The sky had grown dark. Outside the courtyard:
Lin Chen hurried along, quickly returning to his little room.
He suppressed the excitement in his heart.
Inside his dantian, the wisp of the Karma Fire Red Lotus had visibly solidified a little.
Its crimson glow had grown purer and brighter, and the aura it gave off was much stronger!
"Heavenly Flames... They really are a huge tonic!"
Though it was still insignificant compared to its peak.
Compared to yesterday, however, its aura had multiplied several times over!
He hoped Lin Chen would lie down and rest at once. He was still very young!
Using cultivation in place of sleep was still premature.
The next day, beneath clear skies:
Lin Chen went to the cliff at Back Mountain to cultivate as usual.
Not long after he began circulating the Blood Scripture, a light-footed figure appeared on the mountain path.
It was Xiao Xun'er.
Today, she wore a pale green dress.
Her little face was clear and rosy, her eyes bright.
There was no trace of last night's pain and vulnerability left in her.
She walked over to a spot not far from Lin Chen and stopped:
"Thank you for yesterday."
She thanked him solemnly once more, her voice clear and melodious.
Lin Chen opened his eyes and glanced at her. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, and he nodded:
"You're welcome."
Xiao Xun'er didn't mind his indifference. She took a pale gold scroll from her sleeve.
The scroll was made of extraordinary material, and faint ripples of energy surrounded it.
"What happened last night means I owe you a great deal."
"This is called Shadow Escape, a Profound Tier High Grade movement Dou Technique."
"When mastered, it lets you become a shadow, swift and elusive."
"It'll make you far faster than your peers at the same level. Consider it a small token of my thanks."
She held out the scroll.
In her eyes, though Lin Chen possessed a heaven-defying constitution, living in the Xiao Clan meant he was bound to lack high-grade Dou Techniques for protection.
This Profound Tier High Grade movement technique was already among the best in Wutan City.
It would serve him well up to Dou Ling or even Dou Wang, making it just right for him.
Lin Chen's gaze fell on the scroll. He gave a slight nod and took it:
"Thank you."
He happened to lack a movement technique for traveling and dodging.
Since she had offered it, he might as well take it.
His calm, natural manner caught Xiao Xun'er off guard, despite the speech she had prepared.
She had thought he would at least refuse at first or ask where it came from.
But Lin Chen took the scroll and immediately opened it right there.
His eyes swept over its contents, as if he meant to study it on the spot.
Xiao Xun'er blinked, then decided not to leave.
She sat down on a smooth rock beside him, resting her chin in her hands.
She looked ready to watch him cultivate:
"You don't mind if I watch, do you?"
"If there's anything you don't understand, I could..."
"Um... discuss it with you?"
She was curious to see how this mysterious fellow would go about cultivating a Dou Technique.
Lin Chen didn't even raise his head. His attention was already entirely absorbed by the scroll.
His tone was calm:
"I don't mind."
He quickly scanned the cultivation formula and energy pathways of Shadow Escape.
But as he read, his brows gradually furrowed.
"Strange... This is a Profound Tier High Grade Dou Technique?"
"Why does it feel... so simple?"
The energy-circulation techniques, meridian nodes to strike, and key points of the footwork—all obscure and difficult to understand to ordinary Dou Zhe...
In his eyes, they were as plain as one plus one equaling two!
It was as if he had already mastered countless things millions of times more complex and profound.
Reading Shadow Escape now was like a college student looking through a picture book for toddlers!
That was it!
It was the Blood Scripture!
The inheritance of Ancestor Styx!
His soul and comprehension had already been elevated and remade when he received that vast inheritance.
It had happened unconsciously!
How could he fail to understand the techniques of this world when he could cultivate the supreme arts of the primeval world?
He viewed this world's cultivation system from a higher vantage point, straight through to its origins.
Any technique or method below a certain level was full of flaws in his eyes.
Ridiculously simple!
What was more, his soul power had been cleansed by Styx's will and strengthened through several devourings. It far surpassed that of his peers.
It was even comparable to that of some Da Dou Shi and Dou Ling!
His comprehension and ability to work things out were downright monstrous!
"I see..."
