Chicken-Cry Alley was anything but what its name suggested.
No chickens could be heard in the alley. There was only the mournful whine of wind threading through the narrow passage. The bluestone road had seen no sunlight for years, and a slick layer of moss covered it. The air was thick with the mingled smells of damp earth and decay, drifting from the mass graveyard at the end of the alley.
Usually, no one was willing to take on such a thankless assignment. Yet Ye Qingxuan carried his Water-Fire Cudgel with unhurried steps, looking almost rather pleased with himself.
The place was secluded and free from disturbance, perfectly suited to his tastes.
The night watchman had just struck the third watch, and the hollow clacking of the watchman's rattle echoed faintly in the distance. Ye Qingxuan found a spot beneath an eave sheltered from the wind and stood still. He closed his eyes and sank his mind into his consciousness.
That vast Martial Path Heavenly Machine Codex slowly unfolded within his sea of consciousness.
The Indestructible Vajra Body had reached the second stage of Body Tempering, its progress already more than halfway complete. His Merit points were steadily accumulating bit by bit through his daily stake-standing and breathing exercises.
His other martial art, however, had reached a bottleneck.
[Locust Throwing Technique (Minor Accomplishment, Merit: 49/50)]
Only the final point of Merit remained.
Last night, he had practiced with broken stones in the courtyard. After a whole night's hard work, he had pushed the technique to the peak of Minor Accomplishment. He could clearly sense that the force and accuracy of every throw were already worlds apart from yesterday. With one more step, when it reached Great Accomplishment, the Locust Stone would no longer be a simple concealed weapon. It would