《Approaching Ascension (Book 1) [Hiatus before Book 2]》 Chapter 001 Chapter 001 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- It was late at night, when a middle aged man with a noticeably flabby belly entered a one room studio apartment and switched on the lights. There was a single bed with a tattered mattress and a couple of dirty sheets in one corner, occupying almost a fourth of the space. In another corner was a cooking range with a utensil rack above it, a sink near it, a few overhead cabinets and a fridge. The last pieces of furniture were a table with a somewhat dilapidated computer on it and a plastic chair. The middle aged man was dressed in orange overalls with a grey t-shirt visible underneath. Without removing his attire, he navigated what little floor space was there, to his small bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked in the mirror and what stared back at him was a wheat-skinned man with wrinkles all over and especially noticeable crow¡¯s feet. He had black eyes which lacked vigor and short plain grey hair which displayed his clearly receding hairline. After taking a shower and dressing in half pants he rummaged around in his fridge, preparing to make dinner. Instead of his usual sandwich, he decided to cook a proper meal. Tomorrow was his day-off after all. He put some cleaned frozen prawns and frozen peas to defrost while he set some rice to cook and chopped up some carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and onions. His cooking range beeped, indicating that the defrosting was over. He hummed himself a tune, while he withdrew the peas and heated some oil on a pan and soaked some coriander leaves in salt water. While the pan was heating he mixed all the vegetables with salt, turmeric powder and black pepper powder. He tossed some whole cloves, cardamom and cumin seeds in the heated oil and added the vegetables. He stirred for a bit and covered the pan. He searched his fridge for garlic, and failing to find it, uncovered the pan and added a dollop of garlic ginger paste in it, stirring it, before covering it again. He set an alarm on his phone for 15 minutes later, and started his computer. He surfed the web, reading some random web novel about an MC who was trash finding a heavenly treasure and conquering the heavens. He was about to click on the ¡°next chapter¡± link, when the alarm on his phone rang and he flinched, clicking on the advertisement below instead. He tried to go back to his web novel; but the browser was hanging. Sighing he got up, and uncovered his pan. A brownish stew had formed. After confirming that the potatoes were cooked, he added the defrosted prawns and started chopping up the coriander leaves after rinsing them. He added the coriander leaves to the prawn-vegetable curry and simmered for a few more minutes. By now, the rice was done so he washed a plate and served himself some rice, covering it with the now done prawn-vegetable curry. He then added a chunk of butter on top of it, which immediately melted. He sat at the computer and frowned. Something that seemed like a popup for a shitty advertisement/survey occupied his screen. He tried calling his task manager, but it didn¡¯t respond. He contemplated restarting his pc, but shrugged and decided to fill the survey to kill time. He thought to himself, ¡®I will finish this dumb survey before my dinner and then restart my pc.¡¯ He used a spoon to eat with his left hand, while his right hand navigated the advertisement /survey. It looked like it was for some MMO or some game. It had a catchy phrase in jarring colors, about living a new life, in a new world. Most probably some tedious, but addicting pay to win MMO. He saw the sub-heading of the page, which was titled ¡°World Setting¡± and saw the first question:This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
How would you like the present state of your new world to be in your next life? a) Apocalyptic b) War-ravaged c) Low-Conflict
¡®If I treat this question seriously, I sure as well don¡¯t want to be running for my life, conscripted to fight for lords¡­ or defending my kingdom for that matter, so option c it is¡¯ he mused while chewing prawn curry and rice as he selected the third option. He noticed that near the right bottom of the page, there were two active buttons, ¡°Next¡± and ¡°Skip¡± and a greyed out ¡°Back¡± button. Since he was bored anyway, he decided to go ahead with it. What followed next was a series of questions defining various aspects of the ¡°new world¡± in his ¡°next life¡±. Probably because he was reading a xianxia web novel, he tailored his answers towards eastern fantasy. He had long finished his dinner and the dirty dish lay on his computer table, near the keyboard. However, he ignored them and diligently filled the survey, he had revised a few of his choices by going on back. After a couple of hours, virtual glitters covered his monitor and he saw the following message:
You have completed world-building. Please proceed to Character Creation!
He was surprised and yawned as he thought ¡®There is still character creation left? Now I am curious. Might as well fill it as long as it doesn¡¯t ask for my credit card details at the end¡­¡¯ He clicked on ¡°Next¡± and another question greeted him. He noticed that besides the ¡°Back¡±, ¡°Next¡± and ¡°Skip¡± buttons near the bottom right, there was a counter on the top left of the screen which showed ¡°150 CP Left¡±. The ¡°Back¡± button had also been greyed out again. The First question in Character Creation was:
What is the family background of your new family in your next life? a) Cultivators b) Royalty and Nobility c) Merchants d) Peasant and Commoners e) Orphan
He clicked on Cultivators, and noticed that 20 CP had reduced from his total and he had 130 CP left. He clicked back and selected ¡°Orphan¡± and his total CP had increased to 160. ¡®So from now on I am on a CP budget, eh? All options will consume points or add points depending on the advantages/disadvantages.¡¯ he ruminated. His was intrigued and he spent longer on the character creation. By the time he finished character creation it was morning. He attended to his ablutions, and pulled out a can of beer from his fridge. He lit a cigarette and smoked it as he sipped the chilled beer. He reviewed the summary of his choices and clicked on the confirmation dialog box. He got another screen.
For your diligence in completely customizing ¡°World Setting¡± you have gained additional 50 CP (reclaimed). For your diligence in completely customizing ¡°Character Creation¡± you will receive a random bonus in your next life. Please wait while we load your New World and welcome you to your Next Life¡­
He finished his cigarette and beer, but the damn advertisement survey was politely asking him to wait. ¡®Fuck this. Might as well have another smoke and sleep¡­¡® He cursed mentally as he lit another cigarette. He lay on his bed as he finished smoking and went to sleep. In his drowsy state, he didn¡¯t notice that an ember from his cigarette butt on the floor was blown to his sheet which started smoldering. Chapter 002 Chapter 002 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- In a caravan, a horse drawn carriage had four people in it. There were two men just past their prime, a middle aged man and a young chubby teen boy. The two men in their thirties were armored in chainmail armor and equipped with sabers and crossbows. The middle aged man was wearing a leather jacket and pants with a slim sword sheathed near his waist and was shaking the chubby teen boy who seemed to be dozing. The chubby teen boy was fair skinned with a mild golden tint and had straight hair tied in a short pony tail. He opened his eyes and looked like he was in a daze. The middle aged man addressed the chubby teen boy ¡°Hao-er, wake up. We have almost reached the Twin Fort City.¡± The chubby teen boy opened his eyes, and seemed dazed. ¡®WTF happened. Am I dreaming? I wasted an entire night filling a shitty survey and some old creep addresses me as Hao-er?¡¯ thought the chubby teen boy. He clasped his head in his hands as he got a throbbing headache and memories seemed to flow into his mind. The middle age man frowned a bit, but waited for a reply from the chubby teen boy. Memories flowed into the chubby teen boy¡¯s mind. He recalled around a decade worth of memories. Apparently he was the youngest son of a merchant family, with not much aptitude for managing businesses. With all the nurturing he received, while his elder brothers could manage a ledger of a single restaurant at his age, the only way he could be useful at restaurants was at the kitchen. Indeed he had more talent in eating rather than in finance. ¡®Hmm, this seems uncannily similar to the background subsection of the character generation of that stupid survey. What is happening? Am I having a lucid dream?¡¯ The chubby teen boy pinched his arm and felt a jolt of pain, confirming that this was not a dream. Meanwhile the middle aged man was observing intently and cursing in his mind ¡®This good-for-nothing young master. Because of his sudden impulse, I am his babysitter for this wretched journey. Damn it! If I could breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage, then I wouldn¡¯t have to be polite to a useless trash like him.¡¯ The middle aged man was cursing young master Fang Hao in his mind. He was a branch clan member, appointed to his post by the Fang family for decades now. It was so inconvenient to leave his cushy position as head of the guards, and accompany this wastrel to Cloudy Sky City. This 14 year old brat was a whoring thief and gave the clan leader endless headaches. Damn it, he missed months of fun with his beautiful concubines for this brat. Meanwhile ¡°Fang Hao¡± was assimilating the new stream of memories. He remembered a life on a planet called ¡°Earth¡± where last he was filling an advertisement survey after a hard day¡¯s work where he was almost 50 years old. Another was as the youngest son of a merchant who managed restaurants in a town. Apparently, he was not very good at managing the finances of a restaurant, but was good at eating! Fortunately his elder brothers had a far better aptitude than him at business, and his father let him fool around. While ¡°Fang Hao¡± was fooling around in one of the restaurants eating his fill, what appeared to be a drunken Buddhist monk barged into the restaurant and demanded more wine. From his tattered attire, he didn¡¯t seem to have much money, yet he demanded wine! When the staff of the restaurant tried to shoo him, the drunken monk beat them up until they were like crippled children. ¡°Fang Hao¡± was impressed by his prowess and had thought that if he had power similar to the drunken monk he could do whatever he want and not be bullied by his father and brothers! He had immediately kowtowed as asked him to take him as a disciple. The drunken monk laughed and had just ruffled his head before drinking his wine and leaving. Excluding the drunken monk episode, most of his alternate memories matched with the survey he had filled. ¡®Can it be that the survey actually transported me to a different world? If that¡¯s the case good thing I wasn¡¯t too stingy and select penalties like ¡°Orphan¡± to get a few more CP. At the very least I had selected to be literate and know to speak and write this strange new language that old man spoke in.¡¯ ¡°Fang Hao¡± was surprisingly calm considering the implications of the conclusion he had drawn. He noticed his surrounding and looked at the middle-aged man. He recalled that he was one of the branch clan members loyal to his father, at the peak of late stages of Qi Gathering Realm. ¡°Yes uncle Mu, I am awake now. Fortunately the journey was smooth.¡± Fang Hao replied respectfully. Even though he was the main descendent of a wealthy merchant clan, the middle aged Man had contributed a lot to the clan and was awarded the position of Head of the Household Guards by his father. After a quarter of an hour, they reached a gigantic sand colored fort, which was at least a kilometer across, with a huge steel portcullis. It was strategically placed at the only pass in the vast mountain ranges which spanned for hundreds of kilometers in both directions. At the other end of the mountain pass was another giant fort, and the area between them was a city, which was humongous by medieval standards. The Caravan broke apart into many smaller camps as members for each camp made separate arrangements to enter Twin Fort City. Uncle Mu dealt with all the arrangements and they passed through the fort swiftly entered the city. Entering the ¡°city¡±, Fang Hao was shocked to see fields cultivating wheat. Seeing Fang Hao¡¯s shock, Uncle Mu explained that this Twin Fort city was an independent city state ruled by a council of High lords. Many nearby kingdoms were eyeing it for its strategic location, but it could endure a siege for years if required. While it was being sieged, the loss in trade was enough for the merchant conglomerates to pressure other kingdoms to attack the besieging kingdom and the balance of power was maintained. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡®Apparently, if you have enough of money, you can make even Royalty your bitches, eh. But I guess this just goes for the mortal kingdoms. A stronger cultivator could easily eradicate a smaller sect if he had an excuse, and nobody would take any action.¡¯ thought Fang Hao, as he heard Uncle Mu¡¯s explanation on the political scenario of Twin Fort City. He was here to be delivered to a mid-sized sect as an outer disciple. His father had given up hope for him to manage businesses, and had decided to pay some tribute to a locally powerful sect, making them take him as an outer disciple. In case his good for nothing 14 year old son does succeed at cultivating, it will be a huge boost to the clan¡¯s reputation (aka ¡°face¡±). They rested at a medium-sized inn for almost a week, during which Fang Hao thoroughly assimilated the memories of the previous Fang Hao. Apparently his host liked to visit brothels a lot, and stole money from business to finance his escapades. He also was a fat glutton who preferred to hold a position of responsibility at restaurants¡­ so that he could steal exquisite food as well as money for brothels. His father was at his wits end as to how to discipline him, since his mother always supported and defended him. Finally it was decided for him to be a disciple at a sect, even if the tribute required was huge. This time, Fang Hao also tried various ¡®game¡¯ commands like staring at objects and thinking/saying commands like ¡°Inspect¡± and ¡°Observe¡±. All his attempts failed, and he only succeeded once when he mentally shouted ¡°Status Screen¡±. A translucent blue screen floated in his vision.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 14 years
Titles:
Class: Mortal Level 0
Current Experience: 0 Level Up at Experience: 50
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 0.5 Finesse: 0.5
Spirit: 0.8
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ??Blessed by a Drunken monk??
¡®Looks like my status screen looks identical in the survey, except for the ¡°??Blessed by a Drunken Monk¡± part. It seems that the drunken monk part is my diligence bonus.¡¯ thought Fang Hao, as he reviewed his status screen. He recalled that he had spent a good chunk of his CP to acquire the traits ¡°Calm¡±, ¡°Lucky¡± and ¡°Primal Instinct¡±. Too bad he would have to sacrifice almost everything worthwhile if he wanted even one of the better traits like ¡°Unshakable Will of the Divine Mountain¡±, ¡°Heavenly Good Fortune¡± and ¡°Heaven Revealing Third Eye¡°. He could only dream about a top tier trait like ¡°Bloodline of the Primordial Dragon.¡± And/or starting with possession of any of the heavenly treasures. ¡®Maybe I could afford the godly treasures if I had selected an apocalyptic setting or something which would probably give me more CP for character creation.¡¯ So he had settled on three useful, but not earth-shaking traits. His logic was that a bit of luck, a calm mind and some instinct to avoid danger would go a long way for a cultivator. They were the most useful traits he could afford anyway. While character creation, he had deliberated on the three Stats Physique, Finesse and Spirit and in the end chose to pump the entire leftover CP for 60% Spirit bonus because wasn¡¯t Cultivation about insight and spiritual stuff? Other than recognizing Mt. Tai and slaughtering for treasures of course. He assumed that Physique stat affected the strength, constitution and endurance of his body; Finesse stat affected his agility, reaction speed and perception; Spirit stat affecting the power of his spells and resistance to mental enchantments. He also assumed that a fully grown human mortal in his prime would have 1.0 in these 3 stats¡­otherwise the stat system would be pretty arbitrary. Those were just guesses though and without leveling up and testing he won¡¯t know for sure. Soon it was the appointed day when the representatives of the Sect would arrive. His entourage took him to a huge coliseum, where the guards waited outside, and only Uncle Mu and he were allowed to enter when uncle Mu showed the personnel at the coliseum a silvery token. Fang Hao and Uncle Mu navigated the interior of the coliseum and sat at the stands among hundreds of other people. They waited a few hours before they saw a giant lotus leaf descending, which landed at the center of the coliseum. Chapter 003 Chapter 003 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Around half a dozen lofty young men and women with arrogant looks were sitting cross legged on the giant lotus leaf. They wore white Daoist robes and were genuine cultivators! Controlling a magic treasure capable of flight meant that these were genuine Qi Condensation disciples! The cultivators stood up and walked down from the lotus leaf. A young man with squinty slit-like eyes and a triangular face looked like their leader. He stood in the front and addressed the crowd. ¡°We are the representatives from the Jade Pagoda Sect. All those who wish to join our sect and have tokens come forward.¡± Uncle Mu handed Fang Hao a silver pagoda shaped token, and escorted him till the edge of the seats. One of the cultivators made double-handed incantation gestures, and a silk handkerchief wrapped around Fang Hao¡¯s waist and floated him towards the cultivator. Similar scenes were happening with dozens of children and teenagers. Fang Hao clasped his hands and handed over the silver pagoda token to the fat meatball shaped cultivator who had floated him down. The chubby cultivator summoned a jade slip and muttered. ¡°Fang Hao, eh? Good to see a fellow fatty. You can call me Senior Apprentice Brother Chen or Senior Fatty Chen. Your token allows you to enter directly as an outer disciple.¡± Senior Apprentice Brother Chen flicked his sleeve and a clear crystal ball, which seemed to be made of white jade floated near Fang Hao. ¡°Go on, touch the crystal ball.¡± Fang Hao did as Senior Fatty Chen suggested, and a dim silver glow emanated from the jade ball. Fang Hao clapped his back. ¡°Not bad, Fatty Hao! Even without the token you qualify as an Outer Disciple. If you work hard, you can become an inner disciple like me in 5 years!¡± Then Senior Fatty Chen escorted another fat child who looked like he was 12 years old. As Fang Hao stood towards the side, he noticed that Senior Fatty Chen was using his silk handkerchief to escort all the fat kids in descending order of their weight. ¡®It seems like Senior Fatty Chen is very amicable towards fat people and this body, no I, am one of the fattest prospective disciples here, though I am no way as fat as Senior Fatty Chen. Anyways being on good terms with an inner disciple should prove useful in the future.¡¯ thought Fang Hao. Fang Hao was observing the testing of prospective disciples and inquiring with senior Fatty Chen when he had doubts who was happy to explain to him. Those with silver tokens, regardless of talent were assured to at least be accepted as outer sect disciples. In the talent test, those without tokens who had a bronze glow were accepted as janitorial disciples, the lowest level of disciples in the sect. Those with silver glow were accepted as outer disciples, those with gold glow as inner disciples, and if a legendary talent with a jade green glow appeared¡­he would be directly selected as a core disciple! Fang Hao was speculating on what the color of the glows actually measured. ¡®Is it age normalized Spirit that the jade crystal ball is measuring? Does starting spirit somehow determine cultivation talent?¡¯ While Fang Hao was speculating and trying to co-relate stats in his status screen with the talent test result. Suddenly there was a commotion near one of the Senior Apprentice Sisters. A thin skinny girl of around 11 years of age was touching a jade ball and it had a strong golden glow! This meant that she was qualified to be an inner disciple right after joining the sect. Soon it subsided down, but the Senior Apprentice Sister who had a shrew like face had tested the golden talent girl had stopped evaluating others and had taken the skinny girl aside, speaking to her with smiles on her face. The testing went on for several hours, and a majority of the non-token holders had been either rejected or evaluated to be janitorial disciples. Very few were eligible to be outer disciples and only that one girl was qualified to directly join as an inner disciple. The test was almost finished, and the Jade Pagoda cultivators were about to wrap up. A young boy of around 10 years old in tattered clothes and covered with bruises ran through the seats of the coliseum and jumped into the testing area. He was being chased by what looked like city guards. The fall was around ten meters high, yet the young urchin rolled on the ground and landed on all fours kowtowing to the cultivators. The city guards frowned but refrained from jumping into the testing area. They were only in the early stages of the mid Qi Gathering Realm, and wouldn¡¯t dare disrespect Official Sect Cultivators. As the lead guard was about to address the cultivators, the kowtowing bruised urchin quickly addressed the slit eyed cultivator. ¡°Honored Senior, I would like to join your Glorious Sect.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The Guard Leader clasped his hands to the cultivators and said, ¡°Honored Senior, it is not that we want to interfere in sect affairs, but this little freak is a thief, murderer and arsonist!¡± The slit eyed cultivator coolly addressed the Guard Captain. ¡°Petty squabbles of mortals do not concern me. As per rules he is of age and made it here in time and is therefore eligible to attempt the test. Come forward child and touch this floating jade orb.¡± The kowtowing bruised urchin got up and said ¡°Many thanks honored senior.¡± before touching the floating white jade orb in front of the slit eyed cultivator. There was a deep green glow from the jade orb. The slit eyed young man, despite being a lofty Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator, was barely controlling his emotions as he hid his clenched shivering fist in his sleeves while maintain a calm fa?ade. ¡°Welcome to the Jade Pagoda Sect, if you have any questions don¡¯t hesitate to ask and I, Ge Hong, will answer to the best of my meager abilities. And what is your name and how old are you?¡± The slit-eyed cultivator said with a kind smile. The dirty, bruised urchin smiled, clasped his hands and bowed deeply ¡°Many thanks Senior Apprentice Brother Hong! I am called Qin Lee and I am thirteen years old.¡± Senior Hong was all smiles and was about to speak when the Guard Captain interrupted him. The guard Captain was furious. This little urchin had killed a dozen guards with early Qi gathering cultivation and the slave Overseer, before setting fire to the brothel all with no cultivation! While his Lord was not too concerned with the property loss, it was a big loss of face, and had ordered him to clean up the mess. He had taken a team of guards with mid Qi Gathering Realm cultivation and finally tracked the freak before the current events aspired. He had almost caught the little bastard and didn¡¯t know the green glow represented. The highest talent he was aware of was the gold glow. So swallowing his anger, he respectfully addressed Cultivator Hong. ¡°Esteemed Senior this freak is a devious criminal, and not worthy to join the esteemed jade Pagoda Sect. May we arrest this criminal?¡± The smiling cultivator¡¯s visage flashed with fury as he made single-handed incantation gestures and flicked his sleeves. A meter long serpent made of flame as thick as his wrist flew towards the Guard Captain and before he could react smashed into his face causing a small explosion. All that remained above his neck was a charred stump. The nearby guards had heat blisters on their skin and their expressions were painful. ¡°You dare to advise me on Sect matters and tarnish the honor of a Sect Disciple? The price for your insolence is Death!¡± he said coolly. He then addressed his fellow cultivators. ¡°Fellow Apprentice Brothers and Sisters, I will take my leave with brother Lee. Please deliver the other selected prospective disciples as planned. Brother Lee, please grasp my hand, we will be teleporting directly to the sect.¡± He then extended his hand to Qin Lee who grasped it firmly. Senior Apprentice Brother Hong then withdrew a charm which looked like a clock and crushed it. They were covered in a green glow and disappeared from sight. Fang Hao released the breath he didn¡¯t know he was holding. Instantly there was background chatter as everyone discussed the turn of events. By now even retards would have realized, that the green glow was extremely significant to the Jade Pagoda Sect. The Qi Condensation Realm cultivators gathered around the giant lotus leaf and chanted under their breath making hand gestures. The giant lotus leaf expanded greatly and now looked large enough for all the hundred or so prospective disciples to sit on cross-legged. The Jade Pagoda Cultivators herded the prospective disciples on the giant lotus leaf. Fang Hao glanced at Uncle Mu before sitting on the lotus cross legged. Senior Fatty Chen made his way and sat next to him. ¡°Let that be a lesson on not offending those more powerful than you, eh Fatty Hao. Sometimes even groveling politely can bring swift retribution.¡± Fang Hao heard the bitterness in the usually cheerful Senior Fatty Chen¡¯s voice as the Giant Lotus started flying. ---------- Note on levels of Cultivation (revealed till now): Mortal, then Qi gathering, then Qi Condensation. All the guards that have been mentioned in this chapter as well as Uncle Mu are Qi gathering Realm, which is one Realm lower than Qi Condensation. The Jade Pagoda Disciples, who arrived on the giant lotus leaf, are the only Qi Condensation layer appearances till now. Please do inform me if I have mixed up the cultivation realms. ---------- Chapter 004 Chapter 004 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- After an hour or so of flying with the Jade Pagoda disciples, Fang Hao was hungry. His last meal was more than half a day ago. He tried to distract himself by looking at the scenery below, but everything was a blur. Strangely though, he didn¡¯t feel biting winds but a comfortable breeze. Looking towards the western horizon, he estimated dusk was a couple of hours ago. ¡®Damn I am a gluttonous fat fuck now. Who would guess that there was a time in my previous life where I would go hungry for days in foster home? And just missing lunch is making me famished.¡¯ thought Fang Hao. In the distance a humongous mountain whose peak was above the clouds came into their vision. The mountain was carpeted with forests, and the peak had pierced the clouds. The surrounding ¡°mountains¡± looked like molehills compared to the obscenely large mountain. The lotus leaf travelled higher and higher as it approached the colossal mountain. He noticed that the cultivators, as if with prior agreement, flicked their sleeves and swallowed some pills. They began to make hand gestures in unison and started audibly chanting and soon, a green glow emanated from the lotus leaf. It appeared that the leaf had slowed down, but the scenery around them distorted rapidly. In what seemed like moments, they had appeared on a large plateau covered with grass. There were around a half a dozen similar lotus leaves each with around 80-90 prospective disciples. In the distance, they could see a series of hills and mountains. Some were forested, while some had terraces on their slope. Some were completely bare of vegetation and filled with caves and looked like a mountain shaped honeycomb. Many had smoke and fumes of various colors emanating from them. The mountains got larger with the distance, and in the distance there was a dull azure pagoda watching over all the mountains! Even though the azure pagoda looked like it was in disrepair, it had a dominating presence. He was jolted alert when one of the cultivators escorted them instructed them to follow. The giant lotus leaf they had ridden shrunk and floated into the distance. After walking for almost a quarter of an hour, their group reached the foot of a small hill. One of the cultivators who had escorted them ordered the soon-to-be janitorial disciples to follow him and they started following the cultivators. Only around 30 or so prospective outer disciples were left along with the skinny girl who was closely following the shrew faced female cultivator. While they were walking, Fang Hao respectfully inquired, ¡°Senior Fatty Chen, where exactly is the sect located? Before we arrived here, I could only see the colossal mountain fill my vision.¡± Senior Fatty Chen had a smug look on his face as he said a bit loudly, ¡°Junior Fatty Hao, our glorious Jade Pagoda sect is located on the Celestial¡¯s Abode. The Celestial Abode¡¯s is precisely the plateau at the top of the Heavenly Jade Mountain you saw before.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Fang Hao drew in a sharp surprised breath and the other disciples near him were astonished too. ¡®How large is the freaking mountain, that its peak can hold entire mountain ranges? Fuck these ¡°mountains¡± are probably less than pimples on the colossal mountain.¡¯ Soon, when it was almost dusk, they reached another mountain. All the prospective outer disciples were instructed to follow Fatty and another couple of seniors as they headed up the winding path. Only the skinny young girl proceeded forward with the shrew faced female inner disciple. Soon they reached a mansion. Senior Fatty Chen informed them that this was the Outer Assignment Hall they were assigned to. They will be living their lives on this peak for the most part; eating, sleeping, working and cultivating until they can be promoted to inner disciples. The inner disciples led the prospective outer disciples to a large hall. A tired looking old man glared at Fatty Chen, and said curtly ¡±You are late Fatty Chen. Couldn¡¯t you leave this little shits here, a bit earlier?¡¯ Senior Fatty Chen smiled and replied ¡°You must be joking Old man Zhu, I brought them as fast as my fat body could manage to. Take care of these fatties for me now and explain the ropes, and I will drop by later.¡± Many of the prospective outer sect disciples were frustrated in their hearts, though they dare not show it. Take care of the fatties? What are the others like themselves, useless trash? Old man Zhu snorted and flicked his sleeves. Suddenly, a pile of around thirty half-filled jute sacks appeared. ¡°Each of you grab a sack from that pile. It contains a few sets of robes, which you have to wear at all times while on this mountain. It also contains a list of rules, a map of this hill with the essentials and the first three layers of a Qi gathering manual.¡± He said in a flat tone. ¡°Read them in detail and commit them to memory, but mainly it boils down to the following: Be Loyal to the sect and never leak any of the cultivation, spell, and technique scriptures you obtain without authorization. Don¡¯t kill or permanently cripple your fellow disciples outside the arena, and don¡¯t intrude into their dwellings without permission. Complete your obligations to the sect. For outer disciples like you, it is mostly fulfilling a weekly or monthly quota.¡± ¡°There will be two meals daily in the dining hall, at sunrise and sunset. You will also get three lowest grade fasting pills at the end of each week if you complete your chores satisfactorily. Each pill is enough to satiate your hunger for a whole day. Even if they are the trashiest recovery pill available, don¡¯t look down on them, as they will be of immense help for mortals like you to cultivate continuously for a period of time and break through layers of Qi gathering stage. Each sac contains three fasting pills for this week. Your assignment and selection of chores will be in a week from now. Now I will lead you to the dining hall for today¡¯s meal, and have someone guide you to your dwellings after it.¡± Chapter 005 Chapter 005 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- After their meal, a few outer disciples wearing grey robes escorted the new outer disciples to their cottages. Each of the cottages was fenced, small and single storied, but with a backyard adjacent to it. Fang Hao estimated that the backyard was half the size of a basketball field and was squarish in shape. The outer disciple leading them spoke ¡°These are the unused cottages on this peak. Just select one, and drop blood on the amulet hanging on its gate. That will make it so that only you can enter it.¡± Fang Hao and the others each selected a cottage. He took the grey amulet from the gate, and bit his forefinger and dropped a drop of blood on it. The amulet absorbed the blood and he could instinctively control some kind of field which allowed or restricted entry. He tried to open the gate, and it did so even though he felt that the field was on. He closed the gate behind him as he entered the cottage. Inside there were three rooms. One room just had a bed, a mat on the floor, and a small upturned bamboo-basket covering something on a small stool. He removed the basket, and a there was a small pale blue orb sitting in a wineglass like holder. The pale blue orb was emitting a gentle light which made everything significantly brighter. He noticed that on a nearby wall, there were a few water skins hanging. He kept the light-stone uncovered and investigated the other two room. One of the other rooms had no windows, had thick sturdy walls and a heavy door. There was only a thin mat on the floor. He assumed this to be the closed-door cultivating room. The remaining room was a bit strange. It had a small light-stone mounted on the ceiling. There was a pit which was lined by gnarled roots in one corner with a bucket and mug near it. There was a translucent curtain separating that corner. There was also what looked like braid of saplings in the opposite corner which jutted out at waist height with a bucket and mug below it. For some time, Fang Hao was puzzled about its usage and then it suddenly clicked. ¡®It is a bathroom! That curtained area is an Indian style shitter. Those twisted saplings look like a tap.¡¯ Having investigated his dwelling, he took a quick shower, and changed into a set of grey robes from his sack. He then took a book out of his sack and started reading by the light-stone. It was a brief history of the sect, its notable personalities, some general information about cultivation and the sect and the rules. Fang Hao first thoroughly read the rules, and for the most part it was what Old Man Zhu had said, but in more details and exceptions. One notable rule he found was that different grades of disciples had different permissions on whether they could fly or not in different regions of the sect. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. He then read the general information section. It had a brief overview of cultivation. The first realm was Qi Gathering Realm. In this realm, the practitioner was just stronger, faster and healthier than a regular mortal. The practitioner slowly gathered Qi in his dantian in a gaseous form. The increase in longevity, or lifespan, was barely a couple of decades. A peak practitioner at this realm could expect to live a little over a century. The next realm was the Qi condensation realm. The practitioner compressed the Qi in his dantian to a liquid state. In this realm, the practitioner could finally bind and use magic treasures; learn and cast magical spells and techniques. The expected lifespan of the practitioner at the peak of Qi condensation was around 150 years. The next realm of Qi cultivation was Foundation Establishment. In the foundation establishment realm, the liquid Qi in the practitioner¡¯s dantian partially crystallized, continuously generating wisps of Qi. In Foundation Establishment the cultivator could fly without the use of magical treasures! This realm also increased the cultivator¡¯s longevity to almost three centuries! Each of the three mentioned realms had four stages; initial, intermediate, late and peak. Initial, mid and late stages again had beginning, middle and advanced sub-stages. The peak realm was just peak, it had no sub-stages. ¡®Foundation Establishment, huh? The manual doesn¡¯t mention any other realms¡­but it obvious it is laying the foundation for something. Also the levels of a realm are quite neatly divided. 3 for initial, 3 for intermediate, 3 for advanced and 1 for peak. So there are a total of 10 levels for each realm.¡¯ He then read briefly about the history of the sect. The founder had found the mountain peak and was exploring it, when it was not much different from the nearby regular mountains. By chance, he saw a corner of dull grey jade sticking out of the ground. He tried to dig it out, but the tip was unusually sharp and he accidently cut his palm. His blood was absorbed by the piece of jade and there was an earth shattering change! The piece of jade turned out to be the tip of a jade pagoda! The mountain he was on, in the blink of an eye, expanded thousands of time and the massive Jade Pagoda erupted out of it! In a chance encounter he had refined what would be the core foundation of the Jade Pagoda sect. ¡®Somehow, that sounds more like a fairy tale¡­but then again Cultivation is real here, so it¡¯s possible. Now it is time to read the Qi gathering Manual!¡¯ thought Feng Hao as he withdrew a scroll which was the first three layers of a Qi gathering technique. He first read through once through all the three layers. It was titled the Sublime Qi manual and was essentially a set of postures, breathing techniques and mnemonic chants. He then thoroughly read and re-read the first layer until he had it memorized. By the time he was done, he was feeling tired and his belly was rumbling. Looking out the window, he saw that it was almost dawn. ¡®I am tired, hungry and have limited supply of fasting pills. It wouldn¡¯t be too productive to start cultivating now. I should eat heartily, take a nap and then start cultivating the Sublime Qi Manual.¡¯ Chapter 006 Chapter 006 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- After having a hearty breakfast, attending to his ablutions and sleeping till dusk¡­ Fang Hao had another meal. His behavior seemed like that he was a good for nothing fatty, only eating and sleeping during daylight. Actually though, he wanted to be at his peak before he attempted cultivating the Sublime Qi Manual. Even though he wanted to start his glorious journey to immortality quickly, he realized that being hasty wasn¡¯t the way to proceed. After returning to his cottage, Fang Hao went into the seclusion room, closed and locked the door before sitting cross-legged on the floor-mat. He joined his thumbs together and placed them on his navel, with the joined forefingers pointing upwards and curled the remaining three fingers and joined them at the knuckle, forming the hand-seal mentioned in the Sublime Qi manual. He then stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth and started breathing in through the nose and chanted the mnemonics in his mind, trying to gather a wisp of Qi. Unsurprisingly, he didn¡¯t feel anything other than his breath. Of course, cultivating was not easy. Without being disheartened, he continued the breathing exercises mentioned in the Sublime Qi scripture. Even though he was unable to feel a strand of Qi, he fell into a partial trance and continued the breathing exercises. When it was almost dawn, he felt a thin strand of energy travelling from the back of his throat down his neck. At this new unexpected feeling, he was excited which caused him to lose the rhythm he had built and exit his trance. He tried to get into the state of mind he was before for a few times, but gave up as he failed. But he wasn¡¯t disheartened, as this was the beginning of his journey. He felt hunger, and made his way to the dining hall to eat. ¡®Perhaps, that hair-thin strand of energy was Qi. If I manage to make that strand complete a full circulation and store it into a dantian, I would have successfully completed one cycle. According to the manual, after I complete 108 cycles I would have broken through to the 1st stage of the Qi gathering Realm.¡¯ He was thinking about cultivation as he made his way to the dining hall, sat in his regular place with the group of fatties who had joined with him. His plate was piled with more food than usual, because he planned to skip the meal at dusk and attempt to cultivate after a quick nap of couple of hours. He was chatting with the fatties who were discussing their attempts at cultivating the Sublime Qi Manual. Nearby outer disciples glanced at the five meatballs with heaped plates of food with disdain. But the fatties were more interested in their discussion and their food. ¡°Fatty Hao, I tried the Sublime Qi Manual for the whole day yesterday¡­but felt like a fool sitting in a strange posture and just breathing without feeling anything. I don¡¯t think my aptitude for cultivation is great. I barely qualified as a bronze grade talent and just became an outer disciple due to my family¡¯s tribute.¡± said a dejected looking fatty while picking at his food with chopsticks. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Fang Hao was a bit irritated at being called a fatty and listening to the depressed whining of a fellow fatty. But he knew the value of building good relationships and networking, from the mistakes he made in his previous life. He was resolved to make the best out of his present opportunity and build bridges with his social interactions instead of burning them unnecessarily. It wasn¡¯t like he would get any benefits by being rude to his fellow fatty. On the contrary, since they had no past grudges, a good helpful impression created now may reap unexpected benefits later. So, masked his irritation and encouraged his fellow disciple, ¡°Brother Lin, don¡¯t give up confidence before truly trying. If cultivation were so easy, then everyone would be a cultivator! I remember Senior Fatty Chen told me that with hard work it was possible to become an inner disciple in five years. 5 years is a long time, and it has only been a few days now. Now all of us brothers have officially entered the Jade Pagoda sect and are beginning on our path to heaven defying power and eternal life!¡± Fang Hao noticed the unconvinced expression on his fellow fatty Lin and decided to encourage him some more. He didn¡¯t particularly like an EMO atmosphere while he was eating. ¡°Fellow fatty Lin, from young I was regarded as a wastrel. A thief who stole from his family and spent it on food and whores, and rightly so! Meanwhile my brothers earned a lot for our clan and my sisters were charming lasses who were accomplished in the four arts (Zither, Go, Calligraphy, Painting). My brother¡¯s financial prowess charmed noble daughters and sisters charmed young masters, while I was the gluttonous and lustful black sheep of the family. Now look at them, trapped in the mortal world! My brothers are struggling to please the local lords for concessions in their business, while one of my sisters became a concubine for the clan¡¯s profit. And look at me now; I have an opportunity to exceed the limits of mere mortals. Brother Lin even though I was ranked as a silver grade talent, I too didn¡¯t feel any Qi! But I firmly believe that to become cultivators, we must first and foremost cultivate our self-confidence!¡± His long rant seemed to have impressed his fellow fatties and they made various exclamations in support of him. ¡°Well said fatty Hao!¡± ¡°Cultivate self-confidence! Such profound words.¡± ¡°Good going, brother Hao!¡± The previously depressed Fatty Lin had become noticeably less depressed and thanked him, ¡°Thank you for your kind words, fatty Hao! I will not give up and work hard to cultivate!¡± Seeing this change of attitude, Fang Hao nodded appreciatively. He didn¡¯t want his clique to be fat as well as depressed. The rest of the meal was uneventful as he took a nap lasting a couple of hours before he started cultivating the 1st layer of the Sublime Qi manual in his seclusion room. Chapter 007 Chapter 007 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- After another few days of cultivating, Fang Hao was becoming better and better at circulating Qi. Just before the dawn he was supposed to receive his chores, he finally managed one complete circulation of Qi according to the Sublime Qi Manual! He would be lying to say that he wasn¡¯t pleased. He felt a bit more refreshed and energetic than usual, but otherwise, he didn¡¯t notice any changes. On a whim, he checked his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 14 years
Titles:
Class: Mortal Level 0
Current Experience: 0 Level Up at Experience: 50
Active Effects: Unused Skill Points: 1
Stats
Physique: 0.5 Finesse: 0.5
Spirit: 0.8 Qi 1.0/1.0
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ??Blessed by a Drunken monk??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Layer)
Fang Hao was elated and surprised at the change in his status screen. He decided to make it a habit to check his status screen after every session of meditation, hoping to see a change. But when it did come, it caught him offguard. He had 1 unused skill points, had unlocked the Qi stat and had learned Sublime Qi Manual (1st Layer) under a new section called ¡°Manuals and Scriptures¡± He absorbed himself in contemplating these changes. He speculated that he had unlocked the Qi stat and learned the 1st layer of the sublime Qi manual by successfully completing his first complete Qi circulation. Though, he was still a Mortal at lvl 0 with 0 xp. What was interesting though was that he had 1 unused skill point. Since he could learn stuff practicing, what use was skill points? And was he awarded the skill point because he actually practiced to learn it? If so, what was the alternate way to learn skills? He tried exclaiming mentally various ¡°commands¡± like ¡°Skill Points¡±, ¡°Skill Point Information¡±, ¡°Help Skill Points¡±. He did strike lucky when he thought out ¡°Use Skill Points¡±. A translucent window popped up.
No options available
¡®Shitty new life system¡­ you could have provided me with a n00b help manual, or at least a list of commands.¡¯ He thought as he shifted his gaze outside. It was a little past dawn, and he immediately left for the dining hall. ¡®Not only am I a fat fuck¡­ I am also a dumb fuck. I almost missed breakfast today. Missing free food for cursing a blue screen only you can see. Good fucking job, you dumb ass!¡¯ He hurried o the dining hall and was pleased to see that there was some steamed meat-buns left. They weren¡¯t pork or beef, but still were damn tasty! He quickly grabbed half a dozen of them before he ran towards Old Man Zhu¡¯s place. The few outer disciples he met on the way were disgusted at the sight of him. A meatball was running, while swallowing a meat-bun in two quick bites. Such gluttony and sloth! On the way, he caught up with his clique of fatties and made small talk with them. Apparently the previously depressed Fatty Lin had felt a Qi strand and was confident in completing one cycle in another week at the latest. Also another member of his clique Fatty Ning had successfully completed a complete circulation a couple of days ago. ¡®If I remember correctly, Fatty Ning is a silver grade talent, not unlike me. If he successfully cultivated the 1st circulation a couple of days back, it wouldn¡¯t be shocking for me to have completed it too. Fatty Ning may be bragging, so there is that. Hmm, I¡¯ll play it safe, in either case.¡¯ ¡°Brothers, the reason I was late to our dawn meal was because I almost completed the 1st circulation! If only I had an hour or so would I would have been able to complete it! But I was too hungry and it distracted me¡­¡± Fang Hao said with a disappointed look on his face. His fellow fatties consoled him and after acknowledging their good intentions Fang Hao inquired, ¡°By the way brothers, what chore should we select? I don¡¯t even know what chores are available¡­¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The skinniest of the fatties, Fatty Zhang replied ¡°Fatty Hao, I have made some enquiries with our seniors regarding this. And though the price was a bit high, I got an idea of the best possible chore for us.¡± Hearing this fatty Hai had a perverted look on his face as he teased, ¡°Brother Zhang, how exactly did you service our seniors? Perhaps from now on, we should call you sister Zhang.¡± Fatty Zhang had a disgusted look on his face as he rebuked, ¡°Shut up you pervert! All I did was pay two of my fasting pills in exchange for information. And don¡¯t project your fantasies onto me.¡± Fatty Zhang looked like he was pissed and didn¡¯t speak any further. ¡®So the perverted troll had to fuck up some free intel¡­way to go!¡¯ thought Fang Hao. Trying to salvage the situation, Fang Hao put a smile on his face and said in conciliatory tone, ¡°Don¡¯t mind him brother Zhang, here have one of my fasting pills.¡±, as he retrieved a dull gray pill with specks of green and handed it to Fatty Zhang. As Fatty Zhang accepted it, Fang Hao glared at Fatty Hai. Taking the hint, Fatty Hai sighed, and similarly tossed a pill to fatty Zheng as he apologized, ¡°Don¡¯t mind me Fatty Zhang. I was just joking. We are all brothers here!¡± Fatty Zhang seemed satisfied and he elaborated on the available chores, and their merits and demerits. For entry level outer disciples like them, there wasn¡¯t much choice for their assignments. They could be the assistant of a spiritual herb grower / grain farmer, learning firsthand about horticulture and farming spiritual grains. Although it had slightly better rewards than most other options, it was diligent work with low flexibility. Another option was being an assistant to an alchemist/forger. It had the highest rewards¡­but the alchemists and spirit smith masters usually had eccentric personalities. There was a good chance that they would be ignorant participants in an experiment and get deformed or lose a limb. Though they would get treated by the sect for no charge, it did reduce the cultivation time available to them. On the other hand, if the experiments were successful¡­ they could gain beneficial mutation in case of alcheists, or a useful trinket from spirit smiths! It was a high risk-high reward chore. Then there were physically demanding, but simple chores like porting, mining etc. They were hard work and provided the least rewards¡­ but they did help in tempering the body and hence were popular among those who aimed to practice body cultivation seriously. As he explained his findings, he got a bit excited and said: ¡°Brothers, I saved the best chore for last. We should join the spiritual beast raisers. Its responsibilities are a bit varied; you have to feed the spirit beasts, clean their dwelling, butcher them and the pay is not too special. But it has a very big advantage! A lot of offal meat is waste like intestines, kidneys, lungs; and sometimes even brains, testicles and hearts!¡± Fatty Zhang had an excited look. Fatty Ning snorted and countered, ¡°Fatty Zhang, we can eat as much as we want, even if it is only twice a day; why are you excited about some waste offal?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand brother Ning. The food we get to eat is mortal food! And the offal meat is from spirit beasts! The intestines of an ungraded spirit beast may be trash to those in the Qi condensation layer, but to us it can provide a decent boost in cultivating! Heck even the anus of a twin tailed spirit chicken can be a very valuable elixir for us, who are not even in the Qi Gathering realm!¡± Fatty said with an excited expression. Although the mention of a chicken anus had dampened his enthusiasm, but Fang Hao considered his options for the compulsory chore. ¡°OK, so the chicken anus thing sounds weird, but spirit animal husbandry looks like the best option for now. Supplements for our cultivation seem the most helpful option at this stage. Since we know this, it is very likely that many of the seniors know it too. If we do get the chance, we should all choose it and support each other. If others try to bully us; hmph! We will all gang up and teach him a lesson¡± Fang Hao said with a vicious undertone in his voice. ¡®Also, I hope I get some sweet sweet xp for butchering some spirit beasts¡­¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he laughed gleefully in his mind as he palpitated involuntarily, with his nostrils flaring, on the thoughts of acquiring xp. His fellow fatties shuddered a bit subconsciously, observing Fang Hao¡¯s demeanor and expression. ---------------------- A/N: Btw, this will be a bit more slow-paced, for a while at least, than other xianxia-level up fictions/web novels. I like game elements/level up, and I like xianxia. But I feel that most of the xianxia level-up stories I have read power level the MC too fast too soon and sacrifice heavily on world building and plot because of that (Invincible leveling king, Invincible Level up, etc.). So this is more of an experimental work from me, let us see where it goes¡­ ---------------------- Chapter 008 Chapter 008 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are Title first then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). -------------------------------------- The group of meatballs made their way to the assignment hall and waited for Old Man Zhu. They, along with the other new outer disciples, didn¡¯t have to wait for long before Old Man Zhu made an appearance. He then announced the available chores and their merits / demerits. It seemed almost exactly what Fatty Zhang had found it. ¡®Damn it that retarded fatty was conned out of two fasting pills, and I lost one to him. Old Man Zhu, informed us almost the same thing about the chores, except for the chicken anus part. How will he decide who gets what chores?¡¯ As Fang Hao cursed Fatty Zhang mentally, Old Man Zhu suddenly flicked his sleeve and a small cauldron appeared floating above his head. He then addressed Fang Hao and his clique, ¡°You five fat gluttons come here. Since that Fatty Chen asked me to look after you, I will bestow you some good fortune! Tell me which chore you would like, starting with you!¡± he pointed at Fang Hao, who whizzed towards him. Seeing such a good opportunity, many of the other outer disciples were fuming with rage. Why weren¡¯t they gluttons as well? Most of them were in wealthy and powerful mortal families before entering the sect; and now bestowal of good fortune depended not on sincerity, or talent, or even bribes¡­ but on body weight! They wanted to skewer Fang Hao and seize his good fortune, but most of them retained their senses and just observed passively. Fang Hao clasped his hands, bowed and addressed Old Man Zhu politely, ¡°Martial Uncle Zhu, this disciple would be grateful if he could look after spirit beasts.¡± Old man Zhu snorted, but had a clearly pleased look as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t think flattering me will get you any more favors you meatball. Here take this token and bind it with your blood. Your task will be to look after spirit chickens.¡± The floating cauldron above Old Man Zhu¡¯s head spat out a token shaped like a miniature chicken. Fang Hao deftly caught it, thanked Old Man Zhu, and bit his forefinger. As soon as a drop of blood landed on it, Fang Hao instinctively knew the location of the spirit chicken raising pen, in relation with this outer Assignment Hall. As he was backing away from Old man Zhu, one of the outer disciples couldn¡¯t hold his fury. He said through gritted teeth, ¡°Senior Zhu isn¡¯t this unfair?¡± Old man Zhu replied smugly, ¡°The heavens aren¡¯t fair.¡± The outer disciple¡¯s fair handsome face reddened and he shouted disrespectfully, ¡°Old Man Zhu, my elder brother is an inner disciple at the peak of the Qi condensation stage. Once he establishes his foundation, he will become a core disciple. Then a word from him can make your life miserable.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. At the blatant disrespect naked threats, Old man Zhu wrinkled his brows. It was common knowledge among the sect that those who were unable to establish their foundation by the age of 50, would usually take up administrative posts and got a small guaranteed amount of cultivation resources instead of competing with the more talented outer disciples for resources. Many of them who had given up hope of advancing their cultivation and wanted to spend the century left of their lifespan in comfort; it was a very good position! Regardless of his situation, Old Man Zhu was infuriated and amused at the same time. A trifling junior dared to slap him in the face publically; he couldn¡¯t let this go unpunished. A newborn calf was indeed not scared of the tiger. There was deathly silence in the hall, as he inquired the offending outer disciple, ¡°Junior what is your name?¡± The offending outer disciple thought that his words had scared the Old man Zhu and he replied proudly. ¡°I am named Zhen Ji and my brother is Senior Zhen Ley.¡± Old Man Zhu had a benign smile as he flicked his sleeve. There was a series of popping sounds, followed by a brief pause, and Zhen Ji screamed as he collapsed on the floor. Old Man Zhu appeared unconcerned, and a pick shaped token flew out of the cauldron and hit Ji in the middle of his forehead drawing some blood, and caused him to faint. Two more pick shaped tokens flew out of the cauldron and floated near them. ¡°You two bind the tokens and take him to a nearby healer¡¯s pavilion. Both of you don¡¯t have objections regarding your assigned chore, do you?¡± Old man Zhu said with a benign looking smile on his face. These two brats thought they were smart, eh? Given his experience, he could make out at a glance that they were lackeys of that idiot Ji. They probably had some sort of relationship in the mortal world. One of the lackeys hurriedly clarified. He then had the same benign smile and turned to rest of the fatties about their choices. Naturally they choose the spirit beast task, and were handed chicken shaped tokens which they quickly bound with their blood. No one raised any sort of objections this time. He had that same benign smile and addressed the rest of the outer disciples. ¡°I have one spirit beast token left. I wanted to give it to one of you randomly, but it wouldn¡¯t be fair now, would it? Those of you who want the last token, please step forward.¡± A dozen outer disciples hesitated and took a step forward. Old Man Zhu nodded and said, ¡°To *fairly* decide who gets this would be a problem. So all of you can fight each other! If you can no longer remain standing or admit defeat, you are disqualified. The last one standing gets the spirit beast token. Is that clear? You can give up now if you want.¡± The four of the skinniest and weakest looking outer disciples gave up after a bit of hesitation. Old man Zhu looked at the 8 remaining determined faces, and exclaimed: ¡°Now, FIGHT!¡± Chapter 009 Chapter 009 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao and his clique left as soon as possible, not waiting for the battle-royale to conclude. They made their way towards the spirit chicken rearing pens. They reached a series of circular fences, with some having buildings in them. When one of the fatties tried to enter a fenced yard, there was a flash of lightning and he was pushed back. Evidently there were formations in place to prevent unauthorized entry. Fang Hao decided to enter the largest building outside the fenced yards. There he met with a senior outer sect disciple, who explained to them their responsibilities and rubbed their chicken shaped tokens unto a jade slip. They had been assigned to manage one chicken coop, under supervision. Responsibilities included feeding the twin tailed spirit chickens with spirit grains, retrieving their eggs and hatching them, and also butchering the chickens and dressing their meat for inner sect disciples. They entered a coup and a couple of senior outer sect disciples explained to them about their responsibilities. They were also instructed that half of the usable offal remaining after butchering would go to them, the seniors who had a higher position of responsibility to care for the spirit chickens. Fang Hao naturally agreed to the terms and conditions with smiles, but sensed that his clique wasn¡¯t satisfied with his decision, but they didn¡¯t contradict him publically. Later on, when they were subdividing the chores, Fang Hao naturally elected himself for butchering. When Fatty Ning inquired about him agreeing to give away half the offal without any protest, Fang Hao explained to him that they were new in the sect. Many of their fellow outer disciples were already offended by their good fortune; there was no meaning to offend seniors too. Besides the seniors had much higher cultivation than them, and being in a position to manage this lucrative chore meant that they had significant connections. And these weren¡¯t heaven defying resources anyway¡­just waste offal of spirit beasts. After a couple of hours after they reached the chicken coop, the last outer disciple arrived in their coop with panda eyes and purple bruises all over his face. Fang Hao and the other fatties naturally ¡°convinced¡± him to clean the spirit chickens¡¯ shit from the coup, by audibly cracking their knuckles. But Fang Hao also motivated him saying that as long as he did a good job, he would get his share of offal. He knew that being too overbearing would only make everyone harbor resentment towards them, so a carrot and stick approach was the best to ensure that he could smoothly butcher the spirit chickens and gain the sweet sweet xp. Even though it had a lofty name of twin tailed spirit chickens, it looked more-or less like a regular wild fowl. But it had two tails of different varying colors and was double the size of a regular chicken. Although he had no problem butchering a chicken by beheading it with one clean swipe of a cleaver, it was a pain to clean the feathers, skin, offal, beak and claws. The feathers, beak and claws weren¡¯t useful to him and were separated; while the offal was dutifully split into half, with one half going to his seniors; and the other half split into six. He managed to butcher and clean two spirit chickens on his first day, before they left. A quick check of his status screen had confirmed that he did receive xp for killing a spirit chicken, even if it was a grand total of 1 xp per chicken. The fatties reached the hall kitchens around a half an hour before meal time, and negotiated with the janitorial disciples managing the kitchen the use of a wok for cooking the offal, in exchange for a part of the offal of course. This further reduced each fatty¡¯s share, but they knew that offending the janitorial disciples in charge of their food was not wise. Once the process was established, everything went smoothly. They had a minimum quota of butchering 20 spirit chickens per week, which Fang Hao had barely managed to meet in his first week, working overtime. But slowly, he was getting more proficient and had to work less and less overtime to meet the weekly quota. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Whatever little time he got, he circulated Qi according to the Sublime Qi Manual¡¯s instructions, bt his Qi of 1.0/1.0 didn¡¯t increase, though he could feel the circulation being smoother and smoother taking less time with every repetition. He guessed that completing the first Qi circulation was kind of a milestone. Since he could ¡°feel¡± his Qi, it was reflected in his status screen. He didn¡¯t register gains in any of the other stats either. But Fang Hao wasn¡¯t discouraged; he was getting closer and closer to a levelup after all. By the third week, he could manage to finish his responsibilities in time, and had accumulated enough xp to level up. When he beheaded the tied up chicken with his meat cleaver, he felt his Qi getting magnified and it circulate automatically according to the instructions of the Sublime Qi manual. He felt a pleasurable shock pass through his entire body as greyish oily sweat oozed out of his pores as he felt wisps of Qi in his dantian. He had officially reached the 1st layer of the Qi Gathering realm! But instead of getting excited and celebrating, he quickly grabbed the plucked chicken feathers from the nearby pile and wiped the thin film of oily residue on his exposed skin. These weeks in the sect, he had learned enough about the expected pace of cultivation of silver grade talents like him with access to offal meat. Usually, for someone in his position, without leveling up, it would take at least 6 to 7 weeks to officially be 1st layer of the Qi Gathering Realm. He had managed it in less than 4 weeks (1 week entry into sect and around 3 weeks of grinding chickens) time with level grinding on the spirit chickens. Although it wasn¡¯t unprecedented, if his cultivation speed was known he would attract unwelcome attention and that had a possibility to give rise to all sorts of complications. So he prudently concealed his breakthrough, the best he could. He would only be exposed if a genuine Qi Condensation disciple met him, but the possibility of that was slim if he avoided Old man Zhu. This chore wouldn¡¯t be changed for a year anyway, and he had to worry about meeting him for the next layers of the sublime qi manual when he was at the 3rd layer of the Qi gathering realm. Once he reached his cottage he took a thorough bath and washed his robe, before checking his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 14 years
Titles:
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 2
Realm: Qi Gathering Realm Level: 1
Current Experience: 50 Level Up at Experience: 189
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 0.6 Finesse: 0.6
Spirit: 0.9 Qi 2.0/2.0
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ??Blessed by a Drunken monk??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Layer)
His Qi had the biggest gain, but his other stats had a small increase too. It made sense considering that Qi gathering realm was essentially a mortal with slightly higher stats. Sure they had unlocked Qi, but it was not like Qi Gathering realm cultivators could use the Qi to cast spells. Leveling up had also provided him with 1 additional skill point, but he was still unable to use it. For his next levelup, he would require 139 more xp. Although he was happy to see his status screen reflect his status as a level 1 Qi gathering Cultivator, he was apprehensive about the rate at which the xp requirements to level up would increase¡­ ¡®Shitty stat gains for a level up which took almost three weeks of grinding. They xp requirements for the next level up almost tripled, eh? But just wait until I, your father level grind to the pinnacle without any bottlenecks¡­as long as there is stuff to kill. I guess I should start learning the 2nd layer of the Sublime Qi Manual, the hard way. Never hurts to grind some additional skill points. I will figure out how to use them eventually.¡¯ Chapter 010 Chapter 010 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao returned to his cottage and mastered the 2nd layer of the Sublime Qi Manual in the next week. He was also diligently grinding on spirit chickens and his rate of butchering increased continuously, and he consequently had a sizeable stock of fasting pills. Fasting pills were a currency of sorts among outer disciples. For any kind of goods, services, intel or wagers, fasting pill were used. However, fasting pills were the most useful to those who were attempting a breakthrough to the Qi Condensation realm. Qi gathering realm cultivators who were attempting to breakthrough into the Qi condensation stage needed a significant amount of Qi to liquefy it and form a Qi lake in their dantian. This often required a good manual and/or external aids to avoid stagnating at the peak of Qi Gathering realm for a long time. There was an annual competition of sorts, where the top ranking outer sect disciples would receive the resources and guidance required to smoothly breakthrough into the Qi Condensation realm. Another alternative was to fight in the arena, risking injury and their lives for the amusement of seniors for the resources they needed for a breakthrough. However, except for the lucky and courageous few, the most common way to breakthrough was by using fasting pills. Although fasting pills were meant only to relieve hunger and had insignificant effect on Qi restoration, but quantity could make up for quality. In critical moments, they could use dozens of fasting pills to replenish their Qi and making the breakthrough successful. Or they had to somehow gain the favor of their seniors and elders¡­and there was fat chance of that for most of the outer disciples without a background. Of course taking a huge amount of fasting pills in a short period of time to restore Qi had its drawbacks. It rapidly increased resistance to the effect of the pills, and built up pill-toxicity in their body. If they didn¡¯t consolidate their cultivation and detoxify themselves, it would lead to an unstable foundation and create further bottlenecks in future cultivation. However, once they were inner disciples, they would get a set amount of resources periodically and would also be able to complete various missions on Celestial¡¯s Adobe (the mountain peak where the entire sect is located) for contribution points. These points could be exchanged for various treasures, spells, scriptures and pills. So, most of the outer disciples would zealously hoard their fasting pills. Naturally, all this information was gained by spending a generous amount of fasting pills the five fatties had accumulated. Having exceeding their chore target consistently, he and his clique gained more than a few bonus fasting pills and still had some remaining. However, after a thorough discussion everyone had agreed that the information was worth spending almost three quarters of their fasting pills. He now fixed a goal of winning enough resources by ranking high enough in the tournament. Although he could grind on spirit chickens for a while, it would take years to grind his way to Qi Condensation even with his improved rate of approximately 30 to 35 chickens per week on an average. And if he exceeded the age of 25 before becoming an inner disciple, his value in the sect¡¯s eyes would reduce dramatically and it would be difficult to seize future opportunities, as he would be labeled a lost cause. Therefore, he resolved to fight in the tournament for resources which could hasten his cultivation and breakthrough to the Qi Condensation realm before his age limit approached. However, he was unsure how taking resources and cultivating the Sublime Qi manual to increase his cultivation without grinding enough xp would affect him. Once he had reached the Qi condensation realm, he could take a variety of missions to hunt for spirit beasts and make up his xp. If worst comes to worse, he even contemplated fighting to the death in the arena for getting xp. However, it would be very risky and he didn¡¯t have full assurances of winning in a fight... even if battles between Qi gathering realm cultivators were essentially like traditional gladiatorial fights without usage of spells and treasures. Soon, a little more than four months had passed in total at the sect and Fang Hao had already leveed up once to the 2nd layer of Qi gathering. He was very close to leveling up to the 3rd layer of the Qi gathering Realm while he carried out the scheduled genocide of spirit chickens. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He secreted a greyish-black oily residue from his pores and felt the 3rd layer of the Sublime Spirit Scripture circulate automatically at an extremely accelerated pace as he felt a tingling electric current in his meridians. As his breakthrough was complete, he got a splitting headache as he collapsed. Blood which squirted from the beheaded chicken¡¯s body covered him, as his fat body collided with the barrel holding chicken feathers and stuck to his blood covered body and robes. Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to push the cleaver away from him as his consciousness faded. He recalled vivid flashes of his supposed encounter with the drunken monk in his host¡¯s past. A translucent phantom of the drunken monk appeared in his consciousness and performed a series of steps, which almost looked like dancing. Fang Hao could see streaks of silver circulating inside the phantom. Fang Hao was a bit startled, but quickly swept aside his thoughts and observed the dancing monks carefully, imprinting it in his mind. After a series of steps, the monk¡¯s phantom became blurry and soon it faded. A huge amount of information was imprinted in his mind. He lay dazed, covered in chicken blood and feathers as he arrange and digested the information. The old drunken monk was apparently a very powerful rogue foreign cultivator fooling round in the mortal world in disguise. Although many elites of the cultivation world wanted to become his disciple, he never gave anyone a chance as all they wanted was his body refining art and they all lacked sincerity. He was amused by the coincidence of a mortal child show such sincerity and gave him a chance. He had left a part of his body refining art sealed in his memories. If his destiny was to be a cultivator, it would unlock. And if he could master the fragment and reach a satisfactorily level of cultivation, instructions to find him would be unsealed. ¡°Oh and one last thing prospective disciple, I have placed a restriction on you so that almost no one can force you to reveal this body refining scripture, even yourself. Because if as much as the name of this legacy is revealed, be prepared to be chased and slaughtered till death.¡± The phantom of the drunken monk said before it disappeared. Soon, Fang Hao¡¯s headache subsided and he got up. He was no longer in the mood to slaughter chickens as he wanted to come to terms with the recent revelation. He exited the slaughter house and bid farewell to his clique, with the excuse that he had fainted because he didn¡¯t have enough to eat in the morning. Looking at his sorry state, being covered in chicken blood and patches of feathers, the other fatties were sympathetic and advised him to rest for the remained of the week if necessary; it was almost end of the week and he had finished his quota anyway. Fang Hao made his way to cottage and took a bath, wearing a fresh set of robes before he checked his status.
