Night Ninefold

Lying in bed, Xu Qing kept reviewing what he had gained today.

"I didn't expect those robbers to have accomplices. I really was a little careless. If they'd been any stronger, whew—"

Still, this real battle had given him a clear sense of his own strength.

He could distinctly feel that he had completely overwhelmed that Gene Martial Artist in terms of power.

And in terms of technique, he had likewise completely outclassed his opponent.

There had been nothing particularly impressive about the other man's blade work.

As for the battle itself,

Xu Qing went over it and concluded that he had handled things fairly well.

The only thing that left him dissatisfied

was that before a fight, his spear needed to be assembled. He could not simply pull it out and fight at any moment.

"If I encounter another sudden attack like that, the spear may very well be unusable in the short term."

"That's quite troublesome."

He could not possibly carry an assembled spear on his back at all times.

After all, this was no longer the era of the Great Cataclysm.

Carrying such a long weapon while constantly armed in the city was not permitted.

Still, despite some shortcomings,

the outcome had been good.

The next day.

Saturday.

Early in the morning.

After waking up and washing up, Xu Qing took out the spoils from this trip.

"Oh? Two more bank cards."

Xu Qing examined them closely and discovered that one of the cards was not a Blue Star bank card.

"Dragon Scale Bank, Lunar Upper City North District Branch."

Xu Qing read the small print on the Bearer Card in surprise.

"Beep!"

Balance: 262,000 Lunar Coins

"Lunar Coins? That converts to 393,000 Alliance Coins! About 1.5 times as much!"

"This must be the Gene Martial Artist's card. I didn't expect him to be from the moon. What a pity."

Xu Qing sighed, then took out the other card and pressed it against his smartphone.

The bank cards on the two men brought Xu Qing a total income of around 450,000 Alliance Coins.

That somewhat made up for the money he had spent on this outing.

He still had around 470,000 on him now.

That was enough to buy another set of Grade D Gene Potions.

However, over the next two days,

Xu Qing did not take any Gene Potions. Instead, he quietly waited for the secret manual to arrive.

Because the staff at the Lunar Surface Commerce Alliance in 0121 County had told him that taking Gene Potions alongside cultivation would yield better results.

By Monday morning,

Xu Qing received a delivery call early in the day.

The auction house had personally sent someone to deliver it.

After confirming the item and signing for it,

Xu Qing excitedly carried a leather case back to his dormitory.

He had specifically taken the day off for the secret manual.

"I hope this manual is worth the 300,000 I spent, as well as the pay I lost by taking today off."

After steadying himself, Xu Qing opened the case and saw the "secret manual" inside.

It was a beautifully made yet somewhat aged book with a black cover.

"A paper book." Xu Qing was slightly surprised.

In this day and age, paper books were rarely used.

Most secret manuals and books existed as electronic documents.

For example, the map he had seen at the auction house before had been an electronic document rather than a paper one.

After all, electronic data was easier to preserve nowadays.

He opened the secret manual.

Xu Qing read it carefully.

The first page of the manual contained only two short lines.

They introduced a type of bird known as the "owl."

"Owls inhabit mountains and deep forests. They rest by day and emerge by night, feeding on insects and birds. They are incredibly fast and fierce."

"Based on the sounds produced by their prey's movements, they continuously adjust the direction of their attack through sight and hearing, finally striking with their talons in a single decisive blow, silent and unseen."

After considering it for a moment, Xu Qing roughly understood.

Those two lines of introduction were probably something akin to the general principles of martial arts.

For example, the Twelve Animal Forms of Xing Yi Fist imitated animals,

and most had been inspired by the unique habits or attacking behaviors of those animals, as observed by the predecessors who created Xing Yi Fist.

That was how the inspiration had arisen.

At the same time,

as he read those two lines,

Xu Qing could almost picture an owl silently streaking through the night.

It waited for the right moment before killing its prey with a single strike.

Soon, the form of the Night Owl vanished.

It transformed into a silent yet incomparably vicious streak of sword light.

"What a pity. It would have been better if this manual were for spear techniques."

At this point, Xu Qing understood.

This Combat Secret Technique, "Night Owl," was likely related to swordsmanship.

Because its creator had used a sword.

However, he had not bought the manual for its Combat Secret Technique in the first place, but for the Gene Guidance Technique within it.

So this counted as an unexpected bonus.

He only felt a slight sense of regret.

Still, there might be things in the other party's swordsmanship that he could make use of.

After all, most martial arts shared common principles.

And the most valuable aspect of Combat Secret Techniques lay in their methods of exerting force.

Turning to the second page,

Xu Qing continued reading.

This page was the table of contents.

The entire secret manual was divided into three volumes.

Volume One was the Combat Secret Technique—"Night Owl"—with a total of seven moves.

Volume Two was the movement technique—"Night Concealment."

Volume Three was the Gene Guidance Technique—"Night Ninefold"—with a total of nine levels.

However, many pages in the book had been torn out.

Only the first move of the Combat Secret Technique remained.

The movement technique volume was relatively complete, but it only included the basics and the initial Advanced Stage.

The Gene Guidance Technique likewise contained only the first level.

Of course, Xu Qing understood as well.

If it were not this incomplete,

300,000?

Even 3,000,000 might not have been enough to buy it.

Now, he could only hope that the Attribute Panel would come through.

"Begin learning!"

Every cell in Xu Qing's body seemed to buzz with excitement as he threw himself into studying.

For an entire day, he carefully read and tried to understand every word in the secret manual.

The first thing Xu Qing studied was the Gene Guidance Technique.

That was also the main reason he had bought this secret manual.

Relying solely on the Three Elements Gene Cultivation Method, the Cosmic Energy he absorbed each day had already become extremely faint.

Its effect on extending his lifespan was very limited.

But a Gene Guidance Technique could be several times more effective than a cultivation method!

"Night Ninefold mainly relies on breathing for cultivation."

"Although it looks broadly similar to the Three Elements Gene Cultivation Method, these subtle differences are precisely the key to its power."

"Exhale—"

"Inhale—"

Over the next two days, Xu Qing researched the Night Ninefold Gene Guidance Technique.

With the foundation of the Three Elements Gene Cultivation Method,

at midnight on the second night,

he finally succeeded in mastering this Gene Guidance Technique.

Information on the guidance technique naturally appeared on the panel as well.

Name: Xu Qing

Lifespan: 16/85

Fist Technique: Ancient Martial Xing Yi (Perfection)

Spear Technique: Xing Yi Five Elements Spear (Divine Skill) (+)

Cultivation Method: Night Ninefold Guidance Technique (First Level) (+)

Available Attribute Points: 2

"It worked!" Xu Qing's eyes lit up as he excitedly threw a punch.

The stable state within his body was immediately broken, and the guidance technique was interrupted.

However,

when Xu Qing saw the plus sign behind it, he knew everything was just as he had expected!

"It really works! Ha! Then the remaining movement technique and Combat Secret Technique should work the same way."

"Hahaha, the panel is still amazing!"

Xu Qing rubbed his face, calmed himself down again, and began practicing the first level of the guidance technique.

After carefully sensing it for a while,

he confirmed that this first level of the guidance technique was indeed inferior to the Three Yuan Gene Method at Perfection.

Xu Qing focused on the "+" behind the guidance technique on the panel.

"Add a point!"

As one Available Attribute Point disappeared,

the information for the Gene Guidance Technique changed to—

"Night Ninefold (Second Level) (+)"!

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