The Same Sickness (Seeking Recommendations)

Zhong Shenxiu looked inward and felt that thirty-six acupoints had been fully opened. In his dantian, the Spiritual Turtle True Qi seemed to have opened a spring, with an endless stream of Spiritual Turtle True Qi gushing out, giving him the illusion that it would never run dry.

"It's this convenient?"

He was surprised at first, then found it normal.

After all, how could an ordinary Xiantian martial artist have his wild imagination and supreme fortune?

Using a Western Vengeful Spirit to assist in cultivation was essentially equivalent to having a Divine Ability realm expert personally imparting power to him. It would be strange if his strength didn't advance by leaps and bounds.

"But... deep fate brings deep calamity... I can feel that with every 'use,' the Headless Count inside me is gradually 'awakening.' I'm afraid that the next time it flares up, it will need to devour even more..."

Zhong Shenxiu sighed and walked out of the room. With just a glance, he pushed away two dog heads that came nuzzling up to him, exerting force with his hands: "Lord Huang, Er Ha?"

Waiting outside his door were indeed Huang Xie and Er Ha.

These two Dog Rong wore fawning smiles: "Lord Su, good morning. Are you going to eat breakfast? We've already brought it for you."

With that, they handed over a paper package containing three steaming hot meat buns.

'I remember my current ration should be four...'

Zhong Shenxiu glanced sideways at Er Ha, who hurriedly covered his mouth, leaving him even more speechless.

He didn't care much about it, smiled, and said, "I was just getting hungry. You two came to see me—what's the matter?"

Now that he had been transferred to the Black Armored Iron Cavalry, he wasn't even considered a member of Black Mountain Fortress anymore, and they didn't even live together.

"Nothing much, just came to pay our respects."

Huang Xie glanced at his nephew, hesitating as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

Zhong Shenxiu wolfed down the buns in a few bites and didn't say much.

He naturally knew that although the Dog Rong had some inheritance, it wasn't something these two could covet.

The reason Huang Xie joined the army, aside from money, was likely to seek some martial arts techniques.

But although the Fufeng Protectorate was close to the Quanrong Tribe, it didn't want to nurture too strong an ally.

On the lower levels, this manifested as discrimination against Dog Rong in the military camps, where they were only fit to mingle with convicts and had extremely difficult promotions.

Huang Xie had been in the army for several years and was still just a common soldier, never even touching the edge of the Four Symbols Battle Methods.

As for the Xiantian Qi Refining method? Don't even think about it.

Houtian techniques might be allowed for private transmission in the army, but the Xiantian Qi Refining method—even Que'er had warned Zhong Shenxiu before not to pass it on.

If violated, military law was no joke.

Zhong Shenxiu thought for a moment, looked at the two dog heads, and said, "I'm going to do morning practice. Want to join?"

With that, ignoring the grateful Huang Xie, he went to an open space and began to practice the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand, move by move.

As for how much that fool Er Ha could understand, that was up to his own fortune.

In truth, the one who truly had ties with Su Daozhi was Huang Xie, so Zhong Shenxiu didn't forbid them from watching and learning on their own.

He practiced the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand over and over, and with his perfected Spiritual Turtle True Qi, he gained many new insights.

"That's right... the Ten Directions Beast Art complements itself. For this grappling technique to reach its peak, it must still be paired with Xiantian True Qi..."

With True Qi able to be released externally, each move and stance effectively gained an extra foot of reach.

When experts fought, victory or defeat sometimes hinged on a hair's breadth. If one could suddenly increase their killing range by several feet, they would naturally gain an immeasurable advantage.

Thinking this, Zhong Shenxiu no longer held back, channeling Xiantian True Qi into his fingertips.

This time, he truly seemed to transform into an Azure Dragon, his hands turning into dragon claws. Each grab sent sharp energy cutting through the air, extending and retracting unpredictably.

He was still holding back somewhat, not fully manifesting the three-foot Xiantian True Qi, or else the power would have surged even more.

As for the two dog heads, they were already dumbstruck.

"This is... True Qi external release?"

Huang Xie, at least more knowledgeable than Er Ha, glanced at his nephew beside him and suddenly felt like crying.

The two of them had joined the army and earned merits, yet could only learn crude martial arts, not even touching the edge of the Four Symbols Battle Methods.

But Zhong Shenxiu had already received the Xiantian Qi Refining method and even achieved results, with boundless prospects ahead.

Comparing the two, how could the dog not feel dejected?

"Good!"

Just then, a light shout came.

Zhong Shenxiu withdrew his stance and bowed: "Greetings, Colonel."

It turned out that at some point, Feng Xi'er had arrived with Que'er, watching with a smile.

"As expected of an Aristocratic Clan son. You might have been soaked in medicinal baths as a child, laying some foundation... This True Qi of yours—the Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique has broken through ten acupoints, hasn't it?"

She hadn't seen that Zhong Shenxiu was still holding back a bit.

[Heavenly Show Points +20%]

Zhong Shenxiu glanced at the Heavenly Show System and couldn't be bothered to pay it any more attention.

This goofy system seemed even more active in this world, with Heavenly Show Points rising rapidly.

At the moment, he only said, "I must thank the Colonel for passing down the technique!"

Children of aristocratic clans were nurtured with spiritual medicines from the womb, bathed in various herbal concoctions from birth, forging bodies of bronze skin, iron tendons, and steel bones. Once they began martial training, their progress advanced by leaps and bounds.

If they also had elixirs for refining qi, reaching Xiantian Great Completion in the blink of an eye was hardly a problem.

But Su Daozhi was merely a branch member—in truth, he had nothing.

His only reliance was Zhong Shenxiu's insight and determination.

As for that ridiculous Heavenly Show System, he had already set it aside, refusing to dwell on it.

He wondered if the system, had it possessed intelligence, might have muttered a complaint.

"Mm, do your work well. If you achieve merit this time, I can take it upon myself to pass down the complete Ten Directions Beast Art to you," Feng Xi'er said with a smile.

Though both were at Xiantian, cultivating one or two techniques of the Ten Directions Beast Art was vastly different from mastering all ten.

Zhong Shenxiu estimated that the latter could probably beat ten of the former!

Even if gathering all ten techniques couldn't break through Xiantian, he still had to put on a grateful expression on the surface.

In his heart, though, he was quietly pondering:

'This little wench has truly unfathomable strength—perhaps she's already broken through Xiantian and refined Sha and Qi?'

'But I don't know if she broke through using the Ten Directions Beast Art as her foundation... Regardless of the technique, she won't teach it to me. This already counts as the true transmission of some minor sects.'

Even in the Second Yanhan Empire, the follow-up to the Ten Directions Beast Art—how to slaughter Demonic Beasts, take their souls, and forge the Myriad Beast True Body—is an extremely precious inheritance... As a criminal, I probably won't be taught. Even if I earn merit and clear my record, I won't pass the review... because I might harbor resentment, making me an untrainable element, a potential hidden threat!

Thinking this, Zhong Shenxiu looked at the two dog heads outside the arena and suddenly felt a sense of kinship with them.