Chapter 48 – “Refining muscle” to the small degree.
It did not require another day; in the very afternoon of that day, Li and Lan families had sent their servants to deliver the compensation gift. Li family gave a second order mid-level soft protective armor, while Lan family delivered a second order mid-level medicinal herb.
After having received the items, Ling Xiao didn’t say more as he at once put the soft armor in Bai Yu Xi’s hand and asked her to wear it on.
At first, Bai Yu Xi firmly refused as she said it would be useless on her and she wanted to give it to Ling Xiao. However, Ling Xiao used the power of being the young master at that moment and only then did she obediently receive. For the second-order mid-level medicinal herb, obviously, Ling Xiao couldn’t give it to Bai Yu Xi. One reason was that she didn’t know how to use it, and another reason was that she had no ability to keep it. Thus, Ling Xiao would keep it instead.
On that day, he had obtained quite a number of valuable loots. He only needed to wait until he broke through to the Xuan warrior level to use these.
Another seven days passed in a blink.
The night after the day Ling Xiao had undergone a day of agony, he soaked himself in the herbal tub. The active herbal energy from that huge medicine barrel had been absorbed completely by Ling Xiao.
The power of these herbs basically wasn’t enough for Ling Xiao to recover his body. Right afterward, there were two moving sources of Xuan force within his body. The Xuan force moved back and forth, constantly nourishing the limbs and organs in the body. The wounds all over his body started to heal with a speed visible to the naked eyes.
Past midnight, Ling Xiao woke up from his meditation. His naked body radiated a light golden aura; his white and bright skin had been replaced by a pale golden color. This color kept moving and blinking, revealing itself to be so glossy without any flaws. Every now and then, it still radiated a heavenly aura.
Ling Xiao couldn’t believe the transformation of the skin on his body. He opened his mouth so widely and mumbled, “This is the indication of the second degree of smaller transformation!”
As he had just stopped talking, the light golden aura disappeared. His skin once again restored its smooth and white complexion.
“Crap! I’m becoming a chameleon.” Ling Xiao shouted silently with a sense of joy on his face.
After having endured through half a month of agony, the second order “muscle refinement” from Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts had finally been achieved. The speed at which it was achieved was truly terrifying.
His mysterious person’s power at mid-level had also been greatly enhanced and quickly moved to the top of mid-level. It could be certain that within a few months, breaking through to the high-level of mysterious person wouldn’t be difficult. This was due to all the miracles brought by the Three Points to Return Vitality. Apart from the improved speed of cultivation, he could even absorb the medicinal power via the Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts and transform it into mysterious force. Therefore, he was able to improve significantly in such a short period of time.
“The old master had mentioned that only when I have practiced up to second-order transformation could the first stage of training be ended. So, I must wait until dawn to find him and discuss. Let me rest for a month, which could be used as a time for me to travel to the Desolate Cluster mountain.” Ling Xiao decided the plan in his mind: to go to the Desolate Cluster mountain to gain more knowledge about those wild birds, magical beasts, and exotic flowers on this continent. At the same time, he also wanted to know which treasures were there in the maps written by Little Brow Wei that it caused two large groups of mercenary raise their fists against each other.
There was a bit of time until dawn, so Ling Xiao took out a box obtained from Solitary Eagle and opened it to find an ash-gray magical herb inside. His mind didn’t stop searching the “Magical Herbs Index” ingrained in his head, but no matter whether it was the common or the rare types that he could remember, he couldn’t find any matching species.
“Strange. How could “Magical Herbs Index” have no written record on this?” Ling Xiao was evaluating this magical herb which radiated an ash-gray aura like this. Even though he thought for a hundred times, he couldn’t come up with an answer.
“Wait a minute here… isn’t this Evil Wind herb?” Suddenly, Ling Xiao’s pupil dilated as he eventually identified what this herb was.