STATUS SCREEN
Name:Fang HaoRace:Human
Gender:MaleAge:14 years
Titles:
Class:CultivatorUnused Skill Points:6
Realm:Qi Gathering RealmLevel:3
Current Experience:516Level Up at Experience:1177
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique:0.8Finesse:0.8
Spirit:1.2Qi4.3/4.3
Traits
CalmLuckyPrimal Instinct??Prospective Disciple of an Immortal monk??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (3rd Layer)Divine Vajra Body Scripture (fragment)
Note: Vajra is Sanskrit for indestructible and/or lightning and/or a weapon with one/both of these properties. Chapter 011 Chapter 011 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao was contemplating a few things, after viewing his updated status screen. ¡®Another 661 xp is required to Qi Gathering 4th layer. Assuming that I get no better avenues for xp grinding, I should reach it within 5 to 6 months. I do need the other layers of the Sublime Qi manual for skill point grinding. But a silver ranked talent like me reached the 3rd layer of Qi Gathering in 4 months? That¡¯s less than half the time it takes on an average!¡¯ ¡®I cannot afford to expose myself to Old man Zhu¡­ and for some reason I feel that he is way more powerful than a washed out Qi Condensation realm cultivator. I should pick up the later layers after four months. I would still be at Qi Gathering realm 3rd layer, and while reaching the 3rd layer after 8 months is better than average, it is not in the realm of arousing suspicion. ¡¯ ¡®Divine Vajra Scripture, that name sounds awesome¡­too bad I don¡¯t have the complete scripture and just a fragment. Cultivating the body refinement scripture would have many obvious merits. Most obviously, my survivability would receive a huge bonus. From what I understand, the offense and defense of most cultivators heavily depends on Qi. If their Qi runs out in a group or protracted battle¡­ they will be sitting ducks.¡¯ ¡®While leveling up, although there are stat gains, but a measly 0.1 in physique is a far cry from 1.3 in Qi I got for the last level up. While it does add an additional layer to defense, to make effective offensive use of it I would probably have to learn good agility techniques and specialized close combat spells. On the other hand, if cultivating this scripture causes prominent visible changes to my body, then it may turn out to be inconvenient. But the risks of that are minimal, as the drunken monk didn¡¯t look inhuman while he performed the Divine Vajra Body Scripture¡­¡¯ Having resolved to cultivate, he settled in his seclusion room and consolidated his understanding of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Each layer of the scripture had nine moves. Each move consisted of dance-like movement, energy circulation and mental chanting of sutras. After nine successive layers or moves had been mastered individually, the next step was to combine them in an ensemble. If the ensemble was successful, one realm of the scripture would have been successfully cultivated and a vajra seal would form, further transforming the practitioner¡¯s body. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Fang Hao attempted to perform only the physical movements of the first move in the secluded cultivating room. Although it looked like a simple sidestep with arm gestures and hand seals, it took him better part of a week before he was confident in his movements¡­his fat body did make a few of the poses a bit awkward. In comparison, the energy circulation was comparatively simpler. It was somewhere between the 1st layer and the 2nd layer of the Sublime Qi manual in difficulty and he could independently perform a single circulation within a few days. The sutra he had to chant also wasn¡¯t something too profound, and he had it memorized within a day. After a little under 10 days of practicing the components of the first move individually, he felt confident enough to attempt it. When he performed the first dance, circulation and chant simultaneously, he felt a heavy pressure surrounding him. It felt as if he was trying to move underwater, with the current opposing him. A movement which previously took a bit of effort and several seconds to complete took him almost ten minutes to complete when combined with the chant and Qi circulation! Just cultivating the move once had depleted a little under half of his Qi! He would master the 1st move if he ceased to feel any pressure while cultivating. Of course by then, his fleshly body would have become stronger, faster and more resilient. After completing one repetition of the first move, Fang Hao was sweating and heaving as he made his way to his backyard. He disrobed and lay on the grass in his loincloth. ¡®This scripture is truly profound. It isn¡¯t too difficult to cultivate, but has such strong stimulation on the fleshly body. After catching my breath, I should circulate the sublime Qi manual to recover my used up Qi before attempting the next repletion. Damn I miss proper underwear.¡¯ Fang Hao thought as he idly scratched his bellybutton as he was panting. He saw a distant fluffy white cloud flying almost directly over his courtyard. He had a vague feeling of being watched, as he stared at the cloud. It was too far to make out, but he thought a saw an outline of someone sitting on it. He guessed that it was probably a flight magic treasure. If it was so, the cultivator sitting on it must have been a core disciple! Only genuine cultivators who had built their foundations were qualified to fly over this area! ¡®Just you wait Jade pagoda Sect, I your father, will soon be the one whose fat ass sits on such a comfortable treasure.¡¯ Meanwhile, the distinguished looking young man sitting on the cloud shaped flying treasure observed Fang Hao¡¯s courtyard in disdain. ¡®Instead of diligently cultivating or doing his chores, that damn fatty is rubbing his belly lying down half-naked outside. If it weren¡¯t beneath me, I would surely go and teach him a lesson! It¡¯s a good thing there are no guests visiting¡­otherwise such a scene would have caused immense loss of face.¡¯ He thought fuming, more than a little irritated at Fang Hao¡¯s behavior. Chapter 012 Chapter 012 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Other than completing his butchering chores, Fang Hao spent most of his time practicing the first move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. It took him almost a month of diligent practice so that he could perform it without feeling barely any pressure, signifying that he had mastered the first move. There were no external signs of a breakthrough, like excreting impurities through his skin or black blood. Nevertheless Fang Hao felt himself to be lighter¡­even though his weight and size didn¡¯t reduce in the slightest. ¡®Fudge this divine scripture. Would it hurt to reduce m waistline a bit? But I suppose I am being greedy. My status screen shows a nice gain in stats¡­and that¡¯s with mastering only the first move. It is good to have a sturdy body¡­I just wish it wouldn¡¯t remain so fat.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t wrong to say that he was disappointed that his refined body wasn¡¯t turning out to be handsome in the least. He started working on the next step of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He took a couple of weeks to consolidate the three components of movements, chanting and Qi circulation before practicing the second step. The second step was more difficult that the first step but nothing he couldn¡¯t manage. It took him a little over two months to practice the second step without feeling any pressure. The Divine Vajra Body Scripture was very profound and it changed his body with each repetition of the move continuously. The increase in his fleshly power and durability was consolidated¡­he never felt a sudden increase in his strength which he could suitably control. His strength wasn¡¯t heaven defying, but he felt that his strength rose along with each practice of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He had recently individually consolidated the three components of the third step of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and around 8 months had passed since he entered the Jade Pagoda sect. He reviewed his status and was pleased at the results.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 14 years
Titles:
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 6
Realm: Qi Gathering Realm Level: 3
Current Experience: 1076 Level Up at Experience: 1177
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 1.4 Finesse: 1.2
Spirit: 1.4 Qi 4.3/4.3
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 3rd Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 2 moves)
¡®My strength, finesse and spirit gained 0.6, 0.4 and 0.2 respectively on mastering the first two moves of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. While the numbers may not seem much, my strength and finesses probably exceeds an average 6th layer Qi gathering Realm cultivator. But why did I gain stats in Spirit though? Isn¡¯t this supposed to be a body refining art? Oh well won¡¯t say no to bonus stats! Also no skill points for mastering the moves of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture?¡¯ he mused for a bit, reflecting on the changes in his status screen. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡® No point in worrying about that now. More importantly, I am dangerously close to leveling into the 4th layer of the Qi gathering Realm. I should collect the next part of the scripture or shit will hit the fan if I level up without access to the necessary manual!¡¯ He went to the Assignment Hall and saw Old Man Zhu was drinking something from an animal-skin pouch, not unlike his own water-skin. He got the faint smell of lavender and juniper as he saw the old man closing his eyes, savoring the flavor of whatever he was drinking. He politely waited for almost fifteen minutes in silence, until Old man Zhu opened his eyes. ¡°Not bad junior! You know the value of patience and respect. Now tell me the purpose of your visit?¡± Fang Hao clasped his hands, bowed and said respectfully, ¡°This disciple thanks martial uncle for his acknowledgement. This disciple has stepped into the 3rd layer of the Qi Gathering realm and requests Martial uncle to bestow the subsequent layers of the Sublime Qi Manual.¡± Old man Zhu inspected him, as a glimmer was faintly visible in his eyes. ¡°Not bad, little fatty. But not outstanding either. One of the first brats to ask me for it was nearly a month ago.¡± Old man Zhu made a swishing motion and a rolled up scroll floated near Fang Hao who grabbed it and tucked it in his robes. He was about to leave when Old Man Zhu said, ¡°Junior fatty, give this old man some company and have some wine!¡± Old man Zhu quickly took a gulp from his wineskin. Once finished, two crystal goblets floated in the air and Old man Zhu poured a light purple watery liquid from his wineskin. He grabbed his crystal goblet and finished it, bottoms up. ¡°Little fatty, no need to be polite, have a drink!¡± Old man Zhu said, clearly buzzed. ¡°Since Senior insists, this disciple will help himself!¡± Fang Hao said as he grabbed the floating crystal goblet. ¡®Now that I think about it, it has been almost a year since I last drank beer. But I should probably take a small sip¡­who knows how strong this wine is to get a Qi condensation cultivator like Old man Zhu drunk.¡¯ Fang Hao thought cautiously as he took a small sip of the light purple liquid. It tasted like sweet clear nectar with a nutty aftertaste as a sublime aroma clouded his senses. After savoring the taste for a few moments, he swallowed it and almost chocked. The wine felt fiery and potent, much like bourbon once it passed it throat. As it hit his stomach, he felt a mild wave of dizziness and a warm comfortable feeling passed over his body. ¡®Damn this stuff is good! It feels like I had a few pegs of bourbon, and that too with only a mouthful!¡¯ He unsteadily cupped his hand and had difficulty avoiding slurring ¡°Senior Zhu, this wine is delishious!¡± Old man Zhu drank a cup in one gulp as he said. ¡°Diligently cultivating is good little fatty, but you must learn to enjoy yourselves in between! Don¡¯t be polite and drink up! I have quite a bit of this spirit wine left!¡± Fang Hao took another sip and his body was visibly swaying, but he still managed to remain standing. After another sip, his vision was blurry and his knees were week¡­yet Old Man Zhu had finished 3 cups by now and urged him to continue drinking. He took another sip and his vision was faint. It took almost all his willpower to sit on the floor and he placed the crystal goblet next to him and struggled to cup his hands as he said, ¡°Dishiple ashks to be excushed, Shenior!¡± Old Man Zhu finished yet another cup and he said with a smile. ¡°Give this old man some face, and at least finish this cup!¡± Sighing in resignation and pleasure, Fang Hao took yet another sip from the goblet. By now, he felt like molten lava was poured into his dantian and his ears buzzed. Subconsciously trying to alleviate the feeling, he circulated the 3d layer of the Sublime Qi manual and the feeling slightly reduced in intensity. A warm comfortable current channeled through his meridians and his vision was tinged in light purple. Old Man Zhu was still drinking the spirit wine like water, and a glint of amusement could be seen in his eyes as he observed Fang Hao. Fang Hao felt the discomfort alleviate, but he remained sloshed as the Sublime Qi manual finished circulating. He was perspiring, and beads of sweat were dropping from his flushed face as he took another sip, emptying his goblet, and circulated the 3rd layer of the Sublime Qi Manual again. He then inquired, ¡°May this junior have shome more wine?¡± Old man Zhu laughed, and poured some more spirit wine in Fang Hao¡¯s goblet. Chapter 013 Chapter 013 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao had managed to drink three cups of the potent spirit wine, before he was at his limit, even with circulation of the Sublime Qi Manual. When he could barely circulate it, he clasp his hands unsteadily, and left the Assignment Hall, waddling along. However, he didn¡¯t make it too far a few meters away from the Assignment hall, he fell on the ground and lost consciousness. When he woke up¡­it was almost dawn. He didn¡¯t have anything like a hangover, but instead felt refreshed and energized! ¡®That was some good booze alright! I got totally sloshed and don¡¯t feel like I have a hangover¡­In fact I feel better than ever. Although sleeping from noon to almost dawn was a bit wasteful Meh, 9/10 would drink again.¡¯ thought Fang Hao in a jolly mood as he retreated to his courtyard. He checked his status screen and was overjoyed to see that both his spirit and Qi stat had made some gains. He was unaware that his unexpected streak of good fortune had worsened the impression he had among his fellow outer disciples. Quite a few of them had seen a lump of fat snoring outside the entrance of the Assignment Hall in broad daylight. A few of them wanted to kick the shit out of him, but wisely refrained doing so considering the proximity to old man Zhu. Fang Hao inspected the scroll Old man Zhu had given, and was pleased to see that it contained the 4th to the 6th layer of the Sublime Qi manual. In little over a week, he managed to complete one circulation of the 4th layer. It was faster than what he expected, and he suspected that it had something to do with all the spirit wine he had drunk. Fang Hao smoothly leveled up to the 4th layer of Qi gathering and mastered the 3rd step of the Divine Vajra Body scripture. A couple of weeks before the outer disciple annual tournament, he had managed to practice one circulation of the 5th layer of the sublime Qi scripture and had started practicing the 4th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Before his dawn meal he reviewed his status screen, satisfied with his progress.
STATUS SCREEN
Name:Fang HaoRace:Human
Gender:MaleAge:15 years
Titles:
Class:CultivatorUnused Skill Points:9
Realm:Qi Gathering RealmLevel:4
Current Experience:1356Level Up at Experience:2367
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique:1.8Finesse:1.5
Spirit:2.0Qi6.6/6.6
Traits
CalmLuckyPrimal Instinct?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 5th Layer)Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 3 moves)
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡®With these stats, the annual competition shouldn¡¯t be too hard, unless they make me fight someone at the 9th or 10th layer of the Qi Gathering Realm. My physique and finesse stats can easily match up to those at the 7th layer of Qi gathering realm, and I could put up a good fight against those at the 8th layer of Qi gathering realm. That is assuming they have average techniques though. All I remember is a bit of krav maga¡­that should suffice for now.¡¯ He reached the dining hall, piled up his plate with braised pork belly, a scoop of vegetables and some rice. He navigated his way to the fatties of his clique, greeted them and started eating furiously. Soon fatty Lin joined their table and had a worried look on his face. He swallowed a mouthful of food and said, ¡°Fatty Hao, there is trouble brewing for you.¡± Fang Hao paused eating and inquired with a worried face, ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Remember Zhen Li, who heavily offended Old man Zhu during chore allocation? His brother successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm and became a Core Disciple! He learned of his little brother¡¯s matter and was furious. However, he couldn¡¯t go too overboard with Old man Zhu, as it was a dumb move by his brother, criticized by all. So his target was us, especially you!¡± Fang Hao frowned at this and asked, ¡®How so? Do I need to be wary of a foundation establishment realm cultivator making my life difficult?¡¯ The mention of foundation establishment cultivator had got everyone¡¯s attention. Fatty Zhang frowned as he said, ¡°He is a core disciple! And his brother clearly disrespected a senior in public, which is a big taboo. How can he have the face to personally deal with us? Even if he challenges you to a life and death arena duel, you have no need to accept it!¡± Fatty Lin sighed as he revealed some recent developments. ¡°While that is true brother Zhang, he used his status as a core disciple and gave his brother quite a bit of resources to hasten his healing and progress his cultivation! His brother is now at the 6th layer of the Qi Gathering Realm. In the coming outer sect disciple tournament, that damn Zhen Ji is surely fighting you! The rules forbid killing in this competition or crippling your opponent¡¯s cultivation, but he can surely break all your bones!¡± Fang Hao wrinkled his brows ¡®I think I can safely deal with him. 6th Layer means his physique and finesse is around 1.3 or 1.4. And it is not like I have no experience in brawling. Hell, this daddy here bashed three goons who were armed with baseball bats, in his youth¡­barehanded! Still, this is a new world with new rules and I shouldn¡¯t get full of myself. What if weapons are allowed? He could probably turtle up, keep his distance and harass me with a spear.¡¯ He addressed Fatty Lin, ¡°Brother, are weapons allowed in the competition?¡± who replied ¡°Yes. But for us first year outer disciples, only wooden weapons are allowed.¡± Fang Hao breathed a sigh of relief and went back to his meal. ¡®Wooden weapons eh? Then I should select a club and bash the fuck out of that little dipshit. My physical stats are definitely above his, and my combat experience is probably above his too. I didn¡¯t exactly live in an upscale neighborhood my past life. Only thing he may be above me is in his weapon skills, but I am confident I should be able to win if I go all out.¡¯ Seeing his reaction, Fatty Hai couldn¡¯t help but say in an irritated tone. ¡°Brother Hao, today¡¯s food is delicious I agree, but don¡¯t you think we should make plans on how to deal with this?¡± Fang Hao replied with a partially filled mouth, ¡°What plans? We Qi gathering realm cultivators can¡¯t use spells anyway, so the fight will pretty much be a brawl. I weigh at least twice as much as him, so my fists are twice as heavy as his!¡± He replied trying to make the atmosphere light hearted. Hearing this, Fatty Ning snorted, ¡°If you do beat him up, I will call you grandfather.¡± -------- Thanks for the Review, ratings, +rep and feedback! P.S: Sorry if the errors are more than usual. I had a chance encounter of an old friend from my childhood days... and we drank a bit. -------- Chapter 014 Chapter 014 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Soon the day of the competition arrived and the five fatties made their way to a fighting stage with stand around it. It wasn¡¯t too elegant. After all, they were mere Qi Gathering Disciples. But still, he noticed what looked like a granite disk, the size of a car, floating above the arena. There were quite a few of the senior outer disciples observing though. Zhen Ji and his two flunkies had reached a couple of minutes after Fang Hao. Zhen Ji scanned the crowd, and it didn¡¯t take long for him to find the five dumplings. He sent a hostile glare their way and was walking towards the fatties. He sneered as he said, ¡°Fang Hao, I will beat you up so much that your face will become more swollen than it already is!¡± Fang Hao mocked him in a grave scholarly manner, ¡°Clearly you weren¡¯t taught to respect your elders. Looks like Martial Uncle Zhu¡¯s lesson last time, was insufficient. No matter, I will thoroughly discipline you if karma permits it.¡± Hearing Fang Hao¡¯s retort, Zhen ji¡¯s face visibly flushed in anger as he gritted out, ¡°You¡­just¡­wait.¡± and walked away from him. Fatty Hai frowned as he inquired, ¡°Brother Hao, why does he have a hard-on for you? You never provoked him. And if he was upset about missing the chicken duty, shouldn¡¯t he be angry on all of us? Does he think I am a coward just because I am still at the 3rd layer of Qi gathering?¡± Fang Hao shrugged and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ but if that arrogant prick provokes this daddy here, he will be surely taught a lesson!¡± Fatty Ning coughed as he said, ¡°Brother Fang, although we are supposed to be hot blooded, but shouldn¡¯t you be more restrained? His brother is a core disciple after all.¡± Fang Hao sighed as he said ¡°It is not like I have a life and death grudge by him. He is a bully, and if I show any weakness¡­he will be back to harass us more. As for his brother¡­ that¡¯s out of my hands for now, and he can¡¯t go too overboard if he has to maintain face in our sect. Remember, if they had significant background in the sect, he could have done far worse than just pump his little brother to the 6th layer with resources. If he had an elder for a blood relative who was vicious enough¡­ I would probably be dead by now.¡± Fatty Lin nodded and said, ¡°Yeah you are probably right. After all, Old Man Zhu is still fine¡­ so Zhen Ji¡¯s brother probably doesn¡¯t have too much influence. Old Man Zhu couldn¡¯t establish his foundation before 50 after all¡­ and even an average core disciple should hold much more influence than someone like Old man Zhu. Although, his brother did behave like a retard and may have caused him significant headaches. If I talked to my grand uncle, who is still a minor steward, in my family that way¡­I would have been whipped until tender!¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Fang Hao nodded outwardly, but in his heart disagreed. ¡®In the cultivation world, might makes right! Otherwise, why would a middle aged inner disciple call a core disciple half his age senior? This Old Man Zhu isn¡¯t as simple as others make him out to be. These wealthy brats from the mortal world still haven¡¯t adapted here¡­ not too surprising as we had barely any exposure to ruthlessness till now.¡¯ Fang Hao¡¯s musings were interrupted by Old Man Zhu¡¯s voice, which sounded unnaturally loud. ¡°Attention disciples! Welcome to the preliminary phase of the small annual completion for new outer disciples! First of all the rules: No Killing, No permanent crippling. Any weapons you use, will have to be provided by us. Although you can break bones if you can. Those can be healed quite easily. Ask Zhen Ji, he has personal experience.¡± A chuckle ran through the spectating crowd at this jab. News of his antics had long since spread on this peak. ¡°That magic talisman floating there will record all the matches and it may be viewed by your seniors¡­so put up a good entertaining fight! Who knows? You may end you catching the eye of an elder! Although to tell you the truth, the chance of finding a diamond in the pigsty is higher. The winner here will have a chance to compete with winners of other outer hall mountain peaks in a month or so. And let me tell you, winning there has some definite prizes!¡± He then flicked his sleeve and a Cauldron appeared above his head. What look like small golf balls whizzed out of the cauldron and touched each of the participant¡¯s forehead. They now had a shining silver number engraved on the center of their forehead. Fang Hao touched his forehead and felt a faint ¡°1¡± embossed on it. After things settled down for a bit, ¡°There are exactly thirty-two of you whelps. So that makes things much neater. Number 1 will fight Number 32, number 2 will fight number 31 and so on till there are 16 winners. It will continue until only one of you is remaining.¡± Old man Zhu then flipped both of his sleeves simultaneously. Fang Hao suddenly felt his feet leave the ground as he floated to the raised fighting stage. He looked at his opponent and noticed that it was Zhen Ji, who had a confident smug on his face. Clearly, he was confident about thrashing Fang Hao¡¯s fat ass off the stage. ¡®Old Man Zhu must have definitely done that on purpose¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he attempted to crack his knuckles¡­but no sound came. Old Man Zhu said, ¡°You two select which weapon, if any, you want. It will only be of wood from the mortal world, though.¡± Zhen Ji said, somewhat humbly, ¡°Senior, this junior requests a long sword.¡± Fang Hao cupped his hands to Old Man Zhu and said, ¡°Martial uncle Wu, this junior requests a sturdy club, no longer than my arm, and no shorter than my forearm.¡± Old Man Zhu nodded, as the requested weapons whizzed towards them. They grabbed their weapons and readied themselves for a fight, as Old Man Zhu said, ¡°Ready? Then fight!¡± Chapter 015 Chapter 015 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Meng). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- At Old Man Zhu¡¯s exclamation, Zhen Ji rushed at Fang Hao. He raised his sword slashing downwards diagonally at him, who used the brute power of his body and smashed the sword aside, closing in the gap. The impact of the club had jarred Zhen Ji for the moment, giving Fang Hao an opening. He had clenched his left fist, twisted his waist and punched with full force at Zhen Ji¡¯s right armpit, while he was still jarred from the previous impact. From what he remembered from his street fighting and brawling days, the arm pit contained a nerve center. It was a vulnerable area, which when hit, would cause one to be jolted and shocked for a couple of moments at least. If one was in a life and death match, it would make more sense to aim for the opponent¡¯s throat, neck, crotch and eyes among a few other critical vulnerabilities. However, Fang Hao knew not to go overbroad. This match was being recorded. Also the rules prohibited permanent crippling and killing anyways. He chose the most efficient non-lethal blow to temporarily incapacitate Zhen Ji, and quickly finish this match. The tournament format had consecutive matches with little or no rest, so it was important to save stamina as well. As his fist collided with Zhen Ji¡¯s armpit at full force, he felt a dull ache in his hand and he could hair the faint metallic clink. Zhen Ji was wearing some sort of armor underneath his robes! Indeed, the rules forbade weapons not provided by the sect, but no such restrictions were there in place for armor. Not only was Zhen Ji doped upto the 6th layer of Qi gathering, he was also wearing what Fang Hao assumed to be mortal chainmail. Although the armor blocked majority of the impact, some shock was still transmitted. This incapacitated him for a flash. Fang Hao exploited this opening, despite being surprised at the unexpected presence of armor, and kicked his ankles, tripping him. He gave Zhen Ji no opening and sat on his prone figure with his fat ass, pinning his arms with a lock. Having successfully subdued him, he dropped his club and used his free hand to slap Zhen Ji repeatedly. He was irritated at this spoilt brat. Having never offended him, this brat decided to bully him and was even sneaky enough to wear armor! If he hadn¡¯t practiced Divine Vajra Body Scripture, his previous armpit punch would have at least dislocated some bones in his hand. After a flurry of slaps, which caused Zhen Ji¡¯s face to resemble that of a beetroot, Fang Hao finally calmed himself. He then glared viciously at Zhen Ji and said, ¡°Admit defeat, or I will keep on slapping you!¡± Zhen Ji was furious and his heart was unwilling. Despite the help he received from his brother, along with the idea to wear mortal chainmail under his clothes¡­he still lost to the damnable fatty. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. When he had pleaded his brother to help him earlier, he was instead rebuked by him for insulting someone who was elder to him, and had a higher cultivation in public. Still, in order to help his baby brother vent, and clear his heart, he suggested him to use his own power to make an example of the fatty who received the benefits first. Thus Zhen Ji with the advice and resources of his brother had planned this match to be an unshakeable victory. With a face full of regret and bruises, he exclaimed ¡°I admit defeat!¡± but his thoughts didn¡¯t accept the outcome. ¡®Damn it, how can this fatty be stronger than me? I am two whole layers above him. He must have cheated collaborating with Old Man Zhu!¡¯ Old Man Zhi waved his arms, fatty Hao and Zhen Ji were flown off the fighting stage. Fatty Hao landed gently, whereas his opponent crashed headfirst into the grass, as if he was tossed with disdain. ¡°Fatty Hao wins the match, and will proceed to the next round. Next fight is No. 2 vs No. 31¡± Old Man Zhu said as two other contestants whizzed to the stage and began their match. Fang Hao stopped paying attention to the match as he saw that both the fighters were at 3rd layer of Qi gathering and had no trace of technique in their moves, using wooden swords to slash and jab at each other. ¡®Why are swords so popular? A wooden stick is of more utility than a wooden sword, considering our weapon skills. Guess they want to be sword immortals.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he made his way to his clique. He was immediately showered with praise from the fatties. He couldn¡¯t help but be a bit pleased at this attention. However, he kept in mind that in the grand scheme of things¡­this was just a minor encounter. Still Zhen Ji was his first stepping stone. He then focused on the other fights, and most didn¡¯t catch his eye being at or under the 4th layer. However, there was one stocky teenager with a swarthy face. His weapon of choice was surprisingly, a spear. His cultivation was at the 5th layer, and his body seemed sturdier than the rest. He fought conservatively, maintaining his distance and jabbing with his spear. ¡®He will be troublesome opponent. What a fucking turtle! He can clearly take risks and finish battles quicker, but instead opts to tire out his opponents and conserve his own stamina. Those moves he is using are clearly some mortal spear techniques. He will be my only true opponent, at least at this stage.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he observed the matches. His initial cultivation of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture clearly had many advantages, which he noticed during the fight. He his strikes were stronger, his reactions quicker, his rate of stamina recovery was higher, and he could take a more thorough beating! Although he wasn¡¯t planning to take beatings, it was still good to be sturdy. ¡®Just wait till this daddy levels up and learn spells. While all the other n00bs are glass canons, vulnerable when with depleted Qi, this daddy can still beat the shit out of them with his mountain like physique! OK, it won¡¯t be so effortless if I meet a fellow body cultivator¡­but still!¡¯ Chapter 016 Chapter 016 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao cleared the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round of the competition with ease. His plan was similar; smash their weapon with his club, jarring them, followed by an armpit punch or an open palm on the solar plexus, and then he sat on them like a lord over his serfs¡­and slapped them till they admitted defeat. He had to do it only once, on the 2nd round. The 3rd and 4th round opponents had an ugly look on their face as they immediately admitted defeat. They were supposed to be cultivators! How could anyone lack even a shred of face to sit on their opponents like street hooligans¡­ not to say anything about the humiliation of being on the receiving end. Out of his clique Fatty Ning, who was at the 4th layer of Qi Gathering, advanced to the 2nd round. Surprisingly Fatty Lin the one with the slowest cultivation speed, who had barely reached the 3rd layer a week before, fought with an uncommon viciousness and managed to advance to the 3rd round. He unfortunately met the stocky youth with a swarthy face, who as usual, showed skillful spear play and managed to exhaust fatty Lin. Next was the 5th and last match, where Fang Hao - No.1, fought vs the swarthy spear wielder - No.21. Old man Zhu levitated them onto the stage. When asked for weapons, the swarthy youth selected a spear¡­ but Fang Hao selected a staff. ¡®I don¡¯t know any spear techniques, so it is better to take a staff. It is just a long stick and I won¡¯t require anything too fancy to make it work at this level. I will just try to deflect the spear and beat him in close quarters.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he made the choice of his weapon. Old Man Zhu began the fight, and Fang Hao dashed at his opponent. Fang Hao held the staff in both hands and bashed at the spear hoping to jar him and close the distance. But despite his superior strength and speed, he failed at his planned move as the swarthy teen stepped backwards and flicked his wrist. He used the flat of the spear blade to whack Fang Hao¡¯s knees, unbalancing him. Fang Hao was forced to halt as he regained his balance and considered his move. ¡®Damn it this swarthy turtle has good technique! Well fuck you¡­ this daddy here will go all out!¡¯ fumed Fang Hao as he started to quickly execute a flurry of blows. The twinkle in the swarthy teen¡¯s eye disappeared as he frowned a bit. He tried to side-step, parry, dodge and generally avoid or redirect all the blows¡­but he could at most avoid or deflect 3 out of 4 blows. Though most of the blows that connected were glancing blows, he felt some of the impact pass through. ¡®Damn this shameless fatty. He is overwhelming my technique with brute force. At least aim somewhere consistent so that I can deflect your blows, you fatass! No? Hmm, I refuse to believe that you can last longer than me. I am using far less stamina than you. Let us see who can endure longer!¡¯ the swarthy youth thought in irritation as he redirected one blow¡­but was forced to block the other feeling some feedback through his weapon. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. But Fatty Hao had a physique that was comparable to an average 7th layer Qi Gathering layer disciple. How could he get tired so quickly? The stalemate lasted for a little over 10 minutes. Fang Hao was starting to feel fatigued as his arms were tiring and beads of sweat were falling from his forehead. But from the looks of it, the swarthy youth wasn¡¯t too better off. All the transmitted shock was accumulating. ¡®Damn it. I went overboard and lost my cool. My performance so far is already impressive. I reckon I can last for another 2 to 5 minutes before I am too exhausted to continue¡­ but I shouldn¡¯t drag this on any longer. If he doesn¡¯t get tired in the next 3 blows, I will admit defeat. I should be more cautious in the future.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as his irritation at the swarthy turtle and the hot-blooded urge to compete finally subsided at the onset of exhaustion. ¡®This, this shameless fatty! Did he get fat gorging on the meat of spirit beasts? I am barely able to defend now, another minute of those flurries and I will be disarmed. Better give up now, and avoid the disgrace of being disarmed.¡¯ The swarthy youth had a grudging respect for Fang Hao¡¯s stamina, as he thought about his course of action for the battle. The next instant, both of them lunged backwards and declared simultaneously ¡°I admit defeat.¡± Old man Zhu snorted. ¡°One of you has to win. I can¡¯t have both the finalists in a draw. Let me think of something special.¡± he said as he had a benign smile on his face glancing at both the participants. In his interaction with old man Zhu, Fang Hao had learned to recognize that benign smile. When he smiled like that¡­someone was going to be in trouble. Fang Hao decisively cupped his hands and addressed his opponent. ¡°Fellow Apprentice Brother, your weapon techniques are clearly superior. If this was a true life and death battle with real weapons, you could have long fatally stabbed my throat and won. Please accept your victory¡­ I am too tired to continue anyway.¡± The swarthy youth was surprised. He clearly knew that the fatty¡¯s strength and stamina were extraordinary for his cultivation and estimated that the fatty still had enough fight in him to overwhelm him. He hesitated a bit, then finally cupped his hand and said sincerely, ¡°Fellow Apprentice Brother, you let me win. I will accept your kind intentions with gratitude. I am called Yu Li.¡± ¡°Brother Li, I am called as Fang Hao, but most call me Fatty Hao.¡± Old man Zhu had a clearly disappointed look on his face as he sighed ¡°Since you juniors agreed, No. ¨C 21 wins. The next phase of the competition will be in 28 days exactly. I will send someone with the specifics the day before it. But good performance nevertheless little fatty! How about you drop by tomorrow at dusk and have some wine with this old man?¡± Fang Hao was cautious at this invitation, but smiled outwardly and said, ¡°This junior will gladly give company to Senior Martial Uncle, even though he is unworthy.¡± ¡®Damn it. Did he discover my secret? But how can I refuse his public invitation? And this fight is recorded¡­ next time I should be cautious. Well I do have a couple of excuses ready¡­ but still more caution is required.¡¯ Chapter 017 Chapter 017 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- After the competition concluded, Fang Hao opted to wait by the dining hall for his dusk meal instead of cultivating. All the fighting had tired him and made him hungry. Also, he was a bit paranoid about Old Man Zhu¡¯s invitation and not in an ideal mindset to cultivate. He was lying on the grass outside the dining hall, chatting with his clique as he gazed at the sky. It was good to relax for a change. While he was being complemented by his clique, he made it a point to complement Fatty Lin. Even though Fatty Lin had the weakest talent in cultivation amongst them, he had progressed the farthest in the competition, apart from himself. ¡°See Brothers, talent is not everything! Self-confidence and determination can help a lot! Fatty Lin¡¯s opponents were shaken by his unyielding attitude. So we should work hard at cultivating. One day, instead of just eating a spirit chicken¡¯s offal¡­I would like to eat the meat of a whole roasted spirit chicken, seasoned with spirit herbs! We shouldn¡¯t give up, brothers.¡± Fang Hao gave a pep talk, more to himself than his clique. While there was a possibility of him being suspected, there was no concrete proof. While his performance was surprising¡­it wasn¡¯t heaven defying! Hell, a distinguished adult mortal solider would have way more stamina than him. There was no point in getting depressed over unlikely pitfalls. Sure, it was better to plan for it in advance and avoid it¡­but what is done is done. Also, it wasn¡¯t like the mortal world had no body refining scriptures. There were fragments of the worst body refining scriptures circulating among the mortal military and mercenary guilds. Sure, it couldn¡¯t be compared to the Divine Vajra Body Scripture, but he hadn¡¯t progressed far enough for his body to be regarded exceptional among cultivators. He still had a body which was in the limits of what was achievable in the mortal world. For all intents and purposes, he was just a sturdier fatty. His mood improved significantly after he organized his thoughts and consolidated his knowledge. ¡®When I reach Qi Condensation and gather a few contribution points, I should elect for a body refining manual/scripture. That way, I will have a solid excuse for my potent and dashing physique.¡± The dinner was a sumptuous meal of beef noodle soup, roasted duck, bamboo shoots with silkworm larvae and rice. He especially liked bamboo shoots with silkworm larvae dish. It was the first time, in both his lives, that he had tasted it. In fact, he had more of it than everything else combined! ¡®I am already fat as fuck. No point in restraining myself. This is the good stuff. Where was this stuff in my previous life? The bamboo shoots are good¡­but who would have thought insect grub would be so tasty!¡¯ Fang Hao though happily as he took his 7th serving of the silkworm larvae dish. He hummed a jolly tune as he took a hill like serving back to his table. Ah being fat is so nice. I don¡¯t have to give a fuck about overeating as I am already fat. And fuck your judgmental stares plebeians! This daddy is already fat and gives zero fucks about your attitude.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he swallowed a couple of silkworm larvae from his plate before reaching his table. The other fatties of his clique were inspired by his appetite and took way more their usual serving. The janitorial disciple in charge of serving the meal had his heart full of disdain. But he dared not refuse the demand of the five meatballs. After all, they were quite generous with the spirit chicken offal they offered in exchange for having offal stew cooked for them. Compared to the disdain and bargaining of other outer disciples, the five fatties gave what they promised without scorn and complaint, and their seniors had strictly instructed them not to offend them as far as possible¡­even if each of them ate the food of almost three people. Still, the unrestrained gluttony exhibited by the five dumplings was attracting more than a little attention in the dining hall. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. With a satisfied expression and titillating sensation, Fang Hao returned to his courtyard and earnestly started practicing the 4th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. After a satisfying and fulfilling meal, he was at his peak and practiced the body refining scripture continuously, taking breaks only to circulate the 4th layer of the Sublime Qi Manual to recover his used Qi. From the time he was sloshed with Spirit Wine, he noticed that he was significantly quicker at the Sublime Qi Manual circulations, with each circulation being much more efficient. Soon it was dawn, as his rumbling stomach notified him. Fang Hao had a hearty dawn meal and returned to practicing. He realized that a calm and satisfied mind, significantly boosted his practicing speed as he went to the Assignment Hall to drink with Old man Zhu. Initially, he was cautious and guarded, fearing exposure. When he finished his third cup, Old Man Zhu had a satisfied expression on his face as he said, ¡°Junior Hao, the way you sat on the competitors was simply priceless! It was the first time in century I had such a laugh!¡± Fang Hao was quite sloshed, though not at the point of unconsciousness, as he replied with a slurred tone ¡°Shenior, One of the few advantagesh I have is my weight! In order to consherve my shtamina, I sat on them, to humiliate and intimidate them! I shkipped two rounds with the opponentsh conceding immediately, being too afraid of facing me!¡± Old Man Zhu gulped down another cup and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be too humble little fatty, the look of humiliation and shame on your second opponent¡¯s face was the best laugh in a century! But why did you give up on No. 21? You could have won if you persisted for a bit.¡± Fang Hao was drunk, but since he had rehearsed and prepared repeatedly for similar queries, he replied naturally, ¡°Shenior, I wash at my limitsh. Maybe I could have won¡­but I wash too tired.¡± Old Man Zhu had a somber expression, as he dropped a bombshell, ¡°Say little fatty, how about being my disciple?¡± Even though Fang Hao was inebriated, he still had a bit of hesitation on his face. With what little sense he retained, he still understood that taking a master in this situation was a big deal. Seeing the puzzled silence of the little fatty Old Man Zhu said, ¡°If you officially accept me as your master, You would have a lot more spirit wine to drink¡­and maybe I can let you sample some more potent spirit liquor!¡± Hearing old Man Zhu¡¯s proposal, Fang Hao was sold! As of right now, he didn¡¯t give a shit about the seriousness of a Master-Disciple relationship! The phrase ¡°more potent spirit liquor¡± had him sold. He did a swaying kowtow, with his head almost banging the floor, as he slurred ¡°Thish dishiple greets hish mashter!¡± ------------------ Since I shifted to my current job, I am having one fateful encounter after another! Last weekend I met my long lost childhood friend¡­and today after work I was pub hopping, I met my ex! She was already married and was miserable and had already applied for a divorce. OK I didn¡¯t get laid today. But still, knowing that your ex who had humiliated you in public and dumped you years ago, was miserable at this point of life, while I was happy and content, sure did lift my spirits! Needless to say I enjoyed quite a bit of schadenfreude and am drunk as fuck¡­since I received my paycheck! So please excuse my mistakes if they are more than usual. ------------------- Chapter 018 Chapter 018 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Old Man Zhu nodded approvingly as he said, ¡°Good. Once you reach the peak of the Qi Gathering stage, meet me and I will help you achieving a breakthrough.¡± Before gulping another goblet of spirit wine and refilling Fang Hao¡¯s goblet. Fang Hao was reaching his limits as he sipped some spirit wine from his 4th cup. He could barely circulate the Sublime Qi Manual as he tried to kowtow again¡­but fainted on the spot and started snoring. ¡®Haha this little fatty is so unrestrained and shameless. Got bribed with some cheap spirit wine and accepted me as his master. And then starts snoring during a kowtow¡­ priceless. I think I may even gain some insights from his antics! Hmm, even though I was joking¡­ he is my disciple now, and it is unsightly for others to see him like this.¡¯ Old Man Zhu got up and grabbed the snoring Fang Hao¡¯s cuff. In an instant, rippled distortions appeared and both Old man Zhu and Fang Hao disappeared! They appeared directly in Fang Hao¡¯s backyard. He then dumped the meatball he was holding and disappeared again. If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would be shocked to their core¡­ Old Man Zhu had teleported directly into Fang Hao¡¯s backyard like the restriction placed on it never existed! Teleportation was something not even Core Disciples who had established their foundation could achieve. Ignoring the restriction, without destroying it, on Fang Hao¡¯s backyard meant one of two things. Either Old man Zhu was very accomplished in restrictions and could effortlessly break the simple restriction on an outer disciple¡¯s courtyard, or had enough status in the sect to know the restrictions thoroughly. Either way; he was, at the very least, an Elder with an Unfathomable Cultivation Base. It was well past noon when Fang Hao woke up. It took him a moment to recall last night¡¯s activities and recognize his surroundings. ¡®Old Man Zhu, no Master Zhu must have arranged for me to get here. Did he throw my fat-ass into the backyard over the restriction? I hope it wasn¡¯t a mistake to accept him as my master. Well, what is done is done. I can breakthrough with enough xp anyways so even if he is a Qi Condensation washout; it won¡¯t be too big of a deal. At the very least, I can get some more spirit wine and boost my stats and get sloshed!¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he contemplated over last night¡¯s event. ¡®My xp gained has slowed a lot and I need to find better ways of grinding xp instead of the measly 1xp chickens¡­or I won¡¯t have too much of an advantage being able to level up. Speaking of chickens, I did miss today¡¯s chore. Meh, I can make up for it by this week anyways. I should take this opportunity to see how much QI and Spirit I gained form last night¡¯s drinking session!¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he excitedly called up his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 15 years
Titles:
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 9
Realm: Qi Gathering Realm Level: 4
Current Experience: 1591 Level Up at Experience: 2367
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 1.8 Finesse: 1.5
Spirit: 2.2 Qi 7.6/7.6
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.(1st Realm, 5th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 3 moves)
¡®Good. A gain of 1 in Qi and 0.2 in Spirit is simply fantastic for an evening of drinking! Last time I had gotten similar stat gains with 3 cups¡­but now I got them with 4 cups. It seems tolerance to stat gain tends to build up pretty quickly. So this spirit wine is only good for the kick after a while. It should be completely useless by the time I am in the intermediate stages of Qi Condensation. I guess it was cheap stuff. What does it say about me, who can¡¯t afford it¡­and even sold himself out for a bit more of it?¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he scanned his status screen for changes. ¡®Wait a minute, wasn¡¯t my xp in the lower 1400s before the competition? I gained a little over 160xp from the competition! So I either gained it from making my opponents admit defeat or from coming 2nd in the competition. More than a 160xp seems a bit too much for defeating 4 opponents of such low skill without killing them. So a majority of the xp had come from me obtaining 2nd place in the competition!¡¯ Fang Hao was excited and disappointed. He was bemoaning the loss of that sweet, sweet xp if he had endured and defeated Yu Li aka, the Swarthy Turtle. How much xp would he gain if he had won not just the preliminary competition on their peak¡­but defeated all the other 1st year outer disciples? But soon, he got over his disappointment. Without solid background and support, it wasn¡¯t wise to stand out too much. And besides if he could gain xp other than killing stuff, he had a lot of new avenues to explore! ¡®I think I should pay a visit to the arena! Although the rewards for the non-lethal brawling ring are almost negligible compared to the lethal one, if it can help me¡­it¡¯s the best! Gain xp without risk of life. Even though my life may not be in danger there, there is still a good chance of broken bones. The people fighting in the arena aren¡¯t new 1st year outer disciples. Most of them are seasoned in fights, with good combat experience. I should still master the 4th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. That would give me a good fighting chance against 9th layer Qi gathering cultivators.¡¯ Fang Hao continued his train of thought as he nodded to himself. ¡® Hmm, yes. It is settled then. I will master the 4th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and go to Master Zhu regarding permission of competing in the non-lethal brawling arena. Since now I have a master, I should take his permission before doing major stuff. Also I should visit him next week to drink some more spirit wine.¡¯ Chapter 019 Chapter 019 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- It took Fang Hao another three months of practice before he mastered the 4th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He could slaughter almost 40 chickens per week by now. He also had weekly drinking sessions with his master, but most of them ended up with him snoring ¡­and waking up in his backyard the next noon. By now, every drinking session barely increased his Qi by 0.1, and he had stopped gaining any more Spirit from it. Before this week¡¯s meeting with his master, he reviewed his status.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 15 years
Titles:
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 9
Realm: Qi Gathering Realm Level: 4
Current Experience: 2071 Level Up at Experience: 2367
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 2.1 Finesse: 1.7
Spirit: 2.9 Qi 10.1/10.1
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 5th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 4 moves)
¡®Not bad at all! I should be as strong as a 9th Qi Gathering Layer Cultivator, although a bit on the slower side. The cheap wine isn¡¯t much use for grinding stats anymore, unfortunately. But then again¡­if it did boost my stats even after a dozen sessions, master wouldn¡¯t share it with me. I should also ask him about fighting in the arena, as I should be able to hold my own and not get too badly hurt.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he made his way to the Old Man Zhu¡¯s Outer Assignment Hall. He kowtowed as he said, ¡°Disciple greets Master!¡± as he sat cross-legged on the floor looking at Old Man Zhu with expectation in his eyes. Old Man Zhu nodded in a satisfied manner as he conjured a crystal vase and two crystal goblets which were floating before him. ¡°No need to be polite, disciple¡­ you are on schedule as always. So let us start¡­¡± The crystal jug had a clear pale indigo colored liquid. It flowed and separated into two streams landing in the two goblets. With visible greed Fang Hao impatiently grabbed the floating goblet, and almost said as an afterthought, ¡°Disciple thanks Master!¡± as he greedily sipped the wine. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Unlike the last spirit wine, this pale indigo liquid had a fiery and smoky taste. He quickly gulped it and shuddered. He felt like a stream of hammers were pounding his stomach as he felt light headed and woozy. He wasn¡¯t sloshed yet, but was definitely feeling the effects of the spirit wine. Even while inebriated he sniffed the faint aroma of crushed basil emanating from the spirit wine. ¡®Oh boy, this is definitely better than what I was having till now. Oh right, I should ask the brawling arena permission before I am too sloshed.¡¯ He took another sip and quickly gulped it as he said, ¡°Master, this disciple has a request.¡± Old Man Zhu had already gulped three cups of the wine by now as he looked at Fang Hao inquisitively as he replied, ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Master, this disciple wants to test himself in the non-lethal brawling ring. Disciple feels that he should get some more fighting experience.¡± Old man Zhu shrugged as he said, ¡°A weekly transport leaves from here, a little after dawn to the arena. Although it is wise to start in the non-brawling ring, real tempering only happens in life and death situations.¡± He noticed the hesitation on Fang Hao¡¯s face and snorted. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me sending you there. As you are¡­you will be killed in a blink. And I forbid you from participating in life and death matches till you are at Qi Condensation¡­it would be too wasteful if you die too early. The transport leaves day after tomorrow. Be sure to tell me the stage number and fight number, I will watch that later. I hope you can amuse me.¡± ¡°Disciple thanks Master.¡± Old man Zhu waved his arms and continued drinking the spirit wine. Fang Hao took the hint and resumed drinking the pale indigo wine. He barely finished his cup, when he started dangerously swaying and had trouble keeping himself still enough to sip his wine. Still he endured! He barely finished another cup before he fell backwards. He could see a little bit of liquid left through the crystal. His tried reaching his goblet, and it was a bit out of reach. ¡®Don¡¯t worry my stat boosts, here I come¡¯ he thought as he rolled sideways in order to bring the goblet within his reach. Old man Zhu¡¯s eyes were filled with amusement as he saw his shameless disciple roll towards the goblet. He flicked his fingers as the glass shifted just barely out of his reach. It took Fang Hao a couple of more rolls to figure out that Master Zhu was messing with him. He looked pitifully with what he hoped was puppy eyes, and said with grief, ¡°Mashter!¡± Old Man Zhu had a stern look on his face and shook his head. ¡°Disciple, you are becoming too lazy. You have to work to seize good fortune. Now roll once around this grandpa if you want some more wine.¡± ¡°Dishiple thanksh Mashter for hish teachingsh!¡± Fang Hao slurred as he attempted to roll around his master. During his roll, a few outer disciples entered the hall and were shocked at the scene they saw. They all knew that Fang Hao was drinking with Old man Zhu¡­ but did neither of them have any face? The fatty was rolling around Old Man Zhu, attempting to grasp a goblet with some wine, while Old Man Zhu was smirking as he kept the goblet just out of the fatty¡¯s reach. ¡®Although that fatty is shameless¡­but Old man Zhu is a member of the senior generation! Even if his cultivation is not the best¡­ how can he continue to exploit fatty¡¯s greed for wine so shamelessly.¡¯ They had disdain in their hearts, but outwardly had a polite smile plastered on their face, as they waited for Old man Zhu to notice them. Old man Zhu turned to look at them and sighed. ¡°Whatever it is, come back tomorrow afternoon. Can¡¯t you see that this old man is having some fun?¡± The outer disciples smiled and retreated with disdain and scorn in their hearts. Needless to say, Fatty Hao¡¯s reputation plummeted even further among outer disciples. Chapter 020 Chapter 020 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- At the appointed time, Fang Hao waited with other outer, mostly senior, disciples for their scheduled transport. He chatted with them for a while, hoping to squeeze some last minute intel. The non-lethal brawling arena for Qi gathering layer had three ¡®grades¡¯ of matches. First grade was for those upto the 3rd layer of Qi Gathering. The second grade was for those from the 4th to the 6th layer. The third and final layer was for those in the 7th to 9th layer. As for those who were in the peak of Qi Gathering realm (10th layer), they only had the option of fighting in the proper lethal arena. The rewards for the non-lethal arena were mainly fasting pills. Although the fasting pills was useless trash in the eyes of inner disciples, it was one of the few strands of hope for Outer Disciples! As long as they hoarded sufficient fasting pills, they could use it for a breakthrough into the Qi Condensation realm, regardless of the sequela of accumulated pill toxicity. Of course, Fang Hao didn¡¯t put the reward in his eyes¡­ he was more concerned about the possibility of the sweet-sweet xp. Soon the appointed hour arrived, and the outer disciples were waiting for their transportation. Fang Hao tried to inquire about it¡­but his seniors replied in a vague and cryptic manner. After around a quarter of an hour, Fang Hao could see something shooting towards them form the horizon. It was indistinct at first¡­but as it approached them, Fang Hao could make out some details. It was what looked like a giant toad! The Giant Toad was hurling like a comet towards them. As it approached nearer, Fang Hao could make out the garish orange shade on the giant toads body. It had huge warts all over its face and body. Over its back, it had a structure which looked like a triple floored pagoda over its back. The ugly giant toad landed around hundred meters away from them. Surprisingly, there were no shockwaves or disturbances¡­and the whole thing looked pretty smooth. The Pagoda-like structure on the giant toad¡¯s back had an ornate bronze twin-door on it. The Bronze doors opened and a grandma like figure appeared. She was an old wizened cultivator who looked in her sixties. She had pure white hair till her waist and wrinkles crisscrossing all over her face. She lazily glanced at the assembled outer disciples and said: ¡°Are you whelps waiting for an invitation? Come in, I haven¡¯t got all day.¡± At the sound of her voice, the outer disciples hurriedly cupped their hands towards their senior and started going through the bronze double doors in an orderly fashion. Obviously, this was not their first time doing so. Fang Hao was in line, near the end, as he imitated his seniors as he cupped his hands to the grandma cultivator and approached the bronze double-doors. However, the nearer he got to it¡­ the more unrest he felt in his heart. By the time he was around a dozen meters away from it¡­he was almost hyperventilating. It took a lot of his will power to suppress the primal reactions of his body. He glanced at the eyes of the giant toad, almost a football (soccer) field away from it¡­and the palpitations in his heart intensified! He didn¡¯t feel an immediate sense of crisis¡­but a heavy oppression seemed to weigh on his being. He noticed that one of the giant pale-yellow reptilian eyes was staring at him, and the intensity of his instincts intensified. He was almost hyperventilating at his point. He paused, cupped his fists and bowed towards the giant eye. He heard some grumbling behind him, but he paid it no mind. He sincerely conveyed the thoughts in his heart. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Junior greets esteemed Senior! Junior asks permission to be allowed inside the pagoda on senior¡¯s back!¡± Fang Hao¡¯s head was bowed down¡­ but his eyes were focused on the single reptilian eye staring at him. He thought he saw the eye blink quickly; and it turned its gaze away from him. Someone behind him grumbled, and went ahead of him, and others continued to go around him. Fang Hao paid it no mind. He finally felt the invisible pressure easing around him as he straightened himself and followed the queue into the bronze double-doors. He glanced at the grandma-cultivator, and thought he saw the flash of a smile. Inside the pagoda like structure, there were multiple mats arranged, with each mat having a couple of cushions on it. Fang Hao selected an empty mat. Arranged the cushions and laid own as if to sleep. As soon as he was comfortable, there was roaring in his head. It sounded like a deep bass tone rumbling in his ears¡­but he was quite sure there was no sound. Fang Hao was shocked at these words in his mind. He would be lying to say that he wasn¡¯t a bit panicked. ¡®Eh¡­is senior giant toad communicating with me telepathically? Or is there still some spirit wine left in my system making me hallucinate?¡¯ He quickly glanced nearby at his senior outer disciples. It looked like everything was normal. He contained his emotions as he pondered. ¡®I felt an instinctive fear while approaching the giant toad¡­and not without reason! How can my senior outer disciples not notice the pressure near Senior Gant Toad?¡¯ He was in a dilemma as to his next course of action. Meanwhile, the grandma-like senior cultivator was barely containing her emotions as she discussed mentally with Daoist Lombre. < Brother Lombre¡­I never expected that a whelp in the Qi gathering layer would help you win your bet. And just in the nick of time¡­the sixty year cycle of the wager was just about to end.> < *snort* Fellow apprentice sister, although the cultivating aptitudes of humans are high¡­ they severely lack instinct! It took more than half a century for a human brat to recognize the majesty of this royal toad! At least, no longer do I have to mule these ants to and fro and I can peacefully go back to cultivating.> < Not to mention the spirit opening pill brother Lombre will receive on account of the bet. That by itself, saved you almost a couple of centuries of contemplation!> < What can I say, apprentice-sister¡­ The heavens have eyes!> --------------- Sorry for the late chapter guys, I was too busy playing Siralim 2 this entire week. My computer situation is resolved...at least temporarily. SO I should be back to 1 chapter per couple of days barring unforeseen circumstances. ---------------- Chapter 021 Chapter 021 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Senior Lombre stopped after almost 10 minutes. Fang Hao and his fellow outer disciples exited the pagoda. He was at the foot of a large mountain, with the top half chopped off. There was a humongous coliseum sitting on top of it. There were multiple granite roads of different colors leading to it. The wrinkled cultivator who looked like a granny addressed them. She pointed at four gray roads which looked somewhat shabby. ¡°The color of the roads you should ascend is the color of robes you wear juniors. Since all of you are at the Qi Gathering realm, ascend those four roads. The narrowest road is for those up to the 3rd layer, and the highest road si for those at the peak of Qi Gathering. The middle roads are for those upto the 6th and 9th layers.¡± Most of the outer disciples ascended the second largest grey road. There were very few cultivators who chose to ascend the road for peak Qi Gathering realm cultivators. Fang Hao ascended the 3rd largest road and after an hour of trekking he reached what looked like half a dozen bamboo cottages. Outside each cottage was a orb hanging by the side. He noticed that the nearest orb was emitting a deep red glow. The glow turned a gentle green and one of his seniors hurried into the cottage. ¡®Traffic Signal, eh? At least the colors are easy to remember.¡¯ Fang Hao thought as he waited his turn. He entered the cottage and a bored looking outer disciple asked ¡°New?¡± Fang Hao clasped his hands and replied politely. ¡°Yes. This junior asks senior for guidance.¡± There was absolutely no change in the senior outer disciple¡¯s face as he said. ¡°The most important division is to fight lethal matches or non-lethal matches. The Lethal matches award with higher quality Qi gathering pills, perhaps even a spirit stone! The non-lethal matches just give you some fasting pills. You can use your own weapon only in the lethal matches. Furthermore, there are three main events. Free for all group matches, team matches and individual matches. The exact rules may differ per match. So what will it be, junior brother?¡± Although the explanation was brief¡­ it covered the essentials. Fang Hao humbly conveyed his intentions to the stoic senior. ¡°Senior, this junior would like to participate in the non-lethal individual matches.¡± The senior tossed him a hexagonal token, which he nimbly caught. On the token there was an alphanumeric string. It read ¡°N 1b I 120¡±. The stoic senior then just pointed at the corner of the cottage, and said: ¡°Just step into the formation and follow the passageway within. It will lead you to your destination.¡± There was a complex circular formation that came to life with light of various colors. Fang Hao hesitated briefly before he walked in the now glowing formation, clutching his token. He entered what seemed like a maze of intersecting corridors. His token throbbed in his hand as a pale yellow glow came from a path in front of him. ¡®I guess it is ¡°Follow the yellow bricked road!¡±¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he followed the pale yellow guiding lights. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. He soon reached a set of gray double-doors. There was a hexagonal shaped depression in the center of the double doors. Fang Hao placed his token there. The door opened and he felt an itching on the back of his hand. The token had disappeared and the number ¡°120¡± was now etched on the back of his hand. He stepped through and entered what seemed like a large common hall. There were mats on the floor, some occupied and some free. He occupied a mat, sat crossed-leg and had to wait for around 10 minutes, until he heard an announcement. ¡°Outer disciples, this is the waiting room for the non-lethal individual brawling arena for 4th to 6th layer of Qi Gathering Cultivators. If this isn¡¯t where you intend to be, get up and leave via the door you came through.¡± He waited for almost a minute. Nobody left. The old man¡¯s voice continued. ¡°Now today, the individual competition is elimination style. There are a total 128 of you. No 1 will fight No. 128, 2 will fight 127 and so on. The winner proceeds to the next round and the loser quits.¡± ¡°The first match will win you 1 fasting pill, and every subsequent win doubles the reward. The period of time you get to rest between matches depends on how long your competitors take to finish their mach. So one opponent will be tired, having just fought a match! Sixteen matches will be held simultaneously, So No 1 to 16 and No 113 to 128, get ready and enter the passageway in the front. ¡° Fang Hao got up and followed his fellow outer disciples as they disappeared into a gloomy passageway. Although all of them went inside the passageway more or less together, he couldn¡¯t make out anyone else in it. When he exited the passage, he entered in what looked like a circular wrestling ring. There was the floating recording contraption above their ring, but no seats. Outside the ring there were two cupboards on the opposite side, large enough to walk through. A wizened old man with a hooked nose was floating lazily on a cloud and he said. ¡°No 9 and 120, you have 5 minutes to select your weapon. Just walk into the cupboard and select what you want. If the time expires, you will be ejected and randomly choose one of the weapons you were holding at the time. Remember this is a non-lethal fight¡­ so no killing or permanent crippling. Although the rewards are set, if you impress the seniors watching you, they may give you additional rewards. Now go and select your weapons.¡± Fang Hao glanced at his opponent and noticed that it was a tall lanky pale skinned cultivator, whom he didn¡¯t recognize. He walked into the cupboard and was greeted with racks of wooden weapons. He selected a sturdy 3 feet club, which was as thick as his bicep. ¡®The floating senior said only one weapon per fighter. And since I don¡¯t know which weapon the opponent will chose, I should select this sturdy club! I bet with my full force I can bash some bones with this¡­provided the opponent doesn¡¯t wield a spear like the swarthy turtle.¡¯ Having made his choice Fang Hao exited the cupboard and waited near the ring. Soon his opponent exited his cupboard holding a pair of tonfas. ¡°Juniors, since both of you have made your choice; get on the stage and fight!¡± --------- Made temporary arrangement for a PC, so chapters as and when I get access.¡± -------- Chapter 022 Chapter 022 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao swaddled onto the stage and faced his opponent. Neither of them rushed at each other and cautiously circled each other. After almost a minute of it, Fang Hao was getting a bit impatient. He paused, stood his ground and taunted his opponent with a sneering tone. ¡°How can you call yourself my senior if you are afraid of approaching my lordly presence?¡± His opponent snorted, with a half amused voice as he replied, ¡°You will have to do better than that if you want to taunt me into action, junior. And what exactly are you a lord of¡­lard? Lord Lard, please enlighten me with your Lardly presence.¡± His opponent sniggered. ¡®OK, he refused to take the bait and has a sharp tongue. Maybe I can sucker punch him.¡¯ Fang Hao had a feigned expression of disdain on his face. He dropped his club, held his hands behind his back and approached him with confidence. This act made his opponent cautious. His opponent was at the peak of the 6th layer of Qi gathering, but didn¡¯t underestimate his opponent. HE was shrewd and cautious by nature and knew that in the Qi gathering realm, depending on the circumstances, a non-cultivating mortal could overwhelm those half a step into QI Condensation. He angled, with his side facing Fang Hao¡­giving Lord Lard a narrow target. ¡®Cautious Bastard.¡¯ Fang Hao said in his heart as he continued approaching his opponent. They were a couple of feet away from each other¡­when Fang Hao gathered a good dollop of spit and spat at his opponents eyes. He managed to successfully shock his opponent who instinctively dodged the projectile coming at his face. Taking advantage of the opening, he lunged to close the distance as he clenched his fist, preparing a strike. Although he was merely at the 4th layer of Qi condensation, his physique was close to someone at the 8th layer due to the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. His superior condition, combined with the shameless diversion tactic gave him a solid opportunity to inflict damage. His right hand executed an uppercut which impacted with his opponent¡¯s left jaw jarring him. He used the momentum of his precut, as he put his significant weight behind an elbow strike at his opponent¡¯s solar plexus. His reckless elbow strike connected and they both tumbled to the ground. Fang Hao quickly maneuvered into a dominating position as he locked his opponent¡¯s limbs and sat on him. He slapped his opponent a couple of times, as eh he heard the referee¡¯s amused voice. ¡°You can stop now Lord Lard your opponent has fainted. No. 120 wins and advances to the next round.¡± Fang Hao clasped his hands as he bowed to the referee and went back to the waiting room. ¡®OK, I managed to troll this fight and save my stamina¡­but I shouldn¡¯t count on it. This cheap trick will at most work in this tournament¡­ Gossip spreads quickly here. And ¡°Lord Lard¡± Seriously? Is that going to be nickname from now?¡¯ Fang Hao sat cross-legged on an unoccupied mat in the waiting hall as he looked downwards at his protruding belly contemplating the match. The reason he had been shameless to spit at his opponent was mostly because he was irked at being called Lord Lard. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I can¡¯t see my fucking feet¡­ I think I should control my eating a bit or I am well-deserving of the nickname Lord Lard. Nah¡­the Goat Brain casserole was simply so delicious! And I am fat anyway¡­eating to my heart¡¯s content isn¡¯t making much difference.¡¯ Deep down, Fang Hao knew he was lying to himself. He ate almost as much as three vigorous teenagers needed, on an average. While practicing the Divine Vajra Bod scripture was quite strenuous, for some reason he found it very hard to restrain himself in front of the delicious otherworldly food. He shrugged as he reasoned, ¡®No modern comforts of technology here¡­so might as well enjoy the food and liquor to the fullest. I hope to get laid soon though. I think this has been the driest spell in a while now. Goddamnit Fang Hao, you have a chance to pursue immortality¡­and all you are thinking is food, drink and sex. Shame on you, you dumbfuck!¡¯ Fang Hao calmed himself as he began circulating the 5th layer of the Sublime QI Manual. After almost 10 minutes he was notified about his revere was broken with the notification of the next match. He entered the passageway, and ended up in a similar circular ring. Only the referee was different. He looked like a stern faced middle aged man with more wrinkles than hair. His opponent was a sturdily built youth with honey colored skin. The referee indicated them to choose their weapons. Fang Hao chose a sturdy club, and his opponent had chosen a solid axe. AS soon as the middle aged referee announced the beginning of the match, the sturdy youth rushed at him, with the axe trailing behind him sideways. Fang Hao was caught a bit off-guard, but managed to react in time. As the sturdy youth neared him, he swung his axe horizontally at Fang Hao, who managed to block it with his club. The sock of the impact was larger than he expected, although it was bearable, he still felt a tingling in his fingers. ¡®So this time my opponent is a hot-blooded youth who rushes to face things head on. Well this Lord Lard here is no pushover, son!¡¯ though Fang Hao as he counter attacked with a lunging knee strike at the opponent¡¯s abdomen. His opponent was still recovering from his previous swing, as Fang Hao¡¯s knee struck little below his solar plexus. Even with the momentum of his heavy body behind him, Fang Hao wasn¡¯t able to do more than make his opponent stumble a couple of steps backward. Still it gave him a valuable opening as he swung his club with full force. His club connected with his opponent¡¯s forehead, who¡­fell down on the stage losing consciousness.¡¯ ¡°No. 120 wins.¡± The middle aged referee said dispassionately as Fang Hao bowed to him and returned to the waiting room. ------------- Still have temp access to a PC. Fuck laptops, I decided to splurge on a full-fledged beastly gaming PC with 16GB RAM, SSD and an AMD RX card! Now that take quite a bit more money that I have¡­so I am working overtime! I hope to save enough in a couple of months and hope RX 470 price drops to affordable levels. I quite enjoyed playing Divinity Original Sin at my bro''s place...and his games library convince me to go for a solid gaming desktop! -------------
Also sorry for the mistakes. i am drunk as fuck lol. Chapter 023 Chapter 023 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- The next four matches for Fang Hao were a breeze. Although most of his opponents were in the 6th layer of Qi Gathering, they didn¡¯t have too much technique. Fang Hao¡¯s sturdy physique and his trusty club ended most matches in a minute or so. If he couldn¡¯t find any opening to exploit, he would simply whack their weapons with his club. This exploited his superior strength to jar his opponents and disarm them easily. He then whacked their forehead for a KO, or their limbs to disable them in case they had quicker reflexes to dodge his strike. Once disabled with broken limbs, most would give up. If they didn¡¯t Fang Hao would sit on them and slap them silly till they did. A few dozen slaps and a couple of broken teeth later, even the most resolute would give up or faint in anguish. All in all it was smooth sailing, and he easily reached semifinals. His tactic of fighting gave him more time to recover as he tended to finish his fights quickly. Also his cultivation of Divine Vajra Body Scripture caused him to have a superior stamina and recovery rate than his peers. Fang Hao was more or less in his top condition after continuously winning 6 matches. He was in high spirits as he entered the stage for the 7th match which was the semifinals. ¡®Looks like most outer disciples in the non-lethal brawling arena don¡¯t focus on their fighting techniques. Kind of makes sense actually, if they are going to primarily cast shells while hiding behind Qi Shields from Qi Condensation stage¡­it is better to focus on training the Sublime Qi Manual and reaching the next realm as quickly as possible instead of devoting time and energy to train physical fighting techniques. I hope I don¡¯t meet the swarthy turtle here¡­he is one of the few exceptions with superior technique.¡¯ As soon as he saw his opponent, the self-satisfied grin on his face disappeared quickly. This was because his opponent in the semi-final was Yu Li, the irritating and tenacious swarthy turtle! ¡®I was having too much of a smooth ride it seems. I won¡¯t get hot headed and give my all. I will gauge him with a few blows and decide whether to give up or no. Beating him through sheer strength and endurance will be a bit too eye catching. While more xp is good, I don¡¯t want those old monsters to pay attention to me.¡¯ Fang Hao selected a staff like his last time against the swarthy turtle. He and his opponent exchanged polite greeting before they started fighting. The swarthy turtle, as usual had selected a spear, and was fighting conservatively. Fang Hao cautiously approached him and whacked his staff towards his arm. Unsurprisingly, his opponent nimbly flicked his wrist, redirecting most of the impact of the blow. ¡®Damn it as skillful as ever. Fuck this shit, if I continue I might lose my composure. Better to give up now. I just hope next week I don¡¯t encounter him as my opponent.¡¯ ¡°I give up.¡± Said Fang Hao and saw an expression of surprise on his opponent¡¯s face. ¡°Brother Hao, we haven¡¯t even fought seriously.¡± Fang Hao politely replied. ¡°Brother Li your technique is as good as I remember, possibly even better! If I go all out, I will not have much chance of winning¡­and it will exhaust both of us. Without my stamina, I would have no hope of winning the next match.¡¯ The swarthy turtle looked a bit unconvinced and was about to object when the Referee declared him as the winner and instructed the participants to leave the stage. Fang Hao returned to the waiting room and collected his winnings of 32 Fasting Pills from an Outer Disciple. While he was waiting for his return transport, he met the swarthy turtle. Swarthy turtle had won the final match, but only because he could tire his opponent while conserving his stamina. He admitted that if he had any other weapon¡­He would have lost for sure. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°My opponent in the final had unnatural reflexes. It looked as if he could predict most of my attacks. After he successfully deflected and dodged my first few attacks, I concentrated completely on defense.¡± said the swarthy turtle. Fang Hao had some angst and amusement in his heart as he replied chuckling, ¡°Concentrate completely on defense?? I surely don¡¯t want to fight you like that. Looks like tiring the enemy to death is a valid stratagem for you.¡± The swarthy turtle had a sheepish grin as he said, ¡°Brother Hao, there is nothing wrong with being defensive. Are we not cultivating to gain eternal life? No point in cultivating if you can¡¯t live long enough¡­¡± Fang Hao said admitting tone ¡°That¡¯s true Brother Li. But you also need to kill for treasures to advance! As I understand it, cultivating resources are limited and cultivators are too much! Maybe I should consider participating in the life and death arena after I save up for some second hand weapon and armor.¡± ¡°Brother Hao, I would strongly advise against it. My master forbids me to fight in the lethal arena at the Qi Gathering realm. Those who fight there are truly desperate. They use things like hidden weapons and poisoned bolts from sleeve crossbows to win. Remember, we can bring our own weapons and the rules don¡¯t forbid the use of poison.¡± Fang Hao visibly paled hearing this piece of information, ¡®While my master did forbid me for fighting in the lethal arena for the time being, I always thought after getting more proficiency I would have pestered him for his permission. Looks like I was not informed fully about the situation in the lethal arena.¡¯ Seeing the meatball¡¯s pale expression the swarthy turtle continued. ¡°The rewards there are simply heavenly for Qi gathering realm disciple. Those seniors who have stayed s outer disciples as far too long and failed to advance or breakthrough despite the use of copious amounts of Qi Gathering pills fight there. After a certain point, the remnant pill toxicity in their bodies cannot be ignored and their resistance they build up to the fasting pills make them virtually useless. There only hope is to get higher tier pills or a spirit stone. So the fighting there is extremely vicious¡­more so than the lethal arena in the higher realm fights.¡± Fang Hao nodded slowly as he said, ¡°Makes sense. At the QI Condensation realm cultivators can have various protective treasures and at least a Qi Barrier to survive for a few breaths in most situations, when the situation becomes hopeless. At that time they can admit defeat and preserve their life! No such chance in the Qi Gathering Realm. Also congratulations brother Li, for having a master. How exactly did you get selected?¡± Brother Li looked a proud and said. ¡°My master is an elder in the body cultivation division of our sect. He liked my technique and inspected me. The heavens are kind, and my physique is suited to cultivate body refining, and he immediately asked whether I am interested to be his disciple. I of course accepted! So what about you brother Hao, did you plan on competing here till you catch an Elder¡¯s eye?¡± Fang Hao lazily replied, ¡°Oh I am just competing for some fasting pills as I am a bit poor at the moment. And I already have a master.¡± The Swarthy Turtle looked shocked at this revelation, and looked at him with a strange expression. ¡°Who and How?¡± ¡°You know Master Zhu already. He manages the assignment hall on our hill.¡± The swarthy turtle had an ugly expression as he said, ¡°Brother Hao, accepting a master in the sect is a serious matter. A large portion of your future achievements and resources depend on it. I am sure you the situation regarding those who manage the Assignment Halls for Outer Disciples. Why exactly did you accept him as master?¡± ¡°Well Master Zhu has some very good wine. And he promised me that if I accept him as my master, I will get to drink that wine regularly!¡± The swarthy Turtle was shocked as he only uttered, ¡°You accepted a master for some wine?!! What the hell is wrong with you?¡± ¡°Brother Li, let me tell you, the wine Master has is the good stuff; Totally Worth it!¡± The swarthy turtle was exasperated at the meatball¡¯s reply and all he could do was face-palm... Chapter 024 Chapter 024 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- The return transport wasn¡¯t arranged by Senior Lombre, the old Granny Cultivator instead used a magic tool which looked like a giant rotating plate made out of interlocking leaves. It pretty much looked like a flying saucer made out of leaves. The journey took noticeably longer and was far less comfortable. When Fang Hao reached his courtyard, the first thing he did was check his status.
