Trouble I

Lu Sheng willed it, and a thread of Black Fiend Inner Qi surged forth at high speed.

This time, it was Black Fiend Qi from the First Layer.

Its scorching heat was far greater than before. As Lu Sheng mobilized his inner qi, the muscles, bones, and skin it passed through seemed to be burning.

Black Fiend Qi flowed out from his kidneys, traveled along his waist and back into his right arm, then gathered in his right palm and ran through the saber.

Hiss!!

The blade sliced through the air with a tearing sound like ripped paper.

Then it hacked viciously into the tree trunk before him.

The strike buried itself deep in the trunk, sinking halfway through the entire tree before becoming stuck.

"Good!"

Joy welled up in Lu Sheng's heart.

He knew he had taken another great step forward.

Dragging his aching body back to the wooden hut, Lu Sheng rested.

Over the following days, he did nothing but move his body a little. Most of his time was spent sleeping and resting.

At most, he accelerated the circulation of the Jade Crane Skill. The Jade Crane Skill allowed his body to recover with greater strength and speed.

He had to prepare for the next two breakthroughs.

The incomplete Black Fiend Skill still had three layers that could be cultivated!

Nine Links City · Lu Estate

Yu Jie carried a basket on her arm. Inside were several boiled eggs, some soybean cakes, and two pieces of air-dried smoked meat.

Familiar with the route, she left through a side gate of the Lu Estate, greeted the gatekeeper, and headed out along the alley.

At the mouth of the alley, several children with horn braids ran past in a noisy scuffle, all fighting over the candied hawthorn skewer in the hands of the child at the front.

Seeing this, Yu Jie sighed. It reminded her of how adorable Xiao Ba had been as a child, always running around in front of her and begging for candied hawthorn.

She had been young then, only in her teens. Whenever she returned from working at the Lu Estate, she would occasionally receive a little reward money. If she did not hand it over to her parents, it became the pocket money she had left for herself.

She used that money to buy Xiao Ba little snacks. Xiao Ba had only been a few years old at the time.

But now... whenever she thought of Xiao Ba's current disturbed state of mind, Yu Jie's heart truly ached.

After walking some distance down the main street before the estate, Yu Jie gathered her thoughts as usual and planned to buy some little trinkets for the children at home from the various stalls.

Today was a rare day off for her to return home and rest. She intended to pick out some surprises for her husband and children.

"My child, my child!"

Suddenly, she saw a disheveled woman sitting blankly by a wall, murmuring quietly to herself.

Yu Jie found the woman's face somewhat familiar, as though she had seen her somewhere before, but she could not recall where.

She only glanced at her twice, feeling a little pity.

So she took a cake from her basket and placed it before the woman.

"Eat. In times like these... sigh."

She straightened up, turned, and continued selecting the things she wanted.

Slap.

Suddenly, she felt a cold, slimy hand seize her right hand hard.

"Have you seen my child?"

A voice spoke.

Yu Jie's heart jolted. Turning her head, she saw that it was the woman who had been sitting on the ground moments ago.

Her bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Yu Jie, as if her eyeballs were about to burst from their sockets.

"What are you doing? Let go!"

Yu Jie was frightened. She hurriedly struggled free and retreated two steps.

"Are you sick!?"

Yet the woman seemed not to hear anything, continuing to stare at her without blinking.

Yu Jie silently cursed her bad luck, lowered her head, and hurried away. She no longer wanted to buy anything. The hand that had been grabbed a moment ago throbbed faintly with pain.

After crossing the street, she turned into an alley. It was a shortcut home.

Though this route was somewhat deserted, it saved quite a bit of time and spared her a detour.

The alley twisted through several turns and stretched for a long distance. On either side stood ordinary one-story houses taller than a person, while foul water and discarded household rubbish littered the ground.

Yu Jie looked at her wrist. The spot that had been grabbed was already turning red.

"Bad luck! What rotten luck. Sigh, I'll have to put some medicine on it when I get back."

She stepped over a stinking puddle, but the pink embroidery on her cloth shoes still got splashed with dirty water, souring her mood further.

She stomped her feet hard and walked several more steps.

Thud.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone.

Looking up—

"Have you seen my child?"

It was actually the same woman she had just seen! Yu Jie felt her heart leap, as though it were about to burst out of her chest.

She staggered back several steps, stepping into the stinking puddle without even noticing.

"Y-you, you, you!!!"

The woman's eyes were blood-red as she stared intently at Yu Jie.

"My child, my child!"

Yu Jie turned and tried to run.

Slap.

A withered, skinny hand clamped viciously around her arm.

"Have you seen my child?"

The woman's face remained wooden as she repeated the same question.

"Help—"

Half a cry suddenly rang out from the alley, then stopped abruptly. No sound followed.

Three days later · Lu Estate

Second Mother Liu Cuiyu sat on a wooden couch with a frown, looking at Yu Jie's relative who had come to report the matter.

"Yu Jie still hasn't gone home? She took leave three days ago to visit her family."

The man, still carrying the earthy smell unique to the fields, stood awkwardly in the side hall.

"Big Sister usually returned early and on time, but this time the family waited and waited without seeing her. They became worried, and with so many incidents in the city lately, they sent this lowly one to ask..."

