At this time, the sky outside had darkened slightly due to the gloomy black clouds hanging in the sky.
Tang Bai and Chen'er got to the blood arbor and found out that they were the last of the group to arrive. Everyone looked at them with impatient expressions, forcing Tang Bai to apologize lightly.
From the look of things, they all knew the techniques they were looking for so they didn't waste any time.
Shi Lao once again cast his spell to generate the dark skull and brought them to the six valleys, straight to the valley designated 'Ji'.
On the way, Tang Bai found out that Shi Zhu, the arrogant young master had gotten a '5 star Yang Bone fist technique' for almost 1200 spirit stones, making Tang Bai smile bitterly at their attempt to flaunt prestige.
Suddenly, it was like something finally clicked in his mind,
The infamy began increasing when news of their robbery began to spread while the prestige increased when he lied about working for the direct disciple named Long Yi, giving himself some kind of status and worth or rather making people place more importance on him.
[Name: Tang Bai
Cultivation level: 4th level of the Qi gathering stage
Cultivation techniques: Soul-capturing Heart Chant
Martial Techniques:
Affiliation: Blood River Sect,
Talent: myriad poison body (-/100) unawakened.
Prestige points: 120
Infamy points: 50
Equipment: outer sect robes, flowing cloud shoes
Extraordinary Gifts: small pocket realm]
Shi Lao suddenly reminded them with his words, bringing Tang Bai's senses back to the group, "According to the Sect rules, all disciples that take Cultivation Methods or Secret Techniques from the Scripture Pavilion have automatically sworn upon the natural order that they won't teach or give their methods and techniques to another person. The punishment for violating this rule ranges from having your consciousness wiped out and having you granted certain death. Upon learning from a trace scroll, a wisp of your Qi is taken and recorded, so I advise you don't teach anyone else"
With a slight nod, Tang Bai agreed but couldn't help wondering if you sold the trace scroll without learning it.
"You can try, but you can only sell them cheaper and there is also the risk of exposure, that also comes with its can of worms." Shi Lao said as if he read their minds, "Haha don't worry, I don't read minds. Everyone has once had the same thoughts upon hearing these".
[Name: Shi Lao
Cultivation level: 6th level of the foundation building Realm.
Cultivation techniques: Crossing twilight way
Martial techniques: Vain Skulls of the Untold, Murky Crane Steps, Earthen Code (I)
Affiliation: Blood River Sect(Inner sect disciple)
Talent: Calculating(I).
Gu: Twilight Toad Gu
Prowess: 17,223
Loyalty: 0% (Interest)]
Slowly, the Black skull floated in the air as Tang Bai watched Shi Lao's status page carefully.
After the time it would take to drink a cup of tea (10-15 minutes), Tang Bai and the rest were delivered to their valley.
"It's unfortunate that Junior couldn't join my Faction. But I am sure Junior wouldn't need to worry about much if you serve Senior Brother Long Yi ." Shi Lao said regretfully but there was a little probing in his tone.
"..." Tang Bai could only respond with silence before giving a confident bow as he said, "Until we meet again senior brother".
Tang Chen did the same before turning to leave, not once did he say anything to outsiders throughout the trip.
Shi Lao nodded slightly as he watched them leave.
Like this, they all returned to 'Ji' and went back to their respective dwellings.
After returning to his hut, Tang Bai organized a couple of things before feeling hungry. He took out the dry rations and, after eating them, fell asleep on his bed.
After days of nightly robbing with double chores, Tang Bai was exhausted and thus it was not weird for him to fall asleep so quickly.
He didn't know how long he slept, but when he opened his eyes again, the sun outside his window was already back at the top of the sky.
With a lazy yawn, He walked out of the hut and into the makeshift yard he and Chen'er shared.
In the yard was a well that a previous disciple had dug out.
Using his wooden bucket to fetch water, Tang Bai used his hands to drink a few gulps. Unlike any water that he had tasted before, this water was extremely sweet and had a refreshing cold feel as it went down to the stomach.
After quenching his thirst, he dunked his head in the bucket and washed his face. Afterward, he went back to his room and sat on his mat bed.
Marrow cleansing pill(10 prestige points): contains 5 capsules and is used to cleanse the body of all impurities, improve body function, and a slight improvement in qualifications. Can only be taken once...
Stolen story; please report.
[120pp->110pp]
He brought it out of his inventory and watched as the item suddenly appeared in his palm, it was a tiny glass bottle with five blue glossy pills inside.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in," Tang Bai says while staring intently at the door.
