Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake Perfection

"Now that Jiang Baihe is dead, my situation will improve drastically. The feeling of being watched by a poisonous snake is far from pleasant," Lin Qing muttered inwardly.

He secured the doors and windows, then lay back down on the bed to calmly reflect on tonight's battle, checking for any oversights, areas where he could have performed better, and any shortcomings that needed remedying.

"I'm not afraid of head-on combat, but my physical defense is far too weak. If someone ambushed me while I was unprepared, I'm afraid a single move would leave me heavily injured or even kill me outright."

I lack a hard qigong technique, Lin Qing thought.

Although he was wearing an inner armor, it was relatively small and could only protect his torso.

Furthermore, inner armor was ultimately an external tool; it could defend against sharp weapons, but it couldn't withstand blunt force impacts or the shock of massive kinetic energy. Hard qigong techniques could make up for this.

Pondering this, Lin Qing shifted his thoughts and absorbed Jiang Baihe's remnant memories.

Previously, whenever he transcended corpses, he would absorb their memories right away as a passive reaction.

This situation was uncontrollable and could bring about unexpected dangers.

Now, however, Lin Qing was slowly figuring things out and had gradually gained the ability to control this power, allowing him to delay the absorption.

In an instant, numerous images flashed through Lin Qing's mind.

After about half a quarter of an hour, all the images finally completely dissipated. Lin Qing rubbed his temples, feeling utterly defiled.

He hadn't obtained any useful information from Jiang Baihe's memories because this old scoundrel's life had been depraved and corrupt, spent mostly on eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, to the point that any valid information had been diluted and polluted by these useless scenes.

He saw a large number of images of this old scoundrel dallying with various types of women, as well as how he used all sorts of methods to rake in wealth and bleed people dry. He truly was a despicable wretch.

After viewing them, Lin Qing still felt that squeezing Jiang Baihe to death had let him off too easily. This old scoundrel was guilty of all crimes, even more deserving of death than the people in the outer city gangs, and his death was no loss.

Then, a large amount of information surfaced before Lin Qing's eyes, all of it being the martial arts and skills from Jiang Baihe's life.

[Please choose to copy one martial art, skill, or talent]

1. Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake (Perfection)

Standard martial art for constables of the Shu Region yamen, originating from the barbarian tribes in the southern mountains, created by imitating the hunting behavior of long snakes. Its moves are soft, eerie, and flexible, and practicing it to Major Mastery can trigger Spirit Snake Force.

2. Mysterious Yin Bone-Scrambling Hand (Minor Mastery)

An unranked martial art circulating in the Yinyuan Sect of the Shu Region, integrating striking and conditioning. Its moves are venomous and vicious, capable of dislocating tendons and scrambling bones. Those who are struck suffer excruciating pain; practicing it to perfection can reach the peak of Bright Force, trigger Cold Marrow Force, circulate force throughout the body to strengthen the physique, and also greatly increase the hardness of certain body parts while sealing off the sense of pain.

3. Butterfly Dance Step (Minor Mastery)

Standard lightness kung fu circulating in the Shu Region yamen, allowing for agile dodging and shifting over short distances. Practicing it to perfection makes one light as a swallow, nimble and unhindered, and especially skilled at dodging blades and weapons.

4. Fish Playing in Water (Perfection)

Yin-yang blending technique circulating within the Yinyuan Sect, capable of substantially enhancing the pleasure of sexual union between men and women. Practicing it to perfection allows one to harvest Yin to nourish Yang and strengthen the physique.

Lin Qing swept his gaze over them, and suddenly his heart leaped with joy. What he lacked the most was perfected Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake, and now he had finally obtained it.

I never expected Jiang Baihe to be secretly practicing the Mysterious Yin Bone-Scrambling Hand as well. No wonder he was able to quickly deduce that I have Cold Marrow Force, Lin Qing thought.

This sort of thing was actually normal. Many people were limited by their talent, where Bright Force Perfection was already their absolute limit and they could never step into Hidden Strength in their lifetime.

At that point, if they still wanted to continue increasing their strength, they either had to learn various lightness kung fu and combat arts, or study another Bright Force training method.

