Shrinking Earth to Inches

Li Jie rarely showed even the faintest smile.

"The two demon kings of the Mangshan Mountains have gone on a rampage. Master cannot get away."

"Do you think your strength can get me out of the city?"

Li Qingyao's face was full of disbelief in her second senior brother's abilities.

Li Jie was somewhat unconvinced. "I'm at the Middle Jade-Fluid Realm. With the Black Iron Shield Master bestowed upon me, I'd have no problem even dealing with a demon at the Late Jade-Fluid Realm. And you're saying I can't do it?"

"I'm not saying you can't. Do you think a fox demon who returned from learning arts in Shangqiu would have no magical artifacts on her?"

Li Qingyao was speechless before this martial-arts-mad senior brother. Even she knew that much, yet he did not.

"Whether I can or not, we'll only know after we fight!"

The information revealed by the two's conversation was extremely novel to Gao Fei.

He found a spot and sat down directly, listening quietly.

But the bearded middle-aged man beside him was far from friendly, constantly glancing at him, seemingly intentionally and unintentionally.

Gao Fei's senses were sharp. A concealed killing intent lurked within that man's gaze.

"May I ask where Brother Lin is from?"

Lin Ye glanced at the young man in black beside him, his tone carrying a trace of interrogation.

"I'm from this county. What grudge do you have against Registrar Lin that you would try to kill him in broad daylight?"

"You mean this county's registrar? For the sake of harmony between humans and demons, he offered his own flesh and blood in sacrifice to the Demon God. The Demon God responded on the spot and took the offering. Every representative of the county's people saw it with their own eyes!"

Gao Fei denied everything outright. There was no evidence anyway, and this also pointed directly to the fact that Registrar Lin had defected to the demons.

"Don't spit blood at people! I could just as well say that you, a Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm cultivator, concealed your strength when the Martial Suppression Guard was recruiting. Weren't you merely trying to become the strongest person in a county, seize power, and then defect to demons?"

Lin Ye served in the Qing Province Martial Suppression Guard. Knowing Yueyang County's problems were severe, he had applied to return and watch over the Lin Family. Unexpectedly, on the road back, he ran into the Lin Family party heading for Qing Province.

When he heard that Lin Shaoxiong and Lin Shaokun had been killed, he had originally thought the Lin Family's deal with the Demon Race had been exposed and that County Magistrate Xue had executed them. He had not expected there to be a Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm fish that had slipped through the net.

The shield had blocked his view, so he had no idea how terrifying Gao Fei's palm strike had been. He thought Li Jie had only acted to stop their conflict from escalating.

Upon hearing "Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm," Li Qingyao ended her catching up with Li Jie. Her gentle and refined expression completely fell apart.

A genius like this absolutely had to be taken in by her master, lest another sect snatch him away.

"Third Senior Brother, how long did it take you to go from Spirit Absorption Entry to the Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm? And how long would it take if you used a Yellow-rank cultivation art?"

"My meridians were naturally tough and had very little blockage. I cultivated an Earth-rank art, and it took me three years to go from Spirit Absorption Entry to the Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm."

Li Jie was somewhat puzzled as to why she was speaking hypothetically. After thinking for a while and failing to understand, he still answered, "If one cultivated a Yellow-rank art, the rate of absorbing spiritual energy would be far too slow. With the same resources, it might take five years or even longer."

Li Qingyao felt terribly guilty. Why had she taken out a Yellow-rank cultivation art like Savage Bull Force back then?

"Third Senior Brother, say there was someone who could cultivate Savage Bull Force to the Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm in seven days. Wouldn't that person's talent be extremely high?"

"That's impossible. Aside from the legendary genius whose hundred meridians are all open, such a genius would never cultivate Savage Bull Force!"

Li Qingyao blinked furiously at Li Jie, her eyes darting back and forth between Gao Fei and him.

With the tacit understanding between them, Li Jie roughly understood whom she meant.

Still, he secretly pointed at Gao Fei with his hand. Only after receiving a slight nod did he confirm it, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Your name is Gao Fei, right?"

