[Hundred Refinements Martial Arts: Fifth Layer] [Zither Arts: Third Layer] [Go Arts: Third Layer] [Calligraphy and Painting: Fourth Layer] [Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique: First Layer] [Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment: First Layer] [Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand: First Layer] [Heavenly Show Points: 0 (88%)]
"I've been attracting a little too much attention lately. I'm afraid people will start holding a grudge against me..."
Gazing at the Attribute Panel of the Heavenly Show System, Zhong Shenxiu fell into deep thought.
"And... the Attribute Panel seems to have become a little too cluttered... I should simplify it a bit. Otherwise, just looking at it makes my eyes blur and my head ache."
With a thought, he tugged at the useless system, and more information surfaced:
[Mergeable options detected. Merge Zither Arts, Go Arts, and Calligraphy and Painting?]
"Yes!"
[Zither Arts, Go Arts, and Calligraphy and Painting merged!]
[Zither, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting: Third Layer]
[Hundred Refinements Martial Arts can be integrated into Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand. Fuse them?]
"Yes!"
[Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand has been enhanced!]
[Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand: Third Layer!]
After all that, Zhong Shenxiu immediately felt much more comfortable.
In truth, merging and fusing skills had always been one of the Heavenly Show System's functions. He had simply been too lazy to use it before.
"Zither, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting should have been merged in the first place. And since the majority level is used as the standard, it remains at the third layer."
"As for Hundred Refinements Martial Arts, it can be considered the cultivation accumulation from my previous world. Turning it all into experience and integrating it into Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand raised it by two layers."
Zhong Shenxiu silently sensed his condition.
At this point, Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand had practically become an instinct of his body. Every movement, every technique, fit perfectly with nature and possessed boundless might.
And with Xiantian Qi Gong having also been devoured by the superior Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique,
the traces and origins of his previous life had been completely concealed.
Zhong Shenxiu felt a faint stir of delight, then began meditating again to cultivate Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique, attempting to break through his acupoints.
The Spiritual Turtle Breathing Diagram contained a total of thirty-six acupoints, corresponding one by one to the thirty-six acupoints of the human body. Once they were all opened, he would reach the pinnacle of the Xiantian realm.
Within the Ten Directions Beast Art, apart from Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique, there were several other cultivation methods that also followed the path of Xiantian Qi Refining.
However, if he cultivated all of them to the peak, although he would still only reach the limits of the Xiantian realm, he would possess the strength of dragons and elephants, the aura of tortoises and serpents, and a vajra body. The benefits would be endless, allowing him to forge the most solid Dao foundation.
It was also a prerequisite for cultivating Myriad Beast True Body.
Although Zhong Shenxiu had some ideas about this, ten birds in the forest were no match for one bird in hand. He planned to cultivate one inner art and one martial technique first, reaching the pinnacle of the Xiantian realm before thinking about anything else.
As for what came afterward, that could wait until afterward.
Immersed in cultivation, the night passed in the blink of an eye.
The next day, Zhong Shenxiu changed into a suit of Black Iron Armor and went to meet Feng Xi'er.
This iron armor weighed more than a hundred jin. An ordinary person probably could not even stand while wearing it; only a martial artist at the pinnacle of the Houtian realm could move freely in it.
Of course, the armor's defensive power was extraordinary as well, enough to rival the cultivation of someone who had trained a hard technique such as Black Tortoise Hundred Refinements Armor to the third or fourth layer.
Against ordinary martial arts experts, it would give him an unknown number of advantages.
Zhong Shenxiu had already refined True Qi and become an expert of the Xiantian realm. Wearing this armor was no different from wearing ordinary clothes to him, and he made his leisurely way to the command tent to pay his respects to Feng Xi'er.
Feng Xi'er was not wearing armor. She wore only a pale green gauze dress, giving her the delicate appearance of a willow-like beauty. Her jade hand held a writing brush as she frowned at the documents spread across the desk.
"Your subordinate pays his respects to Colonel!"