The door creaked open to show, Tang Chen's tired face. It was obvious he ran here the moment he woke up, his bed hair and the dried saliva on his face were the best evidence.
Tang Bai could only shake his head and nothing more, after all, he was the one who made this pampered brat work double time for days and they barely got any sleep. But it was obvious he was thrilled to start learning a martial arts technique, that much could be seen from his shining eyes alone.
"Greetings Elder Broth-"
"Take this pill quickly" Tang Bai cut his greeting off as he tossed a marrow-cleansing pill to him.
"Er ok..." He caught it sheepishly before tossing it into his mouth, once again nothing happened but after about a minute, it took effect.
"Kuagh!" Tang Chen coughed up a huge amount of blood from his mouth continuously before he began to cry blood as well.
Tang Bai watched in utter shock as his brother released black blood from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, the heart-wrenching sound of bones cracking rang out repeatedly like some death song.
The 15-year-old's condition was jarring, he had discharged so much blood that Tang Bai began to have some skepticism about the system's product.
Ten minutes later Tang Chen stopped moving, much to Tang Bai's horror. So He approached the kid carefully, only to find out that he was just napping.
This made Tang Bai speechless for a while, so he dragged him out of the hut because of the stench.
After fetching another water from the well, he poured everything on the teen.
Splash!
Tang Chen woke up startled as he coughed repeatedly with his eyes wide open before struggling to stand up drunkenly.
Tang Bai watched him carefully stand and fall for a while before he noticed a few things that changed, Tang Chen's hair was now longer, his skin fairer, his eyes were more of a brighter green, and his skeletal frame and muscles were all fleshed out, even his height had increased.
"All in 15 minutes" Tang Bai mumbled lightly.
Suddenly he heard Tang Chen exclaim, "Woah! Everything is so clear!"
"Chen'er Tell me everything, how do you feel?" Tang Bai asked impatiently while dragging his brother back into the hut.
"It's like, It's like everything became clearer, Sight, smell and hearing. there is so much strength in arms and feet and it feels like..." Tang Chen went on and on about how he felt.
Tang Bai nodded repeatedly as he listened before asking the most important question, He gave Tang Chen a soul bead while saying "Try cultivating now and tell me what you feel".
The latter calmed his excitement and quickly went into action.
"Weird..."
"Chen'er what is weird?"
"I can't feel the water spirit root, just the wind and flames spirit roots remain! Impossible! I am a dual spirit root?." his words surprised not only himself but Tang Bai as well.
One of the reasons they were deemed average was due to being owners of three spirit roots and two of them being opposing elements just made it worse, not to mention the purity of the elemental aura within each of them.
It was Wind(63%) middle grade, Fire(43%) middle grade, and Water(27%) low grade for Tang Chen while it was Wind(54%) middle grade, Water(49%) middle grade, and Fire(18%) low grade for Tang Bai respectively.
[Name: Tang Chen
Cultivation level: 3rd Level of the Qi Gathering Realm
Cultivation techniques: Soul-capturing Heart Chant
Martial techniques:
Affiliation: Blood River Sect
Talent: Myriad poison body (1/100) awakened.
Gu: Heart Nourishing Gu
Loyalty: 95% (Awe and reverence)]
When he was done giving Tang Chen instructions, he took a Marrow Cleansing pill and went to sit just by the well.
A minute later a mind-numbing pain attacked and he began to cough blood, next were his bones breaking up into paste and rearranging itself at an unbelievable speed. His vision went red as he let out silent screams, he could not bring himself to raise any meaningful thought and no sound could escape his lips.
_________
After a while, Tang Bai was woken up by Cold water and he developed a coughing fit.
Tang Chen watched with worry but remained motionless. The Elder sibling remained seated before inspecting himself and Everything was just as he had imagined.
[Name: Tang Bai
Cultivation level: 4th level of the Qi gathering stage
Cultivation techniques: Soul-capturing Heart Chant
Martial Techniques:
Affiliation: Blood River Sect,
Talent: myriad poison body (1/100) awakened.
Prestige points: 110
Infamy points: 50
Equipment: outer sect pants, flowing cloud shoes
Extraordinary Gifts: small pocket realm]
“Come on” Tang Bai excitedly walked back to his hut and brought back the trace scrolls.
Bone Corrosion Palm involves refining poison within your body and using Qi to expend them from the palm like a weapon during combat, while using its technique, the user can quickly force poison into the enemy's body with every hit.