Gao Fei was still shutting himself off over Li Jie's words.

Five years to reach the middle stage with Savage Bull Force, and that counts as good talent?

Then what the hell was he, taking fifty years to reach the middle stage with Savage Bull Force? Could the Four-Pillar Pure-Yang Body be fake?

At that moment, Gao Fei was checking his panel. His physique was fine. He even suspected the system had been eating his Merit Points.

Hearing someone ask a question they clearly knew the answer to, he would have slapped the man if the man had not been stronger than him.

"What is it?"

"Can you circulate Savage Bull Force at full strength and let me see?"

Hearing that, Gao Fei looked at Li Qingyao and instantly understood. They had mistaken him for a genius.

But he had not forgotten why he had come here.

"What do I get out of it?"

Li Jie was caught off guard by the question, but Li Qingyao knew what he needed. Last time, he had wanted a movement technique.

"I can let you look through Shrinking Earth to Inches once. This movement art is one of Great Wu's finest techniques. We..."

"Junior Sister, don't mess around. When did you steal this cultivation art from Master?"

Shrinking Earth to Inches

The moment Gao Fei heard the name, he knew it had to be impressive. And judging by the meaning, neither of them had cultivated it. He wanted it.

"It's a deal!"

He turned to Li Jie. "How do you want to see it?"

"Don't believe her. This cultivation art is extremely difficult to master. I heard it was left behind by immortal cultivators. Only the first generation of martial artists succeeded in cultivating it under the personal guidance of immortal cultivators. Then there are the martial gods who cultivate Incense and Fire Prayer Power, who can use it within their own territory. For everyone else, regardless of talent or how much time they spend, not one person has ever even entered the door."

"Is that so?"

Gao Fei's interest was immediately piqued. "Let me see it. It's not like I can cultivate it anyway."

Li Qingyao did not hesitate. She directly placed a yellowed leather-bound book in his hands.

Then she pulled her third senior brother over, sat down, and began making tea.

"How is Shopkeeper Li doing?"

"He was worn out a little. He's recuperating in Qing Province."

Lin Ye had been ignored from beginning to end, yet he did not dare lose his temper.

He had originally returned only to deal with someone at the peak of the Body-Tempering Realm. He had not expected the other party to be at the same realm as him.

Judging from what the two disciples of the Qing Province Martial Suppression Guard's commander had said, this person was a genius who had reached the Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm in only a few days.

But a genius was only a genius. Savage Bull Force was widely acknowledged to only reach the Late Spirit-Absorption Realm, and even that required slow, steady cultivation and an exceptionally solid foundation.

Changing cultivation arts was not so easy. The risk of damaging one's meridians and dantian was enormous, not something just anyone could bear.

He wanted to see what expression this genius would wear after learning the consequences!

Gao Fei spent a small amount of Merit Points.

Under the instruction of the phantoms around him, the cultivation art had already been recorded on the panel. Shrinking Earth to Inches, not yet initiated.

This time, he had made up his mind. He would wait.

He would go back, use Merit Points to cultivate it, and then test it out. Trying it here would be a little too earthshaking.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Lin Ye smiling at him and shot him a vicious glare. Sooner or later, I'll kill you.

Under Li Qingyao's expectant gaze, he returned the book to her.

Seeing that he had not tested Shrinking Earth to Inches here, she could not hide the disappointment beneath her smile. Has his comprehension reached its limit?

"How was it? Do you have any leads?"

"I memorized it. I'll continue studying it when I get back."

After speaking, Gao Fei walked before the two and circulated the spiritual power of Savage Bull Force with all his strength.

Li Jie examined it carefully. The foundation was solid, without even the slightest hollowness from taking pills, and he wielded it as easily as an arm or a finger.

The spiritual power seemed to have been tempered for many years. Only the quantity was somewhat lacking, not even half of Li Jie's at the Middle Spirit-Absorption Realm.

It seemed talent was important, but cultivation arts were important too.