If practiced to perfection, the triggered force could also cause a physical transformation, though the degree of transformation fell short of stepping into Hidden Strength.

Without hesitation, Lin Qing directly copied the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake and immediately chose to equip it.

In a flash, his body shook, and a new round of transformation began.

As a massive amount of detailed techniques surfaced in his mind, Lin Qing flipped off the bed and continuously practiced the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake in the empty space at home.

He clearly felt his internal Qi and blood surging and roaring like a torrential flood rushing toward a certain acupoint in his left arm.

Yet acupoints were extremely sturdy; one or two attempts couldn't break through them at all, and instead, they would constantly consume Qi and blood.

However, after a dozen breaths, Lin Qing felt his stomach empty, his head spin, and a strong sense of weakness wash over him—a sign of his body being remodeled and his Qi and blood running on empty.

The more formidable and profound a martial art was, the greater the total consumption of Qi and blood when reshaping the body.

Fortunately, Lin Qing had made preparations in advance; the tonic pills he had previously plundered from Yin Muhua hadn't been finished yet, so he immediately swallowed one.

The medicinal efficacy took effect quickly, circulating throughout his entire body. He only felt an indescribable burning heat all over, while the feeling of weakness rapidly faded away.

However, the medicine's effect could only last for a quarter of an hour before his Qi and blood would suffer a massive deficit once more, leaving him with no choice but to eat another Life-Nourishing Pill.

Repeating this multiple times, he ended up consuming a whole bottle of Life-Nourishing Pills.

Finally, he faintly heard a crisp crack sound echo by his ear as that acupoint was blasted open.

In an instant, a surge of force gushed out from the acupoint, circulating through his entire body in a split second and nourishing every inch of his tendons and bones.

Lin Qing's imposing aura was climbing at extreme speed, and he could clearly feel his body growing rapidly stronger. This sensation brought him a heartfelt sense of joy.

This transformation lasted for about a quarter of an hour before Lin Qing slowly exhaled a puff of hot air, his physique returning to stillness.

Lin Qing casually threw a few punches and felt his fist speed become faster and his fist force stronger. A loud, piercing sound echoed through the room.

My strength has increased again, though the magnitude of the increase isn't as large as I imagined—it grew by about a thousand catties, Lin Qing thought.

This was the drawback of constantly practicing lower-realm training methods; the physical growth brought by practicing a martial art to perfection would become smaller and smaller.

Unless limited by talent and unable to step into a higher realm, the gains brought by practicing high-realm training methods were far greater than learning multiple low-realm training methods.

Pondering this, Lin Qing quietly sensed his state again and found that a new strand of force had formed within his body.

When he focused his mind, concentrated, and directed this strand of force to circulate through his entire body, he could clearly feel his physical flexibility improving dramatically, having become much more agile.

This was the effect of the Spirit Snake Force; it could make a person's body more flexible and capable of executing many high-difficulty movements and postures to attack and kill enemies from all directions.

Spirit Snake Force, Blood Soul Force, Marrow-Devouring Force—with three forces in one body, my combat power has ascended to another level, making me invincible among those of the same realm. I just wonder if I have the strength to fight an Hidden Strength martial artist like Pang Tong? Lin Qing quietly pondered.

He had heard that Hidden Strength martial artists could drive their force directly into an enemy's body to inflict even more severe damage.

Therefore, the combat power of a Hidden Strength martial artist was several times greater than that of a Bright Strength martial artist.

It's a pity there's no way to spar with an Hidden Strength martial artist, so I can't gauge Pang Tong's specific strength. I can only wait until another day.

Having figured out as much as he could, Lin Qing simply stopped thinking about it. He packed up his things, climbed back onto bed, and turned his subsequent plans over in his mind.

He decided to lay low for a while. Once the storm passed, he would cash in the silver notes he obtained today and push the Rebirth Record to level 3 in one go.

At that time, his strength would undergo another massive enhancement.

The next day.

News of Jiang Baihe's disappearance spread, and the Soul-Calming Office dispatched men to investigate at the earliest opportunity.

"You say a man in black broke in and knocked you out using flying stones?"

In the courtyard where Jiang Baihe had lived, a plump woman knelt before Han Tai, her face bruised and battered in shades of blue and purple.