Surging Combat Power, Setting Sail (Please Keep Reading)

Beside him, Lin Xiaowan gazed at him with eyes like silk.

That look was filled with attachment, submission, and satisfaction.

She had been utterly conquered.

But when she saw Wang Mengde frown, her heart suddenly leaped into her throat.

He had frowned.

He was dissatisfied?

She was afraid.

Afraid he would deny everything afterward, afraid she would still have nowhere to go, afraid that everything just now had been nothing but empty air.

She hurriedly shifted closer, wrapped her arms around Wang Mengde's arm, rubbed against him from side to side, and looked at him pitifully.

"Brother Wang, I... can I move over today?"

Biting her lip, she said, "I have to pay rent tomorrow. If I move over today, I can save these two months' rent..."

As she spoke, tears shimmered in her eyes again.

That appearance truly made one's heart ache at the sight of her.

Wang Mengde glanced at her. "Stop acting horny and pack up quickly."

Lin Xiaowan froze.

Then, the stone hanging over her heart finally dropped to the ground.

In its place came a flicker of joy.

She could move in with him.

She would not be thrown out.

For now, she had someone to rely on.

She hurriedly tried to get up, but the moment she moved, she found her legs so weak that she had no strength at all.

She lay back down and looked at Wang Mengde pitifully. "Brother Wang, I... I have no strength left. Can I rest for a while before packing my things?"

Wang Mengde looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "You can."

Leaning against the headboard, Wang Mengde casually picked up several booklets and began flipping through them.

He randomly opened Voice Transmission Technique Insights.

The booklet was not thick, only a dozen or so pages, but every page was densely packed with writing.

Page by page, Wang Mengde read through it. The words recorded Zhao Youming's experiences and insights from cultivating the Voice Transmission Technique, along with some unique tricks.

As he read, a flash of enlightenment suddenly passed through his mind.

[Voice Transmission Technique +1]

Strands of insight surfaced in his mind and merged into his soul.

Wang Mengde's eyes brightened slightly.

Could reading someone's insights actually increase the cultivation speed of a spell?

He continued reading, carefully going through every page.

[Voice Transmission Technique +1]

[Voice Transmission Technique +1]

A short while later, he finished the entire booklet. His Voice Transmission Technique had risen from Beginner 2/100 to Beginner 15/100.

It had increased by a full thirteen points.

A faint smile appeared on Wang Mengde's lips.

He set down the Voice Transmission Technique insights and picked up Lightbody Radiance Talisman Drawing Insights.

Turning to Lin Xiaowan beside him, he raised the booklet and asked, "Where did this come from?"

Lin Xiaowan had been resting with her eyes closed. Hearing his question, she quickly opened them.

She glanced at the booklet and answered softly, "My father left it behind before he died. He said it had been passed down by my grandfather, but..."

She paused. "But it only contains some experience and insights. It does not include the method for drawing the Lightbody Radiance Talisman."

Wang Mengde nodded slightly. "Mm."

He opened the booklet.

Sure enough, it contained scattered bits of experience: choosing talisman paper, mixing cinnabar, and the timing and degree of spiritual power circulation while drawing.

It filled dozens of pages in dense writing.

But without even the most basic method for drawing the Lightbody Radiance Talisman, those experiences and insights were like a tree without roots, water without a source.

Wang Mengde closed the booklet, deep in thought.

He remembered that Rosy Cloud Pavilion sold the method for drawing the Lightbody Radiance Talisman.

But the price was extremely steep.

A complete set of Lightbody Radiance Talisman drawing methods cost more than fifteen hundred spirit stones.

As an Island Patrol Guard, he could get a ten percent discount.

But even after the discount, it would still cost over thirteen hundred spirit stones.

He did not have that many spirit stones for the time being, and he still needed them for cultivation.

Wang Mengde set the booklet aside and stopped thinking about it.

Spring passed and autumn came.

In the blink of an eye, another year had gone by.

Wang Mengde sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his eyes closed as he examined himself inwardly.