Evil Wind herb often grew where it was absolutely dark; it was of third-order high-grade, making it very rare. It belonged to the wind-attributed family of herbs, and to a warrior with wind attributes, this could be comparable in value to fourth-order herbs and above. It was because, this Evil Wind herb was extremely beneficial to the wind-attributed warriors, as it could not only boost the attribute ratio of the wind warriors, it could also be used to cultivate “Evil Wind Killing air”. This could enhance the lethality of the mysterious skills and make the person almost invincible against warriors of similar level.
Ling Xiao couldn’t imagine how Solitary Eagle had obtained such a high-grade magical herb like this. Evil Wind herb grew where it was completely dark, and apart from it being very rare, there would also be an Evil Wind beast of at least third-order to protect the herb in its surrounding. Even a high-level spiritual elder was no match for this Evil Wind beast, and only people of Imperial level or above might stand a chance against it!
The Solitary Eagle was just a mid-level mysterious warrior, and with such Evil Wind herb like this by his side, perhaps he was afraid that if someone realized about this, he would quickly attract danger to himself!
Ling Xiao very carefully stored the Evil Wind herb and his mind was extremely turbulent. A third-order high-grade magical herb whose value could be compared to a fourth-order; if he sold it at an auction, its price might skyrocket.
Of course, he wouldn’t be stupid to the point of taking this for auction. Such rare treasures should be kept for his own use. In case he made a breakthrough to become a wind-attribute mysterious warrior, this would become a great catch.
However, according to Ling Xiao’s past memories, before he had been abolished, the mysterious warrior level that he had reached was of the metallic attribute. So, the breakthrough this time perhaps might also be of the metallic attribute as well. Thinking so, Ling Xiao became saddened again. If it was the metallic attribute, then he would have no way to utilize this Evil Wind herb.
“Forget it, one cannot be so greedy. If it isn’t possible, then I could give it as a reward back to Solitary Eagle later on. Even though his main attribute is fire, he also has some affinity for wind attribute, so using this Evil Wind herb could enhance his wind attribute greatly to the point of balancing both attributes. However, I must wait until I’ve brainwashed him to make him absolutely, unyieldingly loyal to me, then I would train him into my most powerful guardian.” Ling Xiao decided so and then, he stored the box away.
Quickly, a new day's sun slowly rose from the East.
Ling Xiao stopped his practice and decided to search for the grand superior elder.
When there was nothing to do, the grand superior elder would be staying at the Mysterious Skills Pavilion.
Ling Xiao went to the inner court and then proceeded straight into the second level of Mysterious Skills Pavilion to only find that the old man was lying on the couch with his eyes closed lightly as if he didn’t pay attention to the happenings outside.
“Boy, did you get lazy enough to come running outside again?” The grand superior elder didn’t have to open his eyes to recognize it was Ling Xiao.
“Old Master, even if I am lazy, I wouldn’t be coming to this place!” Ling Xiao smiled as he responded.
“So why did you come here, is yesterday’s issue not yet done?”
“No, I’m here to ask for leave from you.”
“For leave? What do you mean?” The grand superior elder had never heard of such new words like that, so he had to ask again.
Ling Xiao had nothing else to say, so he continued, “I want to travel to the Desolate Cluster mountain to train myself for a time.”
“No, before you have completed the second-order transformation, you cannot leave the family even one step. Let alone currently as there are so many people craving to kill you, don’t you know that?” The grand superior elder opened his eyes as he tried to sweep away that talk.
Ling Xiao slowly said, “My second-order transformation is complete.” He was training for the whole day long that he almost became too bored. If he couldn’t go out for some fresh air, he might go crazy.
The grand superior elder was startled for a moment, then he played with his beard before smiling gently, “You boy, don’t joke with me, if you’ve completed the phase, then this old bones wouldn’t need to live any longer. It required me more than a year to complete it. So, even if you have exceptional talent, combined with the capability to go through the agony that ordinary people couldn’t bear with, it should take you at least half a year to complete the training. Don't you think you could fool me so easily.”
“So it means I haven’t completed it?” Ling Xiao became suspicious once he heard the grand superior elder, so he pulled up his shirt. “Old Master, then can you check what could this be?”
