Spirit Sea “Silver Fish”

Only then did Su Xinghe finally relax.

Since this "Listening to Tides Art" could appear on the panel, it meant it was a martial arts manual that could be cultivated.

He also tried to calm his mind and focus his spirit, turning his inner vision upon himself.

"Drip..."

"Drip drip..."

It sounded like the pulse of a heartbeat, yet also like rain falling through the woods.

"Splashing~"

This was blood flowing through his body, like clear springs pouring forth and streams spreading onward.

In a daze.

Su Xinghe lost all sense of himself.

Mountain streams gathered into a river, which then followed the great river straight into the sea. His thoughts gradually condensed into a core, finally hatching into a small silver fish.

The little silver fish was pointed at both ends, shaped like a handleless sword. It rose and fell with the ocean waves, swimming freely within them.

"Using one's own blood and qi as rivers, a wisp of thought transforms into a Silver Fish."

"This is a little like the manual's description, but also a little unlike it."

"And it worked just like that?"

"I didn't go astray in my cultivation, did I?"

Just as these thoughts arose.

A wave suddenly crashed down, smashing the Silver Fish incarnation and extinguishing that wisp of spiritual thought.

"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day."

"Listening to Tides Art, Experience +1"

There was experience gained, so he had not practiced wrongly...

Su Xinghe opened his eyes and looked at the candle flame flickering beside him.

It had burned down by a small section—roughly ten minutes had passed.

He withdrew his gaze and looked to the side.

Little Beggar was still in the same posture as before, seemingly asleep.

He tried stirring his blood and qi to check whether there had been any change in his body.

The result was unsurprising. It felt as though he had merely taken a nap.

"Try again?"

Ten minutes later.

"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day."

"Listening to Tides Art, Experience +1"

"Not bad. Again!"

Just as he entered tranquility and saw that Silver Fish, heavy breathing sounded by his ear.

He hurriedly stopped the visualization and opened his eyes.

"Boss..."

When he raised his head, he saw the boy opposite him staring blankly at him.

Little Beggar's eyes looked especially deep beneath the candlelight, wisps of tears churning within them. It was as if a thousand words were lodged in his mouth, making goosebumps rise all over Su Xinghe's skin.

Forget it. He would study it more when he got home.

"You entered the gate too?"

Su Xinghe quickly rose to his feet and stepped aside.

He was afraid that if he dodged too late, this kid would pounce on him.

"Yes! Boss, I saw the sea. Was it like the manual said—transforming into a mountain spring and merging into rivers and the ocean?"

Little Beggar nodded repeatedly, his flushed face full of excited wonder.

"Did you see a Silver Fish?"

Though he had gained experience,

the things in his inner visualization differed from the manual's introduction.

Su Xinghe was somewhat unsure as well.

"Silver Fish? No. I went from listening to rain, to observing springs, to entering the scene, and all I saw was a vast sea and layer upon layer of waves."

"Could it be that I wasn't focused enough?"

The boy began doubting himself. When it came to martial arts, he was utterly in the dark.

"No. Don't talk nonsense."

Su Xinghe put on a stern face.

The "Listening to Tides Art" had not said anything about seeing fish, either.

He guessed it might be because his Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi had long since surpassed the level of Perfect Mastery.

After all, both arts were methods of cultivating the Spirit Sea.

But this technique concerned his own secret, not to mention the Fate Panel, which was impossible to explain clearly.

He hurriedly changed the subject.

"How many times did you practice just now? Did you feel anything unusual?"

"Once. I entered the gate in one try..."

The boy sounded somewhat excited as he spoke, glancing at the candle beside him to confirm the time.

As if afraid Su Xinghe would say his talent was poor, he tilted his head and thought for a moment before adding, "But I should be faster in the future."

When he finally saw that Su Xinghe had no reaction, he could no longer hold it in and nervously asked,

"Boss, do you think my talent is high or low?"

Su Xinghe: ???

In truth, he did not understand the so-called talent test of the "Listening to Tides Art" either, but he could not show weakness before his little brother.

He could only pretend not to hear, remaining silent as he rolled up the kraft paper spread across the bed.

He tucked it into his clothes.

"Let's go."

Since the little fellow had already learned it, it was not convenient to remain here any longer.

But just as his foot crossed the side hall's doorway, he suddenly turned around.

He had nearly forgotten the important matter.

"Tomorrow, make another trip to Lu Family Farm and help me call my father. Tell him I'm in the west of the city..."

"Tell them I bought a small courtyard in the west of the city and ask them to come back and take a look."

He should call Father and the others back first. In any case, two years should be enough for him to gain the ability to protect himself.

"B-Boss, you bought... a house!"

Little Beggar did not doubt that his boss was lying. He simply found it hard to believe for a moment.

He knew his boss's family circumstances very well, and he knew the price of courtyards in the west of the city even better.

Even the cheapest little courtyard would cost four or five hundred taels of silver.

Since when had his boss become so rich?

They had clearly all been living just fine in the tenement building...

"Don't ask what you shouldn't. When the time comes, you'll go over and help clean up too!"

After saying that, Su Xinghe kept a straight face and strode away.

Little Beggar suddenly shuddered all over.

"Veteran's Trade House in the south of the city was hit by thieves last night, and in the end was destroyed in a great fire..."

Could Boss be one of the Peaceful Heaven Sect members wanted by the Public Security Office...

He suddenly did not dare think any further.

If Boss belonged to the Peaceful Heaven Sect, then wouldn't he be...

