Only then did Su Xinghe finally relax.
Since this "Listening to the Tides Art" could appear on the panel, it meant it was a martial arts secret manual that could be cultivated.
He also tried to calm his mind and still his breath, focusing his spirit inward to observe himself.
"Drip..."
"Drip, drip..."
It sounded like the pulsing of a heartbeat, yet also like rain falling through the forest.
"Whoosh, whoosh~"
This was blood flowing through his body, like clear spring water gushing forth and streams spreading onward.
In a daze.
Su Xinghe lost all sensation of himself.
Mountain streams gathered into rivers, which then flowed straight into the sea. His thoughts gradually condensed into a core, and at last hatched into a tiny silver fish.
The little silver fish was sharp at both ends, shaped like a hiltless sword. It rose and fell with the ocean waves, swimming through them without obstruction.
"Using one's own Qi-Blood as rivers, a wisp of thought transforms into a silver fish."
"This was somewhat like the technique's description, yet somewhat unlike it."
"And it was this easy to succeed?"
"I hadn't gone off track, had I?"
Just as these thoughts arose.
A wave suddenly crashed over, shattering the silver fish incarnation and extinguishing that wisp of spiritual thought.
"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day." "Listening to the Tides Art, experience +1"
There was experience, so he had not practiced it incorrectly...
Su Xinghe opened his eyes and looked at the candle flame flickering beside him.
It had burned down a small section, so roughly ten minutes had passed.
He withdrew his gaze and looked to the side.
Little Beggar remained in the same posture as before, as though he were asleep.
Su Xinghe tried stirring his Qi-Blood, checking whether there had been any change within himself.
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 the Tides Art, experience +1"
"Not bad. Again!"
Just as he entered stillness and saw that silver fish, heavy breathing sounded beside his ear.
He hurriedly stopped the visualization and opened his eyes.
"Boss..."
When he looked up, he saw the boy across from him staring blankly at him.
Little Beggar's eyes were especially deep beneath the candlelight, tears shimmering within them. It seemed as though he had a thousand words caught in his mouth, making goosebumps rise all over Su Xinghe.
Forget it. He would study it further after going home.
"You entered the beginner stage too?"
Su Xinghe hurriedly stood and stepped aside.
He was afraid that if he moved too slowly, this kid would pounce on him.
"Yes! Boss, I saw the sea! Was it like the technique said, turning into a mountain spring and merging into rivers and the ocean?"
Little Beggar nodded repeatedly, his flushed little face filled with excited wonder.
"Did you see a silver fish?"
Although he had gained experience,
the things in the inner visualization differed from the manual's description.
Su Xinghe was somewhat uncertain as well.
"Silver fish? No. I listened to rain, watched springs, and entered the scene all the way through. There was only a boundless sea and layer upon layer of waves."
"Could it be that I wasn't focused enough?"
The boy began doubting himself. He knew nothing whatsoever about martial arts.
"No. Don't talk nonsense."
Su Xinghe put on a stern face.
The "Listening to the Tides Art" did not say that one would see 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 techniques were methods of cultivating the Spirit Sea.
But this technique concerned his own secrets, not to mention the inexplicable Fate Panel.
He hurriedly changed the subject.
"How many times did you practice just now? Did you feel anything special?"
"Once. I entered the beginner stage in one try..."
The boy sounded a little excited as he spoke, glancing at the candle beside him to confirm the time.
As if afraid Su Xinghe would think his talent poor, he tilted his head and thought for a moment before adding, "But it should be faster in the future."
When Su Xinghe gave no reaction, he finally could not hold it in any longer and asked nervously,
"Boss, do you think my talent is high or low?"
Su Xinghe: ???
In truth, he did not understand this so-called talent test of the Listening to the Tides Art either, but he could not show weakness before his underling.
He could only pretend not to hear and silently roll up the parchment spread across the bed.
He tucked it into his clothes.
"Let's go."
Since the little guy had already learned it, it was not convenient to stay 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 call my father. Tell him I'm in the west of the city..."
"Tell him I bought a small courtyard in the west of the city and have them come back to take a look."
He should call his father and the others back first. In any case, within two years, he ought to have the ability to protect himself.
"B-Boss, you bought... a house!"
Little Beggar was not doubting that his boss was lying. He simply found it hard to believe for a moment.
He knew his boss's family circumstances well, and he knew the prices of small courtyards in the west of the city even better.
Even the cheapest little courtyard cost four or five hundred taels of silver.
When had his boss become so rich?
They had clearly all been living perfectly well 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 strode away with a stiff face.
Little Beggar suddenly shuddered from head to toe.
"Veteran's Trade House in the south of the city was hit by thieves last night and was ultimately destroyed in a 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 was Peaceful Heaven Sect, then wouldn't that make him...