Liu Cuiyu shook her head.

"She did leave very early. She even collected some dried meat and cakes from the kitchen. It has been days already—if she didn't go home, where else could she have gone?"

She was becoming worried as well.

"Something's wrong! Something's wrong!"

Suddenly, hurried cries came from outside.

A maid rushed in, pale with panic.

"Second Madam! Something's happened! Something happened to Yu Jie!"

"What happened!?" Second Mother Liu Cuiyu immediately rose to her feet, her expression changing.

The man's face also turned white as he abruptly looked toward the maid who had rushed in.

"Yu Jie was found in an alley on the outskirts of the city. She's been dead for days already!"

The maid's words left both Second Mother and the man stunned.

"Dead...?"

Liu Cuiyu sat back down in a daze.

Several days later, Lu Sheng carefully sensed the feel of the blade in his hand.

Black Fiend Qi flowed from his body into the blade, like a stream of hot air slowly welling up from within him before rapidly thinning out inside the blade and spreading evenly across the entire saber.

His injuries had mostly recovered.

Today, he planned to raise the Black Fiend Skill another layer, reaching the Second Layer.

His body was becoming increasingly accustomed to the stimulation of Black Fiend Qi. The injuries caused by raising a layer should be lighter than before.

Whoosh! He began practicing the Black Tiger Saber Technique.

The Black Tiger Saber Technique had only three moves in total, but they could branch into dozens of variations.

He combined the variations he had comprehended with some variations taught by Uncle Zhao. Linked together in succession, they formed a far more complex saber technique.

In the clearing before the wooden hut, Lu Sheng wielded his saber. Blade Light flashed all around him as the sound of tearing air rang out without end.

The bright silver Blade Light rolled around him in a mass, nearly swallowing his entire body.

The Black Tiger Saber Technique emphasized momentum, with many chopping and slashing moves, so it carried a particularly fierce air when practiced.

Lu Sheng repeated the three saber moves dozens of times in succession. His blood and qi churned throughout his body, and Black Fiend Qi occasionally poured into the saber, violently increasing the power of his moves.

Taking advantage of the surging blood and qi, he swiftly sheathed his saber and silently called out in his heart.

Deep Blue!

The Modifier interface appeared.

Lu Sheng moved quickly, pressing the modify button before focusing his mind on the Black Fiend Skill entry.

"Raise the Black Fiend Skill by one layer!"

He confirmed it with his will.

Whoosh.

The Black Fiend Skill's status immediately jumped from the First Layer to the Second Layer.

Only this time, the change was somewhat slow—not as swift as before.

The instant Lu Sheng finished modifying it—

The Black Fiend Qi in his body suddenly swelled dramatically. A large amount seemed to appear from nowhere, rapidly growing into two fist-sized masses that settled separately around his kidneys.

"This time, my body seems to have adapted. And the Second Layer merely increases the total amount of Black Fiend Qi. There shouldn't be a problem."

Lu Sheng had read the manual and knew that the Second Layer was the safest layer, which was why he dared break through directly while practicing his saber.

After breaking through to the Second Layer, Lu Sheng felt the reserves within his body abruptly drained again.

Especially the accumulation from the Jade Crane Skill.

After his diligent daily practice, this health-preserving qi cultivation technique had already begun to fill to the brim and condense into a mass, forming a ball of qi in his chest.

That qi mass was the sign that, after his inner qi reached its limit in thickness, it had begun naturally increasing and storing itself.

Yet a single breakthrough in the Black Fiend Skill instantly consumed that mass of Jade Crane Skill qi completely.

Not only that, it reduced the originally thick Jade Crane Skill inner qi to the thickness of an embroidery needle in an instant.

After breaking through to the Second Layer, Lu Sheng's heart settled somewhat. Calculating the time, he found it was nearly time for lunch.

"Young Master, a new letter has arrived!"

Xiao Qiao entered through the courtyard gate carrying a food box, waving a yellow envelope sealed with red wax in her other hand.

"Let me see it."

Lu Sheng inserted his saber into the scabbard hanging at the side.

He accepted the envelope Xiao Qiao handed over.

Taking out the letter and unfolding it, he quickly read through it. His expression immediately darkened slightly as he folded the paper back up.

"Xiao Qiao, it's time for us to return."

He spoke calmly.

"Return to the Lu Estate?"

Xiao Qiao froze, then was immediately overjoyed.

"Yes, we're going home." Lu Sheng nodded.

The two quickly packed up their belongings. After eating, they left a note at the entrance to the courtyard and hurried toward Nine Links City.

From the small grove where the wooden hut stood to Nine Links City was roughly seven or eight li.

Lu Sheng wore a saber at his waist. It was merely forged from ordinary refined steel, not some famed weapon, but it was thick and sturdy, not easily damaged.

By the time the two reached Nine Links City, Xiao Qiao was exhausted. Lu Sheng had even needed to carry her for part of the way in order for her to make it.

Now that Lu Sheng cultivated the Black Fiend Skill and practiced his saber technique diligently every day, his body was far stronger than before.

Especially with the stimulation and strengthening of the Black Fiend Skill.

Each time it circulated once within his body, it felt as though a mass of scalding hot air was nourishing his muscles and bones.