Su Que extinguished the fire with the force of the Seven Injuries Fist. Guessing it was already deep into the night, he returned to the cave, wiped off his sweat, dressed, and hurried back to Jade Water City.
After returning home, Su Jing saw Su Que and said:
"Little Que, how about you stop going out at night for a while?"
"The White Lotus Sect is running rampant now. It's dangerous outside."
Su Que said, "It's fine. Whenever I see them, I keep far away. I've never provoked them, so they won't target me."
Hearing Su Que say this, Su Jing said nothing more.
Though her personality was rather forceful, the notion of valuing men over women ran too deeply in her social class.
After the siblings' father died, Su Que, the only man in the household, became its head. As one of the women of the household, she could not say much.
On the second night, after finishing dinner, Su Que left the city and darted into a mountain forest outside it.
According to the Crimson Fiend Skill manual, once the Crimson Fiend Skill reached a certain realm, Crimson Fiend True Qi would carry Fire Poison.
When it struck an enemy, it could scorch their meridians and internal organs.
Last night, Su Que had only struck trees and had not tested it on any animals.
Thus, he planned to test his Crimson Fiend True Qi while hunting tonight.
He darted back and forth through the mountain forest. After the time it took to burn an incense stick, he found a tiger.
Delighted, he immediately swept toward the still somewhat dazed tiger, poured Crimson Fiend True Qi into his arm, and punched it.
The tiger howled in pain and ran away.
After running some distance, it gradually slowed, its steps turning unsteady.
Soon, with a thud, the tiger's massive body crashed to the ground.
Su Que swept over to the tiger's corpse, placed a hand on it, and sent a thread of true qi into its body to investigate.
In an instant, Su Que discovered that the tiger's meridians and internal organs had all been scorched black.
Even though the tiger was dead, its meridians and internal organs were still slowly burning.
"Crimson Fiend True Qi really does carry Fire Poison. The manual was right..."
After roasting and eating the tiger, Su Que went to the cave on Qinghua Mountain, sat cross-legged, and continued cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill.
Name: Su Que (18 years old) Lifespan: 153 Talent Value: 28 Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (6th realm, Divine Skill 36%), Five Animal Frolics (1st realm, Initial Glimpse 1%) Internal Arts: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (4th realm, Outstanding 30%), Crimson Fiend Skill (4th realm, Outstanding 21%)
According to the Crimson Fiend Skill manual, once Crimson Fiend True Qi cultivated Fire Poison, the Crimson Fiend Skill was nearly at its limit.
In other words, this technique had only been created to be cultivated to the 4th realm, Outstanding.
As for how it could be improved further, the manual contained no record. Likely, no one knew.
Yet as Su Que cultivated the Crimson Fiend Skill, insights regarding it constantly surfaced in his mind.
Even though the Crimson Fiend Skill manual did not record how to continue cultivating it, his exceptional comprehension allowed him to gradually deduce its subsequent methods.
He reckoned that the Crimson Fiend Skill, originally limited to the 4th realm, should be cultivable to the 5th realm.
So, he continued cultivating it.
Another day passed, and his Crimson Fiend Skill broke through again, reaching the 5th realm, Peak Mastery.
His Lifespan increased by four years, and his Talent Value increased by one point.
After breaking through, he planned to test the power of his Crimson Fiend True Qi.
He walked to a tree and punched its trunk. A charred gap was burned into the trunk, black smoke and sparks still rising from it.
Then, he gathered Crimson Fiend True Qi to the fullest, shifted his footwork, and continuously threw punches at the tree!
In an instant, a skyful of fist shadows engulfed the entire tree.
Five breaths later, Su Que's punching hands stopped, and the fist shadows filling the sky vanished at once.
Before him, where the trunk had once stood, there was nothing at all. Only a cloud of charred ash danced in the air.
On the ground, only a short stump remained.
Its top was charred and rotten.
Under Su Que's pounding fists, the trunk had been burned to ash.
"Wood is flammable. At such temperatures, it will naturally catch fire easily. I wonder how lethal Crimson Fiend True Qi is against living creatures now?"
With that thought, Su Que tapped off with his toes. His figure blurred as he swept toward another part of the forest.
His gaze swept all around, searching for traces of animals.
It was winter now. Some wild beasts were hibernating in caves, making them difficult to find in the forest for the moment.
Su Que immediately swept toward a mountain. After spending nearly a quarter of an hour, he found a hibernating black bear in a cave.
At once, he circulated Crimson Fiend True Qi and smashed a fist down at the black bear!
Awooo~~~!
The black bear was jolted awake by the blow. Its huge body suddenly rose, and it let out a roar.
Its hibernation interrupted, it was furious. Raising its enormous paw, it smashed it fiercely toward Su Que!
Su Que paid the bear paw no heed. His fists lashed out wildly, countless blows raining down upon the black bear.
His punches were incredibly fast. Before the bear's paw could land on him, the bear's body had already taken dozens of punches.
The fur on the black bear's front had already been burned away by Su Que's Crimson Fiend True Qi.
Then, the scent of cooked meat drifted from the black bear's body.
After a while longer, the entire black bear was cooked through, inside and out, and the cave was filled with the smell of meat.
Seeing such a large black bear, Su Que felt it would be wasteful not to eat it, so he returned to the cave on Qinghua Mountain.
He fetched a dagger, several jars of seasoning, and a jar of wine.
He cut off the edible meat from the black bear with the dagger, taking a bite of meat and a mouthful of wine.
Another day passed. At night, Su Que continued cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill in the cave.
Name: Su Que (18 years old) Lifespan: 160 Talent Value: 30 Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (6th realm, Divine Skill 36%), Five Animal Frolics (1st realm, Initial Glimpse 1%) Internal Arts: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (4th realm, Outstanding 30%), Crimson Fiend Skill (5th realm, Peak Mastery 99%)
In just one night, Su Que's Crimson Fiend Skill reached 99% of the 5th realm, Peak Mastery.
His Lifespan increased by three years, and his Talent Value increased by one point.
His heart also became more powerful, pumping his blood and qi through his body like a surging river.
Because the Crimson Fiend Skill was of a much lower tier than the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, it was simpler to cultivate.
Therefore, in a short time, he could cultivate it to a higher realm than the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.
But this did not mean that the Wedding Dress Divine Skill at the 4th realm, Outstanding, was inferior to the Crimson Fiend Skill.
Though the Wedding Dress Divine Skill improved slowly, the destructive power of its true qi was still beyond comparison with Crimson Fiend True Qi.
However, after mastering Crimson Fiend True Qi, he could release it together with the true qi of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.
Then, the true qi he struck out with from the Wedding Dress Divine Skill would not only possess greater impact, but also carry the two additional effects of scorching and Fire Poison.
At its current 99% of the 5th realm, Peak Mastery, the Crimson Fiend Skill had already reached its pinnacle.
Perhaps once his Talent Value increased again in the future, he would be able to continue deducing this technique further.
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