[Destined One: Wang Mengde]

[Fate: Heaven Rewards Diligence (Success Is Inevitable)]

[Qi Refinement Cultivation: Qi Refinement Level 4 (550/800)]

[Body Cultivation: Body Tempering Level 2 (4/200)]

[Technique: Luan-Phoenix Harmony Formula Level 4 (550/800); True Myriad Beast Taming Formula Level 1 (910/1000)]

[Spells: Spirit Eye Technique (Peak Mastery) 850/3200; Fishing Technique (Peak Mastery) 430/3200; Entwining Silk Technique (Peak Mastery) 430/3200; Water Arrow Technique (Peak Mastery) 18/3200; Water Escape Technique (Perfection) 25/1600; Palm Thunder Technique (Perfection) 210/1600; Voice Transmission Technique (Major Mastery) 212/400]

Wang Mengde opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Over the past year, he had scarcely slacked off.

Every day, he refined spirit stones to cultivate without fail, as steady as clockwork.

Every month, he refined one Essence-Nourishing Pill.

Of course, there was also dual cultivation.

After some exploration, Wang Mengde had grasped the pattern.

Dual cultivating every day produced extremely weak results.

The longer the interval, the more intense the spiritual power's fiery agitation became, but the better the effect.

Later, he dual cultivated with Lin Xiaowan once every half month.

Although the effect was far inferior to the first time, each session still added one point of proficiency, equal to twenty-five hours of sleepless, tireless cultivation.

It also reduced the fiery agitation in his spiritual power by nearly half a percent.

After one year, of the original nine hundred-plus spirit stones on him, only eight remained.

But the results had been quite good.

His spiritual power cultivation had risen by a full five hundred and fifty points.

The space in his qi sea was now fifty percent larger than when he had first entered Qi Refinement Level 4.

The quality of his spiritual power had improved, and the width and resilience of his meridians had also increased greatly.

What satisfied him most was the progress of his spells.

The Water Arrow Technique had finally been grinded to Peak Mastery.

The Palm Thunder Technique and Water Escape Technique had also been grinded to Perfection.

Besides that,

his body cultivation had unexpectedly risen by eleven points, advancing him to Body Tempering Level 2.

His combat strength was more than a notch stronger than it had been a year ago.

His other spells had also improved to varying degrees.

Wang Mengde got off the bed and stretched his limbs.

It was time to head out to sea.

To retrieve Qin Xiangnan's storage bag.

A full year had passed. That Qin Xiangbei had surely returned by now.

How could an outer disciple of the Evergreen Sect possibly waste an entire year in a small place like Rosy Cloud Island?

Wang Mengde walked out of the bedroom.

In the courtyard, Lin Xiaowan was hanging clothes out to dry.

She had lived well over the past year. Nourished by the cultivation technique, her physical condition had improved greatly.

Her complexion was also much better than before, her face carrying a rosy glow that made her all the more delicate and beautiful.

Her figure had become increasingly exquisite as well.

When she saw Wang Mengde emerge, she hurriedly went up to him.

"Brother Wang, why are you up so early today?"

Wang Mengde said,

"I'm heading out to sea."

Lin Xiaowan froze, then nodded.

"Then... be careful."

Wang Mengde gave a response and walked out through the courtyard gate.

The docks were as bustling and familiar as ever.

Fishing cultivators came and went. Some had just returned from sea, while others were preparing to depart.

Standing on the dock, Wang Mengde habitually cast the Spirit Eye Technique.

His gaze swept over the crowd, the moored boats, and the distant sea.

There was no sign of Qin Xiangbei.

Nor was there any sign of Liu Yiyi.

Wang Mengde withdrew his gaze, found his small spirit skiff, untied the mooring rope, and leaped onto its bow.

He poured spiritual power into it.

The small spirit skiff trembled lightly, then left the dock and headed toward the distant sea.

At the docks, a young fishing cultivator at Qi Refinement Level 2 was crouched in a corner, sorting out fishing nets.

He looked up at the departing skiff.

Then he took a yellow talisman from his robes.

A Voice Transmission Talisman.

He secretly fed a strand of spiritual power into the talisman.

The talisman glowed faintly before turning into countless motes of light that slowly scattered away.