STATUS SCREEN
Name:Fang HaoRace:Human
Gender:MaleAge:15 years
Titles:Lord Lard
Class:CultivatorUnused Skill Points:9
Realm:Qi Gathering RealmLevel:4
Current Experience:2290Level Up at Experience:2367
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique:2.1Finesse:1.7
Spirit:2.9Qi10.1/10.1
Traits
CalmLuckyPrimal Instinct?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 5th Layer)Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 4 moves)
¡®Over 200 xp gained this time from the brawling tournament. Not Bad! I can get almost 40xp on spirit chicken slaughter per week, and this tournament can give me 200xp as long as I reach the 4th place. However, xp may differ for different formats. I need 77more xp to level up. I think I can manage to level up with 2 weeks of chicken slaughter.¡¯ Fang Hao then decided that as long as he was close to leveling up, he would refrain from going to the arena. After all if he was spectacularly breaking through time after time while fighting, it would attract too much unnecessary attention. The next day, he paid his respects to Master Zhu as he informed him about his token id. As expected within two weeks, he broke through to the 5th layer of Qi Gathering Realm. He then resumed fighting in the arena as much as he could. His nickname of ¡®Lord Lard¡¯ had become quite widespread within a month or so. With the new source of xp from the arena, he was falling behind in cultivating the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. With the regular visits to the arena, eh also encountered two other types of matches, free-for-all and team matches. Due to his reputation of sitting and slapping on enemies, he was usually the target of multiple people in free-for all tournaments. Still, his superior stamina and recovery allowed him to keep on running to tire out his opponents. He would usually be in the top 10 earning around 1100 to 300xp per free-for all. As for team matches, it had many different variations. One was where randomly selected teams fought all at once. Here he was at a disadvantage, since sometimes even some of his allies wanted to beat the fatty known as Lord Lard for humiliating them. Another variation was where there would be 1 vs 1 match between members of competing team. It was similar to the individual elimination match, except that the team with most wins won. This provided him around 200 to 250 xp. Another variation of the team battles was where it would be on endurance of the participants instead of elimination. Here one team member would keep on fighting his opponents till he lost consciousness or gave up. The team with the last man standing would win. This was by far the most beneficial for him. He would usually manage around 250 to 400xp per team battle of this type. On an average, he was assured around 250 xp per week with the combination of chicken slaughtering and arena matches. After around four months from his first arena fight, Fang Hao had reached the 6th layer of Qi Gathering Realm. Fighting regularly in the arena had hugely boosted his leveling speed. It took him another couple of months to master the 5th step of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He estimated that at the rate which he was gaining xp, he would, require another 6 weeks or so to breakthrough to the 7th layer, if he continued going to the arena regularly. When he had around 100 xp left for a breakthrough, he got the next three layers of the Sublime Qi Manual from his master. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Even though his speed of cultivation was quite good due to the added xp from the arena, it wasn¡¯t too shocking. He purposefully refrained from spending his fasting pills, as there was nothing useful he could get from it, apart from the occasional intel. His clique assumed that he was using the fasting pills he won in his regular arena matches was used to quickly upgrade through the Qi gathering realm. He neither confirmed nor denied their questions, further causing them to become concerned and advising him about hidden dangers of unstable cultivation base and pill toxicity. They were becoming a bit too inquisitive, so he finally disclosed the matter of hi accepting Old Man Zhu as his master and his regular intake of spirit wine. He mentioned that his master had promised to help him breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage and that quickly reaching the peak of Qi gathering with the combination of fasting pills and cheap spirit wine would be for the best in the long term. He claimed that after reaching QI condensation before 25, he would take a while to stabilize his cultivation base. When he disclosed the matter of Old Man Zhu as his master; his conditions of regular spirit wine and help to break through the Qi Condensation stage¡­ he could make out expressions consisting of equal parts of pity, jealousy and joy. Of course, accepting a washout QI Condensation Senior who managed Outer Disciples was sacrificing a chance to accept a master who was potentially a lot more powerful. Still the biggest hurdle they faced was advancing to the Qi Condensation stage! And they obviously hoped for some benefits if Fang Hao reached the Qi Condensation realm before them. But Fang Hao had too many fasting pills and no idea what to do with them. So he decided to give a couple of fasting pills to each fatty of his clique. These pills were trash to him anyway, and it helped getting quite a bit of good will from his clique. He advised them not to use it recklessly like he did to advance in gathering, but to hoard the fasting pills for breakthrough to Qi Condensation since they didn¡¯t have a generous master like Old man Zhu. Around the time he completed his second year at the Jade pagoda Sect, Fang Hao managed to reach the 7th layer Qi Gathering Realm and master the 6th step of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. ¡®I am 16, in this life. Two years to reach the 7th layer of Qi Gathering Realm. Not bad. Although my speed is near the top¡­it isn¡¯t heaven defying yet. Still my clique will soon spread the gossip about regular spirit wine and fasting pill consumption as the reason for my cultivation speed. I could be faster in cultivating the Divine Vajra Body Scripture¡­but I am being too greedy I guess. Besides, the more Qi I have, the more times I can practice it. Let me see my status. It has been a while since I did that!¡¯
STATUS SCREEN
Name:Fang HaoRace:Human
Gender:MaleAge:16 years
Titles:Lord Lard
Class:CultivatorUnused Skill Points:15
Realm:Qi Gathering RealmLevel:7
Current Experience:9472Level Up at Experience:11983
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique:3.9Finesse:3.4
Spirit:5.0Qi16.0/16.0
Traits
CalmLuckyPrimal Instinct?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 8th Layer)Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 6 moves)
¡®Nice Stats! While I may not be unrivaled under Qi Condensation¡­I am pretty close to it. I am confident that my stats beat almost everyone who is below the Qi Condensation stage¡­Still I shouldn¡¯t get too full of myself. Forget seniors, I can¡¯t even beat the swarthy turtle, who is at the 8th layer of Qi Gathering realm without exposing my superior physique¡­¡¯ -------------- Still managing on temp PC access, so sorry for the irregular releases. Chapter 025 Chapter 025 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Old Man Zhu was viewing a tetragonal crystal projected as a vivid scene projected from it before him. In that scene, an obese meatball was running while being followed by almost a dozen incensed people. Whenever someone got close, the meatball would whack him with his club before running away. The meatball was fleeing at top speed while saying ¡°So shameless¡­ my team members are attacking me. Have you got no shame?¡± One of the pursuers was equipped with a slender single edged wooden sabre looked furious as he shouted, ¡°Fang Hao, you humiliated me the last three times I fought you. I will beat you to death.¡± The meatball sniggered and said, ¡°Sure¡­ but this lord will leave all of you plebs in his wake.¡± As soon as the meatball referred to himself as a lord, almost half a dozen people who were following the meatball turned on their companions. They attacked their companions out of the blue, as one of them shouted a battle cry, ¡°All hail Lord Lard!¡± The meatball who was running away, turned to face his opponents as he shouted, ¡°Witness the glory of this lord!¡± and began to decimate opponents with a sturdy wooden club. Less than half a dozen people were standing after the brawl concluded. The meatball had a solemn look on his face as he said, ¡°Remember, that this lord rewards his followers and decimates his enemies!¡± following which he flicked his sleeve and almost a dozen grayish pills flew towards the others. The survivors grabbed a couple of pills each as they shouted ¡°All hail Lord Lard!¡± The meatball in the crystal projection was sitting cross-legged next to Old Man Zhu as he had a satisfied and expectant look on his face. ¡°Master, is this entertaining enough!¡± Old Man Zhu laughed heartily as he summoned a couple of crystal goblets. He then summoned a large jug which seemed to be made of intertwining vines. The vine jug poured golden amber liquor into the summoned crystal goblets, as the fatty grabbed it. Old Man Zhu drank a mouthful and sighed. ¡°You did good disciple! It has been a while since I was amused as such! You qualify to taste the new wine I acquired.¡± Fang Hao had an impatient and expectant look on his face as he cupped his hands and said ¡°Disciple feels grateful for this undeserved praise!¡± before grabbing the crystal goblet with the golden amber liquid, and taking a small sip. ¡®The last wine master gave me already stopped boosting my spirit. Oh the humiliation I have to go through for these stat boosts¡­Worth it!¡¯ As he swallowed his sip of wine, he could taste a metallic bitter-sweet taste as a strange feeling originated from his dantian. He circulated the 8th layer of the Sublime Qi manual as a buzzed feeling clouded his mind. Indeed, the biggest challenge for making effective utilization of the spirit wine was circulating his Qi according to the scripture before he got too drunk to control it. While he took another sip and concentrated on circulating his Qi cultivation manual, his master Old Man Zhu had a flash of alarm pass over his usually placid face. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Disciple, something has come up. Drink this on your own¡­I will see you out.¡± Said Master Zhu as he handed Fang Hao the jug made of intertwining vines. He then grabbed the buzzed fatty¡¯s collar, and kicked him. Fang Hao was in a daze, barely managing to hold the vine jug as he landed outside the Assignment Hall. ¡®OK, some shit is stirred up apparently. I got my ass kicked but got some sick wine...so no loss there.¡¯ thought Fang Hao in a cheerful move as he made his way to his courtyard. As he reached his cottage Fang Hao had a frown on his face as he looked at his vine jug of spirit wine, ¡®I got some good stuff today. Still what is this lurking sense of unease there¡­¡± Meanwhile, old Man Zhu had a stoic face with a hint on unease in his eyes as he disappeared from the outer assignment hall with slight ripples trailing where he was. He appeared in a hall. The hall had a football field sized wooden round table, with thirteen marble chairs. Twelve of the chairs were occupied by various people with grim expressions on their face. As Old man Zhu appeared, he took the only empty seat. He glanced at the seated people and said, ¡°This better be of significance, fellow Daoists.¡± A hook nosed man with crisscrossing scars across his face sneered as he said ¡°What exactly was so important that you delayed the council¡¯s summons?¡± Old man Zhu snorted as he replied, ¡°Now don¡¯t be too stuck up, fellow daoitst. It has been a while since I took in a disciple. He has been entertaining so far¡­¡± A Demure looking lady who had her face veiled by muslin gasped as she said, ¡°Senior Brother, did you finally take another disciple? How exactly is he outstanding?¡± Old Man Zhu, who had an expression of indifference till now had a look of scorn on his face as he replied ¡°That is for me to know and you to find out, slut.¡± A cultivator who surprisingly looked like he was in his early teens snarled with rage as he said, ¡°Zhu! Don¡¯t go too far and leave some face for my Dao companion! Or don¡¯t blame me for being rude!!¡± Old Man Zhu was about to respond when a muscular dark skinned youth with tattoos all over his body slammed his fist on the table. ¡°Enough! Most of you are centuries old. Don¡¯t behave like little turds. The Dreamer has woken!!!¡± Immediately everyone on the table had a look of shock and horror on their face as Old man Zhu¡¯s jaw hung open. A coal-black man white shoulder length white hair said, ¡°Do tell us the circumstances of this¡­predicament, Senior Brother.¡± The dark-skinned tattooed youth didn¡¯t reply a he snapped his fingers. Immediately above the large wooden table, a scene began to play¡­ Above the table, a sleeping youth appeared floating in nothingness. He suddenly awoke, standing as his closed eyes started bleeding. The lifelike image of the handsome youth started rapidly aging as he opened his bleeding eyes. Now he looked like a pot-bellied middle age man. His eyes looked like a field of stars as he spoke. ¡°Calamity approaches. Demons, Devils and Xiuzhenists¡­Unite! Our only hope for survival. At most we have a couple of millennia¡­.at least we have a few century.¡± Everyone had a worried an ugly expression on their face. The cultivator who looked like in his early teens had a bitter smile as he said. ¡°The Dreamer¡¯s Prophecies are not to be ignored. Especially since this augury dropped his cultivation dropped three whole realms! If we do not take appropriate measures¡­I fear that we face total annihilation.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s consolidate our strength then. I propose the Infernal Bitch to be our liaison to the demons. Any Objections?¡± said the veiled, demure female cultivator. No one raised any. The muscular tattooed youth sighed, as he said ¡°Brother Zhu we can only depend on you to liaison with the devils.¡± Old Man Zhu had a frown on his face as he sighed. ¡°All right. But take care of my disciple till I return¡­ I am hopeful of his potential¡± Chapter 026 Chapter 026 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao was having a sumptuous breakfast of what looked like a shepherd¡¯s pie and boiled duck eggs. While he was having a sumptuous meal with his clique, a few frowning teenagers were walking towards them. Fang Hao glanced at them and sighed mentally. It was the shameless outer disciple Zhen Ji who had offended old man Zhu! ¡®This retard doesn¡¯t even allow me to enjoy my breakfast. Why is this little dipshit coming here with his flunkies.¡¯ Fang Hao shrugged and sliced a boiled duck egg placing it over a portion of shepherd¡¯s pie and swallowed it in one bite. Zhen Ji had a sneer on his face as he roared, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be such a coward Fatty Zhao.¡± The commotion attracted a lot of attention in the dining hall, and instantly the background murmur dropped a few degrees. Fang Hao glanced at him as if he were looking at an idiot. He shrugged and continued eating his breakfast. Zhen Ji was clearly infuriated at this disdain. ¡°Fatty Zhao, since you cowardly skipped this year¡¯s annual tournament¡­ I challenge you to a duel!¡± Fang Hao paused his breakfast and thought ¡®Shit¡­I was so busy with arranging performances at the arena for Master Zhu that I forgot all about the annual competition! I surely lost some sweet sweet xp. Still this dumbfuck is offering some xp, I shouldn¡¯t refuse!¡¯ ¡°Of course brother Ji, let us exchange pointers.¡± Zhen Ji had a sneer on his face as he taunted, ¡°I challenge you to a life and death duel. Do you dare accept?¡± Fang Hao was snorting mentally as he said with a pleasant voice, ¡°Brother Ji, we are all fellow brothers of the sect. Why have a life and death duel. IS our grudge so deep?¡± ¡°I knew you were a coward, you little fatass! I knew you wouldn¡¯t dare to face me in the life and death arena!¡± Fang Hao had a mocking look on his face as he said, ¡°My master forbids me from fighting in life and death till Qi Condensation. Now do you dare to face an honest beating without any tricks?¡± Zhen Ji was about to object, but suddenly one of his lackeys whispered something in his ear causing him to have an expression that looked like he had tasted shit. ¡°Fine I challenge you a non-lethal duel! As per sect rules let us meet in the arena to fight.¡± Fang Hao replied leisurely, ¡°Sure, Let us meet next month. Standard non-lethal rules of the arena apply.¡± Zhen Ji was about to say something¡­but hmmphed and turned away with his lackeys. Fatty Ning, who was the most talented of the group and was very close to breakthrough to the 8th layer of Qi Gathering, asked with interest, ¡°Brother Hao, what exactly do you intend to do in this one month.¡± Fang Hao smiled cryptically and said, ¡°Nothing just prepare a bit¡­¡± Fatty Zhang had a worried look as he said, ¡°Careful Brother Hao. I heard that Zhen Ji broke through to the 9th layer of Qi Gathering not long ago.¡± Fang Hao just shrugged and said, ¡°Now tell me something brothers¡­ where can I get some mortal armor, custom made for my lordly physique of course, in the sect¡­¡± It turned out there were quite a few weekly transports arranged for the outer disciples. One of them was to the arena; another was to a marketplace of sorts on another day of the week. Of course, Majority of the market place was inaccessible to outer disciples. Still, it had a section where many goods from the mortal world were traded to Qi Gathering Disciples and Janitorial disciples in exchange for fasting pills. It was Fang Hao learnt, where he could buy anything from sandalwood paste used as a fragrant beauty aid and herbal remedies to prevent pregnancies, to steel full plate armor and horse chopping sabers! When Fang Hao arrived, he saw quite a few inner disciples wearing white robes among the crowd of black robed janitorial disciples and grey robed outer disciples. ¡®Eh, what are Qi Condensation Cultivators doing here? Probably here for the miscellaneous items I guess.¡¯ Fang Hao maintained a respectful distance from the inner disciples and quickly made his way to the Arms and Armor section of the mortal market. He entered an armor store and saw many shop attendants who were outer disciples like him¡­but looked much older than him! He made his way to an unattended attendant, cupped his hand and bowed respectfully as he said, ¡°Greeting senior, this junior would like to have a set of armor custom made.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The almost-middle aged outer disciple looked pleased at this respectful behavior and nodded appreciatively. ¡°No need to be so polite junior, what kind of armor would you like? We have everything ranging from light leather armor to a set of steel full plate!¡± Fang Hao contemplated for a bit and thought, ¡®Full plate looks like a pain to equip and would slow me down a lot despite my superior physique. Now chainmail looks like it offers good protection without being too encumbering¡­¡¯ ¡°Senior I am mainly interested in a full set of chainmail armor, but some better protection for my head and perhaps some kind of bracers or armguards to go with it.¡± The outer disciple nodded approvingly, ¡°Good choice Junior brother. I would also suggest a layer of padded leather armor to use as padding for the chainmail¡­otherwise the feel of metal through thin clothes become a bit unbearable sometimes.¡± He flourished is sleeves and withdrew a roll of parchment scroll which he handed to Fang Hao and said, ¡°This lists a lot of variety of armor we have. The price listed may vary depending on whether the armor has to be custom made for your size and if you want it prepared today itself. Roughly, if you want custom fitted armor by today, it will cost you double the amount of fasting pills listed.¡± Fang Hao was a bit surprised at the possibility of getting custom made armor in a day by paying double, but he decided to scan the parchment roll before making a decision. In case he couldn¡¯t afford it, he had a little around three weeks anyways. He scanned the roll for almost half an hour and decided on a set of armor. It was a set of padded leather tunic with full sleeves and a high collar covering his neck, padded leather gloves, padded leather breaches, a hood made of comparatively thinner leather and what looked socks stuffed with cotton. This was supposed to be the innermost layer of padded leather. On top of that, He selected a full set of chainmail armor covering his ankle (Chainmail leggings) to his head (chainmail coif)¡­just leaving his face exposed. On top of that he selected a full helm which had a visor with perforations near the bottom half and a slit remained for allowing vision. The helm even protected his neck, though perception would be significantly limited if he wore it. He also selected a segmented demi-gauntlet which protected his forearm and hands from the elbow to his knuckles without restricting his dexterity too much. He topped it off with a half breastplate which offered additional protection from his solar plexus to his collarbones and almost knee high plate greaves which offered solid protection to his feet. When Fang Hao listed his requirements to the outer disciple attendant enquiring the price, the attendant replied ¡°Good Choice Junior, Usual price for that set would be around 60 fasting pills. Since you are fat and more material would be required¡­I would say around 80 fasting pills should cover it and you collect your armor within a couple of months.¡± ¡°Senior, what would be the price if I wish to get my armor today?¡± The outer disciple attendant had a smile on his face as he said, ¡°Junior it would take 160 fasting pills.¡± Fang Hao buttered up the Senior Disciple and with some bargaining he managed to get a price of 150 fasting pills. The attendant had a skip in his step as he led Fang Hao to an inner chamber of the shop. There he had Fang Hao stand on a grey circular dais as he placed a little armored figurine on a nearby pedestal along with a jade slip. There was a flash of pale yellow light and a low humming sound as the outer disciple collected the jade slip and went deeper into the shop. After around half an hour, the outer disciple appeared panting a bit holding a weathered leather sack. He placed the sack in front of Fang Hao who quickly checked the contents before handing over a significant amount of his hoarded fasting pills to the smiling attendant. He took the sack, which was thrown in for free, and returned to his cottage. ¡®Since I decided to be shameless in the duel¡­ might as well go all the way. Let me see the look on the spoiled brat¡¯s face now, heh.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he stripped and started equipping his brand new set of armor. Chapter 027 Chapter 027 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- -------------- A/N: Surprise Chapter! Or Not. I am trying to maintain at least 2 chapters/week schedule¡­Even though it is difficult with overtime and that I don''t own a PC/Laptop yet. So this is no hard and fast commitment. Please consider rating/reviewing/thanking this fiction if you enjoy reading this stuff. Seriously a simple ¡°Thanks¡± comment goes a long way in motivating me. If not, feel free to bitch about it in the comments. -------------- Fang Hao diligently donned his armor. First he wore the layer of padded leather, then the chainmail, and lastly; the full helm, half-breastplate demi-gauntlets and full plate greaves. He tried moving a bit and felt somewhat encumbered. He tried various movements like jumping, running rolling on the ground and cartwheeling to get a feel for the added weight. ¡®Hmm good I didn¡¯t go for full-plate armor ¡­it would be difficult, if not impossible, to cartwheel in that steel suit. I reckon this whole set of armor weighs a little more than me¡­so it should be around 70 to 90 kg.¡¯ He clenched and unclenched his fingers testing his dexterity, nodding satisfied. ¡®Even though I am getting tired faster in this armor, I guess my stamina and speed can compare with those at my cultivation. Hah, wearing this I can probably barrel into battle and slap the shit out of my opponent in nonlethal arena. Or break some bones. Let me see how well I can perform the moves of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture in this armor. This armor can be both my defense, and my training gear!!¡¯ He calmed himself from his daydreams of slapping and breaking his opponent¡¯s bones and recited the chants for the 7th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture in his mind. He slowed his breathing as he harmonized the Qi Circulation within him with the chants. Once he was ready, he started moving according to the instructions in the scripture. Unknown to him a coal black man with shoulder length white hair was invisible, floating in midair just outside his courtyard. He was invisible to Fang Hao, and had an interested look on his face. ¡®Hmm. Brother Zhu¡¯s Disciple sure seems interesting. Now that Brother Zhu is communing with the Devils, I have to look after this little fatty. His Armored Dancing seems to be a bit strange¡­I can almost sense some sort of indescribable Dao from his movements¡­an unfelt grace. Is it some body-refining scripture? Or is he just trying to lose weight moving in armor?¡¯ As the coal black man observed Fang Hao, he seemed more and more interested in Fang Hao¡¯s dance like movements. Meanwhile, Fang Hao was completely unaware of being watched but he did feel a slight itching at the back of his neck. He observed a bit¡­but attributed it to the sweat and stuffiness in the armor. He soon exhausted his Qi. He moved quite a bit slower that when he practiced without armor¡­and depleted his Qi faster. ¡®So exerting more physical stress while practicing this scripture should lead to some advantages I suppose¡­ as the main point of this scripture is to move as fluidly as possible while under the restrictive pressure generated. My Qi cultivation is progressing rapidly, almost comparable to the topmost silver ranked talent but my Body Refining Scripture is still lagging behind by a level despite my increased Qi capacity and tireless practice. I usually use the spirit wine I obtain from Master Zhu to practice the Sublime Qi Manual for Bonus Spirit and stats. Since I have a jug of wine with me¡­I wonder what will happen if I drink the wine and practice the Divine Vajra Body Scripture?¡¯ After Exhausting his Qi practicing the Divine Vajra Body Scripture, Fang Hao retreated to his cottage and bought the wine flask made of vines to his courtyard. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He took a small sip of the metallic liquor inside and immediately felt a rush of Qi rising from his dantian. He harmonized his mental chant and Qi circulation before performing the 7th move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. To his surprise, he moved significantly quicker, despite the additional weight of this armor and the restrictive pressure he encountered while practicing the scripture. Meanwhile the invisible figure observing him was deep in thought. ¡®That spirit liquor he has should be of decent value to Qi Condensation Disciples. Even, Foundation Establishment Disciples should have benefits from drinking it before practicing¡­ and Brother Zhu gave a late Qi Gathering Disciple this spirit liquor? Looking at this fatty, it looks like he is practicing a scripture of some sort¡­otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be able to assimilate that much Qi from the spirit liquor in less than an hour. Looks like he has very good karma to get such a fortuitous encounter in the mortal world. No wonder, Brother Zhu surely values him a lot¡­ even if this grade of spirit liquor is worth nothing much in his eyes.¡¯ Smiling once, his invisible figure faded from the scene. Meanwhile, Fang Hao was practicing his body refining scripture with the aid of the spirit liquor from his master. He was in a trance-like state as he progressed with leaps and bounds with the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and soon it was dawn. Despite practicing for the entire night, he didn¡¯t feel fatigued in the least. Best of all He had barely finished an eight of the spirit liquor. ¡®This is the good stuff! This jug will last me a little over a week. But my generous and benevolent master will refill my supply of spirit liquor next week!¡¯ Soon it was the date of his scheduled duel with Zhen Ji. He was quite accustomed to the armor he was wearing and proudly went to await his transportation with all of his gear donned. He was getting strange looks from his fellow outer disciples. Steel armor was clearly visible on the parts not covered by his outer disciple robe¡­but he paid it no mind. Zhen Ji had also arrived and had noticed the fatty equipped in sizeable armor. He was barely able to keep his emotions in check as he was fuming mentally. ¡®This damn fatty is too shameless! He is actually equipped almost as good as a mortal palace guard!¡¯ He strode towards the glittering steel meatball as he roared in anger, ¡°You shameless fatty, you actually wore so much armor for our duel?! Don¡¯t you have any face?¡± Fang Hao sneered as he said, ¡°Brother Ji, I am an upright and honest cultivator! Unlike you, who hid his chainmail under our sect robe in our last fight¡­I wear it openly! Even if I bribe my enlightened opponent s during group fights¡­I pay them in front of everyone! I have a lot more face than you. It is you who has no face, you sneaky coward! Are you not armored with chainmail under your robes, fellow apprentice-brother?¡± Hearing the fatty¡¯s counter¡­Zhen Ji was silenced and had an ugly expression on his face as he silently retreated. While the other outer disciples were waiting for their transport to arrive, there were murmured discussions going on in the back ground. ¡°This is the new celebrity in the non-lethal brawling arena...Lord Lard. Why is he wearing armor though?¡± ¡°I heard Zhen Ji, whose elder brother is a core disciple, challenged him to a duel!¡± ¡°Oh he surely lives up to his name. Lord Lard looks fatter in his armor. I wish to fight against him in a group fight or a free-for-all¡± ¡°Why? Do you want to be beaten up?¡± ¡°No¡­I will turn on my teammates and help that fatty! That way¡­I am assured some fasting pills even if I lose¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Hearing this chatter, Fang Hao was pleased. He is rate of earning fasting pills was quite solid with his weekly arena fights. Even if he had to bribe some of his opponents with a third of his winnings in a group match/free for all¡­it still gave him more xp on an average! Chapter 028 Chapter 028 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Fang Hao and Zhen Ji were facing each other in the ring. Zhen Ji had chosen a wooden sword like last time¡­but Fang Hao had chosen a heavy wooden sledgehammer instead of his usual club. The sledge hammer was almost 2/3rd of his height and he needed to wield it with both his hands to make effective sue of it. As soon as the presiding judge gave the signal, Fang Hao rushed at his opponent like a charging bear, and swung his sledgehammer taking advantage of the momentum. His opponent slashed his forearm. The puny wooden sword had no effect while striking his demi-gauntlets and Fang Hao continued swing his sledgehammer towards his opponent¡¯s liver. The impact Zhen Ji received was apparently too much for him to bear as he dropped his sword and groaned in pain, momentarily stunned. Fang Hao didn¡¯t hesitate to take advantage of his opponent¡¯s helplessness as he slammed his knee with a lunge into his opponent¡¯s solar plexus. Zhen Ji naturally fell over and landed on his back with Fang Hao over him. Fang Hao then slapped him to unconsciousness with his armored hand. His blows were heavy, and very soon Zhen Ji fainted and Fnag Hao heard a few of his teeth breaking. The presiding judge was a bit startled and declared Fang Hao as the winner. Though Fang Hao couldn¡¯t hear or see the audience¡¯s reaction¡­ he went off the stage with a proud demeanor as he said, ¡°This Lord Lard hear rewards his allies¡­and decimates his opponents! Remember to choose your standing with this lord carefully¡­¡± The presiding judge snorted at Fang Hao¡¯s grandiose claims, but couldn¡¯t be helped being amused at this display. Fang Hao retreated with a haughty demeanor from the arena with a proud expression under his full helm. He couldn¡¯t participate in any other matches that day and hence was idling around the arena. He made small talk with some of his fellow outer disciples as he encountered them¡­but didn¡¯t gain any significant intel. Still it was good to pass the time till the scheduled transport arrived. He made his way back to the cottage and checked his status. He had a little over 600 xp left for levelup. ¡®While it was fun trolling that retard¡­ a match with him give me far less xp than what I would get with regular competitions. I wonder where Master Zhu is.¡¯ He had attempted to meet Master Zhu weekly in the outer assignment hall after buying his armor, but was disappointed to find that Master Zhu was not present. The cultivator who was managing the outer hall informed him that Master Zhu was away on sect business and wouldn¡¯t return for a while. When Fang Hao had asked him the approximate date of return, the senior had replied that he didn¡¯t know. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. However, he did give him a rough jug crudely carved out of wood. He had mentioned him to come every week to take some more spirit wine from him. When Fang Hao returned and inspected the contents of the jug, he snorted as it was only 3/4th full. ¡®Damn Greedy Senior! Coveting and stealing this poor junior¡¯s wine¡­¡¯was the thought in Fang Hao¡¯s mind as he missed his generous master as he would accept the reduced quantity of wine. Still he supposed that it was good that he got any spirit wine at all. What could if he do if all of his wine was embezzled by his senior? Absolutely nothing that¡¯s what. Besides if he rationed himself a bit, the wine would last almost a week. Meanwhile near the edge of a vast desert a demure looking veiled female cultivator with a tomboyish looking female appeared out of thin air. The tomboyish looking female had rough honey colored skin with black eyes and ungroomed shaggy black hair. The veiled female cultivator had a grim look in her eyes as he said, ¡°Be careful from now on disciple. This is far as I can go without provoking war. Call upon your Demon Spirit-¡± ¡°She is my mother! Not just a demon spirit!¡± the tomboyish female snapped. The veiled cultivator sighed mentally, but refrained from reacting. Soon, a phantom of a deep red, almost black giant hound appeared behind the tomboyish female. The female fell on her knees and used her hand to support herself as the phantom of the giant hound superimposed on the kneeling/crawling tomboy. There was a bestial groan as the tomboy¡¯s prostate figure rapidly expanded. Within half a breath, her figure resembled that of the phantom hound! Her aura which was far weaker than the demure veiled cultivator had strengthened significantly, even if it couldn¡¯t compare to the veiled lady. Even on all fours she was twice as tall as the demure veiled cultivator near her. The hound had deep red scraggly fur and its canines were as large as the demure veiled cultivator¡¯s forearms as the hound growled at her. The demure veiled cultivator seemed stoic as she summoned an ash gray bandana with a jade green pagoda with a flick of her hand. She tied the bandana on the hound¡¯s forelimb, just above its elbow/knee. ¡°Good luck disciple. This diplomatic token will prevent hostility from the old monsters¡­but you will have to fight your way through rest of the demons.¡± The giant infernal hound snorted audibly, as a plume of intense heat and flame was exhaled from its nostrils. The heat was so intense that the desert air warped and shimmered as the giant hound shot towards the distance. The demure veiled cultivator looked into the distance as she heaved a sigh. The giant hound rapidly traversed the boundary of the desert which transitioned into a wasteland which looked like it was covered with volcanic ash. Further in the distance, active volcanoes could be seen, spewing ash and magma into the environment. Far away, in what looked like an underground chamber, Old Man Zhu was waving his right hands at a superhuman tempo. His right hand blurred into streaks of silver as streams of profound mystical symbols emerged continuously from his right hand. They arranged themselves into profound multilayered here dimensional formations around him. His almost illusory right hand materialized from the silver blur as a crystal coffin shimmered into existence at the center. The translucent refracting lid of the coffin slid open as Old man Zhu lay in it. He then closed his eyes as the coffin sealed itself and shimmered out of existence, along with everything else in the chamber. Chapter 029 Chapter 029 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- After his last match with Zhen Ji, in his chainmail armor, it had been around 11 months. His master still hadn¡¯t returned and he continued to receive the embezzled spirit wine/liquor from the senior managing the outer disciple assignment hall, even if a quarter of it was regularly embezzled. He fought in the nonlethal arena regularly and quickly racked up xp and reputation. The reputation was more along the lines of shameless, despicable, thick skinned and a fatty without scruples. In most 1vs1 fights, opponents who knew about him would give up seeing the armored meatball standing opposite to them with a huge sledgehammer. Those who didn¡¯t would usually be knocked unconscious with a few broken teeth and perhaps a few broken bones too. His strategy of knocking the wind out of his opponents and sitting on them while slapping them unconscious with an armored hand was both shameless and efficient. Sometimes, he wouldn¡¯t even require sitting on them and slapping! His weapon of choice these days was a sledgehammer and a well-placed whack could smash bones and cause extremely quick victory! Quite a few times, the presiding judge would stop him from fighting and declare him the winner as he used to more often than not manage to break ribs that punctured his opponent¡¯s viscera. A few people tried imitating his style of being decently armored with blunt hammers and maces. These attempts at mockery were a mixed bag. Although initially they won a few matches, they simply lacked Lord Lard¡¯s superior physique to pull it off for successive fights. These copycats over-drafted their stamina and couldn¡¯t last long, so soon the strategy to combat them was to dodge and run till the opponent got tired. Also, these copycats were miserly saving their fasting pills unlike Fang Hao and couldn¡¯t afford top tier protection, or even a complete suite of chainmail in most cases. Fang Hao wasn¡¯t the undefeated champion of the late Qi Gathering Disciples, however. His bane was skilled polearm users. The most infuriating of them was Yu Li. The swarthy turtle, as Fang Hao liked to call him, had a cultivation speed that was faster than his own, and had immeasurable skill in spears. He had improved to such a point that he could time his jabs in a rhythm that forced Fang Hao to be conservative or risk losing his balance. He had difficulty getting in reach to make effective use of his sledgehammer and would choose to give up after a few dozen exchanges. He had confidence that he could beat the swarthy turtle if he got reckless and went all out¡­but it wasn¡¯t worth it. His physical feats in armor were already far better than most of his peers and being too outstanding had its own hidden dangers. Instead he had formed a sort of friendship/rivalry with the swarthy turtle. They both knew they were hiding cards from each other, but still respected and were comfortable with each other. Yu Li was the outer disciple with whom he had best relationship after the clique of his fatties. Of course, Fang Hao never shared his wine with any of them. It was a gift from his absentee master and a part of it was already embezzled. He had realized that the way he was drinking earlier, using up multiple jugs for minor boosts in Spirit and Key was extremely wasteful. If he used the Qi from the spirit liquors for cultivating the Divine Vajra Body Scripture, he could progress with twice the result for half the effort. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A total of almost three years had passed since he joined the Jade Pagoda Sect. With the regular bonus xp from the arena, he had rapidly progressed his Qi Cultivation, rivaling the top silver ranked outer disciples who had joined with him. Publically, he gave the credit of his cultivation speed to his master¡¯s regular supply of spirit wine. And the use of spirit wine for his body cultivation had allowed his body cultivation speed to catch up with his Qi cultivation speed. It had been over a month since Fang Hao had reached the 10th layer of the Qi gathering. He had reached the peak of Qi gathering realm within three years, and was 17 years old in this life, which was enviable speed for outer sect disciples with scarcely any resources. He had heard that Senior Qin Lee, who was the street urchin who had green jade-ranked talent, was already half a step into the Foundation Building Realm! He was showered with the best cultivation resources and learnt the best spells and scriptures. Now Fang Hao was pacing a bit restlessly in his courtyard, fully equipped in his. For almost half a year, he had made a habit to wear his armor at almost all times, even to is meals at the dining hall. Although it was a pain unequipping his armor in part or full when he wanted to eat, bath or shit; h kept at it. His body had a constant pressure of the encumbering weighing armor and he felt that it helped a bit in cultivating the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Fang Hao sighed audibly and sat square-legged on the grass as he checked his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name:Fang HaoRace:Human
Gender:MaleAge:17 years
Titles:Lord Lard
Class:CultivatorUnused Skill Points:20
Realm:Qi Gathering RealmLevel:10
Current Experience:27653Level Up at Experience:39562
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique:6.8Finesse:5.6
Spirit:7.7Qi22.3/22.3
Traits
CalmLuckyPrimal Instinct?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer)Divine Vajra Body Scripture (0 seals, 9 moves)
¡®My journey on cultivation was smooth till now and I face my first major hurdles now. As a peak Qi Condensation Disciple, I can no longer take part in the non-lethal arena so my rate of xp has slowed down to a measly 50xp per week from chicken slaughter for the past month. The lethal arena is very dangerous; but with my armor and buying a few real weapons with all the fasting pills I have remaining, I have reasonable confidence to avoid sneaky hidden weapon and slaughter my foes unless they a very powerful crossbow. But participating is not an option, as disobeying one¡¯s master is a severe taboo here and now. It is especially so since I already declared publically that my Master forbade me from lethal matches till Qi Condensation.¡¯ Chapter 030 Chapter 030 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- ¡®With the shitty rate of 50xp/week I will need around 5 years to breakthrough to QI Condensation! While I will make the 25 year old deadline¡­5 years is too long. One of the only other avenues for xp available to me now is the annual competition for outer disciples around the corner. That should give me a sizeable chunk of xp. Another method is if some other Qi gathering Disciple challenges me to a non-lethal duel. That retard Zhen Ji didn¡¯t bother me anymore since last time and my reputation is too fearsome for most people to willingly challenge me. I need to find some way to make people challenge me.¡¯ ¡®For the past one month, I have been trying to form the 1st seal by performing the ensemble¡­but I haven¡¯t been progressing too much. Although I can perform each of the 9 moves with ease¡­my ensemble lacks something crucial¡­a rhythm. Perhaps wearing encumbering armor while attempting to form an ensemble is making me off rhythm? And my Qi is quite pathetic to attempt a full ensemble smoothly. I guess I will not have the Qi issue if I breakthrough to Qi Gathering along with some higher quality pills¡­or drink truckloads of spirit wine! Perhaps I should give one last attempt!¡¯ A glint of reckless abandon flashed in his eyes as he entered his cottage. He hastily disrobed and fully unequipped his armor. With most of his skin being covered by armor, and with minimal exposure to sunlight he looked like a buttery yellow ball of lard in a loin cloth. The spirit wine he had received for the past couple of weeks was especially potent. Since he wasn¡¯t progressing too well in the 1st ensemble of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and was loath to waste it for some minor Spirit/Qi boosts, he had managed to save one full jug of it despite the usual embezzlement. He retrieved his treasured jug of wine from his cultivation room and hesitated for a bit before his eyes glinted as he thought, ¡®Since this will be a huge gamble¡­I might as well go all in!¡¯ He stripped himself of his loincloth and retrieved a bulging bag as he proudly marched naked into his court yard. He sat cross legged on the grass and kept the jug on one side and the melon sized bag on the other. The bag contained around 500 fasting pills, his entire savings from the past one year! He was preparing to attempt the first ensemble with all the resources at his disposal. He then promptly got up took the bag of pills and the wine inside his cottage. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Outside the courtyard an unseen coal black young man with shoulder length mane of white hair felt relief when Fang Hao withdrew into his cottage. ¡®I thought this fatty was going to do something rash. He is probably at a bottleneck of sorts and wanted to forcibly breakthrough. But consuming all that spirit wine, which is quite potent even to mid Qi Condensation disciples, can lead to severe consequences. And why in the heavens was he naked? Is he a pervert too? Seems like Brother Zhu has picked someone eccentric like him as his disciple.¡¯ The coal-black young man mused as his invisible figure rippled and disappeared. Meanwhile, inside the cottage Fang Hao was taking a relaxing shower. Well a simulated shower as he had to splash his head with mugs of water. ¡®While determination is good and all¡­there is no point in being rash and restless before attempting something this big. I should properly relax before trying.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he hummed the chants of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture to himself while he took a poor man¡¯s simulated shower. Once he felt refreshed and relaxed, he took a long satisfying nap. It was way past midnight and he was in an ideal condition to attempt a breakthrough despite being a bit hungry. But then again, these days¡­he was always hungry to a certain degree. Fang Hao dried himself and exited his cottage in his birthday suit proudly with the spirit wine and bag of fasting pills. He was determined to go all in and breakthrough to form the first seal of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He sat down cross-legged and took a sip of spirit wine as he started chanting the Divine Vajra Body Scripture in his mind while humming the tune subconsciously. He took a couple of more sips till he was reasonably tipsy, yet strangely his humming and mental chanting was becoming more fluid and melodious. A significant amount of Qi was aggregating in his Dantian. He subconsciously felt that if he drank half a dozen gulps of the spirit wine and cultivated the Sublime Qi Manual now¡­there was at least one in three chance of reaching Qi Condensation. But he brushed the thought aside, the chants and humming of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture sounded somehow different from before. Every verse, corresponding to one step, seamlessly blended into the next. He was no longer trying to follow the sequence of the moves from the 1st to the 9th in order previously. Instead, in his drunken haze he jumbled up the order and kept on chanting till he found the ¡°best¡± rhythm. He took a few more sips of the potent spirit wine and surges of Qi were bellowing in his dantian. Fang Hao started circulating his Qi in sync with the mental chanting and humming. After a while and a few gulps of spirit wine, Fang Hao started moving according to the steps of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. The turbidity of the Qi in his dantian rapidly reduced as it spread of its own volition into his fleshly body, strengthening it. To anyone observing it would look like a drunken dance with some humming in the background. A naked fatty with a jug of wine was continuously drinking and dancing under the moonlight, with the tempo of his movements gradually increasing. Chapter 031 Chapter 031 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Double Release!! -------------------------------------- After a quarter of an hour, while Fang Hao was still practicing the Divine Vajra Body Scripture while regularly drinking spirit wine, a Qi Vortex was forming in his dantian. Under the immense pressure, Most of the Qi had turned denser. It was still gaseous, but it was less illusory and more substantial like dense fog. His attempt at forming the first seal had reached a crucial step as he continued drinking the spirit wine. It was almost an hour since he had begun and he had finished nearly half a jug of the wine. The Qi vortex and his slow drunken movements in the restrictive pressure suddenly reached a tipping point. The vortex raged more fiercely of its own volition and strands of Qi merged with his blood. Fang Hao who was in a sloshed state of inebriation suddenly felt his head clear and a stinging pain through his blood vessels. The potent Qi from all the spirit liquor he had ingested was unable to condense in his dantian into a liquid state without any guidance from an appropriate Qi Manual, so it had flowed into his blood under the influence of his ensemble, transforming his fleshly body. He kept on drinking more and more spirit liquor and built up the pressure in his dantian and inturn, his blood was surging. He felt as if his blood was like boiling soup as reddish black steam emanated from all his pores. The pain was intense, yet he knew that he had to surge forth with all his might. Only a quarter of the spirit wine was left. Fang Hao simultaneously moved under the restrictive influence of the scripture while drinking the spirit wine remaining bottoms up. A new surge of Qi gathered in the dantian, if the earlier streams were like trickles of Qi¡­this was like a torrential river. For the first time, he felt an intense ache in his dantian. His dantian was not ready for the humongous amount of Qi and had was on the verge of shattering. Fang Hao was too rash with his latest move. A mere Qi gathering Disciple couldn¡¯t hope to assimilate so much Qi from spirit liquor in a few short breaths. But his circumstances were not ordinary. He felt the ensemble click into place as he rapidly increased the tempo of his movements and chanting. He now looked like a sizzling meatball on the verge of burning. His movements occasionally blurred as reddish black steam being released from all his pores intensified. All his blood vessels were like writhing snakes under his skin, twisting and turning as blood infused with rich Qi circulated through them. The potency of the Qi in his blood increased rapidly and with every heartbeat the magma like Qi infused blood circulated his fleshly body. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. While he was close, Fang Hao felt that he was still missing the last push for successfully forming the first seal. Through the intense pain and hazy red-black fog, he guided the movements of his ensemble to near the sack of fasting pills. Without hesitating, he kicked the sack in air, caught it with one hand and tossed a fistful of pills to his mouth with the other. A few dozen pills entered the fatty¡¯s mouth as he crushed and swallowed them. He didn¡¯t stop swallowing the pills and in a few breath had swallowed more than third of his savings, almost two hundred fasting pills. While the fasting pills were insignificant individually, more than 200 of them gave a reasonable surge of Qi which flowed into his blood. He continued the ensemble and swallowed the fasting pills non-stop. He had barely 50 pills or so remaining as he felt his blood turn into a hot sludge like substance which felt like molten magma. A reddish-black liquid was excreted from his seven orifices (2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils and 1 mouth) as his head felt as if he was about to explode. His magma like blood was drilling through all his bones and forced all the marrow out, which flowed with his blood. A portion of the condensed blood writhed under his forehead and a wriggling coin sized insignia could be seen near his glabella. Fang Hao endured the torturous changes and continued the ensemble while the Qi Vortex in his dantian rapidly lost steam. The condensed coin sized wriggling insignia retreated into his skull and snaked his way to his upper dantian. Fang Hao felt a refreshing coolness flow from his the center of his brain as the black blood flowing from his seven orifices stopped flowing. Fang Hao was exhausted physically, mentally and spiritually from his ordeal and wanted nothing better than to sleep immediately. However, he refrained himself from doing so. He grabbed the pitiful amount of fasting pills and the empty wooden jug and entered his cottage. He unceremoniously dumped them and went into the bathroom thoroughly washing all the filth from his body. This black blood was all the impurities from his body and it was crucial to cleanse them as soon as possible. It would be a colossal fuck up if he allowed the impurities to reintegrate into his body due to feeling of exhaustion and laziness. This was the reason that he dragged himself into his a bathroom and cleansed himself. Having cleansed himself he wore a fresh pair of his outer disciple robes as he went to sleep, almost immediately. He again dreamed a vivid-lifelike dream where the old monk was dancing with the profound steps of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. His body was partially illusionary as sliver streams of Qi flowed in a fascinating pattern through his meridians. Fang Hao was entranced by it and paid extremely close attention to it. After what seemed like hours, the old monk¡¯s illusory phantom disappeared from his dreamscape as he heard the old monk¡¯s voice echoed in his consciousness. ¡°So you have formed the 1st seal and mastered the first fragment of the scripture. Well done, but this is just the beginning, I pass on to you the next fragment. How powerful the seal you condensed and its nature depends on your luck and insight. Work hard, and don¡¯t lose my face prospective disciple.¡± Chapter 032 Chapter 032 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- Triple Release! Also, most probably no releases next week. But that might change, I dunno for sure. --------------------------------------- A new stream of information was branded into his mind as the old monk¡¯s presence disappeared. It was the next 9 moves of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture! Fang Hao drifted into unconsciousness and soon woke up past noon the next day. He was feeling fresh and full of vitality, and ravenously hungry. ¡®I missed today¡¯s dawn meal and exercised a lot whole night! I could eat half a dozen of those spirit chickens by myself easily.¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he donned his armor. He felt as if the fitting of the armor was a bit off. Everything felt a bit loose. ¡®Awwww Yeah! I became thinner. OK, I am still a fatass but still losing almost half an inch of blubber from my figure surely worth celebrating.¡¯ He looked at the couple of fistfuls of fasting pills and the empty jugs as he sighed, ¡®Only way I can celebrate is eating the free food at the dining hall now that all my wine ad most of my fasting pills are gone¡­ I hope the consequence of swallowing more than 400 fasting pills in one night doesn¡¯t leave too much hidden dangers. Let me check my status screen!¡¯
STATUS SCREEN
Name:Fang HaoRace:Human
Gender:MaleAge:17 years
Titles:Lord Lard
Class:CultivatorUnused Skill Points:20
Realm:Qi Gathering RealmLevel:10
Current Experience:35753Level Up at Experience:39562
Active Effects:Alchemical Toxicity (Mild)
Stats
Physique:8.0Finesse:6.5
Spirit:8.5Qi25.5/25.5
Traits
CalmLuckyPrimal Instinct?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer)Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 0 moves)
Fang Hao inspected the changes in his status. Some were expected and some shocked him. All his stats had increased significantly, though it didn¡¯t double his stats or anything. His physique probably surpassed even a peak Qi Condensation Cultivator now. Of course even a low Qi Condensation Disciple could kill him with long range spells, but still his physique had jumped an entire realm if his opponent didn¡¯t refine his body somehow. Even his Qi had increased by a significant portion; probably due to all the spirit wine he swallowed at one go which caused his dantian to almost crumble. He had also successfully formed his first 1st seal, and a new trait ¡°Primordial Marrow¡± was visible in his status screen. He guessed that the first seal cleansed his body and increased the quality of his marrow to build the foundation for further transformations of his fleshly body. ¡®I need to experiment and speculate what exactly Primordial marrow does.¡¯ Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He also had a new status effect ¡°Alchemical Toxicity (Mild)¡±. He had expected more severe consequences from ingesting hundreds of fasting pills in such a short span of time. As far as he knew, attempting to ingest around 100 fasting pills at one go would build up enough toxicity which could take almost a year to cleanse. And as the number of fasting pills consumed increased more, the time needed increased exponentially. ¡®Somehow I don¡¯t think I will need a decade to get rid of this ¡°Alchemical Toxicity (Mild)¡± status effect. Most of the impurities were excreted then and there due to forming my first seal, I suppose. Still no more spirit wine and pills till this status effect disappears.¡¯ He also casually glanced at his unused skill points and xp and was surprised. He regularly tried to ¡°Use Skill Points¡± and always the same blue box popped up which informed him that there was nothing to spend skill points on. Although his unused skill points didn¡¯t increase, he had gained more than 8000 xp! ¡®So cultivating does provide xp! I wonder why I never got xp before? I learned the different layers of the sublime Qi Manual before, but only received skill points for that. But then again I never cultivated successive layers without leveling up in between. Then again I mastered the subsequent moves of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and never noticed any xp increase¡­¡¯ ¡®Perhaps I get xp only when I breakthrough cultivation bottlenecks? Vice versa, in my Qi Cultivation I use xp to level up so that I face no bottlenecks! Hmmm, I did get information that a majority of janitorial disciples face quite a big bottleneck after reaching the 6th layer of Qi gathering. Perhaps each layer in Qi cultivation has small bottlenecks, which when overcome give xp resulting in a levelup. And at the peak of Qi gathering there is a huge bottleneck for most to reach Qi Condensation.¡¯ ¡®I still need around 4000 xp for a breakthrough to Qi Condensation. Damn, I wish I had more fasting pills left then I could at least bribe others to challenge me. I would probably have to fight unarmored and unarmed for them to accept, but still was a possible source of farming xp with the pills. Whenever I attempt the next breakthrough, whether it is in QI Cultivation or forming the next seal, I should save up more resources. If I didn¡¯t have the few hundred fasting pills, my breakthrough attempt would have failed almost wasting a jug of that awesome spirit wine!¡¯ ¡®Now I can either be quiet to take another year and half to breakthrough to Qi Condensation through slaughtering chickens, go all out in the annual completion and win the first place for a significant chunk of xp and resources or save a few weeks¡¯ worth of spirit wine and when my ¡°Alchemical Toxicity (Mild)¡± status effect disappears, breakthrough with the help of a Qi Condensation Manual.¡¯ ¡®While the present 10th layer of the sublime Qi Manual can be used to reach the Qi Condensation stage, it will be better to consult with a senior for guidance on some better scripture. I will need a new Qi Cultivating manual in the Qi Condensation stage anyway. So might as well use a superior scripture for a breakthrough. Also I should restrain myself in the coming tournament. After forming this first seal, I can confidently say that I am unrivalled in brawling in the Qi Gathering Realm. Still better be cautious and not risk exposure of my body refining scripture unless the rewards are worth it.¡¯ ¡®I have spent almost 3 years and delaying a few months for a breakthrough won¡¯t be end of the world. Still why do I feel the frantic urge to advance as fast as possible? Is there some sort of calamity approaching the Sect? Forget it; I will dominate the annual competition only if the rewards are worth it. Let¡¯s think about it when I actually learn the rewards. For now, I am so damn hungry and there is still a couple of hours till the dusk meal¡­¡¯ Chapter 033 Chapter 033 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- The annual tournament for outer disciples was a round the corner. Almost a week had passed since he formed his first seal, but the ¡°Alchemical Toxicity (Mild)¡± status effect had not dispersed from him. Since he was abstaining from any spirit wine, his practice of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture had slowed down to a crawl. He could barely manage one repetition of the step before 2/3rd of his Qi was depleted. And the sublime Qi Manual¡¯s Qi Recovery rate was quite slow due to the increased Qi he had now. Still, he was hopeful to get back on track after the Alchemical Toxicity left his system. He had decided to use the spirit wine he would save to first breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage before seriously investing in practicing his body reining scripture. It would be more efficient to build up his Qi reserves and obtain a better Qi Manual before he practiced the Qi intensive steps of the Body Refining Scripture. Fang Hao was in all his armored glory waiting near the fighting ring on their outer disciple hill waiting for the annual competition to commence. The senior managing the outer disciple assignment hall arrived with a circular stone disk magic tool, which Fang Hao recognized as a recording device. The senior chanted for a bit and made a few hand seals as the recording disk floated above the fighting ring. He then coughed audibly and the general murmur of the outer disciples became silent. The senior, was without scruples, and was the one who had regularly embezzled Fang Hao¡¯s wine looked like a middle aged man with sickly pale yellow skin and a short messy crop of hair streaked with gray. He announced loudly; ¡°This is the annual competition for outer disciples. The usual rules apply; no killing no permanent crippling; none of your own weapons. However there is a new rule this year. You are not allowed to wear any form of armor while competing in the non-lethal fights. Those who are armored un-equip all your armor there. If I find later that the winner is armored, I will impose severe penalties on your chores!¡± He said pointedly as he glared at Fang Hao¡¯s armored figure and pointed at a series of bathrooms in the distance. There was a series of audible grumbling as Fang Hao and a dozen or so outer disciples went towards the indicated area, removed their armor and returned to the fighting ring carrying their armor. Most had chainmail or a leather jacket of some sort, but Fang Hao had a small pile of armor in his arms. He reached his clique and dumped the armor near the fatties and said ¡°Brothers, please lok after the armor when it is my turn to fight.¡± ¡°Of course Fatty Hao.¡± ¡°You can count on it fellow apprentice brother.¡± A couple of fatties reassured him. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. All the now unarmored disciples had returned and the senior once again said. ¡°Now this year things are a bit different. The elders have decided to stimulate the young generation and the outer disciple match rewards are very significant. In the main competition, the top 10 will receive 5 Qi Condensing Pills each.¡± There was a pause as he allowed it to sink in. A Qi Condensing Pill would increase the chances of a peak Qi Gathering cultivator to breakthrough into the Qi Condensation stage by a third! 5 Qi Gathering Pills meant that a breakthrough into Qi Condensation was guaranteed! ¡°The top 3 will also get a chance to select a Qi Condensation level Manual of their choice without any contribution point cost!¡± There was more silence as he waited for the impact of the reward to sink in. Most outer disciples used the stable, but not outstanding, Sublime Qi Manual to breakthrough into the Qi Condensation stage to become an inner disciple and receive a steady stream of contribution points per month. Then they would save up the contribution points till they could afford a Qi Condensation grade Manual and some spells until they could actually perform missions for the sect or ask seniors for guidance. Of course if one already had a master, things were a lot easier. But most outer disciples couldn¡¯t hope to have one until they became Core Disciples with Foundation Establishment realm Cultivation by the age of 50. Of course, the sooner they managed to breakthrough, the more attention and resources would they receive. There was a distinct background murmur as the news of choice of a Manual without contribution points undoubtedly excited everyone. ¡°And the one, who secures the 1st place in the main competition, will be given 10 spirit stones and some personal guidance on their cultivation by an Elder!¡± Instantly there was an uproar in the assembled outer disciples. Outer Disciples had to struggle with their life on the line, depending on all sort of underhanded tactics for a chance to gain even a single spirit stone in the lethal fights of the arena. However, being 1st in this non-lethal competition would allow them to not only get 5 Qi Condensing Pills, a Qi Condensation manual of their choice, and TEN of these spirit stones¡­but also some cultivation guidance from an Elder. Elders had an unfathomable cultivation base far beyond the Foundation Establishment realm. Receiving even an offhand piece of advice about their practice at the Qi Gathering layer easily save years , maybe even a decade, for reaching the Foundation Establishment realm. And with the advice of an Elder along with the resources of the tournament, reaching the Qi Condensation Stage was not even worth a fart. In fact coming 1st in this tournament guaranteed around a 30% chance of reaching the foundation establishment realm within a couple of decades! ¡®Hmm. I think the no armor rule is targeted at me so I am probably noticed by the higher-ups. No one else was as sincere as me to use their armor in a righteous and open manner. And what is up with the increased rewards. It almost seems like the elders are getting impatient or something. Whatever, this lord here has decided to go all out for the rewards.¡¯ thought a determined Fang Hao with determination sparkling in his beady little eyes. Chapter 034 Chapter 034 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- The senior was announcing ¡°Now only one person among you will have the right to compete for this reward! As for the fights, it will be -¡± The outer hall management senior was interrupted as a Coal Black young man with shoulder length hair appeared out of thin air with little distortions accompanying him. The outer hall managing senior stopped in his tracks as he cupped his fists and bowed deeply, ¡°Junior greets Elder!¡± All the assembled outer disciples also repeated the greeting after a heartbeat in a loud chorus, ¡°Junior greets Elder!¡± Suddenly, the swarthy turtle burst out from the crowd and cupped his hands, bowing deeply and screamed at the top of his lungs, ¡°This Disciple here greets his honored Master.¡± as if he was afraid that someone would miss his greeting. The coal black elder nodded in satisfaction as he said, ¡°Now that we are done with the greetings, there will be a slight change. The qualifying match here will be a free for all without any weapons. All of you will fight until you cannot fight any longer or admit defeat.¡± The elder snapped his fingers and a 200m diameter glowing red circle appeared out of nowhere on the ground nearby. ¡°Those who move out of the circle or get knocked out are considered to be defeated. Now all of you present are at least the 7th Qi Gathering Layer, right?¡± A few hundred voices replied in a chorus of ¡°Yes, Elder.¡± The Elder replied, ¡°For this fight only those who are at the 9th or 10th layer of Qi Gathering can participate. The rest of you will have a separate competition later. Now those who have the required cultivation step into the ring.¡± Around 60 people stepped into the glowing red ring, warily distancing from each other, but still clustered near the center. Fang Hao looked around and none from his fat clique had qualified. He saw the swarthy turtle nearby and they exchanged a meaningful glance. The elder continued, ¡°Begin!¡± As soon as the elder exclaimed, a heavy pressure enveloped everyone. They found that they needed to put twice as much effort to move half as fast. Obviously the elder had arranged a formation of sorts and almost everyone was slowed down to a crawl. There were a few notable exceptions; chief among them was Fatty Hao and the swarthy turtle. Still, Fang Hao restrained himself to around 2/3rds of his strength as he walked towards an unfortunate nearby cultivator who was panting audibly with each step. Lord Lard then smashed the poor cultivators liver causing him to groan and faint collapsing on the ground tasting dirt and grass. Meanwhile the swarthy turtle was achieving the same results with more finesse. Instead of collapsing people with one blow of pure strength, he tripped or unbalanced them and then kicked the shit out of them till they stopped groaning. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Fang Hao appreciated this behavior. Perhaps the opponents who collapsed were just pretending to faint. Better to make sure they faint! He then turned backed towards the collapsed outer disciple on the ground and gave him a nice kick at 2/3rd of his strength. Audible noises of ribs cracking could be heard as the prone figure spasmed for a bit¡­but no groan came from his mouth. ¡®Hmm looks like he really fainted. Still better make sure they actually faint. I should keep this in mind for future battles too. If in a life and death fight better behead the opponent to make sure they die! Just like butchering those chickens.¡¯ Fang Hao became more ruthless and aimed bone-breaking blows at the limbs of his opponent¡¯s limbs and ribs. If they fainted, he still kicked them a couple of times for good measure. Soon hearing the audible screams of pain, the nearby people tried to retreat away from fatty as far as possible¡­but they were still too slow to avoid the Lord¡¯s wrath. ¡®Ok. This test seems to be tailor-made for me. No weapons, and a gravity field of some sort. Only those who have cultivated some body refining scripture have hope here. Didn¡¯t the swarthy turtle say that his master is an elder who specializes in body refining? Such nepotism! Only the swarthy turtle and a couple of others could walk normally under this pressure inside the glowing red ring. This means I am not a unique flower or something among the outer disciples. At least a few others also cultivate their body.¡¯ Little did the torturing fatty know that while the others who were walking were exerting all their effort to do so, he was quite leisurely walking a bit faster than them under the pressure while withholding a third of his strength. In a quarter of an hour only the four disciples who could walk at normal speeds under the pressure were left, including fatty and the swarthy turtle. The two other outer disciples saw that fatty was the main threat and made a beeline towards him, in order to beat him up before confronting others. They knew their only hope to do so was ganging up on the ruthless and shameless fatty! The swarthy turtle was trying to intercept them, but he had purposely maneuvered himself far away from the other body cultivators while dealing with the rest. He initially thought that master will make things favorable for him. While the restrictive pressure did favour him to a certain extent as he had initial success in the Mountain¡¯s Physique Scripture, why did master not allow any weapons? Without a polearm of some sort, he had no hope against Fang Hao! ¡®Master is an esteemed Elder with unfathomable cultivation base and has to keep some face after all. He can¡¯t favor me too openly in competitions by altering the competitions itself at the level of outer disciples¡­and perhaps this is a trial for me to overcome!¡¯ thought the swarthy turtle as he struggled to walk as fast as possible towards Fang Hao with renewed vigor. Chapter 035 Chapter 035 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- So that was all my reserve chapters folks. Enjoy the triple release. -------------------------------------- Meanwhile the two other outer disciples, who had decided to gang up on Lord Lard, had reached him. Fang Hao unconsciously displayed an expression of disdain which he had practiced so far in the arena. This infuriated the two of his opponents more. Fang Hao strafed sideways as they approached and gave a sweeping low kick towards the nearer opponent, successfully tripping him. He then did a little hop and his feet landed with the full impact of his weight and the additional pressure from the formation on the prone outer disciple¡¯s thighbone. A cracking noise could be heard, but surprisingly the outer disciple didn¡¯t scream though he had an ugly expression on his face as he glared at Fang Hao in hostility. Despite his position he tried to kick Fang Hao with his good leg. Fang Hao saw the blow coming and did another little hop landing on the pitiable cultivator¡¯s abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. Fang Hao then turned to see the other cultivator who was trying to sneak up on him and said in a haughty voice, ¡°Trying to beat this Lord by ganging up and using sneak attacks? This lord has to teach you a lesson!¡± With a menacing grin Fang Hao advanced towards the approaching outer disciple who paled and immediately shouted ¡°I give up!¡± as he backed away as fast as he could. Only Fang Hao and the swarthy turtle were the ones left standing inside the ring. ¡®I can¡¯t beat up the turtle too bad. His master is presiding over this match after all. I don¡¯t know the exact standing of Master Zhu¡­but better not be too heavy handed now.¡¯ As they cautiously approached each other, the swarthy turtle muttered to himself, ¡°Fang Hao! I may not be a match without my weapon¡­but don¡¯t expect me to give up without a fight!¡±, but Fang Hao overheard it without too much trouble. ¡®Oh I thought about taunting him to make him admit defeat; but he seems determined to fight. Or did he mutter those words loud enough to make me hear them. Mind Games, I hate them! I will just crush him with physical power¡­but leave some face for his Master.¡¯ Fang Hao got serious about the brawl and took a fluid stance. He had his knees bent to quickly adjust his center of gravity and had angled his body sideways with his left side leading. This was so that his opponent had less of a target, but due to his physique, turning sideways didn¡¯t reduce the area by much. The Swarthy Turtle was clearly a lot less skilled in unarmed combat than in spear play. But still his evasive footwork was praiseworthy. As he approached Fang Hao in a strange stance, he had his guard up ready to retreat at a moment¡¯s notice. Fang Hao still held himself back as he flicked his left fist in a jab like move which his opponent barely dodged. He continued to be on the offensive throwing left jabs and mixed occasional right straights into the mix. He was forcing the swarthy turtle to be on the defensive while he was at the offense. After around quarter of an hour of this cat and mouse game the swarthy turtle appeared tired and his reactions were slightly slower. Fang Hao getting a bit bored himself, decided to end the match. He performed a left jab and as his opponent retreated, he lunged forward with a sweeping side kick. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. His blow purposely disrupted the rhythm he had built up and connected with the upper thigh of his opponent. This gave him the opening he required and he dashed forward aiming a blow at his opponent¡¯s solar plexus. The swarthy turtle noticed the approaching blow, but couldn¡¯t react in time before he was jarred for a couple of seconds by the fatty¡¯s punch. Fang Hao didn¡¯t leave any quarter for his opponent and followed up with a knuckle sandwich to his armpit strike and a knee strike to his liver. Taking advantage of his stunned opponent, he quickly grabbed a hold of his robes and dashed at full speed towards the edge of the red glowing ring while dragging him before chucking him out. The swarthy turtle landed face first on the ground tasting some dirt looking like chucked garbage. ¡®OK that left his master lesser face than I expected. But I didn¡¯t sit on him and slap him to unconsciousness so there is that¡­¡¯ The coal black young man didn¡¯t seem upset at all about his disciple losing. In fact he seemed more interested in Fang Hao than before. ¡°Little Fatty, you win this qualifying round. I will find you for the main competition in a few weeks.¡± The Elder then took a single step but somehow reached near his disciple, the swarthy turtle. He then grabbed his collar and disappeared out of existence. Fang Hao felt a familiar prickling sensation at the back of his neck. ¡®Have I met the Elder before¡­for some reason he feels quite familiar. Anyways, I am not tired at all! I guess this bountiful stamina is partially due to the 1st seal.¡¯ Fang Hao marched back to his clique, grabbed all the armor and left towards the bathrooms to equip it. As he was retreating he heard the assignment hall senior announce. ¡°Now the rest of you with cultivation below the 9th layer of Qi Gathering will fight each other in an elimination match. The reward will be some fasting pills¡­¡± Fang Hao didn¡¯t see it but most of the disciples had an ugly expression on their face. Initially their hot blood was gushing at even the very small chance for the rewards¡­but Fang Hao had snatched it from them. All they could hope to get would be at best, a few months¡¯ worth of fasting pills. How could they not be dismayed? Fang Hao equipped his armor and proudly returned to spectate the rest of the fight. He was given a lot of hateful glares but he didn¡¯t mind it at all. ¡®My fellow apprentice brothers seem butthurt. Well I don¡¯t care about their feelings I just hope the elder doesn¡¯t hold a grudge against me for beating up the swarthy turtle¡­¡¯ thought Fang Hao as he randomly cheered for one of his fellow apprentice brothers who were fighting now. Chapter 036 Chapter 036 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ I said ¡°unstable access¡± to a computer. That does not mean no access. Just expect erratic chapter updates till my computer situation is resolved¡­ ---------------------- Around three weeks had passed since the preliminary competition had concluded with Fang Hao¡¯s victory. It had taken almost a month for the ¡°Alchemical Toxicity (Mild)¡± status effect to wear off. Fang Hao had managed to hoard around three jugs of spirit wine in this one month period. He was planning to use all the accumulated wine to breakthrough his Qi cultivation, but held off as he had to participate in the Outer Disciple Tournament soon. And he wouldn¡¯t really be an outer disciple if he was in QI Condensation stage. Soon, a black robed janitorial disciple arrived at his cottage and gave him a token. Apparently, the main completion would be held at the Arena and he had to be present there on the specified date or he would be considered as having forfeit with rules similar to the qualifying match. Fang Hao thanked the janitorial disciple and tasted some wine. Although he had promised himself to save the wine for his Qi Cultivation, he couldn¡¯t resist the allure of such fine spirit wine! He gulped a couple of mouthfuls and started cultivating according to the 1st move of the 2nd seal of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. These few weeks, Fang Hao wasn¡¯t idle. He had tried and experimented as to what his 1st seal ¡°Primordial Marrow¡± did. A series of experiments, which might have been masochistic in nature led him to conclude a few things. He had vastly improved stamina and regenerative abilities. His practice of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture was solely limited by his Qi, and he didn¡¯t require too much of a break between sessions. Before forming the 1st seal, he felt a significant amount of physical fatigue along with the Qi depletion with each practicing session. But now, he felt that as long as he had enough spirit wine, he could practice the Divine Vajra Body Scripture almost nonstop! He also recovered from bruises in seconds. Furthermore, any cuts on his body would clot in a few seconds and heal reasonably within a few minutes! Not to mention that his blood had a consistently similar to that of a viscous jelly. Being sensible, he didn¡¯t experiment if his chopped limbs would generate¡­but it looked like he had accelerated his healing by a large factor! At the dawn of the final completion, Fang Hao arrived at the waiting hall of the Arena and was soon informed of the rules. It looked like it would be an elimination style tournament with wooden weapons. No personal weapons or armor was allowed though. Around 500 opponents were there so he had to fight a maximum of 8 matches. Fang Hao won most of his matches without any difficulty. Even against the swarthy turtle in the quarter finals, he outlasted his opponent to claim a victory. While most expected him to be depleted of his stamina for the next match, Fang Hao had steamrolled it with ease. