Chapter 489: Improving Strength, Three Distinct Forms (2)

Before long, his height stabilized at 1.85 meters. His streamlined muscles seemed almost sculpted as they lost their sense of overwhelming aggression. This was his original appearance.

“This first form, I shall name Disguise. It reigns supreme in the Golden Body Realm.”

Then, he suddenly unleashed his physical strength. His body rapidly expanded to tower at over ten meters. He resembled an ancient giant descending upon the mortal world, emanating an oppressive aura that suffocated everything around him.

“This second form will be called Asura. It is invincible in the Dao Union Realm.”

Next, he fully unleashed the inner qi within his body.

The 1,019 meridians roared to life, every aperture surging with unrestrained power. The air around him twisted into whirlpools, and his entire being was engulfed by the dual energies of blade and sword qi. Ice and fire coexisted in perfect harmony around his form.

“This third form shall be called Demon God. It can contend with a quasi-Saint.”

Li Xiaofei’s thoughts were crystal clear as he evaluated his newfound strength. He spent the next half day repeatedly testing and stabilizing his three forms, ensuring complete mastery over his strength. Once he was fully in control, he returned to contemplating the next steps in his cultivation journey.

For now, he remained in the Meridian Expanding Realm. The twelve principal meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were the twenty innate meridians granted by nature.

The 999 additional qi meridians were the result of painstaking work through secret techniques. Together, they formed a total of 1,019 channels. A perfect balance, a union of the innate and the acquired.

This was exactly what Li Xiaofei had envisioned as the ultimate pinnacle of the Meridian Expanding Realm. Though he might still be able to continue carving more qi meridians with his current physical condition, increasing the postnatal qi channels beyond 1,000 or even further, he decided against it. This was because his aunt had once warned him, back when he was in the Qi Refining Realm:

More is good. But one must not pursue more blindly. Nothing in this world is perfect. No realm is ever truly flawless. The so-called 'perfection lies in imperfection' exists for this very reason.

To Li Xiaofei, his aunt was a godlike figure. Listening to her advice and being a good boy was one of the mottos he lived by.

“Next, it’s time for the Five Spirits Realm,” he muttered to himself.

The Five Spirits refer to the five major organs: the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Nurturing the five spiritual organs is a crucial step for martial artists to elevate their postnatal life essence. The Five Spirits Realm is also a significant barrier in martial cultivation. To cross it is akin to a carp leaping over the dragon gate. But how does one nurture the Five Spirits?

Li Xiaofei pondered deeply as he began contemplating the next stage of his journey. Li Xiaofei had done some research. Since the Five Spirits were tied to the agreement with his aunt and determined when he could meet her again, how could he not treat it with utmost importance?

Unfortunately, while the light-network contained numerous schools of thought and outlines for nurturing the Five Spirits, none were complete. The core secret techniques were all missing crucial components.

The reason was simple. In this era, the higher the realm of cultivation techniques, the more tightly they were controlled by noble families, top financial conglomerates, governments, and nation-states. By controlling these techniques, they could control martial artists—and, ultimately, the world.

So far, Li Xiaofei hadn’t managed to gather a complete method for nurturing the Five Spirits. However, he wasn’t overly worried. It wouldn’t be difficult to extort one of the Saint families in Haijing City and obtain the relevant manuals if it became necessary.

There was still half a day before the Secret Time Pavilion would close. After some thought, Li Xiaofei decided to continue adapting to his newfound strength.

He began practicing in the grand hall, starting a new round of rumbling. Every movement of his hands or feet carried immense destructive power.

“Woof! Kid, are you trying to tear this place apart?” The Moonlight Dog Box couldn’t take it anymore and protested, “Have you no sense of decency? Some of us have to work tomorrow!”

Li Xiaofei paused.

“Is there a problem?” He retorted righteously. “Isn’t this my exclusive place to practice my open-hack cultivation? What’s wrong with me throwing some punches here? Your complaint seems completely unreasonable this time.”

“Woof.” A husky emerged from behind one of the grand hall’s towering pillars.

