High-grade cultivation technique

Three days later,

On the third floor of the Technique Pavilion, Ye Xiaofan was selecting a High-grade cultivation technique.

With Xiao Qiaofeng's order, Ye Xiaofan could enter the Technique Pavilion at will. The moment this order was issued, the entire Demon Suppression Division erupted in heated discussion.

Most people were merely envious and had no other excessive thoughts. After all, Ye Xiaofan was a genius even more monstrous than Left Thousand Households Officer. It was only natural for Lord Hundred Households to cherish talent and nurture him vigorously.

Those who had sided with Sun Wude symbolically voiced their dissatisfaction, claiming it broke the rules, but the matter was eventually dropped.

The Qingyang County Demon Suppression Division had no Top-grade cultivation techniques. It only had two High-grade Breathing Techniques and six qi-and-blood application techniques, including one sword technique and one movement technique. The rest were saber techniques, fist techniques, and palm techniques.

To cultivate a Top-grade cultivation technique, one could only go to the Demon Suppression Division in Jinyang Prefecture City and exchange merit for it.

Tidal Breathing Technique discovered. Spend ten thousand taels of silver to simplify the technique?

Gengjin Breathing Technique discovered. Spend ten thousand taels of silver to simplify the technique?

Lightning Sword Technique discovered. Spend ten thousand taels of silver to simplify the technique?

Phantom Steps discovered. Spend ten thousand taels of silver to simplify the technique?

Looking at the red notifications flashing endlessly across the panel, Ye Xiaofan's mouth twitched.

He had not expected simplifying a High-grade cultivation technique to cost ten thousand taels of silver.

"Three techniques can be fused into one a tier higher. There's no need to be such a sucker. I'll just find two Mid-grade cultivation techniques to fuse."

Ye Xiaofan discovered a loophole in the panel. He went to the second floor and found two Mid-grade Breathing Techniques, sword techniques, and movement techniques respectively.

"System, fuse the two Breathing Techniques into the Withered Wood Meets Spring Technique."

With a thought from Ye Xiaofan, the panel began to flash, and his balance instantly dropped by two thousand taels.

A moment later, the panel stopped flashing.

Technique: Golden Water Nurturing Wood Marrow Cleansing Technique (Proficient 1000/8000), Sword Drawing Technique (Minor Success 6000/6000), Wind God Steps (Perfection Realm)

Golden Water Nurturing Wood Marrow Cleansing Technique discovered. Spend ten thousand taels of silver to simplify the technique?

Grass was a kind of plant!

Ye Xiaofan froze. He had thought he had caught a bug in the panel, only for the panel to slap him across the face in return.

He had wasted an extra two thousand taels of silver.

"Ugh!"

Ye Xiaofan slumped weakly against a chair, looking utterly devoid of the will to live.

"System, simplify it."

Balance -10000!

Golden Water Nurturing Wood Marrow Cleansing Technique... simplifying... Basic Breathing Technique... simplification successful... Breathe!

Ye Xiaofan's heart bled.

Balance: 17000 taels of silver

Should I ask Uncle Xiao for some silver?

The instant the thought appeared, Ye Xiaofan snuffed it out. The silver he needed was not just a little or two; it would be difficult to explain why he needed so much money.

"I need to make money."

"Hopefully, the Black Tiger Gang will come through."

After lying around in melancholy for a while in a private room on the second floor of the Technique Pavilion, Ye Xiaofan got up and left.

Fusing the High-grade sword technique and Phantom Steps required twenty thousand taels. After fusion, turning Sword Drawing Technique and Wind God Steps into High-grade cultivation techniques would require another twenty thousand taels.

His balance was insufficient. He needed to top up.

As for cultivating High-grade cultivation techniques separately, Ye Xiaofan had no intention of doing that.

He had long since planned out his cultivation techniques.

For his Breathing Technique, he wanted to fuse it into a Top-grade Breathing Technique with all five elements. For swordsmanship, he would use Sword Drawing Technique as the foundation and continuously fuse sword techniques known for speed, walking the path of ultimate swift swords.

Likewise, he would use Wind God Steps as the foundation for his movement technique, continuously fusing movement techniques focused on speed and agility, walking the path of ultimate speed and ultimate flexibility.

The night was enchanting.

Ye Xiaofan lay in the courtyard, sipping tea as he cultivated leisurely.

After his Breathing Technique rose to High-grade,

A single strand of qi and blood had reached the thickness of seven hairs, one hair thicker than before. It had already surpassed the lower limit of six hairs for Top-grade cultivation techniques.

His strength had also increased by several degrees. His qi-and-blood manifestation, the Qi and Blood Gauze, had become much denser and was faintly evolving toward Qi and Blood Armor.

The Golden Water Nurturing Wood Marrow Cleansing Technique had reached the Minor Success Realm in proficiency, and its cultivation speed was only slightly slower than a Mid-grade cultivation technique at the Perfection Realm.

Every thousand breaths increased his cultivation by four!