Sitting on the bed, he counted on his fingers, tallying everything he had done recently.

Beheading!

Beheading!

Losing his head!

Little Beggar swallowed and shrank his neck...

The night was already deep.

The moment he returned home, Su Xinghe hid in the kitchen and began testing it.

He sat cross-legged and evened out his breathing.

He calmed his mind and began visualizing.

After going through the whole process, within only a few breaths, raindrops began to fall in his mind.

At once, mountain springs surged forth and streams murmured, slowly gathering into a river.

Then the river rolled onward until blue waves rippled endlessly.

A silver point of light slowly emerged, eventually turning into a spindle-shaped little fish with pointed ends.

"Splash!"

A wave crashed over, and the light and shadow shattered.

"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day."

"Listening to Tides Art, Experience +1"

He raised his head to look at the candle burning beside him and found that only two or three minutes had passed.

This time, he had actively interrupted the visualization. The result was exactly as he had guessed: as long as he visualized the small silver fish, it counted as completing one round of cultivation.

That meant his progress in the "Listening to Tides Art" would be far faster than in the true martial art, Golden Ape Fist.

Let's try again...

After more than a dozen rounds.

The novelty gradually faded.

More than a dozen rounds in a row all produced the same result.

There was still no answer as to how that talent was supposed to be tested.

He could not help thinking of the old swindler's Ascending Dragon Stance. Back then, he had also begun cultivating it eagerly as soon as he bought it. Yet even after grinding through more than half the experience needed for Hall-Entering, there had been no effect at all.

"Could this be another useless swindler's technique?"

At that moment, Su Xinghe could no longer muster the slightest interest.

Seeing that it was already very late and that he had only completed half an hour of training that night,

he assumed his fist stance.

Before he had even finished one set of Golden Ape Fist, he discovered something unusual within his body. While in the state of the true martial art, the density of his blood and qi seemed to have increased by a third.

Ten minutes later.

"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day."

"Golden Ape Fist, Experience +1"

A warm current appeared in his mind, and the progress bar for the Inner Tempering realm jumped within his perception.

Su Xinghe stood where he was, concentrating as he looked toward the Fate Panel in his mind. The Inner Tempering progress bar had increased by thirty percent more than before as well.

After thinking briefly, he arrived at a rough guess.

"I found treasure!"

"This Listening to Tides Art isn't simple."

After cultivating it, his spiritual thoughts had become more condensed, which then stacked onto the focus he had while practicing his fist art.

It was as though his Golden Ape Fist, at the same Hall-Entering level, had gained a trace of the effect of Perfect Mastery. Though it was not yet one hundred percent, the combination of the two had at least reached sixty-five percent of that level.

During that last round of fist practice, he had even felt his own strength increase considerably.

Su Xinghe felt that he had come to his conclusion too early. If this was truly the case, then his path to becoming a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior was close at hand.

He took out the sheepskin scroll again and slowly studied it word by word.

Half an hour later, he sighed inwardly.

This "Listening to Tides Art" might be more than a simple talent test. Through his actual cultivation and discoveries, it might have opened up an entirely new path for him.

It was not merely an increase in the foundation of his martial arts,

for amid the lines, Su Xinghe also saw a sword.

It was the Sword of the Spirit.

A double-pointed sword capable of cutting down the life and death of others.

He put away the sheepskin scroll. Filled with excitement, he practiced six more sets of Golden Ape Fist in succession.

The night sank like water, and time slipped away quietly.

Half an hour later, Su Xinghe finished his training and stood still.

An indescribable joy surged into his heart.

The results of his testing just now spoke for themselves. Every round had given him thirty percent more blood and qi than before.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart

and began recalculating the exact figures.

With the vigorous blood and qi brought by Inner Tempering, he could practice thirty sets of fist techniques each time before exhausting himself.

One session in the morning and one in the evening meant sixty sets a day.

Originally, judging from the Inner Tempering realm's progress bar, it would take roughly two months to break through and become a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior. Now, with the "Listening to Tides Art" making him thirty percent faster, it had invisibly saved him twenty days.

And the experience of Golden Ape Fist was about to reach its next stage.

Once he reached Perfect Mastery, the effects of his fist technique would increase by another fifty percent. When the time came, he would also break through the Martial Warrior realm at twice his current efficiency.

Then would twenty days be enough...

It looked like his talent had improved again.

Next, he needed to reveal a little of his strength at the right time, so he could gain Elder Xie's support for the "wager" in advance.

With pills, his rate of improvement would be even faster.

Next came the matter of securing the subsequent genuine cultivation method.

There were countless matters to attend to, but he had to make arrangements in advance. Otherwise, lacking a cultivation method when the time came would hold back his martial progress.

"Mm... then I'll wait until the Martial Arts School opens. A few more days won't make a difference!"

Suppressing his excitement, he continued practicing his punches.

Only when he was utterly exhausted did he wash up and return to his room, lying down on the bed.

Little White Bat lay motionless beside him with his round belly sticking out. Su Xinghe poked him with a finger, but he did not react at all.

Mm...

He must have eaten his fill. No need to feed him tonight.

A pitch-black bead the size of a longan suddenly rolled out of his clothes. It spun round and round before coming to a stop beside his pillow.

Su Xinghe frowned and picked it up for a look.

It was icy cold, like a glass marble.

"Where did this thing come from?"

He turned to look at Little White Bat, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.

"Ah, forget it."

"Sleep!"