Zhong Shenxiu was the first to salute.
Feng Xi'er looked up at him. Suddenly, she smiled, as though a spring breeze had brushed across his face and a hundred flowers had bloomed. "You really have forgotten me..."
Zhong Shenxiu put on a bewildered expression. "May I ask whether Colonel has some connection with my Su Family?"
"That year, I once followed my grandfather to visit the Su Family. You were merely from a collateral branch, standing among the people along the road as they saluted. I only caught a distant glimpse of you. It's perfectly normal that you don't remember..." Feng Xi'er set down her brush. "Not long afterward, however, I heard that the Su Family had committed an offense, and the entire direct line was executed..."
Zhong Shenxiu's heart remained as still as an ancient well, but the scene he had witnessed that day seemed to rise before his eyes.
The Blazing Han Iron Cavalry, fierce as wolves and tigers, had brazenly stormed through the residence and shouted, "By order of the court, the Su Family is to be confiscated and searched! Anyone who resists is to be executed without exception!"
There had even been all kinds of forbidden arts in the sky, along with the radiance of cultivators fighting one another...
Aristocratic Clans look out for one another. The Su Family was also a Commandery Prestige. For it to be wiped out in a single day, it must have been caught up in something that pierced the heavens... I heard it had something to do with the struggle over the imperial succession...
Zhong Shenxiu sighed inwardly.
In principle, the Su Family should not have been so foolish. But human greed knew no bounds. A Humble Family wanted to rise into a County Magnate, a County Magnate plotted to advance into a Commandery Prestige, and a Commandery Prestige yearned to become an Aristocratic Clan...
Under normal circumstances, even centuries of accumulation might not lead to success. Clinging to a dragon or phoenix was a shortcut.
Of course, failure brought an equally tragic end.
Zhong Shenxiu even vaguely felt that the Su Family had not been at the core of the matter. It had merely brushed against the edge of it and suffered as collateral damage—or had been used as the chicken to frighten the monkeys.
Otherwise, even a collateral-branch member like him probably would not have survived.
Now that he knew the gravity of the matter, he began acting again. His lips trembled, his face turned pale, and his eyes reddened.
"That's enough... What happened in the past need not be mentioned again."
Feng Xi'er waved her hand. "The fact that you were able to meet me can also be considered a stroke of fate. Work diligently under me this time and establish some merit. Perhaps you can shed your status as a convict... At least you'll have some respectable origin in the future. Just don't think about restoring your family or anything of the sort."
"I would never dare harbor such thoughts."
Zhong Shenxiu could only say that.
Although he had resolved to take on Su Daozhi's Karma, that man's relatives had mostly died already.
As for revenge, it was not something the current him could even speak of.
"I don't care whether you mean it or not. I'll take it as sincere."
Feng Xi'er said, "I was ordered to investigate the remnants of the Felix Family. This region of Black Mountain is the top priority. Every day, the iron cavalry must patrol it, especially the Great Rift and the Altar Ruins... I once had someone perform a divination. In two months, it will be the Blood Moon Night. The Hestings County is fond of worshiping evil gods at that time, and if those vermin are planning to act, that will surely be when they do it... You're familiar with the terrain, so make sure to establish plenty of merit."
"I shall obey your command!"
Zhong Shenxiu cupped his hands, but his heart sank.
In a little over two months, it will be the Blood Moon Night? That's even sooner than I imagined... I don't have much time left...
The monster inside him demanded his soul whenever the ordinary Full Moon came. When the Blood Moon Night arrived, there was no need to mention what would happen.
But... capture the remnants of the Felix Family? I'm very familiar with that family!
The Hestings County had long since been destroyed, and much of the secrets surrounding this mysterious family had been buried in history.
But Zhong Shenxiu was different. Inside him was an ancestor of the Felix Family, and many of those secrets had been personally arranged by that very being.
If he could manipulate it slightly—or even use some minor tricks such as peeking into memories—he might truly be able to fish out quite a few benefits!
Before you continue