Chapter 128 - Practicing the Art of the Strong Ape
“Oh? That’s quite unexpected. You’re in love at such a young age? May I know who she is?”
“Er…” Shi Mu hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was to speak her name on such an occasion.
“Don’t hum and haw, or you are kidding me about this girl?” Jin Xiaochai’s face hardened, and the smile in her eyes vanished.
“I wouldn’t dare.” Shi Mu was scared stiff.
“If so, tell me. If it is true, I will not be hard on you.” Jin’s tone softened, cajoling Shi Mu to let her know his secret. In accordance, her body moved several inches away, which gave Shi Mu some room to draw his breath.
“It is the Devil Witch of the Tian Yin sect.” Shi Mu’s eyes grew more determined as he pronounced the name. It made no sense to hide his thoughts now.
“The Devil Witch? Did I hear you right? Do you know that she is the greatest genius of the Tian Yin Sect in centuries? She reached the Xiantian stage when she was twenty years old, and now she is the only disciple of Master Gongsun Yu, the Earth Grade Saint of the Tian Yin Sect.” The enchanting expression on Jin Xiaochai’s face evaporated, and she was staring at Shi Mu sardonically, as though she was talking to a mentally handicapped man. Notwithstanding, for an instant, however momentary, her eyes spoke of suffering - a trace of sorrow clouded them, though she quickly managed to hide it.
“The Devil Witch of Tian Yin has said that if I can reach the Xiantian stage before I turn thirty, I can then go to the Wan Long Mountain to meet her.” Shi Mu was not deterred at all by Jin Xiaochai’s sarcastic words, and he replied in a most serious tone.
“Haha.” Hearing his words, Jin Xiaochai returned a big smile, almost unable to hold herself, as if she had just heard the most humorous joke in the world. She was grinning from ear to ear, with one hand on her stomach for quite some time. Then, after a good laugh, she closed her delicate mouth and her expression became frosty. Without saying a word, she averted her eyes from Shi Mu and wandered off. It almost felt like an unearthly dream. Only the remnant smell of her fragrance proved that she had actually been there.
Shi Mu’s eyes shone suspiciously as he gazed at the receding figure. His fists fast clenched. He would never forget that sense of powerlessness he felt, both mentally and physically, in front of a Xiantian saint like Jin Xiaochai. Because the disparity between their strength was so painfully felt, he knew he had no chances of survival if the two of them ever fought. The disdainful sneer she gave him had been full of venom, and would always remain in his mind. Though he did not know what intentions she had, approaching him so many times, he knew, for sure, that this woman would never let him go easily.
However, there was one thing that he was sure about at the moment: he must strengthen himself as fast as possible. For one thing, it was for his pledge made to his deceased mother. For another, the stronger he became, the narrower the gap between himself and the Devil Witch would become.
Shi Mu stared hard in the direction that Jin Xiaochai had disappeared one more time, and then turned his head and strode into the Rat Nest.
After he was back in his Kun room, he sat on the bed and spent a lot of time than regaining his inner calm. With eyes shut, he recalled the details of the Art of the Strong Ape once again, from beginning to end, and, when he was sure about his memory, he started to practice it.
As the art began to work inside his body, Shi Mu began to pull in the pure heavenly energy in the environment. This time was different from when he practiced the Art of the Heavenly Elephant. This time, the power did not flow into his veins but, instead, melted into his skin and muscles.
The pure heavenly energy was then transformed into infinitesimal crystals that stored themselves in Shi Mu’s body in accordance with the art. Within just one hour, hundreds of crystals had formed.
Shi Mu was quite happy that this art was as easy to practice as the jade slip had said, and he had not suffered any hardship to make this much progress in a short time.
After six hours, Shi Mu’s body jolted and he opened his eyes. He turned over, with his hands on the bed, and quickly got to his feet. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the power. Though it was hard to say, he did feel something different in his body. A satisfied smile broadened on his face.
Since he was diagnosed as having the bloodline of the Stone Ape, he had clearly felt that he was slower than others in practicing Houtian arts, for his Qi flowed more slowly through his veins. But the art of the Strong Ape was just a supplementary art that only served to strengthen his body, not his Qi, so he had no problems practicing it. All went perfectly well.
Shi Mu rejoiced in his heart at how lucky it was for him to have chosen the Art of the Strong Ape, which had proven to be the most appropriate Houtian art for him.
In the next month, Shi Mu mostly led a secluded life. He would accomplish the daily assignment of the union as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then spend rest of the day working on his cultivation. In just a few days, he had reached the first stage of the Art of the Strong Ape, and his first chance to strengthen his body and veins had come. Now it was time to use the Devil Qi.
......
Shi Mu sat on his bed with his legs crossed, his eyes fixed on the bottles in front of him. One was a green copper bottle, as big as his palm, while the other three were white china bottles.
After a while, he picked up the green copper bottle and took a tiny peek inside, shaking it cautiously. A puff of black smoke soon spread out from within.The black smoke twisted like a distressed snake in the air, seeming to be quite uncomfortable in this environment. It soon rushed into the ground, disappearing like a snowflake melting into a pool of water.
Shi Mu nodded, knowing that the Devil Qi was a kind of special qi generated in dark and dirty places and, thus, had a strong resistance to the pure heavenly energy of the sky and earth. Generally speaking, Devil Qi hid deep under the earth.
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