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Surprisingly, the only challenging opponent he faced was an unarmed outer disciple, who was not from his peak. This disciple had exquisite footwork while being a body cultivator. He was far sturdier than most other outer disciples and had a knack for dodging Fang Hao¡¯s attacks at the last moment. After a long and tedious battle, which basically consisted of Fang Hao attacking and the opponent evading, Fang Hao had managed to outlast his opponent and managed to win! While he was expecting the fat juicy rewards¡­ the coal black elder with shoulder length white hair was in deliberation with his peers. ¡°This little fatty seems to have had a stroke of good fortune in the mortal world; otherwise there is no way he could win this tournament with his shoddy skills.¡± A demure veiled female cultivator replied, ¡°Acquired fortune is still one¡¯s merit, brother Shi.¡± ¡°While that is so Sister Lin¡­Cultivators cannot progress without sufficient challenges!¡± A hook nosed scar faced old man guffawed, ¡°While I agree with you sister Lin, I also agree with Brother Shi. It would be a waste to not witness the full potential of this fatty. After all, Brother Zhu had selected him¡­¡± ¡°What I propose, fellow Brothers and Sisters¡­is to have the little fatty fight with a Qi Condensation Disciple.¡± Most of the other twelve cultivators contemplating with the coal black Cultivator Brother Shi had an expression which conveyed ¡®Are you retarded?¡¯ Noticing the expression of his peers, brother Shi hastily said ¡°I propose that one of the weakest Qi Condensation disciples in the 1st layer to fight with him. After all, his good fortune seems to involve a method of body refining which is my domain. And I also assured Brother Zhu that I will look after his disciple¡­¡± A handsome middle aged man with gray-brown hair laughed and said, ¡°Now Now, Brother Shi. Don¡¯t get too hasty. Even an average early QI Condensation Disciple could roast hat fatty while suing his cultivation and a few magic tools.¡± The coal black man had a smile on his face as he replied, ¡°Which is why I propose a Qi Condensation Disciple of the 1st layer to fight Brother Zhu¡¯s fatty without any treasures! After all¡­I am one of the most accomplished among the sec when it comes to Body Refining. If he succeeds this challenge, I will take care of this fatty till brother Zhu returns. Any Objections?¡± None of the other twelve cultivators replied and The coal black Brother Shi had a satisfied smirk on his face. While Fang Hao was waiting for his reward declaration, the presiding judge suddenly addressed him. ¡°Fatty, the Elders have decided an additional test for you. If you pass it, you will get additional rewards.¡± Fang Hao respectfully replied, ¡°Senior may I require what extra rewards I can expect if I pass the additional trials? And what is the trial? And what will be the rewards if I reject the additional trial?¡± The presiding judge, who looked like a middle aged woman with freckled copper skin, replied, ¡°Little Fatty, you will lose nothing if you refuse the challenge or accept the challenge and fail it. However, if you complete the challenge, you will gain the support of an Elder till your Master Zhu returns! As for what the challenge is¡­ You will have to accept to find out. Although you can be assured that there is no danger to your life in doing so¡­¡± Fang Hao thought ¡°Is this a Bonus Quest? What are the Bonus Rewards? Whatever, there is no danger to my life. So I might as well accept it!¡± Chapter 037 Chapter 037 ------------------------------------------ ¡® ¡® for thoughts. ¡° ¡° for speech. <> for non-verbal communication like telepathy Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF. If you enjoy reading this FF, please Rate & Review! Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk. ------------------------------------- Note: Although the full name mentioned here are Chinese style, (example: Fang Hao, surname Fang first then given name Hao), the names clubbed with descriptions are description and then given name instead of description and surname (example Fatty Hao and not Fatty Fang). Btw, I read all your comments, but may not reply to each and every one separately. -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ Still expect erratic updates. ---------------------- Fang Hao accepted the additional challenge and soon an arrogant looking young man in a set of white robes entered the fighting ring. He was reedy looking and had a permanent smirk on his face as he eyed the meatball before him in disdain. ¡®Even though I am in the 1st layer of Qi Condensation and not allowed to use a single magic tool¡­ taking care of this Qi gathering trash will net me easy contribution points.¡¯ Fang Hao was cursing in his mind. ¡®Damn elders. What the fuck are you oldies smoking? A Qi Condensation Disciple to fight against me?¡¯ He immediately protested to the presiding judge. ¡°Senior, how am I supposed to fight a Qi Condensation cultivator? He can stab my eyes from afar with a flying sword or something!¡± The copper skinned judge did a sneer which made her look like an ugly hag as she replied. ¡°What you expect an elder to look after you without even a bit of effort? Your opponent is forbidden from using any magic tools or talismans and is only in the 1st layer of Qi Condensation. It hasn¡¯t been too long since he stabilized his cultivation, so he shouldn¡¯t know more than a few spells at greater proficiency than initial mastery. You can admit defeat now if you want. Rules remain the same.¡± ¡°Senior, this junior is willing to fight.¡± said Fang Hao as he gripped his wooden sledgehammer tightly. The presiding judge nodded in approval as she addressed the Inner Disciple. ¡°Remember, you may not use any magical tool. You may use any spells you know. But do not kill or cripple the fatty. An Elder has an eye on him and would be very displeased if you don¡¯t behave.¡± The reedy looking young man paled visibly at the mention of an elder and hurriedly nodded his head. The judge then said, ¡°Both of you juniors, move to the edge of the ring and ¡­ Start!¡± The ring was around 100 m in diameter, and as soon as the judge gave the signal, Fang Hao rushed towards the inner disciple, readying the sledgehammer for a solid whack. The Qi Condensation Inner Disciple hurriedly performed double-handed gestures casting a spell. By the time Fang Hao had reached halfway, a two finger wide and half a meter long snake made of flames shot from the Inner Disciple. Fang Hao had built up huge momentum in his dash, and had difficulty dodging the spell completely. The spell was aimed at his chest, but he managed to veer to the side and the spell brushed against his arm. His robes sizzled and he felt as if scalding hot water was poured on his arm. He clenched his teeth and charged forward. The inner disciple was immediately casting another spell with double handed hand gestures and a low chant. Within half a breath a translucent spherical shield had appeared surrounding him. ¡®Fuck! That inner disciple used some sort of barrier! Hope I can smash it apart before he can cast another of those fire snakes.¡¯ thought Fang Hao. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Before the inner disciple could complete his third spell, Fang Hao had managed to reach the inner disciple. Using the momentum of his charge he swung the hammer sideways, smashing the barrier with all his might. The barrier shuddered, and multiple cracks appeared on it, and it looked very similar to shattered class. Seeing this, the inner disciple was alarmed, but maintained his cool as he finished casting his spell. A fire snake appeared and rushed as swift as an arrow towards Fang Hao, who judged that it was impossible to dodge in time. He swung his sledgehammer again as the fire snake smashed his chest. Fang Hao felt as if hot coals were thrown at his chest, his robes burned away in a flash and the fire snake collided with his chest and dissipated. Despite the pain, Fang Hao completed his sledgehammer swing, successfully shattering the barrier. The inner disciple had a look of panic on his face as he warily glanced at the sledge hammer. He hastily continued casting his fourth spell taking advantage of the fact that the fire snake¡¯s impact had pushed back Fang Hao by a couple of steps. Still, he was shocked to see that the fire snake hadn¡¯t managed to burn away even that fatty¡¯s skin! All his last spell had done was give the fatty an ugly reddish burn on his chest. ¡®Damn that fatty! That was my most powerful offensive spell at full power¡­and it just looks like some boiling water was poured on his chest. I have to finish him quick, or I will have no face left!¡¯ Fang Hao was experiencing a significant amount of pain. ¡®Ouch Ouch Ouch, it burns. Well I am going to fuck you up you arrogant prick!¡¯ he had an ugly expression on his face as he swung his sledgehammer with full force. The inner disciple was smashed with the sledgehammer before he could complete his next spell. Audible sounds of crunching were heard, as the inner disciple no doubt suffered multiple fractures and he shifted a few steps sideways from the impact. His spell casting was disrupted as Fang Hao had a menacing stare and readied his sledgehammer again. The inner disciple had an ugly look on his face as he immediately said, ¡°I admit Defeat!¡± Fang Hao stopped his sledgehammer mid swing, dropped it and cupped his hands to the inner disciple as he said, ¡°Many thanks for letting this junior win, senior!¡± Fang Hao was no fool. He wouldn¡¯t dare to mock his opponent too much and leave him with no face. His opponent was an inner disciple after all. ¡®Better leave him some face and not do my usual Lord trolling. He is an inner disciple after all.¡¯ The inner disciple understood Fang Hao¡¯s intentions and nodded amicably while suppressing his groans of pain as he quickly retreated from the ring. He was afraid that he would scream in agony if he uttered a single syllable. Chapter 038 Chapter 038 The hag like granny nodded appreciatively to Fang Hao as she advised, ¡°While it is good you have won junior¡­do not underestimate any cultivator, even of the Qi condensation realm. He was forbidded to use magic tools or talismans; else you would have long since lost the match. Now wait here for an elder to reward you.¡± She then closed her eyes as if in meditation. Fang Hao bowed and replied with gratitude, ¡°Disciple thanks senior for the valuable advice.¡± Fang Hao then observed the reddish scalded skin on his chest and poked it a few times experimentally and released an involuntary whimper. ¡®Well the spell did less damage than expected. Although my skin is tender and a bit painful, it is still intact and didn¡¯t break. Though I guess a dozen or so spells bombarding me will leave me in a sorry state. Body cultivation didn¡¯t turn me invincible yet, but an additional dosage of defense never harmed anyone!¡¯ The coal black elder along with the 11 other elders were observing a holographic projection of a fatty poking his flabby chest and occasionally whimpering with a hag like granny floating, who had her eyes closed, who was sitting cross-legged on a floating piece of oak bark.. A demure veiled cultivator laughed and said ¡°Senior Brother Zhu sure likes to pick eccentric disciples. But looks like you missed a good potential disciple, brother.¡± The coal black man sighed as he said, ¡°He seems to have picked up a decent body refining scripture in the mortal world. I reckon it has potential to be of the foundation establishment¡­or perhaps even the core formation stage! Even though he has potential for body refining¡­he lacks the right aptitude to be my disciple. Might as well Old Man Zhu take him in as a personal project. That might help him restrain himself a bit.¡± Everyone had bitter smiles on them. A scar faced old man with a hooked nose then proposed, ¡°So who shall guide him till Brother Zhu returns? Any volunteers?¡± The coal black man sighed and said, ¡°That volunteer would be me.¡± A robust looking young man with tattoos across his muscular body said had a sly glint in his eyes as he inquired, ¡°Weren¡¯t you not pleased with his personality, junior brother? Why the sudden interest to interfere with Brother Zhu¡¯s disciple?¡± The coal black young man with shoulder length white hair had a helpless look on his face as he said listlessly, ¡°Although he may not be suited to be my disciple¡­but he has a good aptitude for body refining. I don¡¯t want brother Zhu to distract him completely from body refining. I will make him practice a Qi condensation scripture that will complement his body refining practice while building a sturdy foundation for future cultivation.¡± A young teen boy snorted as he replied, ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Brother Zhu. Do you know that he has been ¡®appropriating¡¯ golden marrow powder from our sect reserves for around a year now and diluting it in the spirit wine which he gives his disciple?¡± The coal black man maintained a stoic fa?ade as he indifferently nodded but was thinking in his heart, ¡®Yes I know! Brother Zhu is sneaky and cunning¡­he stole away such a good potential disciple right under my nose. I owed him a favor, with his poaching and me taking care of his disciple I will be relived of my debt to him. That is the only reason I did not make a fuss.¡¯ ¡°If there is nothing to discuss, then I will go and reward that junior.¡± The coal black man clasped his hands and disappeared from the hall¡­appearing in the arena.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Before he revealed his presence there, he witnessed an amusing scene. The old hag like cultivator had a look of irritation as she opened her eyes to see a whimpering fatty kneading his fat chest. ¡°Junior, what exactly are you doing?¡± Fatty Hao had a somber look on his face as he replied, ¡°Senior, this junior is tempering himselfwith pain!¡± The old hag woman was about to explode in rage as she heard a light cough behind her. She turned around and witnessed the coal black cultivator with shoulder length white hair. The hag swallowed her anger and greeted, ¡°Junior greets Great Elder!¡± which was followed by Fang Hao greeting the coal black elder. The coal black elder nodded once at the greetings and looked at Fatty hao with a stern gaze as a small pouch floated towards him, ¡°That is part of the rewards having 10 spirit stones and 5 qi condensation pills. As for your other rewards, you will receive them shortly.¡± Fang Hao clasped his hands and before he could verbally thank the elder, the elder grabbed his cuff and teleported along with him. They appeared near the base of a mountain. There was a single winding dirt path leading upwards, surrounded by ankle high blue grass. The coal black young man then looked at fatty and asked. ¡°Your rewards still include a Qi Condensation Scripture and personal guidance by an elder. The elder to guide you will be me. You are clearly practicing a body refining scripture¡­due you intend to continue down the path of body refining?¡± ¡°Junior thanks Great Elder for his advice. This junior wishes to continue with body refining!¡± ¡°Are you sure? At the later realms, body refining is very resource intensive. Focusing those resources on Qi Cultivation and some magic treasures can grant you a higher battle power faster.¡± ¡°This junior is not exceptional at Qi cultivation with barely silver grade talent. Junior feels that using those resources in body cultivation would be better.¡± ¡°Not a good answer, but not bad either. You are right now aware of the cultivation stages till foundation establishment correct?¡± Fang Hao respectfully nodded and the coal black man continued. In the Qi Gathering and Qi Condensation stage, Qi is pathetically low and Qi regeneration is pitifully slow. In the foundation Establishment stage, a cultivator generates wisps of gaseous Qi and Qi partially crystallizes to a solid. Beyond Foundation Establishment, is the Core Formation stage. In the core formation stage, a massive solid core of Crystallized Qi is formed in a cultivator¡¯s dantian, which automatically generates liquid Qi causing cultivators to use powerful spells one after the other and still retain Qi to fight or flee.¡± ¡°But body cultivators only have a sturdier body¡­even at the equivalent of the Core Formation stage. It is only after the Core Formation stage do body cultivators shine! Junior, success at body cultivation is a long and arduous path. If you want quick battle power, I recommend becoming a sword cultivator. All you need besides Qi Cultivation is a god sword scripture and a compatible flying sword. With higher comprehension along the sword path, you can unleash swift and powerful attacks which can slice through anything from a large distance! It is not without reason that sword cultivation is so popular from the Foundation Establishment Stage onwards.¡± ¡°Selecting a scripture for Qi Condensation is a very important task. Depending on your choice now, many cultivation paths will be closed in the future. So make your choice wisely.¡± ¡°This junior thanks the Great Elder for the valuable advice. While this junior would like to pursue Body Cultivation, this junior already is a disciple of Master Zhu. This junior is not sure which scripture to pick and would like Great Elder¡¯s advice.¡± ¡°Hmm, don¡¯t worry about your master. I will take that into allowance when I pick a Qi Condensation scripture for you. Since you have made your mind to pursue body cultivation as well, follow me into the scripture pavilion and I will pick up a suitable Qi Condensation Manual for you. And don¡¯t walk on the grass, there are numerous restrictions placed on it.¡± The coal black Great Elder walked the winding dirt road towards the scripture pavilion and the fatty in tattered grey robes followed him, looking at the blue grass nearby suspiciously. Chapter 039 Fang Hao followed the Great Elder for around half an hour Soon he reached a large seven floored bronze pagoda which was so large that even ten Fang Haos holding hands couldn''t encircle it. He followed the coal black great elder through the gate. Inside, just beside the entrance; there was a sleeing old man on a hammock snoozing. He had a healthy tanned look about him and looked somewhat distinguished and matured. However, the drool spilling from his mouth spoiled the image. The drooling man snored a bit loudly as they passed by. But otherwise, there was no other reaction. Just pass the hallway with the drooling old man, they entered a large hall with dozens of counters. There were dozens of counters and perhaps hundreds of white robed inner disciples in long queues. ''Sure looks busy. I hope the great elder can shorten the process.'' Seeing an outer disciple led by an elder, the background chatter immediately subsided. Someone who had the presence of mind immediately greeted, ¡°Disciple greets elder!¡± which was followed by similar exclamations. The great elder nodded indifferently and proceeded towards the next floor. The next floor also had a few counters, which were significantly less crowded, but it was somewhat similar to the previous floor. Finally they reached the next floor and the Great Elder went to the nearest counter, which just happened to be empty. The young man manning the counter respectfully greeted him. The great Elder nodded, threw a grayish hexagonal token at him, and said: ¡°Bring in a single use inheritance slip for the Aura Fist Manual, all five layers, and the standard spell scrolls and magic tools for a new inner disciple.¡± The youth had a look of reverence as he quickly complied with it. It barely took a dozen breaths before the youth reappeared. He handed over a jade slip, and what looked like a simple brown jute coin pouch. The jade slip vanished while the great elder flung the cotton pouch towards Fatty Hao, who caught it and nimbly tucked it in his sleeve. ''So the Manual I get to use is probably the Aura Fist Manual. Wonder what this shitty looking coin pouch is though. The Great Elder didn''t embezzle my loot... at least I hope so.'' he then followed the great elder outside the scripture pavilion and back the dirt road, while still glancing at the blue grass warily. ''I knew this grass was weird! Now question is did it turn blue because of the restrictions, or is it blue grass?'' As they exited the dirt road, the great elder unceremoniously grabbed his collar and they teleported right outside his cottage. Fang Hao felt the mild disorientation that accompanied teleportation fade away as the elder smashed the translucent green jade slip on Fang Hao''s forehead. Fang Hao felt another wave of dizziness come over him as a series of postures flowed into his mind accompanied by chants and Qi Circulation pathways. It was accompanied by a mild throbbing headache, and Fang Hao knew the cultivation method of the Aura Fist Manual. ¡°You now know the Aura fist Manual. That pouch given to you is a spatial storage tool. Once you successfully breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage, just use a bit of your QI to open it and look inside. Contact your Assignment Hall when you do breakthrough into Qi Condensation. And remember junior, don''t be hasty to get a breakthrough fast and leave a shaky unstable foundation. You are quite young and have years before you turn 25.¡± Fang Hao cupped his hands and respectfully conveyed his gratitude, ¡°Disciple thanks Grand Elder for bestowing such good fortune on this junior.¡± The Great Elder nodded indifferently and teleported away. ''I think the inheritance jade slip is supposed to be a big deal. Else why would some with the status of a Great Elder give a token for a mere Qi Condensation level Manual? And what is a Great Elder? Perhaps a senior Elder? Anyways, this inheritance thingy is very convenient! I don''t have to spend weeks memorizing a cultivation technique before actually cultivating it.'' Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He then went to his courtyard and laid down on the grass taking a whiff of the surrounding fresh air as he thoroughly reviewed the contents of his new Cultivation Manual. The Manual had 5 layers, and as of now only the contents of the first layer was coherent in his mind. He guessed that as and when he mastered the unlocked layers, the subsequent layers would become available. There was also a preamble about the manual and cultivation in general, within the unlocked contents in his mind. The Aura Fist manual, was somewhat of a unique manual. It was primarily a Qi cultivation Manual...but could only be effectively practiced by those who had refined their body to some degree. Unlike the Divine Vajra Body Scripture, practicing the Aura Fist Scripture would not refine his body, instead it would only increase his Qi Cultivation just like the Sublime Qi Manual. Mastering every layer of the Aura Fist Scripture would advance his cultivation by two levels and allow him to use a new spell. So if he mastered all five layers of the cultivation manual, he would be at the peak of Qi Condensation and have five spells to use, unique to this cultivation manual. And the spells of this particular Cultivation Manual had unique characteristics compared to most other spells of this level. Body Cultivators had no moves to rival the power of spells when compared to Qi cultivators, at least till Core Formation. The Aura Fist Scripture countered this weakness to a certain extent. Practicing the first layer of the Aura Fist Manual would grant him a spell called Aura Infusion, and the second layer would grant him a spell called Aura Fist. The spell Aura infusion would use his Qi to boost his explosive strength and speed. The deeper the cultivation base, the stronger the boost. Of course, the body should be able to bear the Qi reinforcement...else torn muscles and fractured bones were to be expected. Things got interesting when the second spell was granted. The second spell sounded more like a traditional long range attack spell. The spell would, in effect, produce a magical projectile shaped like a fist which would smash his opponents! However, unlike other Qi condensation level attack spells, the power of the spell increased not only with one''s cultivation base and proficiency with the spell; but also with one''s physical strength! Even if a regular Qi cultivator cultivated this Manual to the second layer by avoiding the use of Aura Infusion, his battle power with the Aura Fist spell would be pathetic as their body was typically way more fragile than a body cultivator''s. However, a body cultivator could show great ranged offensive power with the Aura Fist spell... only if he had good Qi Cultivation base as well. ''Well the manual is strong but it requires cultivation of Qi and the body to display its full potential. Without enough Qi, both the spells are useless. And without good physique, both the spell are useless as well! But if a cultivator has sufficient levels of both...he has a significant edge over his peers. But the question is, how many can diligently Cultivate Qi and refine thier body and still keep up with thier peers? Now I guess I should prepare to breakthrough to Qi Condensation stage.'' thought Fang Hao before heading for the dining hall as it was almost time for the dusk meal. ''I wonder what they have for food today. Hopefully some more of that spiced lamb stew.'' Chapter 040 Fang Hao relaxed for a week or so, and started drinking the spirit liqour he had saved up. His Alchemical Toxicity (Mild) status effect had resolved itself, and he wanted to be in the best mood before practicing his brand new cultivation method. This entire week other than eating, sleeping, drinking and his chores he did not cultivate at all. Even though all the information of the first layer of the Aura Fist Manual was etched in his mind, he was still cautious as ever while proceeding. He thoroughly familiarized himself with the different aspects of the cultivation manual. The Aura Fist Manual followed the general outline of the other two he had practiced (Sublime Qi manual, Divine Vajra Body Scripture). It also consisted of a physical pose, Qi circulation routes and mnemonic chants...but each of the three components were quite different. The first layer of the Aura Fist Manual''s cultivation method was to keep his hands outstretched sideways at shoulder level, and then to spin like a top from left to right while simultaneously reciting the mnemonic chants and exercising control over his Qi. It was exactly this Qi control that was differing greatly from the other Cultivation methods he had practiced. While the other cultivation methods focused on circulating Qi relative to his body, the Aura Fist manual''s focus was keeping the Qi Static relative to the earth. ''In some ways, I can see that this Aura Fist manual is sort of a mesh between Qi Cultivation and Body Refining. This has dynamic body movements like the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and unlike the relatively static postures of the Sublime Qi Manual. And while the mnemonics and Qi control might focus on keeping the Qi in the Dantian static relative to the earth, the Qi is actually rotating relative to my body motion! Once all these aspects are synchronized and I have sufficient Qi, I can breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage.'' After this week of contemplation and pondering, Fang Hao was confident enough to start cultivating the 1st layer of the Aura Fist Manual. He spent another fortnight till he could practice the cultivation method to satisfaction. Finally, when three weeks had passed after he had received the Aura Fist Manual, he was prepared to breakthrough to the Qi Condensation Stage! That midnight, he was prepared with four saved jugs of spirit wine and his rewards consisting of 5 Qi condensation pills and 1 spirit stone. Fang Hao had a serious look and determined glare in his eyes as he disrobed completely becoming naked under the moonlight. He wanted to be free of any distractions during his breakthrough attempt, and not to mention that he felt comfortable naked in the mild chilly breeze. He selected one jug of wine and crushed a small silvery pill between his fingers and dissolved it into the wine. The pill he dissolved was precisely one of the Qi Condensation Pills!This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. A pill which significantly increased the chances of a breakthrough would definitely have potent medicinal properties. Instead of being overwhelmed by ingesting the pill in one go, he had decided to dilute it with his spirit wine and adjust his intake of the wine according to his Qi requirement. And he also liked getting drunk. Besides, being relaxed during a breakthrough was supposed to be a good thing...wasn''t it? Having such thoughts, Fang Hao took a sip of the spirit wine which had the Qi condensation pill dissolved in it. He felt a surprisingly strong surge of Qi flowing towards his dantian which caused all the Qi in his dantian to tremble. ''These Qi condensation pills are quite potent. If I use the Sublime Qi manual then one jug of wine with two of these pills should be more than sufficient for a breakthrough. But compared to the Sublime Qi Manual, keeping my Qi still relative to the earth is actually more difficult.'' thought Fang Hao as he tried to exert control over his Qi. Essentially breakthrough to the Qi Condensation stage meant using an appropriate cultivation method to create a cyclone of large amounts of gaseous Qi in the dantian, with the desired outcome being condensation of the Qi into a liquid state. The cultivation of the Aura Fist manual had a more stringent requirement of Qi Control than the Sublime Qi Manual. It was much more easier to pop pills to pump Qi and let it turn into a cyclone in his dantian as compared to pumping Qi and keeping it still. ''Obviously, the more difficult ti is...the better it should be right? Whatever, I made all the preparations I could. It is now time to cultivate!!'' In high spirits Fang Hao took a large gulp of the fortified spirit wine and chanted the mnemonics of the Aura Fist manual as he exerted control over his Qi to stop it from rotating. He felt his Qi pulse periodically in his dantian. As he took another gulp of spirit wine, he felt the Qi pulse a bit more erratically, just barely in his control. ''Hmm keeping the Qi completely stable sure seems hard. But it seems to pulse almost like a heart...why don''t I try to sync it with my heartbeat? After all the mnemonics focus on controlling the rotation of the Qi...and not the pulsing!'' Seemingly enlightened, Fang Hao fortified his jug of spirit wine with yet another Qi Condensation pill. For good measure he fortified another jug of spirit wine with two Qi condensation pills and placed the last Qi Condensation pill under his tongue. Holding a jug of double fortified spirit wine in each hand, and a pill under his tongue. He was loaded with resources as he started practicing the Aura Fist Manual earnestly. He started rotating slowly as per the Aura Fist manual, as a steady stream of Qi was generated from the slowly melting pill under his tongue. He found that controlling the Qi''s rotation was much easier while he himself was rotating. And according to his earlier epiphany, instead of suppressing the Qi pulses, he harmonized his pulsing Qi with his heartbeat. Periodically he would slow down his rotation to take a few sips of double fortified wine and then speed up his rotation again. Unknowingly, even his rotational speed pulsed, though his average speed of rotation increased over time. Chapter 041 Soon he was in a trance, in a pleasant haze as he kept on drinking, with his body a cyclone and his Qi a pulsing heartbeat. He lost him self in the feeling of the pulsing Qi, as his body rotations increased in speed while his Qi pulses and heartbeat slowed down. But each pulse felt more powerful, sending waves of energy to all the corners of his body. Soon he reached a plateau. His rotation and pulsing had stabilized... seemingly at the peak unable to exert more power. He instinctively knew, that he was at the bottleneck leading to Qi Condensation. A hair''s breadth away from the next realm! Each of his Qi pulse and heartbeat was strong...but not enough to breakthrough. For the first time, he began suppressing the Qi pulses, in turn slowing his heartbeat. His body''s rotations also started slowing down. Soon, his body''s rotation speed was so slow that it looked as if he was at a standstill. The wine jugs in his outstretched hands were almost empty and the pill under his tongue had completely melted. The Qi in his dantian was also perfectly still, yet it conveyed a powerful and domineering presence like a giant''s clenched fist! Suddenly, it was like a volcano had erupted in rapid succession. Fang Hao, still in his strange mental state, rapidly rotated his body at high speeds with his arms becoming blurry afterimages. Inside his dantian, his stable Qi aggregation also pulsed rapidly in tempo with his body''s rotation. Each pulse of Qi was synchronized perfectly with his body''s one 360 degree rotation and a complete heartbeat. The restrained potential in his Qi was suddenly unleashed in a series of pulses. Each pulse added more momentum to the next, causing the later pulses to have exponentially more power! After nine successive pulses, a transformation took place in his dantian. Each pulse consisted of an expansion and contraction, which was synchronized with the ¡°lub-dub¡± sounds of a heartbeat. After the massive ninth expansion, the ninth contraction had seemingly broken through a threshold. The contraction caused all of the accumulated gaseous Qi to collapse onto itself forming a drop of dense liquid Qi causing a series of transformations in Fang Hao''s being. An indescribable feeling of joy suffused Fang Hao''s entire being as he successfully broke through to the Qi Condensation Stage! Although there was only a drop of Qi in his dantian, it felt vastly more potent and he could exert an unprecedented amount of control on it. The Qi circulation and control which exerted a huge amount of mental fatigue on him was almost effortless now.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He also felt a tiny, yet distinct, stream of cool energy from his mind. This small stream of energy could scrutinize and inspect each and every cell of his body in great detail. Wherever this tiny stream of cool energy passed, he knew all there was to know about that region. He guided the small cool stream of energy to his dantian and observed the single drop of Qi. With this stream of energy he noticed that the tiny drop of Qi at the center of his dantian wasn''t entirely still! The tiny drop of qi would periodically pulse in rapid succession with varying speeds. Sometimes it had a single pulse...sometimes it had a few more. He lost his sense of time while he observed the pulsing of his drop of Qi. He was mesmerized by the random, yet rhythmic pulsations of the drop of Qi. Each series of pulses took exactly the same amount of time as a single heartbeat. After a while, he felt mentally fatigued and directed this small cool stream of energy away from his dantian and circulated it under his skin trying to extend it extend ti outside his body. However, this small stream of cool energy couldn''t extend beyond his body, no matter how many times he circulated it under his skin, trying to extend it outside his body. Fang Hao had a foolish grin on his face as he thought, ''Spiritual Sense! I have Spiritual sense. This means I have genuinely broken through to the Qi Condensation stage. A pity my spiritual sense can''t exit by body yet. It feels so refreshing with the cool stream of spiritual sense under my body while warm sunlight is bathing my skin. Wait a minute... warm sunlight?'' Fang Hao opened his eyes and looked at the sky. It was almost noon. He was standing naked with his arms stretched, and empty wine jug in each hand under the sun. ''The breakthrough took more time than expected...'' thought Fang Hao as he slowly glanced at his surroundings. Outside his courtyard, a group of around a dozen of gray robed outer disciples were staring at a naked fatty. While Fang Hao was inwardly embarrassed, he put up a proud facade with an arrogant smirk on his face as he loudly berated the voyers, ¡°What are you idiots staring at? Never seen a real man drinking and enjoy his life? Are all of you shocked speechless by this Lord''s glory?¡± A handsome looking young man could barely restrain his derisive sneer as he replied in a mocking tone. ¡°Lord, while this junior is stunned by your lordship''s boldness, this junior has no interest in your lordship''s glory. Indeed, this junior would have been better off not witnessing this lordship''s glory.¡± he then pointedly glanced at Fan Hao''s dick as if mocking the size of Fang Hao''s manhood. ''This shit is so embarrassing and is sure to spread around the disciples. I might as well go all the way and appear as an unrestrained crazy fucker with pride...else there will be no end to the derisive mocking anytime soon.¡± ¡°Then why are you standing around looking so hopeful? I know, come here junior...and bathe in this lord''s magnificent glory!¡± said Fang Hao pompously as he tossed away them empty wine jugs, grabbed his dick and pissed, directing the stream of golden shower towards the spectating outer disciples. Although the spectating outer disciples were to far away to be bathed in Lord lard''s glory, they still ahd a look of disgust as they hurriedly disappeared from the sights of the crazy fat pervert. Chapter 042 After shooing away the voyeurs, Fang Hao proudly walked into his cottage and took a nice relaxing simulated shower by splashing cool mugs of water over his body. ''This was a large breakthrough in my Qi Cultivation...still there was barely any gray-black impurities excreted by my body. Guess forming the first seal of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture left my body pure.'' thought Fang Hao as he observed his skin before and after bathing. He then changed into a fresh set of robes and started cultivating in his seclusion room to recover his Qi. He didn''t know why, but he felt a certain sense of unease with his depleted Qi after the breakthrough. Despite being awake all night and missing his breakfast, he wasn''t feeling particularly sleepy or hungry. While he could probably manage without sleep for a couple of days without any problems due to his cultivation...he felt quite hungry as dusk neared. After his dusk meal, he didn''t have the mood to meditate to slowly recover his Qi. ''The rate at which Qi regeneration is going on, it will take at least another six hours to recover my Qi. I still have a couple of jugs of spirit wine left..and I do need to celebrate my breakthrough.'' Fang Hao thought as he convinced himself to use a precious cultivating resource to save a few hours of slow meditation. He retrieved a jug of spirit wine from his cottage and sat outside in his courtyard taking a gulp of the spirit wine. A refreshing citrus-like flavor invaded his senses as he felt a relaxing warmth spread through his body, mainly concentrated in his dantian. He took a few more gulps of the spirit wine till he started feeling the familiar pressure of excess Qi in his dantian. ''After beating the Qi Condensation Disciple, I still needed around 1400 xp to level up. Now that I have leveled up, let me check my status.'' thought Fang Hao as he gave a mental command to display his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 17 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 36
Realm: Qi Condensation Realm Level: 1
Current Experience: 48139 Level Up at Experience: 55359
Active Effects: Drunk (mild)
Stats
Physique: 8.9 Finesse: 7.5
Spirit: 10.2 Qi 40.0/40.0
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.(1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 0 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (1st Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Basic)
Fang Hao carefully scanned his status screen, and he saw quite a few changes, both expected and unexpected. ''I thought I would be level 11...but looks like I am back at level 1! My realm did change to Qi Condensation. I needed a total xp of roughly 40,000 to levelup to Qi Condensation 1...but somehow my breakthrough provided me with around 48,000 xp. So I gained roughly 10,000 experience from my breakthrough, way more than forming my first seal. And what si with the huge increase in skill points? Well more xp and skill points is always good, so I won''t complain...'' ''My stats look solid though. My Spirit finally exceeded 10 and my Qi is a nice round figure after quite a while. As expected, I have a new entry in my Manuals and Scriptures section. But what is that (+) thingy next to it? Is the Aura Fist Manual a higher level scripture or did I somehow improve it?'' Fang Hao deliberated quite a bit on the meaning of the (+) sign next to his Aura Fist Manual entry. He finally came at a tentative conclusion that it something to do with the vibration and pulses he had somehow incorporated while practicing it. He hoped it was a positive change as the xp earned and skill points gained indicated...though he didn''t exactly have a reliable benchmark for that. ''Well + means more and more of something you want is better, right? Anyways...spells! I finally have a spell! Aura Infusion should be as described in the Aura Fist Manual, and I guess Basic is the proficency of the spell. Perhaps I can use skill points to increase my proficiency? Let me try.'' Fang Hao got exited at the possibility of finally using skill points and mentally exclaimed ''use Skill points''. A new translucent window popped into his sight.
SKILL POINT UTILIZATION
Skill Action Cost
Aura Infusion (Basic) Upgrade 02 SP
''So looks like I can use my skill points to upgrade my spells and techniques. But then again Skill Points are most probably a limited resource and I shouldn''t waste them now. Who knows I might be lacking just 2 points to upgrade some OP spell like star shattering finger or whatever. Besides, I think I should practice the spell and see how long ti takes to upgrade it the hard way. I will experiment on which command will use skill points to upgrade Aura Infusion...'' Fang Hao''s train of thought was halted as the row with Aura Infusion (Basic) glowed briefly and the window disappeared. ''Are you fucking kidding me? I didn''t even intend to upgrade that spell... but ''Use Skill Points to upgrade Aura Infusion'' actually upgraded it?'' The window appeared again.
SKILL POINT UTILIZATION
Skill Action Cost
Aura Infusion (Intermediate) Upgrade 04 SP
The only option glowed briefly and the window disappeared. ''I am a fucking retarded dumbfuck. Good job wasting 6 skill points, 1/6th of your total skill points on unintended upgrades! Your presence of mind really astounds me...such absolute genius!'' Fang Hao cursed himself as he checked his status screen again.
''At least I know that after ''Basic'' comes ''Intermediate'' and after that comes ''Expert''. And the skill points increase after each upgrade.'' Fang Hao quickly checked Use skill Points to check that the next upgrade had a cost of 06 SP. ''At least SP cost isn''t doubling every upgrade. Now let me see what spells the shitty looking coin pouch has for me.'' Chapter 043 Fang Hao then retrieved the storage pouch and willed a small stream of Qi in it. The action seemed almost effortless and information about three jade slips entered his mind. As he willed it, one of the jade slips exited the storage pouch and appeared in his hand. He circulated a thread of Qi in it and soon information about the spell ¡°Flame Snake¡±. Casting it conjured a snake made of flames which attacked a target. The spell was a very basic one, which almost all Qi Condensation Disciples knew. It was more of a training spell than anything else. However, the actual effectiveness of the spell would vary from cultivator to cultivator. Of course a new Qi Condensation cultivator casting the Flame Snake spell could never hope to compare its destructiveness with an experienced Cultivator in the Core Formation stage for example. The jade slip had another spell called ¡°Wind Blade¡±. The Wind Blade spell created a translucent crescent blade of of wind which shot at the target. Wind Blade was also a training spell of sorts, being less destructive and faster to cast than flame snake. The last spell was Qi Barrier. It was the most elementary and basic defensive spells for Qi cultivators. Qi Barrier was a defensive spell which created a barrier made of Qi around the caster, which could block a limited amount of damage before shattering and had a relatively short cast time. This was one spell which had a lot of utility. Rather than being used for defense, Qi Barrier was used more to gain a breaths worth of time to activate talismans/treasures and/or cast more powerful spells. This was because, with the attacker and defender having similar cultivation, Qi Barrier could block around three to five attacks at best. And that was a very optimistic estimate assuming the defender had a good mastery of Qi Barrier and the attacker used a weak spell with barely any proficiency. Still, a couple of breath''s worth of respite in a fight could determine the loser and winner quite easily. ''OK 3 basic spells. 1 heavy attack, fire based. 1 fast attack, wind based. 1 low level temporary barrier. While the sect may treat these spells as trash and good for training new Qi Condensation disciples... these spells would make one worthy of respect and fear in the mortal world! But then again... after getting a taste of the breakthrough to Qi Condensation, who could bear to remain in the mortal world? That would be like giving up all hope of advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage. And If a cultivator creates too big of a ruckus, I don''t think that the sects would sit by idly either. Lets start with the flame snake spell! It looks the coolest. After that I should learn Qi barrier..cause the more defense...the better! And then I should familiarize myself with Aura Infusion and lastly learn wind blades. Yep, that should be my plan for now. Oh after '' The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Fang Hao then diligently scrutinized the jade slip for the Flame Snake spell. Successfully casting it would require circulating Qi in a specific manner while contemplating a specific image in one''s mind while using the appropriate hand symbols and mnemonic chants. The jade slip described that, as one became more proficient with the spell, gained more insight and achieved a higher cultivation base... one could unleash a swarm of flame snakes in the blink of an eye with a casual flick of one''s sleeve. The jade slip also stressed upon the fact that while the flame snake was a basic spell, with sufficient insight and appropriate enlightenment along with a strong enough cultivation base to support it, the caster could evolve the spell...making the spell exceed it''s limits! ''Well I suppose only elders are capable of unleashing swarms of flame snakes in the blink of an eye or evolving the flame snake into a blazing dragon or whatever. As for little fat me...let me just learn to cast this spell till breakfast. Dreams of slaughtering the heavens with blazing inferno dragons at my beck and call are a long way still. Oh, I also should report to the Assignment Hall that I broke through to the Qi Condensation Stage after the dawn meal.'' Fang Hao then diligently started to gain enlightenment regarding the spell. He practiced the hand signs, Qi circulation paths and mnemonic chants over and over again till it was rote memorization. His capacity for concentration, memorization and imitation had increased drastically after his Qi Condensation Breakthrough. Or perhaps it was the effect of exceeding 10 in Spirit; he wasn''t really sure. Once confident, he started visualizing the contemplation image with his eyes closed while muttering the mnemonic chants and performing the appropriate hand seals but refraining from circulating his Qi. In this way hours passed, and the contemplation image of the flame snake became clearer and clearer in his mind. Soon he could vividly recall the image of the flame snake with his eyes open at a moment''s notice. Feeling confident enough with his preparations, Fang Hao then attempted to cast the spell for the first time. He recalled the contemplation image of the flame snake, each detail vivid in his mind''s eye, as he muttered the mnemonic chants under his breath while making the appropriate hand seals and circulating the Qi as per the jade slip. As he completed the actions he felt a comforting warmth before his hands as a smoky illusory snake appeared. Excited at his success, Fang Hao''s concentration lapsed and the contemplation image fizzled out of his mind''s eye and the spell casting failed. ''Damn it. I was almost about to succeed. From the looks of it discipline and concentration are quite important to successfully cast spells. It would be much more of a challenge to successively cast spells in a stressful situations like fights. Lets try another attempt.'' Fang Hao concentrated his utmost fixing the contemplation image of the flame snake in his mind as he attempted to cast the Flame Snake spell again. Mentally prepared, he could suppress his excitement and maintain his concentration as the smoky blurry flame snake appeared before his hands. Within a breath''s worth of time, the flame snake become significantly less blurry and uncoiled itself in mid-air. Fang Hao noticed that the snake was shivering in a weird rhythm, with its semi-defined scales pulsating. As he observed it, the contemplation image in his mind''s eye also reflected these changes and morphed accordingly with shimmering scales and almost looked life-like! Even though the manifested flame snake was around two fingers wide and a bit shorter than his forearm, it had a unique charm to it. Chapter 044 Having cast the spell successfully, Fang Hao flicked his arm and the flame snake shot at the ground several meters away. There was a crumbling noise and a hemispherical flash of light as the flame snake collided with the ground. When the flash of light subsided, Fang Hao noticed a bowl like depression on the ground, about 15 cm (6 inches) deep and half a meter (19 inches) wide ash-covered charred region in his backyard. ''OK. I am pretty sure my first flame snake spell was much more powerful than that outer disciple I fought. Still the cast time is a bit longer. It took me roughly 5 seconds to cast it. I guess I can shorten it with higher proficiency.'' He then recalled the contemplation image of the flame snake...and the previously static image was shivering in a seemingly erratic manner with glittering scales! ''Looks like it is at least partially due to my augmented contemplation image. Perhaps that is what caused the upgrade in power of the spell.'' He then immersed his full concentration in the image of the flame snake and it slowly dawned to him that the flame snake''s scales were pulsating in a fashion very similar to his first drop of Liquid Qi! ''So the contemplation image somehow synchronized with the pulsing rhythm of my Qi. So this means, if the cultivation manual I follow is of a higher quality and has beneficial characteristics; then the spells I cast automatically receive a boost in their power! No wonder good quality cultivation manuals are so highly sought in the sect. Meanwhile, in the deeper regions of the jade Pagoda Sect, a short skinny young man was gazing reverently at a hook nosed scar-faced old man in what looked like a pleasant garden near the base of a small hill. There was a cave entrance visible in the background. The hook-nosed scar-faced old man had a look of approval in his eyes as he addressed the short skinny teenager before him. ¡°Your progress is good, disciple. You have gained initial success in the Severing Sword Scripture and thus reached the peak of the early foundation establishment realm. This scripture is one of the best sword scriptures for your cultivation base and it will be sufficient for you to reach the peak of the Core Formation Stage as long as you work hard enough.¡± ¡°Disciple thanks master for his generous praise.¡± said the short skinny teenager with genuine gratitude in his eyes. The hook-nosed scar-faced old man''s face broke into a smile as he flicked his sleeve. A translucent dull glassy sword appeared in thin air, gently floating between the master and disciple. The short skinny teenager had a look of longing in his eyes as he stared at the glassy bastard sword. The hook-nosed scar-faced old man then said, ¡°For your progress in cultivation and your acute battle sense, I have prepared this flying sword for you. It is made from the shell of the Slumbering Crystal Tortoise, and is very compatible with the Severing Sword Scripture. While it may not be the most powerful flying sword for Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivators...it is perhaps the most suitable one for you considering your spirit roots and sword scripture!¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The short young man kowtowed in gratitude as he said, ¡°Disciple thanks master for his generous gift. Disciple swears to be worthy of master''s faith and generosity.¡± The hook-nosed scar-faced old man gave a laugh in appreciation and also passed on a jade slip to his disciple. The disciple respectfully received the jade slip and inquired, ¡°Master, what kind of spell is this jade slip for?¡± The hook-nosed scar-faced old man just had a glint of amusement in his eyes and replied, ¡°See for yourself and tell me your opinion about it.¡± The disciple held the jade slip to his forehead, and closed his eyes for a couple of breaths. When he opened his eyes and looked at his master with some confusion in his eyes. ¡°Master, while this seems like a powerful body refining scripture, shouldn''t disciple focus solely on the Severing Sword Scripture? Shouldn''t the Dao of the Sword be the singular focus of this disciple?¡± The hook-nosed scar-faced old man sighed and said. ¡°Yes, the Severing Sword Scripture is very powerful. With sufficient enlightenment and mastery of it along with the flying sword I bestowed you, you will have an unrivaled attack and superior speed to most cultivators of your level. But the sword scripture is not infallible. Every Sword Cultivator has a major weakness. Do you know what that is?¡± ¡°Yes master, it is defense! Sword Cultivators are comparatively fragile, but shouldn''t some barrier spells and talismans able to compensate for it?¡± ¡°To a certain extent yes. But most powerful Sword Scriptures have moves which consume a lot of Qi! How can you expect to maintain powerful shield and barrier spells while your powerful sword moves drain significant portion of your Qi? You may be able to slaughter legions with your flying sword, but once your Qi is depleted and all talismans are used, it wouldn''t take much more than a well placed sneak attack to kill you or shatter your dantian crippling your cultivation base. Now do you understand the need to have a secondary focus on body cultivation?¡± The skinny short teenager had a thoughtful look on his face as he clasped his hands and bowed, replying ¡°Disciple thanks Master for his Invaluable advice!¡± The hook-nosed scar-faced old man had a glint of approval in his eyes as he further encouraged his disciple. ¡°And this body refining scripture is no ordinary body refining scripture. The Frostfire Titanic Physique Scripture uses extreme heat and extreme cold to temper the body. It is one of the better body-refining scriptures granting a very durable physique and has a good practicing speed with supporting resources being comparatively easier to procure.¡± ¡°But it has one major flaw. It is extremely painful! Each refining is nothing short of torture. Due to your good aptitude and cultivation resources bestowed by the sect, your cultivation base has increased too quickly! While everything may seem fine now, without you facing major bottlenecks at this stage... it is better to take a break from Qi cultivation for a while. Focus on practicing the Frostfire Titanic Physique Scripture for now to at least the large success stage. Not only will it allow you to shrugg-off most spells from early foundation establishment cultivators with your body alone, the pain will temper your sword heart and stabilize your cultivation base making your Qi denser and thus paving the road for a smooth journey to core formation!¡± Chapter 045 Fang Hao practiced the Flame Snake Spell till it was time for the dawn meal. He noticed that his clique of fatties where giving him uncharacteristic wary looks. ''It is safe to assume that tales of my naked drunken pissing has spread throughout the outer disciples. What I need now is a distraction.'' Fang Hao settled with a pile of pancakes with his clique and cleared his throat. ¡°Brothers, I have an announcement to make!¡± Fang Hao said in a pompous tone. Once he was sure that he had the attention of his clique he sighed solemnly and said, ¡°This will perhaps be my last meal with you as outer disciples.¡± Fatty Hai blurted, ¡°Why brother, are they demoting you to a janitorial disciple?¡± Fang Hao was giving him a strange look when Fatty Lin made a tsk-tsk sound and said, ¡°Brother Hai, even if Brother Hao pissed on some no name outer disciple...it wouldn''t be enough to demote him. He is the first among outer disciple''s tournament.¡± Fatty Ning was trying to save Fang Hao some face face as he countered. ¡°Nonsense, brother Hao couldn''t possibly pee naked in broad daylight. It is...a rumor. That''s right! Just a wild rumor, nothing more.¡± he sounded very unconvinced at his own statement. Fang hao made a dismissive wave of his hands as he said, ¡°Well I broke through to the Qi Condensation Stage and was celebrating by drinking some wine. I just had a bit more wine than usual and stripped to feel comfortable. I was in a very good mood when some of my fellow brothers were acting rudely towards me, so I was rude as well.¡± Fatty Zhang sighed as he said, ¡°No need to make excuses in front of us brother. We all have our secrets...¡± Fang Hao smiled bitterly as he thought ''Now my clique thinks that I am lying about my breakthrough to cover my embarrassment. It kind of makes sense though. If I did breakthrough yesterday...why didn''t I report it and get promoted to an inner disciple?'' Fang Hao then started casting the Flame Snake spell. An illusory smoky flame snake manifested in front of him, after which he canceled the casting. That resulted in shock and awe among his clique and many others who were observing him due to the rumors of his antics. Fang Hao looked at his breakfast and found that it was a small pile of charred ash. He sighed, refilled his plate and began eating him as the cacophony of whispers suddenly exploded. By now, almost everyone had realized that Fang Hao had broken through to the Qi Condensation stage. While he wasn''t the first outer disciple from his batch to breakthrough... he did make himself infamous for trying to bestow his golden glory to his apprentice brothers. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The fatties came to their senses and immediately congratulated him for his breakthrough. What pissing in public? They reckoned that if they could breakthrough to Qi Condensation so soon, they too would like to get drunk as fuck, dance naked and piss without restraint. ''With this display, I should regain some face...I think. Or at least most wouldn''t dare to bring up that incident on my face anymore. It is just a matter of formalities till I am an Inner Disciple.'' After finish his dawn meal, Fang Hao reported to the Outer Assignment Hall that he had broken through to the Qi Condensation stage. The middle aged man just warned him that lying about such news had dire consequences and to confirm his cultivation breakthrough. Fang Hao confirmed it. The middle aged man asked for Fang Hao''s chicken shaped chore token and cast some sort of spell on it. He then returned the token back to Fang Hao and instructed him to wait at his residence. Someone would come to pick him up before dusk. It was too short for him to learn another spell, so he trained his flame snake spell. He found that he could cast 5 flame snakes before he depleted his Qi. By purely cultivating, it would take him several hours to regenerate his Qi. However, he still had around two jugs of spirit wine which was of great use. After depleting his Qi practicing his spell-casting, he would drink spirit wine to refill it and practice the Divine Vajra Body Scripture till he depleted his Qi. While Fang Hao was getting drunk and practicing cultivation this way, it was afternoon and the coal black great elder teleported into outside his backyard. Fang Hao hastily greeted the great elder who nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Junior, have you packed everything?¡± ¡°This Junior is ready, Great Elder!¡± Fang Hao replied in the affirmative as he ahd uncerimoniously tossed all his belongings into the storage pouch...which he now carried with him at all times. ¡°Then bring the cottage token here.¡± Fang Hao followed the great elder''s instructions and handed over the cottage token to the elder who casually glanced at it and then flicked it. The token landed on the gate of the cottage-compound. He then probed Fang Hao with a keen gaze and nodded satisfactorily. Fang Hao felt a shiver run down his spine and he was sure that the great elder had examined his very being to the utmost. ¡°While you did breakthrough faster than expected, your cultivation base is stable and the quality of Qi is much better than average. I do not see signs of a hasty or rushed breakthrough. What resources did you use to breakthrough, junior?¡± ¡°This disciple used 5 Qi Condensation pills he received as the tournament rewards and two jugs of spirit wine he had saved to breakthrough in one go.¡± While the great elder maintained a poker face without a trace of emotion in his eyes, inwardly he was a bit taken aback. ''Using all 5 Qi Condensation pills and two jugs of spirit wine to breakthrough to the Qi condensation stage? Sounds a bit excessive for someone of his talent. Looks like his body refining scripture is quite decent. Otherwise absorbing so many resources so rashly would lead to a significant instability of his cultivation base. And it also looks like he subconsciously incorporated the Dao of Rhythm in the Aura Fist Manual. Indeed the inheritance slip for the Aura Fist Manual wasn''t wasted on him. He either has very good perception or very good luck. Either way, he is worth nurturing even if his Qi talent is so-so.'' Chapter 046 ¡°Have you looked through the spells in the storage pouch junior?¡± ¡°This Disciple has indeed looked through the spells and started practicing the flame snake spell a bit.¡± ¡°And how much progress have made on the Flame Snake spell?¡± ¡°This disciple requests permission to attempt to cast a flame snake.¡± The Great Elder nodded indifferently and thought ''If he can manifest the illusory form of a flame snake in a couple of breath''s worth of time...that would mean his perception is pretty good for an outer disciple.'' Having received permission, he began casting the flame snake spell. Within five seconds of time, a two finger thick, fore-arm long flame snake manifested before him which he directed towards the ground nearby. The spell was cast successfully, and caused a small charred depression on the ground. The great elder muttered, ¡°Good Enough.¡± but inwardly he was very irritated at Brother Zhu. ''He snatched a great talent right under my nose. Not only is his talent in body refining good, he also has great luck and perception comparable to gold grade talents.'' ''If only his Qi talent could keep up with his perception...he could have joined our sect as an inner disciple and received careful nurturing. But no. Brother Zhu had to spoil him with loads of spirit wine and is on his way to turn this little fatty into an eccentric drunk troublemaker like him. Brother Zhu really did pick up a diamond in the pigsty this time.'' The Great Elder then grabbed Fang Hao''s collar and teleported him outside a mansion-complex. He then addressed the little fatty, ¡° This is the Assignment Hall of the inner disciple''s peak you will be staying. Follow me inside.¡± He then walked into the assignment hall, which was largely empty. The wizened old man managing the assignment hall noticed the elder and greeted him with all respect and reverence due to the Great Elder. The inner disciples in the assignment hall too repeated his greeting when they realized who had appeared. The Great Elder nodded indifferently and approached the manager of the Assignment Hall and said, ¡°From Today, he is an inner disciple on this peak. He already has a storage pouch and the basic spells. Provide him with rest of the things for a new inner disciple and explain the basics.¡± ¡°Of course, Great Elder.¡± The great elder then addressed Fang Hao and said, ¡°Cultivate hard now. Remember that you are not to undertake any missions outside the safe zone of the sect or participate in life and death arena matches or duels till you learn the third spell of your cultivation method. When you do so, the first thing you will do is ask the manager here to notify myself, Great Elder Shi. You will keep receiving your spirit wine weekly as before along with a few extra pills from me.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Fang Hao cupped his hands and bowed deeply to express his gratitude, ¡°This junior thanks the great elder from the bottom of his heart. This junior swears to bey Great Elder''s instructions wholeheartedly.¡± The grand elder nodded satisfied, and left the assignment hall. The manager was all smiles as he gave Fang Hao a bunch of stuff and started explaining their utility to him. First he gave Fang Hao a necklace with a silver medallion like amulet to Fang Hao. Fang Hao was told to bind the amulet with blood and was explained that the medallion served a variety of functions. It was a proof of his identity as an inner disciple, and kept track of his contribution points, privileges, duties etc. It would also act as a key to his selected residence. In case of his death, the amulet''s twin would shatter and the sect would be informed of his last track-able location. Next, he was handed something which looked like a gray marble bracelet and a crude dark-brown wooden short sword. He was told that these two were the lowest grade magic tools. The marble bracelet was a defensive magic tool which could generate a barrier almost instantly when activated. However, it would only need his Qi for activation and no other spell-casting actions. It wasn''t too strong, but still the strength of the barrier was largely related to the proficiency of the Qi barrier spell. Similarly, the wooden sword was one of the most basic offensive magic tools. It could be used by pouring Qi in it and it would generate wind blades. The power of the generated Wind blades would be largely dependent upon the proficiency of his Wind Blade spell. To refine these tools, he would just have to simply bind them with a drop of his Qi infused blood. Next he was handed a few sets of silver-colored inner disciple robes and a jade slip. He was told that he would have to wear the inner disciple robes from now on, and that the jade slip had detailed set of rules for inner disciples. The manger however did touch upon the major rules for him then and there. Largely it was the same as outer disciples. They were: Be Loyal to the sect and to never leak any of the cultivation, spell, and technique scriptures without authorization. Not to kill or permanently cripple fellow disciples outside the arena, and not to intrude into their dwellings without permission. To complete one''s obligations to the sect. The obligations of inner disciples differed greatly from outer disciples however. Instead of compulsory chores, they had to ear at least 50 contribution points per year by doing missions/fighting in the arena. As long as the disciple fulfilled these obligations, he would receive an additional 30 contribution points per year. So an inner disciple would earn a minimum of 80 contribution points per year if he performed the bare minimum amount of missions. A new inner disciple had a relaxation of 1 year to the compulsory requirement of earning 50 contribution points per year, and received the 30 contribution points free for the first year. And contribution points were the currency for inner disciples. Contribution points could be exchanged for a variety of things ranging from spells and cultivation manuals to alchemical pills and magic tools to spirit stones and various sundries. Chapter 047 If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Fang Hao then spent the next few days learning the Wind Blade spell and the Qi Barrier spell while also trying to use the Magic tools. When he compared the wind blade spell he cast himself and using the wooden sword to unleash wind blade. He found that the magic tool produced a significantly larger blade while consuming a little less Qi. It also saved quite a bit of cast time. The Wind blade spell took him roughly 2 to 3 seconds to cast just after learning it, whereas all he needed to do while using the magic tool was to make a slashing motion while pouring his Qi. Chapter 048 However, there was one feature the magic tool cast spell was missing. The wind blade he cast, while being smaller, had a slightly vibrating edge. If one observed it carefully the edge looked like a translucent crescent-shaped chainsaw blade. But the magic tool cast wind blade looked like a plain crescent-shaped translucent blade. He then scrutinized and compared the barrier cast by him and the magic tool. His barrier had slight shimmering, refracting look it it. It wasn''t too obvious but was noticeable after a careful look. But the marble bracelet cast barrier was like a plain glass oval. ''So it looks like my (+) thingy from the cultivation manual doesn''t affect spells cast by these magic tools. But the tools in general act like an amplifier for the spell. Increasing power, reducing Qi consumption and drastically shortening casting time. The marble bracelet Qi barrier is almost instant! But my (+) special effects are missing.'' ''I am not even sure whether all magic tools function like an amplier. If they are amplifiers...I should focus on defensive barriers and shields which are almost isnta-cast. I am not really sure how my spells and tool-amplified spells scale with increased spell proficency. And now that I don''t have access to chicken slaughter, I guess I need to visit the assignment halls to find a suitable mission in the sect''s safe zone or visit the arena for some non-lethal matches...but with spells! But before that I will upgrade all my spells to at least intermediate level.'' Fang Hao soon checked the assignment hall and he saw that it wasn''t too hard to earn contribution points. A single session of preparing a spirit field for planting spirit grains was worth 25 contribution points for example, and it was one of the lower contribution point rewards. But then when he looked at the cost of things, he was flabbergasted. The wooden sword which could produce wind blades was apparently worth 100 contribution points, and the marble bracelet was worth 130 points. Only Single use talismans for low level spells like Wind blade was under 50 contribution points. ''Well ploughing a spirit field once is barely enough for a Wind blade talisman. What a shitty economy. While a single use talisman may seem shitty, it doesn''t require any Qi to activate! So these glass-canon Qi casters surely have some utility for these talismans. A decent magic tool for QI condensation cultivator costs a couple of thousand contribution points. And some of the better cultivation manual may cost upwards of several thousands or even tens of thousands of contribution points! Similarly some of the better Qi Condensation spells also had a cost of around a thousand contribution points.'' ''And apparently 5 contribution points can be exchanged for one lowest grade spirit stone. The spirit stone I received is apparently a low grade spirit stone worth 100 lowest grade spirit stones or 500 contribution points! So while earning 50 contribution points per year might be very easy...If one has to progress with the best cultivation method/ magic spells and magic tools along with pills and talismans...he will need to literally provide slave labour inside the safe one of the sect or risk their life in missions outside the safe zone.''If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ''Not sure how the rewards at the arena are. But I should be prepared as Qi condensation disciples have access to spells, magic tools/treasures and various one use talismans. I think I should do the spirit field ploughing job as frequently as possible to amass contribution points. I can then use those points for some basic spells and techniques. Once I have learned them I can aim for a few of the better magic tools. Fortunately I have a Qi cultivating manual and Body cultivating scripture already and a steady stream of cultivation resources in the form of spirit wine. Otherwise it would be a bit too tight. Although if the potency of the spirit wine doesn''t increase...soon I will have to keep a contribution point budget for cultivation resources too.'' ''Hmm so for the spirit field ploughing job is a lot of hard work. Early Qi condensation disciples usually exhaust all their Qi before they can do a satisfactory job of it. But it is relatively easy for those who practice some sort of body refining. So basically I am volunteering to be a landless laborer eh? Oh the joys of cultivation... And the reward is just contribution points. Not even one spirit grain will be given to us...we have to buy them using contribution points. What a stingy sect. Bah...'' Spirit grains were a type of cultivating resource which had could supplement a low amount of Qi to the cultivator. While the Qi was low, it was very gentle and wouldn''t case cultivation base instability or other hidden dangers even with regular intake of it. If one could replace all of their mortal food with spirit grains, spirit vegetables/fruits and meat from spirit beasts...one would have denser, purer Qi and a very stable cultivation base! Foundation establishment disciples were entitled to meals made from spirit grains but inner disciples had to purchase it with their contribution points. ''One serving of spirit grains is worth 50 contribution points. So a year''s minimum contribution point requirements is enough for one serving which I am sure would barely fill me. Fucking Bullshit economy. But the system is well designed... if you just want to stay a lowly outer disciple, the sect gives you the freedom to do so. But without any resources/spells/scriptures and magic tools well there is realistically no hope of advancement.'' ''On the other hand, for motivated disciples...they can work extremely hard and also risk their lives by taking risky assignments outside the sect''s safe zone and rack up tons of contribution points and advance quickly. Indeed talent just determines the starting point and free resources. If rumors are to be believed, one of the elders started as a janitorial disciple with bronze rank talent and worked hard and risked his life hunting rogue cultivators who were declared as criminals along with dangerous magic beasts and managed to exceed even core formation to become an elder!'' ''But then again that might just be sect propaganda to encourage low talent disciples to work hard for the sect and be voluntary cannon fodder. In theory, though it is possible. Now it looks like the spirit field ploughing job can only be taken maximum once a week. So assuming everything is fine, I can potentially earn around 1200 contribution points in a year. So if there I only do this job...it would still take me a couple of years to save enough for a magic tool.'' Chapter 049 ''I am still not sure about how rewarding the non-lethal arena is for Qi Condensation disciples. So I need alternate jobs..and it looks like most jobs can only be done once a week unless the job overseer gives you special permission. Hmm in the safe zone, other assignments which don''t require constant full-time care I could also take the spirit beast slaughtering job. Tri horned spirit goats have the strength and speed of an average peak Qi gathering cultivator and no innate abilities. Should be easy enough to butcher. One butchering gives 20 contribution points...which includes catching the beast, killing it and dressing the meat. Worst case scenario, I can only butcher one per week that can also earn around 1000 contribution points per year.'' ''Looks like around 2200 contribution points per year can be earned well enough. That along with the constant spirit wine and non-lethal arena rewards should tide me over for a while. My aim is to upgrade Aura Infusion to the next level and the three basic Qi spells to at least the Expert level and buy at least one good defensive magic tool and one spell to hinder the mobility of my opponents. The way I see it, I can do more damage with an Aura Infused close combat attack than long ranged spells.'' ''And Aura Infusion also makes me reasonably faster...but not as fast as those using agility techniques. So a good encumbering spell to slow down opponents while I have my defensive magic tool so as to survive the barrage from their talismans and spells till I close the distance. That combined with Aura Infusion''s boost to speed and attack should should be able to handle most cultivators at my level. Oh and I should buy a god iron sledgehammer and club. Apparently one contribution point is valued at roughly 25 fasting pills. So I can expect a good mortal weapon for a few contribution points. Deadline for Foundation establishment is 50 years of age. I have around 33 years+ to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. Once my initial spells/magic tools are set. I can rack in the xp relatively easily in the non-lethal arena. But I guess for the first couple of years I will have to struggle to get enough points for new spells and magic tools. Later on, I can earn more contribution points to buy additional resources when the spirit wine''s potency isn''t so useful for cultivation anymore...'' Having made up a road-map for his cultivation progress in the near future, Fang Hao started to prepare for his xp farming at he arena. He still had the set of mortal armor from his Qi Gathering days, and he then spent around five contribution points to buy a sturdy steel sledgehammer and an iron club. With that he had mortal armor, a one-handed and a two-handed weapon. He reckoned they wouldn''t be useful for too long...but hey beggars can''t be choosers. And he was incredibly short on contribution points for now.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Fang Hao then applied for the spirit field ploughing and tri-horned spirit goat butchering jobs. The spirit field ploughing job was quite simple for him actually. Each disciple had to till an acre''s worth of spirit field within two hours. But these fields weren''t normal. The spirit field had soil which was quite hard and it had a lot of rocks and weeds which needed to be cleared before spirit grains could be planted. They were given a kind of hoe shaped magic tool which was enough to till the spirit soil but not enough to break the rocks. It was basically a glorified laborer''s job. Of course Qi Condensation cultivators could use their Qi to amplify the hoe shaped magic tool''s efficiency...but they would soon exhaust their Qi before completing it. So generally most of the disciples attempting this task had some form of body refining to support the effort, even if it wasn''t their main focus. Indeed Fang Hao noticed that quite a few disciples had additional cultivation paths other than the orthodox Qi cultivation. Fang Hao made excellent use of his Expert level Aura Infusion spell to clear the ploughing task. Instead of using his Qi to supplement the hoe shaped magic tool, he sued his Qi to enhance his physical strength and speed and used the hoe shaped magic took as an ordinary hoe. Using Aura infusion to boost his physical characteristics was much more efficient that using the same Qi on the hoe shaped magic tool. It also had the added benefit of training his Aura Infusion spell. However, in spite all this, his first time ploughing the spirit field, he barely managed to finish his 1 acre and had exhausted his Qi long before he could complete the ploughing. Fortunately his first seal provided him excellent endurance and stamina recovery and he managed to persevere through sheer physical effort. The job wasn''t as easy as expected but still doable. His second chosen job of butchering spirit goats was a success too. However, he wasn''t handed spirit goats and told to butcher them. No, he had to go to a contained mountain peak and catch the tri-horned spirit goat, kill it then transport its carcass to the foot of the mountain and butcher it there. The time limit for that job was two hours, and his first time doing that was sloppy. The goats were smart and ran away form him quickly. He had wasted almost half an hour chasing one of the goats but it would always manage to evade his grasp. It was simply more familiar with the territory. Fang Hao had to resort to using the wooden sword shaped magic tool to release a series of wind blades to kill the fleeing goat. He would then dump the carcass in his storage pouch and sloppily butcher it at the slaughter house near the base of the mountain. Of course, all the offal the sect didn''t require to be butchered, he pocketed it. But still this job made him feel depressed somewhat. He was proud of his body cultivation, but he couldn''t even catch a fucking goat without the help of his sect provided magic tool. That alone highlighted the importance of good equipment! Chapter 050 Of course, Fang Hao could have opted for assignments like taking care of herb plantations or helping the forging of spirit materials...but that required quite a bit of knowledge and lot of effort. These wouldn''t require the support of body cultivation, but instead require talent in other areas. Caring for herbs would require a lot of dedication to herbology of spirit herbs, whereas being an apprentice forger demanded stringent requirements of flame control. But Fang Hao had never explored these paths, he was focused on earning contribution points and practicing his spells along with cultivation. With time Fang Hao got more and more proficient with his chosen assignments and steadily progressed with them, exceeding his targets and hence earning more contribution points. He used the spirit wine he got to practice the Divine Vajra Body Scripture and all four of his spells. Other than earning xp whenever he expelled up his spells, he also earned some xp when he successfully completed his assignments. Not to mention the xp he received for killing the goats. Killing a goat and completing both his assignments granted him around 280 xp per week. Which was more or less comparable to what he got for fighting in the non-lethal arena as an outer disciple. This also meant that once he was set, and started succeeding in arena fights, his xp rate would also increase! Increase in xp for learning spells was also another source of xp form him. Each time he learned a basic spell, he would gain around 100xp. Upgrading the basic spell to experienced would earn him an additional 400 xp and to Expert it would earn additional 900 or so xp. When he succeed in upgrading his Aura Infusion spell from Expert level to master level, he earned 4 additional skill points and around 1600xp. Similarly upgrading a spell to Intermediate earned him 2 skill points, and upgrading to expert earned him 3 skill points. After some analysis, Fang Hao concluded that one of the fastest ways to grind skill points would be to buy a large amount of low level spells and learn them just to the basic level for the 1 skill point. Most of the spells at the Qi Condensation level was very easy to comprehend for him and he didn''t take more than a couple of days to gain basic proficiency in it. But how could he afford the tens of thousands of contribution points to mass learn these spells? But he could consider it when he had a set of decent equipment, good stock of various charms and some powerful spells at the expert or master Level. Master spells could also be further upgraded, but the skill point cost was a hefty 8 skill points! But Fang Hao found that it was very difficult to upgrade his master level aura infusion spell in a short time. He soon concluded that ti was better to train the spells at the lower levels and upgrade at the highest levels. After a year of cultivation and assignments, Fang Hao had managed to level up to the 2nd level of Qi Condensation and also practice the first step of the next seal of the Divine Vajra body scripture. This speed was quite fast for an inner disciple...but not too eye catching. And as an inner disciple, he had kept quite a low profile..not visiting the arena, sticking to the two farming/butchering chores and cultivating and practicing the rest of his time. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Of course, he made sure to finish whatever wine he got weekly. He also got around a couple of Qi condensation pills per week with the wine, which he hoarded. He had managed to earn around 3000 contribution points and hoarded around 90 qi condensing pills along with the low grade spirit stone he already had. His wealth was quite good for an inner disciple with just one year in the sect, and he could have easily met his goals of equipping himself as planned. But he was saving the Qi condensing pills for a breakthrough. While these pills weren''t that valuable to a Qi Condensation disciple, it could still be used as a cultivation resources up to the late stages of Qi Condensation. And Fang Hao had planned to make up quality with quantity if better alternatives weren''t available in the future. Also who knows wether a great elder might be offended or not, if he sold the pills for contribution points. Fang Hao checked his status and decided that he was ready for the next stage of his power-up plan.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 18 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 54
