusing on it. He then turned the pages one by one and started reading it. He completely lost himself in the process—as if he were drunk—and found himself in his own world, separated from reality.
Xiao Qingxue and Bai Heng were stunned as they looked at Qin Nan; after this, a hint of surprise appeared in their eyes.
Xiao Qingxue’s eyes turned fiery and flashed as she said, “Never did I think that Qin Nan would be so interested in martial skills. In just a breath’s time, he has entered his own world and achieved a status of One with the Mind—even I have trouble reaching that in such a short time.”
When he heard this, Bai Heng didn’t feel pleasant, but he did not know the actual reason behind this.
Why is this Qin Nan so good in other areas, after already having an eighth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit?
Plus he had to put himself in a groveling stance in front of Qin Nan, which further made him annoyed—although he was not daring enough to show it on his face.
“I have to come up with a plan to release my hatred; I’m an outer elder of the Mystic Spirit Sect, there’s no way I would allow this to continue…” Bai Heng thought to himself, his eyes rolling around, before finally emitting a flash as he thought of something.
Bai Heng smiled while he said, “I didn’t know Senior Sister Xiao had such a high remark toward Junior Brother Qin Nan. Senior Sister Xiao, since we have some time to spare—which could be boring—why not let’s have a bet?”
“A bet?” Xiao Qingxue gave him a quick glance.
Bai Heng nodded his head and said, “Now that Junior Brother Qin Nan is learning Mystical Eight Steps, let’s bet on the time he needs to finish the process, how about that? We’ll both come up with a timeframe separately, and the one with the closest answer will be the winner.”
The words made Xiao Qingxue slightly intrigued, who said, “Pretty interesting for a bet. I’ll bet one hundred Xiantian Pills then.”
“A hundred Xiantian Pills?” Bai Heng’s expression changed slightly from these words.
Xiantian Pills and Body Tempering Pills were the same. It was evident from the name that it was a pill used by cultivators who had reached the Xiantian Realm to aid in their cultivation.
However, Xiantian Pills were relatively expensive. One Xiantian Pill’s value was equivalent to a hundred Body Tempering Pills, and normally it would be out of stock on the market, not available to be traded.
Even for Bai Heng, to give away a hundred Xian Tian Pills was quite a huge loss.
“Fine, that will be our bet.” Bai Heng clenched his teeth as he made his decision and said, “I’ll take the first guess. If I were to learn this ‘Mystical Eight Steps’, I would need at least three days. However, since Junior Brother Qin Nan possesses an eighth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit—plus he’s able to go into the stance of One with the Mind—then the time needed would be greatly reduced. I’ll guess a day!”
After finishing his sentence, Bai Heng gave a confident smile.
The reason he was willing to commit to the bet was he had met a top genius who had an eighth-ranked Martial Spirit, and was able to go into the stance of One with the Mind too when he was learning martial skills.
From his experience, the time needed for the genius to finish learning the martial skill was exactly a day’s time.
Therefore, Bai Heng was confident to commit one hundred Xiantian Pills for the bet.
When she heard this, Xiao Qingxue frowned her eyebrows slightly. From the calculation in her mind, she was expecting it to take around a day too. However, since Bai Heng had already guessed a day, she was not allowed to have the same answer.
After coming to such a realization, Xiao Qingxue raised her head to look at Qin Nan who was immersed in the learning process; she thought of the series of shocking events which took place during the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony, then said, “If that’s the case, I’ll guess 11 hours!”
After hearing this, Bai Heng almost leapt into the air in excitement.
Eleven hours, to learn an ultimate martial skill?
Even a genius with a ninth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, when entered into the stance of ‘One with the Mind’ would need eleven hours to learn an ultimate martial skill.
How is Qin Nan comparable to a ninth-grade Huang ranked genius?
Xiao Qingxue did know all this, but for some reasons she was not sure of, she was ultimately confident in Qin Nan.
Let’s hope you can bring a miracle… Xiao Qingxue prayed in her heart, while focusing her flashing eyes onto Qin Nan.
After that, Xiao Qingxue and Bai Heng sat down and meditated, and immersed themselves in cultivation. It would take some time for the martial skill learning process to finish.
Time passed slowly; suddenly, at the five hours mark, an aura was emitted from Qin Nan who was in the stance of ‘One with the Mind’.
Xiao Qingxue and Bai Heng immediately sensed the aura—they opened their eyes in shock.
Could it be? Had Qin Nan learned the martial skill in only five hours’ time?
Following this, the aura from Qin Nan rapidly decayed, and the atmosphere was calm once again.
Xiao Qingxue and Bai Heng collected their thoughts and lightly shook their heads.
Five hours to finish learning ‘Mystical Eight Steps’? Even a tenth-grade Huang ranked super-genius is unable to do so, how is it possible for Qin Nan?
Despite that, Qin Nan rose from the ground instantly and closed the skill book, his face filled with excitement, “Such an incredible ultimate martial skill. It took me five hours to master its foundation… Hmm? Qingxue, why are you both having such expressions?”
Qin Nan was curious, why did both Xiao Qingxue and Bai Heng have stiff expressions on their faces?
Xiao Qingxue and Bai Heng had their hearts full of shock.
Had Qin Nan actually done it? Something that even a tenth-grade Huang ranked super genius could not do?
Bai Heng was having a different thought; apart from the shock, his heart was filled with a grievance.
Qin Nan had finished learning ‘Mystical Eight Steps’ in five hours—did that mean Xiao Qingxue had won the bet?
What triggered Bai Heng more was that Qin Nan was unsatisfied that he took five hours to learn an Ultimate Martial Skill. Did he think five hours to learn an Ultimate Martial Skill was too much…?
When he had this thought, Bai Heng almost broke out cursing.
Why the f**k is this Qin Nan so insane?