Steal!

"Young Master, I have a request," Zhou Qi said.

"Speak."

"I would like the latter half of the Nourishing Qi Scripture."

Yang Mingyuan raised a brow, then let out a sneer.

"The latter half?" He lifted his teacup. "What do you think it is, some common junk sold on every street? Only the family head may touch it. Even I am not qualified to lay a hand on it."

Zhou Qi's heart sank.

As expected.

"Then..." He gritted his teeth. "I would like to request a martial skill."

Yang Mingyuan glanced at him, amusement flickering in his eyes.

"A martial skill? Aren't you practicing the Mountain-Splitting Fist?"

"The Mountain-Splitting Fist is too basic," Zhou Qi said. "It is not enough against someone at the fourth layer of Qi Refining."

Yang Mingyuan fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Fine. There are several yellow-rank martial skills in my study. Pick one." He paused, then added, "Win, and it will be your reward. Lose, and you will not have a life left to use it."

Zhou Qi cupped his fists. "Thank you, Young Master."

Zhou Qi followed Laifu to Yang Mingyuan's study and saw the few martial skills.

Stone-Shattering Palm, Dragon-Seizing Hand, Cloud-Wandering Step, Thirteen Gale Swords.

They were all low-grade yellow-rank skills.

Zhou Qi flipped through them and ultimately chose Cloud-Wandering Step.

A movement technique.

What he lacked most right now was a movement technique. The Mountain-Splitting Fist was for close combat; without a movement technique to complement it, he would be extremely passive against fast opponents.

Watching from the side, Laifu could not help asking, "Brother Zhou Qi, why not choose the swordsmanship? Swordsmanship is powerful."

Zhou Qi shook his head. "If I can't beat them, I can still run."

Laifu froze for a moment, then laughed. "Brother Zhou Qi, you really are... practical."

The competition one month later concerned Yang Mingyuan's reputation, so he simply had Laifu arrange a private room for Zhou Qi.

After Zhou Qi carried his bedding into the private room with Laifu, he waited until Laifu had gone far away before taking out Cloud-Wandering Step and the Blood-and-Flesh Pill from his robes.

The Blood-and-Flesh Pill absolutely could not be consumed. Its side effects were far too severe. Yang Mingyuan only wanted him to raise his cultivation level and did not care about his foundation at all.

[New martial skill detected: Cloud-Wandering Step (low-grade yellow rank)]

[Proficiency: 0/1000]

[Effect: Upon cultivation to completion, movement speed +40%, evasion +20%]

One thousand proficiency points.

Its effects were somewhat stronger than the Mountain-Splitting Fist's, though not by much. After all, the Mountain-Splitting Fist was also a high-grade mortal-rank skill.

In the Great Yong Dynasty, most martial skills commonly found on the market were mortal-rank or yellow-rank. As for the higher mysterious-rank and earth-rank skills, they would never appear in Lin'an City.

Lin'an City was a very small city, populated mainly by mortals. It was one of the cities governed by Blackstone City. If Lin'an City were considered a prefecture-level city, then Blackstone City would be the provincial capital; further above it was Yongjing City, the capital of the Great Yong Dynasty.

Yet even the Great Yong Dynasty occupied only a tiny portion of the Profound Spirit Realm. Aside from certain forbidden regions, the entire Profound Spirit Realm had been divided among four sects: the Primordial Immortal Sect, the Myriad Ages Divine Court, the Primordial Dao Sect, and the Violet Cloud Heavenly Palace.

The Great Yong Dynasty belonged to the Primordial Immortal Sect, one of its many subordinate forces. Under the Primordial Immortal Sect, it was neither particularly strong nor particularly weak.

Returning to Lin'an City, its five major forces were the four great lineages and the City Lord's Manor. The four great lineages were the Yang, Wang, Li, and Zhao Families. The Yang Family Zhou Qi belonged to was one of them, and the Wang Family was another. Each occupied one side of the city and controlled most of Lin'an City's industries. The spirit herb trade was mainly held by the Yang and Wang Families, so the conflict between those two families was especially fierce.