Realm: Qi Condensation Realm Level: 2
Current Experience: 67379 Level Up at Experience: 75737
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 11.9 Finesse: 10.1
Spirit: 12.5 Qi 42.5/42.5
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (1st Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Master) Flame Snake (Expert) Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
''Hmm I have a decent stats for one year as an inner disciple. I now have around 3000 contribution points and should buy a control spell to restrict opponents. Aura Fist will become available when I advance the Aura Fist Manual next level and I already have the cultivation method for the 2nd layer of the Aura Fist Manual unlocked in my head. And a good defensive magic tool should be available if I am ready to sell the low grade spirit stone worth 500 contribution points. Things might still be a bit tight to afford two of these items, but I should be able to manage with another couple of months of the chores if required. Finally then I can unleash the majesty of Lord lard in the arena!'' thought Fang Hao as he was pumped and decided to go to the Scripture Pavilion for buying a control spell. Chapter 051 Fang Hao caught one of the regular transports to the Bronze Scripture Pavilion, which held spells and manuals for the Qi Condensation Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm. Without the great Elder it took him significantly longer to get things done. First he had to wait for almost an hour to inquire about all of the control type spell suitable for Qi Condensation Disciples. He wanted to learn them all and try them on the fucking goats to see which was the most effective. But he had the settle by reading their descriptions. His requirements were that the control spell should have a quick cast time and it should also be versatile. This alone negated a variety of cheap, powerful yet situational spells. Some of these situational spells were powerful but required a specific environment to be cast. One of these situational spells he was very fond of was named static web. This spell could only be cast under storm clouds, so a variety of environments and weather conditions rendered the spell useless. It was a simplified version of a more powerful spell which had significantly reduced restrictions. Unfortunately though, the powered up version could only be cast by Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Almost all the truly versatile and powerful control spells required a cultivation base of at least the foundation establishment realm. Finally after deliberating for a couple of hours, Fang Hao decided upon a spell called Frost Chains. It was a decent enough control spell for Qi Condensation Cultivators. It was reasonably powerful and a relatively short cast time. However, it was single target spell and could be countered by fire type spells. Despite these limitations , Fang Hao felt that it was one of the most versatile spells he could learn and would fit in his budget. He spent 850 contribution points to get a jade slip of the spell which he had to bind with his blood. Of course to buy that copy he had to stand in another queue for another couple of hours...spending almost the entire time between dawn and dusk at the Bronze Scripture Pavilion. Once he returned he immediately memorized the chants, hand signs, qi circulation path and contemplation image. This spell was apparently a tier above the training spells in difficulty and it took him a couple of days to completely memorize the spell. It took him another 3 days or so till he could consistently cast it at the trees in his courtyard. Just like how it was with his previous spells, Once he learned the spell at basic proficiency...the spell was affected by his cultivation manual. Instead of rigid frozen chains wrapping and binding a target, what appeared was ice blue wriggling flexible chains which rhythmically contracted and exerted a crushing force on the target. A successful cast took a little under a second. ''Nice, I just hope the (+) thingy didn''t affect this control spell negatively. My main offensive potential is still Aura Infusion with sledgehammer slam. Now that I have a control spell, I should go to the market and get myself the best defensive magic tool I can afford.'' Fang Hao decided to visit the market at the earliest. he then focused on increasing the proficiency of the spell Frost Chains along with regular practice of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Next week, he visited the market. Now that he was an inner disciple, a new section of the market was open to him.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. He entered a magic tool shop and a senior inner disciple greeted him. Fang Hao was frank and he told his requirements of a defensive treasure. The inner disciple nodded thoughtfully, ¡°Hmm, I might have just the thing for junior brother.¡± He went inside the shop and disappeared. Fang Hao occupied himself by looking around at the other inner disciples who were conducting transactions at the shop. After almost 15 minutes, the inner disciple who was attending Fang Hao reappeared with a foot long, half foot wide and 3 inch deep wooden box. He approached Fang Hao and opened the box revealing a brownish-skin colored glove. The glove looked like it was made for the left hand. It had a bit of bristly fur, was made up of a thick leathery material and had honeycomb like patterns and bands on it. It was just a single glove though...and lacking its mirror for the right hand. The inner disciple said, ¡°This glove is made from the material of a 3rd grade three clawed armadillo.¡± ¡°Senior, isn''t 3rd grade spirit beasts equivalent to foundation establishment cultivators? How can I afford something like that?¡± ¡°Junior, I won''t lie to you. This here is a failed product. If forged properly, this defensive magic treasure would be a top 3rd grade magic tool which would make most Foundation Establishment Cultivators crazy for it! However, the spirit smith couldn''t refine the material properly and caused it to degrade to a mid 2nd grade magic tool. Even though it is considered as a ''failure'', it is perhaps one of the better defensive magic tools for even a peak Qi Condensation Cultivator!¡± Fang Hao feigned a bit of hesitation but inwardly he considered it as a viable option. ¡°What exactly are its abilities senior brother?¡± ¡°Well, it can be bound to you by blood, and would just require a thought to be activated. One of it''s greatest advantage is that this magic tool doesn''t consume Qi to activate its defensive abilities and is cast instantly! Once used, it will create a fortified barrier around the owner. This fortified version can last almost 15 minutes if no damage is received, and can block a dozen or so spells from peak Qi Condensation disciples. Or maybe even a single spell from an early foundation establishment cultivator. Once the barrier is depleted, it takes 24 hours to recharge on its own. Of course, if the owner can supply enough Qi, it can be recharged earlier.¡± ''That recharge earlier part is bullshit alright. Something which can block a single earl Foundation establishment spell, assuming it isn''t too strong... could never be fully recharged by a Qi Condensation cultivator''s Qi. Still, it looks quite good. I wonder if it scales in effectiveness with any spell learned.'' ¡°senior, can its capabilities be enhanced by learning and mastering some spell.¡± the inner disciple replied, ¡°No junior. But that is an advantage! You can use it at full power from the start...¡± Chapter 052 ¡°What is the price senior?¡± ¡°For you junior...it just a measly 3000 contribution points.¡± ¡°Bye senior.¡± Fang Hao said as he started leaving as the inner disciple blocked his path and started attempting to convince that why it was such a bargain. Fang Hao then started bargaining and even inquired about the other standard magic tools and considered buying one of them. Finally the senior inner disciple gave up and said. ¡°2200 contribution points junior. And not a single point less. This just breaks even for me.¡± ¡°Since senior is insisting, Junior will buy it.¡± Fang Hao then transferred almost all of his remaining contribution points to the shop and gained ownership of that defensive magic tool. He bit his forefinger and bound it with blood then and there before wearing in on his left hand. He didn''t have to sell his low grade spirit stone, but was left with less than a 100 contribution points. While this was a good defensive magic tool...it was only of use in the Qi Condensation stage. But still, it was one of the best magic tools satisfying his requirements. Once he reached his dwelling, he activated the armadillo leather glove and a membrane appeared over his skin. He observed his right hand and noticed that there was a honey combed shaped pattern over his skin, not unlike the one on his glove. Looking closely, the pattern was shimmering in an almost unnoticeable manner. ''Wait a minute...is the barrier supposed to shimmer like that Or is it the effect of (+) of my Aura Fist manual? The seller said that my own Qi could be used to recharge this tool. Let me try to use my Qi and notice the reaction.'' With the membrane barrier active, Fang Hao poured some of his Qi into the magic tool and the shimmering got a bit more intense. ''So the glove is reacting to my Qi. That''s unexpected, but not very useful in the grand scheme of things if the output of the glove is only useful for the Qi Condensation stage. I wonder how much Qi this glove needs to be recharged?'' In the name of curiosity and knowledge, Fang Hao retrieved his iron club and smashed his left shoulder with all the force he could muster. The membrane barrier shimmered, rippling from the point of contact as what looked like waves disappeared leaving Fang Hao completely unaffected. It took more than 30 full strength smashes for the membrane barrier to disappear. Fang Hao then poured his Qi as fast as possible into the glove as it easily absorbed it. It wasn''t long before all of his Qi was depleted. ''I need to see how much Qi it takes to recharge this armadillo glove.'' thought Fang Hao as he retried a wine jug from his storage pouch and drank a few mouthfuls. Again the glove drained his Qi. When re filled his Qi the second time, and was recharging the glove the third time; half of his qi was depleted and the glove was fully recharged.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ''So it looks like ti takes around 100 points of Qi to fully recharge the glove or roughly 2.5 times my maximum Qi. I guess that I can pop a Qi condensing pill or two and rapidly refill the glove in case of an emergency, so that is good. With this, my defense is pretty solid for a Qi Condensation Disciple. Though this purchase turned me into a beggar. As soon as I train the Frost Chains spell to Expert, I will be ready for xp grinding at the Arena!'' It took Fang Hao almost 2 more months to finally train the Frost Chains Spell to the Expert Tier. While he was practicing the Frost Chains spell, he would also drain the armadillo glove''s membrane barrier and refill it with his Qi at least once a day. With each refill, the shimmering of the membrane barrier became more apparent. ''I guess feeding the glove my Qi is somehow synchronizing it more with me? At least it works as advertised. Today I will catch at least one of those shitty goats without relying on magic tools.'' Fang Hao decided as he prepared for his butchering chore. Fang Hao reached the goat farm, and tried his best to stealthily approach a goat. He had ensured that the wind was blowing towards him, so that the goat wouldn''t get a warning when his scent was carried along with the wind towards it. He was around 15 meters away from the goat, who was eating some kind of shrub, when it suddenly stopped and cocked its head. ''These goats have sharp instincts. Damn these fuckers'' thought Fang Hao as he paused his advance and tried to blend the best he could with the surrounding shrubbery staying completely still. Many animals had a better dynamic vision that static vision. They could notice movements much easier than something still. Especially since many of those animals were colorblind and had vision worse than that of humans. Fang Hao was hoping that it was the case with the tri horned spirit goat too. After a few breaths, the goat returned to its grazing. Since the goat was well within range and had relaxed is guard, Fang Hao started casting the Frost Chains spell. He whispered the chants as silently as he could and made the appropriate hand seals. In around half a second, multiple ice blue rippling chains materialized around the goat and bound it. Fang Hao then activated Aura Infusion to the max and a silvery halo coated him. Feeling the increased strength of his fleshly Body, Fang Hao retrieved his iron club from his storage pouch and lunged towards the bound goat. He smashed the goat''s head with his iron club and actually caused the innocent goat''s skull to shatter, killing it instantly. Fang Hao then released the contemplation image of the frost chains from his mind causing the spell to dissipate as he stored the goat carcass in his storage pouch. ''That went better than expected. I think I can catch one more goat and then butcher both of them for extra offal and contribution points! And the 80ish xp helps too.'' thought Fang Hao as he wiped the club on some nearby leaves, and scrubbed it with mud to remove any scent of blood. He masked the aroma of the blood and brain splashes on his robe the same way. Chapter 053 Fang Hao was confident as he registered himself in the arena for a non-lethal match between Early Qi Condensation level Disciples. That particular day, there was an elimination style individual competition for early Qi Condensation Disciples. Cultivators in the 1st to 3rd level of Qi Condensation were considered as early Qi Condensation cultivators. While Fang Hao didn''t have the highest cultivation base among the participants, he wasn''t that far off. However, he was one of the least experienced cultivators when it came to battle experience with spells. He had relied on his superior physique to steamroll through the outer disciples so far. Even then, he would sometimes meet fellow disciples like the Swarthy Turtle who could put up a good fight solely based on technique. He had been an inner disciple for a little over a year, and he had never experienced a fight where the opponents could also cast spells. While his spell casting may have been very successful on the tri-horned spirit goats, inner disciples who in some cases had more than 5 years of cultivation and practice couldn''t be compared to the poor ambushed goats. Fang Hao was wearing his silver inner disciple robe, with a rough looking leather glove and a marble bracelet on his left hand. His left hand was also holding the wooden sword magic tool. After some thought, Fang Hao had refrained himself from wearing his chain-mail armor set. What if his opponent specialized in thunder and lightning spells? That much metal on his body would just make him a better target for a shock bolt spell or whatever. Besides, that much armor would have slowed him down significantly, giving his opponent a bit more time. That extra half a breath of time could be what the opponent needed to turn the tide of battle! And he had his armadillo leather membrane barrier magic tool along with the default sect marble bracelet barrier magic tool for defense. There was no point in encumbering himself significantly for something that might become a liability to thunder spells. Surprisingly, he also had to pay 50 contribution points as a fee before he could participate in the arena. He just hoped that the winnings made up for this fee. Fang Hao entered the specific arena for his first match as he observed his surrounding. There was a roughly hundred meter wide circular raised stage. As usual , a grumpy looking judge was seated on a creepy looking giant mosquito which was buzzing nearby. There were no cupboards for selecting their weapons like the outer disciple matches. Fang Hao climbed the stage and saw his opponent, a thin and pale looking cultivator. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The pale thin cultivator glanced at Fang Hao''s default magic tools and had a self-satisfied expression on his face though inwardly he was a bit wary looking at the rough leather glove. The grumpy old man on the buzzing giant mosquito cleared his throat and addressed the inner disciples. ¡°Juniors, I will repeat the basics. No killing and permanent crippling. You can give up by admitting defeat, or if you lose consciousness. In case I feel either one of you are in danger, I will stop the match and declare the winner. The rewards for winning each match is 50 contribution points. That means if you want to earn contribution points, you will have to win at least two matches. And if you come first, you will be given a bonus of two Qi Condensation pill, so work hard.¡± The grumpy judge then instructed Fang Hao and his opponent to stand around 50 m away from each other, before he gave the signal allowing them to fight. Fang Hao instantly activated his marble bracelet and an protective elementary Qi barrier enveloped him like a bubble. He then activated Aura Infusion, and a silvery glow covered his lardly figure as he charged like a bull towards his opponent, releasing a flurry of wind blades from the wooden sword shaped magic tool in his left hand. He had also retrieved the iron sledgehammer from his storage pouch and wielded it in his right hand. Since he had achieved Master Proficiency in Aura Infusion, the previously unwieldy and cumbersome weapon felt light enough to be wielded comfortably in one hand. While Fang Hao was charging to close the distance and harassing his opponent with a stream of quick Wind Blades, his opponent wasn''t idle. His opponent waved his left hand, and one of his rings glowed for a bit. A sturdy looking Qi barrier enveloped him. He then withdrew a steel colored forearm long banner and waved it in a specific motion as he chanted certain incantations under his breath while backing away. By the time Fang Hao had covered half the distance between them, a translucent illusory steel gray sword was floating just outside his Qi barrier. He continued using the steel colored banner shaped magic tool and an additional floating illusory sword surrounded him. He was backing away all the time, trying to maximize the distance between himself and Fang Hao. By now, Fang Hao had reached his opponent. His opponent had a haughty look in his eyes and started casting another spell. Fang Hao had reached him in around a breath''s worth of time and was instantly harassed by the two floating illusory swords which attacked his shields. He estimated that each of those sword slashes depleted a little under a fifth of his Qi barrier! Fang Hao swiped at one of the illusory swords with his sledge hammer...and the sledgehammer passed through it! ''Damn the floating swords are incorporeal to my mundane sledgehammer. No wonder, he has such a smug look on his face as he is casting his spell.'' Fang Hao was irritated by his opponents smug look and tossed his sledgehammer at his opponent. The sledgehammer passed cleanly through the intercepting illusory swords and crashed with his opponent s Qi barrier. The opponent was a bit alarmed at the cracks appearing in his Qi barrier, and hastened his spell casting. The illusory swords managed to smash Fang Hao''s Qi Barrier to pieces. Devoid of his weapon, and his shield broken, Fang Hao reacted naturally as he punched one of the illusory swords with his fist. Chapter 054 His fist which was covered in the silver glow from Aura Infusion, smashed the illusory sword, and smashed it apart! He felt a mild feedback through his arm as he had a savage grin on his face. His Aura Infusion enhanced punches could counter the floating illusory sword! With one less sword to distract him, he performed a backhand against the other pesky illusory sword, sweeping it aside like a curtain as he closed the distance with his opponent. His opponent no longer had the smug confident look on his face as Fang Hao came in range and striking punching his Qi barrier with a flurry of aura infused punches. Soon, the opponent''s barrier shattered, but he had also completed his spell! A hawk made of golden thunder materialized and instantly shot towards Fang Hao. A sense of crisis filled Fang Hao, as he immediately activated the membrane barrier from his armadillo leather gloves and charged ahead instead of retreating. The golden thunder hawk impacted against Fang Hao''s torso and the turned a large part of his inner disciple robes to dust. But when it made contact with his pulsating membrane barrier, it was decomposed into streaks of lighting and dissipated all over the membrane barrier. The barrier also lost a noticeable amount of shimmer, but it had allowed Fang Hao to take the golden thunder hawk spell head-on in almost perfect condition. ''Now that your spells are countered, nobody can stop me from beating you up, you smug little shit.'' thought Fang Hao as he lunged towards his opponent, angling his knee to strike at his opponent''s abdomen. His impressive physique collided with the thin inner disciple and caused him to fall backwards. Fang Hao landed on his chest and he was about to smash his opponent''s jaw with full force when suddenly, somebody caught his arm. The grumpy old man had appeared before him, with the creepy looking giant mosquito at his side. ¡°Enough junior. You win. Go to the waiting area and have some of the spirit wine there to restore your Qi. Your next match should be in 15-20 minutes.¡± the grumpy old man addressed Fang Hao. ''Well, the presiding judge can stop me anytime...'' Fang Hao withdrew his punches, bowed and clasped his hands at the judge and replied in a respectful tone, ¡°As senior commands, this junior will take his leave.¡± As Fang Hao retreated and was about to leave, his opponent got up and addressed the grumpy looking old man judge. ¡°Senior, the match could have continued. I had activated three minor guard talismans before the fatty collided my stomach. I had a small chance to win.¡± The grumpy looking man, despite his features, had a good temperament as he replied with a question.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Is it junior? Check again and tell me how many of those minor guard talismans still have energy left.¡± The thin pale looking cultivator looked at his chest, beneath his robes and his plae looking face became paler. ¡°Senior is wise and experienced. Only one of the minor guard talismans are left untouched.¡± ¡°Yes junior, that fatty''s little charge at the end would have broken your spine if not for the minor guard talismans. His last punch would have easily drained that last remaining minor guard talisman and smashed your jaws to pulp. And since you disrespected me by questioning my fair judgment, I ban you from the arena for a month.¡± It turns out that the grumpy old man judge wasn''t too good natured after all. But the thin pale cultivator didn''t utter a single word in protest as he meekly clasped his hands and retreated cursing his big mouth. Fang Hao exited the arena and made his way to the waiting room. There were dozens of inner disciples there chatting and drinking a pale red colored liquid from wooden goblets. Fang Hao eagerly made his way to a table where numerous wooden goblets filled with pale red liquid were kept. He grabbed one and took a tentative sip. Then he gulped down the whole goblet and had a look of disappointment on his face as he grabbed another wooden glass of wine and started drinking it like water. ''Master Zhu is the best. This is not spirit wine. This is water which has been diluted with a little spirit wine. But then again, its free so this was kind of expected.'' he had finished half a dozen of those goblets of ''spirit wine'' before he felt the onset of an alcoholic buzz. During this at, Fang Hao''s act caused him to attract a significant amount of attention in the waiting hall. ¡°Look at that fatty. He just keeps on drinking the spirit wine like water.¡± ¡°I know. He doesn''t intend to fight the further matches.¡± ¡°It might be a bit shameless, but its not a bad strategy. He must have barely won the previous match and must be loading up on the spirit wine.¡± ¡°Yeah while it may not be the best quality spirit wine. For a new inner disciple it is quite a good cultivation resource.¡± ¡°Or perhaps he is a body cultivator. They have a lot more tolerance to spirit wine.¡± Due to Fang Hao''s sharp senses, quite a few of these murmurs reached his ears as he swallowed his 9th goblet of spirit wine. ''Bah. Youth these days have no tolerance to alcohol. At least they know their limits. I am not even decently buzzed with this piss like wine. But they do have a point though. I shouldn''t drink too much now and be too buzzed to fight at 100%.'' Fang Hao then retreated into an isolated corner and closed his eyes, circulating the Qi according to the Divine Vajra body Scripture, trying to channel the excess Qi into his body cultivation. But surprisingly, there was barely any effect of doing so. ''Looks like without the postures, its not much sue cultivating the Divine Vajra body Scripture. At least my inebriation is totally gone now. That means I can drink a lot more and get sober enough in time for the match!'' thought Fang Hao excitedly as he almost hopped towards the goblets filled with the spirit wine. Chapter 055 Fang Hao''s second opponent was a shifty looking guy in his late teens who had used a wind-vane shaped magic treasure to summon clouds over the arena ring. He then used incantations to summon what looked like red thunderbolts to strike at Fang Hao. Fang Hao had to rely on his armadillo leather glove magic tool''s membrane barrier to absorb the damaging red thunderbolts till he could close the distance between them and whack him till his Qi shield shattered and he gave up. Fang Hao estimated that he could have closed the distance without using the membrane barrier, but he didn''t choose to do so. Each of the thunderbolts rained down from the summoned storm clouds around twice in each second, making them too difficult to dodge while maintaining his charging momentum. And he estimated that each of the thunderbolts was at least twice as powerful as a regular fire snake spell. If he absorbed all that damage without his membrane barrier, he would have been in a sorry state. He could partially refill his magic tool with Qi in between fights using the shitty Qi recovery wine. And although he was confident that he could recover a significant portion of damage between fights using his Primordial marrow trait, why would he expose all his cards without any returns? It was a shameless, cheap and effective strategy, just the way he liked it! He would use his mag tool''s Membrane Barrier spell to negate almost all the damaging spells and just rush to his opponent in his Aura-infused state to beat the shit out of them with a mundane metal club. And between fights he would drink as much as he could and replenish his own Qi reserves and his armadillo leather glove magic tool too. Although he had devised a cheap strategy, which he nicknamed ¡°charging turtle¡± for quick and consecutive wins for xp farming, his second opponent''s tactics had got him thinking. ''His main magic tool was that storm summoning wind-vane. And his main spell was a conditional red thunderbolt. Now looking at either the tool or spell individually they don''t seem that useful. Investing in a magic tool to just summon storm clouds doesn''t seem that useful. Also, choosing a thunder spell that needs clouds as a primary offensive spell might seem counter-intuitive individually. But using them together has surprisingly good synergy! After some preparation he could dish out quite a bit of damage fast! So I shouldn''t just disregard conditional spells. With a complimenting magic tool and/or spell, it can give rise to a powerful combo.'' ''If I look at it that way, isn''t body cultivation and aura fist scripture built on synergy? On top that add a decent magic tool for some more defense and you can even smash Qi Condensation cultivators with a fucking club.'' His third fight was against a pyromaniac. His third opponent only used fire spells. Even his Qi barrier was like a flaming cocoon. The fire snakes his third opponent cast were as powerful as his own and could cast them in a little under a second! That was almost as fast as when Fang Hao himself cast wind blade. The shameless ¡°charging turtle¡± strategy was successful, but the flaming Qi barrier drained more of his membrane barrier than he would have liked. Every smash of his club caused small fireballs to retaliate towards him.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Unexpectedly, his forth opponent was a body cultivator! It was a muscular looking young man with shaggy hair and sparse tufts of beard. As soon as the match began, his opponent conjured a translucent barrier and performed complex looking incantation gestures chanting all the while. Fang Hao had initiated his ¡°charging turtle¡± strategy having activated his membrane barrier and Aura Infusion. As he was charging towards his opponent. His opponent had finished his spell, and had morphed into hat looked like a hulking humanoid wolf with matted gray fur. His werewolf-like opponent charged towards him, and their match devolved into a close combat brawl without any elegance. Ultimately, Fang Hao''s superior stamina and membrane shield magic tool triumphed over his opponent''s wolf transformation spell. It was his first match where his opponent didn''t admit defeat, or the referee didn''t stop them. He actually had to beat his opponent unconscious. After his opponent fainted, the morphing spell wore off and the judge declared him the winner with clear looks of disdain and disapproval in his eyes. It was also Fang Hao''s most draining fight in terms of Qi usage. While he was not at his limits, the ten minutes brawl had drained nearly half of his Qi. And that Qi usage was accounting for the fact that he wasn''t using Aura infusion to the limits! The more he reinforced his stats through Aura Infusion, the more Qi it would cost! At full power, he could only maintain his Aura Infused state for around 5 minutes. He could have finished the fight in under 2-3 minutes at full power, but that would again expose his body cultivation technique to be to eye catching. With the transformed body cultivator opponent as a benchmark, he had paced his Aura Infusion to display a little more that his opponents strength. He was then using all the close contact maneuvers of krav maga he recalled to beat his opponent into an unconscious state. All in all, it was a satisfying brawl as he could finally beat the shit out of his opponent. His fifth opponent was a tricky one. At the onset of the match, his opponent had blown some sort of greenish powder towards Fang Hao. His opponent then sued a quick gesture and that greenish powder quickly grew into entangling vines that restrained him and started to squeeze him. Fang Hao had reacted in time and activated his membrane barrier to guard him, but his mobility was heavily restricted. He had difficulty to complete hand gestures in a reasonable amount of time to cast his fire snake spell to burn away the entangling vine field. He settled for taking potshots at his opponent with the sect provided wooden sword, releasing a steady stream of weak Wind Blades. But his opponent similarly turtled up, conjuring a Qi barrier and floating javelins made of blue ice. He would rapidly send the ice javelins towards Fang Hao as he continued to conjure the floating blue ice javelins. Realizing that his close combat prowess was completely sealed, Fang Hao gave up instead of continuing a battle of attrition. Chapter 056 Fang Hao had won a total of 150 contribution points and obtained around 1000xp for four consecutive wins. ''Nice xp grinding. Each win is roughly 250 xp. I think 4 wins is not too little and not too much, a good amount to farm xp without gathering too much attention. This rate combined with my weekly chores gives me around 1200 xp n average.'' thought Fang Hao as he reached his cottage. ''With this source of xp, my leveling speed has increased several folds. It would have taken me months to reach the 3rd layer of Qi Condensation, but I will reach in under a month now, if the xp rate is maintained. Now my only glaring weakness is long range offense, and perhaps crowd control. Speed is a bit low too as I lack any proper movement technique. And I am severely lacking in life-saving trump cards also. In the safety zone of the sect, I don''t need to worry about life-saving trump cards as long as I avoid the lethal arena. Speed with Aura infusion is still manageable for the time being. As for crowd control, Qi Condensation stage lacks truly good and versatile spells for CC, so that leaves long range offense.'' ''I have a few options. The easiest would be to master Aura Fist after I reach the 3rd layer, which isn''t that far anyway. If I continue winning matches at this rate and earn 150 contribution points per week, I can earn 10,000 contribution points per year including my other two chores. That is more than triple my previous rates.'' ''I can either save up to buy a few magic tools, or buy low leveled skills to quickly farm skill points. And use those skill points to upgrade a few focused spells giving me more options. I should also stock on some one use talismans for no Qi insta-casts. Come to think of it, if I could cast the flame snake spell without any gestures I could probably burn away all those entangling vines and the outcome of that match might have been different.'' Fang Hao had many different options now that his xp and contribution point farming rate had increased drastically. Although magic tools were attractive, providing an quick boost in battle power, they wouldn''t be too useful at the foundation establishment stage or later. Whereas buying skills and grinding skill points could allow him to upgrade his spells, potentially evolving them. He wasn''t sure whether he could evolve all the spells he had learned, nor how powerful an evolved spell could be. Still, he decided to use the fire snake spell as the spell description had hinted that it could evolve. He also focused on hoarding a few distraction and speed boosting talismans. Ultimately, if he was ever in danger, he would first focus on getting out alive. And a few barrier talismans wouldn''t hurt either. It wouldn''t hurt to keep a magic tool or two for the same effect.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He decided that if he did buy these talismans and tools, he wouldn''t use them in the non-lethal arena ever and would be his hidden trump cards. His armadillo leather glove''s membrane barrier was more or less revealed, but that was more of a necessity for quick xp farming. Rest of the defensive/evasion magic tools/talismans he bought would be kept a secret unless absolutely necessary. A few powerful explosive beads, that functioned pretty much like a grenade, could also be stockpiled for emergencies. ''I also do not lack pills for regenerating Qi, as the Great Elder Shi routinely gives me Qi Condensation pills. But other consumable pills with the effect of detoxification and healing would be good to have. I have confidence that the healing / detoxification pills available to me at this stage would be less effective than the constant passive effect of Primordial Marrow trait, but those healing pills would help keep up appearances!'' ''Some assholes might be after my life chasing me for some treasure or whatever and aim to tire me to death. If I cannot dispose of them, I could just use the talismans to stall for time while periodically popping pills while letting my Primordial Marrow trait do its thing to keep me at peak condition. This may be unfounded paranoia, but it is best to be prepared for a ruthless and indifferent world. The scene of that Qi condensation cultivator killing that mortal guard with one flame snake the day I joined the sect is still fresh in my mind. Sure I can''t do shit if a core formation cultivator is determined to fuck me up now, but I should be able to at least flee from a group of mid Qi Condensation stage cultivators with my little life, if not defeat them.'' Ultimately, after quite a bit of deliberation, Fang Hao decided to prioritize stocking up on a variety of talismans, pills and consumables for difficult situations and a good magic tool or two for emergencies. He would also start learning a couple of useful spells to the expert tier. Instead of learning too many trashy spells just at basic level for 1 Skill Point and never using them, he decided to start learning a few useful spells up to the Expert Proficiency and using the skill points earned to upgrade his desired spells to master and above. Increasing above Master Proficiency in spells the hard way seemed too difficult. It was much easier to just learn a few spells up to Expert Proficiency in the mean time and use the skill points to upgrade the Master spell. Learning a spell up to the Expert Proficiency granted him 6 skill points while upgrading from Master Proficiency to the Next Proficiency had a Skill Point cost of 8. Although learning spells only up to the Basic proficiency seemed good on paper time-efficiency wise, he did not have an quick cheat for infinite contribution points or spirit stones! Fang Hao had firmly decided upon the Skill Point farming methodology. He would then invest those skill points in an attempt to evolve the fire snake spell and perhaps also upgrade the Aura Infusion spell. Right now, his Aura Infusion spell was a core of his battle tactics, and instead of practicing endlessly in order to upgrade its proficiency, he would rather spend the time on farming skill points and use the said farmed skill points to upgrade it. Chapter 057 After another 1 years and 8 months (20 months) passed, Fang Hao had spent a total of 6 years in the Jade Pagoda Sect. By now a couple of members of his clique during Outer Disciple days, namely Fatty Lin and Fatty Ning, had been promoted to Inner Disciples. Unfortunately, both of them weren''t allotted residences on his peak. But they made it it a point to meet each other at least once in a couple of months in the sect market. Co-incidentally, on one of these meets a couple of months back, they had met with Senior Fatty Chen! Senior Fatty Chen was the one who had handed this clique of fatties to Old Man Zhu, when they had joined the sect. Senior Fatty Chen was enthusiastic meeting them and inquired about their cultivation bases. While he had expected Fatty Lin and Fatty Ning to be new inner disciples who just stepped into Qi Condensation stage, he was surprised at Fatty Hao''s cultivation to be in the intermediate Qi Condensation stage. Fang Hao had sheepishly explained it away as the result of free spirit wine from his Master Zhu. Senior Fatty Chen gave a meaningful look to Fang Hao, and congratulated him on the matter of his master. He had informed that while Old Man Zhu was eccentric, being his disciple was a great stroke of good fortune. This had surprised Fang Hao''s fellow fatties. But clearly, Old Man Zhu had more to him than it meets the eye. These 20 months, Fang Hao''s skill/xp/contribution point farming progressed at a steady pace. It took him roughly 2 months to learn a spell from scratch to the Expert Tier, and another 6 months to improve its proficiency to the Master Tier. Although he had only trained Aura Infusion to Master Level without the use of skill points. He could significantly increase the speed of learning and improving spells, but that would mean sacrificing a lot of the time spent practicing Divine Vajra Body Scripture. In fact Fang Hao would have been OK with slowing down skill point gain if he could speed up his Body Refining Scripture practice. But without supplementing the body refining practice with spirit wine, his speed was significantly slower. As for Qi Cultivation, the steady stream of xp from the Arena and his selected chores. Fang Hao had learned the Aura Fist spell when he reached the 3rd layer of Qi Condensation, which he had immediately trained to the Expert level. With a punch like gesture and circulating the Qi in a specified manner with Aura Infusion active, Fang Hao could unleash a silvery translucent fist to smash his opponents at range! Fang Hao had refrained to use this move in his non lethal arena matches, as the ¡°charging turtle¡± stratagem was the most efficient and least troublesome way to farm xp. Quite a few times, his mobility would be too heavily restricted to make use of the said stratagem, but he graciously conceded the match as he could easily maintain a stable rate of xp farming. In fact, he never revealed a single new spell/magic tool/talisman in the non-lethal arena.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After Fang Hao reached the 5th layer of Qi Condensation, he learned the 3rd spell of the Aura Fist Manual. The spell was named as ¡°Phantom Aura Steps¡± and was a movement technique! Like Aura Fist and Aura Infusion, the spell had no verbal components and relatively simple somatic components (movements). As with all other spells, he could simplify the spell casting process with increasing proficiency. Phantom Aura Steps created translucent silver phantoms moving at high speeds, while his real body received a speed boost and was hidden among the silver phantoms! It was a movement technique and evasive technique combined into one! While it would not fool any foundation establishment cultivator and had a significant Qi Cost, it could change the course of battle if he used it at the right moment. Soon after Fang Hao had learned the Phantom Aura Steps, he contacted Great Elder Shi regarding permission to participate in missions outside the safe zone of the sect. The Great Elder had given him a few life saving measures, and instructed him how to use them to save himself at critical moments. The Great Elder had explained that until Core Formation, disciples were not allowed to leave the Celestial Abode Peak ( where the Jade Pagoda Sect is located). However, only a small region on the Celestial Abode prohibited fights between disciples. Most of the lucrative missions were held outside this region, and hence killing and stealing was very common. The sect did not pursue these acts, unless there was concrete evidence of the same. And generally, those who were of note were usually bestowed life saving measures. If they died despite these, then they deserved being dead and most elders would not pursue it, for fear of losing face. The Great Elder Shi emphasized that Fang Hao that he could not participate in the lethal arena matches until he completed several missions without using any of the life-saving measures he had been given. He was also encouraged to kill any aggressors who dared to attack him and not worry about offending any eccentric elders who might stoop to get revenge from a junior as he would take care of any fallout. Furthermore, Fang Hao would only receive the resources necessary for a smooth breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage, if he completed certain number of missions outside the Safe Zone of the sect, to the Great Elder''s satisfaction. Fang Hao had permission to engage in missions outside the safe area and it was even a requirement for higher tier resources, he still decided to refrain from immediately doing so until he had accumulated enough consumables and a few magic tools as per his original plan. He didn''t want to rely solely on the life-saving measures given by Elder Shi as they were quite valuable unless absolutely necessary. There was no guarantee that the Elder would generously supply such valuable life saving measures after he used up his present ones. Fang Hao was no fool. He understood that he was shown such favor because the Great Elder saw potential in him. If he performed like a completely inept nincompoop, then he wouldn''t continue to receive such favors. Chapter 058 ''It has been six years since I joined the sect. My skill point farming plan is more or less a success and I have accumulated a few magic tools, spells and consumables to GTFO if shit hits the fan. I think my status screen is satisfactory now.'' thought Fang Hao as he summoned his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 20 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 102
Realm: Qi Condensation Level: 6
Current Experience: 208037 Level Up at Experience: 222303
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 16 Finesse: 14.3
Spirit: 17.1 Qi 53.7/53.7
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 4 moves)Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Aura Fist Manual (+) (3rd Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Perfection) Fire Serpent (Basic) Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Chains (Expert) Aura Fist (Expert) Phantom Aura Steps (Expert) Concealing Mist (Expert)
Minor Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Hand (Expert) Call Clouds (Expert) Static Web (Expert)
Acid Splash (Expert) Lion''s Roar (Expert) Floating Leaves Step (Expert)
''20 months of farming sure did give a solid amount of skill points by grinding the two new Aura spells and 8 other spells to Expert Proficiency! And I got quite a bit of consumables and a few magic tools too. Only after my preparations I am piss poor again with less than 300 contribution points. On the bright side I have additional 3 shiny magic tools! Not to mention that Flame Snake (Expert) evolved to Fire Serpent Spell for a grand total of 24 skill points.'' The newly evolved Fire Serpent spell was much more powerful than the Flame Snake spell with significantly higher Qi Costs. However, he could cast the Flame Snake Spell almost instantly without any gestures! He did require a few seconds to cast the Fire Serpent spell at full power however. He had also upgraded Aura Infusion from Master Proficiency to Perfection Proficiency for 8 skill points and wanted to evolve it too. But unfortunately, the option to evolve the Aura Infusion Spell was grayed-out when he summoned the Use Skill points window. Most of the new spells he learned were support spells. The Concealing Mist spell caused a thick fog to spread around him which obstructed the senses. It was a nifty distractions spell with a short cast time. The Minor illusion spell allowed him to change a few minor aspects of something in range. He could, for example, make the Concealing Mist spell change color, or produce simple sounds at range for distraction. He could even produce a stinking smell in his surroundings. He had tried to use the Minor Illusion spell to make his Fire Serpent appear like a regular Flame Snake, but apparently that was out of scope of the Minor Illusion Spell. Still he could imagine the possibilities of a cheap well timed minor illusion spell could provide, despite the limitations. Telekinetic Hand was a simple spell that allowed him to do simple actions like picking up an object from afar and bringing it to him, or slapping someone at range with an almost transparent hand. If he willed the conjured hand to exert too much force or lift something too heavy or move something too fast, the spell would disperse. The Call Clouds spell summoned a few grayish clouds and it''s main utility was for setting up the static web spell. The Call Clouds spell had a bit of longer cast time, but however, a coppery wind-vane shaped magic tool improved the effects and shortened the cast time to use the call cloud spell. It was one of the new magic tools he had acquired with his contribution points. Static Web was one of the few AoE crowd-control spells available for Qi Condensation disciples. Along with the coppery wind-vane and Call Clouds spell, it was a quite good crowd-control spell combo. Acid Splash was another spell he had acquired and that summoned a floating orb of acid and splashed it towards the target. It had lower offensive power and slower travel speed than Aura Fist and Flame Snake, but it had additional corrosive properties! While it may not do much against a decent magic tool, it was great for sizzling mortal steel and appeared to be especially effective against Qi Barriers. The Lion''s Roar technique was basically a loud shout that did a small amount of damage to everyone in close vicinity to the caster potentially stunning and dazing them. It was a hybrid damage/crowd control technique at close range which could provide a few extra seconds when mobbed. The last spell he had learned was Floating Leaves Step. It was an entry level movement technique which focused on sustained speed. While he had Phantom Aura Step for movement, Phantom Aura Steps was focused more on quick bursts of high speed whereas floating leaves step was focused on sustained bursts of moderate speed boosts. Fang Hao felt that these spells covered all the scenarios he could think of. He had also spend several thousands of contribution points stocking up on minor healing pills, speed talismans, barrier charms and quite a few explosive beads having stocked a respectable amount of consumables. Not to mention that he had hoarded over 250 Qi Condensation pills which the Great Elder provided him weekly with his spirit wine. Fang Hao was tempted to use the Qi Condensation pills to speed up his practice of Divine Vajra Body Scripture like the spirit wine, but refrained from doing so. While wasteful, he could use Qi Condensation pills to refill his Qi relatively quick. It was one of his trump cards. Even if he spammed powerful spells, he could use the Qi Condensation Pills to swiftly recover Qi to continue his barrage. This was not a novel idea, but how many Qi Condensation disciples could bear to use such a decent cultivation resource for simply restoring Qi? Along with the Coppery Wind Vane magic tool for quick casting powerful call clouds, Fang Hao had acquired two other magic tools. One of them was a leather boot which increased his speed significantly when he supplied Qi to it. The leather boot magic boot along with Aura Infusion and Floating Leaves Step guaranteed him a fleeing speed which most Qi Condensation disciples would find it difficult to match. Of course, fleeing at this speed would be Qi intensive, but he had plenty of Qi Condensation Pills to counter that! The last piece of equipment he had was a soft Grade 2 inner armor. It was suitable for late/peak Qi Condensation Cultivators and could withstand a certain amount of damage before disintegrating. He had bought it mainly as a counter to lessen the impact of sneak attacks if he was caught unawares with his barrier down. It could also provide him enough buffer time if all his barriers was depleted to use a few talismans or pop a few pills. Combined with his Divine Vajra Body Scripture, Fang Hao had one of the most perverse defenses amongst Qi Condensation disciples. It was because of this that Fang Hao was finally ready to attempt some missions outside the Sect''s Safe Zone. Chapter 059 ''Oh Look! Most of these tasks outside the safe zone are generic fetch quests. Fetch x spirit beast body-parts. Fetch y spirit herbs. Since only Core Formation cultivators can freely exit the sect, I suppose fetch quests make sense.'' thought Fang Hao as he pondered over the available tasks. Most of the tasks were to kill spirit beasts and retrieve various carcasses or certain spirit herbs. Some tasks were collection of natural oddities / resources but they were far too rare. Sometimes years passed by and the collection of these rare resources were completed successfully. ''I know jackshit about spirit herbs, and those rare resources are basically a lottery. So the best is to focus on killing spirit beasts and taking their carcasses! Still I should make a note of the spirit herbs and rare resources the sect is paying contribution points for. If I see them on the way, might as well collect it.'' thought Fang Hao as he systematically memorized all the spirit beasts/ spirit herbs / rare resources which the sect gave missions to Qi Condensation disciples for. He spent almost a month memorizing and doing preliminary research about the various spirit beasts / spirit herbs. While the spirit beasts were relatively easy, the spirit herbs were a headache. Many of those herbs looked very similar to each other, but their properties varied from being highly poisonous to highly beneficial. To complicate matters more, some spirit plants could have different parts with different toxicity. There was a type of gray-red spirit grass, which had very beneficial roots but the stalks could cause a Qi Condensation cultivator to lose access to their Qi when ingested. Feeling a lot of headache at this, Fang Hao decided to just memorize any spirit plant which was even vaguely poisonous and avoid them the best he could. He wasn''t an alchemist after-all and didn''t require those spirit herbs and killing spirit beasts for contribution points would be much more efficient. He didn''t want to end with a year long diarrhea handling some leaves incorrectly. Of course, he also made it a point to memorize some of the notable spirit herbs which provided contribution points and weren''t too troublesome to gather. But these spirit herbs usually had some sort of spirit beast guarding them. After a month of detailed study, Fang Hao deemed himself ready to exit the safe zone of the sect. He took up a mission of delivering wind wolf carcasses. Wind wolves tended to gather in a pack of around half a dozen or so and an adult wind wolf would have power comparable to a fourth/fifth layer Qi Condensation disciple. The strongest would be the pack leader who would be slightly stronger than a sixth layer Qi Condensation disciple. Generally, it was advised for Inner Disciples to avoid Wind wolves unless they were in groups of three or more, with at least one member being sixth layer of Qi Condensation with others at fourth/fifth layer of Qi Condensation.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Most of the power of the wind wolves was focused on their body and they had high endurance and relatively quick speeds. Hence a lone Qi Condensation disciple could be ambushed and slaughtered if they had their guard down. Even most of the basic Qi Shields by inner disciples at sixth level or so couldn''t last long under the barrage of wind blade-like abilities which were innate to the wind wolves. However, Fang Hao was confident about dealing with an average pack even withot using any talismans or his shit-hit-the-fan trump cards. The wind wolves had a moderate offense with above average speed and endurance and were usually in small groups of up to 6-7. Their Defense wasn''t anything special. Even if push comes to shove, and Fang Hao depleted all his Qi dealing with a pack of wind wolves, he was confident to take them out with his raw physical strength and the enhanced recovery / stamina which Primordial Marrow, he could literally exhaust themselves to death and make meat pulp out of them. Just to obfuscate his true goals, he accepted extra half a dozen spirit beast slaying missions with no penalty for failure. Better paranoid than dead, that was his thoughts. He soon transported to an outpost near the border of the safe zone, did the necessary formalities and finally exit the safe zone of the sect near the section of the woods which had packs of spirit wolves. Meanwhile, somewhere else in the sect a group of inner disciples were discussing. An inner disciple said to his peers, ¡°Fellow Apprentice Brothers, finally that fat turtle Fang Hao has exited the safe zone of the sect. Now is the chance to get our revenge.¡± with an ugly look on his face. This was none other than Zhen Ji, who had offended Old Man Zhu and was defeated twice by Fang Hao. Recently, he had successfully broken through to the 7th layer of Qi Condensation and gathered some flunkies at the 5th/6th layer of Qi Condensation with the help of the resources his Elder Brother had provided him. In spite of his Elder Brother being a lofty Core Disciple in the foundation Establishment Stage, his brother had refused to directly deal with Fang Hao and at best could provide indirect help towards him. His brother said that since a Great Elder had his eye on Fang Hao, if a Core Disciple went to deal with him, they wouldn''t turn a blind eye like usual. And Fang Hao was very cautious, never fighting in the lethal arena and never exiting the safe zone of the sect. This caused Zhen Ji to feel impotent rage at Fang Hao. Thus he had endured till now, and planned to kill Fang Hao when he was outside the sect''s safe zone. To this end he had bitterly cultivated for years and also gathered influence and followers with the exchange of resources. The pressure Zhen Ji was enduring, along with the resources from his brother, caused him to cultivate quickly with a surprising momentum. However, he instictively knew that unless he killed Fang Hao, he would face a heart demon sooner or later and it would become a bottleneck to breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Of course, he was extremely biased in his conclusion conveniently ignoring that he was acting like an arrogant prick to offend Old man Zhu and failed to vent his frustrations on Fang Hao. Chapter 060 Fang Hao felt an inexplicable wariness, urging him to caution as he explored around the nearby forests for a pack of wind wolves. ''I think I should be a bit cautious now. While I may be able to deal with a pack of wind wolves, it may leave me open to further attacks.'' thought Fang Hao as he was warily scanning his surroundings. He was scouting the area for a couple of days and had spotted a gurgling stream of fresh water at a distance. From then on he spent another couple of days cautiously scouting near the stream for spirit beasts. After almost one week of scouting he had found a lair of the Gray-eyed stone bear. The Gray-eyed stone bear was fully matured and was a peak Grade two spirit beast. It could rival Qi Condensation Disciples at the 8th and 9th layer. But fortunately, unlike the wind wolves the gray-eyed stone bear was a solitary animal. It''s fur and bones were decent earth element materials valuable to spirit smiths and the gray-eyed stone bear had high defense and attack prowess with low speed. If the bear actively pursued him, Fang Hao could only run away unless he was willing to use talismans. Fortunately, the Gray-eyed stone bear was not aggressive as long as it was left alone. Nearby he had also found a nest of moss rabbits. The moss rabbits where a Grade 1 spirit beast whose individual power rivaled a Qi Gathering disciple. A single well timed spell from Fang Hao could kill multiple moss rabbits, so he had no problems hunting them. Initially he had used the flame snake spell to kill them, but it made their leaf green pelts a charred mess. The pelts were a low level material useful to alchemists, so Fang Hao switched to wind blades to decapitate them from range. And their meat was tasty too so he didn''t have to depend only on fasting pills for sustenance. The xp he received from killing them was a pittance. Xp wise, it would be more efficient to spar in the arena. He consoled himself that once he hunted wind wolves and other powerful spirit beasts, the xp would be worth it. After a meal of freshly roasted meat of moss rabbit, Fang Hao was feeling a bit drowsy when his instincts alerted him to a crisis. Without thinking, Fang Hao reacted with Aura infusion, almost instantly using Phantom steps to swiftly move around four to five meters away. As if on cue, the little camp fatty was enjoying delicious rabbit blown to smithereens with many overlapping hemispherical smoldering crater. Fatty then activated his membrane barrier from his gloves, and a couple of barrier talismans for good measure. ''Damn multiple explosive bead sneak attack. It would have grievously injured me if not killed me outright and I would need to waste one of my shit-hit-the-fan card.'' Fang Hao then spotted 5 people about a dozen meters away from him.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. They looked like inner disciples, and one of them looked very familiar. ''Its that retarded snob Zhen Ji. So he was so butt-hurt that he is actually trying to kill me in a sneak attack? Oh well, wasn''t I complaining that the rabbits were providing shitty xp? Here comes some sweet xp!'' Fang Hao activated Floating leaves steps and rushed towards them in a zig-zag manner using multiple Phantom Aura Steps. The assailants were still observing the flickering phantom image at the original blast site and failed to notice Fang Hao''s oblique charge at them. One of the inmer disciples had n ugly look on his face as he shouted, ¡°Not good, its a movement---¡± Before he could finish his statement, Fang Hao was a few meters away from the group. He retrieved his sledgehammer and threw it with all his might towards the observant inner disciple who had noticed his movement technique. The sledgehammer rotated in air and smashed against the inner disciple''s head. A weak looking barrier flickered around him before shattering as his skull was bashed in. The others immediately looked at the origin of the hammer and they saw two flickering phantom images of a fatty. They weren''t too coordinated. Some immediately used barrier talismans and some threw explosive beads at the phantom. Seizing the initiative and utilizing their lack of coordination, Fang Hao smashed the head of another inner disciple who had opted to blow up his phantoms instead of using defensive talismans. The barrier barely withstood the first smash of his iron club, but a second smash shattered it along with his skull. By now though, the three remaining inner disciples including Zhen Ji had regained their wits and piled up on multiple defensive talismans. Zhen Ji was holding a Kite-shield shaped bronze magic tool and chanting under his breath, while the remaining two rapidly used multiple talismans to send a barrage of low level spells towards Fang Hao. ''2 down, 3 to go. They are using consumables like water. So unfair. I managed to kill two of the weaker ones unprepared , but now it will be a tough time if I don''t use anything other than Aura spells.'' thought Fang Hao as he made a quick incantation gesture and blew towards the attacking inner disciples. A grayish fog left his mouth as it spread around everyone. This was the Concealing mist spell which Fang Hao had used as a distraction. Under the cover of the concealing mist spell, Fang Hao used Phantom Aura steps once again and used his wind vane shaped magic tool to quickly summon storm clouds overhead. The spell talismans the inner disciples were using had blown away lot of the concealing mist and revealed Fang Hao. A huge Axe made of green smoke was floating around Zhen Ji, as he readied a couple of explosive beads to bombard Fang Hao. ''Damn this fatty! Not only did he avoid the sneak attack, he counterattacked and killed two of my followers. His close combat prowess is terrifying. So he was holding back in his arena fights after all!'' thought Zhen Ji as he was filled with anxiety. He had used a high Grade 2 magic tool given to him by his brother to inhibit fatty''s close combat attacks. No matter how strong fatty was, he couldn''t take too many hits from this specialized magic tool. Chapter 061 Fang Hao as a sneer on his face as he cast the static web spell. Multiple gold yellow thunderbolts rained from the storm clouds above and caused a net of lightning to form, which trapped the inner disciples momentarily. Although, because of the multiple barriers and defensive talismans used, it wasn''t too effective. However, the momentary pause gave Fang Hao some breathing room. He quickly popped a Qi condensing pill along into his mouth, accelerating his Qi recovery. The constant use of Aura infusion and Floating Leaves Step along with multiple Phantom Aura Steps had depleted a very large chunk of his Qi. The inner disciples couldn''t use any powerful offensive magic tools or spells. Fang Hao, with his increased stats due to Aura Infusion, consistent movement speed due to floating leaves step and instantaneous dodging ability due to phantom aura steps, was too fast to land a clean hit with powerful spells/ magic tools with a longer cast time. So they were reduced to throwing the somewhat expensive explosive beads and low level spell talismans. Only Zhen Ji had managed to use his Kite Shield-shaped magic tool to summon a green Axe made of smoke to guard him in close combat. Fang Hao then used a minor illusion spell to produce a ''thud'' sound behind Zhen Ji. When they turned to confront the non-existent danger a their rear, a lime green spherical blob of acid appeared in Fang Hao''s hand and he quickly tossed it at the nearest inner disciple. The inner disciple managed to partially dodge it, but the Qi barriers protecting him took significant damage. Fang Hao closed the last couple of meters to him and used an Aura Fist spell at close range. The Aura Fist spell shattered his already weakened Qi barrier and crushed his ribs. It was immediately followed by a smash with his iron club which caused one of the the rib fragments to pierce his heart killing him. Zhen Ji had a look of fear on him as he immediately commanded, ¡°Retreat and use talismans and beads!¡±. But Fang Hao just sneered and dashed with another Phantom Aura Steps to close the distance with the last remaining follower of Zhen Ji as he used his body weight to smash into the multiple barriers and used two consecutive close ranged aura fist spells at his dantian area. All that was left was a mangle of flesh as the last opponent gave a bitter cry of anguish and fainted in pain. He was as good as dead. Even if he survived, his dantian was destroyed and he would be no better than a cripple. Only Zhen Ji was left who was rapidly retreating and throwing explosive beads wildly as a deterrence to Fang Hao''s approach, who was lazily dodging it while trying to close the distance. He was trying to maintain a calm facade and failing, with the fear clearly audible in his voice, ¡°Give up Fang Hao. With this magic tool used, you cannot come into close combat with your safety assured. At best, it will be mutual destruction.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Fang Hao didn''t even bother replying as he dodged yet another explosive bead and threw his iron club with full force at Zhen Ji. Zhen Ji barely managed to dodge it as he knew Fang Hao''s throws when he was covered in the silver aura was not to be underestimated. A couple of Silvery Fists was rapidly approaching him. One of the fists managed to smash his barriers, draining it by quite a bit, while the other fist was intercepted by the green smoky axe which blocked the silver aura fist and became a little more transparent. Zhen Ji had a grim look on his face as he quickly popped a couple of pills and started to regenerate his Qi at a rapid pace as he cursed inwards. ''Damn it! That fatty has a lower cultivation base than me and cheaper magic tools. Btu still he is beating me. This Ghastly Axe magic tool is draining too much Qi and I wont be able to recover my Qi fast enough despite having plenty of Qi Recovery pills if this continues. It is time for retreat.'' Zhen Ji then slapped a talisman over each knee and dashed into the foliage. Fang Hao maintained his momentum as he fired another couple of Aura Fists towards Zhen Ji before popping another Qi Condensing pill and pursuing Zhen Ji as he started making double handed incantation gestures and chanting under his breath. After around 5 seconds, a shimmering King-Cobra like serpent taller than him materialized and gave a lifelike hiss as it shot towards Zhen Ji. It was intercepted by the Green Smoky Axe, but didn''t dissipate immediately like the Aura fists and it wrapped around the smoke axe as both started becoming more and more transparent. Fang Hao took this chance and used almost half a dozen talismans and a couple of explosive beads in quick succession and managed to smash Zhen Ji''s barrier. He then used a couple of swiftness charms along with Phantom Aura steps to close the distance with Zhen Ji and followed up with two quick Aura Fists. The barrage of talismans and beads had disoriented Zhen Ji and his green smoke axe was n the verge of dissipation. With these distractions and the sudden burst of speed from Fang Hao, he wasn''t able to evade or use any talismans. Fang Hao''s last couple of aura fists hit his back and caused him to stumble and vomit a mixture of dark red blood and small pieces of flesh. Not giving his opponent any time to recover, Fang Hao jumped on his prone figure and smashed his spine as he kept kicking and smashing the prone Zhen Ji till he stopped vomiting blood. For good measure he released a couple of Aura Fists into the head of the corpse to ensure that he was truly dead. ''Now that he is dead, it is time to loot!'' thought Fang Hao cheerfully before he saw a series of ripples of ripples out of the corner of his eye. There were around half a dozen wind blades, and he got hit by a couple of them before he managed to use Phantom Aura Steps to dodge a majority of them. ''Oh fuck. The wind wolves had to wait for a whole week and appear now. My luck seems like shit.'' thought Fang Hao as he used the nearby vegetation to obscure himself as he quickly popped another Qi Condensation pill. Chapter 062 ''Looks like collecting all that shiny loot will have to wait. Fuck you wolves, this daddy will go all out.'' thought Fang Hao as he popped another Qi Condensation Pill, maxed his Aura Infusion, used floating leaves step and dashed towards the wolves. Although the barrier talismans he had used near the start of the fight with the inner disciples had almost been exhausted, the membrane barrier from his glove magic tool was intact. It was also strong enough to take dozens of the weak wind blades from the wind wolves. Phantom Aura Steps was a very good evasive move, but it drained a lot of Qi. For a barrage of weak attacks, it was simply more efficient to use his membrane barrier to absorb the damage instead of evading it fully using Phantom Aura Steps. The membrane barrier could be recharged with his Qi before it could run out. And if the barrier did fail, his tempered fleshly body wouldn''t be in any real danger from the weak wind blades. The fatty reached in grappling range of the nearest wind wolf, caught two of its fore limbs and ripped its body into two before the poor wolf could evade. Pieces of flesh and spattering of blood stuck like an oily residue to his inner disciple robes. Its pack-members were shooting wind blades towards the fatty with increased intensity. While it was depleting his membrane barrier, there was more than enough time for Fang Hao to literally rip apart another couple of wolves into halves before the membrane barrier started flickering. Around half the pack-members were already killed when the biggest wind wolf and two of its companions charged at him in unison. Fang Hao met their charge head on, as he smashed the back of one of the nearby wolf''s neck as an audible crunch was heard. The wolf collapsed like a puppet with its string cut but it was still whimpering in a barely audible pitiful manner. It was almost dead and paralyzed downwards from the neck. While Fang Hao was dealing with one wind wolf, the wind wolf leader and its lone surviving companion used their powerful jaws to bite his forearm and thigh respectively. Fang Hao''s membrane barrier finally dissipated and he felt a sharp persistent pain where the wolves where clamping their jaw shut. He headbutted the wind wolf leader biting his forearm hoping to dislodge his arm, but the wind wolf leader refused to let go. Enraged Fang Hao punched its body with his other arm and headbutted it again, killing it. He swiped his arm causing the carcass of the wind wolf leader to dislodge and fly away and hit a nearby tree trunk. The last remaining wind wolf was still persistently biting his thigh. Fang Hao punched its ears simultaneously with both his knuckles, smashing its skull and killing it instantly. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Fang Hao was intermittently groaning in pain as he surveyed the remains on the battle field. He exposed his forearm from his sleeves and surveyed the wound on his arm. The wind wolf leader had made a series of bloody deep puncture wounds on his fatty flesh, almost reaching his bone. His blood had already started clotting though and he estimated the wound would heal reasonably in an hour or so. The wounds on his thigh were somewhat painful, but were bearable. ''Close combat and killing sure is intense. That was an unexpected rush. I would have used a lot more Qi if I was determined to potshot them with long range spells from behind a barrier and flee while minimizing risk. If the leader had bit my neck, I would be in serious trouble. While my defense is good, the cultivation of my body refining technique still too low. If I had cultivated the Divine Vajra Body Scripture to the fifth or maybe sixth move, the bites wouldn''t be much more lethal than pinpricks. Truly a superb body refining technique!'' though Fang has he was dumping the wind wolf corpses into his storage pouch. ''Tsk Tsk. I was caught up in the heat of the moment and ripped apart three of the wind wolves. I don''t think I will get the full contribution point value for these corpses. Damn that retard Zhen Ji and his cucked flunkies for spoiling my mood with their shitty ambush.'' he berated as he reached Zhen Ji''s corpse. Fang Hao stripped Zhen Ji and dumped all his clothes and miscelanneous belongings in Zhen Ji''s looted storage pouch. He then cast a fire serpent spell to thouroughly burn the corpse to ashes and flicked his sleeves causing a wind blade to blow away the ashes away. He moved on to the next disciple who was surprisingly alive and barely breathing. Fang Hao decapitated him with a wind blade spell, looted all his belongings and disposed of his corpse. While he was looting the corpses of the inner disciples and retrieved his iron club and sledgehammer, he was humming a merry tune as he casually left the scene of slaughter towards the nearby stream to wash the stench and blood of his robes. ''Meh washing these robes will be too bothersome. Might as well use a fresh set.'' thought Fang Hao as he disrobed to his loincloth and burnt the bloody gore coated robe. He then cautiously washed the blood of his limbs and wore a fresh pair of robes form his storage pouch. He then fled to a more secluded location. He checked his status screen and was feeling a pleasant sensation of comfortable warmth in his entire body when viewing the xp fields, other than his painfully throbbing arm and aching thigh. ''Not bad, not bad. Those five retards and six wolves gave me roughly 7000 xp! That''s almost a month''s worth of xp farming which includes sparring and safe zone missions. If the magic beast carcass delivery missions also award xp, then this will be very efficient xp wise. I am very close to leveling up and will probably do so once I deliver the wind wolf corpses. So I should probably kill some more stuff before returning. Leveling up during a fight or spar is one thing. I can always claim that I got enlightenment or an epiphany from the battle which lead to a breakthrough, if the levelup happens by mistake. But I shouldn''t make a habit of it for routine xp farming tasks with witnesses.'' ''But I did use quite a bit of consumables though. While not enough to deplete my supply, still it was a noticeable chunk! The contribution points earnt should also be decent enough. Now all I need to do is sort through the loot and dump all the unwanted stuff before returning to the sect. I probably shouldn''t make a habit of it, but Murder for XP feels so good. If I have a valid excuse, then it is fair game.'' thought Fang Hao as he planned his next course of action with a perverted looking snicker on his face. Chapter 063 It had been hours and Fang Hao had sorted the loot he obtained from the aggressive inner disciples. He kept the treasures which were fairly common, and dumped those that were somewhat exotic but not of great utility. He found a decent number of low grade spirit stones and quite a few consumables (like pills, talismans, beads etc.). ''Nice! None of the treasures are really useful to me, but most of the treasures are run of the mill ones which can be exchanged for contribution points. Better dump few of the exotic but useless ones as I don''t my attempt to earn a few points to bite me back in the ass later. Those along with the pills and low grade spirit stones nets me almost 10,000 contribution points. Pity none of these fuckers carried some spells or techniques. Oh well 10,000 contribution points is roughly a year''s worth of farming. Murder sure is productive for profit and fun!'' thought Fang Hao as he finished cataloging his loot as he summoned his Status Screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 20 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 102
Realm: Qi Condensation Realm Level: 6
Current Experience: 222073 Level Up at Experience: 222303
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 16 Finesse: 14.3
Spirit: 17.1 Qi 51.2/53.7
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 4 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (3rd Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Perfection) Fire Serpent (Basic)The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Chains (Expert) Aura Fist (Expert) Phantom Aura Steps (Expert) Concealing Mist (Expert)
Minor Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Hand (Expert) Call Clouds (Expert) Static Web (Expert)
Acid Splash (Expert) Lion''s Roar (Expert) Floating Leaves Step (Expert)
''My Qi has replenished almost completely. Looks like I should find a few more things to murder for the level-up.'' thought Fang Hao as he casually stretched his arms with his palms facing outwards with interlocking fingers. His outstretched palm just happened to touch the ¡°Divine Vajra Body Scripture¡± Field of his Status Screen and a new dialog box popped up.
Divine Vajra Body Scripture
This body refining scripture is an ancient inheritance which has the potential to empower mortals with physique of the gods.
Available Actions
Set as Default Cultivating Scripture
Fang Hao was stunned at the translucent blue popup window. ''WTF. This status screen shit can be activated via Touch Screen? It has been six years and I figured that out now? I am a fucking retarded dumbfuck. Hmm what does the ¡°Set as Default Cultivating Scripture¡± Action do?'' The fatty wondered as he touched the default cultivation action. The pop-up window disappeared as his status screen flickered for a moment.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 20 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 102
Realm: Mortal Body Refiner Level: 4 (6)
Current Experience: 101617 (222073) Level Up at Experience: 222303
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 16 Finesse: 14.3
Spirit: 17.1 Qi 51.2/53.7
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 4 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (3rd Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Perfection) Fire Serpent (Basic) Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Chains (Expert) Aura Fist (Expert) Phantom Aura Steps (Expert) Concealing Mist (Expert)
Minor Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Hand (Expert) Call Clouds (Expert) Static Web (Expert)
Acid Splash (Expert) Lion''s Roar (Expert) Floating Leaves Step (Expert)
''Eh?! My Realm, Level and current Experience changed? My Class is still Cultivator, but my realm changed from Qi Condensation to Mortal Body Refiner. My Divine Vajra Body Scripture is at the 4th move, so looks like my level changed from 6 to 4 (6). Also my current experience has changed. If I am inferring correctly, looks like my ¡°Primary Class¡± of Qi Cultivator has changed to Body Refiner. Does that mean that all the xp I get from now on will go towards m body refining scripture while I will have to practice Qi cultivation the hard way? The xp and level in brackets probably means that I need to catch up to my level in the Qi Condensation Class.'' Wondering about the consequences of this, Fang Hao got supremely excited. He was always worried about the apparent speed of his Qi Cultivation. His Qi Cultivation talent wasn''t that great but if he leveled up with the xp from kills, his Qi Cultivation speed would be highly suspicious. On the other hand, probing the cultivation stages of Body Refining was extremely difficult unless he exposed his physical battle power and resilience. This meant that he would no longer have to suppress his xp farming rate. If his Qi cultivation was about to exceed the bounds of his talent, he could always change his primary cultivation method to his Body Refining Scripture. Fang Hao then tried touching the ¡°Aura Fist Manual¡± field and all he got was a pop up window with a brief description of the Aura Fist Manual without any Available Actions.
Aura Fist Manual (+)
A stable and reasonably powerful supllementary Qi Cultivation manual primarily used by Body Refiners. The auxiliary spells granted by this Manual can be exploited fully only with those practicing both Qi Cultvation and Body-refining. Note: This Manual/Scripture has been augmented by insights of the practioner.