Sitting on the bed, he counted on his fingers, one by one, all the things 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 entire process, raindrops began falling in his mind after only a few breaths.
At once, mountain springs surged forth and streams babbled, slowly gathering into rivers.
Then came mighty river waters, until blue waves rippled endlessly.
A silver point of light slowly emerged, eventually transforming into a shuttle-shaped little fish pointed at both ends.
"Splash!"
A wave crashed over, and the phantom shattered.
"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day." "Listening to the Tides Art, experience +1"
He raised his head to look at the candle burning nearby and found that only two or three minutes had passed.
This time, he had actively interrupted the visualization, and the result matched his earlier guess. As long as he visualized the silver fish, it counted as one completed session of cultivation.
Then the progress of his Listening to the Tides Art would far outpace that of Golden Ape Fist, this true martial arts technique.
Try again...
After more than a dozen rounds.
The novelty gradually faded.
More than a dozen times in a row, the result was always the same.
How talent was tested remained completely unanswered.
He could not help thinking of that old swindler's Ascending Dragon Stance. Back then, he had eagerly started cultivating it the moment he bought it. Yet even after grinding through more than half the experience required for Hall-Entering, there had been no effect at all.
"Could this be another swindler's technique that was useless?"
This time, Su Xinghe could no longer muster the slightest interest.
Seeing that it was already late and that he had only completed half an hour of training tonight,
he assumed his boxing stance.
Before he had even finished one set of Golden Ape Fist, he noticed something unusual within his body. While in the true technique state, the density of his Qi-Blood 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 in his perception, the progress bar for the Inner Tempering stage jumped once.
Su Xinghe stood where he was, concentrating as he looked at the Fate Panel in his mind. The progress bar of the Inner Tempering stage had actually risen with thirty percent more efficiency than before.
After a brief thought, he arrived at a rough guess.
"I picked up a treasure!"
"This Listening to the Tides Art was far from simple."
After cultivating it, his spiritual thoughts had become more condensed, layering onto the focus he applied to his boxing.
It was equivalent to Golden Ape Fist at the same Hall-Entering level producing a trace of the effect of Perfect Mastery. Though it was not yet one hundred percent, the combination of the two reached at least sixty-five percent of that level.
During that last round of boxing, even his own strength had suddenly increased by quite a bit.
Su Xinghe felt that he had reached his conclusion too early. If this was truly the case, then his path to becoming a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior was right before his eyes.
He took out the parchment again and slowly studied it word by word.
Half an hour later, he sighed inwardly.
This Listening to the Tides Art might be more than a talent test. Through his actual cultivation and discoveries, it might have opened an entirely new road for him.
It was not merely an increase in the foundation of his martial arts,
for between the lines, Su Xinghe also saw a sword.
It was the Sword of the Spirit.
A double-edged sword that could sever the life and death of others.
Putting away the parchment, filled with excitement, he practiced Golden Ape Fist another six times in succession.
The night sank deep as water, and time quietly flowed away.
Half an hour later, Su Xinghe finished his training and stood still.
An indescribable joy surged into his heart.
The results of the test just now spoke for themselves. Every round gave him thirty percent more Qi-Blood than before.
He suppressed the excitement in his heart,
and began calculating the exact figures again.
With the vigorous Qi-Blood brought by Inner Tempering, he could practice thirty rounds of boxing each time before exhausting his strength.
One session in the morning and one at night meant sixty rounds a day.
Originally, judging by the progress bar of the Inner Tempering realm, it would take roughly two months to break through and become a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior. Now, because of the Listening to the Tides Art, it was another thirty percent faster, invisibly saving him twenty days.
And the experience of Golden Ape Fist was about to reach its next stage.
As long as he reached "Perfect Mastery," the effects of his fist technique would increase by another fifty percent. When that time came, he would also break through martial realms at twice his current efficiency.
Then wouldn't he only need twenty days...
It looked like his talent had improved again.
Next, he needed to reveal a bit of his strength at the right time, so he could secure Elder Xie's support for the "wager" ahead of schedule.
With pills, his rate of improvement would be even faster.
Next came the matter of obtaining a true cultivation method.
There were countless matters to attend to, but he had to make arrangements in advance. Otherwise, if he lacked a cultivation method when the time came, it would hinder his progress in martial arts.
"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 fists.
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, belly round and bulging. He poked the little bat with a finger, but Little White Bat did not react at all.
Mm...
Little White Bat must have eaten enough. No need to feed the little bat tonight.
A pitch-black bead the size of a longan suddenly rolled out of his clothes. It spun around and around before stopping 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, his thoughts stirring.
"Ah, forget it."
"Sleep!"
Before you continue