Xing Jue is sitting on the mountain top with a dumbfounded expression. It feels incredibly unreal. If not for the Beast Soul and the high-grade Treasure Pill, also the two rare books in front of him, Xing Jue would really think this is only a dream.
“My god, these are all great things!” he exclaimed with his mouth opened wide while holding the two rare books in his hand.
In Sky Martial Continent, Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill are divided into ranks: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow from the highest to lowest. Each then divided again into High, Middle, and Low ranks. A Clan that owns Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill is already considered excellent, but here Xing Jue just met an old man who casually gave him two Black Rank books. Xing Jue is sure that the old man must have really high status.
“Without a doubt this is a happy thing after a dead end. Hey, it looks like Heaven is still treating me nicely!” Xing Jue suddenly laughs to the sky and a confident look reappears on his immature face.
“Danger? Even at the risk of death, it’s better than to live like this.”
Xing Jue glances at the Beast Soul and Treasure Pill in his hand. Without giving a second thought he directly swallows both.
“Ah… Wow! It’s hot, it’s hot!”
However, as soon as they enter his stomach, Xing Jue feels a violent burning sensation in his lower abdomen area. It feels like he has just swallowed a blazing fireball.
“Aaaaah!”
The burning pain is getting more and more intense. Xing Jue rolls on the grass because of the unbearable agony. His white skin turned into dark red color. His clothes is soaked wet by sweat, and his body is constantly piping with heat. Now he finally knows what the old man meant by danger.
After struggling for several moments, Xing Jue finally faints. Peculiarly after he goes unconscious a light cyan-colored gas starting to ooze out of his body continuously. The gas gathers up and finally turns into light blue shield, completely covering him. Under the shield, Xing Jue’s crimson color gradually dissipates, and in the end he returns to his original appearance.
“Uh… Old Zhang..?” When Xing Jue opens both of his eyes, he is looking at Old Zhang’s worried face. He quickly sits, and after some time he discovers that he is already in the hut on the mountain.
“Hey, what’s going on with you? I found you lying down on the ground motionless. You scared me! If you did not awake, I might already be running to look for the doctor,” says Old Zhang with a face full of concern.
“Heh-heh, I might just be too tired, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Ah… I think I’m still a little sleepy. I must go back to sleep,” says Xing Jue with lazy tone, overlaying it with a yawn to sound convincing.
“Ha Ha, you little sleepyhead! Fine, just take a nap for a while and wait until dinner time. I will call you again,” says a relieved Old Zhang. Seeing that the boy is fine, he goes out from the hut.
“Hmm… Okay!” says Xing Jue with a smile toward the back of Old Zhang.
After seeing that Old Zhang has gone out of sight, Xing Jue jumps from the bed, laughing excitedly.
“Ha Ha, is this Qi Sea? Ha Ha, I, Xing Jue, finally has Qi Sea within my body! I can break the Martial Artist boundary and become true Martial Master! Ha Ha Ha!”
What he has dreamt of, now turns to reality.
After making sure he can feel Qi Sea one more time, Xing Jue impatiently starts to practice gathering “Qi”. He sits on the bed with both hands making a curious seal, and soon a steady stream of faint yellow gas continuously emerge around Xing Jue’s body.
After a full 2-hour practice, Xing Jue opens both his eyes slowly and mutters to himself excitedly.
“Ha Ha, so this is a Black Rank Beginner level Cultivation Technique. It is really outstanding!”
Xing Jue has already practiced Cultivation Technique when he was still in the Xing Clan. At that time he didn’t have Qi Sea, thus the “Qi” couldn’t be absorbed and stored up in his body. It can somewhat give physical strength to the body, but this Cultivation Technique that he just learned, the “Defending Qi Burst” is beyond compare to what he learnt in the Clan.
“By this rate, in about a year I can transform the Qi Sea into cyclone Qi and become a Martial Master!” says Xing Jue, once again savoring the feeling of Qi in his body.
Qi Sea can store up martial power. After martial power is saved to a certain degree, Qi Sea will then develop, transforming from a vessel into an entity. At that point, Xing Jue will be able to attack and defense with far stronger power compared to ordinary people. Ordinary sword will be unable to injure Xing Jue. This is also the power of Martial Master which no normal people can reach.
After the excitement, Xing Jue then goes out of the room. The sun has already set. Looking at the stars in the sky, Xing Jue suddenly remembers a strand of memory.
