New Martial Arts Techniques
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The skeletal head turned slightly, and with its right hand braced against the ground, the skeleton slowly sat up.
Blood-colored threads then began to pour from the bones, rapidly winding along them as strands of meridians and flesh quickly formed.
After roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, "Huo Lan," who had been reduced to a skeleton, actually came back from the dead.
"Qin Ming! Qin Ming! I'll kill you to avenge myself!"
Huo Lan's eyes snapped open, her face twisted with ferocity as she let out an angry roar like a wild beast.
Suddenly, her expression calmed again, and a trace of annoyance appeared in her eyes. "Damn it, the resentment is too strong. I can't suppress it for the moment. It seems I'll have to kill that brat before I can suppress the vengeful spirit!"
"Kill, kill, kill!"
Huo Lan suddenly roared, but the next moment, that state vanished without a trace, as if everything just now had been an illusion.
"Forget it. I'll heal my injuries first, then kill that brat once I've recovered. Once I suppress this vengeful spirit, it can become my right-hand helper in the future."
The female ghost muttered to herself. Seeing the first sun rise in the east, she quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest along with the Ghost Fog.
The official road in Qingyang County.
Qin Ming sat alone in the largest carriage, leafing through martial arts manuals.
[Eighth-Rank Martial Art: Xingyi Fist (88/100), not yet initiated]
After obtaining Xingyi Fist, Qin Ming had tried to cultivate it. With several martial arts techniques as a foundation, he had made fairly rapid progress in cultivating Xingyi Fist and was on the verge of reaching initiation.
[Ninth-Rank Martial Art: Wandering Dragon Step (30/100), not yet initiated]
Qin Ming had finally found time to cultivate this martial art, which he had obtained from the Li Lineage's escorted cargo.
It was an exceptionally rare movement technique, suited to both fighting and travel.
With Wandering Dragon Step, he could move through a crowd of enemies as if riding a roaming dragon beneath his feet, or circle an opponent so they could never touch him. If he encountered a powerful enemy, he could slip away swiftly like a flood dragon bursting from the sea, greatly increasing his chances of survival.
That made the technique exceptionally valuable.
It was even more valuable than the Blood Ginseng.
The Li Lineage had already given up on the Blood Ginseng, but they were still making inquiries everywhere about Wandering Dragon Step, determined to get it back. They had even asked someone to contact Clearwind Stronghold, offering an astronomical sum of silver for it, even if it was only a copy.
The Li Lineage thought the technique was in the hands of Bloodhand from Clearwind Stronghold, while Clearwind Stronghold thought Bloodhand had kept it all to himself, so they were searching everywhere for him. Little did they know that Bloodhand was already dead and the technique was now in Qin Ming's hands.
"Both of these techniques are extraordinary. The Eighth-Rank Xingyi Fist concentrates fist force and has terrifying power, while the Ninth-Rank Wandering Dragon Step can greatly increase my speed. If I reach initiation, I wonder what attributes these two martial arts will enchant my pig-slaughtering knife with."
Qin Ming drew his pig-slaughtering knife.
After Fire Sand Palm reached great mastery, it had enchanted the knife with 40% Fire Poison damage.
But the Fire Poison worked well enough against those in the Skin Refining Realm. Against those in the Flesh Refining Realm, it could only injure them; killing them with Fire Poison was extremely difficult.
Unless he cultivated other Ninth-Rank fire-element techniques to strengthen the Fire Poison, or cultivated an Eighth-Rank fire-element martial art.
At that thought, Qin Ming couldn't help laughing.
He was indulging in wild fantasies. The only unclaimed Eighth-Rank martial art to appear in all of Qingyang County in the past few decades had already fallen into his hands. How could he be lucky enough to get another Eighth-Rank fire-element martial art?
Unless—
He could enter Wangjing Prefecture!
Qin Ming took a token made of solid gold from the innermost pocket over his chest.
Three large characters were engraved on it: "Wangjing Prefecture."
Whenever Qin Ming saw the token, he couldn't help marveling at Wangjing Prefecture's vast wealth.