''Eh? No available actions for me to switch back to this Aura Fist manual? Is there some sort of time or level based cool down for switching cultivation techniques? Oh well, wasn''t I worried about by Qi Cultivation having a sudden level-up if I cleared the wind wolf carcass delivery quest? Looks like now I can funnel all my earned xp into my body cultivation! This will surely save plenty of resources for me. On the flip side, it looks like I will have to cultivate my Qi Cultivation the hard way. But since I am out for completing missions... I might as well take this opportunity to level up my body refining level to my Qi condensation level which needs roughly 120k xp.'' ''Also looks like the (+) thingy is the bonus effects from insight. Good to know. Does this mean that (-) will appear due to cultivation deviation? Oh well, looks like it is time for some xp farming.'' Chapter 064 A team of three inner disciples were cautiously scouting ahead and advancing in a forest. Suddenly one of them made a quick single handed incantation gesture and the other accompanying inner disciples heard a faint whisper. The two other inner disciples nodded and cast Qi Barriers and used defensive talismans and cautiously proceeded ahead into the clearing on full alert. After witnessing the scene in the clearing, they were shocked for a while. They saw numerous wind wolf carcasses strewn about. Some where burnt, some were chopped, some had their guts spilling. There were also two corpses in blood soaked and gore-spattered inner disciple robes. The white color of the inner disciple robes could be barely seen against the blood and gore. Nearby, another chubby inner disciple was leaning against a tree and barely breathing. He had blood and gore all over him as he said in a weak voice. ¡°Brothers, please give me some healing pills.¡± The inner disciple wheezed for a moment and coughed up a mouthful of blood. ¡°I am willing to share a thousand contribution points to each of you, if I make it back to the sect.¡± The three inner disciples glanced at each other each making a short incantation gesture withing their sleeve. One of the inner disciples said. Another inner disciple countered. The leading inner disciple frowned as he used a spell to convey his thoughts. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As if on cue, the three inner disciples suddenly released explosive beads towards the fat pitiful inner disciple who had lost his comrades and was about to lose his life. The fatty had a faint sneer on him as suddenly a silvery aura enveloped him and his figure flickered before the explosive beads landed. The leader of the assaulting inner disciples suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He didn''t have time to cast the wind whispers spell to silently warn his followers,and shouted out a warning. ¡°Careful! There is-¡± He heard a sickening crunch as one of his follower''s head was smashed like a watermelons with a sledgehammer wielded by the fatty inner disciple. The sledgehammer''s momentum didn''t seem to be hindered too much by the Qi barrier. ''Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! This whole thing was a setup. Looks like he is a body cultivator with a powerful movement technique. I need to go all out or it will be my corpse that will be looted.'' Thought the leader of the assaulting inner disciples. He quickly slapped a bronze colored talisman on his chest with unwillingness on his face. A thick bronze colored translucent barrier appeared around him. The Inner Disciple leader then retrieved a green whip shaped magic tool, bit his tongue and spat a glob of blood towards the whip and started chanting. Meanwhile the fat inner disciple had smashed the other inner disciple''s skull with his trusty sledgehammer. He then spun the sledgehammer around himself and did threw it towards the last remaining assaulting disciple. The flying sledgehammer struck against the bronze colored barrier, came to a standstill and fell down on the ground nearby. The barrier wasn''t untouched, and ripples could be seen as it became more transparent. The fatty was somewhat shocked that the barrier had withstood his full force throw. The fatty then swiped at thin air a couple of times, retrieved an iron club and threw it at the bronze colored translucent barrier. Again, the throw failed to disperse the barrier, just caused it to turn more see-through. The fatty then started making two handed gestures and started chanting. After a breath''s worth of time, the assaulting inner disciple finally finished using his magic tool. He then threw his whip, which transformed into a humanoid figure made of lush green vines before landing near the fatty. The fatty finished casting his spell and a 7 foot long Serpent made of flames appeared before him. The serpent was as thick as his arm and had a King Cobra like hood with orange scales shimmering in a strange rhythm all over it. It leaped at the humanoid vine monster and attempted to constrict it. A thin membrane-like barrier was visible over the fatty''s skin as he punched out once with each arm in quick succession. Two glowing projections of silvery fist went and struck the humanoid vine monster which was struggling with the flame serpent. The silvery fists broke the balance and enabled the fire serpent to burn the the humanoid vine monster to a single remaining whip which collapsed lifelessly onto the ground. The fire serpent also dissipated shorty. The fatty then popped a pill, and started punching again and again towards the the now almost transparent barrier. The inner disciple inside the barrier was in a panic and was throwing low leveled spells mixed with explosive beads towards the fatty who either dodged them or countered them with his silvery fist projections. Soon the bronze colored barrier collapsed as the talisman on the inner disciple''s chest turned to ash. The fatty disappeared with a flickering phantom in place as he closed the distance towards the momentarily stunned inner disciple and punched his head. The aura clad punch seemed to shatter the flimsy Qi barriers on contact and and smashed the inner disciple''s skull, splattering blood and brains all over the fatty. The fatty had a look of satisfaction on his face as he felt a rush of power through him and Qi rippled around him in a gentle yet domineering manner. After killing the last remaining inner disciple, the fatty was experiencing a cultivation breakthrough! Chapter 065 After the breakthrough in his Qi Cultivation, Fang Hao stored the wind wolves carcasses in one of the storage pouches he had used as a prop. He then proceed to unceremoniously loot all the inner disciples and burnt their corpses to ash. He then traveled to a nearby Sect Outpost and returned to the Sect''s safe zone. When the inner disciple manning the desk for ingredient missions saw him, he had a difficult-to-read expression on his face. The desk-manning inner disciple sighed, gave a knowing look to his colleague and walked to a nearby door. Fatty naturally following him, as if the sequence of events was well rehearsed. Once they were through the door, the inner disciple made a casual incantation gesture and an opaque energy curtain formed on the door. They were in a large vacant room and the inner disciple spoke in a dry voice. ¡°How many carcasses this time fellow apprentice brother? And more importantly how many of them are intact?¡± Fatty Hao who had three storage pouches with him, just lazily opened one storage pouch and causally dumped roughly three dozen corpses in the room. Only around a third of the carcasses were intact, and roughly half of all the carcasses were of wind wolves. He also retrieved around half a dozen dull wooden boxes on a corner. ¡°See for yourself, fellow apprentice brother.¡± said Fang Hao in a lazy tone. The inner disciple sorted through the corpses and arranged them by their type and condition. He then looked through the wooden boxes opening each one for a brief look before moving on the next. While he was sorting through Fang Hao''s inventory, he held a dull gray-green jade slip in one of his hands which was glowing faintly. ¡°The spirit beast carcasses are worth 7250 contribution points and the spirit herbs are worth 2650 points for a total of 9900 points. As usual 10% of the points are taken by me for handling and arranging everything satisfactorily. And since you are a regular, I will knock off 90 points from my cut netting you 9000 points. Deal?¡± the inner disciple said in a mildly irritated voice. Fang Hao had an understanding and benevolent looking smile as he said ¡°Of course fellow apprentice brother. Sorry for the trouble.¡±, before handing over his inner disciple token to the inner disciple. The inner disciple received Fang Hao''s token as he snorted at the look on Fang Hao''s face and touched the token to the dull gray-green jade slip before returning the token to the fatty. He then made an incantation gesture and the opaque barrier dissipated and Fang Hao left through the door after checking his contribution point total. Fang Hao then paid some contribution points for transportation to the market. ''The sect is such a money-sink. 100 contribution points for having me fly with a group of inner disciples to my destination bah. Just 5 trips and the contribution point of 1 intact wind wolf is spent. Oh well, still better than waiting for days when I was an outer disciple.'' thought Fang Hao as he went to the inner disciple section and met the inner disciple who had sold him the Armadillo-hide glove magic tool to him. ¡°Fellow Apprentice-Brother intends to buy or--¡± Before he could complete his query, Fang Hao passed a storage pouch to him and grunted, ¡°Sell. Pay me in spirit stones as usual.¡± The inner disciple scanned the contents of the storage pouch for a few breaths, and took another storage pouch in which he kept six low grade spirit stones, before handing it to Fang Hao. Fang Hao had a frown on his face as he accepted the storage pouch, checked its contents and left the shop. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ''I hate that fencing magic tools gets me only 10% of the treasure''s contribution points value. Those piles of generic magic tools are worth more that 30,000 points and I get low grade spirit stones worth a measly 3,000 contribution points. Oh well at least the talismans, pills and beads I can keep and use without wastage. Apparently the system is in place so that hunting colleagues isn''t too lucrative.'' thought Fang Hao as he returned to his residence. It had been almost a year since Fang Hao was farming aggressive inner disciples and spirit beasts for xp. Staying in the safe zone of the sect he could make around 60,000 xp per year and roughly 12,000 contribution points per year. Murdering and Hunting as grinding was much more profitable. His new regime of grinding had granted him more than 300,000 xp in a year! Five times the xp grinding speed was super amazing, especially since he could shift the xp towards leveling up Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Due to the resale value of artifacts and the fact that he didn''t exchange consumables for contribution points along with his regular restock of consumables, he was able to save around 2/3rd of what he earned. It didn''t help that some of the inner disciples were piss poor, not even redeeming the cost of talismans and beads he used to kill them. Despite this he had around 50 low grade spirit stones and saved around 70,000 contribution points. Since each low grade spirit stone was worth 500 contribution points, his liquid net worth was almost 100k contribution points! As for the weekly quota of spirit wine? He drank most of it for the refreshing state of inebriation it bought it him. After all murdering in the woods for xp was hard work! Fang Hao well understood that the strong preyed on the weak and survival as a cultivator would require him get used to killing, and perhaps genocide. If he had let the aggressors from his feint go away after defeating them, he would create all sorts of future troubles. They could decide to gang up and ambush him for revenge when he least expected it, and he couldn''t definitely carry out his scheme so long without discovery and stiff opposition. And it would be such a shame to lose a nice stream of xp! ''I encountered around 70 groups of inner disciples outside the safe zone of the sect the past year in my ¡°helpless¡± state. Each group had around 4 inner disciples on an average. Out of 70 groups, only 4 groups didn''t try to kill me. Three of the groups just ran away being too cautious and only 1 group gave me healing pills and escorted me back to the sect. I, being the magnanimous person I am, let these 4 groups go and even rewarded the group ¡°saving¡± me with contribution points. Let me just recap my progress then.''
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 21 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 135
Realm: Qi Condensation Realm Level: 7 (7)
Current Experience: 224384 (222867) Level Up at Experience: 280557
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 20 Finesse: 17.8
Spirit: 20.3 Qi 56.8/56.8
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (1 seals, 7 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (4th Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Perfection) Fire Serpent (Expert) Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Chains (Expert) Aura Fist (Master) Phantom Aura Steps (Master) Concealing Mist (Expert)
Minor Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Hand (Expert) Call Clouds (Expert) Static Web (Expert)
Acid Splash (Expert) Lion''s Roar (Expert) Floating Leaves Step (Master) Aura Blast (Basic)
''Looks decent for one year worth of grinding. The practice speed of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture the legit way is too slow, and the wine isn''t helping as much as it used to. Well to be fair, Qi Cultivation proceeds at extremely shitty speed the legit way too. The Qi Condensation pills also don''t help much in cultivation and are just good to restore Qi in battle. Clearly I will soon need higher tier resources.'' Chapter 066 ''With my physique now, I reckon I can shrug off most regular spells/attacks by Qi Condensation Cultivators / Grade 2 spirit beasts. With Aura Infusion at max, one of my punch is enough to blow away a regular Qi cultivators at my levels including their qi barriers and cheap defensive talismans. One punch is all I need, conditions apply. But the annoying shits are fond of using sturdy talismans which can tank a few of my full powered hits. These selfish bastards just have to use up their best talismans while attacking me, and only leave the cheap trash for em as loot. Bah, cheap selfish dipshits.'' grumbled Fang Hao mentally. ''As for the stats window...the stats presentation is not exactly linear. I am definitely more than 40 times powerful when I was a 14 year old mortal with 0.5 physique. Heck, right now I could slaughter hundreds of those fully armed Qi Gathering Guards of a mortal city. And although the number by which Qi has increased doesn''t look too impressive, my effective Qi capacity has increased a lot. With each level-up in Qi Cultivation, spells cost me a little lesser Qi if I go by pure numbers.'' ''On the flip-side, pills restore a lesser fraction of Qi too. By the time I am in foundation establishment most of the Qi condensation pills and Spirit wine I have hoarded won''t be of much use in cultivation. All the fatties of my clique have successfully become inner disciples by now. So I should probably give them a few spare pills and some of the trashier talismans, and share some wine with them.'' ''I also earned some skill points by managing to increase the proficiency of my most used spells: Fire Serpent, Aura Fists, Phantom Aura Steps and Floating leaves Step. Speaking of spells, reaching the next layer of the Aura Fist manual granted me the Aura Blast spell, which is basically an AoE shock-wave centered on me. Need to grind this one to Expert level soon. Also the proficiency of spells increased a lot faster when I used them in real battle, much like how I get only a fraction of xp while in non-lethal sparring.'' ''My next aim is to reach Foundation Establishment Realm in Both Qi Cultivation and Body Cultivation by 25 years of age. The effective Deadline to become a Junior Core Disciple and having a Foundation Establishment Cultivation is 50 years of age, so I should reach it by half the age to be worth nurturing but not stand out with suspected heaven defying secrets.'' ''Earlier I was always short of contribution points but now I have enough. What should I do with it? I reckon my performance in the tasks outside the safe sect zone will prove my worth to Senior Grand Elder. That should prove that I am not too softhearted, indecisive and a pussy who can''t survive outside the sheltered sect; which should hopefully be enough for me to get some resources and a suitable scripture for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Also, are these contribution points even usable after the Foundation Establishment stage?''If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ''I could stock up on those expensive one-use talismans which cost as much as the cheaper magic tools. I could also buy a few higher quality Grade 2 magic tools which are suitable for late/peak Qi Condensation cultivators. Not many Qi Condensation spells are useful, but I should pick up another round of spells to farm skill points. Just buying too many spells and learning only up to basic proficiency will be a waste really.'' ''And it might look a bit suspicious as to why I am buying several tens of spells at one go. To anybody else, that will only seem like an utter waste of contribution points. I am probably being too paranoid, but better have paranoia then be a corpse to be looted. But no one would bat an eye if I purchase dozens of powerful consumables and a few of the more powerful treasures. After all, sometimes a rain of consumables is what decides who is victor and who provides the loot. To be on the safe side, I should inquire about the contribution point price of resources/scriptures required for foundation establishment before I go binge shopping.'' ''I wonder where Master Zhu is. It has been around five years since Master left on ¡°Sect Business¡±. The way I see it, for a supposed peak Qi Condensation Cultivator to have ¡°Sect Business¡± lasting five years with literally no contact can mean either two things. Master Zhu is really at Qi Condensation and there is a conspiracy to get Master Zhu disposed of and claim me as a disciple without losing face as a poacher. I may not be the best, but my projected success in body refining makes me a seedling worth nurturing I suppose.'' ''Or Master Zhu has an unfathomable cultivation base and the sect is in deep shit. This might be unlikely, but for some reason the general sense of unease and urgency I feel to grow stronger reinforces this notion. Otherwise, I would never take the risk of slaughtering more than 250 inner disciples of my sect within one year for only xp.'' ''No matter how much I paint it as ¡°self-defense¡± and ¡°co-incidence¡±, those old fogeys with their unfathomable cultivation base can find with very little effort that hundreds of inner disciples have been slaughtered by me in the span of a single year. While I didn''t break rules per se, and won''t be punished seriously, I didn''t even get a slap on a wrist? I should have got some warning to cease and desist slaughtering inner sect disciples for a while by receiving a temporary ban on tasks outside the Sect''s safe zone.'' ''But instead, it looks as if the disappearance of a couple of hundred inner disciples isn''t of concern to the management. Rather, the complete silence and lack of hints on this issue seems as if slaughtering and competing between disciples is being discreetly encouraged. It is well known that breakthroughs and advances in cultivation are the fostered the best under life-and-death situations. So unless I, or any other cultivator for that matter, goes and bullies someone who has absolutely no hope of fighting back in a lower cultivation realm; the sect will allow similar scenes of slaughter to go on. Maybe that is one reason why Zhen Ji''s foundation establishment brother just didn''t simply get me assassinated while I was farming xp outside. Or maybe he is biding his time, trying to lower my guard before finishing em off.'' ruminated Fang Hao as he planned his next course of action, while drinking spirit wine and observing the sunset. Chapter 067 80,000 Contribution Points seemed a lot to Fang Hao, until he learned that around a good Foundation Establishment Manual had a cost of around 30,000 contribution points and a Foundation Establishment Pill had a cost of around 12,000 contribution points. Furthermore, a single Foundation Establishment Pill didn''t guarantee a breakthrough in cultivation base. Those with average aptitudes usually required at least 2-3 Foundation Establishment Pills. If he wanted to accumulate enough contribution points to buy a Cultivation Manual and a few foundation establishment pills in the safe zone of the sect, it would take him almost a decade! Even though Fang Hao was promised a Foundation Establishment Cultivation Manual and enough resources to breakthrough by the Great Elder, he decided to save around half of his contribution points for supplementary resources for his Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Buying a few of the better Grade 2 Magic Tools shaved off almost a fourth of his accumulated contribution points. He replaced his present inner armor with a better flexible soft armor which could block dozens of peak Qi Condensation spells or a single early Foundation Establishment Cultivator''s attack before getting destroyed. He also upgraded his speed boosting leather boot magic tool for a pair of straw sandals which allowed him to move even faster at the expense of more Qi. Another purchase was a magic tool which looked like a jute-rope which could be used to bind a single target at range for several breaths of time. It''s usage was a bit Qi intensive, but Fang Hao figured it could come in handy for preventing his enemies from running away. Chasing to kill that last straggler was way too annoying sometimes. The last magic tool he shopped for was a ice blue shallow bowl which could rain ice spikes on a target area. If he concentrated the shower area, he could maim and possibly freeze a single target; or hurt multiple weaker targets in a larger area. While the magic tools he purchased weren''t the best ones, he felt that they could serve as reasonable distractions ins tricky situations and were overall well rounded. Another fourth was spent on a variety of powerful Grade 2 consumables and Talismans. Fang Hao was confident that even if he was out of Qi and stamina, with the Grade 2 Consumables alone he could tackle almost any sticky situation involving half a dozen late Qi Condensation Cultivators given that the said cultivators didn''t use shitloads of Grade 2 talismans themselves. Fang Hao also bought a couple of new spells. They were Thunder Sparrow and Blood Thorn Whip. Thunder Sparrow was like the flame snake spell, except that it was of the thunder element and had a chance to stun the target. While the thunder sparrow spell didn''t require storm clouds like the Call clouds spell, its potency would be enhanced in stormy weather. The Blood Thorn Whip spell summoned a bloody long tough thorny vine from his hand which he could use to entangle and strangulate someone at mid-range. It was a pretty good spell for a Qi Condensation cultivator, other than the fact that it consumed the Cultivator''s blood along with his Qi per cast. This was both its strength and flaw.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. A Cultivator with too weak a physique wouldn''t dare to use it too frequently in a short duration or risk fainting due to loss of blood. On the other hand, if a cultivator was willing to sacrifice his blood essence, it would greatly empower the spell. The regular version of the spell consumed just some regular blood which Fang Hao didn''t care much about, as his Primordial Marrow trait would replenish it quickly enough unless he went full retard and used the blood thorn vine spell dozens of times in succession. While the empowered version of the spell had the potential to be a trump card, it consumed valuable blood essence which was far too difficult to replenish. If a cultivator depleted too much of his blood essence, his body would be permanently weakened and he would find it very difficult to advance his cultivation. Replenishing blood essence required a length period of seclusion and if the loss was too severe, rare and expensive treasures. Cultivators were reluctant to use up blood essence for spells/magic tools unless driven into a corner. Using up one''s blood essence was basically getting a temporary boost in power at the expense of one''s foundation. Of Course, Fang Hao wasn''t sure how much difficulty he would face replenishing lost blood essence, as he expected his Primordial Marrow Trait to counter it somewhat. But he was in no rush to find out about it any time soon. He also had a get-together with the fatties from his outer Disciple clique where he shared spirit wine, meat of spirit beasts and gave everyone some Qi Condensation pills to use for their cultivation. He also arranged future get-togethers to be held at least once every couple of months unless they were busy in missions/cultivation. Of-course, with the lure of free spirit wine, meat of spirit beasts and some Qi Condensation pills were more than enough to ensure none of the fatties would miss it. After his new round of shopping, Fang Hao concentrated on grinding his xp and skills. He would take missions to collect spirit beast carcasses and fight in self defense outside the safe zone for a month or so. He would then spend the next month doing the regular low xp sparring and farming/butchering tasks while diligently grinding his learned spells for farming skill points. In around three and half years, Fang Hao had farmed his Qi and Body Cultivation levels. He didn''t apply himself seriously to the annual tournaments as the rewards weren''t lucrative enough to give his all to win. He would put up a show of the fight and give up quickly enough to avoid the limelight. Even in his non-lethal spars and fights, he would avoid using Phantom Aura steps and Aura fists and purposely contain his physical prowess to appear far weaker than he was to hide the fact that no Qi Condensation spell could really harm his body. So he usually gave up on fights if his membrane Barrier dissipated and relied solely on the charging turtle stratagem which wasn''t always effective against late Qi Condensation Cultivators who had a greater variety/ higher proficiency with various magic tools and spells. Chapter 068 He had reached lv1 Foundation Establishment Equivalent of a Body Refining, and was a lv 1 Expert Mortal body Refiner. He had deliberately slowed his xp grinding when he had reached lv10 Qi Condensation as he didn''t want to breakthrough without an appropriate Cultivation Manual and Foundation Establishment Pills. That would create a shitstorm and his every move would be under scrutiny. Even with all his efforts to conceal his physical prowess, he had an eerie feeling that he was under watch a lot of time. Apparently Great Elder Shi was well aware of the progress of his cultivation base and a message was conveyed to him through the mission hall, which instructed Fang Hao to be ready near the Bronze Scripture Pavilion on a certain date for his Foundation Establishment Scripture. He had continued meeting with and maintaining goodwill with his clique. With the help of his Qi Condensation pills, they had faster growth rates than others of their talent level. He was at the peak of Qi Condensation, and the Qi Condensation pills were turning out to be too trashy for Qi recovery unless he used a few of them together. Fang Hao was leisurely drinking wine and eating roasted meat after having sent off his clique as he reviewed his Status Screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 24 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 196
Realm: Qi Condensation Realm Level: 10 (*+1)
Current Experience: 516614 (529432) Level Up at Experience: 527385
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 34.1 Finesse: 28.7
Spirit:This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. 31.1 Qi 67.0/67.0
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Aura Infusion (Perfection) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Chains (Expert) Aura Fist (Perfection) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Concealing Mist (Expert)
Minor Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Hand (Expert) Call Clouds (Expert) Static Web (Expert)
Acid Splash (Expert) Lion''s Roar (Expert) Floating Leaves Step (Perfection) Aura Blast (Expert)
Thunder Sparrow (Expert) Blood Thorn Whip (Expert) Aura Sacrifice (Basic)
''Forming the 2nd Seal and having a breakthrough in my body cultivation has made me more or less invulnerable to Qi Condensation Spells/Attacks. And speaking of the second seal.'' Fang Hao sighed mentally as he observed his arm. His skin had extremely faint, almost invisible hexagonal bands on it and a faint greenish tinge to it. On top of that whatever little weight he had lost, his second seal had thickened his skin to a tough leathery hide which made him look fatter. ''My refined and noble golden skin has turned into some sort of thick greenish hide. It makes me look fatter than I am. Looks like, I am destined to be a fatty in this life. '' thought Fang Hao as he tore a large chunk of meat from a greasy sizzling drumstick of a wind wolf and relished the succulent meat of the spirit beast. ''But I shouldn''t complain too much. This thick skin boosts my defense by a lot. And More defense is always good. Not to mention the 2nd seal has given a huge boost to my Physique and Finesse. If I use Aura Infusion to the max, Floating Leaves step, the straw sandal magic tool and Phantom Aura steps liberally; I estimate that I can run away from an early initial Foundation Establishment stage Cultivator, other than the fact that I cannot fly yet and their regular spells won''t cause too big of an injury. Hopefully, I won''t need to verify my defense and speed against Foundation Establishment Cultivators anytime soon.'' ''I may be able to preserve my life from an initial Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but I don''t think I can kill him. Any Foundation Establishment Cultivator can just fly away from me and I will be helpless and impotent to do anything. The last spell of the Aura Fist Manual is really something though. No way I can practice that spell to increase proficiency. Its basically a Forbidden Spell which I hopefully will never need to use. Maybe I should increase its proficiency with skill points? Who knows, it may save my ass when shit really hits the fan.'' ruminated Fang Hao. ''Speaking of Skill points, I farmed around 50 skill points leveling up the spells I really used till now. I can evolve Fire Serpent Spell and Floating Leaves Step since both are at Perfection now. Should I evolve them, or save the skill points for later? Hmm, I will decide after seeing the spell library. Too bad Aura Fist, Aura Infusion and Phantom Aura steps can''t be evolved even if all three are at Perfection.'' ''Using skills in battle really raises the proficiency very quickly though. I managed to Grind 4 spells to perfection and 3 spells to Expert in three and half years farming quite a bit of skill points. Hunting and Slaughter for Profit sure is Fun! Aura Blast is useful, but not outstanding. Still My next target should be to grind it to Perfection, or at least Master. Blood Thorn Vine and Thunder sparrow are good spells though. I should grind them up to perfection and perhaps evolve Blood Thorn Vine too if I can.'' ''I have also saved up around 200,000 contribution points. If nothing, that should tide me for a while as a Junior Core Disciple and Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Looks like I will reach my goal of Entering Foundation Establishment and its Body Refining equivalent before 25 years of age. Tomorrow should be interesting. I wonder what sort of Cultivation Manual Great Elder Shi will give? I hope its the good stuff. Well it probably will be considering the status of a Great Elder and all. If the gossip is to be believed there are only a dozen or so Great Elders while there are tens of thousands of Qi Condensation Disciples. So they really have status and shouldn''t be too stingy. I hope'' thought Fang Hao as he speculated about his future interaction with the Great Elder. Chapter 069 Fang Hao was politely waiting for Great Elder Shi in front of the Bronze Scripture Pavilion. Soon the Great Elder teleported nearby and Fang Hao greeted him earnestly. The Great Elder just uttered a single word "follow" and took him to a back room of the 3rd floor in the Bronze Scripture Pavilion. There was an inner disciple drinking spirit wine, who was flabbergasted at the sudden arrival of a Great Elder. The inner disciple stuttered a respectful greeting but was simply waved away by the Great Elder. There was a crystal pillar nearby which was thicker than Fang Hao. ¡°Junior, we are here now to test your spirit roots. I will use it to help you determine the most suitable cultivation technique for you. Place your hand on the pillar and allow channel Qi into it.¡± The Great Elder instructed. ¡°This junior hears and obeys.¡± Fang Hao said respectfully as did as he was instructed. He placed his chubby palm on the glowing crystal pillar and started channeling Qi into it. The pillar then started draining his Qi automatically and a shimmering kaleidoscope of colors appeared on the surface of the pillar. As more and more of his Qi was drained the colors got more intense and opaque. After almost half of his Qi was drained in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the colors finally settled on the pillar, making it appear opaque multicolored pillar. Great Elder Shi observed the splash of colors for almost fifteen minutes, having a stoic look on his face. But inwardly he wasn''t sure what to make out of it. ¡°Your spirit roots are a mess really. You have a mixture of innate and acquired spirit roots. Among your innate spirit roots, Earth dominates and among your acquired spirit roots Lightning and Life dominate.¡± The Great Elder said pointing towards a large muddy brown splash of color near the bottom and glancing at the similarly sized electric blue and blood red splashes of color near the top of the pillar. ¡°Your Life and Lightning spirit roots are also intertwined closely. Apart from these, your other major spirit root is fire and water, though it doesn''t compare to your dominant spirit roots of earth, lightning and life. Theoretically you also have wood and metal spirit roots, but they are simply trash compared to your dominant three spirit roots. Tell me something junior. Do you feel any changes in your body from childhood or as your cultivation level increases?¡± Fang Hao was inwardly nervous as he heard about the affinities of his acquired spirit roots. But still he acted ignorant without a trace of worry and said, ¡°Senior, this junior is always hungry from childhood. No matter what this junior eats, this junior isn''t satiated for long. Also as junior is approaching Foundation Establishment, junior feels a surging sensation from his dantian.¡± The Great Elder Shi just snorted dismissively. ''The surging sensation is normal for peak QI Condensation disciples. But as for the hunger, it is mostly because he is an insatiable glutton. But it might be because he has a dormant bloodline and further cultivation breakthroughs might lead to awakening. In either case, the cultivation method I select for him must have either the Lightning Attribute or the Life Attribute. I am curious to see if he has a possible bloodline. Too bad there is no sure-fire test for bloodlines.'' The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Now junior, you have a choice. I have a few Qi Cultivation techniques in mind which are suitable for you. But they have a different focus. Would you prefer a cultivation technique that focuses on speed, defense or offense? A general attribute free Cultivation Technique might suffice till Qi Condensation. But, for Foundation Establishment and Core Formation you should focus your cultivation on your dominant spirit roots.¡± the Great Elder stated. Fang Hao had a somewhat dumb look on his face as he said, ¡°Senior, this junior is very unclear about the matter of spirit roots, but this junior would definitely like to cultivate with a focus on defense and speed.¡± The Great Elder had a stoic look on his face as he inwardly abused Fang Hao''s attitude. ''Defense and Speed, eh? You little cowardly shit you just want to run away and survive. This attitude is truly lacking for Body Cultivators. I thought that after facing life and death battles you would acquire boldness and resoluteness required of Body Cultivator. Hmmph.'' ¡°Spirit Roots are your affinities with various elements. You will find better results and fewer bottlenecks if your cultivation techniques and spells are of elements matching with your spirit roots. Usually, everyone is born with certain spirit roots and can acquire some spirit roots with their experiences and opportunities.¡± ¡°However, Spirit Roots are just a general guideline as there are many other factors that decide the compatibility of cultivation techniques. Bloodlines, the nature of your dao-heart, various opportunities you encounter, the cultivation techniques/spells/magic tools you use are some of the major factors which can shape suitability with a specific cultivation techniques/spells. But upto Core Formation Stage, Spirit Roots are very important for Qi Cultivators. Speaking of Cultivation; Junior, how is your body refining progressing?¡± inquired the Great Elder ¡°Senior, this junior is starting to face bottlenecks in Body Cultivation. Each step of progress requires a lot of effort and this junior has thus decided to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment Stage before pursuing Body Cultivation further. This junior simply adores the defense provided by body Refining and doesn''t plan to abandon body refining.¡± There was no noticeable change in expression in the Great Elder''s expression, but inwardly he was sighing in disappointment. ''This junior''s mentality is starting to become a hindrance in his body cultivation. Without the resoluteness to charge forward into danger boldly, progress of body cultivation is very difficult. I suspect that this junior will be stuck at an equivalent of the peak of Core Formation as a body Cultivator if he doesn''t undergo a change in his mindset and will probably end up focusing on Qi Cultivation. But there is still time. This junior needs a baptism of a genuine bloodbath to reaffirm his attitude. There are still several years left for the inter-sect competition for Core Disciples.'' ¡°If you want to focus on defense and speed, the most suitable cultivation manual for you is the Thunder-Rock Carapace manual. It is of lightning and earth attribute. While it is a bit difficult to cultivate and has only two supplementary spells; its suitability for your spirit roots and requirements is without question. This Cultivation Manual has two layers and should be around 50,000 contribution points for both the layers.¡± The Great Elder than flicked his sleeves and two thumb sized pinkish pills flew towards the fatty who caught them and bowed to the Great Elder expressing his thanks. ¡°Here are two Foundation Establishment pills. I would recommend you to get the Thunder-Rock Carapace Manual, but have a look at the available ones before you decide. Also get a few more foundation establishment pills before you attempt your breakthrough.¡± The Great Elder said cooly before leaving Fang Hao alone in the room. ''Looks like the Great Elder isn''t too fond of me for some reason. I expected a free cultivation manual and at least half a dozen foundation establishment pills. Looks like my hoarded contribution points need to be spent. At least two foundation establishment pills are better than a big fat nothing. But really stingy behavior here.'' grumbled Fang Hao mentally as he stored the two pills in his storage pouch and went to browse through the Cultivation Manuals for Foundation Establishment. Chapter 070 Fang Hao joined a queue for a nearby information counter and patiently waited a couple of hours. When his turn came, a tired and exhausted looking inner disciple asked in a monotonic puppet-like voice, ¡°What do you wish to know, fellow apprentice-brother?¡± ¡°Fellow apprentice-brother, I would like to inquire where I can exchange m contribution points for a Foundation Establishment Cultivation Manual and Foundation Establishment Pills.¡± Fang Hao politely inquired. The exhausted looking inner disciple just sighed and said, ¡°Fellow apprentice-brother, inquiries regarding Foundation Establishment Manuals and Pills are dealt with on the next floor. Just be sure that you are at the peak of Qi Condensation or the formation will not allow you entry.¡± pointing at a nearby arch. Fang Hao thanked him briefly with a genuine smile on his face as he was raging inwardly. ''Damn it. Wasted two whole hours just to be told to queue up somewhere else. First the Great Elder brushes me off cheaply, and then I waste a couple of hours standing in a queue just to meet a hussy little bitch who doesn''t answer me. Would it have killed him to elaborate a bit more than ¡°Go through te arch and ask someone else there.¡± Today just isn''t my day.'' grumbled Fang Hao internally as he approached the indicated Arch. Al he could see on the other side of the arch was a grayish shadow. He decisively stepped through the arch and appeared elsewhere. It still looked like the Interior of the skill pavilion but filled with golden robed Core Disciples. A few of the core disciples glanced at him nonchalantly, and Fang Hao had felt a series of prickling sensations on the back of his neck. He smiled and bowed to the probing gazes politely before he felt the pressure ease on him. ''Is this supposed to be the so-called spiritual sense scan? If ti is, then looks like the sect is full of voyeurs. An inner disciple enters and they feel the need to gang up and investigate me. Sheesh.'' Fang Hao lamented internally but outwardly he was meek as a mouse as he made his way to the information counter, which was thankfully empty.. A skinny looking middle-aged man in golden robes and reddish blotches over his face saw Fang Hao approach and gave him a grin. The grin was more frightening than reassuring as it caused the already ugly Core Disciple to appear even uglier. Fang Hao approached him cautiously and subserviently bowed and greeted his Senior Apprentice Brother. The ugly looking middle-aged Core Disciple just flicked his sleeve dismissively and said in a surprisingly soothing voice, Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°No need to be so polite little fatty. You reached here means you are at the peak of Qi Condensation; just a step from Foundation Establishment. If the heavens will it, you will soon be my peer; a fellow Core Disciple. Just Call me Brother Wu.¡± ¡°Then I, Fang Hao will not be polite and request Senior Brother Wu to enlighten me about a few matters.¡± Fang Hao said in a more informal, but still respectful manner. ¡°Naturally, naturally. You will need a cultivation manual and Foundation Establishment Pills for a breakthrough. Now the pills are pretty standardized and the ones available to you will cost around 12,000 contribution points. Theoretically one pill should be enough for a breakthrough but I recommend keeping 3 to 4 before an attempt; or at the very least two.¡± ¡°Cultivation Manuals for Foundation Establishment are quite varied though. It can cost anywhere from 15,000 contribution points to around 80,000 contribution points. Keep in mind that the most expensive Cultivation manual is not necessarily the most suited manual for a disciple especially if compatibility with spirit roots are lacking. A list of cultivation manuals open for exchange along with their brief description is available for 4000 contribution points. A test for determining the dominant spirit roots is available for 6000 contribution points. So what will it be, little fatty?¡± ''A test is worth 6000 points eh? Well at least I got a bit more out of the Grand Elder. Four Thousand Contribution Points seems like a rip off for the catalog alone. Oh, well ¡­'' mused Fang Hao for a bit before he requested Senior Brother Wu the catalog of cultivation techniques. Senior Brother Wu asked Fang Hao for his inner disciple token, from which his contribution points was deducted. He then handed him a book which was looked like it made out of palm leaves and instructed Fang Hao to bind it with blood. After Fang Hao did so, the good-natured core disciple reminded Fang Hao. ¡°Remember little fatty, even if the description of a cultivation technique looks enticing, it might not be the best for you if its incompatible with our spirit roots. If a cultivation method isn''t compatible with your spirit roots, it will take too long to cultivate and your peers will leave you behind. Being a bit more powerful against a similar leveled cultivator won''t matter much if your cultivation speed causes you to lose decades of your life. Also, only you will be able to read that book; the book will also disintegrate in a month''s time.¡± Fang Hao tossed the book in his storage pouch, clasped his hands and sincerely thanked the ugly-yet-friendly middle-aged core disciple before leaving the scripture pavilion and waited for a few hours before a transport arrived. While he was waiting, he occasionally saw flashes of gold streak through the air and stop near the foot of the hill before making their way up to the scripture pavilion. ''Looks like Core Disciples are allowed to fly in this region of the sect, other than directly above the scripture pavilion. I bet the blue grass is to blame for this!'' thought Fang Hao as he turned his suspicious gaze to the blue grass which covered most of the hill holding the scripture pavilion. Soon his transport arrived which was a giant ladybug with huge creepy compound eyes. Chapter 071 Fang Hao was wondering how to enter the transport, when a small rectangular door shaped opening appeared in the abdominal region of the giant ladybug. Suppressing his unease, he entered the ladybug, and he saw a large hall with yoga mats spread about. As soon as he occupied a free yoga mat and sat cross-legged, the ''door'' closed and he felt a mild jerking sensation behind his navel. ''It has been almost a decade here, and there are still surprises. Weird shit just keeps popping up. What happened to giant lotuses, clouds, birds and other non-insectoid mode of transportation? I am confused now. Is this a giant bug or some sort of magic tool specialized for transportation? I won''t have to remain here too long anyway.'' thought Fang Hao as he resisted the urge to read about available cultivation manuals then and there. Within quarter of an hour, Fang Hao had reached his residential cottage. He went inside, uncovered the glowing stones for light, retrieved the catalog for foundation establishment cultivation techniques and started flipping through it. There were roughly seventy or so cultivation techniques which could help a peak Qi Condensation cultivator breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Each page was dedicated to one cultivation technique with a brief description. The first page detailed a Qi Cultivation Manual which he was very familiar with, The Sublime Qi Manual! For Fang Hao and many outer disciples of the Jade Pagoda Sect, it was the first Manual they practiced in the sect to cultivate in the Qi Gathering Realm. Apparently the Manual had instructions on how to cultivate even for the Foundation Establishment Stage. It was the cheapest Cultivation Manual in the catalog, costing only 15,000 contribution points. While it didn''t have any affinity / spirit root requirements and was a very stable cultivation method; it was extremely slow, didn''t have any associated spells and had lesser chances of success for a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage with the same resources. ''I guess this Sublime Qi Manual is the plain vanilla no-frills of cultivation manuals. Its slow, requires more foundation establishment pills for success and grants no spells. But it won''t conflict with any previous/subsequent cultivation methods. No wonder, we were given the Qi Gathering layer of this manual first to cultivate.'' The next several cultivation methods described were pretty basic. They focused on one attribute and had a couple of spells at most. The advantage of these generic single attribute cultivation techniques was that cultivating them was much faster than the sublime spirit scripture and didn''t have very stringent requirements of spirit roots. These cultivation techniques were roughly around 30,000 contribution points each. Then started the cultivation techniques which required more than one spirit root and provided more powerful spells in general. Among these, the most common attributes Fang Hao encountered were fire, water, earth, wood, metal, lightning, wind, light and dark. Each of these cultivation techniques were worth around 50,000 contribution points. The Thunder-rock Carapace Scripture recommended to him by the Great Elder was among these.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ''So it looks like the five traditional elements along with wind,lightning, light and dark are the most common attributes for spirit roots. So having a life attributed spirit root is a good thing. The Thunder-rock Carapace Scripture seems a very good fit for my requirements. The first spell makes a crystal-like covering over the cultivator''s body which greatly improves defense. Each time the crystal-like covering receives damage, it increases the cultivator''s speed. Sounds like a spell tailor made for running away!'' mused Fang Hao to himself. ''The description is vague about the second spell, but it should be focused on speed and/or defense. This is one of the few cultivation techniques which requires both earth and lightning attributed spirit roots. There are very few life attributed cultivation techniques, though. Let me look through rest of the cultivation methods before I decide. But as of now, Thunder-rock Carapace seems tailor-made for me.'' decided Fang Hao as he continued reading the Cultivation Technique brochure. Near the end of the brochure, the true top tier cultivation techniques were recorded. While these techniques were powerful, they had extremely stringent requirements and similarly high contribution point cost of 100,000. moreover, most of these required permission of an Elder or higher to acquire. One of these techniques which appealed to Fang Hao was called the Phoenix Echo Scripture. This Scripture had a very stringent requirements. For one, the cultivator had to have innate dominant Fire and Life attributed spirit roots and could not have innate water spirit roots. Moreover, it required transplanting the cultivator with blood of Grade 4 or higher fire-attributed spirit beast descended from phoenixes or vermilion birds. A Grade 4 spirit beast was the equivalent of a Core Formation Cultivator! The blood of such a spirit beast was obviously very valuable and near impossible to obtain for most Qi Condensation cultivators. This requirement of spirit beast blood could be skipped, but that required the cultivator to have a natural bloodline and/or innate constitution affiliated with phoenixes, which was even more rare. Having a weak bloodline or using low quality blood transplant could create a potentially unsurpassable bottleneck for the cultivator! Despite the harsh requirements, if someone was suitable to cultivate this scripture, he would be undoubtedly much more powerful than his peers in the same stage with a variety of powerful spells and a very fast cultivation speed. Another of these top-tier cultivation techniques which caught Fang Hao''s eye was the Doom Shield Manual. This manual focused on defense/survivability along with weakening foes. Most of the spells it had were focused on defense and self-healing/life-stealing. It required the cultivation of an Earth attributed Body Tempering Method to the peak of Qi Condensation. As for spirit roots, it required dominant Earth, Darkness and Death spirit root. As if that wasn''t enough, it required the cultivator to make their blood and marrow to have a corrosive acid-like property through special means or having a qualified bloodline/innate constitution. If someone who was unsuited for this scripture tried to forcefully cultivate the Doom Shield Manual, they would melt into a puddle of flesh from the inside-out. ''No wonder these top-tier cultivation manuals require permission from an Elder. It is not just to keep control over the good stuff, but to stop disasters which over-ambitious cultivators may trap themselves into.'' mused Fang Hao as he once more considered his options. While he was favoring the Thunder-rock Carapace Scripture, this was a major decision on his path of cultivation and he wanted to carefully consider all viable options before committing. Chapter 072 Fang Hao spent the next week or so thoroughly analyzing the suitable cultivation techniques in the brochure. It turned out that he wasn''t qualified for any of the top tier cultivation methods without transplanting blood of divine beasts or using similar special techniques to morph his physiology. And such heavenly catalysts for cultivation were obviously out of his reach. Even if they were in his reach, he would be reluctant to use it on himself. The main reason for this was his acquired spirit roots! He had decent innate spirit roots for the earth element and acquired spirit roots for lightning and life element. As he understood it, innate spirit roots were something more-or less fixed at birth; while acquired spirit roots were acquired through various experiences and opportunities he cultivator faced during cultivation. It wasn''t strictly so, as sometimes acquired spirit roots were manifested from birth; while sometimes innate spirit roots awakened and explosively increased in quality as a cultivator made breakthroughs. But in those cases, it was almost always the result of having/awakening an innate constitution, a powerful bloodline or usage of heavenly treasures. Considering all this, Fang Hao was speculating the cause of his acquired spirit roots. The cultivation manual which he used for Qi Gathering was the Sublime Qi Manual, which was considered a very neutral cultivation technique. While the Aura Fist Scripture for Qi Condensation was more specialized, it was also a more-or-less neutral cultivation technique. It could compare to top-tier techniques for Qi Condensation; if one ignored its stringent requirements for efficiency and the relatively slow speed of cultivation. Even though he had evolved the Flame Snake spell to the Fire Serpent spell, his innate fire spirit roots was still a tier below of his innate earth spirit root. So what caused him to obtain the acquired spirit roots of Lightning and Life, which could even compare with his highest innate spirit root of earth? He only had a couple of possibilities. One was all the spirit wine he had been drinking on a regular basis. And the other was The Divine Vajra Body Scripture! Out of these couple of options, he was much more partial to the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Although the spirit wine he consumed was very valuable to Qi Condensation disciples, it could hardly qualify as a treasure. It could barely qualify as a semi-expensive luxury cultivation aid. On the other hand, the description of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture was much more epic. It stated that cultivating the scripture could allow mortals to transform their fleshly bodies to be comparable to those of gods. Fang Hao had been puzzled by the term gods. He had made many multiple subtle and oblique inquiries regarding stages of cultivation. He was more-or-less about the stages of Qi Gathering, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment and Core Formation. Beyond that, all he heard were reverent whispers about the Nascent Spirit Stage. Apparently, even cultivators at the Core Formation stage were treated as mortals and no mortal could have a lifespan exceeding a thousand years by any means. This was a mandate of the heavens. But most Nascent Spirit stage cultivator could live over a thousand years! Cultivation of Nascent Spirit was so valued that any disciple who managed to reach it, no matter the age, would be awarded the post of an Elder in the Sect, along with all the privileges associated with it. Without certain life-extending treasures or other special means, a core formation cultivator could live up to a approximately five centuries. With half-a-step into the grave, if a 500 year old Core Formation cultivator managed a breakthrough and became a Nascent Spirit Cultivator, he would get a new lease of life of another five centuries and enjoy a very respectable position in the sect.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Of course, to the current Fang Hao tales of the Nascent Spirit stage were very far away. He actually didn''t have much idea about the Core Formation stage either. But Foundation Establishment was a very critical juncture in one''s cultivation path. If he made an incorrect or sub-optimal choice now, his future cultivation would greatly suffer. While Fang Hao had a certain assurance that his Level-up routine could neutralize most of the negative sequela, he didn''t want to verify it with experiments. Hence, he decided to proceed with utmost caution and planning. The Divine Vajra Body scripture was literally remolding his body, step-by-step, to that of a ''god'' which he assumed was an unfathomably high cultivation boundary. He didn''t want to interrupt or corrupt this procedure with transplantation of foreign bloodlines or other modifications from external sources for a bit more power at the foundation establishment stage. Fang Hao was 90% confident that his acquired spirit roots of lighting and life were due to his cultivation of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He had an instinctive feeling that he should pick a cultivation technique which focused on at-least one of his acquired spirit roots, preferably both. The safest option would be the Sublime Qi Manual, which was a neutral cultivation method all the way to the peak of Core Formation. On one hand it lacked clear advantages; but on the other hand it lacked possible future disadvantages as well. Another viable option was the Thunder-rock Carapace manual recommended to him by the Grand Elder. It focused on his dominant spirit roots, one of which was his acquired lightning spirit root. And even better, was that the spell provided by it was tailor made to suit his highest priority - Staying Alive. In fact, Fang Hao wouldn''t hesitate to choose this cultivation technique for Foundation Establishment under most circumstances. He was hesitating, because there was another cultivation technique which was very compatible to him. It was named as the Primal Thunder Scripture. The Primal Thunder Scripture had a requirement of dominant Thunder and Life spirit roots. This combination of spirit roots resonated with Fang Hao''s acquired spirit roots and his speculations about the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. The Primal Thunder Scripture even had more spells than the Thunder-rock Carapace Manual. But the only reason he was hesitating was this cultivation technique had a primary focus on offense and speed and offered little in terms of defensive capabilities; unlike the Thunder-rock Carapace manual which was focused solely on defense. ''So I have three viable options now. The Sublime Qi Manual is a safe option, but is pretty meh. If both the Thunder-rock Carapace Manual and the Primal Thunder Scripture were unavailable, I would definitely go with it. But the other two cultivation techniques are much more superior picks with minimal risks for me.'' ''The Thunder-rock Carapace Manual focuses on defense, but only on one of my acquired roots. On the other hand the Primal Thunder Scripture focuses on both my acquired spirit roots, but is primarily offense oriented. What to choose...What to choose. I will get nowhere if I hesitate. Time to Decide like Professionals.'' deliberated Fang Hao internally. Fang Hao steeled his resolve, having seemingly made a decision, walked to his yard and fished out a plain looking faded bronze coin from his storage pouch. He examined the round coin with a small square hole in the center and observed both the faces. ''Lets go with Thunder-rock Carapace for heads and Primal Thunder for tails.'' decided Fang Hao before flipping the coin in air. He had carefully restraining his strength so that the coin spun and rose up ''only'' ten meters or so before it started descending. Chapter 073 While the coin was descending, Fang Hao had a deep yearning in his mind. He was desperately hoping for the coin to be heads and the Primal Thunder Scripture to be chosen. As the coin approached his height, Fang Hao grabbed it from mid air and looked at the coin. It showed tails. ''So Destiny says to go for Thunder-rock Carapace, but I subconsciously yearn for the Primal Thunder Scripture. Isn''t Cultivation like raging against the heavens, fighting destiny and following one''s Dao-heart? Well my heart is partial to Primal Thunder Scripture, so the Primal Thunder Scripture it is. But just to be safe, I better buy some good defensive treasures, talismans and spells as more defense is never a bad thing. But I have high hopes for the possible synergy between the Primal Thunder scripture, Divine Vajra Body Scripture and my acquired spirit roots.'' decided Fang Hao in his internal monologue. Fang Hao waited for a few days to catch a transport to the Bronze Scripture Pavilion. It was one of the more common floating lotus looking magic treasure this time operated by a grumpy old man with a huge wart on his nose. He made his way through the hill, being wary of the blue grass surrounding the dirt path and through the first three floors of the Scripture Pavilion and entered the floor for Foundation Establishment Disciples. He saw the ugly-looking middle aged cultivator with a good disposition looking bored at an idle counter. Fang Hao subserviently approached him and greeted, ¡°Greetings Senior Brother Wu.¡± The ugly-looking Senior Brother Wu broke into a smile, which caused him to look more horrifying. He replied in a good-natured tone, ¡°Greeting little fatty. So you finished deciding on a cultivation technique? Ready to buy some pills and a Cultivation manual?¡± Fang Hao had a little bashful looking expression on his face, which did not suit the fatty at all. His bashful expression made him look like a fat perverted pig. ¡°Yes, Senior brother Wu. I have decided on a cultivation technique compatible with my spirit roots and would request you to guide me buying the manual and pills.¡± The ugly-looking looking Senior Brother Wu''s smile became even more twisted as he was clearly pleased with Fang Hao''s reply. ¡°Which Cultivation Technique and how many pills would you like, little fatty?¡± Fang Hao replied without any hesitation, ¡°Senior Brother, I would like the Primal Thunder Scripture along with ten foundation establishment pills.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Little fatty, Foundation Establishment pills are not tasty snacks to casually munch on. Four foundation Establishment pills are almost always sufficient for a breakthrough. Even, five Foundation Establishment Pills are a overkill for most. And in the last few decades, there is no record of a purchase of more than five foundation establishment pills by any inner disciple.¡± Senior Brother Wu replied slowly, clearly speaking each word as if he was talking to a retard. Fang Hao naturally made a hesitant expression on his face and replied, ¡°Senior Brother Wu, my talent is very mediocre. It was due to a series of fortunate events that I could afford resources to cultivate to my present cultivation. I am afraid that I may not succeed in building a foundation in one attempt, so I am keeping some pills for backup.¡± ¡°Well that might be so little fatty, but don''t take more than five pills at a go unless you want your dantian to explode and cripple your own cultivation. Hope you have enough contribution points for it.¡± Said Senior Brother Wu in a shrugging manner as he left the counter and beckoned Fang Hao to follow him. Although he was good-natured and gave the appropriate warning to his junior brother, he wouldn''t bother too much if the little fatty wanted to cripple himself in anxiety. They entered a large looking hall with a shelves of jade boxes arranged like a library. In front of the shelves, there was a large continuous counter with multiple disciples in gold robes dealing with similarly dressed junior core disciples. Senior Brother Wu went proudly towards one of the gold robed disciples manning the counter with the fatty in tow. ¡°Give me 10 foundation establishment pills. And don''t let me catch you skimping shavings from any of the pills again.¡± Senior Brother Wu growled. The disciple had a ugly look on his face, but nevertheless bought 10 small palm sized jade boxes without any protest. Senior Brother Wu examined each of the boxes and grunted in acceptance as he gave his token to the managing disciple. The managing disciple quickly returned the token to Senior Brother Wu after placing it on a crystal disk nearby by. Fang Hao noticed a smoky ¡°100,000¡± project above the crystal disk as Senior Brother Wu''s token was placed on it. Senior Brother Wu then dumped all the ten boxes on Fang Hao and said in a cheerful tone, ¡°That will be 120,000 contribution points little fatty.¡± Fang Hao just smiled magnanimously and handed his token over to Senior Brother Wu without protest. When he received his token, he cheeked and found that he had roughly 75,000 contribution points left. ''20,000 contribution points goes to the middleman. Damn. No wonder his counter was empty and all core disciples were avoiding him. He looks ugly, talks nicely and loots unsuspecting retards from their hard earned contribution points.'' thought Fang Hao bitterly. Of course he wouldn''t dare to express his thoughts vocally. He could see that everyone of the junior core disciples kept a healthy distance from him. Possibly because they were afraid of getting scammed, or beaten-up or both. Senior Brother Wu was humming a merry tune to himself as he gestured Fang Hao to another hall and said. ¡°Little fatty, just go through that door and request your cultivation manual and you will get it without issues. Remember though, wile you can give the pills to your fellow disciples, you must not give or trade it with outsiders or mortals. And the cultivation technique is for your own personal use only. In no circumstance can you share it with anyone without prior permission.¡± ¡°Thank you Senior Brother Wu for your advice.¡± said Fang Hao as he hurriedly entered through the indicated door. Instead of seeing a Grand Hall like the previous one, he found a small counter with a single core disciple manning it. Fang Hao politely greeted him and requested the Primal Thunder Scripture. He paid 60,000 contribution points and got a jade slip which he had to bind by blood in front of the core disciple. He was informed in a mechanical tone that the jade slip could only be used by him and would destroy itself if he left the boundary of the sect. Fang Hao thanked the senior and made his way back to his residence. Chapter 074 Fang Hao spent a week just relaxing. He didn''t do any tasks inside the safe zone of the sect, nor did he go out hunting / murdering for xp / loot or even cultivating for that matter. Only eating, drinking and sleeping. Fang Hao Then spent another month or so to thoroughly memorize the cultivation technique. The Primal Thunder Cultivation Technique was a little different from most of the other cultivation techniques he was exposed till now. The Primal Thunder Scripture had three components. It consisted of a contemplation image, mnemonic chants and Qi circulation pathways. Surprisingly, it didn''t have a single hand seal or somatic (movement-based) component associated with it. All other cultivation techniques (or spells for that matter) he was exposed to had certain gestures/hand-seals/movements associated with it. While he could shorten or even eliminate some of the gestures/hand-seals if he was proficient enough with a spell, it was the first time he encountered a Cultivation technique which had no movements/hand-seals associated with it. An outrageous and bold idea was forming in his mind. Since this cultivation technique had no movements associated with it...what would happen if he tried to combine certain movements of the other cultivation techniques while he learned it. This would be an outrageous and unthinkable thought to any other Qi Condensation Disciple, and would be akin to a thought crime. These Cultivation Techniques and Scriptures usually had two sources. One way to obtain these cultivation techniques and spells was to either obtain them in lucky chances/ancient inheritances/long-lost legacies. Another was to create them. Creation of cultivation techniques or even spells was not a cakewalk. One had to depend on incredible good fortune of insight or luck chance to comprehend a spell/ cultivation technique. More commonly, it was purposely created by Old monsters with incredible cultivation bases. Although cultivation was defiance of the heavens and granted increasing lifespan the further one progressed, the increase in longevity wasn''t infinite. Sooner or later, even a senior with incredibly monstrous talent would find himself unable to progress his cultivation if he survived long enough. Some of them went mad with desperation doing crazy and callous acts in their period of desperation before their lifespans ended. Some of them devoted all their means to do bone-chilling acts of cruelty in an attempt to further extend their lives. However, some of these old monsters accepted their impeding death and focused the last portion of their lives to leave their legacy I the cultivation world. They would attempt to distill their cultivation experience and insights in the form of Cultivation Techniques and Spells for juniors to assimilate and try to learn from. A vast majority of spells and cultivation manuals fell in this category. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. That is why, the more powerful a cultivation manual / spell was; the more specialized were its requirements for practicing it. Of course there were exceptions to this, but by and large most cultivation manuals and spells reflected this generalization. For a little baby in Qi Condensation, who hadn''t even completed half of a 60 year cycle, to attempt a modification to a well established and proven Foundation Establishment Cultivation Method consciously without sudden bursts of enlightenment was nothing short of blasphemy in the cultivation world. But Fang Hao had a broader outlook than most. He had an entirely different outlook from his past life experience in a technology-based society in Earth. While he wouldn''t call his previous life a scientist of any caliber, he was aware of the scientific approach of observation and experimentation. While he feared the consequences of the failed attempt, he was also excited at the prospect of a successful outcome and the possible rewards from it in the system. Learning/Upgrading spells and leveling granted him skill points, which he could use to upgrade spells directly, without spending the effort to do it the hard way. But doing it the hard way granted him bonus experience and skill points. He had only evolved one spell till now, the Flame Snake spell to the Fire Serpent spell using skill points. It had cost him a whooping 12 skill points to Evolve the Flame Snake spell from perfection proficiency to the Fire Serpent spell at Basic proficiency. Judging by the skill point costs, if he had managed to evolve the spell the hard way, he would have been rewarded with decent amount of skill points. He wanted to attempt evolving spells the hard way for the skill point reward, but he had no inspiration or road-map of how to proceed about it.\ His Qi Cultivation Manuals also rewarded skill points whenever he learned a new layer or made a breakthrough. So how large would the skill point reward be if he managed to customize a Cultivation Technique? While the risks were significant and Fang Hao would regret it immensely if he screwed things up, he was determined to explore and exploit the SYSTEM. He clearly understood that the SYSTEM which he had access to was his biggest advantage in this life and he continued to shy away from exploring its boundaries, he would always be mediocre;or a little above average at best. Furthermore he had a vague primal sense of unease and urgency, which was instinctively compelling him to get stronger ever since his Master left for Sect Business. It was slowly but surely influencing him to take risks and make decisions which he would have otherwise avoided. He was overtly cautious and more than a little paranoid by nature. Despite that, he had actively put himself into situations which was essentially life-and-death conflicts with multiple disciples of cultivation bases similar with himself. No matter how well he prepared or how much confidence he had in his Divine Vajra Body Scripture, things could have easily gone horribly wrong. Even his recent major decision of favoring the more offensive Primal Thunder Scripture over his defensive ideal of Thunder-rock Carapace Manual was in part influenced by the instinctive need to grow stronger as fast as possible. He had tasted the explosive gain in experience and skill proficiency from battling and murdering disciples with a similar cultivation base which was multiple times faster than just restricting himself to safe chores and cultivation. How could he sustain such a high speed of advancement if he chose his primary cultivation technique as the one which specialized in running away? Chapter 075 For all intents and purposes, Fang Hao was ready to make a breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Stage. He was at the 10th layer of Qi Condensation and very close to leveling up; he had acquired a very good Cultivation Manual which agreed well with his spirit roots; he had even acquired more than enough foundation establishment pills for a breakthrough. He was at a dilemma now, whether to strictly follow the Primal Thunder Scripture or try to modify it as he made his breakthrough into the foundation Establishment stage. ''Who am I kidding? I definitely want to try and cultivate Primal Thunder Enhanced Edition with Mods. Even if the mod turns out shit, I can always revert to the vanilla Primal Thunder Scripture for future level-ups. Even if my Qi Cultivation is irreversibly crippled which forced level-ups via xp can''t solve..I have my Body Cultivation technique. Though it would mean revealing that I have reached Foundation Establishment in pure Body Cultivation to get attention and support, I would have a very good chance of progressing as a pure Body Cultivator by depending on external resources as long as I stay alive after the experiment.'' thought Fang Hao. ''On the other hand, success with this venture would open new doors for my future cultivation and my cultivation technique would belong to me alone, making it harder for others to predict my arsenal of spells and the characteristics of my Cultivation. Yes, lets go ahead with this.'' resolved Fang Hao. ''I choose the Primal Thunder Scripture for the possible synergy with my acquired spirit roots of life and lightning which are most probably due to my practice of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. I am daring to take this risk of modifying the cultivation manual also because I have my body refining scripture to fall back on. Even if I do lose my access to Qi, I can depend on external resources and murdering for xp to cultivate and level-up as a pure Body Refiner. Even my prowess at the Qi Condensation level is because of the synergy of the Aura Fist manual with my enhanced physique due to Body Refining. So lets do this and go for broke. All my chips rest on body refining. Lets roll the dice! '' Fang Hao determined with a maniac mindset. He spent the next few months meticulously deciding the enhancement of the Primal Thunder Scripture. He decided on the Aura Fist Manual and the Divine Vajra Body Scripture as the best candidates for so. He had already reached the equivalent of Foundation Establishment as a Body Refiner with the Divine Vajra Body scripture and the acquired spirit roots of Life and Lightning strongly agreed with the Primal Thunder Scripture. The Aura Fist Manual had the interesting concept of synergy between QI and body Cultivation along with the (+) insight he had incorporated while practicing it. Fang Hao was hopeful of integrating these characteristics into his enhanced modification of the primal Thunder Scripture.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. These few months he had reviewed the various steps/ensembles of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture along with the somatic components of the Aura Fist Manual. He did lot of mini-practices with various somatic components along with the contemplation image of the Primal Thunder Scripture and finally decided on a clear plan for modifying the Primal Thunder Scripture. While he was immersed in his plan to modify the Primal Thunder Scripture, he had completed 11 years at the Jade Pagoda Sect. In his obsession, he had even instructed his clique that he was going into closed door cultivation and also missed the annual competition between disciples which usually provided a nice dollop towards his level-ups. It wasn''t uncommon for disciples who were about to make a major breakthrough to different realms to behave like obsessed shut-ins, so his behavior wasn''t eye catching or out of the norm. One evening, a few hours after dusk and Fang Hao was ready to proceed with his bold plan. He had activated the privacy feature of the formation protecting his dwelling so that others couldn''t see what he was doing in his yard with a casual glance, changed the indicator Flag at his residence to Red to indicate his unavailability, before he took a relaxing simulated shower (by splashing mugs of water over his head) and came to his yard fully naked with a couple of jugs of spirit wine and his storage pouch. He arranged the jugs of spirit wine nearby and withdrew the palm size jade boxes of Foundation Establishment pills he had purchased along with the couple of loose pills the Great Elder Shi had given him. He also arranged around a hundred low grade spirit stones nearby, each the size of a baby''s fist and a couple of meters away from each other. Fang Hao then crushed one loose foundation establishment pills into each of the jugs of spirit wine. He then further opened two of the palm sized jade boxes and crushed one of the reddish foundation establishment pills into each of the jugs of spirit wine. He had now dissolved four foundation establishment pills in two jugs of spirit wine and had a further of eight foundation establishment pills. The one disadvantage of body refining was that he quickly built up a tolerance to various pills and resources which were cultivation aids. While this helped him to hold his liquor and better resist various toxins, it also drastically increased the amount of resources he would require to boost his Qi Cultivation. Hence, while two-three foundation establishment pills were enough for a regular breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, he had prepared a dozen of those along with a couple of jugs of spirit wine which were potent enough for Foundation Establishment Disciples. Fang Hao then opened the remaining eight palm sized jade boxes and piled the foundation establishment pills into the lid of one of the jade boxes. Of course he had to bleed almost all of his contribution points for all these, but he didn''t want the lack of resources to mess up his breakthrough attempt. Chapter 076 Once the resources were arranged within arm''s reach, the naked fatty gave a tired sigh and sat down on the ground. He took one of the jugs of fortified spirit wine and took a gulp. A dense hot almost burning sensation made its way to his lower dantian area and he had to actively suppress the huge amount of qi there. He took a few more large gulps of the fortified qi infused spirit wine and finished half a jug of the fortified spirit wine before he felt like his dantian was on the verge of explosion. Fang Hao then picked up a couple of Foundation Establishment pills, placed them under his tongue and grabbed a couple of the pills in each of his hands clenching them for later use. The spirit stones he had arranged nearby had also increased the density of Qi in his surroundings and he felt a bit more Qi entering him with each breath, even though he wasn''t actively absorbing energy from the spirit stones. Fang Hao was standing, taking deep breaths as he fixed on the contemplation image of the Primal thunder scripture. The contemplation image of the Primal Thunder Scripture was powerful blue thunderbolts raining from the heavens and condensing into a skyscraper-like pillar. Fang Hao periodically drank some fortified spirit wine as he etched the contemplation image before continuing cultivation. He then mentally chanted the mnemonics associated with the Primal Thunder Scripture as he swallowed one of the Foundation Establishment pills under his tongue. He felt a cool stream reaching his dantian and a huge upsurge in his Qi as he continued cultivating with the contemplation image and mnemonic chants. Soon he felt the huge amount of extra Qi in his dantian condense into what seemed like storm clouds above the Qi Lake in his dantian. When Fang Hao had just broke through into the Qi Condensation stage, he just had a single drop of liquefied Qi in his dantian. Now at the peak of Qi Condensation, the liquefied Qi pooled into a large lake in his dantian. Actually, calling it a lake was bit of an understatement, but ti wasn''t large enough to be an ocean of Qi yet. While the pressure was building, there wasn''t enough momentum to initiate the establishment of his foundation. Fang Hao took advantage of the pseudo-equilibrium to swallow another of the Foundation Establishment Pill which was under his tongue. He then placed another two foundation establishment pills under his tongue from his right hand. He replaced the foundation establishment pills in his hand from the last two remaining foundation establishment pills form the jade cover. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! By now he was also regularly sipping fortified spirit wine and had finished a jug of it. Out of the original twelve pills (four dissolved in the wine), he had swallowed two pills and finished one jug (along with two pills dissolved in it). He was left with two foundation establishment pills in each of his hands, two foundation establishment pills under his tongue and another jug of spirit wine which was fortified with two foundation establishment pills. After consuming an equivalent of four foundation establishment pills, he finally felt the the thunder clouds above the Qi Lake in his dantian shooting out thunderbolts. The thunderbolts didn''t disperse when they stuck the Qi lake, but instead started crystallizing into a translucent electric blue solid. As the thunderbolts started to pick up momentum in his dantian, Fang Hao had outstretched arms as he was rotating anticlockwise. As he rotated anticlockwise, the thunderclouds above his Qi Lake were compressing and there was a whirlpool in his Qi Lake. The size and frequency of the thunderbolts raining down on his Qi Lake had reduced, but each thunderbolt was more substantial with more energy. Fang Hao swallowed the two Foundation Establishment pills under his tongue while he continued spinning in a pulsing tempo, sometimes slowing, sometimes speeding. The sudden surge of Qi in his dantian made him feel a dull phantom ache in his dantian. But as the storm cloud above his Qi lake absorbed the Qi, the pressure in his dantian eased and the frequency and size of the thunderbolts striking his Qi Lake increased causing further crystallization in his Qi Lake. Soon Fang Hao was entranced with the transformation in his Qi Lake and had lost awareness of his surroundings. He kept on rotating in a seemingly erratic tempo and his heartbeat was synchronizing with the tempo of rotations. Whenever the intensity of the thunderbolts striking his Qi Lake reduced, he popped a Foundation Establishment pill in his mouth and swallowed it. Fang Hao was deeply immersed in his cultivation and had lost awareness of his surroundings. But his surroundings weren''t tranquil like he had began. A dark blue, almost black, storm cloud had manifested above his courtyard with him as the center. Initially the storm cloud wasn''t noticeable; but as Fang Hao kept cultivating, the size of the cloud increased and its color changed to wards a deep electric blue. Flashes of almost indigo thunderbolts could be seen falling towards a particular courtyard where a drunk fatty was swirling like a top, occasionally making dance like half-steps. By the time nearby disciples noticed and reported it to the Overseer of the Inner Disciple peak, it was near dawn and the electric blue storm clouds had turned a shade of indigo and expanded to cover a few dozen courtyards obscuring the morning sky. In a few hours, there was a semi-permanent camp of spectators near the inner disciple in question and no core-disciple dared to fly in the area. A majority of the formations of the inner disciple residents had dispersed due to the discharge from the thunderbolts and the residents had to take refuge somewhere else. By noon, an Elder appeared and ordered everyone to evacuate the Inner disciple peak until further notice as there was a hiccup with the formations. While the statement didn''t convince anyone, no one dared to oppose the lofty Elder. If an Elder said it was a hiccup with the formations, and not a mystical manifestation of thunder and lightning; it was clearly a hiccup with the formations contrary to all the signs indicating otherwise. Chapter 077 On the surface, order was maintained in the sect. But hushed whispers circulated among the janitorial, outer, inner and even core disciples about a thunder attribute prodigy. Officially, the phenomenon was chalked up to a ¡°formation hiccup¡±, but most of the disciples who were aware of the incident were gossiping about the thunder-attributed prodigy among the inner disciples. Some speculated it was awakening of the bloodline of the Thunderbird spirit beast, some argued that it was an awakening of the Indigo Lightning Innate Constitution. The entire day had passed and dusk had arrived while the ¡°formation hiccup¡± was still not resolved. Meanwhile, in Fang Hao''s courtyard he was still in a trance cultivating. He had exhausted all the foundation establishment pills. Indigo, almost-purple thunder-bolts felt from the storm cloud fell from the sky and struck Fang Hao and his surrounding yard, charring the grass and turning the nearby spirit stones to ash. The energy released from the spirit stones didn''t disperse however. The spare jug of fortified spirit wine had long since turned to ash, however the dense fog of Qi released from it was floating around the fatty. The combined fog of Qi formed a pulsing whirlpool around the rotating fatty, being absorbed by the rotating fatty. In Fang Hao''s Qi Lake, a pulsing semi submersed indigo crystal had taken shape. The pulsing semi-submerged indigo crystal was gradually changing colour turning a shade closer to violet. But half the crystal which was not submerged in the Qi lake had a blurry indistinct outline. Fang Hao was in a trance, but was getting slightly anxious as he felt that he was lacking a final push to establish his foundation. The storm clouds above Fang Hao churned and a huge violet thunderbolt tinged with red struck Fang Hao. Fang Hao was almost jolted out of his trance as he felt a burning sensation from his bones. From every bone in his body, a bit of sludge like deep red liquid seeped out into his blood and was carried towards his dantian. As the sludge like deep red liquid was absorbed by his dantian, another transformation took place in his Qi Lake. The Qi lake which was filled with clear light blue liquid turned crimson like blood. The semi-submerged pulsing crystal was a deep violet and rapidly started absorbing the crimson quality of the nearby Qi lake. Soon the Qi lake regained its clear pale blue colour, the storm clouds above his Qi lake dispersed and the blurry indistinct outline of the violet crystal became clear and more distinct. Small blood-red tubes appeared in the clear violet crystal forming a three-dimensional network in the previously translucent crystal. As the Crystal became more distinct, its shape resembled that of a cylindrical pillar, but the pulsing of the crystals and network of small blood-red tubes in it made the violet crystal pillar have an eerie resemblance to a crystalline-beating heart! Fang Hao had successfully established his foundation and the mystical phenomena had dispersed. As the crystal pillar pulsed and rotated, a dense fog of Qi was released above his Qi lake. He willed the Qi to suffuse his body, and his body felt as light as air. The stream of cool energy from his upper dantian (center of brain) which was previously caged inside his body, finally broke free from his skin and hair. It suffused the nearby area. As his spiritual sense suffused the environment; Fang Hao felt that he was omniscient where his spiritual sense went and that no detail could escape him. With the gaseous Qi permeating his body and his spiritual sense scanning his surroundings, Fang Hao just willed himself to rise and he started hovering. ''I can fly! I can fly! Here comes your daddy, bitches.'' thought Fang Hao as he started to build up speed and fly over the peak. Before he could do so, the figure of the Great Elder Shi appeared from a nearby distortion and made a casual gesture. The naked hovering fatty was grounded. The fatty was jolted out of his celebratory mood and was somewhat irritated. But noticing the Great Elder in the distance, he did a subservient bow and greeted the Great Elder.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°This junior respectfully conveys his greetings to the Great Elder Shi.¡± The Great Elder made a dismissive gesture and replied, ¡°Wear your robes and collect your belongings as soon as possible. We will be leaving.¡± Fang Hao respectfully replied in an affirmative as he searched for his storage pouch. While the landscape, the scattered spirit stones, jade boxes and even the jugs of spirit wine were ash; luckily he had tossed his storage pouch farther and it was left unmolested by the descending thunderbolts. Fang Hao retrieved his storage pouch, withdrew a set of white inner disciple robes and donned them. The Great Elder Shi had a stoic facade, but inwards he was a bit stumped. When Fang Hao was done dressing, and had tucked his storage pouch near his waist, the Great Elder grabbed his collar, teleported them to another inner disciple cottage, not unlike his own. ¡°Just stay here and consolidate your cultivation base. Don''t Leave the compound and don''t fly around. I will be back in a while.¡± Great Elder Shi said and was about to initiate teleportation. ¡°Great Elder what will I do if I get hungry?¡± Fang Hao inquired respectfully. The Great Elder looked at Fang Hao for a moment before tossed him a small crystalline jade bottle which Fang Hao caught and tucked into his storage pouch. ¡°That is a vial of nourishment pills. One of them should satiate even a glutton like you for a month or so. There are enough nourishment pills there to last you a few years.¡± stated Great Elder Shi before he teleported away. ''New Pills. New Pills! And a whole bottle of them! Around 40 of them, I think. Looks like Great Elder Shi is no longer pissed at me. On Second thoughts, my breakthrough created too much of a spectacle. Hope there isn''t too much of a fallout from that.'' Thought Fang Hao as he retrieved one of the nourishment pills and ate it. The nourishment pill had a dull copper coloured and tasted like gelatin. As he swallawed it he finially felt satiated for the first time in a long time. His face which had acquired an anemic look after his breakthrough finally showed traces of a healthy flushed look. With a mental command, he summoned his status screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 25 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 496
Realm: Foundation Establishment Level: 1 (1)
Current Experience: 558470 (529432) Level Up at Experience: 638404
Active Effects: Deficient Marrow (Mild)
Stats
Physique: 36.8 Finesse: 31.9
Spirit: 36.5 Qi 71.2/106.7
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (1st Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Basic) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Blade (Expert) Elementary Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Chains (Expert) Aura Fist (Perfection) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Concealing Mist (Expert)
Minor Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Hand (Expert) Call Clouds (Expert) Static Web (Expert)
Acid Splash (Expert) Lion''s Roar (Expert) Floating Leaves Step (Perfection) Aura Blast (Expert)
Thunder Sparrow (Expert) Blood Thorn Whip (Expert) Aura Sacrifice (Basic)
Chapter 078 Fang Hao was observing the changes in his status screen. In the breakthrough, he had gained a whooping 300 skill points, and his realm as a Qi Cultivator was Foundation Establishment. He had also gained roughly 40,000 xp for his breakthrough, comfortably achieving a levelup. He had a status effect of Deficient Marrow (Mild), which he assumed was somehow used to breakthrough. He hoped that it would recover soon naturally without external aid. ''I also got nice stat boosts, biggest gains being in Spirit and Qi. As for the Manuals and Scriptures learned, my new scripture is ¡°Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*)?¡± What does the asterisk (*) mean?'' Wondered Fang Hao as he touched the display of the Primal Vajra Aura Scripture.
Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*)
A very powerful Qi Cultivation Scripture with extremely stringent perquisites. Note: This Manual/Scripture has been derived by the practitioner and skill point gain will be non-standard, as applicable.
''So (+) is for augmentation by insight, and (*) is for self-made stuff I guess. And non-standard skill point gain alright. 300 skill points makes all those talented geniuses with unfathomable comprehension little bitches in front of me! I have a nice fat margin to spend some skill points and upgrade/evolve some of my spells. On the flip-side if I had fucked this up really bad ending up with shit skill point gains. This was definitely a risky, but rewarding decision.'' thought Fang Hao as he started observing the Spells and Techniques portion of his Status Screen. ''My Aura Infusion (Perfection) has changed to Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Basic). So my self-made scripture didn''t grant new spells per se, but changed the spells granted by Aura Fist Manual; hopefully for the better. If that is the case, highest priority is to upgrade all spells from Aura Fist Manual to Perfection Proficiency. I have almost five hundred skill points and better not be too cheap with it. My home-brew scripture is supposed to have extremely stringent requirements after all.'' Aura Fist Manual had granted him five spells, namely ¨C Aura Infusion, Aura Fist, Phantom Aura Steps, Aura Blast and Aura Sacrifice. Out of these five spells, only Aura Blast and Aura Sacrifice weren''t at Perfection proficiency. Aura Infusion had already been augmented to Primal Thunder Reinforcement at (Basic) and he planned to grind Primal Thunder Reinforcement to Master or at least Expert Proficiency before he spent skill points on it.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Fang Hao spent a total of 46 skill points to upgrade Aura Blast and Aura Sacrifice to perfection leaving him with 450 points. Aura Blast wasn''t too useful of a spell even at Qi Condensation, it would be almost completely useless at Foundation Establishment. On the other-hand, Aura Sacrifice was a forbidden spell, with potential sue even at Foundation Establishment realm, which he would definitely not use unless he lost all other hope of survival. But he hoped never to be in a situation which would require him to find out how powerful was Aura Sacrifice. Spending around a tenth of his skill points on such skills definitely hurt him, but he wanted to make sure there were no hiccups for his home-brew scripture. Fang Hao checked his Use Skill points screen, and saw that he had two skills ready to evolve. They were the Fire Serpent spell and the Floating Leaves spell. The Fire Serpent spell required 22 skill points to evolve and the Floating Leaves Step required 12 point to evolve. The Fire Serpent Spell had already evolved once, and was a reliable ranged offense option so he was partial to it despite the higher skill cost. ''The Floating Leaves Step was also quite good for sustained mobility in Qi Condensation, and further to that isn''t lightning and wind matched with the wood element in the traditional five elements of the Chinese? Although Lightning, Wind, Light and Darkness are discrete attributes here; The five elements are still the most common and prevalent ones here. For now, lets refrain from upgrading these skills until further testing. I don''t have access to the spell library for Foundation Establishment Cultivators while I am grounded here; So lets do some testing and stuff.'' decided Fang Hao. He reviewed the details of the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell in his mindscape, and found that it was very similar to the Aura Infusion spell. He tentatively circulated Qi according to the details in his mind and a indigo colored aura covered his body. Violet streaks of lightning intermittently circulated in the Aura causing buzzing sounds. With his spiritual sense, Fang Hao felt his nerves, muscles and tendons condense with violet streaks of lightning greatly increasing his explosive strength, speed and reaction time. Even his Perception was enhanced greatly and he experienced sharper dynamic vision and a slight change in the pitch of sounds he was hearing. With the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell activated Fang Hao zapped around the courtyard in an erratic zig-zag manner at astonishing speeds. He adapted to his enhanced capabilities pretty quickly. ''This Primal Thunder Reinforcement Spell is a pretty solid boost over Aura Infusion. Though Qi costs and the strain on my body is higher, the boost it provides is much more potent as well. Ir reckon if someone touches the Thunder Aura from this spell, he will get a small shock and possibly be stunned for a moment. Not much of a defense against ranged potshots, but a nice added bonus for melee battles. Of course, with my Foundation Establishment cultivation base and Body Refining realm; I can actually sustain Primal Thunder Reinforcement much longer compared to Aura Infusion at Qi Condensation.'' ''My only issue is how am I supposed to make sneak attacks with Primal Thunder Reinforcement active with all the flashy lightning streaks and electric buzzing sounds? All in all Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell, and Primal Vajra Aura scripture by extension, seems to have very good Offense and Speed, meh Defense and absolutely shit Stealth. Still the skill points are extremely tasty so I would rate my home-brew scripture as 8/10 for now.'' Forget about his peers, even if the Elders found out that the little Fatty who caused an uproar at the Sect rated the reason for the mystic phenomenon as a reluctant 8 out of 10, they would pound the ungrateful little dipshit into mincemeat with their bare hands. Chapter 079 In a large hall in the Jade Pagoda Sect, there was a huge circular stone table with thirteen chairs. However, only five of them were occupied. Great Elder Shi with his coal-black skin and shoulder length white hair, the demure looking veiled female cultivator known as Great Elder Lin, the robust young man with tattoos visible all over his skin, a young boy who looked like he was in his teens but had a powerful presence about him and a hook nosed scar faced old man were the five people in attendance. The robust tattooed young man had a look of irritation on his face as he addressed everyone present. ¡°Really? Only four of you are present? Brother Zhu along with a few others is still out, but I expected at least seven of us to meet here. Discovering a talented seed is a stroke of good fortune for the sect.¡± ¡°Its not that important really. We had quite a few of these mystic manifestations in the past century. I just came to give face to you senior brother.¡± said the hook nosed said dismissively. ¡°It really isn''t that big deal, otherwise brother Ley would have attended to snatch this junior for his Thunder Palace.¡± agreed the young looking teenager. Being reminded about the absence of the Great Elder of the Thunder Palace had caused the mood of the tattooed young man to worsen. Great Elder Shi conveniently cleared his throat to get everyone''s attention as he replied. ¡°The junior in question who caused this particular mystic manifestation is precisely the newest disciple of Brother Zhu. Brother Ley must have surely investigated this phenomena and found out the identity of the junior. I trust that brother Ley wouldn''t attempt to poach a disciple from Brother Zhu.¡± Hearing this revelation, both the tattooed robust young man and the young teenager had ashen looks on their faces but were able to suppress their emotions. The tattooed young man sighed in resignation as he addressed the Great Elders of the jade Pagoda Sect present. ¡°Brother Shi, considering the circumstances you must have investigated thoroughly Do enlighten us.¡± ¡°Fellow Brothers and Sisters. This mystic manifestation was caused by an inner disciple named Fang Hao, who is the newest disciple of Brother Zhu, when he used the Primal Thunder Scripture to breakthrough and establish his Foundation. After using my spiritual sense to scan him, I conclude that he must have awakened a variant dantian.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Perhaps it could be the Indigo Lightning Constitution? The mystic manifestation would support it.¡± Great Elder Lin stated her opinion. ¡°While the mystic manifestation is similar to the partial awakening of the Indigo Lightning Constitution, the junior''s body didn''t reveal the relevant characteristics of that Innate Constitution. I only noticed variation in his dantian region. It is not one I am aware of.¡± replied Great Elder Shi. ¡°Encountering an unknown variation is not that strange, really. The heavens are vast and there myriad unknowns we are not aware of. Still considering the nature of the mystic manifestation, he would have been a good seed for the Thunder Palace if not for Brother Zhu''s foresight.¡± said the hook-nosed scar-faced old man. ¡°Speaking of good seeds, how is the little genius Qin Lee doing with the Sword Palace?¡± inquired the tattooed young man, shifting the conversation topic away from Great Elder Zhu and his disciple. The hook-nosed scar-faced old man was beaming unrestrained as he said. ¡°Not bad. Not bad at all. Junior Lee has just stepped into the late stages of the Foundation Establishment Realm. He should step into Core Formation within a decade or so.¡± Meanwhile Fang Hao had refrained from spending more of his skill points. He instead was entertaining the idea of attempting to evolve the Fire Serpent Spell. Whenever he was tired of brainstorming, he would focus on grinding his Primal Thunder Reinforcement Spell. He felt a little pissed being confined in the courtyard and not allowed to fly, but he wasn''t dumb enough to act contrary to the Great Elder''s Instructions. Fang Hao could sustain the Primal Thunder Reinforcement for around half an hour at maximum output. If he lowered the power of the spell enough, he could sustain it for much longer. Both the effectiveness and duration of the spell was much higher when compared to Aura Infusion in is Qi Condensation days which he could barely maintain for five minutes or so before running out of steam. After almost half an hour of zipping around like a turbocharged hyperactive squirrel in the court yard, Fang Hao was taking a break to recover his Qi. ''Even though the Great Elder said a short while, I think I will be kept here until the hub-hub due to my breakthrough dies down. While I didn''t expect to broadcast my breakthrough to the whole sect, this taught me a valuable lesson. If I am not in a well guarded and reliable zone where I can afford such displays, I should refrain from experimenting with Cultivation Techniques and simply level up with xp. Compared to the huge show here the time I broke through as an Expert Mortal Body Refiner (Foundation Establishment Equivalent) by killing some greedy murdering disciples, all I felt was some amount of itching and rapid-fire heartbeats. So much more convenient just to kill stuff and level up.'' ''In Qi Condensation it would take me around six hours of meditation to fully regenerate Qi. Now in Foundation Establishment, I can regenerate fully depleted Qi in a couple of hours max even without meditation. With meditation, this speed will increase several times over.'' If he circulated his Qi and chanted the mnemonics to hasten his Qi regeneration, it would take him a little under half an hour to regenerate his Qi. While Fang Hao was impressed with his speed of Qi regeneration, he simply attributed it to his Cultivation Base and didn''t think too much about it. If he had stuck to the Primal Thunder Scripture without modifying it, his Qi regeneration during idling/meditating would have been multiple times slower. And even then it would have been considered pretty decent among new Foundation Establishment Disciples. If other Foundation Establishment Cultivators were aware that the Fatty''s Qi regeneration while simply idling was comparable to their Qi regeneration rates while they meditated, they would have turned green with envy. Chapter 080 (also Poll - Read Chapter Before Voting Please) For the time being, Fang Hao opted to simply rest to recover his Qi instead of instead of meditating despite it being less efficient. This was because, meditating took a lot of focus and he would have been able to devote less of his attention and creativity to speculate as to how he should evolve the Fire Serpent Spell. He had made a made a tentative road-map to attempt evolving the Fire Serpent spell. ''Enough grinding of Primal Thunder Reinforcement for now. I always got the feeling that the Fire Serpent spell is exceptionally powerful spell for a Qi Condensation Disciple. Lets check it out.'' thought Fang Hao as he started casting the Fire Serpent spell. It took him around one second to complete the cast, significantly shorter than what it took to cast at Qi Condensation, and a shimmering King Cobra like serpent made of orange flames manifested a few meters away from him. Despite the distance, he could feel scorching hot heatwaves emanating from the serpent. It''s size had significantly increased compared to his Qi Condensation days. The snake''s body was as thick as his thigh, and it stood at around eight feet (2.4 m) tall even with a significant portion of its body and tail curled up on the ground. Fang Hao estimated that if it uncoiled and stretched out, it would reach two storeys (6 m) high. The mere presence of the Fire Serpent had caused the nearby grass to char . Fang Hao quickly dismissed it and noticed that where the Fire Serpent had manifested, a fine layer of ash was visible over the ground. ''Not only the casting time reduced to a third, but its power increased multiple times as well. Looks like Qi Cultivation Base is the primary deciding factor for my battle power, at least for now. Good thing I didn''t order the Fire Serpent to burn down a tree or something. No telling how much damage full force of that spell would do. Also, I must stay low key for now and not go burn around shit. Who knows when the Great Elder will return.'' thought Fang Hao. Fang Hap then focused on grinding the Wind Blade spell. His increased Cultivation had caused the Wind Bade to increase in power, but it wasn''t comparable to the Fire Serpent spell. The Wind Blade cast was almost instantaneous now. It took him around 10 days to upgrade the spell all the way up to Perfection proficiency and earned 9 skill points and around 4k xp. He was pleased to find out that not only was his skill grinding speed significantly faster due to increased Qi capacity / regeneration, but he also found it a lot easier to upgrade to Master and Perfection when compared to his Qi Condensation days. Fang Hao spent around four months to fully upgrade all his Qi Condensation spells to Perfection Proficiency. Other than the Wind Blade spell; Fang Hao upgraded Elementary Qi Barrier, Frost Chains, Concealing Mist, Minor Illusion, Telekinetic Hand, Call Clouds, Static Web, Acid Splash, Lion''s Roar, Thunder Sparrow and Blood Thorn Whip to Perfection Proficiency earning sizable amount of skill points and xp. During the monotonous grinding, he was contemplating how to evolve the Fire Serpent spell.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ''Come to think of it wouldn''t it have taken me at most two weeks to grind the Aura Blast spell to Perfection? Not only would I have saved the 18 skill points used to upgrade it, but also lost the 9 skill points I could have gained from the grinding! Seeing almost 500 skill points got me too excited.'' ''The Great Elder said he would be back shortly, and it has been four months already. I guess for those old fogeys a few months is actually a very short period of time. I have already finished around a fifth of the nourishment pills, hope the Great Elder returns before the pills get over.'' sighed the fatty mentally. Even though the Great Elder had claimed that one pill could last him a month at the least, his first pill had satiated his hunger for roughly ten days. In the first two months he had consumed six of the nourishment pills till he had recovered from the status effect of ¡°Deficient Marrow (mild)¡±. From then on, he had required approximately two nourishment pills every month. He had around thirty or so nourishment pills left which he estimated would last him around a year or so. Theoretically, he could go for months without eating as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but having the distracting hunger at bay was nice. After all his Qi Condensation spells were grinded to Perfection, he spent around two months grinding the Primal Thunder Reinforcement to Expert Proficiency gaining 13 skill points. He gained a total of 123 skill points and around 60k xp from skill upgrades in these six months. Grinding this Foundation Establishment level spell was noticeably slower than his Qi Condensation level spells. On one hand, grinding Foundation Establishment spells was less efficient skill point wise; Qi Condensation spells would have difficulty even being a distraction to seasoned foundation establishment cultivators. ''Either earn lesser skill points, but keep competitive battle power while grinding spells in your Cultivation Realm; or grind more skill points but keep shit battle power grinding lower level spells. Of course, if I can evolve the lower level spells the situation changes somewhat. In essence though I shouldn''t look to min-max my skill points, but focus on optimizing my battle power and not squander skill points like a retard.'' Fang Hao summarized his experience on spell grinding before/after Foundation Establishment. ''Speaking of Evolving Spells, I think I have a rough idea on how to do that for the Fire Serpent spell. I should start my experimentation with attempting to evolve the contemplation image. A snake became a king cobra, so what will be next evolution after the King Cobra?'' wondered the Fatty. ''As I see it, there are multiple possible paths. One would be to add horns / claws to the Serpent, making it similar to a Chinese Dragon; Another option would be to make it more humanoid. From a King Cobra to a N¨¡ga, with lower half snake and upper half human, perhaps? Alternatively I could also try modifying the element, but its less obvious. It went from Flame to Fire in the first evolution, but both are essentially fire itself, with one more intense than the other.'' ''I think I should focus on the creature for the contemplation image as that makes it more obvious while also picturing a more intense fire instead of attempting to significantly modify the element. But to go for a clawed serpent or a half-human N¨¡ga? Either way I should wait with my manual spell evolution experimentation till I get my Core Disciple Residence. I don''t want to chance another possible mystic phenomena in my temporary residence here.'' decided Fang Hao as he resumed grinding the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell. Chapter 081 Fang Hao refrained from trying to evolve spells manually and was cooped up in the yard for around 6 months where all he did was grind spells. While the minor increase in skill points and xp with each spell proficiency upgrade gave him satisfaction, he would be lying if he said he wasn''t bored. For a change of pace, he tried cultivating the Divine Vajra Body Scripture for a couple of months. His increased cultivation base had vastly increased the quality, quantity and regeneration of Qi available to him. This caused his practice speed to increase significantly for the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. He noticed that his increased familiarity and ease of practice with the body refining scripture, clearly indicating that he was becoming closer and closer to mastering the first move of the 3rd seal. Despite that he noticed that in his current experience field in the status screen, the numbers didn''t increase. ''It is just a matter of time till I master the 1st move of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture, but my xp isn''t increasing. As long as I have not made a breakthrough, mere cultivation doesn''t seem to increase my xp. And compared to the xp provided by a breakthrough, the xp required for a level-up is much higher. So if I focus on practicing cultivation without xp farming, even if I do make a breakthrough, what will happen to level-ups and xp?'' ''When I enabled swapping cultivation techniques to take advantage of level-ups for my slow progress in body-refining, I think I also limited my options. Although I can test out stuff to see what exactly happens to xp and level-up if I make a breakthrough the old way at low xp, it will just take too much time. It won''t really provide an advantage if it succeeds, but will be tons of wasted effort if it fails; so why bother? Although I should keep practicing the cultivation techniques till I get decent familiarity with it.'' ''So the most efficient way forward seems to grind spells to earn small bumps in skill points and xp, which do add up to be significant over dozens of spells though. Other than the skill point and xp gains, this will also help me improve my battle power with high proficiency spells which do more damage, cast faster and use a bit less Qi. Doing tasks and murdering for xp will help me keep up my speed of cultivating and level-ups. Yes that seems more efficient, so I will continue to practice cultivation techniques only until I am decently comfortable in them and attempt breakthroughs only when I am near a natural level-up.'' ''Another question is what to focus for level-ups now, Qi cultivation or Body-refining? If I focus too much on Qi Cultivation, my defense will start to lag behind and that''s bad for staying alive; especially since my Qi Cultivating Scripture isn''t impressive defensively. On the other hand, if I devotee too much of my xp to Body-Refining, my supposed ¡°talent¡± will come into question. Now that glowing purple thunderclouds was broadcast to the upper management of the sect, my apparent cultivation speed can safely pick up and has to maintain a competitive speed of progression.''The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ''Also, even with the Fire Serpent spell, my strongest attack still is enabling Primal Thunder Reinforcement, and beat shit up in close combat. While another evolution of the Fire Serpent spell may do more damage per cast; but the projected Qi cost and cast time will still likely make reinforced smashes best for dps. Also, I am curious to what the second spell of the Primal Vajra Aura Scripture will be. It will probably be a powerful damage spell, if Aura Fist Scripture is anything to go by.'' ''So for now, I should focus on leveling up to Foundation Establishment lvl 3 ASAP; then I can make my Body-refining catch up. Then swap Qi and Body Cultivation and keep both more or less at a similar level. All my free time should go to learn, improve and evolve spells as much as possible. Oh feels like my Qi is almost recovered, should get back to grinding Primal Thunder Reinforcement.'' thought Fang Hao as his spiritual sense was lazily scanning his body and surroundings. Fang Hao returned to grinding his Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell; but he felt that just mindlessly grinding was giving diminishing returns after Expert Proficiency. He could now activate the spell almost instantly and the whole process was more of a subconscious reflex to him now. Since he had rationalized away the other options, he subconsciously started to get creative about grinding the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell. The most annoying thing about the Reinforcement spell was the constant flashes of lightning around him along with the constant electric buzz. He started practicing the spell at reduced power, instead of going full power like before, trying his best to contain the flashy display and irritating hum. Slowly, but surely he was succeeding in his goal. After a month or so of grinding at reduced power, he could contain the lighting flashes and electric buzz at one fourth max power for 5 seconds or so. While he still radiated a violet glow while using the spell; the glow was dimmer than usual. After another month of practice, he could restrain the lightning flashes and electric buzz sounds for around 10 seconds while using the Primal Thunder Reinforcement Spell at a third of its max power. While the violet glow refused to be subdued completely; for the first 10 seconds or so after activation, the glow was comparable to his Aura Infusion used at full power. Not perfect, but definitely relatively more utility for a sneak attack. Encouraged with his progress, Fang Hao became obsessed with manipulating the flashiness of the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell and spent another month to restrain the flashy lightning / electric buzz at half the maximum power for 15 seconds. Fang Hao was excited. Even though he hadn''t managed to upgrade his spell to master proficiency after spending three months on grinding it at less than max power, his effectiveness at using it had vastly improved. The Great Elder had shown no signs of returning, so he continued practicing the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell. Chapter 082 Fang Hao was attempting to increase the power of the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell while maintaining the subdued lightning flashes / electric buzz for about a week or so, but he was failing to do so. He was cooped up in the yard for almost a year now on the verbal orders of the Great Elder Shi, which he possibly couldn''t oppose. That combined with his first real bottleneck was making him genuinely frustrated. ''What is with this stupid shit. I am out of spirit wine to drink and relax. I can''t go out and kill some murdering little bitches for xp and loot, or even give a good honest beating in the arena to relieve stress. At least he could have left me a whore or two to vent myself while caged here. How much longer is ¡°a short while later¡± in perspective of the Great Elder, eh? That old fogey probably forget about me.'' ''On top of that I spent three whole months grinding the stupid reinforcement spell with my shitty innovation and I still didn''t progress to Master Proficiency. Do I have to spend skill points to upgrade it? Not to mention that I have just enough nourishment pills to last me another six months or so. After that I will have to deal with the joy of experiencing constant hunger.'' Fang Hao ranted internally as he began pacing around in the yard in an agitated manner. Fang Hao then activated Primal Thunder Reinforcement with a thought at half the maximum power, restraining the flashes/buzzes as he ran around the football field sized courtyard. As he felt his agitation increase, he felt the power of thunder and lightning stir within him. He wanted to fly around everywhere and shout at the top of his lungs ¡°Fuck you, you old fart Shi. And fuck your sister too, you pervy pedo.¡± But he wasn''t retarded enough to actually act on that impulse. So all he could do was cage the building frustration and agitation. The lightning flashes and electric buzz were attempting to break free of his restrain, but Fang Hao unknowingly directed his frustration and agitation towards the building thunder energy in his body. He managed to restrain the lightning energies, but only for a while. The emotions he used to suppress the lightning energy in his body was further causing it go rampant. Soon he could barely control the lightning rampaging inside his body. He dashed towards the nearest tree, which was a dozen meters (40 feet), in the blink of an eye and punched it with full force. This action of punching acted like an outlet, causing the raging lightning within his body to travel along his arm and through his hand. When his punch landed on the tree, which was almost as thick as he was tall and several meter tall, couldn''t resist the impact of his punch and a portion of the trunk of the tree was instantaneously smashed into irregularly sized shrapnel. As soon as his punch landed, the caged raging lighting and thunder within his body was released in a violet cone from his fist. The huge cone of lightning flashed and buzzed only for a moment before dissipating. When the cone of lightning disappeared, everything which was in its path was incinerated into ash. A large portion of the trunk had turned into fined powder and simply disappeared. Behind the tree, an increasingly wider and deeper trench was visible on the ground, coated with fine ash. Fortunately, a portion of the trunk connecting the top and bottom of the tree was undamaged and supported it, preventing the tree from toppling. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The trench extended up to several dozens of feet (18m) from Fang Hao and was around a dozen feet wide (4m) and six feet deep (2m) at the far end. The lightning cone might have been instantaneous, but had significantly reshaped the nearby landscape with its devastating power. While Fang Hao was momentarily stupefied at the unintentional instantaneous landscaping, the Qi within his dantian was surging with momentum. The usually calm Qi lake was seething with pressure as the single cylindrical violet crystal pillar with crisscrossed blood-red veins was pulsing like a beating heart as it rotated rapidly. The seething Qi lake released large amounts of Qi vapor which formed storm clouds above the Qi lake. The storm clouds rained violet thunderbolts on the Qi lake, which caused the Qi to crystallize. This process repeated until the crystallized Qi formed a second violet crystal pillar near the preexisting pillar. The second crystal pillar lacked the blood-red capillary like lattice present in the first pillar. Fang Hao had broken into the 2nd layer of Foundation Establishment! All Fang Hao felt was a large rapid surge in his Qi as his spiritual sense detected the rapid increase in the boundaries of his Qi lake and a second cylindrical violet crystal pillar rising from his Qi Lake within his dantian. He was at a loss for a moment as to why he suddenly broke through to the second layer of Foundation Establishment, when he wasn''t even attempting to do so. Puzzled, he called his Status Screen to investigate.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 25 years
Titles: Lord Lard
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 606
Realm: Foundation Establishment Level: 2 (1)
Current Experience: 639670 (529432) Level Up at Experience: 767186
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 37.3 Finesse: 32.5
Spirit: 37.5 Qi 101.2/110.4
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (1st Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Blade (Perfection) Elementary Qi Barrier (Perfection)
Frost Chains (Perfection) Aura Fist (Perfection) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Concealing Mist (Perfection)
Minor Illusion (Perfection) Telekinetic Hand (Perfection) Call Clouds (Perfection) Static Web (Perfection)
Acid Splash (Perfection) Lion''s Roar (Perfection) Floating Leaves Step (Perfection) Aura Blast (Perfection)
Thunder Sparrow (Perfection) Blood Thorn Whip (Perfection) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Basic)
''So I finally managed to upgrade Primal Thunder Infusion to master Proficiency; and as an added bonus I learned a new self-made spell ¡°Directed Discharge¡±. Looks like the combined xp earned from both these skills was just enough to push me to the 2nd layer of Foundation Establishment. Around 20k xp and 30 skill points for attempting to vent my frustrations, not bad. The Directed Discharge spell should be the AoE Lightning Cone that I released with my punch. It sure looks powerful, but needs quite a bit of time to set up.'' Thought Fang Hao as he analyzed the changes in his status screen. ''So much for staying low key and not attempting to evolve spells. A level up in Foundation Establishment realm before a year could complete. Not to mention that I wrecked shit up in this yard. I should prepare a believable excuse for this mess. Directed Discharge, heh. Nice innuendo there.'' smirked Fang Hao mentally, as he popped another nourishment pill. Chapter 083 After achieving a level-up and learning a new spell, Fang Hao''s frustration had dissipated somewhat. As for his rapid level-up, he decided to use the huge amount of foundation establishment pills as an excuse. He had used an obscene amount of resources to breakthrough at the Foundation Establishment stage. With a bit of digging, it could be easily verified that he had acquired a total of twelve foundation establishment pills. Even the trashiest pure Qi Cultivator could breakthrough with four Foundation Establishment pills. As for Body Cultivators would also focus on Qi cultivation, would rarely use more than five or six foundation establishment pills to breakthrough. Fang Hao''s use of twelve foundation establishment ills along with two jugs of Grade 3 spirit wine and a hundred or so low quality spirit stones would cause an uproar. ''My violet thundercloud breakthrough is a largely unknown factor, which might require to consume additional resources in the eyes of others. That combined with my body cultivation, I can safely claim six foundation establishment pills were used for my Foundation Establishment breakthrough. As for the other five, I could claim that I used it to breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment equivalent of Body Refining. However, I dunno why but as a side-effect I also broke through to the 2nd level of Foundation Establishment.'' pondered Fang Hao. ''Yep lets go with that. Attempted to use Foundation Establishment pills to achieve body cultivation breakthrough, but the residual medicinal effect was enough to propel me to the 2nd level of Foundation Establishment. A year of cultivation for a ¡°talent¡± like me plus doping with pills should be sufficient to explain it. Now to experiment with Directed Discharge, and perhaps upgrade its proficiency.'' Fang Hao resumed blowing stuff up with Directed Discharge. The first thing he noticed that the power of the spell was significantly lower now. Even the time required to set it up was noticeably higher. He was stumped for a while before he guesstimated the cause for it. As he was feeling quite agitated and frustrated when he first cast the spell, it somehow resonated with the caged lightning in his body. When the lightning released, it was as if he chad channeled all the frustration and agitation built up till then and let it free, boosting the power of that first Directed Discharge by a large amount. He then simulated agitation and irritation building up in him as he channeled the subdued Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell. When he felt the powerful lightning raging around his body caged. He imagined directing all his built up agitation through his punch to another tree, which represented the Great Elder Shi in his mind. This particular cast of Directed Discharge was more powerful than his regular casts, but not as powerful as his first cast. While the power boost was nice, it wasn''t very practical. Getting emotional in fights could cloud his judgment.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it He didn''t want to sacrifice his presence of mind trying to boost a particular spell. But still, it was good to know. After several more tests he came to the conclusion that the act of letting go of restraints during the casting of the Directed Discharge spell seemed to boost it significantly. The more intense emotions he was feeling, the more powerful was the resulting cast when he finally released the Directed Discharge associating it with a mental Fuck You. The same tactic of building up agitation and letting it go free also worked with his other lightning element spells, Thunder Sparrow and Static Web. He noticed that this act of letting go emotions after suppressing it did provide a significant boost to lightning attributed spells. He then tested his fire attribute spell with various emotions. He found that outright anger and rage worked the best in boosting the fire attributed spell. As for Acid Splash, the earth attributed spell he had; it was boosted the most with an indifference arrogance. The attitude that nothing can shake him worked best with the Earth Attributed spell. For the Wind Blade spell, and to a lesser extent the Floating Leaves step, a playful evasive attitude had the best results. As for the other spells, he really couldn''t figure it out. This emotional roller-coaster experimentation had taken him around three weeks to perform and confirm. Despite the boosted power in some cases, Fang Hao was still of the opinion that being calm and retaining a razor sharp focus during actual fighting would be for the best. Sure the emotional aspect of the spells felt good and boosted power somewhat, but intentionally leaving mental flaws in battle for a bit more power wasn''t something he would make an habit of. Of course if there was a situation that was desperate, he could exploit it to his benefit. While his study had concluded for the time being, he had spent a total of twelve years in the sect. It had been almost a decade since his Master Zhu had left on ¡°sect business¡±. After exhausting his Qi after grinding the Directed Discharge spell, Fang Hao was laying on the ground in his courtyard. His surroundings were a total mess. There were long partially-conical trenches crisscrossing the ground everywhere. The few trees present in the yard had been blasted to smithereens with shrapnel and ash spreading in the yard. Fang Hao instinctively searched his storage pouch for some spirit wine, but he was reminded yet again that he had none left. He checked the small crystalline bottle of nourishment pills and idly counted them. He had around a dozen or so remaining, which could only sustain him for another six months if he was stingy. Shrugging, he popped one of the nourishment pills and felt a surge of satiation permeate him. He wasn''t really hungry, but he was bored. Usually when he was bored, he would get tipsy on spirit wine and resume with his grinding afterwards. But now, he didn''t have spirit wine, nor was he allowed to leave to exchange his contribution points for some wine. Sighing wistfully, Fang Hao softly muttered: ¡°Master Zhu, I miss you. When will you return?¡± ''And hopefully give lots of good spirit wine to me for free.'' He heard an amused chuckle nearby. Getting somewhat surprised and a little alarmed, he stood up and turned towards the source of the chuckle. Standing there, was Master Zhu along with Great Elder Shi, who had just teleported nearby. Chapter 084 ¡°So in the decade I was gone you broke through into Qi Condensation and became an inner disciple; killed and plundered a few hundred of your fellow inner disciples in righteous ''self-defense''; announced your break-through into foundation establishment stage a year back, to the whole sect with a mystic manifestation of thunderclouds. You also managed to wreck this residence. Anything I left out?¡± summarized Old Man Zhu. Fang Hao felt a bit awkward when his master mentioned the matter of him killing and looting his fellow inner disciples. But he shrugged it off pretty easily. After all, as his master mentioned, it was in righteous self defense. Added xp and loot was just an icing on the cake; he was doing it to cleanse the sect of greedy evil murderers after all. ¡°Master, your disciple also just broke through into the Foundation Establishment Stage as a body refiner too. This also caused my Qi cultivation to advance a bit. Maybe, we should celebrate with some good high quality potent spirit wine?¡± Fang Hao inquired hopefully. Outwardly, Great Elder Shi had a calm facade; but inwardly he had mixed feelings when he heard about Fang Hao''s progress as a Body Refiner. Old Man Zhu had a knowing look in his eyes as he replied. ¡°Don''t worry about the wine. From my trip I have obtained some devil wine which would cause massacres among peak Core Formation Cultivators in the Xiuzhenist World. But more of that later. For now Brother Shi has some questions for you.¡± replied Old man Zhu dismissively. Fang Hao turned his greedy pig like face to Great Elder Shi, barely concealing his lust for the devil wine which his master mentioned, and respectfully greeted him. ¡°Greetings to Great Elder Shi, from this Junior.¡± The Great Elder Shi gave an indifferent nod, but he was cursing as to why he hadn''t picked this fatty to be his disciple. Achieving Foundation Establishment in both Qi Cultivation and Body Refining with the resources at Fatty''s Disposal meant that the Fatty indeed had much more talent than the initial evaluation suggested. Situations like these were not uncommon in the cultivation world, otherwise the sect wouldn''t even bother with Janitorial Disciples. Many Earth-Shattering Cultivators, Demons and Devils were late bloomers and had modest beginnings. ¡°Junior, when you inquired about Foundation Establishment scriptures from me, I had recommended the Thunder-rock Carapace Scripture. Why the change in cultivation technique, even if it is a superior pick.¡± asked the Great Elder. ¡°Great Elder, the Primal Thunder Scripture sounded more powerful and it would help me kill and loot better; purely in self defense of course. Also, the Thunder-rock Carapace Scripture sounds like the name of a giant insect; so there is that.¡± answered Fang Hao honestly with a dumb look on his face. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Great Elder Shi just snorted derisively, before teleporting away. Just before teleportation, Fang Hao thought he saw the Great elder flick his arm; but he wasn''t sure whether it was actually so or just his imagination. While Fang Hao was still wondering about this; Master Zhu grabbed his neck and he felt a light tug behind his navel as he teleported and appeared in another inner disciple residence. ¡°If you aren''t as foolish as you look; you have figured out that I am not just a simple manager of one of the hills for Outer Disciples. Indeed, I am one of the thirteen Great Elders of the Jade Pagoda Sect. I am Great Elder Zhu, head of the Palace of Formations and Restrictions!¡± said Great Elder Zhu rather pompously. ¡°I have eyes and could recognize Mt. Tai!¡± shouted Fang Hao without thinking. Great Elder Zhu frowned a bit and asked, ¡°Mt. Tai? What Mt. Tai? We are on the Celestial jade mountain now.¡± ''Oops. Apparently no Mt. Tai here. Still what I said stands. I would be immensely butthurt now if I had rejected to become Master Zhu''s disciple back then. Good thing I was drunk as fuck and clouded by short term gains when Master Zhu had offered to accept me as a disciple, back then.'' mused Fang Hao. ¡°Nothing Great Elder. I had heard fables of Mt. Tai being the largest, most majestic mountain ever in the mortal world. I meant to say that I recognized master''s majesty back then.¡± replied Fang Hao. Hearing the explanation, Fang Hao''s master dismissed his strange comments, and was visibly pleased at the flattery as he snorted a reply. ¡°What recognition. You were too drunk to recognize your left foot from your right hand back then.¡± Fang Hao had an embarrassed yet expectant look at the mention of getting drunk. Looking at the human shaped pig''s greedy expression, Great Elder made a shrugging gesture as a pale green translucent jug filled with a viscous amber colored liquid. The amber liquid seemed to emit a gentle glow, and swirled without any external agitation. Two pale green crystalline goblets winked into existence. The hovering jug poured the viscous amber liquid, all by itself into the two hovering goblets. The goblets floated towards Fang Hao and Great Elder Zhu. Fang Hao impatiently grabbed the goblet, and was about to greedily drink it; When suddenly, the goblet was transposed with a gold triangular token with intricate designs on it. Fang Hao looked at his master with a hurt and betrayed expression. ¡°Before you begin drinking, keep that token in your storage pouch. You are back in your old inner disciple residence. So when you regain consciousness, head to the Task Assignment Hall and claim the position of a junior Core Disciple. The token will allow you to join the Formations and Restrictions Palace without hassle, and we will have a discussion later. For now, lets drink!¡± stated Grand Elder Zhu with an amused expression. Fang Hao quickly pocketed the golden triangular token, and thanked his master, ¡°Disciple thanks Master for his grace.¡± The pale green crystalline goblet with the viscous swirling amber liquid appeared before him. He carefully grabbed the goblet and cautiously brought it to his lips; expecting any moment for it to be swapped with something inedible. Fortunately, that didn''t happen and he sipped a bit of the amber liquid. The amber liquid smelled like freshly crushed wet grass and had a sublime flavor which reminded him of avocado and truffles. When the amber liquid traveled to his abdomen he felt a mild warmth, almost unnoticeable. He was underwhelmed by the potency of the wine as he took another gulp. A pleasantly warm sensation was traveling down his throat when the mild sensation in his abdomen exploded and he felt a blazing warmth suffuse his whole body, causing him to feel dizzy even with his cultivation base and refined body. ''Well fuck. Looks like I am going to get smashed silly.'' thought Fang Hao as the large gulp of the liquor reached his abdomen. Great Elder Zhu was looking at him with an amused and interested expression. Chapter 085 After that second gulp of wine exploded, Fang Hao felt that his entire body was blazing. He had difficulty focusing even on the goblet in his hand. So he quickly finished rest of the goblet in a couple of gulps, before he was wasted enough to do so. And that is when he was truly wasted. After finishing one whole goblet of that amber wine, Fang Hao''s blacked out and his memories were in a jumble. When he woke up, he retained flashes of memory, but wasn''t sure the order in which they occurred. One of his memories involved him laying face down on the ground and flapping his hands creating depressions in the ground. Each ''flap'' of his hands caused his fat body to bounce several feet above the ground and land a bit further ahead. He did this as he shouted ¡°Mashter, look at me; I can fly. I can fly!¡± whereas his master replied, ¡°Yes disciple, fly some more.¡± It looked like some grotesque bunny hopping about, while its trainer was cheering it on. Another incident which he recalled with some lucidity was there was a goblet of the amber wine just ahead of him. His challenge was to pick it up with supporting his body with his hands. It turned out to be very challenging to an inebriated Fang Hao who fell face down tasting grass and mud as he attempted to pick up the wine goblet. Finally after several dozens of attempts, Fang Hao was squatting as he cautiously wobbled forward and managed to get hold of that elusive goblet. Another fragmented memory, had Fang Hao whining to his master about his loneliness. ¡°Mashter I had to endure a year without any wine to drink, or shome shlut to pound and releashe my shtreshh. Can I keep a pershonal shlut ash I have my Foundashion Eshtabished, Master? Pleashe?¡± His Master had a somewhat helpless look as he said, ¡°Disciple; Fraternizing among the disciples is only allowed among senior Core Disciples. Once you have a Core Formation Cultivation, I will introduce you to some sluts. But don''t call them sluts on their face. The polite term is Dao-Companion. Also since you are a body cultivator too, don''t give up your yang essence in vain. That will damage your vital life force and cause too many bottlenecks in body-refining.¡± His master had grabbed his storage pouch and inserted a jade slip into it before returning it at Fang Hao''s waist before saying ¡°Once you are sober, go through that jade slip. It details an ancient codex, which will help you retain your yang essence and also benefit from yin essence even as you gain enjoyment pounding sluts. As a body cultivator, it is very important that you zealously guard your yang essence unless you intend to father children and are sure that your slut won''t absorb your yang essence to nourish herself instead of giving birth to your child.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Speaking of fathering children, the more accomplished you are in Qi Cultivation and body refining, the more potential and power your future child would be. I would recommend not to father children unless you are in Nascent Spirit Stage in both Qi Cultivation and Body Refining. Any child you father at that realm of cultivation has a one in three chance of having gold grade talent.¡± At recalling that particular interaction, Fang Hao was somewhat embarrassed. Discussing how he would like to relieve stress by pounding sluts was definitely not appropriate conversation with your Master. But luckily his master wasn''t too prudish and entertained his drunken queries. He checked his storage pouch and indeed there was a new jade slip in there. He flipped through its contents. It was called the ''Tantric Yang Codex'' and detailed all sort of sexual practices. It detailed how to enjoy and experience orgasms for males while withholding yang essence and hence retaining one''s vital life force. The Tantric Yang Codex also detailed several types of sinister sexual arts which could drain a males vital yang essence dry, and how to recognize and defend from them. There were also general preventive methods for sexual transmission of diseases and curses. It also detailed methods of resisting charming illusions, spells, techniques and even formations aimed at ensnaring males by exploiting their lust. There was also a small part which detailed a couple of practices which were mutually beneficial exchange of yin and yang essence between pair-cultivators, which seemed almost like an afterthought. Once Fang Hao had finished browsing through the contents of the Tantric Yang Codex, he had a grim feeling in his mind. ''Looks like even screwing around is filled with hidden dangers in the cultivation world. One of the more insidious ones was that parasitic worm which drills into a guy during climax, slowly taking over his mind and leaving him nothing more than a puppet for master of the worm, within a few months.'' ''This Tantric Yang Codex compiles a variety of protective and recuperative measures for male victims of sexual techniques and spells. I must learn it fully before I go around looking for sluts to pound when I have a Core Formation cultivation base. And it was interesting to know that yang essence is so valuable for cultivators, specially body refiners. So all that religious talk of not masturbating and wasting seed other than the intention to father children had some merit in m past life. Who knew?'' ''Still the portions of the Tantric Yang Codex that detailed how guys could experience multiple full body orgasms without ejaculating should make me a Kama Sutra master. But better focus on sexual self defense before I try to make myself a stud. Mastering this knowledge before sexually interacting with cultivators is a must.'' decided Fang Hao as he stored the Tantric Yang Codex back in his storage pouch. He wasn''t clear for how long he was wasted, but depending on his jumbled memories he estimated that it wasn''t more than a week, and was not less than a couple of days. It was a bit before noon now, but surprisingly Fang Hao wasn''t feeling hungry at all. He felt full of energy and vigor after his spirit wine binge, as he made his way to the Task Assignment Hall to officially become a Junior Core Disciple. He was more than qualified to do so with his Cultivation base. Chapter 086 Fang Hao wanted to fly to the Task Assignment Hall, but it was against the rules as he wasn''t a core disciple yet. He greeted the bored looking middle aged who was munching on something which looked very similar to peanuts. Fang Hao waited until the latest mouthful of peanuts was munched as he addressed the Assignment Hall manager respectfully. ¡°Greetings Senior, I would like to become a Junior Core Disciple.¡± ¡°And I would like to be an Immortal with heaven defying treasures. But little fatty, we don''t always get what we want.¡± replied the peanut munching Assignment Hall Manager dryly. ¡°What I meant senior is that I have successfully established my Foundation.¡± replied Fang Hao getting half amused and half irritated at the Manager''s reply. ¡°Oh, is that so? Demonstrate your cultivation base then.¡± replied the manager munching a few more peanuts. Fang Hao stimulated his cultivation base. The two crystalline pillars pulsed and rotated in his dantian. The calm Qi lake started churning as huge amounts of gaseous Qi was generated and it permeated his body. With a thought, his spiritual sense suffused his body, and he willed himself to rise. He then zipped around a bit in the Hall as the nearby inner disciples noticed him. Immediately there were whispered murmurs. It wasn''t everyday they witnessed an inner disciple with a cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage. Due to his sharpened senses, Fang Hao could make out snippets of conversation, but he didn''t pay heed to him as it wasn''t anything of interest. The Assignment Hall Manager finally stopped munching peanuts as he addressed Fang Hao. ¡°You seem to have stabilized your cultivation base very thoroughly. Usual with new breakthroughs in cultivation base, the cultivator tends to broadcast his cultivation base. Without you flying, or me probing you with my spiritual sense, I couldn''t sense the level of your cultivation. Follow me.¡± Fang Hao followed the manager to what looked like a large office with a desk and chairs with a large circular formation like design in the back half of the room. There was a porcelain jar nearby along with a large pile of jade slips. The middle aged man gestured the little fatty to take a seat. ''Its been a since forever since I saw a chair in this world. Now I see one here with cushions and stuff. Might as well take a seat.'' thought Fang Hao as he slumped down on the comfortable looking chair. Expecting to rest his fat ass on the comfy looking cushioned chair, Fang Hao just heard a faint crack sound before the chair collapsed. Before his ass landed on the wreckage on the floor, Fang Hao regained his balance and stood upright, as if the chair collapsing had nothing to do with him. ¡°Damn Fatty, that chair you just smashed with your rear is made of Grade 3 materials. Even if it is on the cheaper side, it is supposed to be able to withstand a couple of full force blows from initial foundation establishment cultivators. You just had to smash and break it.¡± ranted the manager in a grumbling manner.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°This junior apologizes senior, I didn''t expected myself to be so heavy. Although I am almost out of contribution points and have no spirit stones, maybe the magic tools I used in the Qi condensation stage can compensate for a part of senior''s loss?¡± Fang Hao suggested in an embarrassed manner. Before he ''sat'' down, he had did a little jump out of anticipation. The middle aged manager, with a grumpy look on his face now, just sighed and continued, ¡°Forget it fatty, looks like your cultivation base isn''t as restrained as I thought. Just keep on standing and pay attention; maybe it will help you loose some weight.¡± ¡°We have a total of thirteen Palaces which you can join as a core disciple. Each palace has its own specialties and legacies; although many cultivation methods and spells are commonly shared. They also have qualification tests, so it isn''t just enough to simply choose a Palace; You should also be capable enough to qualify for it.¡± He then tossed a palm sized jade slip to the fatty, who deftly caught it and scanned it with his spiritual sense. The Jade slip listed the thirteen palaces with a brief description and aptitude desirable in a disciple attempting to join a palace. There was the Palace of the Five Elements, which had the highest number of disciples and was the largest. As long as one had any one of the five elements as a dominant spirit root or practiced a cultivation method related to the five elements could join. Even practicing neutral cultivation methods would qualify one to join the Palace of the five elements. Of course access to core mysteries would be dependent on the disciples aptitude and circumstances. It was one of the most heterogeneous and diverse palaces. The two other elemental palaces were (a) the Palace of Thunder and Wind, and (b) the Palace of Light and Darkness. These palaces had similar requirements to the five elemental palaces, but as these four elements were rarer than the five primary elements; the combined disciples of the two palaces barely exceeded the number of disciples of the Palace of Five elements. However, the single largest palace; in terms of battle power was the Palace of Swords. Their core mystery was very powerful and they enjoyed high prestige in the sect. Anyone, regardless of cultivation technique or spirit root could attempt to join; but it''s acceptance test had one of the most stringent requirements for determination and strength of heart. Then there were the production related palaces namely: (a) Palace of Alchemy, (b) Palace of Spirit Craft and ? Palace of Formations and Restrictions and (d) Palace of Spirit Cultivation. Palace of Alchemy focused on alchemical pills and poisons; Palace of Spirit Craft dealt with creation of magic tools, puppets, talismans and spirit refining and palace of Formations and restrictions dealt with Arrays and Formations which had supportive, offensive and defensive applications. Lastly, though Palace of Spirit Cultivation had a grand sounding name, it was basically farming, breeding spirit beasts and insects. Only those with connections and backing could succeed in these production focused sects as they were extremely resource intensive. But similarly, success guaranteed good standing and wealth. Then there were the less popular Palaces. The Palace of Exalted Physique focused on body refining. The Palace of Charm and Illusion dealt with befuddlement and illusions. This Palace was unique as all female cultivators had to join this palace, and no male could join it. This didn''t mean that female cultivators primarily focused on the illusory arts and Fang Hao assumed it was just to keep them segregated. The Palace of Divination along with The Palace of Space and Time had the least number of disciples. The Palace of Divination would themselves scout prospective disciples and one couldn''t simply join it. As for the Palace of Space and Time, only those with space/time related bloodlines, innate constitutions or spirit roots were allowed to join. These two were perhaps the toughest palaces to join. However, every disciple of these two palaces could be considered a talented prodigy. The most mysterious palace of them all was the Palace of Devils, Demons and Beasts. Almost all its members were non-humans. In fact, it barely had any disciples. Most of the members of the Palace were Non-human rogue cultivators who had joined the sect. The human cultivators of the palace were extremely rare and had exotic methods without exception. While the outermost mysteries of each palace was open to all disciples in exchange for contribution points, the higher level mysterious were naturally restricted among members of the palace. Each Disciple could belong to only one palace, which would theoretically allow him to compete for the highest mystery of that palace. However, a Disciple could also choose another Palace as a secondary focus after reaching the late stages of Foundation Establishment; which would qualify him to compete for mid-level mysteries of that palace at a higher cost. Chapter 087 ''So the Palace of Formations and Restrictions is my Primary Palace I suppose. I guess I will be placing little toy flags in the terrain, arranging traps and stuff before baiting foes to their doom. As for the choice of Secondary Palace; I need to decide it when I reach late stages of Foundation Establishment, which would be lv7 Foundation Establishment and I would need to consult master. Still, viable choices are Palace of Thunder and Wind or Palace of Exalted Physique.'' thought Fang Hao ''I don''t exactly know what a body refiner focuses on before the Nascent Spirit stage, where all a body refiner can do is take/give beatings and chase/run faster. Still useful cultivation techniques and spells having good synergy with body refining, like Aura Fist Manual for example, might be present. On the other hand, Thunder attribute primarily focuses on long range offense and speed which would also go well with ranged potshots and kiting or closing the distance quickly before wrecking shit in melee. Meh, I will cross that bridge when I reach it.'' decided Fang Hao as he withdrew the token from his storage pouch and handed it to the Inner Disciple Manager. ¡°Senior, looks like I will be joining the Palace of Restrictions and Formations.¡± said Fang Hao sheepishly. The indifferent Manager, who had an indifferent ''going-through-the-motions'' attitude had a large smile plastered on his face as he saw the token. He flicked his sleeve and a large, sturdy looking wooden chair with intricate designs of lions piled with soft looking cushions appeared near the fatty. The combination of the regal looking lion carvings and the plush rectangular cushions looked like an odd combo to Fang Hao. ¡°Junior, you should have said earlier that you are a personal disciple of Great Elder Zhu. Don''t be shy, have a seat. The new chair is a lot sturdier than the old one, so don''t worry about it breaking.¡± said the manager with all smiles. Fang Hao was naturally thick skinned, and slumped on the chair, which made dangerous groaning noises, as he was all smiles and thanked the Manager. ¡°I thank senior for your hospitality. Since this junior is unfamiliar with many things; I request your guidance, Senior.¡± ''Yeah I have an awesome master, so please stop sucking up to me and get on with it.'' grumbled Fang Hao internally. ¡°Naturally, naturally. Hand me your sect identification please, junior.¡± requested the Manager.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Fang Hao handed him the amulet which acted as his sect identification. The manager placed the golden triangular token near the center of the table, and placed Fang Hao''s amulet on it. Without any other action on his part, the golden triangular token seemed to melt and merge into Fang Hao''s amulet with a pale amber glow. He then handed the amulet back to the fatty who promptly wore it around his neck. ¡°All done junior. Now all that remains is for you to report to the Palace of Formations and Restrictions; and they will take care of the rest.¡± the manager said as he handed the fatty a folded paper fox. ¡°Use your Qi on the talisman when outdoors, and it will transport you to the Main Peak of the Palace of Formations and Restrictions.¡± said the manager in an extremely helpful tone while all smiles. ¡°Thank you senior, for your guidance. Anything else this junior should know?¡± inquired Fang Hao as he felt the ''official'' part of the interaction conclude. ¡°Of course junior. While I may not be very accomplished in cultivation, I have lot of experience here in the sect. Lets sample some spirit wine while we chat.¡± suggested the manager. He was delighted to be able to curry some influence with a personal disciple of a Great Elder. While he didn''t hold high expectations for future favors from the fatty, having an amicable chat now wouldn''t hurt. Two silver wine glasses appeared along with a silver jug of spirit wine. The manager poured the clear liquid in the silver glasses and encouraged the fatty to drink. While Fang Hao was a bit paranoid accepting drinks from strangers, he highly doubted that the Manager would try to poison or curse him. Reading the Tantric Yang Codex had opened his mind to possibility of immense danger which could lurk behind every act in the cultivator world. What if this wine corroded his life force? Or hypnotized him into revealing his deepest secret? While his instincts weren''t signaling danger, he was still cautious and hesitating. ''I don''t have any past grudges with this guy. And he also knows that I am a personal disciple of Great Elder Zhu. Furthermore, we are inside the Sect Safe zone and he just upgraded my Identity amulet for the sect. So this should be safe; I think. Still, I need to be extremely wary of accepting what others offer outside the safe zone of the sect. A casual gesture of acceptance in order to seem polite could royally fuck me up with insidious curses.'' deliberated Fang Hao for a moment, before he toasted the Manager and drank the clear wine in one gulp. Unlike Fang Hao''s paranoid fears, the spirit wine wasn''t some insidious plot to ensnare Fang Hao in unfathomable machinations. It was just a washed-out Foundation Establishment Cultivator who wanted to curry some favor with a promising junior. The manager''s pace of cultivation couldn''t keep up with his talented peers. His talent and potential seemed to have run dry as he barely managed to reach the late stages of Foundation Establishment a couple of decades ago. He had almost no chance of breaking through to Core Formation stage and didn''t want to fight and struggle anymore. He had more than a century of his life left; and wanted to relax in the safety of the sect; and a bit more influence with promising juniors won''t hurt him. Who knows, it might bring him unexpected returns later on. If he knew the fatty''s paranoid thoughts, he would just ask; ''Brother, I may not be talented; but I severely cherish what life I have left. Even Elders with a lofty Nascent Spirit cultivation base wouldn''t dare to act against you inside the Sect , unless they went insane with rage, if they knew that Old Monster of a Great Elder is your Master; how can you doubt my common sense?'' Chapter 088 Fang Hao chatted with the Manager of Inner Disciples for quite a while while drinking the clear spirit wine. The wine tasted like watered down piss and was not potent at all. As expected, his master''s wine was the best. Still, he supposed that after drinking several cups of the wine, he would maybe feel a mild pleasant buzz. Even though it was a low quality Grade 3 spirit wine, it was still a Grade 3 wine. What restrained fatty was not etiquette or his disfavor, but paranoid thoughts urging him to restrain from strangers offering drinks. It might be overdoing it in this specific case, but he waned to practice resisting possible sugar coated knives in the future. Any average early Foundation Establishment disciple who drank several cups of that wine in an hour would be sloshed. The manager was pained and thankful at fatty''s drinking. He was pained at the possibility that the fatty disdained him and hence restrained from drinking freely; and thankful that the fatty didn''t finish it too quickly. It was the only jug of wine he had for the moment, and didn''t want to get embarrassed running out in the middle of their chat. They chatted about a variety of topics, mainly pertaining to Core Disciples. From what Fang Hao understood, each disciple had a ¡°star¡± rating with every Palace. The more stars you earned with a specific palace, the more access you had to its mysterious and resources. Of course, they weren''t free and had to be paid in contribution points. Stars were earned through meritorious deeds and/or contribution to the sect /palace. If someone broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage before 50, he earned 1 star with every palace. If someone broke through Foundation Establishment before 25, he earned 2 stars with every palace. Selecting and qualifying for a Palace as one''s main palace granted a disciple 2 stars with that specific palace. Selecting and qualifying for a Palace as one''s secondary palace granted a disciple 1 star with that palace. Being taken in as a personal disciple of the Great Elder of a Palace granted a disciple 2 stars with that palace and 1 star with every other palace. Being taken in as a personal disciple of an Elder granted 1 star with the Elder''s Palace. Of course being the disciple of a Great Elder / Elder had other privileges including but not limited to certain free spells and manuals, reduced cost of certain resources, priority access to various opportunities etc.; but the manager wasn''t very familiar wit those. Completing difficult missions, contributing spells and cultivation methods, exterminating enemy cultivators on the wanted lists of the sect, winning in inter sect competitions etc. were some other ways of earning stars. But they amount earned from these acts weren''t fixed and depended on the situation. For example, killing enough cultivators who were enemies of the sect granted stars with all the palaces, but more stars with the Palace of Swords and the Palace of Exalted Physique. But the stars earned this way would factor the cultivation base of the disciple and target and how highly the sect wanted the criminal cultivator dead.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It was very difficult to initially earn stars to have access to the better mysteries in the various Palaces of the Sect. Having a certain amount of stars in reserve was required to access most of the mysteries of each palace. However, the most valuable mysteries and resources required spending stars in addition to contribution points! So a disciple couldn''t just rely on early cultivation base breakthroughs, joining a palace and having a powerful master to access the better mysteries for long. Sooner or later, a disciple would have to contribute directly to the sect to keep obtaining better spells, cultivation techniques and resources. Fang Hao was more-or-less satisfied with the system. Although it pushed one to specialize in a single palace; A disciple could theoretically pick up and mix-n-match spells, methods and magic items from various palaces. And even though it favored talent and one''s master for a sizable initial boost; if a disciple was non-performing he was bound to be left behind. It also provided opportunities to those whose talent hadn''t yet matured and were willing to risk themselves to compete for progress. Fang Hao had earned one star in every palace by having a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment before 50 years of age. He had just missed earning another additional stars in every palace by breaking through to Foundation Establishment at the age of 26. If he had broken through just a year or so earlier, he would have qualified for an additional star in every palace. That one year left star shaped holes in his heart; But there was no medicine for regret. Who had told him to intentionally suppress his cultivation speed in order to not catch attention. Although being prudent and cautious might have its advantages, sometimes it also meant lost opportunities. He had earned two stars in the Palace of Formations and Restrictions for selecting it as his main Palace. Well he didn''t really have a choice for his main palace as Master Zhu was the Palace Head of Formations and Restrictions. But being a disciple of the Great Elder Zhu had granted him an additional two stars in the palace of Restrictions and Formations along with one star in every other palace. This resulted in Fang Hao having a total of 5 stars in Palace of Formations and Restrictions along with 2 stars in every other Palace. Fang Hao had confirmed this when he had immersed his spiritual sense into his identity amulet. He was also surprised to learn that his contribution points had increased by Fifty Thousand! Apparently, a Junior Core Disciple earned 10,000 contribution points per year, for every star he held in his Main Palace. While it seemed a lot, it wasn''t much as spells and treasures of the Foundation Establishment stage (Grade 3) were much more expensive than their counterparts in Qi Gathering Stage. A Junior Core disciple would stop his annual income of contribution points based on stars if he couldn''t manage to breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage before the age of 100. Chapter 089 Fang Hao left the assignment hall and infused a bit of his Qi in the paper fox. The paper fox expanded rapidly and began to float a few inches of the ground. Fang Hao was puzzled for a bit, then he sat on the paper fox. There was a sound like a creaking groan, as if the paper fox was about to fall apart. The paper fox then flew in the air, all the while making an annoying creaking groan. It flew for about twenty minutes or so before it reached the foot of a particularly large hill, when it started descending. The paper fox couldn''t apparently tolerate the fatty''s load anymore as halfway through the descent, it turned back into a miniature paper fox before disintegrating to dust. Fang Hao was dropped from mid-air and about to crash on the ground, but fortunately fatty hovered himself gently on the foothill and started walking uphill. ''What a cheap shitty talisman. Can''t even fly all the way. Well that drop of several dozens of feet at the end isn''t going to injure any Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but still; the shoddiness isn''t acceptable.'' Fang Hao grumbled mentally as he climbed uphill and reached an impressive looking pagoda with seven floors. Fang Hao entered the impressive seven-floored pagoda. Surprisingly, the entrance hall looked very familiar to him. He made may towards the free counter and introduced himself while presetting his amulet. ¡°Senior Hao, welcome! It s been a while since we received a personal disciple of Master Zhu.¡± a youth with late foundation establishment cultivation replied to the fatty''s query. ¡°I have just reached the Foundation Establishment Stage. I am a newcomer to the Palace of Formations and Restrictions, I dare not call myself any Foundation Establishment Cultivator''s senior.¡± The Fatty Hao replied in a polite and submissive manner. After the formal greetings were exchanged, the late foundation establishment youth explained the ins and outs of the Palace of Formations and Restrictions to Fatty Hao. Since he was the personal/direct disciple of the Palace master. He had certain privileges. These privileges drastically reduced his star point expenditure for the Palace specific arts and also granted him a host of other privileges. Unfortunately, with Fang Hao''s aptitude in Body Refining, Thunder and Life domains; the fatty would still have to work reasonably hard for contribution points for optimal development of his supposed strengths. Fang Hao acted humbly, as he accepted a mid tier residence as his dwelling. While a status as the personal disciple of the Palace Master granted him privileges of selecting the best Cave Dwelling as his residence displacing others; Fatty Hao refrained from doing so and opted for a mediocre Cultivation Cave as his residence. The highest Tier residence had the most dense concentration of Qi to aid in cultivation. But Fang Hao really depended on xp farming for his cultivation, so it wasn''t really of use to him.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Also, if he did choose the best cultivation ground with the highest density of Spiritual Qi; he would have to displace the present occupants from there cultivation grounds. This wouldn''t bring a significant benefit to him; while simultaneously offending the top Foundation Establishment disciples in the Palace of Formations and Restrictions. Therefore, Fang Hao reasonably selected one of the free mid-tier cultivation caves as his residence once the formalities of him begin a Junior Core Disciple in the Palace of Formations and Restrictions were completed. Since Fang Hao didn''t disrupt the Status Quo despite him being the personal disciple of the Palace Master; it earned him the favor of the present colleagues and seniors of Master Zhu''s Palace. This didn''t cause a significant setback to Fang Hao; while simultaneously increasing the impression seniors had of him. So all in all, it was a favorable strategic move, even if it eroded his presence a bit despite his status. Some arrogant Seniors might take this prudent move of Fang Hao as his weakness, and act against him; but Fang Hao would deal with them if/when he encountered such provocation. At the very least, Fang Hao''s prudent action brought him some time. Once the formalities were done; Fang Hao was given a new partial map of the Jade Pagoda Sect. He was finally allowed to fly in certain portions of the territory of the Jade Pagoda Sect. Fang Hao had selected his cultivation cave/residence to be farther and secluded from the existing territories of the Junior Core Disciples of the Palace of Formations and Restrictions of the Jade Pagoda Sect. His reasoning was that Qi density wouldn''t help much in his cultivation (Both Qi and Body Refining) as it relied on killing and xp to progress quickly. But an emergent issue was, how the fuck was he supposed to find enough stuff to kill to maintain his level-up/cultivation speed with both his Qi Cultivation/Body Refining if he was supposed to be secluded in a shitty cave most of his time? Fang Hao''s selected residence wasn''t exactly a cave per se. He was clear that his Body Refining Scripture focused on Lightning and Life elements. As a consequence of his body refining, and possibly other factors, his Acquired Spirit Roots for Qi Cultivation also showed a clear bias for Lighting and Life attributes. While Fang Hao''s innate Spirit roots did show some potential for Earth and Fire attributes; Fang Hao was convinced that as he progressed further in his Divine Vajra Body Refining Scripture, the acquired Lighting and Life attributes would dominate and eventually eclipse his innate Earth / Fire Spirit roots. The Residence Caves with denser Qi were usually located deeper in the ground. However, Considering Fang Hao''s deductions about his Spirit Roots; a dense Cultivation Cave deep underground would obviously conflict with the nature of Lightning and Thunder. Traditionally, Lightning and Thunder originated from the heavens. Being Burrowed deep underground wasn''t exactly conducive to lighting according to Fang Hao''s logic. Also, avoiding the supposedly best Cultivation Caves (deeper underground with denser Qi) in favor of a mediocre residence/mansion located near hilltops which was much more suitable to him; would clearly avoid ruffling feathers. Considering all these; Fang Hao''s choice of his Cultivation Residence as Junior Core Disciple was obvious. Chapter 090 Fang Hao flew to his residence and landed with a satisfied nod. His shiny new golden robes established his status as a Junior Core Disciple. His residence was shaped like a large single storey mansion. Grasping the residence token which he had already bound with blood, Fang Hao had a pretty good idea about the layout and features of his residence. The residence was roughly shaped as a circle, with an inner cloister. The cloister surrounded what seemed to be a garden. There was also a cultivation cave underneath the mansion, with a had an hidden entrance near the bottom of the hill. During his exploration Fang Hao also found a tasteful statue in the mansion. It was tasteful because the sculpture denoted a trident wielding female naga with a bare upper body and scaled lower body. Fang Hao wasn''t sure whether the sculpture was originally present or the previous resident had placed it here. He scanned the area with his spiritual sense, but he didn''t detect any entrance or remnant of a formation fragment. Fang Hao felt that the placement of the statue was a bit odd, and was preparing to move the statue manually. Just as he placed his hands below the waist of the statue and grabbed it, he felt a particular scale near the ass of the statue was slightly protruded. He gently rubbed it, and heard a click. There was a creaking groaning sound and the statue flipped outwards. Like a sliding door, a portion of the solid wall slid sideways revealing a roughly hewn passage. He explored the passage and it ended up in the cultivation cave. The entrance to the cultivation cave from his passage was similarly hidden behind a solid flat wall. Fang Hao groped around a bit and found an oddly shaped rock fragment near the bottom wall. He lightly pressed it with his feet, and the solid flat wall slid inwards revealing the cultivation cave. The cultivation cave looked pretty standard and barren. It had stone floors, stone walls and a stone ceiling along with a stone bench and a stone bed. Fang Hao explored both the mansion and the connected cultivation cave for almost a couple of weeks, searching for secrets; but his diligence wasn''t rewarded any further. ''This secret entrance from behind the statue is quite innovative. My spiritual sense is obstructed in the walls of the mansion and boundaries of the cultivation cave. So just a sweep through with spiritual sense detects nothing out of the order. But who knew that a purely mechanical mechanism is used to conceal an alternate entrance? I doubt it could consistently fool a Core Formation Cultivator''s detailed spiritual sense observation, but it''s pretty innovative.'' ''So spiritual sense isn''t as omniscient as it appears to be eh. Forget about those advanced formations and restrictions which can fool/obstruct spiritual sense; sometimes a cleverly disguised purely mechanical mechanism can easily fool spiritual sense. I wonder what the background of the previous resident was in his mortal days? He arranged quite an intricate additional entrance to this cultivation cave. I bet there are more unexplored hidden areas around. Either I need to sharpen my spiritual sense to detect the slightest abnormality; Or I need to develop some sort of acute secret hunter sense eh.''Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Sharpening Spiritual Sense was not an easy feat; there were very few methods to do so. Increasing one''s Qi Cultivation Base was the primary method to do so. From what Fang Hao knew, Body Refining didn''t grant any extras like spiritual sense / ability to fly up to the equivalent of the Core Formation Stage. But it was an entirely different matter after a Body Cultivator reached the Equivalent of the Nascent Spirit Stage; and Fang Hao had absolutely no idea about it. As a Junior Core Disciple; Fang Hao could opt to keep a few retainers in his mansion for the daily mundane maintenance tasks. The retainers had to be male and Janitorial Disciples of Qi Gathering stage. Fang Hao wasn''t too keen on doing so, as the formations in place did a good job of keeping everything clean and livable. And furthermore, he was wary of inviting unknown cultivators in his residence even if their cultivation base was pitiful compared to him. Who knew which of them wasn''t a mind controlled puppet looking for an opportunity to screw him over. The Tantric Yang Codex had clearly opened his already paranoid mind to even more paranoid possibilities. Fang Hao had inquired about the previous resident of his residential mansion. With his status as a Hall Master Zhu''s personal disciple; it wasn''t too big of a deal to dig out the info. In a few days, he had received reasonably detailed information on the previous resident. He was a cultivator with average talent for cultivation; but was apparently very crafty and tricky in the formations and restrictions he used. Unfortunately, he had died almost two decades back while competing for merit points and star points in an intersect competition. Apparently, this particular intersect competition was held every thirty years or so. It comprised of collecting special resources in a mystic realm. Only cultivators with Foundation Establishment Cultivation or below could enter the mystic realm, and the mystic realm opened every thirty years or so. When the mystic realm was discovered, many sects tried to fight and monopolize it. But after a lot of bloodshed and a lengthy battle of attrition, each of the participating sects had a quota on the number of disciples they could send. Of course, if the participating disciples choose to slaughter their rivals and loot their resources instead of actually collecting the special resources the hard way; it was the merit of the sect that they nurtured a ruthless disciple who could reap such rewards efficiently. That isn''t to say that the offended parties wouldn''t take action. While they couldn''t immediately slaughter the offending disciple under the mutual restraints of the elders present, many of them were old monsters who could patiently wait decades, or even centuries to get even. This competitive mystic realm expedition was necessary for those who wanted to acquire quick merits for the resources necessary for progressing to the Core Formation Stage. And the next intersect competition would be nine to fifteen years later. While the mystic realm opened only once every thirty years, it wasn''t an exact date. Fang Hao assumed that some sophisticated divination could determine when the Mystic Realm would exactly open; and it got more accurate the closer the date approached. At least, that was what he gathered from the fragments of information available to him. Chapter 091 After settling into his majestic residence; Fang Hao tackled the highest priority task first. It was obviously attempting to master the Tantric Yang Codex. He spent almost a month thoroughly learning it by heart. While his memory capacity and learning speed had increased drastically with his cultivation level, he wasn''t at the point of photographic memory yet. Also the jade slip containing a copy of the Tantric Yang Codex had a humongous amount of information. Fang Hao skipped comprehending the parts dealing with the mutually beneficial yin-yang dual cultivation and heavily focused on the self defense portions. While there were plenty of horrifying and twisted descriptions about how a male''s lust could be used against himself, the essence of the defense techniques could be summarized in one word. Awareness. Most charm and illusion techniques leveraged the absence of awareness in a target cultivator. For example, if a certain subtle scent made a prospective victim horny and comfortable; it was basically priming him up to be on the receiving end of a charm technique without his knowledge. The subtle scent would get the target in mood, and insidiously lower his mental defenses against successive charm and illusion techniques. Of course with vast differences in cultivation base, an accomplished illusion master could drive a fully aware and vigilant target into insanity with a casual glance. With a similar cultivation base and spiritual prowess; the success of a charm / illusion spell could vary drastically if the target was vigilant and aware compared to an ignorant and relaxed target. The defensive technique of the Tantric Yang Codex focused on two sets of seals. A set of four seals made of Qi had to be placed just between the genitals and dantian. This first set of Qi seals were a defensive mechanism against charming, and to a lesser extent illusory/mind control techniques which targeted to incite the primal energy of the victim. A second set of six seals, made of condensed spiritual sense, had to be placed just outside the upper dantian (aka. Pituitary Gland). This second set of spiritual sense seals were a defensive mechanism against charming, to a lesser extent illusory/mind control techniques which directly targeted the soul. The second set of spiritual sense seals were far more difficult to complete than the first set of Qi seals. Furthermore, each set of seals could be layered for better defense and forewarning. Of course, the difficulty of each successive layer was exponentially higher. Supposedly, both the First set of Qi Seals and Second set of Spiritual Sense Seals, could be layered to a maximum of hundred and eight layers each. Whenever a practitioner of the Tantric Yang Codex was targeted with a charm/illusion/mind-control spell/technique, the relevant seals would respond depending on the magnitude of the attack. Best case scenario, for the practitioner of the Tantric Yang Codex that is and not the insidious attacker, the seals would agitate slightly and the attacker would face a backlash. And in the worst case scenario, the seals would shatter, jolting the defender and giving him a moment of clarity before the insidious technique took root. At best; the defender would be unfazed and the attacker would face a backlash. At worst; the defender would gain a moment of clarity before becoming a victim of the insidious technique. Of course the outcome would heavily depend on the cultivation base, spiritual prowess, state of mind of both the attacker and defender; along with potency/mastery of the illusory technique of the attacker and the number of layers of seals the defender had in place. Once Fang Hao was done with the preliminary preparations, he started condensing the Qi seals of the Tantric Yang Codex. After a few days of failure, which mainly involved trial and error, Fang Hao was successful in condensing the first set of the Four Qi Seals. He dissipated the seals and tried again. It took a total of 20 minutes to recreate the first set of Four Qi Seals. He tried condensing a second set of the Four Qi Seals, but the seals dissipated before they formed. Fang Hao assumed that he had to complete at least a single set of the Six Spiritual Sense Seals, before he could attempt another layer. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The set of six spiritual sense seals were far more difficult than the four qi seals. It took him around three weeks before he could condense a set of the six spiritual sense seals. Fang Hao wanted to make sure that his success wasn''t the result of a fluke, but actual progress with the techniques of the Codex. He dicisively dissipated the six spiritual sense seals and attempted to create them again. His next attempt wasn''t successful, and he had to try multiple times for a whole day before he could condense the six spiritual seals from scratch within an hour. Fang Hao had heard again and again that a solid foundation was one of the most important things to a cultivator. He assumed that this aspect of a sturdy foundation was even more important on the layered seals of the Tantric yang Codex. If he wasn''t very proficient with the first layer of the seals, how could he hope to build up on a shaky foundation? With a firm heart, Fang Hao again dissipated both the Four Qi Seals and the Six Spiritual Sense Seals. He created, dissipated and recreated the first set of both the Four Qi Seals and the Six Spiritual Sense Seals. After a total four months of practice, Fang Hao''s proficiency with the forming both the Qi and Spiritual Sense seals increased drastically. He also felt that his command over Qi and Spiritual Sense had become much sharper. After another one and half years of creating, dissipating and recreating the seals. He could create nine sets of both the Four Qi Seals and the Six Spiritual Sense Seals within a couple of hours from scratch with virtually no failures. While it didn''t seem a short amount of time, when he just started creating the seals; Attempting to form the first set of Four Qi Seals and Six Spiritual seals took him almost an hour and a half from scratch; and success wasn''t guaranteed. He was so obsessed with safeguarding himself from charm/illusion/mind-control techniques that he devoted almost all his time the past two years to condense the seals of the Tantric Yang Codex. He would periodically go to the communal dining hall and fill one of his spare storage pouches with all the food he could carry. This wasn''t exactly polite behavior, and many frowned at it; but it wasn''t exactly unacceptable either, specially considering Fang Hao''s status. After a few visits, the pleading janitorial disciples managing the catering and Fang Hao came to an agreement. His food would be delivered to him periodically in a storage pouch. All the cooked food would stay fresh in the pouch so there wasn''t any issue with it. If he did finish his rations before the due date, he just had to send a talisman informing them; and fresh food would be delivered to him within a couple of days. Fang Hao found it very convenient; but such convenience wasn''t available even to most Junior Core Disciples in the sect. After successfully condensing 9 sets of the Four Qi seals and Six Spiritual Sense Seals, Fang Hao checked his status after a long time.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 28 years
