Zhong Shenxiu looked inward and felt all thirty-six acupoints in his body had been fully opened. In his dantian, the Spiritual Turtle True Qi seemed to have found a spring, endlessly bubbling forth and giving him the illusion that it would never run dry.
"Was it really this convenient?"
He was surprised at first, but soon felt it was only natural.
After all, how could an ordinary Xiantian martial artist possess his wild imagination and supreme fortune?
Using Western Vengeful Spirits to assist his cultivation was essentially the same as having a great expert of the Divine Ability Realm personally transfer their cultivation into him. It would have been strange if his power had not advanced by leaps and bounds.
"It's just that... the deeper the affinity, the deeper the calamity... I can feel that with every 'use,' the Headless Count inside me is gradually 'awakening.' I'm afraid that the next time it erupts, it'll need to devour even more..."
Zhong Shenxiu sighed and walked out of his room. With merely a sidelong glance, he secretly exerted force with both hands and pushed away the two dog heads that had crowded over. "Lord Huang, Er Ha?"
Waiting outside his door were indeed Huang Xie and Er Ha.
The two Quanrong Tribe men wore ingratiating smiles. "Good morning, Lord Su. Are you going to have breakfast? We've already brought you some."
As he spoke, he handed over a paper bundle containing three steaming meat buns.
I remember my current allotment should be four...
Zhong Shenxiu shot Er Ha a sidelong glance. Seeing the fellow hastily cover his mouth, he was rendered even more speechless.
He did not care about it, merely smiling as he said, "I was just getting hungry. What brings you two here?"
Now that he had been transferred into the Black Armored Iron Cavalry, he could not even be considered a member of Black Mountain Fortress anymore. They did not even live together.
"Nothing much. We just came to pay our respects."
Huang Xie glanced at his nephew, hesitating to speak.
Zhong Shenxiu swallowed the buns in two or three bites and said nothing.
He naturally knew that although the Quanrong Tribe possessed some inheritances, they were not something these two fellows could hope to covet.
The reason Huang Xie had enlisted, besides earning money, might well have been to seek some Martial Arts techniques.
However, although the Fufeng Protectorate was friendly with the Quanrong Tribe, it did not wish to cultivate an overly powerful ally.
At the lower levels, this manifested as discrimination against the Quanrong Tribe in the military camps. They were only fit to associate with convicts, and promotions were exceedingly difficult.
Huang Xie had muddled along for several years, yet was still merely a common soldier, unable to even touch the edge of the Four Symbols Battle Methods.
As for a method of Xiantian Qi Refining? He could not even dream of it.
The army might still permit Houtian techniques to be privately passed on, but when it came to methods of Xiantian Qi Refining, even Que'er had previously warned Zhong Shenxiu not to pass them on.
If he violated that rule, military law was not something to joke about.
Zhong Shenxiu thought for a moment, then looked at the two dog heads. "I'm going to practice my morning exercises. Why don't you join me?"
Without waiting for Huang Xie to thank him, he went to an open space and began practicing the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand, move by move.
As for how much that blockhead Er Ha could understand, it would depend on his own fortune.
In truth, the one who had genuinely shared a past connection with Su Daozhi was Huang Xie. Zhong Shenxiu therefore did not stop the two from watching and learning on their own.
He performed the Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand again and again. With the Spiritual Turtle True Qi at the grand completion stage supplementing it, he gained many more insights.
"That's right... The Ten Directions Beast Art complements itself. For this grappling technique to reach its peak, it still has to be combined with Xiantian True Qi..."
True Qi could be released externally, causing every move to gain an extension of roughly a foot.
When experts fought, victory or defeat sometimes hung by a thread. If one suddenly increased their lethal range by several feet, the advantage gained would naturally be immense.
With that thought, Zhong Shenxiu no longer held back. Streams of Xiantian True Qi surged into his fingertips.
This time, he truly seemed to transform into an Azure Dragon. His hands became dragon claws, and every grab sent force tearing through the air, extending and retracting unpredictably.
He was still concealing some of his strength. If he fully manifested the three-foot reach of his Xiantian True Qi, its might would increase explosively.
As for the two dog heads, they had long since been left staring blankly.
"Is this... external release of True Qi?"
Huang Xie was ultimately somewhat more knowledgeable than Er Ha. He glanced at his nephew, and suddenly felt an urge to cry.
The two of them had joined the military and earned merit, yet could only learn some crude Martial Arts. They could not even touch the Four Symbols Battle Methods.
Zhong Shenxiu, however, had already been granted a method of Xiantian Qi Refining and had even achieved some success. His future prospects were limitless.
Compared side by side, how could a dog not feel sorrowful and dejected?
"Good!"
Just then, a soft shout rang out.
Zhong Shenxiu withdrew his hands and stood upright, saluting. "Greetings, Colonel."
At some point, Feng Xi'er had arrived with Que'er and was watching from the side with a beaming smile.
"You really are a son of an Aristocratic Clan. Perhaps you were soaked in medicinal decoctions as a child and laid down some foundation... Your True Qi has already broken through ten acupoints in the Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique, hasn't it?"
She ultimately failed to see that Zhong Shenxiu was still concealing a little of his strength.
[Heavenly Show Points +20%]
Zhong Shenxiu glanced at the Heavenly Show System, too lazy to bother with it further.
After arriving in this world, that idiotic system seemed to have grown even more active, and his Heavenly Show Points were increasing at astonishing speed.
For now, he merely said, "I must thank you as well for imparting the technique, Colonel!"
The disciples of famous Aristocratic Clans had their Foundation Establishment nurtured by spiritual medicines from the womb. Once born, they were soaked in all kinds of medicinal baths, forging bodies of copper skin, steel sinews, and iron bones. Once they began practicing Martial Arts, their progress would advance a thousand miles a day.
If they also possessed some miraculous elixirs for Qi Refining, reaching great completion in the Xiantian realm in the blink of an eye would be nothing unusual.
But Su Daozhi was merely a branch descendant. In truth, he had nothing.
The only things he could rely on were Zhong Shenxiu's knowledge and hard work.
As for that idiotic Heavenly Show System, he had already cast it aside and stopped thinking about it.
He wondered whether, if the system possessed intelligence, it would complain about this.
"Mm. Do your work well. If you earn merit this time, I can make the decision to impart the Ten Directions Beast Art to you in its entirety," Feng Xi'er said with a beaming smile.
Although they were both Xiantian, cultivating one or two branches of the Ten Directions Beast Art was naturally worlds apart from mastering all ten.
Zhong Shenxiu estimated that the latter could probably fight ten of the former!
Although even gathering all ten techniques would not allow one to break through the Xiantian realm, he still had to put on an expression of gratitude.
In his heart, however, he secretly pondered:
This little vixen truly possesses unfathomable strength. She may have already broken through the Xiantian realm and refined Baleful Intent?
It's just that I don't know whether she used the Ten Directions Beast Art as the foundation for her breakthrough... But whatever technique she cultivates, she could never teach it to me. This already counts as the true inheritance of some minor sects.
Even in the Second Yanhan Empire, the later portions of the Ten Directions Beast Art—secrets such as how to slaughter Demonic Beasts, take their souls, and refine them into a Myriad Beast True Body—are exceedingly precious inheritances... As a convict, I probably won't be taught them. Even if I earn merit and clear my record, I still won't pass the review... They might suspect that I harbor resentment, classify me as someone unfit for cultivation, and refuse to create a hidden threat!
With that thought, Zhong Shenxiu looked once more at the two dog heads outside the practice field, and suddenly felt that they were birds of a feather.
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