Lin Chen's mind suddenly cleared.
A surge of confidence followed.
He closed the scroll and shut his eyes.
Every detail of Shadow Escape had already taken shape in his mind.
It was rapidly analyzed, refined, and even...
some vague or flawed parts of the scroll had been filled in!
The next moment, under Xiao Xun'er's astonished gaze, Lin Chen moved!
He didn't waste a moment preparing. The Blood Origin Dou Qi in his body stirred naturally.
It instantly flowed along the optimized pathways of Shadow Escape!
Whoosh!
His figure seemed to blur, leaving behind an extremely faint afterimage.
His true body had already appeared beneath a tree three zhang away!
His movements were smooth and natural, without the slightest awkwardness, as if he had practiced them thousands of times!
And that wasn't all!
His figure flashed again and again, sometimes drifting unpredictably like a ghost.
At other times, he darted about with the sharp speed of a gale!
Across the small clearing, he left streak after streak of faint, blood-red afterimages that were nearly impossible to catch!
As his steps shifted and changed, they even stirred a faint whistle of wind!
This was the sign that Shadow Escape was nearing minor mastery!
One read-through!
He had read the scroll just once and practiced the technique once, yet he had already entered the basics!
And was on the verge of minor mastery?!
What no one knew was that Lin Chen had fully comprehended it while reading it the first time.
He had simply never practiced it before!
His body couldn't keep up with his soul and comprehension, so this was all he could show.
If he practiced a few more times, he would master it completely!
Thud!
In the shadows, Ling Ying, who had been watching closely with his soul power,
nearly stumbled and fell from the tree branch where he was hiding!
He clutched his chest, feeling as if his heart were about to leap out of his throat!
His eyes bulged in his aged face, and his mouth gaped wide enough to fit a fist.
Every wrinkle on his face twisted with utter shock!
"N-no... Impossible!"
"This is absolutely impossible!!"
Ling Ying roared silently in his heart, his soul trembling.
"A Profound Tier High Grade Dou Technique!"
"He saw it once and... and reached minor mastery?!"
"Back when I cultivated a Profound Tier Low Grade Dou Technique, it still took me quite some time just to learn the basics!"
"W-what kind of monstrous comprehension is this?!"
"A freak! He's a complete freak!!"
Xiao Xun'er, sitting on the rock, was even more thoroughly petrified!
At some point, she had lowered the hands that had been propping up her chin.
Her petite body was rigid, her clear, glass-like eyes opened wide.
They were filled with utter shock and disbelief!
Her rosy little mouth hung slightly open, her pupils trembling.
But no sound came out!
She stared at the skinny figure flickering and darting about the clearing like a ghost.
Her mind was completely blank!
A Profound Tier High Grade Dou Technique! Not Yellow Tier!
Nor Profound Tier Low Grade!
Profound Tier High Grade!
Even with her knowledge and talent, learning a Dou Technique of the same tier had taken her nearly a dozen days just to grasp the basics!
And for that, the Ancient Clan had hailed her as a once-in-a-millennium prodigy!
But this person before her...
He... he had...
Read it once! Practiced it once!
And was already on the verge of minor mastery?!
This could no longer be explained by talent alone!
He was practically... the darling of the heavens!
The tremendous shock crashed through Xiao Xun'er's heart like a tsunami.
For the first time, she felt an intense curiosity about someone her own age.
She finally understood what Elder Ling meant when he called Lin Chen a "freak."
Xiao Xun'er's resolve to recruit Lin Chen grew even stronger.
But she also became more cautious.
Once someone like him grew up...
He would shake the entire continent!
In the clearing, Lin Chen stopped and furrowed his brow slightly.
He seemed dissatisfied with his performance.
"The energy can flow three percent faster when it reaches the nodes in the Foot Shaoyang Meridian."
"The afterimages can be more solid, too..."
He muttered under his breath, then moved again.
He was trying to make fine adjustments and further optimize the technique.
And this almost absurd comprehension and cultivation speed
had plunged the Dou Emperor in the shadows and the Ancient Clan's young lady in the open
into a long, silent storm of shock!
For a long, long time, neither of them could recover...
Before you continue