As Tang Bai was reading, He began thinking in his mind: It would even build some resistance to poison. Even the alternative of soaking your hands in poison would take years to fulfill any substantial results. Perhaps this Myriad poison body could help but...> The Scroll suddenly faded away like Light particles. "let me master the moves first," Tang Bai muttered in a low tone, gazing at the now deserted courtyard. An hour later, the logs had been arranged neatly with ropes or vines, and his hands were reddening from moving and arranging the logs, but it had to be done for the movement and hits. Taking a deep breath and resting for another minute, his green eyes narrowed as he looked at his new training space, shining with a strange glint. "Let's do this!" Leaning his back on one of the neatly arranged logs, he slowly walked in between them while he avoided getting hit in the most comfortable position he could get without using Qi. The back of his hand accidentally pushed one of the woods, and eventually, he got smacked in the chin. "Ugh!" He coughed in surprise, his eyes glaring, feeling a sudden weight on his back. For a moment, he was about to pass out due to the shock. By now, the sun slowly ran away in shame, making him gaze at his own receding shadow, he was covered in sweat as the evening fog began showing signs of resurfacing. Tang Chen had joined him at some point, he was making some clumsy-looking moves with a serious expression but it was something different. They continued with a torch lit in the courtyard that night and some rejuvenation pills they bought from a senior disciple in alchemy. Morning came and they quickly went to handle some chores before returning to their home. The morning had quietly slipped away once again, replaced by the glowing warm light of the afternoon sun. Tang Bai was sweating profusely, drenching his entire robe and forced to take it off. His footsteps were steady, and under the afternoon sun's light, his posture looked balanced and precise. 'Just a little bit more...' He muttered inwardly, feeling his whole body trembling in pain. [Ding! Learnt Bone corrosion Palm(Initiate)] "Oh? Little Brother Tang, long time no see!" Wearing grey martial robes similar to Tang Bai's, three outer disciples called out with sneers. "It's an honor to see you training like this, too bad, I heard you guys are practicing the Soul-capturing Heart Chant!" "Brother Tang, tell us your secret. Have you ever gotten a wisp of Qi? You are practicing martial techniques, with wood? Woodsman? Haha" All of them laughed and mocked him, but Tang Bai only glanced at them while thinking of prestige points and Infamy, his eyes soon focused on the leading familiar figure, Ma Dong. "Wow! Look at the him! How bold you are now, glaring at us... It's the same way he glared from the ground the other day." One of the lackey disciples, with a thick body and many wrinkles on his face, short wavy hair, suddenly spoke loudly. "Why don't you talk? Are you mute?" Another one spoke while walking into the compound in a threatening manner, before putting his hand around Tang Bai's shoulder. He was a skinny man with a pointed nose and narrowed eyes, looking at him with visible two big rabbit teeth. On the other hand, Tang Bai glanced at them with a calm gaze before saying,” Seriously, who are guys putting up a show for?” “What?!” Tang Bai glanced at his palms silently, with a blatant disregard for their existence. "Brother Ma, how about beating this fool down again? My hands are itching seeing his annoying face!" The Thick Lackey was already rubbing his palms together, narrowing his eyes at Tang Bai. Pah! Just before Brother Ma, or Ma Dong, nodded, Tang Bai slapped the skinny lackey to the ground, making all of them freeze. "Y...you! Are you still a man, how dare you sneak attack me!" the slap victim yelled to regain whatever was left of his dignity as he stood up. Pah! He fell to the ground once more. “You!” Pah! Just as the skinny lackey wailed with a scared expression, the others became terrified. Pah! Pah! "H...Help me!" It didn't matter if he blocked or not, a slap would arrive with 0 mistakes. The other two suddenly had the urge to run but a palm suddenly rested on each of their shoulders and they froze. “Yooo isn't this Ma Dong, an honored guest, where are you going in a hurry?”The direction of the voice came from behind Ma Dong and his Lackey. They struggled to turn but with their realm, it was impossible to move Tang Chen who was now in the 4th level of the Qi gathering realm, cold sweat filled their back as they didn't understand what was going on with these newbies. Pah! Suddenly, Tang Bai looked from the swollen pig face and spoke indifferently, “Oh, Chen’er you are back?”. “Yes big Brother” “Bring those two over” “Ok!” Pah! "Ah! You're crazy!" the skinny man cursed as they all saw Tang Bai resume nonchalantly. His right hand swings lightly in a carefree manner. while doing this, Tang Chen kept advancing, pushing the other two forward. “B...br...brother Tang, please let us go” Ma Dong spoke while shivering like a leaf. Pah! A slap from the elder sibling shut Ma Dong up instantly.