Chapter 135: Cultivation (II)

So it really works...

Lin Zheyu showed no surprise at all. Having possessed his golden finger for so long, he had already studied it in depth. Any cultivation technique or martial art that directly affected the body and could be actively practiced would appear as a technique within his skill panel.

However, overly simple movements or exercises, such as slashing, running, or squatting, would not appear there. Perhaps the golden finger deemed such things too trivial to qualify as actual skills.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

With a single thought, Lin Zheyu made the Mountain Shattering Leg vanish from the data panel. After some thought, he also hid the Barbaric Ox Fist, Ten Thousand Troop Steps, and Poison King Body, leaving only the Sixfold Saber, Golden Goose Technique, Mountain Shattering Palm, and Tortoise Breath Grand Method visible.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 0]

[Skills: Sixfold Saber (Advanced Mastery: 46%), Mountain Shattering Palm (Initiation: 32%), Golden Goose Technique (Eighth Stage: 48%), Tortoise Breath Grand Method (Third Stage: 5%)]

It looked much cleaner that way. The Ten Thousand Troop Steps had already been integrated into the Golden Goose Technique, so as the Golden Goose Technique advanced to the Eighth Stage and approached Perfection, the Ten Thousand Troop Steps would rise accordingly, making its separate display unnecessary.

As for the Poison King Body, Lin Zheyu had no plans to upgrade it for now. It was far too expensive. Gathering all the necessary medicinal ingredients for advancement would cost at least ten thousand taels of silver. With that amount of money, he figured it would be wiser to invest in improving his strength instead.

For now, his study of the Toxicology Codex had given him sufficient knowledge of poisons and the ability to identify and defend against them. Combined with his growing strength, that was already more than enough.

"To raise the Mountain Shattering Palm to Perfection would require around 2, and at most 3, units of Origin Force. When the time comes, that will be the first technique I improve. In the Blood Qi Realm, only upon reaching the third, sixth, and ninth transformations does one's power increase dramatically."

"Even advancing to the fourth transformation only increases strength by about 10% to 20%. It's not a major improvement. But once the Mountain Shattering Palm reaches Perfection, I'll be able to unleash triple the usual blood qi strength. That would be a far greater boost to combat power, and an excellent hidden trump card."

Lin Zheyu reflected silently. He had another idea in mind, one that he would only attempt once both the Mountain Shattering Palm and Golden Goose Technique reached Perfection. Just as he had merged the Ten Thousand Troop Steps into the Golden Goose Technique, he wanted to integrate the Mountain Shattering Palm's explosive blood qi method into it as well.

Yet achieving such a fusion would be extraordinarily difficult. The Ten Thousand Troop Steps and the Golden Goose Technique were both leg-based arts, closely aligned in nature, which made their fusion possible. But the Mountain Shattering Palm's explosive blood qi method was fundamentally different from ordinary martial techniques. The contrast was too great; it couldn't be merged as easily as Ten Thousand Troop Steps had been. However, he could treat it as a new martial art and start cultivating it from scratch.

Lin Zheyu planned to wait until both techniques reached Perfection before attempting to create a ninth stage of the Golden Goose Technique. The ninth stage of the Golden Goose Technique, as he envisioned it, would integrate the explosive blood qi control of the Mountain Shattering Palm into its core circulation method.

If the idea proved feasible, the data panel would display a corresponding ninth Stage entry. If not, there would be no response at all. His golden finger, it seemed, could even verify the viability of his theories.

He trained for another hour as the muscles and skin on his arm trembled as if being torn apart, and intense pain surged through his body. He had used only a fraction of his blood qi in training, yet the damage was already severe; he could only imagine the strain of a full-power burst. Still, with continued practice, his body would gradually adapt. As his proficiency improved, the physical burden during blood qi eruptions would lessen.

The rain's stopped. Time to move on.

Hoisting his pack, Lin Zheyu resumed his journey, circulating blood qi to heal the injury in his right arm. While traveling, he split his focus and manipulated blood qi as he moved. When his left arm was too strained, he switched to training the Mountain Shattering Palm with his right.

By the time he reached Daba Mountain, it was already afternoon.

Eee—ee, ee, ee...

Entering the mountain forest, Lin Zheyu found a spot and blew into his bamboo whistle, producing a series of sharp, echoing notes. The whistle was loud and distinct, its tone carrying clearly through the woods.

After blowing for a while, he stopped. He took some dry rations from his pack to fill his stomach and waited for an hour, blowing the whistle every 10 minutes. If no one came within that time, he would move to another spot and repeat the process.

"I just hope it doesn't keep raining; otherwise I'll be stuck gnawing on dry rations the whole time," muttered Lin Zheyu to himself.

In rainy weather, the forest trees were all damp, making it impossible to start a fire for roasting meat. After waiting an hour, no one came in response. As he continued blowing his bamboo whistle, Lin Zheyu searched the forest for a suitable cave to rest or take shelter in. With the weather like this, it could rain again at any time, and staying in the open would leave him drenched.

After more than 4 hours, he finally found a cave halfway up the mountain. It was deep and pitch-black within. Venturing deeper inside, he found many bones scattered about, as it had once been the lair of a fierce beast.

After securing the cave, he stepped out again to blow his bamboo whistle for a while longer, yet still no one appeared. Before he knew it, night had fallen.

"Why did it suddenly get so cold?"

Returning to the cave he had found earlier, Lin Zheyu shivered violently as his blood qi began circulating instinctively. A chilling, oppressive sensation filled the cave, making him deeply uneasy. It was as though something sinister were trying to seep into his body, stirring his blood qi into agitation.

His eyes narrowed slightly as a familiar sensation rose within him. It was the same feeling he had once experienced in that haunted mine at Baishi Mountain. Yet the eerie chill here was far stronger than what he had felt in that mine.

Could there be a ghost in this cave?

thought Lin Zheyu.

What puzzled him was that he had sensed no such aura during the day, yet now, with night upon him, the cave had turned oppressively cold and gloomy. By contrast, the mine at Baishi Mountain had exuded Yin qi even in broad daylight, making it unbearable to stay within.

This is strange. Should I go in?

Standing at the cave entrance, Lin Zheyu gazed into the pitch-black depths and hesitated for a moment. Then he took out a fire striker, lit a torch, and stepped inside. Ghosts were not particularly dangerous; with his current strength, he had little to fear. Since such encounters were rare, he decided to investigate the situation.