“Snort.. Xing Feng, do you think you can step on me forever? You’ve made a mistake, you know? In the past I could kick your ass, making you gasp for breath, I can still do it now!” whispered Xing Jue, turning his head toward Yunzhong City direction. He clenched his fists until it made crackling noises.
Xing Feng is the white clothed youth that defeated Xing Jue in arena. Initially he was selected into one of the Clan’s new blood together with Xing Jue. His talent is also extremely good, but in the past under Xing Jue’s superior talent, it appeared very obscure. However, Xing Feng grew Qi Sea three years ago. Six months ago he became Preliminary Rank Martial Master, and now he has became the Clan’s new blood that is given special attention.
“Oh, I am hungry. It’s so late, why Old Zhang hasn’t called me for dinner?”
“Impossible, did he forget about me? Fine, I will go down by myself.”
And thus Xing Jue walks with both hands behind his head. His mouth hums melodious song. His face is beaming with confident smile. Following the mountain path he slowly strolls toward Xing tavern.
At the mean time in the tavern, a scene is happening between a lewd guy and a pretty girl.
“Clang!”
“Damn, old bastard, you dare to stand against our young master?”
“I think you don’t want to live anymore..”
Two tall robust men are shouting wildly. Between them there is a well-dressed middle-aged man, waving a folding fan. He has an evil smile. A young girl is hiding behind Old Zhang, trembling.
Under their feet a jar of first rate wine has been crushed into pieces. A big expanse of good wine flows.
“Old Zhang, do not meddle with this matter! He is a young lord of this town. Even our shop’s Preliminary Rank Martial Artist doesn’t dare to stand up against him,” says a waiter advising Old Zhang, worrying the situation might get worse.
“Heng, Little Hong is one of our tavern girl. They dared to sexually harass Little Hong, how come we don’t need to interfere?” says Old Zhang coldly to the waiter.
“Old bastard, you have a death wish!” threaten the two men wielding broadsword. They look toward Old Zhang in disgust, knowing that the old man is determined to stand against their young master.
“Putong, ouch!”
But the next moment something amazing happens. The two men who made threatening gestures seconds ago suddenly fall down. They cover their belly and wail in pain.
“Bang, Bang, Bang! Not bad, Preliminary Rank Martial Artist. You are indeed worthy to be called of Xing Clan,” sneers the young master. He claps his hand while staring at Old Zhang and giving him a sinister smile.
It was Old Zhang who did it. He grew up in the Clan since childhood. Although his status is only a house slave but he has the skill of a Preliminary Rank Martial Artist. Even though the two guys have pretty good skill, they are still no match for Old Zhang.
“Wow, amazing!” murmur all the waiters after hearing the young lord words. They look at each others’ faces. “Preliminary Rank Martial Artist, isn't that equal to the young lord? Maybe everything can be better today.”
“Leave now and let bygones be bygones,” says Old Zhang coldly, staring at the middle-aged man.
“Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha,” the man laughs wildly and gets up from his seat.
“You’re just a Preliminary Rank Martial Artist. You can show off in front of them, but how dare you do that in front of me? Try handling this,” says the man. His face is now ferocious. His body moves swiftly. His hand forms an eagle claw. Like a blowing wind he advances toward Old Zhang maliciously.
“An Intermediate Rank Martial Artist…” mutters Old Zhang, realizing the status of his opponent. His calm face is now filled with anxiety. As the eagle claw arrives at a dangerous distance from his face, Old Zhang stays put. He remains in front of the young girl.
Preliminary Rank and Intermediate Rank is only one level different. It is not hard for Old Zhang to evade the attack, but he is worried that the young girl will not able to dodge.
“Intermediate Rank Martial Artist? This fellow is an Intermediate Rank Martial Artist?” whisper the waiters in the tavern. They are shocked. Being too afraid of witnessing something terrible, some close their eyes. Although this taverns belong to Xing Clan, it is situated far away from the Clan. Since there is no direct supervision, the tavern sometimes receive threats from hoodlums. The notion of having Old Zhang gives them hope, that things can finally change for the better. But it never occurs to them that Old Zhang will have to meet this troublesome man today. The situation is desperate for the tavern people.
“Pu-”
“ Ackk! My hand!”
The people are startled by a sudden scream. The young master is screaming. There is a hole in his palm. His blood gushes out. Everyone is stunned.
“Lick those wine on the ground for me until it is clean, otherwise you will not be able to leave this place alive!” commands a young boy’s voice. The voice comes from outside the tavern. The people are all astounded as a black-clothed youth enters the tavern leisurely.