It was the very same dog that had suddenly appeared five hundred years ago during a sparring session between Li Xiaofei and his junior schoolmate and teleported him to the future.

When he saw the dog in front of him, Li Xiaofei felt dazed for a moment. That had happened over a year ago. He had experienced so much during that time that he had almost forgotten this troublemaking culprit.

The chubby husky with mismatched eyes looked irritated, like a dog whose mate had been stolen mid-courtship. Its ears stood straight as it barked, “You’re too greedy! How dare you try to claim this place as your own? This has only been loaned to you temporarily for cultivation. It was custom-built as my den by the master!”

Li Xiaofei froze.

The Secret Time Pavilion is... a doghouse? I’ve been cultivating in a doghouse this entire time?

“Who are you, exactly?” Li Xiaofei demanded.

“Woof. I am Little Nine, known as Little Nine in the martial world. Of course, you can also call me Little Nine,” the husky replied cheekily.

“Little Nine?” Li Xiaofei’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the fat, dim-witted-looking husky with its mismatched gaze. He suddenly raised his voice. “Tell me, why did you send me to this era?”

The husky’s upright ears suddenly drooped. It now looked like a thief caught red-handed.

“This matter is quite complicated.”

Little Nine tilted its head and wagged its tail, deliberately playing cute as it grinned mischievously. “In short, it wasn’t an accident. Stop asking, woof... Besides, woof, isn’t this era where you truly thrive? Aren’t you having so much fun here, woof?”

Li Xiaofei wasn’t about to believe the dog’s nonsense so easily.

He snorted coldly. “I don’t care. Either way, you owe me compensation.”

“How do you want me to compensate you?” Little Nine asked warily, its mismatched eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“What valuable things do you have to offer?” Li Xiaofei countered.

Little Nine hesitated before cautiously suggesting, “Cultivation techniques?”

“That’s not a bad start,” Li Xiaofei said, nodding.

Little Nine immediately agreed enthusiastically. “Alright, alright! Come on, pick a technique, woof!”

The husky opened its mouth wide. A swirling vortex materialized in midair where countless cultivation scrolls could be seen tumbling and spinning.

Li Xiaofei froze in astonishment.

What the hell? So I was pulling all the techniques of the Secret Time Pavilion out of this dumb dog’s throat? Disgusting.

Li Xiaofei scowled in disdain. “Just spit it out directly.”

“Pfft, picky much,” Little Nine muttered, rolling its mismatched eyes. It opened its mouth wider and retched.

Whoosh!

Three or four dozen scrolls came tumbling out of Little Nine’s mouth, landing haphazardly on the ground like a drunken dog’s vomit.

Li Xiaofei glanced at the pile and immediately found it impossible to look away.

Tai Xuan Sutra! Longevity Technique! Heavenly Demon Manual! War God Records! Wind God Leg! Cloud-Piercing Palm! Heavenly Frost Fist! Three Qi Convergence! Ten Thousand Swords Return!

All these legendary martial arts techniques, thought to exist only in wuxia novels from five hundred years ago, were now casually strewn about like cabbages at a roadside market. Each title was enough to make Li Xiaofei, a martial arts fanatic, tremble with excitement and salivate uncontrollably.

Jackpot!

There were so many top-tier martial arts manuals. And they weren’t just from the Jin Yong martial arts dimension; there were also supreme techniques from Huang Yi’s high-martial dimensions.

Li Xiaofei quickly turned to Little Nine. There had to be even more powerful techniques hidden within this husky. Perhaps it even had cultivation methods for immortality or celestial arts.

For some reason, Little Nine’s mismatched eyes suddenly seemed more charming; its plump and robust body exuded strength; its intelligent gaze held a profound understanding of the world; and its luxurious coat radiated a natural noble elegance...

“Brother, since fate has brought us together like this, why don’t we swear an oath and become sworn brothers of different species and surnames?” Li Xiaofei suggested earnestly.

Little Nine stared at him, dumbfounded. Its doggy face was frozen in an expression of disbelief.