Eradicating the Demonic Cult

No wonder Xing Yao was so excited.

The Spirit Monkey Hundred Transformations Movement Technique consisted of 108 moves and combined footwork, fist techniques, and palm techniques. It was many times harder than the Star-Splitting Fist.

Back then, even he had needed half a year just to learn it.

And that was only learning it, not mastering it.

Had Zhou Cheng really learned it in one night?

Zhou Cheng nodded.

"Show it to me," Xing Yao said, doing his best to suppress his excitement.

Zhou Cheng returned to the hall and began demonstrating the Spirit Monkey Hundred Transformations Movement Technique.

Xing Yao had obtained the Spirit Monkey Hundred Transformations Movement Technique years ago on a deserted island overseas. The technique drew on the movements of various spirit monkeys, yet surpassed them all.

The further one progressed, the harder the movements became. Some required a series of flips in midair.

Practitioners needed not only pure inner strength, but also exceptional flexibility to perform them.

In the hall, Zhou Cheng's figure kept shifting, nimble and unpredictable. Many of the movements were extraordinarily tricky, yet he performed them all with seamless fluidity.

As Xing Yao watched Zhou Cheng demonstrate the Spirit Monkey Hundred Transformations Movement Technique almost perfectly, his eyes shone with admiration.

After completing all 108 moves, Zhou Cheng wasn't even red in the face or out of breath.

Xing Yao looked at Zhou Cheng, barely able to contain his excitement.

Earlier, when Zhou Cheng had demonstrated the Pure Fire Saber Technique in the cave, Xing Yao had already thought him a martial arts prodigy. Now, he realized he had vastly underestimated Zhou Cheng's talent.

At the same time, he felt all the more gratified to have taken Zhou Cheng as his final disciple.

He clapped Zhou Cheng on the shoulder, too excited to know what to say, his eyes crinkling with laughter.

"Master, do you still have any acquired fist techniques, movement techniques, or saber techniques?" Zhou Cheng asked Xing Yao.

Xing Yao froze for a moment, then beamed. "Wait here." He went into the rear hall and returned a while later carrying a large chest.

"These are various martial arts techniques I've collected from different sects over the years. Take a look," Xing Yao said. "Quite a few of these manuals took your master a great deal of effort to obtain."

Zhou Cheng looked through the chest. There seemed to be two or three hundred martial arts manuals inside. He smiled.

It seemed becoming his disciple had been well worth it.

If he had tried to gather so many martial arts manuals himself, it would have taken him ages.

Seeing how delighted Zhou Cheng looked, Xing Yao said sternly, "Disciple, your talent is astonishing, but it's better to master a few techniques than to dabble in too many. I think you should focus on just a few martial arts techniques. Most importantly, you need to raise your inner strength."

"Besides, these acquired techniques are quite good, but they're still far inferior to innate techniques."

"Don't worry, Master. I understand," Zhou Cheng said.

He understood that perfectly well, of course, but he had his own plans.

"Master, have you ever cultivated any martial art to the Transcendent Perfection realm?" Zhou Cheng suddenly asked.

Xing Yao shook his head. "Reaching the Transcendent Perfection realm is no easy feat. Not even your master—or the other Supreme Grandmasters—has managed to cultivate a martial art to that level."

Zhou Cheng was rather disappointed.

Afterward, Zhou Cheng stayed with Xing Yao for nearly another hour, asking many questions about cultivation and the Great Feng Dynasty. Then he took the more than two hundred martial arts manuals back to his courtyard.

Watching Zhou Cheng leave, Xing Yao's eyes brimmed with affection. "Perhaps this child will break through to the King Realm someday!"

Breaking through to the King Realm was not only his dream, but the dream of every martial artist in the Great Feng Dynasty.

After returning to his courtyard, Zhou Cheng went through the more than two hundred martial arts manuals in the chest, then began sorting them.

There were sixty-two fist technique manuals.

Thirty-seven palm technique manuals.

Forty-three movement technique manuals.

Forty-nine saber technique manuals.

Seventy-four sword technique manuals.

There were more sword manuals than any other kind, followed by fist, saber, movement, and palm techniques.

Eager as a starving man, Zhou Cheng began poring over the manuals. He skipped the sword and palm techniques, focusing solely on fist, saber, and movement techniques.

The first manual he read was the Spinning Fist.

The Spinning Fist was rather ingenious. When thrown, its force could curve back around, making it bizarre and difficult to defend against.

Sure enough, after Zhou Cheng learned the Spinning Fist, it was defeated by the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist and incorporated into it, increasing the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist's cultivation progress by 1.

Since Zhou Cheng only needed to memorize these fist techniques for them to be automatically mastered, he averaged two manuals an hour. By the end of the day, the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist had improved tremendously, reaching 24.

In less than three days, Zhou Cheng had finished reading all sixty-two fist technique manuals. Including the Star-Splitting Fist he had learned earlier, the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist's cultivation progress had reached 64.

Next, Zhou Cheng began reading the saber technique manuals.

There were forty-nine of them, so it took him two days to learn them all.

Zhou Cheng's Demon-Subduing Saber Technique had improved to 50.

By then, five days had passed since the Apprenticeship Ceremony.

After swallowing a Nine-Orifice Golden Pill every day, Zhou Cheng successfully broke through the barrier of the Yin Qiao Meridian on the morning of the fifth day after the Apprenticeship Ceremony, advancing to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

"I've reached the seventh level of Qi Refining." Zhou Cheng circulated the Northern Dark Divine Technique, his inner strength surging through the seven meridians—Ren, Governing Vessel, Thrusting Vessel, Dai Meridian, Yin Wei Meridian, Yangwei Meridian, and Yin Qiao Meridian. It was more than twice as powerful as before.

"Congratulations, host, on breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining. You have obtained a Realm-Breakthrough Gift Pack."

The announcement sounded as soon as he broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Zhou Cheng opened the gift pack. Eight Marrow-Cleansing Pills appeared in his inventory.

He had thought this time would be the same as before, with only four Marrow-Cleansing Pills. Getting four more was an unexpected bonus.

Zhou Cheng swallowed all eight Marrow-Cleansing Pills.

The medicinal power surged through Zhou Cheng, who had just broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, and kept improving his strength until it reached 32.

Zhou Cheng's hundred-year genius aptitude had also evolved to 40.

Just as Zhou Cheng broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, a disciple came to summon him to the main hall. The disciple didn't say why.

When Zhou Cheng arrived at the main hall, his master Xing Yao was there, along with Su Huang, Shi Fei, Wu Shuo, Gao Yi, and the others. Every Grand Elder and elder of the Myriad Star Sect had arrived.

Seeing Zhou Cheng enter, Xing Yao smiled and patted the seat beside him, inviting Zhou Cheng to sit at his side.

Su Huang and the others were displeased, but they didn't dare say anything.

"Now that everyone's here, let's discuss the matter of eradicating the Demonic Cult," Su Huang said.