Once Ling Xiao started to perform Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts, the area of white skin on his chest turned light golden in a blink. Radiating around his body was the faint aura which appeared to be quite miraculous.
The grand superior elder looked at Ling Xiao with his wrinkled mouth opened and the aging eyes appeared extremely surprised. “This… How could this be!”
Ling Xiao withdrew his mysterious force, then the skin once again recovered its smooth and white complexion.
“Old Master, so this means I have completed the phase?” Ling Xiao said.
“According to the indication, this would mea completion. Yet, we must test to be sure of this.” Immediately after the grand superior elder stopped, he held up Ling Xiao’s arm and squeezed tightly.
Ling Xiao couldn’t even react in time and felt the pain. He couldn’t help but let out a cry, “Ss!”
“I’ve cut off a few of your muscles, now immediately use the Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts to heal.” The grand superior elder ordered seriously.
Ling Xiao didn’t think much and immediately carried out Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts. A block of mysterious force right away rushed toward his wrist. The mysterious force opened the veins for a moment, and the veins started to recover slowly. The torn muscles slowly got connected to one another.
After a moment, Ling Xiao felt his arm didn’t feel anything abnormal as the muscles had recovered like before.
Through the Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts cultivation, Ling Xiao couldn’t help but feel that this mysterious technique was unique. It was so miraculous that it could have the healing function! If outsiders knew about this, there would be no idea how many would compete to have it. Furthermore, it wasn’t sure where the grand superior elder had acquired this technique from.
“Indeed you’ve completed it.” The grand superior elder exclaimed. He had indeed been able to see the strange ability of cultivation that Ling Xiao had. He truly couldn’t believe there was such person who could complete the training in such a short period of time. He highly regarded Ling Xiao’s excellent talent, savvy and resilience; that was why he took him in as a disciple. Only this day did he truly realize that Ling Xiao’s innate talents had exceeded his imagination.
Actually, even Ling Xiao didn’t know that he could cultivate the Five Transformations of Diamond Secret Arts this quickly. Apart from his own innate talent, the most crucial point was the benefits brought upon by Three Points to Return Vitality. Without the support from Three Points to Return Vitality, he would definitely not be able to do this so quickly. On this point, he could only wait until he got strong enough to slowly realize its advantages.
“Old Master, so this means I could go to the Desolate Cluster mountain?” Ling Xiao asked again.
“Even if you’ve completed the training, this would mean I couldn’t let you go outside even more. People of Li family and Lan family wouldn’t stand still, and the moment you go out, they would right away take revenge. Let’s wait until you’re strong enough to go.” The grand superior elder advised him.
It was hard for him to have such an excellent disciple, so how could he let him go out in this current situation. In case he was killed by enemies, then this old man’s whole effort would go to waste. The grand superior elder planned that before Ling Xiao had become an advanced and powerful warrior, he would definitely not let him leave this Jiangxi City.
Obviously, Ling Xiao could sense the concern of the old man on him. So, he immediately said respectfully, “Old Master, I know you are concerned about this little boy. However, a powerful hawk would some day have to spread its wings and leave the nest. If one wants to become the master of the air, one must have the guts to fight against heaven; otherwise, how could one achieve anything? I don’t want to hide and grow within the protection of the family. This would not benefit me.”
“I know what you mean; however, what capabilities do you have now? If you go outside, people would be able to kill you so easily, like an ant. You might die before you could achieve something, isn’t this a waste of effort then? I’ve decided. Before you could become an advanced level mysterious warrior, I wouldn’t let you out of Ling family even a step.” The grand superior elder stated it firmly.
“Old Master, if you are not sure about my safety, then let the Five elemental envoys, Tiger Six and Tiger Seven come with me. Continuing training for days and nights does not seem to be a good method. Switching between training and rest continuously, what if I continue to train and become obsessed…” Ling Xiao was talking nonstop.
Regretfully, the grand superior elder had closed his aging eyes and seemed to fall into deep sleep. He didn’t move anymore.
Eventually, Ling Xiao could only grimace and leave the Mysterious Skills Pavilion. At the same time, he was thinking of a quick way to sneak out.