Mastery of Footwork

He assumed a bow stance, clenched his fist, and channeled all his internal energy into it before smashing it down.

"Boom!"

The thick stone wall vibrated violently, sending a large chunk of debris flying. A deep pit, more than ten centimeters deep and thirty to forty centimeters in diameter, was smashed into the thick stone slab.

"Boom, boom!"

With the third deafening explosion, the thirty-centimeter-thick stone wall was directly breached. Amidst the flying dust, several large crossbow bolts shot out. One struck the edge of the irregular hole in the wall, while the other two hit the long saber Lin Xiao held horizontally across his chest, the two bursts of sparks particularly conspicuous in the dim light.

Having fought many battles, he had accumulated experience. Traps were guaranteed behind doors like this.

He punched a few more times to enlarge the hole in the stone door and slipped inside under the cover of the smoke. Leaning against the stone wall, he dodged two volleys of crossbow bolts and entered a basement. Several bandits were operating three large crossbows positioned at the exit, while the leaders of Black Cloud Village were busy moving goods behind them. This basement was where they hid their treasures. There was another exit at the far end of the basement, likely leading outside the village.

Seeing him break in, the bandit leader watched as Lin Xiao quickly dispatched the subordinates operating the crossbows. His face changed drastically. He cleanly knelt and said:

"Young hero, if you spare me, all the treasures inside will be yours."

Seeing no change in Lin Xiao's expression, he gritted his teeth and said:

"I also know a secret related to King Lanling. If you spare me, I'll tell you this secret."

"Hmm?"

Lin Xiao frowned slightly and asked:

"What secret?"

"You have to swear to let me go."

Lin Xiao's eyebrows twitched. He flickered and disappeared, and then two screams echoed from the basement. The heads of the two subordinates to the right of the village chief flew off, splattering blood all over him.

"I'll tell you, young hero, I'll tell you."

The village chief's face turned ashen with fear. However, Lin Xiao flickered again and, with a few swift slashes, killed everyone in the basement except the village chief. Even the second and third-in-command were dispatched with a single strike.

After killing everyone, he slowly wiped the blood from his saber with a piece of cloth torn from a corpse, then looked coldly at the remaining bandit leader:

"Tell me, and I'll spare your life."

The ruthless methods terrified the usually fierce bandit leader into silence. He quickly said:

"A year ago, another young hero came here to right wrongs, but his skills were not as good as yours. Afterward, I got a map from him. It marks the location of King Lanling's treasure vault. I heard that besides the vast treasures accumulated by King Lanling, he also hid his supreme cultivation technique inside."

"Hmm! Where's the treasure map?"

The village chief quickly took out a piece of unknown leather from the packages behind him. A crudely drawn map was on it, with a red dot in the center marking the renowned King Lanling's treasure vault.

This King Lanling was not the one with the title of one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient times, but a dominant figure in the martial world over a hundred years ago. It was said that his Lanling Castle dominated the northern martial arts world for decades. He himself was a top martial arts expert. The internal cultivation method in his Lanling Treasure Codex was a peerless divine skill of Two-Star Peerless Grade. The codex also contained a complete set of techniques of Two-Star High-Grade and above, making it one of the three supreme secret codices of the martial world.

Over a hundred years have passed. King Lanling is long dead, and even Lanling Castle is gone. However, the treasure vault he left behind has become one of the greatest treasures in the martial world, sought after by countless martial artists and major gangs.

However, Lin Xiao took the map, looked at it back and forth, and then suddenly rubbed his hands together, turning it into dust. The bandit leader stared at him in shock:

"You... that's a real treasure map!"

"Of course, I know it's real, but I don't need it."

With a press of his palm, a series of crisp cracking sounds echoed as his entire head was pushed into his chest cavity.

Treasure hunting was too troublesome. Moreover, the map was drawn so sloppily that it was impossible to tell where it was. He'd rather spend his time hunting down bandits for Potential Points. Wiping out a dozen bandit dens like Black Cloud Village could yield hundreds of Potential Points, which was much better than searching for a treasure vault of unknown location all over the world.

In the basement, there was a pile of treasures plundered by Black Cloud Village, worth several thousand taels of silver. Unfortunately, he wasn't short of money now and had no use for it. The currency used in the Primordial Gate was not silver, so it was useless.

The most crucial point was that he didn't have any storage space. If he took anything, he'd have nowhere to put it. He could only pick through it for valuable items that were easy to carry.

After searching the entire basement, he did find some good things. Perhaps they had robbed a medicine merchant before. In a chest, there were several brocade boxes. Upon opening them, they were lined with yellow silk, and inside lay several century-old wild ginseng and Shou Wu. The largest piece of wild ginseng was over three hundred years old.

Lin Xiao was quite surprised. He chewed and refined all these medicinal ingredients right there in the basement. This batch of medicinal ingredients alone brought him a full fifty-six Potential Points. Coupled with the extermination of Black Cloud Village, his Potential Points had now broken through one hundred, totaling one hundred and four points.

"As expected, my growth speed is much faster after leaving the gang."

Not long after leaving, he had already wiped out several bandit strongholds. The Potential Points Lin Xiao gained exceeded the total Potential Points he had obtained in the Great River Gang.

With over a hundred Potential Points, it was time to use them. He didn't need to go anywhere; he could just block the exit here and be safe.

He tossed the corpses aside, sat down on the blood-stained floor, and opened his status panel. It displayed:

Lin Xiao.

Yang Sha Scripture (Two-Star High-Grade) Level 11 (Great Accomplishment).

Yin Sha Scripture (Two-Star Mid-Grade) Level 9 (Great Accomplishment).

Flying Heaven Steps (Two-Star Low-Grade) Level 6.

Three Rivers Heart Method (One-Star High-Grade) Level 2.

Three Rivers Saber (One-Star Mid-Grade) Level 4 (Great Accomplishment).

Dark Cloud Saber (One-Star Mid-Grade) Level 4 (Great Accomplishment).

Riptide Saber Technique (One-Star Mid-Grade) Level 4 (Great Accomplishment).

Potential Points: 104 points.

With enough Potential Points, there was no need to consider the order. His intent first fell on Flying Heaven Steps. With a thought, a full thirty Potential Points vanished, transforming into an invisible force that surged into his body.

Instantly, countless phantom images appeared before his eyes, performing the Flying Heaven Steps. Each phantom executed the footwork from a different angle and in a different way. This experience flooded into his mind like a tide. The experience of each illusion was simultaneously imprinted into his body's memory, as if these countless illusions were him.

The illusion vanished completely in less than a minute. Lin Xiao opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing, and another him appeared out of thin air to his right. Two Lin Xiaos were now in the stone chamber.

When he turned his head to look at the spot where he had just been sitting, that figure disappeared like a phantom bubble.

Flying Heaven Steps, mastered!

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