What a Disaster

To Little Leopard, the so-called unusual arts were entirely unfamiliar territory. They were completely different from cultivating internal energy. Though the killing intent used to cultivate unusual arts possessed boundless power and countless wondrous properties, it was extremely harmful to the body, so it could not be drawn inside as casually as internal energy. Killing intent was extraordinarily destructive; once drawn into the body, it would wreak havoc on the muscles, tendons, and bones. This was also why only those whose cultivation had reached the Seventh Grade could cultivate astral qi. Unlike ordinary unusual arts, astral qi merged completely with internal energy, becoming one with it. Like internal energy, it had to circulate through the body, passing through the meridians and growing stronger as one's cultivation advanced. If someone recklessly cultivated it before reaching the Seventh Grade, even succeeding through sheer luck would be no blessing.

For those in the lower three grades of the Skin-Training Realm, recklessly cultivating astral qi would cause their bodies to explode the instant they succeeded, even if they had reached the realm's great perfection. Those in the middle three grades of the Bone-Tempering Realm might not have their bodies blown apart, but even if they managed to force astral qi inside, the astral baleful essence within it would slowly wear their bodies away, placing an enormous burden on them. At that point, no matter how profound their cultivation methods or how outstanding their talent, they could forget about advancing any further. All they could do was wait for the astral qi to grind them slowly to death. Even reaching great perfection in the sixth grade of the Bone-Tempering Realm made no difference. Only experts who had crossed beyond the Bone-Tempering Realm and reached the Sinew-Transforming Realm possessed bodies capable of withstanding the pressure of astral qi and drawing it inside without injury.

Of course, this cultivation restriction applied only to astral qi. Other unusual arts carried no such concern, because they did not require killing intent to merge completely with internal energy. Instead, they combined a portion of internal energy with killing intent. After merging, the result was not drawn into the body to circulate through its meridians as astral qi was. Once cultivated, it might be stored in the body's acupoints, drawn into the meridians, or concealed elsewhere, depending on the functions and distinctions of each unusual art. To Little Leopard, rather than calling it a merger, it seemed more accurate to say that his internal energy was simply an indispensable ingredient in cultivating the Three Realms Minor Shift.

Though he did not understand the principles behind it, the diagrams on the wall illustrated the method extremely well. When noon arrived and a layer of pale silver killing intent rose into the air at the cave entrance, Little Leopard followed the method depicted on the cave wall, releasing his internal energy and merging it into a wisp of floating light killing intent at the entrance.

By then, Little Leopard had barely managed to achieve some proficiency in the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Art. Now, concentrating and releasing his energy according to the cultivation method for the Three Realms Minor Shift, he saw a faint, bright stream of golden-red internal energy travel from his dantian along his meridians straight into his right palm. Upon reaching his palm, the energy seemed to encounter an obstruction and began spreading outward through his hand. In the blink of an eye, his entire right hand had turned scarlet, like a branding iron heated until it glowed red.

Seeing that it was ready, Little Leopard slowly extended his hand out of the cave. The moment his scarlet palm touched the silver floating light killing intent outside, a sharp pain stabbed through him. Not daring to delay, he immediately began controlling the internal energy in his palm according to the method on the cave wall. Wisps and strands of red mist poured out of the Laogong Acupoint in his palm, forming a small scarlet vortex above it. Influenced by this scarlet whirlwind, the surrounding floating light killing intent immediately began to change, gradually showing signs of merging with the swirling red mist.

Of course, this was only the first step. The Three Realms Minor Shift method on the cave wall consisted solely of diagrams, without any explanations. Little Leopard could only follow the illustrated steps one by one, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

After all, unusual arts were not something just anyone could master. The hurdle of controlling one's internal energy to merge it with killing intent alone could stump the vast majority of martial artists in the world, because it demanded extraordinarily precise control.

For a martial artist, as long as one knew a method for cultivating internal energy and practiced it, accumulating power required nothing more than time.

Given enough time, one could always cultivate internal energy suited to the strength of one's body. Control alone required more than time: it demanded prolonged insight and uninterrupted practice, and it was a weakness for most martial artists.

Most martial artists lacked the refined control required to cultivate unusual arts. Without ten or twenty years of painstaking refinement, how could they command the internal energy in their bodies at will? And if they devoted themselves entirely to controlling internal energy, it would inevitably delay their cultivation of that energy and divide their attention. Ten or twenty years spent diligently practicing martial arts would have greatly increased both their internal energy and bodily strength, naturally improving their overall power. That was far more worthwhile than practicing control. Thus, broadly speaking, very few martial artists in this world specialized in control. As a result, many were fortunate enough to obtain methods for cultivating unusual arts, yet could not master them because their control was insufficient.

Little Leopard was only ten years old, so naturally he could not compare with martial artists who had trained for over a decade or even several decades. Yet he possessed one peculiar advantage over them: his eyes. When his eyes entered that strange state, his control over the internal energy in his body increased exponentially. This was his greatest source of confidence in daring to cultivate this unusual art.

As he controlled his internal energy and merged it with the surrounding floating light killing intent, Little Leopard's eyes grew as red as a rabbit's. As time passed, the somewhat indistinct ring of markings around his pupils gradually became clearer.

Of course, Little Leopard could not notice this. Refining the floating light killing intent before him was only the first step in cultivating the Three Realms Minor Shift. Floating light killing intent emerged in this area every day at midnight and noon, but it could last no longer than a quarter of an hour. Little Leopard could not possibly refine all the floating light killing intent here, and his internal energy was limited as well. Fortunately, although floating light killing intent was essential to the Three Realms Minor Shift method, it did not require much. That quarter of an hour was enough for him to refine all the killing intent he needed.