Titles: Lord Lard, Priviledged Glutton
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 615
Realm: Foundation Establishment Level: 2 (1)
Current Experience: 763670 (529432) Level Up at Experience: 767186
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 37.3 Finesse: 32.5
Spirit: 37.5 Qi 101.2/110.4
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (1st Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Blade (Perfection) Elementary Qi Barrier (Perfection)
Frost Chains (Perfection) Aura Fist (Perfection) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Concealing Mist (Perfection)
Minor Illusion (Perfection) Telekinetic Hand (Perfection) Call Clouds (Perfection) Static Web (Perfection)
Acid Splash (Perfection) Lion''s Roar (Perfection) Floating Leaves Step (Perfection) Aura Blast (Perfection)
Thunder Sparrow (Perfection) Blood Thorn Whip (Perfection) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Basic)
Codexes and Tactics
Tantric Yang Codex
''While I didn''t get any increases in stats, I got a whopping 124,000 xp and 9 skill points for successfully condensing nine sets of the Four Qi Seals and Six Spiritual Sense Seals. The skill point game is meh compared to grinding skills for couple of years, but the xp bonus is actually humongous. The xp gain probably increases exponentially with further set of seals I suppose. I guess upgrading Directed Discharge to Intermediate Proficiency will level me up.'' mused Fang Hao. Fang Hao looked at the Titles Section with disdain as he noticed his brand new title ¡°Privileged Glutton¡±. ''Tsk. Tsk. Looks like a significant amount of people are talking behind my back. Eh, who cares. I think I should pick up some spells, or evolve some spells now after I level up to Foundation Establishment Third Level.'' decided Fang Hao. Chapter 092 Fang Hao spent a week or so diligently grinding the Directed Discharge spell from basic proficiency to intermediate proficiency. As expected, the xp bump from the spell proficiency upgrade leveled him to a level three foundation establishment stage cultivator. Now, purely considering his Qi Cultivation; Fang Hao was at the peak of the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. His Aura Fist Spell was also upgraded to the Vajra Strike Spell. After achieving lv3 Foundation Establishment as a Qi Cultivator, Fang Hao had naturally shifted his primary cultivation manual to the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Fang Hao had practiced the Vajra Strike spell for a while. When he made a jabbing motion with his forefinger and middle finger pointing towards the target, a thin buzzing purple beam of thunder would instantly emerge from from his forefinger and middle finger; like a laser beam. He didn''t exactly test it''s destructive potential as he didn''t want to mess up his mansion; but he was pretty confident that it was much more potent than the Aura Fist spell. The Vajra Strike spell could also be supercharged with directed discharge. Fang Hao could build up directed discharge, and release it via the Vajra Strike spell. The supercharged spell was multiple times more potent than a regular Vajra Strike spell, according to Fang Hao''s guesstimate. Instead of releasing the Vajra Strike spell via his index and middle finger; Fang Hao could also opt to make a fist and release the Vajra Strike spell from his knuckles. In that case, the spell''s range was reduced by quite a bit; and instead of a thin laser beam, a crackling cloud of thunder was released. The crackling cloud of thunder would expand with distance and dissipate quickly. Fang Hao thought that the closed fist version of Vajra Strike would be suitable as a melee spell-charged sucker-punch released directly into his opponents body. What if the spell-charged sucker-punch was further supercharged by Directed Discharge? It was a closed range sneak attack combo with lot of potential. Fang Hao then made a quick trip to the higher floors of the Bronze Spell Pavilion. He browsed through the various Grade 3 spells available for the Foundation Establishment Stage. Most of the spells required a reserve star rating with the respective palace to learn it, but didn''t require the disciple to spend star points. Just having a certain number of stars with the respective palace made the disciple eligible to buy a copy of the spell by paying the contribution point fee. Very few core inheritances at the Foundation Establishment level required the actual expenditure of stars. The Dark Thunder Manual, a set of powerful spells, was only available to those who had at least three stars with the Palace of Wind and Thunder. Actually buying the Dark Thunder Manual required a whooping 150,000 contribution points and 1 star point. Whereas; Thunder Pigeon, a single thunder attribute spell, required a disciple to have one star with the Palace of Wind and Thunder. The Thunder Eagle spell had a cost of 10,000 contribution points and required no expenditure of star points. ''The Dark Thunder Manual sounds sick. Conjuring spells of Dark Thunder, which is corrosive as well as incinerating, sounds kind of epic. But I am not eligible for it. Even if I were eligible, the thunder attribute my body cultivation scripture is partial to doesn''t exactly sound like the dark corrosive sort.'' thought Fang Hao. Fang Hao was browsing through the spells, when another spell caught his eye. The spell was named as the Fire Serpent spell. It was described as an upgraded version of the Flame Snake spell, Suitable for Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Fang Hao had evolved the Flame Snake Spell into the Fire Serpent Spell using points, so he was obviously curious about it. He saw many spells, which were the stronger version of the spells he had learned in his Qi Condensation Days; and the spell description explicitly stated so. Since he wanted to evolve his spells manually, buying the spells would a good reference. In case he didn''t manage to evolve the spells manually, the bought spells could be learned directly. The price of each spell was around 8,000 to 12,000 points and each copy of the spell would persist for a month before destroying itself. Of course, as Fang Hao was the personal disciple of a Palace Head, he had a significant discount of 20% of contribution points AND he would get the spell copy for two months, instead of one month.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Over the next four months, Fang Hao bought a total of 14 spells (including Fire Serpent), spending around 115,000 contribution points. He had around 45,000 contribution points left. The steady annual stream of 50,000 contribution points was really convenient; otherwise he wouldn''t be able to afford his spell spending spree. The spells Fang Hao had selected were the direct upgrades of the spells he had learned in his Qi Condensation days. Other than the Fire Serpent spell, Fang Hao had heavyhearted and learned all the other spells. When he checked his status screen, the learned spells replaced the Qi Condensation version in his status screen. No wonder, that it took him a lot less effort to learn the spells than he expected. When he compared his Fire Serpent spell to the Fire Serpent spell he bought from the Sect, it was almost exactly same. He had hoped to evolve one of the simpler spells manually, but as soon as he thoroughly learned the upgraded version he had from the sect, it replaced the old Qi Condensation spell in his status screen. He did gain tasty increments of xp and skill points for that; so it wasn''t a loss as such. So Fang Hao had decided to not waste time in evolving those spells and just learned them all systematically. He had also managed to upgrade their proficiency to intermediate tier in those same four months with some practice. Fang Hao had spent another nine months or so to upgrade all his newly bought spells, along with Vajra Strike and Directed Discharge to Expert Proficiency. Grinding the proficiency of these powerful spells gave him a lot more skill points and xp than the Qi Condensation spells. He would have continued grinding the spells to perfection, but grinding beyond expert was truly difficult. Fang Hao decided to try to upgrade a spell further if he received inspiration, like in case of Primal Thunder Reinforcement, or he would simply use skill points to upgrade them further rather than spending time and not gaining anything in return. After completing a little over fifteen years in the sect, Fang Hao examined his status screen with satisfaction.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 29 years
Titles: Lord Lard, Privileged Glutton
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 751
Realm: Master Mortal Body Refiner Level: 2 (3)
Current Experience: 740832 (768570) Level Up at Experience: 767186 (915285)
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 39.3 Finesse: 34.3
Spirit: 39.5 Qi 112.6/114.1
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 2 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (2nd Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Sickle (Expert) Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Shackles (Expert) Vajra Strike (Expert) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Veiling Mist (Expert)
Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Arm (Expert) Call Storm Clouds (Expert) Thunder Web (Expert)
Corrosive Splash (Expert) Imperial Roar (Expert) Hovering Leaves Step (Expert) Aura Blast (Perfection)
Thunder Pigeon (Expert) Blood Thorn Vine (Expert) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Expert)
Codexes and Tactics
Tantric Yang Codex
''While the xp gain for each individual spell proficiency upgrade isn''t too significant, it tends to add up quickly over dozens of spells. More so in case of the Grade 3 Foundation Establishment spells. Next on the agenda, either I can seriously attempt to upgrade the Fire Serpent spell; or focus on layering more seals as per the Tantric Yang Codex. I haven''t exactly reached a bottle neck in the Tantric Yang Codex, so I can squeeze more xp from it. As for the spells; the period of efficient xp / skill farming is over I think.'' contemplated Fang Hao as he contemplated his plans for the near future. ''It is good in kind in a way that I can''t just dump skill points into the Tantric Yang Codex to get more layers of seals. The grinding experience of creating more skills is sharpening my Qi and Spiritual Sense Control much more than I expected. Once I evolve the Fire Serpent spell, and hit the first real bottleneck in the Tantric Yang Codex; I suppose I will have to actually do some tasks or something to earn my xp. Maybe I can ask Master to get me some early Foundation Establishment level spirit beasts or rogue cultivators to kill for xp, perhaps?'' mused the fatty. Chapter 093 Fang Hao spent around two weeks so trying to manually evolve the Fire Serpent spell. He started with attempting to modifying the contemplation image. Unfortunately, even after a month; his attempts weren''t successful. Wasting a month in grinding and not getting any gains had irritated Fang Hao quite a bit. On the other hand, he realized that his successful cultivation of Primal Vajra Aura Scripture was a huge lucky break. Attempting to evolve/create spells/cultivation techniques without inspiration and epiphanies was too hard apparently. Instead of wasting time more on manually evolving the Fire Serpent spell, Fang Hao opted to invest 22 skill points and auto-evolve the Fire Serpent spell to the Scorching Horned Serpent Spell. He tried out the spell, and while the size and shape of the serpent didn''t differ too much, it''s color had taken a deeper crimson shade and two curved horns the length of his hand and a width of two fingers had erupted from the Scorching Horned Serpent''s head and its hood had been compressed. But considering the fully uncoiled size of the serpent, the two horns didn''t seem more than a minor decoration. As for additional methods to earn experience, Fang Hao found that it was actually limited compared to the alternatives available to Qi Condensation Stage disciples. While hunting of Grade 3 Spirit Beasts (Equivalent to Foundation Establishment stage) was still available, there was a maximum cap to the number of Spirit Beasts a Junior Core Disciple could slaughter and submit for contribution points. Even if he just wanted to slaughter spirit beasts for xp and forgo the contribution points, it wouldn''t be tolerated as the identity token he carried with him would alert the higher ups to wanton slaughter of Grade 3 spirit beasts. Each Disciple could slaughter and submit only four Grade 3 spirit beasts per year. While he hadn''t killed and earned xp from Foundation Establishment stage cultivators / spirit beasts; he doubted that a grand total of four spirit beasts per year would maintain his progress of level-ups. Of Course if he was attacked first and was acting in self defense, it was completely justified to slaughter Grade 3 spirit beasts. But apparently, a Junior Core Disciple would be hard pressed to find enough Grade 3 Spirit beast to meet the max slaughter quota in an entire year. Spirit beasts comparable with Foundation Establishment disciples were rare in the area where Junior Core Disciples could hunt. Looks like ¡°defending¡± himself from his greedy colleague''s unprovoked attacks would have to be the main source of xp points if he opted to hunt for spirit beasts. However, Fang Hao wasn''t sure whether his laughably simple set-ups would be able to ensnare Junior Core Disciples. And the danger level definitely increased if he aimed to confront groups of possibly late Foundation Establishment disciples in a death match with his current cultivation. He would need to cultivate to at least the 6th Step (of the 3rd Seal) of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture to have a reasonable assurance of safety when faced with group attacks of late Foundation Establishment cultivators. More than regular spell bombardment from groups, he was more concerned about desperate Foundation Establishment cultivators unleashing Forbidden Techniques and various life saving measures as a last ditch effort. He couldn''t guarantee his survival in such a scenario of multiple forbidden techniques unleashed against him by late to peak foundation establishment disciples with his present cultivation. Another option was the non-lethal matches in the Arena. Although he could participate in only one match per month, at least some steady experience was assured once he ran into a true bottle-neck in the Tantric Yang Codex. But if he used all his spells, it would be equivalent of exposing all his capabilities; so he couldn''t be assured to win every match.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The chores in the sect''s safe zone for Foundation Establishment Disciples were a lot fewer than those for Qi Condensation Disciples. Furthermore, these chores had stringent requirements on the knowledge and capability of the disciple in question. Sadly there were no convenient chores like slaughtering spirit beasts for xp available anymore. Spirit Beasts raised to the Foundation Establishment stage (Grade 3) would be highly valued and not just wantonly slaughtered for meat. In addition, many of the chores required the disciple to be a primary member of the respective palace regardless of contribution points. This alone closed a lot of convenient alternatives to Fang Hao. As for the chores of his Primary Palace? He knew jack shit about Formations and Restrictions, so that obviously was a no-go. His only viable options for earning xp other than grinding the Tantric Yang Codex, was to hunt for Grade 3 Spirit beasts and hope he got lucky, ambush dumb greedy disciples with a setup where he looked vulnerable or fights in the arena. The hunting of spirit beasts would be too inefficient if Grade 3 spirit Beasts were as rare as he assumed them to be. Setting up fellow disciples was downright dangerous at his present cultivation. And he didn''t want to reveal his cards in the arena too soon. He could invest time in learning about Formations and Restrictions for the Palace specific chores; but it would be very time consuming and he didn''t want to start learning this additional field without consultation and guidance from his master. After all, his master was head of the said Palace, and could provide the best guidance in the field of formations and restrictions. Even if he did want to ask his master''s guidance about formations and restrictions, he didn''t have a way to contact his master. After his unsuccessful attempt at evolving the Fire Serpent spell manually, Fang Hao resumed his grinding. He spent another six weeks to grind the Scorching Horned Serpent Spell to the Expert Tier. His grinding of this evolved spell was much slower than the other Foundation Establishment spells. The skill pots he earned for this made up for the cost of evolving the Fire Serpent spell in the First place. Furthermore, the experience he earned, allowed him to reach the third level as a master Mortal Body Refiner. He switched his primary cultivation to Qi cultivation and observed his Status Screen.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 29 years
Titles: Lord Lard, Privileged Glutton
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 758
Realm: Foundation Establishment Level: 3 (3)
Current Experience: 768570 (767332) Level Up at Experience: 915285
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 40.8 Finesse: 35.5
Spirit: 40.5 Qi 114.1/114.1
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 3 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (2nd Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Scorching Horned Serpent (Expert) Wind Sickle (Expert) Qi Barrier (Expert)
Frost Shackles (Expert) Vajra Strike (Expert) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Veiling Mist (Expert)
Illusion (Expert) Telekinetic Arm (Expert) Call Storm Clouds (Expert) Thunder Web (Expert)
Corrosive Splash (Expert) Imperial Roar (Expert) Hovering Leaves Step (Expert) Aura Blast (Perfection)
Thunder Pigeon (Expert) Blood Thorn Vine (Expert) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Expert)
Codexes and Tactics
Tantric Yang Codex
''Not bad at all. I just hope that the sweet sweet xp pinyata of the Tantric Yang Codex doesn''t end anytime soon. When it does end, rapid progress like this will be a bit troublesome to achieve. The theoretical peak is 108 layers of seals, which is a long way to go. But then again, my cultivation base has a long way to go too.'' lamented Fang Hao as he resolved to thoroughly destroy and recreate all the previous layers of the defensive seals for the Tantric Yang Codex whenever he attempted to layer another set of seals so as to keep the xp pinyata in place as long as possible. Chapter 094 Fang Hao spent the next dozen years grinding. His main source of xp was still layering seals as detailed in the Tantric Yang Codex. He was diligent with his practice, and for every additional seal layered; Fang Hao would make sure to deconstruct and reconstruct all the seal layers right from scratch. Just for a change of pace, he would sometimes grind his Foundation Establishment spells. The grinding of spells did add up over a dozen years, even if he didn''t treat it as his primary focus. As a direct disciple of a Palace Head and a Junior Core Disciple, Fang Hao was extremely low key these past years. Other than grinding some shopping and meeting with his fatty clique, only one of whom was a Junior Core Disciple, he did pretty much nothing. No public appearances, no participating in completions/arena and not involving himself in sect tasks. He figured that as long as it wasn''t necessary being low key was the best. Chances of being involved in messy situations would be drastically reduced. While the xp pinyata of the Tantric Yang Codex was bountiful, he finally faced a hard bottleneck after successfully layering 27 sets of defensive seals as per the Tantric Yang Manual. While successive layers of seals became increasingly difficult and slower, he didn''t face any bottleneck until he attempted the 28th layer. Whether it be the four Qi seals or the six Condensed Spiritual Sense Seals, any attempt to form them would end up in failure, almost instantly dissipating it. Even after trying for almost a couple of months, he couldn''t condense even a single Qi seal for the 28th layer. After failing in his attempt to condense the Qi seal for the 28th layer, the umpteenth time; Fang Hao was forced to admit that he had met a true bottleneck which couldn''t simply be bypassed by xp or skill points. He reviewed his status screen as he pondered on his plan for the immediate future.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: Fang Hao Race: Human
Gender: Male Age: 41 years
Titles: Lord Lard, Privileged Glutton
Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 998
Realm: Expert Mortal Body Refiner Level: 9 (7)
Current Experience: 2594453 (1850585) Level Up at Experience: 2665589 (2015101)
Active Effects:
Stats
Physique: 55.0 Finesse: 47.4
Spirit: 52.5 Qi 131.3/131.3
Traits
Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk''s Prospective Disciple ??
1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal ¨C Behemoth''s Hide
Manuals and Scriptures
Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 9 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (4th Layer)
Spells and Techniques
Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Scorching Horned Serpent (Expert) Wind Sickle (Master) Qi Barrier (Master)
Frost Shackles (Master) Vajra Strike (Master) Thundering Primal Phantom Steps (Master) Veiling Mist (Master)
Illusion (Master) Telekinetic Arm (Master) Call Storm Clouds (Master) Thunder Web (Master)
Corrosive Splash (Master) Imperial Roar (Master) Hovering Leaves Step (Master) Vajra Burst (Master)
Thunder Pigeon (Master) Blood Thorn Vine (Master) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Master)
Codexes and Tactics
Tantric Yang Codex
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ''It has been what, around 27 years in the sect? I am 41 years old now and having a Qi Cultivation of early phase of the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment. Of course, my Body Refining is at the peak of the Late stage of Foundation establishment Equivalent. Of course, lets not disclose that to anyone. With 27 layers of the Tantric Yang seals and my Body Refining Cultivation, only a Core Formation Cultivator or above can hope to injure me seriously.'' thought Fang Hao as he appreciated his growth so far. ''Damn it, I am roughly 70k xp away from condensing my third seal of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. Maybe I should have equally distributed my xp between Qi and Body Cultivation instead of just focusing on Body Refining after reaching the 7th layer of Foundation Establishment.'' ''While 70k xp doesn''t seem much compared to the millions of xp I have earned till now, I no longer have the Tantric Yang Codex as a convenient source of xp. And even my Foundation Establishment spells are upgraded to Master Proficiency; and that took around two years but gave only around 125k xp. At that rate it would take me more than a year to earn the 70k xp.'' ''Even if I wanted to learn a bunch of spells purely for grinding; it will be highly inefficient and take far too long. Not to mention that the contribution points spent that way is much better spent on stocking up loads of powerful consumables for emergencies. It seems like grinding spells for xp is efficient only in the early stages after a breakthrough. At the mid and late stages, the xp required for a level up becomes far too much for spell grinding to be efficient. Next time I grind spells will probably be just after breaking through to the Core Formation stage with some Grade 4 spells.'' reasoned the fatty. Besides grinding this past dozens of years, he would use his contribution points to stock up on plenty of powerful consumables like various pills, talismans, one-use items etc. he refrained from buying any Grade 3 treasures suitable for Foundation Establishment Cultivators as the truly good magic tools required star points; and Fang Hao was loath to spend his on magic tools which would become outdated as his cultivation reached core formation. On the other hand, the reasonably powerful consumables were much cheaper than magic tools and could truly support him with bursts of power in sticky situations. Not to mention that the discount he got for being the Direct Disciple of a Palace head was also hefty. Other than the discount benefits, and things going easier for him whenever he wanted something done in the sect, Fang Hao didn''t really feel as if he was the Direct Disciple of the palace Head of Formations and Restrictions. He was perhaps one of the few disciples, if not only, disciple in the Palace of Formations and Restrictions who knew absolutely nothing about Formations or Restrictions despite spending over a decade in the said Palace. Maybe it would be alright for an in-name disciple to know nothing about formations and restrictions; but it was downright embarrassing for a direct disciple. Knowledge of Formations and Restrictions could be very helpful to a Cultivator, but his master clearly didn''t feel like teaching him anything. He had decided that if his Master didn''t impart him any knowledge about this field after Core Formation, he would start his self study. But for now, he had to find some way to earn xp efficiently. ''Maybe I can fight non-lethal matches in the arena till I form my 3rd seal of the Divine Vajra Body Scripture. After that hunt for spirit beasts and murder vicious greedy disciples maybe?'' thought Fang Hao as he drank some Grade 2 spirit wine in the garden of his mansion. Not that he couldn''t afford Grade 3 spirit wine, but he felt that it was more prudent to spend as much of his contribution points as he could on stocking up powerful consumables instead on luxuries like grade 3 spirit wine and meat of Grade 3 spirit beasts. ''I also wonder what happened to the inter-sect competition? It should have happened by now. I should make inquiries about it, as that may be the ticket for some xp.'' decide Fang Hao as the figure of his Master appeared from nowhere before him. Chapter 095 Fang was about to greet his master when he barely saw a silver glow at the edge of his vision. Suddenly he felt a mild stinging sensation on his left cheek and before he fully recovered he received a significantly stronger smack on his right cheek. His right cheek was red and he had a faint metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Before he could defend, inquire or protest; his master nodded appreciatively. ¡°Not bad, not bad. Late stages of Foundation Establishment as a Qi Refiner and just razor''s edge away from Core Formation Equivalent as a Body Refiner.¡± Master Zhu appraised the fatty. ¡°But master, why the slaps? My right cheek is hurting.¡± Fang Hao protested weakly. ¡°You shitty brat. There is a deadly slaughter with disciples from other sects scheduled in three months and you are lazing around? You should meet with your peers and build rapport. Just because your cultivation is a bit fast after establishing your Foundation and awakening your Dantian variation, you take it as an excuse to laze around?¡± ranted Master Zhu in a somewhat displeased tone. Not giving the little fatty any chance to give excuses or justify his behavior, Master Zhu continued berating the dumbstruck fatty. ¡°You think your are talented? You thin you are some chosen of heaven? Well let me tell you, you little dipshit; Qin Lee, who joined the sect the same time as you is now a Core Formation Cultivator in the advanced phase of the early stages (lv3). As if that was not enough, he has manged to materialize Sword Intent. Sword Intent! Even many Elders cannot grasp Intents. His master has been gloating and rubbing it in my face, ever since.¡± When Fang Hao thought he would finally get a break, his master continued ranting to Fang Hao. ¡°One your senior sisters, who is barely double your age is at the peak of Core Formation. If she integrates with her Demon Spirit, her cultivation base is not inferior to a late stage Nascent Spirit Cultivator. Not to mention, her circumstances enable her to remain integrated with her demon spirit for prolonged periods. Do you recognize the significance of someone less than a century old having the power of a Nascent Spirit Elder at her disposal? Of course you don''t. You think peaceful days like this will last till your death? You have to be serious, you have to grow up, Your attitude is severely lacking...¡± master Zhu then ranted and raved for a few more minutes drowning the little fatty in his spittle, giving examples of geniuses of his generation and urging the fatty to cut the slack. Fang Hao clearly realized that his master was distressed and didn''t attempt to protest any further as he dutifully acted as a doormat as his master was venting. Finally, when there was a pause of few breaths, Fang Hao took the initiative and gently inquired. ¡°Master, what is really bothering you? Your disciple is all ears.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Master Zhu made a sigh and deflated visibly as he pondered something. Having seemingly made up his mind, he addressed the little fatty. ¡°Disciple, I will not lie to you. There was a divination of a great realm-shattering disaster approaching several years back. As with all divinations, the closer an event approaches; the more accurate the prediction becomes. Initial estimate gave us thousands of years to prepare. Latest estimate informed us that barely five centuries remain until imminent catastrophe strikes. And the senior who gave this divination had a cultivation base exceeding mine, who made a heavy sacrifice to give us this warning.¡± ¡°While five centuries may seem a long time to a brat like you, it isn''t that long. How many of our disciples can achieve a cultivation base similar to Great Elders of our sect in five centuries? It would be an extreme source of good fortune if even one achieved it. Just tell me what aid you require to increase your cultivation base rapidly. My legacy of restrictions will have to wait.¡± Fang Hao hearing the frank discourse of his master was startled. The low conflict easy going days would last too long apparently. Suddenly the instinctive urge of his to take risks, contrary to his nature, for accelerated growth all made sense. Till now he had assumed that the safety and tranquility of the sect would sustain his cultivation for a long long time even though his subconscious was urging him otherwise. After his master''s revelation, he realized that he had to pick up his pace or would risk losing it all in the aforementioned catastrophe. Although the catastrophe was divined to be five centuries away, who knows whether the delay would be shortened as time progressed? Fang Hao visibly hesitated before making up his mind. ¡°Master I have something to confess. But is secrecy guaranteed?¡± Fang Hao inquired cautiously. In response to the fatty''s query, a silvery glow enveloped Master Zhu''s hand as fantastical incorporeal symbols rapidly discharged from the silvery palm and formed a three dimensional spherical formation encasing them. After the ethereal sphere encased them, his Master addressed the fatty sternly. ¡°Not even the senior who gave the divination can eavesdrop on us now. Every cultivator has his own opportunities, so do not speak more of your secrets than necessary.¡± ¡°Master, I did have lucky encounter in the mortal world which bestowed upon me a body cultivation method, but there is something much more significant. My cultivation speed, both in Qi Cultivation and Body Refining, isn''t anything spectacular. In fact, I would rate it barely average. However, whenever I battle and slaughter; my Qi and Blood seems to boil and move of its own accord. A seductive blood-lust overtakes me and when I exit that state; I find that my cultivation in both Qi and Body refining have experienced significant progress.'' ¡°That is the reason why I slaughtered hundreds of fellow disciples in ¡°self-defense¡±. After more than a decade of arduous cultivating, I feel a bottleneck on the horizon. Unless I engage in fighting and slaughter with foes comparable cultivation base, I fear I will not make much progress. This is why I was lazing around, Master. I didn''t want o go on an rampage in the arena and expose all my cards; neither did I want to test my luck hunting fellow disciples while waiting for spirit beasts.¡± said Fang Hao. His explanation was full of half-truths and evasive in nature. He hoped that his explanation didn''t arouse much suspicion and was convincing enough for his master. In his point of view, this semi-confession as a big risk; but not overtly so. Also, there were examples of extremely rare bloodlines in recorded history which thrived and grew on slaughter; so it wasn''t exactly an unjustified risk considering the circumstances. His master was silent for a few breaths before he replied. ¡°It is good to be prudent, my disciple. Never mention this aspect of yourself to anyone else ever again. I will place a restriction on you, just to be safe. I will get back to you shortly.¡± His master performed an intricate series of hand gestures at astonishing speed. Silvery seals rapidly settled themselves on Fang Hao''s head and neck before melting out of sight. The figure of his master briefly distorted and rippled before disappearing from his vision. Chapter 096 ''Was that wise? That there was a huge gamble. But my instincts didn''t warn me against revealing so much to my master. In fact, it was somewhat urging me to take this significant risk. And what exactly is the restriction that master placed on me? Maybe my status has some details.'' wondered Fang Hao with a reasonable degree of unease. He opened his status screen and scanned it with concentration. Everything was same as before, but there was a new addition under the section of Active Effects named ''Ancient Restriction ¨C Vow of Silence''. Fang Hao was a bit peeved at this addition, but he shrugged helplessly before he resumed drinking resolving to never ever even hint at this aspect of himself ever again. Meanwhile elsewhere in the sect, deep underground, a statue of a young man was suspended over a large lake of magma. Magma flowed upward in helical patterns and condensed in a cocoon around the statue of the young man with shoulder length hair. The figure of Old Man Zhu appeared on the shore of the large lake a few hundred kilometers away. Sensing the abrupt arrival, the statue of the young man vibrated, before cracks appeared and a fine layer of dust fell off. The figure of Great Elder Shi became cleared from the statue and teleported near o Old Man Zhu. ¡°What is it Brother Zhu? To disturb me during my training ...this better be important.¡± Great Elder Shi inquired in a grumpy tone. Old man Zhu didn''t reply immediately. Instead a three dimensional formation of silvery archaic characters enclosed them before Old man Zhu replied. ¡°Brother Shi, you are aware of the approaching catastrophe correct?¡± When Great Elder Shi gave a slight, almost unnoticeable, nod. Old Man Zhu flicked his sleeve, and a an ancient looking roll of parchment flew over to Great Elder Shi. The Great Elder took the rolled piece of parchment and unrolled it. After examining it for a couple of breaths, he frowned and addressed Old Man Zhu. ¡°Brother Zhu, after all we have been through through the millennia; is such a stringent soul contract necessary?¡± Old Man Zhu had a bitter smile on his face as he replied. ¡°Brother Shi, regardless of whether you agree to the terms of the soul contract or not; I will owe you a favor. Regardless, let me assure you that this is of utmost importance, or I wouldn''t intrude here thoughtlessly.¡± Great Elder Shi observed Old Man Zhu thoughtfully, before spitting a glob of dense red blood essence brimming with vitality on the piece of ancient parchment. He then pressed his thumb on the glob of blood essence and flicked the piece of parchment back to Old man Zhu. After receiving the piece of parchment and examining it, Old Man Zhu sighed in relief as he addressed Great Elder Shi.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Brother Shi, my latest disciple, the little fatty, is probably more extraordinary than he appears to be. By his own admission, I think he has a Heart of Slaughter.¡± Instantly Great elder Shi''s expression turned grave and he waited for several breaths before inquiring. ¡°How sure are you?¡± ¡°At least sixty to seventy percent sure.¡± Old man Zhu replied. ¡°Have necessary precautions been taken?¡± inquired Great Elder Shi. ¡°I Placed my best restriction of silence on my disciple and myself. From now on, other than the three of us, no one under the cultivation level of an Ascendant can know about this guess of mine. Even an Ascendant Cultivator would have to do soul-searches on all three of us to hope to find out this assumption. But if it comes to that, it really wont matter.¡± replied Old Man Zhu gravely. ¡° I didn''t mean that! Do you plan to allow your disciple to grow unhindered?¡± replied Great Elder Shi in an irritated tone. ¡°If circumstances were different, I would have sealed that little fatty''s cultivation base myself and banished him far away; if not outright killed him. But you must consider the circumstances. A weapon isn''t inherently good or evil. It is the will of the wielder that shapes it.¡± replied Old Man Zhu in a serious tone highly uncharacteristic of his usual style. The Great Elder Shi still appeared unconvinced but wavered a bit, with a frown on his face. Looking at the expression Old man Zhu replied. ¡°The cumulative cost of the divination of Senior Dreamer''s divination in terms of cultivation base exceed three major realms and two minor realms. He reduced his formidable cultivation base from peak Spirit Transformation to Early Core Formation. That is not a laughing matter. Furthermore, the Devils and Demons have been unnaturally cooperative this time around considering our past history. Surely their own seers urged them to be co-operative.¡± There was a few breaths worth few silence before Old Man Zhu further revealed his speculations. ¡°Brother Shi, have you ever wondered why there are so many exceptional anomalies in this present generation? A mortal street urchin achieves sword intent under five decades with a Core Formation Cultivation base. A moody ex-slave, who has an infernal hound as a foster mother no less, achieves battle prowess of a late Nascent Spirit Elder under a century?'' Old Man Zhu then passionately continued. ¡°A random little fatty is suspected having the dreaded and feared heart of slaughter; and he just happens to have a fortunate encounter in the mortal world bestowing him with a rather robust Body Refining Technique? Not to mention the excessively favorable harvests in terms of disciples and resources we had this generation. And even the spies in other sects bring us news of unprecedented qualitative growth.¡± ¡°Maybe one of those in a few generations could be chalked up as a coincidence. But all of these omens in a single generation? Brother Shi, remember that a candle burns the brightest before being extinguished.¡± Old Man Zhu concluded his discourse as he awaited Great Elder Shi''s response. Great Elder Shi seemed conflicted for a bit, before he seemingly acquiesced and said. ¡°Fine Brother Zhu. The Karmic Shadow is indeed worrying. While I may regret it in future, what request do you exactly have of me?¡± Old Man Zhu had an obsessed glint in his eyes as he said. ¡°I want you to help the little monster grow as quickly as possible, in absolute secrecy.¡± Chapter 097 Qin Lee was in a desperate struggle with three cultivators in mid-air. His translucent, almost transparent sword phantoms just barely held his opponents at bay. They were exchanging moves in a desert of grayish ash. Purplish Toxic fumes appeared from the ash, and all the combatants positioned themselves to avoid it. After dozens of brilliant moves were exchanged, one of the cultivators fighting with Qin Lee suddenly withdrew. Qin Lee had a sense of vigilance as additional multiple translucent barriers appeared around him, reinforcing his defense. The middle aged cultivator who had just withdrawn, spat out a glowing globule of blood essence as he made numerous incantation gestures in rapid succession. Qin Lee had a frantic sense of unease as he unleashed multiple sword shadows rapidly at the retreating opponent. Unfortunately for Qin Lee, the retreating opponent managed to complete his spell as a bloody cage, seemingly made of spiderweb, appeared around Qin Lee and rapidly compressed, caging Qin Lee''s dantian region. AS the bloody spiderweb encased Qin Lee''s dantian region, the offending cultivator rapidly withered, having clearly sacrificed a great deal of his life span. The sword phantoms unleashed at the retreating opponent finally reached the offender; but even as the sword phantoms shattered the protective Qi shield of the retreating opponent, he had a smirk on his heavily wrinkled face as his body disintegrated into clumps of flesh and blood. Only two of the remaining aggressors remained. One of the aggressors, who had the demeanor of a noble young master with a handsome face, addressed Qin Lee with his spiritual sense. Qin Lee had a panicked expression on his face as he tried to circulate his cultivation base. Indeed, his cultivation base was forcibly restricted at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage due to the vile spell of the opposing cultivator. However, he inwardly sneered as he coughed up a globule of blood essence and swallowed it. The other opponent, who was a haggard looking female cultivator, sneered and addressed Qin Lee via spiritual sense after observing his actions. < You think combating some blood essence will help you avoid death? Naive! Even if you ignited a third of your remaining lifespan, you would barely be able to display the temporary battle prowess of a late Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Even if you disregard the consequences and went truly all-out sacrificing all of your remaining lifespan, it will be impossible to display battle prowess of beyond peak Foundation Establishment realm. Either way our mission is complete, so depart into the cycle of Samsara obediently> Communications via spiritual sense were almost instantaneous. Even then, Qin Lee refrained from replying as his blood essence was being ignited. Qin Lee''s flushed face paled rapidly as a phantom of a titanic giant, around forty meters tall, appeared behind Qin Lee''s desperate figure. The giant had an indifferent expression. One of the giant''s eyes was blazing crimson, while the other eye was an icy blue. The giants figure was covered with swirling patches of icy blue and blazing crimson. The giant phantom rapidly superimposed with Qin Lee''s pale drained figure as the two opponents had a disbelieving expression on their faces as they tried to retreat.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Qin Lee''s fleshly body underwent a series of changes in rapid succession. His figure, which was initially under 2 meters tall, rapidly expanded to become almost twenty meters tall! His initially yellow-brown skin had a pale violet shade to it. The veins under his skin visibly popped up having shades ranging from an icy cool blue to fiery blazing crimson. The competitively slender translucent sword disappeared from his hand as a massive ten meter long dark purplish black Estoc appeared in its place. Qin Lee had a gloating expression on his face as his figure rapidly disappeared from its initial position and appeared near one of his adversaries a few hundred meters away. Before the young master-like opponent could react, the humongous purplish-black Estoc, covered with clear translucent sword intent, cleanly cleaved the young-master int two halves; as if the Qi barriers blocking his assault never existed in place. The last remaining haggard looking female was clearly panicked at the resulting turn of events. Even before she could react and activate her life saving talismans, the transformed figure of Qin Lee appeared near her and an almost two meter large claw crushed her midsection, instantly killing her, and withdrew a two inch diameter pale gold sphere pulsing with energy. Without wasting much time, the transformed figure of Qin Lee quickly swallowed the pale gold sphere as his twenty meter tall figure started deflating. After swallowing the pale gold sphere, Qin Lee didn''t waste any time as he slapped a gray talisman to his huge Estoc. His arms bulged and the veins in his arms almost burst out while his figure was deflating, as he swung the huge Purplish Black Estoc, now with a sharp gray phantom enveloping it, in a huge arc. Where he swung his sword; a dark purple, almost black, tear appeared in the fabric of space. Smaller purplish black tears expanded from the spatial tear like spiderwebs. The figure of Qin Lee had deflated to a height of around ten meters by now. His still deflating figure quickly entered the spatial tear. Within a single breath worth of time, the spatial tear dissipated completely giving the impression that nothing was out of the ordinary in the wasteland of gray ash. Within another few breaths, two elderly figures appeared at the hot-spot form the horizon. The elderly figures, surprisingly were a pair of twins! One of the bearded twins communicated telepathically with his companion. < How did that little genius of the Jade Pagoda Sect escape our trap? Our sect even invested heavily to make the bait reasonably attractive. Not to mention the three juniors stalling him couldn''t even hold-out till we arrived. Hmmph.> The other elderly twin figure replied. < Don''t be too harsh on the juniors brother. The genius of the Jade Pagoda sect should be incredibly valued and have shockingly valuable life-saving trump cards. Or else, he wouldn''t be able to escape this mystic realm with his cultivation before we arrived.> The other elderly twin sighed as he flinged his sleeve, collecting the gory remains of the tree assaulters and both of them rapidly flew away in the distance. Little did the two departing elderly twins know, that the shockingly valuable trump card of Qin Lee was him stimulating his large success of the Titanic Frostfire Physique along with a Grade 4 (Core Formation level) Heavenly Might Talisman along with Sword Intent. The one-time burst power was almost at the level of an early Nascent Spirit Cultivator. It was absolutely unimaginable for them to even speculate that someone who had successfully cultivated Sword Intent with under five decades of cultivation also had significant progress in body refining! Chapter 098 In a mountain top barren of vegetation, there was a small pool of magma, gently swirling about. A huge hound was lying down curled beside the magma lake. It occupied a circular area of roughly fifteen meters in diameter. The hound had reddish fur with patches of electric blue, much like a cheetah''s spots. The most striking feature of the huge hound was not its size or coloration; but the fact that it had two heads. The central head was slightly larger and inhaling the fumes emanating from the magma pool, with its eyes closed. It almost looked adorable. Almost. The other head was lazily gazing towards the sky apparently waiting for something. Every several minutes it would make a low whine and a bolt of electric blue thunder would ark towards its snout and be absorbed. Ripples of spatial distortion appeared several dozen meters away. A demure veiled lady appeared from the spatial distortion. As the two headed hound gazed upon the figure, both the heads made an annoyed snort and stood up on its four legs. The huge two headed hound turned into an illusory phantom. A short tomboyish figure of a wheat skinned girl with dark shaggy unkempt hair walked as the two headed hound phantom dissipated. ¡°Disciple greets Master Lin.¡± the shaggy tomboy greeted in a lethargic unenthusiastic tone, while making a hasty bow. ¡°Your harvest as an envoy to the demons was better than expected. And your experience there has clearly mellowed you quite a bit. Excellent progress disciple. Have you stabilized your cultivation base and Demon Spirit art?¡± replied the demure veiled lady enthusiastically. ¡°Mother is agreeable as always.¡± the shaggy tomboy replied with a curt nod. The demure veiled lady made a graceful flick of her finger and a storage pouch was flicked towards the shaggy tomboy, who unceremoniously caught it. She used her spiritual sense to inspect the contents of the storage pouch and her expression changed. Her lethargic and relaxed attribute underwent a sudden change for the first time in this meeting. An expression of equal measure shock, yearning and wariness flashed on her face as she did her best to suppress her emotion. ¡°Master, this is too valuable. While I desire it, I may not be able to make efficient use of it. Maybe some senior from the Hall of eccentrics would pay a heavy price for this.¡± the shaggy tomboy replied with unease to her master. ¡°One of the other elders found it while adventuring. You are perhaps the most suited for it in the sect. We would loath to trade it with the demons during this time, rather the possibility of another Grand Elder level figure will be worth much more.¡± the demure veiled lady replied to her disciple. ¡°But master, I would require at least two; maybe three decades to fully subdue and integrate with it. Even then my battle prowess would reach peak Nascent Spirit stage, maybe half a step Spirit Formation stage and that is assuming it has good compatibility with my mother. The possibility of reaching Early Spirit Formation Stage is far too remote; even with this.¡± the shaggy tomboy replied in a helpless tone.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Disciple, we both know that demon core is sufficient for your transformed state to reach early Spirit Formation stage in a decade. That temptation is a great one to any cultivator. Specially with the coming catastrophe.¡± the demure veiled lady informed her disciple in a charming voice which had sinister hints of cunning well concealed in it. The shaggy tomboy had a slightly baffled expression, before she was visibly seething with rage. She took a couple of breaths of time to barely suppress her rage and replied with a sizzling voice. ¡°That is not a possibility I am willing to entertain. I will make some preparation and go into seclusion. Please refrain from interrupting unless it is a matter of Life and Death.¡± The demure veiled lady nodded understandingly as she departed. The shaggy tomboy let out a controlled breath and her rage seemed to dissipate. She flicked her wrist in a bizarre incantation gesture as a deep vermilion barrier encased the mountain she was staying in. She sat down in a squat and a big fist-sized green translucent gem appeared in her left hand. The fist-sized gem was roughly spherical and there was a small hollow in it. In the small hollow, a fingernail-sized drop of dark viscous fluid was glittering. Through the translucent gem, the viscous liquid appeared black in color. The squatting tomboy licked the tip of her little finger with an expression of utmost concentration. She then gently rubbed her licked fingertip on the translucent gem before tasting it. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as she appeared to undergo an internal debate. She sighed as the fist-sized gem vanished from her fist as she laid down on the ground. Somewhere else in the sect, in a spacious immortal cave; a young teenage boy was addressing the demure veiled lady. ¡°A demon core of a mid Spirit Formation corrosion element attuned lupine/canine demon with its lifeblood source intact! You must have surely paid a large prize for it, my beloved. Even if the sect doesn''t intend to trade it; alchemists, spirit smiths and spirit enchanters in the sect would value it greatly. Even I would like to simply refine the lifeblood source within. You surely value your disciple a lot. So does that little tomboy puppy appreciate it.¡± ¡°The quickest way to reach the highest battle prowess would be to recklessly burn her existing demon spirit in a surge of power to dominate and devour that demon core and lifeblood source. But she won''t abandon the demon spirit of her foster-mother.¡± the demure veiled lady replied. ¡°Well, not abandoning her foster-mother''s demon spirit has its merits. During her last mission as an envoy to the demon lands she was fused with her demon spirit for several years with barely any sequela. Other practitioners of this heretic cultivation method would be lucky to be fused with their demon spirit for an hour!¡± the young teenage boy consoled her. ¡° I know, beloved. I am glad, that my disciple didn''t show intentions to be tempted by quick power and abandon her dao-heart. I would be disappointed in her if she did so. Even if she did so, her progress in cultivation would halt and all her latent potential shattered. Although, it is a pity she insists on sticking to his heretic path of cultivation. There has been no history of any ascendant of this particular heretical cultivation path in our records.¡± the demure veiled lady pouted. ¡°Ascendance is something far far away, my beloved. There has never been an ascendant in our sect. In my youth if a similar opportunity of obtaining Spirit Formation Cultivation presented itself to me; I doubt I could have resisted despite the consequences.¡± lamented the teenage boy. Chapter 099 A fortnight after his confession to his master, Fang Hao was furiously repeating the cycle of deconstruction and reconstruct of Tantric Yang seals. With 27 layers of seals seemed to be the maximum now, grinding the deconstruction and reconstruction of the seals was not without its merit. He did not receive xp or skill points for his efforts. Neither did the number of layers he could superimpose increase. Even the time required to superimpose all the 27 layers of seals from scratch didn''t reduce significantly. However the repeated practice was still carried out by Fang Hao. This was because, he had noticed a welcome side effect of the Tantric Yang grinding. The effort and cast time of his spells had reduced quite a bit. Fang Hao required around half a breath worth of time to cast his most powerful offensive spell, Scorching Horned Serpent, at full power. But now, he could cast it a fraction of a second earlier. And this reduction in cast time was universal for all his spells. Although reduction of a fraction of a second in cast time didn''t sound very impressive; In a life -and-death situation, that fraction of a second could make all the difference. Regrettably, this reduction was almost negligible for his fast-casting spells like Vajra Strike. ''So not everything can be represented by the status screen then. There has been no change in my status; but my level of control over Qi an spiritual sense has significantly improved. There is nothing in the Status Screen which indicates that. '' ruminated the little Fatty. Just as the fatty was considering his course for actions for the immediate future, the figure of Master Zhu blurred and appeared before him. Master Zhu made a disapproving ''Tsk-Tsk'' sound and addressed his disciple. ¡°Still Lazing around? Di you not comprehend what I told you last time? Let me make it clear for that fat-filled brain of yours. Within the next 5 centuries, when the catastrophe approaches; Everyone under the Nascent Spirit stage will be cannon fodder, without exception. Even the weaker Nascent Spirit stage cultivators will be treated as disposable pawns.¡± Fang Hao thought that his master would rant for a while, but all that met him was an awkward silence. Therefore, Fang Hao replied to his master to clear any misunderstanding. ¡°Master, I just met a bottleneck in practicing the defensive seals of the Tantric Yang Codex. I was just wondering what to do next. All the spells I have learned are near their limit and blind practice won''t help much unless I have some epiphany. There is roughly three months left till the inter-sect competition; so I was wondering how to raise my strength to the maximum in this short duration.¡± ¡°How many Tantric Yang seal sets can you layer, disciple?¡± ¡°Master, I can only layer the seals to a maximum of twenty seven times.¡± ¡°Twenty Seven times for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator is barely acceptable. But facing a bottleneck at this stage is not unexpected. How long does it take to layer all the Tantric yang seals , starting from scratch?¡± ¡°Master, it takes me just under twelve hours to construct all the twenty seven layer of seals.¡± ¡°Twelve hours for twenty seven layers is acceptable. Now we need to discuss, on how to raise your strength for the upcoming inter-sect event.¡± replied Master Zhu nonchalantly, but inwardly he was quite impressed.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Blurry after-images of his right hand making numerous mesmerizing silver phantoms formed a silvery translucent sphere around the fatty and the old man. This was his personal Privacy Restriction which was almost immune to any form of Divination. ¡°Three months is too little to learn anything meaningful about restrictions. Disciple, the only way you can raise your strength in a short time is by slaughtering opponents. But, kidnapping multiple Foundation establishment opponents to battle you to the death would not go unnoticed. So for the sake sake of being prudent, we will avoid that for now. I need to conform further details about your condition. Answer as honestly as you can.¡± Master Zhu addressed the fatty. The fatty nodded once cautiously and Master Zhu questioned him. ¡°Do you actually need to kill to experience the surge of growth in cultivation base?¡± ¡°No, Master. Although not killing opponents offers a fraction of the growth obtained if I kill.¡± ¡°Does the cultivation base of your opponent matter? If so, how?¡± ¡°Yes, Master. The higher the cultivation base of my opponent, the more I gain from killing or defeating him.¡± ¡° Do you feel any growth from killing mortals?¡± Fang Hao was caught off guard hearing this inquiry, but replied honestly. ¡°I don''t know master. Even If I do, it would take a large number of mortals, perhaps in dozens of tens of thousands, to make any noticeable difference.¡± Master Zhu had a thoughtful look on his face as he pondered a bit. Finally having made up his mind, he addressed his disciple. ¡°There are a couple of cases in recorded history, about certain individuals. These individuals had ordinary backgrounds but had better than expected, even unprecedented, progress in their cultivation base and battle prowess in the early and middle stages of their cultivation. It seems all fine and dandy.¡± Master Zhu mad e a dramatic pause before he continued. ¡°However, these individuals tend to become more unhinged as their cultivation progresses. They start indiscriminate slaughter of any and all cultivators, even mortals; when their longevity approaches it''s end. These individuals have been a terror for our realm, and they have been without exception exterminated before they could continue their rampage. These individuals were termed to have the ''Heart of slaughter''.¡± Fang Hao felt an eerie chill travel across his spine as he heard his Master''s explanation. He kept a more or less outwardly calm facade, with some unease and shock which passed through his expression and body language. ''These individuals with the ¡°heart of slaughter¡± sounds very similar to people farming xp. Sure everything is sunshine and rainbows as long as they can cultivate and extend their lifespan without issue. But when they near the end of their lifespan, cannot progress their cultivation and they run out of things to kill for xp; the real trouble starts. They go on an indiscriminate slaughter of mortals for xp farming and shit hits the fan for them. Damn it. Did I make a mistake revealing this to my master?'' Fang Hao thought internally as he was almost overcome by panic. ¡°When you made your confession, I suspected that you have the ''Heart of Slaughter''. Regardless of whether you have it or no; just remember the following.¡± ¡°Do not go on an indiscriminate killing spree unless you have some halfway reasonable excuse. Want to slaughter a lot of cultivators? Find some excuse that a cultivator offended you and THEN slaughter his whole clan and descendants in a ''righteous'' fury preserving your dignity.¡± ¡°And remember to never go on a wholesale slaughter of mortals no matter how great the temptation is. Many cultivators may treat mortals as ants and casually slaughter them for the slightest perceived slight. But it should be within reason. A few villages or town of mortals disappearing here and there won''t make a difference. But when several dozens of millions of mortals are being slaughtered in a few decades; it will provoke action.¡± ¡°Remember disciple that not all descendants of cultivators can cultivate to a reasonable degree. Fresh blood in Xiuzhenists from the pool of mortals is requires; or us Xiuzhenist Cultivators will die off sooner or later; our legacy and karma severed.¡± ¡°Remember that no matter how high you think your cultivation is. Unrestrained slaughter of mortals, which are our foundation, will provoke action from the Watchers. And you do not want to provoke the Watchers.¡± Chapter 100 After his Master''s Disclaimer/Warning Fang Hao was mentally dazed for awhile. While partially revealing his secret to his master was risky, he had a couple of new unexpected tit-bits of information to work with. He spent almost a month searching the literature/documents he had access to him within the sect. The information was mostly in the form of jade-slips. His spiritual sense could scan a regular jade-slips within a few breaths of time, so he had read quite a bit of history/stories/legends. However, despite his seemingly thorough investigation; the fatty was unable to find any reference to ¡°Heart of Slaughter¡± or ¡°The Watchers¡±. While his master wasn''t usually serious and was fond of playing cheap practical jokes; he doubted that his master would joke about these two terms. Specially since, the Ancient Restriction ¨C Vow of Silence completely hindered any of his attempts to speak / write or communicate the two terms even in private. ''Well a pretty dope restriction, if I say so myself. Although I expected that I cannot speak about the matters related to the Heart of Slaughter, I can''t practically communicate about it in any form. Restrictions seem like quite solid support skill to learn. After the Inter-sect bloodbath, I should pester master about it. I wonder what exactly is the difference between Formations and Restrictions though.'' ruminated Fang Hao. Little did he know that the level of restrictions he considered ¡°dope¡± was the thing his master had devoted most of his life and cultivation to. His master''s reputation in the outside world was feared, hated and respected precisely because of the level of mastery of restrictions. Furthermore, Master Zhu''s persona as a vain, petty and shameless cultivator who kept his temper in check but plotted revenge for even the slightest grievance had most cultivators on their tip-toes. Since the fatty didn''t find even a scrap of information about ¡°Heart of Slaughter¡± and ¡°The Watchers¡± in his month long research, he shifted his focus to general knowledge about formations and restrictions. His research on this was far more fruitful. Formations were setups locked to a core and/or a geographic location with a variety of uses. They could be Illusory, Trapping, Defensive, Killing etc. or a formation with a compounded nature with multiple goals. Formations could be broadly divided into Permanent Formations and Mobile Formations. Mobile Formations used a variety of tools like Formation Discs, Flags and Magic Treasures to quickly set up the relevant Formation. In contrast, setting up permanent formations was a much more arduous job requiring the support and knowledge of auxiliary fields like geomancy and divination. Formations used to defend locations like sects or organization headquarters tend to be permanent formations as they required massive investment but were also much more powerful. Mobile Formations are generally used in the zone of planned small scale conflicts. For example a cultivator baiting a stronger opponent into a previously prepared mobile formation. Furthermore, both Permanent Formations and Mobile Formations could have two main modes of operation. One was Active and the other was Passive. Active Operation meant that the formation was controlled by a formation master or even a golem of some sort. Actively operated formations were more dynamic, had better power and harder to break in general.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Passive Formations followed a set of automated rules. The formation master didn''t have to fully invest his concentration in controlling the formation, and hence could focus on something else. Running away after trapping an opponent was a practical example of the utility of passively operated formations. Restrictions on the other hand, were more similar to spells. While most formations required a variety of materials, some of which could be extremely rare; restrictions largely depended on condensed spiritual sense, also known as mental energy, and skill of the caster. While formations without materials and restrictions requiring materials weren''t impossible, they weren''t common either. On the flip-side, restrictions were generally much less powerful than formations but could be quickly set up. While a formations master might not have much additional advantage against restrictions; a restriction master had plenty of additional tools to deconstruct and counter formations. Although a similarly skilled formation master was generally better at countering formations, a restriction master was generally more versatile. Due to the nature of formations and restrictions, a Formations Master would generally minor in restrictions and vice versa. This was due to the overlap and synergy in studying both these fields. Furthermore, both restrictions and formations could have significant utility in production-related tasks like alchemy, spirit smiting, spirit enchanting etc. So generally Alchemists, Spirit Smiths and the like dabbled in restrictions or formations to better support their craft. ''Looks like restrictions is more versatile and more suitable for me. Who wants to find bazillion rare materials and then spend a gazillion amount of time to set up formation when I can just use condensed spiritual sense (mental energy) and a few flashy hand gestures for neat effects.'' thought Fang Hao. Fang Hao had decided to focus more on restrictions as it seemed more convenient and versatile overall. Of course, the impressive ancient restriction placed on him by his master was a huge factor responsible in swaying him. Naturally, restrictions were far more involved than using condensed spiritual sense (mental energy) and making a few hand gestures like Fang Hao fantasized it to be. Of course it was a matter of priorities. Most Cultivators wouldn''t have any significant accomplishments if they wanted to master Formations, Restrictions, Alchemy and Spirit Smiting etc. and become a auxiliary production powerhouse forging their own treasures, concocting their own pills and setting up their own formations. They would most probably die due to their life-span being exhausted even before they approached a reasonable degree of proficiency in any single field. They wouldn''t find much time to cultivate so their lifespan wouldn''t be too long either. Generally it was accepted that other than majoring in a cultivation path, it was best to focus on a single other field and minor on a second field if really desired. So for example; formation masters would major on Qi Cultivation, focus on formations and perhaps minor on restrictions. A Body Refiner would major on body refining, and have a secondary focus on qi cultivation and rarely try to tackle any other field as body refining was very time consuming and resource intensive as it is. ''So my plan of majoring on both Body Refining and Qi Cultivation equally while having a secondary focus on restrictions wouldn''t be feasible for most. Good thing I can just kill and farm xp for both my Qi Cultivation and Body Refining. But like Master said, I should have excuses to go on a genocidal rampage.'' ''If I look at it another way, this intersect competition is an opportunity to farm xp. I should be able to pushy both Qi Cultivation and Body Refining to the peak of Foundation Establishment if I can find sufficient opponents. Of course, I will slaughter purely for the benefit of the sect and not for my own advancement.'' Fang Hao rationalized internally as he started viewing the upcoming intersect competition in a different light. Bad News, Good News And the GOOD NEWS: I am really enjoying both Romancing Saga 2 and FFXII The Zodiac Age. They are very fun to play. If I pass the exam, that means pay-raise and possible promotion (depending on score). More money for doing the same job is always good.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. My siblings marriage! Marriage is a huge landmark in anyone''s life. And a very joyous occasion. Also, after reading some Web novels like Warlock of the Magus World, Night Ranger etc. I got inspiration for a new litRPG fanfic with Game Elements based on Dungeons and Dragons. I am thinking of starting a new project. Now the good thing about Dungeons and Dragons is; there is plenty of fan-made material for world-building /quests/campaigns etc. Not a Chapter. Shameless Self Promotion New fiction by yours truly: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/23154/psychic-brawler-greg Summary: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. A dude transmigrates into a underground post-apocalyptic shithole while finishing character creation for a VRMMORPG he was a veteran of. Fortunately he bought along a Status Screen and level-up system from the VRMMORPG. Watch out Greg as he combines Psioncis and Pugilism in this transmigration litrpg. Oh yeah; there won''t be much drama and (or any) romances in this fanfiction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now get butthurt about how the author is a dick for having other novels on hiatus while starting a new project etc. etc.