The City Lord's Manor had been stationed here by Yongjing City. City Lord Yao Qing was at the great completion of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement, only one step away from Foundation Establishment, the core combat realm of the Great Yong Dynasty. Yet though it was only one step, it was also a chasm separating heaven from earth.

The four great lineages were somewhat weaker. Their strongest experts were generally between the eighth and ninth layers of Qi Refining.

The weak were prey to the strong; only the fit survived.

The great lineages competed and balanced one another, fighting over Lin'an City's scant resources, while the City Lord's Manor possessed the city's greatest combat strength. It neither fought nor competed, needing only to collect tax money from the lineages at regular intervals.

As for servants and Rogue Cultivators like Zhou Qi, they were merely thugs used by the great lineages to fight over territory.

Zhou Qi had chosen Cloud-Wandering Step not only because agility was his weakness, but also because what he intended to do next required speed.

He was different from everyone else in this world. He possessed a proficiency system and could rapidly grow stronger as long as he kept a low profile. Yet his lack of cultivation methods was fatal. Unfortunately, this world's cultivation methods were all held by the major powers, forcing him to rely on the Yang Family to obtain them.

But the latter half of the Nourishing Qi Scripture was the core of a lineage. It would never be handed to him easily. Even Yang Mingyuan was not qualified to access it. Thus, whether he won or lost a month later, he would never receive the latter half of the Nourishing Qi Scripture.

Therefore, only one path remained for Zhou Qi:

Steal!

Zhou Qi took a deep breath and began cultivating.

Following the diagrams, he practiced the postures step by step.

One step, two steps, three steps...

The proficiency on the system panel began to tick upward slowly.

[Proficiency +1]

[Proficiency +1]

[Proficiency +1]

...

Yang Mingyuan had arranged the competition for Zhou Qi and eased up on his other duties, leaving his schedule extremely loose. Aside from going to the servants' dining hall for meals, all he had left to do each day was cultivate.

Cloud-Wandering Step reached completion within two days. If Yang Mingyuan learned of that cultivation speed, his jaw would surely drop to the floor.

Two days? Ordinary people would struggle even to get started.

Twenty days passed. Before the servants had risen in the morning, Zhou Qi once again performed Cloud-Wandering Step in the courtyard. With Cloud-Wandering Step cultivated to great completion, he gained a forty percent boost in speed. After circling the courtyard once, he felt as though he were treading on clouds, moving with astonishing swiftness.

"Enough."

He put away the cultivation method, returned to his room, and sat on the edge of the bed, beginning to consider another matter.

The Yang Family's head, Yang Zhenshan, was at the peak eighth-layer Qi Refining.

He remained in seclusion year-round. Zhou Qi had been at the Yang Residence for two months and had not seen him even once.

The man was two realms above him. A head-on clash would be a losing proposition; he could only outwit him.

Fortunately, Zhou Qi had learned from the surrounding servants that the Yang Family also had businesses in Blackstone City. Yang Zhenshan would travel there every so often to handle affairs, and each trip lasted at least three to five days.

This was an opportunity. There was risk, but it was worth trying.

Furthermore, the Yang Family's First Elder, Yang Yueshan, and Second Elder, Yang Junshan, were respectively at the peak eighth layer and peak seventh layer of Qi Refining. One managed spirit herbs in Lin'an City, while the other managed the tooth trade, and neither lived in the residence.

Only the lower-cultivation Third Elder and Fourth Elder remained in the residence. The two kept a low profile and never went out.

Still, there was no need to panic. Given those two men's combat strength, even if he encountered them, Zhou Qi should be able to escape with his current speed.

Zhou Qi sat on the bed and pondered for a while, then opened his eyes and glanced at the system information.

[Current cultivation: Nourishing Qi Scripture · middle section]

[Proficiency: 5000/5000]

[Current cultivation method proficiency is full. Today's proficiency has been temporarily stored. Proficiency balance: 14100]

Fourteen thousand proficiency points in reserve.

They were eagerly looking for their father—the latter half of the Nourishing Qi Scripture.

Zhou Qi gritted his teeth.

"Let's do it!"