Once the surrounding floating light killing intent had gradually merged with his internal energy, he followed the method shown on the wall and slowly controlled the direction of the energy in his palm. Little by little, the energy in Little Leopard’s palm changed color, from its original scarlet to dark silver.

The dark silver mist carried a faint red glow and was no longer as scorching as before. As earlier, it formed a small whirlwind in Little Leopard's palm. Narrow at both ends and thick in the middle, the whirlwind looked rather like a little spindle. As it spun, specks of starlight flickered in and out of sight. Little Leopard's eyes had already returned to normal, and he secretly rejoiced at the change in the mist above his palm. By then, a quarter of an hour had passed, and the floating light killing intent outside the cave had completely dissipated. Cradling the mist in his hand, Little Leopard walked out of the cave. As he emerged with that cloud of dark silver mist, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward the little creature sleeping soundly inside.

When he had seen the cave wall yesterday, he had thought little of it. Since even this little creature had somehow muddled its way into mastering the Three Realms Minor Shift, he had assumed he would have no trouble practicing it himself. Only after trying it today did he realize that unusual arts were not so easy to cultivate. If he had not relied on those strange eyes of his, the seemingly beautiful floating light killing intent might already have blasted holes through his entire body.

After leaving the cave, he followed the diagrams on the wall and slowly raised the dark silver whirlwind above his palm, then circulated his internal energy once more. This time, he was not merging that energy with the dark silver whirlwind in his hand. Instead, he channeled it into his left hand, where a cloud of scarlet mist soon formed. With the utmost care, he laid the mist from his left hand over the silver whirlwind above his right. The scarlet mist flowed slowly downward like tassels, enveloping the silver whirlwind.

Once this was done, Little Leopard opened his mouth and inhaled sharply, drawing the scarlet mist and the dark silver whirlwind wrapped inside it into his mouth.

"Urgh-!"

As the mist and whirlwind entered his mouth, Little Leopard's expression abruptly darkened, and his face flushed crimson. Fine, glistening beads of sweat seeped from his forehead. Only after a long while did the redness drain from his face, and he let out a long breath.

"Good grief, that nearly bloated me to death!" Little Leopard wiped the sweat from his forehead, then immediately grew solemn. His body jolted and began trembling violently. As he shook, faint wisps of scarlet mist emerged from every acupoint across his body. A closer look would have revealed silver lights flickering within the mist, scattered like stars and quite beautiful.

"Condense!" As the mist spread, Little Leopard dared not hesitate. With a cold shout, he focused his mind and steadied his breath according to the method depicted on the cave wall, then sharply drew in his internal breath. Following his movement, all the scarlet mist surrounding his body swept back inside at once. As the scarlet vanished, a layer of dark silver mist appeared around him.

Raising both hands, he looked at the layer of dark silver mist enveloping his body and smiled faintly. He lifted his head toward a green pine more than a hundred zhang away, then gave a shake. The dark silver mist surrounding him vanished without a trace, and Little Leopard's body disappeared along with it.

A soft whoosh!

"Aaargh-!" came a wretched scream.

Little Leopard reappeared ten zhang away and slammed headfirst into the trunk of a towering tree. The rebound hurled him far back, leaving him sprawled on the ground, pale-faced and trembling all over. Every scrap of strength had been drained from his body, and the internal energy in his dantian had been squeezed dry. His muscles and bones were sore and numb, as though he had performed hard labor for ten days and nights, then bedded a hundred women in a single night. He did not even have the strength to move a finger.

"Didn't it say I could roam freely within a hundred zhang? How come I didn't even make it ten?!" Little Leopard lay on the ground, the corners of his mouth twitching. How could he possibly have the strength to get up? That single attempt had left him without the slightest shred of energy.

But after thinking it over, he felt reassured. The Three Realms Minor Shift was indeed wondrous beyond measure, but he had only just begun cultivating it and did not even understand its principles. He had merely followed the instructions by rote. Though he appeared to have mastered it, he had actually only just laid a complete foundation. It was like memorizing a long string of advanced formulas by sheer rote in his previous life. Understanding them would take at least ten or twenty years. On this first attempt, being able to shift at all was already a decent result.

"I miscalculated, I miscalculated. To master this unusual art well enough to roam freely within a hundred zhang would take decades of effort. Even shifting freely within ten zhang like that little creature would probably take several years. I was too greedy!"

Having thought it through and accepted it, Little Leopard no longer tried to force the matter. He merely sighed softly and lay motionless on the ground, quietly circulating his internal energy. Once his strength and internal energy recovered, he would leave.

But he had exhausted himself too severely for either his internal energy or physical strength to recover anytime soon. He lay on the ground for a full two hours before barely feeling a trace of strength return. Fortunately, no beasts or birds came by during that time; otherwise, he would probably have long since become a meal on someone else's plate.

With some strength restored, he was just about to rise when he heard a faint whoosh. A shadow darkened his vision as a fist-sized black shape appeared above his head.

Oh no! Little Leopard was greatly alarmed. Before he could react, he heard a pfft, and a foul stench assaulted him. His face went white, his stomach churned, and he spewed a mouthful of sour bile and vomit. Since he was lying faceup, all of it fell back onto his head and face. His stomach heaved again, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

The little creature did not mind the filth. It stamped hard on his face twice, then deftly pulled the Yellow Jade from inside his robe. As though its anger still had not been satisfied, it farted in his face once more, then vanished with a whoosh.