One could imagine that once the High-grade Golden Water Nurturing Wood Marrow Cleansing Technique reached the Perfection Realm, his cultivation speed would double compared to before.

His combat strength would also become even stronger.

Originally, he would have needed three more days to break through to the Body Refinement Fifth Layer. Now, he only needed two.

Ye Xiaofan was very relaxed.

At the Sun Family, however, Sun Wude frowned deeply, weighed down by worries.

Today, Xiao Qiaofeng had returned with the people from the Blood Copper Mine Area, and Ye Xiaofan was alive and well.

Moreover, it was said that his cultivation had already broken through to the Body Refinement Fourth Layer. His combat strength was terrifyingly powerful, and he could fight a Body Refinement Seventh Layer demon without losing.

Ying Er and Ying San, whom he had sent out, had not returned.

He knew something had happened to them. Most likely, they had encountered Xiao Qiaofeng and been casually cut down.

In truth, this did not affect him much.

The death of the Golden Tiger Prince was what truly gave him a headache.

After all, it had begun because he told the other party that Ye Xiaofan was a monstrous human genius in hopes of obtaining cultivation resources.

He could not escape responsibility. Lord Mountain Monarch would absolutely not let him off.

"How could Xiao Qiaofeng be so strong? And Tie Wuqing is actually at Ninth Level Body Refinement. He hid himself deeply enough."

Sun Wude's question was destined to have no answer.

His fingers unconsciously tapped against the armrest as he considered what to do next.

Like a shadow, Ying Yi stood silently behind him.

"Patriarch, should I personally act and capture Ye Xiaofan?"

Sun Wude shook his head. "You can't capture him. Ye Xiaofan can already contend with a Body Refinement Seventh Layer martial artist."

"What?"

Ying Yi rarely lost his composure, but he cried out in shock.

"That is the truth. Ye Xiaofan has grown far too quickly. It caught everyone off guard."

Sun Wude was not surprised by Ying Yi's shock. Today, when he heard that Ye Xiaofan had broken through to the Body Refinement Fourth Layer and possessed combat strength no weaker than that fox demon at the Body Refinement Seventh Layer,

The shock in his heart had been no less than Ying Yi's.

"Ying Yi, go find Zhang Dahu. Have him make a move and test Ye Xiaofan."

Sun Wude spoke after pondering for a moment.

"Yes, Patriarch."

Ying Yi accepted the order and departed.

Sun Wude rose and walked to the window, gazing at the scene outside.

"Alas, the Golden Tiger Prince is dead. If Mountain Monarch learns that I was involved, my Sun Family will be finished."

"No, I'll report Ye Xiaofan's matter directly to the Venerable One. If the Venerable One also values Ye Xiaofan's talent, then Mountain Monarch will have no way to deal with me."

Black Tiger Gang headquarters.

"Who is it?"

Zhang Dahu, who had been cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes and barked angrily toward the door.

"It's me."

A hoarse voice rang out.

A chill flashed through Zhang Dahu's eyes. He was very familiar with that voice.

"Lord Ying, why have you come?"

Zhang Dahu respectfully invited Ying Yi inside.

"The Patriarch wants you to capture Ye Xiaofan and bring him back. If he cannot be captured, kill him directly and bring back the corpse."

Ying Yi did not waste words and got straight to the point.

"When is he needed?"

Zhang Dahu's gaze flickered as he asked quietly.

"As soon as possible. At most, I'll give you two days."

"Fine!"

Zhang Dahu nodded and agreed.

Although he wanted to escape the Sun Family's control, the time was not right. The Sun Family had an ancestor at Ninth Level Body Refinement who was nearing death but still held the fort.

Furthermore, Sun Wude had an elder brother in the Demon Suppression Division of Jinyang Prefecture, whose strength was also at Ninth Level Body Refinement.

The next day,

Zhang Dahu went alone to find the One-armed Swordsman.

The One-armed Swordsman was still tirelessly repeating his saber swings in the courtyard.

"What are you here for? I've already repaid the favor I owed you. We have no further ties."

"This is how you treat a friend?"

Zhang Dahu gave a faint smile.

"A friend? Heh, I actually heard the word 'friend' from your mouth. That's the funniest joke I've heard in my life."

The One-armed Swordsman stopped moving and stared at Zhang Dahu for a long while before he could not help sneering.

Zhang Dahu's expression did not change. He still wore a smile as warm as a spring breeze.

"One Mid-grade saber technique and twenty Blood Qi Pills. Help me make one move."

"Against whom?"

"Ye Xiaofan!"

The One-armed Swordsman shook his head. "I will not make another move against Ye Xiaofan."

"I hope you won't make a move against Ye Xiaofan either. Otherwise, the last shred of friendship between us will disappear."

The One-armed Swordsman resumed practicing his saber.

Zhang Dahu said nothing more and turned to leave.

Yet when he reached the door, he suddenly said, "I have a reason I cannot help but act."

The One-armed Swordsman's movements paused, then returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.