The token was solid, made entirely of extremely pure gold. Strangely, though pure gold should have been very soft, this token was unusual. Qin Ming had put it in his mouth and bitten down with all his strength, yet he hadn't left the slightest mark on it.
This was Qin Ming's first glimpse of Wangjing Prefecture's methods, and they were indeed extraordinary. It also virtually eliminated the possibility of forging the token.
Then again, the people of Wangjing Prefecture dealt with ghosts and monsters all day long. Without sufficient strength, taking the token to Wangjing Prefecture would be courting death.
Qin Ming recalled what Elder Wei had said before leaving: he had to reach the Bone Refining Realm, and attain Silver Bone within that realm, before he would be qualified to take the token and report to Wangjing Prefecture.
Wangjing Prefecture has numerous martial arts. There must be an Eighth-Rank fire-element technique there. It seems I have to go.
Qin Ming thought to himself.
Besides that, his Eight Trigrams Stake Skill was still one step away from reaching perfection. This level was for the Skin Refining Realm, and the next was for the Flesh Refining Realm. The Flesh Refining Realm cultivation technique was still with Pei Heng.
Once he reached the Perfected Skin-Refining Realm, he could choose for himself whether to continue cultivating the subsequent Eight Trigrams Stake Skill technique.
Slaying the bandits and ransacking the property of the town's gentry this time had brought Qin Ming a small fortune.
Apart from Wandering Dragon Step and Xingyi Fist, there were six more martial arts manuals.
All six were Ninth-Rank Martial Arts, including the Tiger Martial Arts Academy's Fierce Tiger Stance Art and Tiger Fist.
The Fierce Tiger Stance Art included a cultivation method for the Flesh Refining Realm, but nothing for the Bone Refining Realm above it.
Of the other four, two had been taken from the gentry and two from the bandits.
All were unarmed combat techniques.
Qin Ming had merely looked them over to get a basic understanding of them.
His cultivation time was limited, so he couldn't possibly cultivate every martial art he had. After weighing his choices, Qin Ming decided to cultivate Wandering Dragon Step and Xingyi Fist first, and consider cultivating a fire-element martial art if he came across one.
Those ghosts and monsters feared Fire Poison and the pig-slaughtering knife. Qin Ming was doing this to stay alive; if he lost the knife, he would at least still have Fire Poison to help him survive an encounter with them.
Daylight filled the sky.
At noon.
Qingshan Town.
The sprawling Qingshan Town had fallen deathly silent. Not a soul could be seen on the usually bustling streets.
At noon, the sun beat down fiercely.
As the saying went, when yang reached its peak, it became yin. This was precisely when ghosts and monsters were active.
At the corner of a shop, Ninth Boss cautiously poked his head out.
"Ninth Boss, they seem to have gone."
Yan Yangtian's voice came from behind him, somewhat low and hoarse.
He had just gone out to scout and, finding nothing unusual, had immediately returned to report.
"Mm."
Ninth Boss nodded and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Last night, just as they were about to catch up with Qin Ming and the others, a ghost had suddenly ambushed them, forcing them to flee to Qingshan Town. But to their utter surprise, the ghost had followed them all the way, and members of their group kept dropping off along the road, their Qi and blood sucked dry by it.
By now, Ninth Boss's men had been completely wiped out, leaving only the relatively quick-witted Yan Yangtian alive.
"Fucking hell! What kind of shitty luck is this? I ran into a ghost as soon as I set out!"
Ninth Boss clenched his fists in anger, but he only dared mutter under his breath. If he drew the ghost over, neither of them would escape death.
Even though his cultivation was approaching the Bone Refining Realm, Ninth Boss was just as helpless against these ghostly beings.
Only certain special martial arts techniques could injure them, but killing them was a thousand times harder.
As long as these ghostly beings had enough Yin Qi, they could quickly recover from their injuries. Only by cutting them down in a single stroke could they be dealt with completely.
"Ninth Boss!"
Yan Yangtian's expression changed as he stared behind Ninth Boss. Utter terror filled his eyes, his lips trembled, and his voice shook uncontrollably.
"Don't... don't turn around."