This pace was far too slow. After all, Chen Fei was no longer young—the older one got, the harder it became to advance one's cultivation. More importantly, ever since Chen Fei killed Qi Chun, the black line on his wrist had grown thicker and thicker.
[Status: Bone-Festered Blight]
The panel had shown this new change just one day ago. The most immediate effect it had on Chen Fei was that he could feel his stamina beginning to drain at an accelerating rate.
After breaking through to the Skin Tempering stage, Chen Fei's stamina and perception had both improved tremendously. But with this Bone-Festered Blight added to the mix, he found that his stamina was now barely on par with that of an ordinary person—perhaps even slightly worse.
Chen Fei dared not take this lightly. He immediately began subtly probing the physicians at the medical hall, and in the end, he got his answer.
This was a mark left by a malevolent entity. Either destroy that entity, and the mark would naturally fade, or grow strong enough in cultivation to grind the mark away directly.
Failing that, one could consume pills that strengthened qi and blood to resist this yin-natured force.
That malevolent entity—Chen Fei naturally dared not go looking for it now, and he couldn't afford the pills either. That left only one path: raising his cultivation. Moreover, he didn't dare let the medical hall know he'd been marked. Who knew if they would decide he was too much trouble and simply abandon him?
"It's about time I looked for Pu Liao."
In the evening, Chen Fei came to Pu Liao's door and knocked softly.
"Who is it?" Pu Liao's hoarse voice came from inside.
"Chief Pu, it's me," Chen Fei said quietly.
"What do you want!"
The door opened, and Pu Liao looked down at Chen Fei from above, showing no intention of letting him in.
"Chief Pu, the cultivation arts of our Qingzheng Medical Hall—are you free to teach them now?"
"Oh, so that's what this is about."
Pu Liao saw that Chen Fei's hands were completely empty, and dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes as his voice rose. "Didn't I tell you a few days ago that I've been busy lately? I'll teach you when I have time. Why can't you understand that?"
"When might you have time, Chief Pu?"
"With so many things on my plate, how should I know? When I'm free, I'll call for you."
Pu Liao looked impatient and waved his hand. "Alright, if there's nothing else, go back. I still have matters to attend to. I won't be seeing you off!"
With that, Pu Liao turned and went back inside, slamming the door shut. But before it could close completely, a hand blocked it.
"Do you have a death wish!" Pu Liao's eyes went wide as he glared viciously at Chen Fei.
"Chief Pu, I've been thinking—you've been so busy lately that it would be improper for me to disturb you. Might you have the cultivation manuals on hand? I can practice on my own."
As if he hadn't seen Pu Liao's expression at all, Chen Fei spoke calmly.
Today, Chen Fei had finally seen through it: Pu Liao simply wanted money. But Chen Fei had only been transferred to the guard three days ago—where would money come from? Even a guard's wages were merely five taels of silver a month.
Five taels of silver—how could Pu Liao possibly think that was worth anything? In that case, Chen Fei might as well lay his cards on the table.
"Practice on your own? Hahahaha!"
Pu Liao burst out laughing, his eyes full of mockery. Breaking through to the Skin Tempering stage in four months—that kind of talent was practically the bottom of the barrel among martial artists.
And yet he still fantasized about relying on his own aptitude to practice higher-level martial arts? Nothing but a fool's dream—he had no idea how high the sky was.
"Fine. I have manuals here. Return them by noon tomorrow. If you can't learn them on your own by then, don't say I, Pu Liao, bullied you!"
Pu Liao went back into his room and brought out two manuals, tossing them into Chen Fei's hands. With a snort of laughter, he slammed the door shut.
Some onlookers in the distance shook their heads slightly at the sight of Chen Fei's back. A newly appointed guard, and he actually dared to clash with a veteran like Pu Liao.
And now he wanted to practice martial arts on his own?
If martial cultivation arts were so easy to learn, what would be the point of masters? Without someone to guide you, the countless intricacies within a single art could easily lead you down the wrong path—and in the end, you'd find you had wasted your time and achieved nothing.
Worse still was practicing incorrectly—one could be stuck without a single inch of progress for a lifetime, or even suffer hidden injuries. In their eyes, Chen Fei was just an ignorant fool.
Chen Fei paid no attention to the gazes around him and returned to his own quarters with the manuals.
An hour later, Chen Fei set down the manuals in his hands and began practicing the two arts. Another half hour passed, and Chen Fei looked at his panel.
[Arts: Clear Wind Sword (Introduction 1/100), Suspended Wind Force (Introduction 1/100), Extreme Mountain Fist (Grand Perfection), Extreme Mountain Breathing Method (Grand Perfection)]
Relying on the foundation of his Grand Perfection Extreme Mountain Fist and Breathing Method, Chen Fei had easily trained both arts to the Introduction level.
The Clear Wind Sword was a combat technique, while the Suspended Wind Force was meant to advance one's cultivation. Both of these arts could still be simplified on the panel—the only issue was that the cost of simplification was a bit steep, requiring ten taels of silver each.
Chen Fei didn't have ten taels. He only had a little over two taels, far from enough for simplification.
Chen Fei looked at his Grand Perfection breathing method, then at the Suspended Wind Force, and blinked—an instinctive thought occurred to him to merge the breathing method into the Suspended Wind Force. The next moment, both arts vanished, replaced by a brand-new art.
[Suspended Wind Breathing Method (Proficient 107/1000)]
"It actually works!"
Chen Fei's eyes gleamed with delight. Just now he had simply followed a feeling—he hadn't expected that an art which reached Grand Perfection could truly be merged with other arts.
But thinking about it, it made sense. After all, Grand Perfection meant you had completely mastered everything about that art, understanding it inside and out. Naturally, it could be integrated into other arts.
This meant that in the future, even as Chen Fei's cultivation rose, arts that could no longer keep up wouldn't go to waste—they could be combined with new techniques to form even more powerful arts.
The Extreme Mountain Fist was also merged with the Clear Wind Sword. This time, Chen Fei deliberately preserved the essence of the Clear Wind Sword, only integrating some of the force-exertion methods from the Extreme Mountain Fist.
[Verdant Mountain Sword (Proficient 13/1000)]
The originally graceful and elegant Clear Wind Sword had become a sword art of sweeping, powerful strokes, yet its power was in no way weaker—indeed, it had improved somewhat.
Half an hour later, after trying out both new arts, Chen Fei's face showed delight, but also a trace of dissatisfaction.
The delight came from the fact that both new arts were somewhat stronger than the originals. If trained to Grand Perfection, they would certainly far surpass what came before—after all, they were only at Proficient now.
The dissatisfaction came from the fact that after testing them several times, Chen Fei found that the proficiency of both arts hadn't increased at all. If he had to practice them as they were, without simplification, he estimated he could only gain one or two points a day—and that was with the original arts' foundations merged into them.
This was probably the limit of the talent of the body Chen Fei now inhabited. To break past this limit, ordinary step-by-step methods would simply be too much for him.
"Money, money, money!"
Chen Fei's brows knitted tightly as various ways of making money drifted through his mind, and he found it hard to decide.