Midnight.
The feast has ended, and all the villagers went back to their respective homes.
Zhu Dingxiang was sitting alone in a lotus position in a wooden house. Closing his eyes, he started to recite the Heaven and Earth Resonance Technique's incantation while his hands constantly made various complex hand seals.
His chanting was in sync with each seal, producing a mysterious rhyme.
The spiritual Qi in the surroundings begins to rush into his body steadily. As the unrefined Qi rampaged through all his veins, they started to generate high heat, threatening to turn him into ashes.
The chaotic Qi ruptured some of the blood vessels, but his vigorous regeneration is reforming them anew.
It was unbearable!
Zhu Dingxiang felt nothing but intense pain melting away his consciousness.
The heat continues to increase, and in no time, Zhu Dingxiang was sweating heavily. The temperature is so great that he feels like he is in a blazing furnace while having thousand of ants consuming his body perpetually.
It was indescribable!
Knowing that he can't endure it anymore, he stopped chanting and fall to the side, panting wearily on the hard bed.
Zhu Dingxiang felt powerless; the feeling of pain is still fresh, it ingrained in his cells' depth.
While the unrefined spiritual Qi is slowly draining out, he slowly recovers.
After half an hour, Zhu Dingxiang got up and purified all the sweat away. Even though his robust regeneration recovered his body's internal wounds, he still felt that it take a significant toll on his spirit.
Sigh~ "I still didn't make any progress in cultivating this soul technique." Zhu Dingxiang muttered in a low voice that only he could hear.
To make any real progress in the technique, Zhu Dingxiang must feel his soul's existence.
The soul is mysterious, and one can't feel its existence without fulfilling specific conditions. For an individual to sense their soul, they have to break through to the Foundation establishment realm and open one of the nine heavenly gates.
The Gate Of Soul.
When one breakthrough to the Foundation establishment realm, they would sense the Nine Heavenly Gates' presence. Just like a lock, they shackle and limit the potential of the body.
"Look like I won't be an exception without possessing an innate talent related to the soul."
Zhu Dingxiang finally decided to wait until his cultivation advanced to try again. He has attempted to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Resonance technique a few times in these four months and makes no development.
Every time, he experiences something worse than death.
'I'm not a masochist who enjoyed the pain of being torture every night, or am I? F*ck.'
__________
It was another cloudy morning.
Qiao Qiuyue frowned as she looks up at the black cloud drifting gradually in the wind.
They traveled beneath the woolen grey sky; the horses' moving hoofs echoed like stones dropping into a lake.
The group wakes up early before the crack of dawn. They departed from the Sparrow Village after saying goodbye to the villagers.
Zhu Dingxiang uses his [Fourth spirit ability: Plant manipulation] and grown a big apple tree under the villagers' astonished gazes before leaving.
Even though karma worked mysteriously and only gave him five karma points, he was content.
[Host: Zhu Dingxiang]
[Age: 19]
[Martial spirit: Divine Spiritual Tree ( Special/ variant)(Divine Rank/Sealed) currently Early-stage/Sky Rank.]
[Bloodlines: Earth-rank Three-tails Starlight Fox.]
[Innate ability: Clones]
[Body Physique: Earth Rank Wood-Origin physique.]
[Cultivation: (Late) 3 Stage Qi Condensation Realm.]
[Soul Cultivation technique: Heaven and earth resonance (no progress).]
[KP: 339](Karma points)
'There is not much change to my status, but my karma points have increased considerably.'
Looking at Little Chibi still sleeping, Zhu Dingxiang was a bit worried. The time this little guy staying awake had become less and less. Even though Jarvis said that it was okay, he was still concerned nonetheless.
Sigh~ 'Getting stronger by eating delicious foods and sleeping... How envious!'
He gently put little Chibi in a small bag made of fresh green vines hanging to the side of little White. Zhu Dingxiang closes his eyes and simulating the Tyrant Blade martial technique inside his mind.
He has tried to practice with the blade and sword during his time traveling, but he was disappointed.
Having read lots of novels, Zhu Dingxiang was eager to try them out, but they didn't give him the feeling and passion he desired.
The guards were prattling with each other; after sleeping for a night. Meats and wines fully recovered them, and their spirit is back.
"Hey, it's just me, or that black cloud is descending downward?" A young guard casually raised the question while looking up at the sky.
"Are you resting properly last night? Don't be stupid!" The older man said as he smacked the young guard's shoulder.
"Ah, sorry, uncle Chen." The young guard apologized in a shy voice. He was embarrassed because he drank quite a lot at the feast.
Yet, after a while, the young guards speak again.
"Uncle Chen, I think the black cloud is coming down for real."
"Mother F*cker! You better stop drinking in the future, or I will kick your ass." Uncle Chen said in an irritated voice as his saliva spraying on the face of the young man.
'Stink...' the young guard grumbling inwardly.
"Such a loser!" Another guard commented.
Zhu Dingxiang looks up at the sky with his sensitive perception after hearing the young guard's remarks.
'That black cloud's weird.' Sensing the abnormalities, he activated his Spirit eyes.
'It seems alive...'
Even though the black cloud was still a few kilometers away, he could still discern its abnormal movements. Swaying with a steady rhyme, the said black cloud resembling the resilient wave of the ocean.
Wow~ 'Birds? and lots of them no less.'
"Doctor Zhu, can you feel it?" Qiao Qiuyue suddenly raises a question.
"Hm? No... I don't feel anything." He truly doesn't feel anything wrong. But seeing her frowning while looking at the sky, he asked her curiously. "Is it that flock of blackbirds?"
"Blackbirds?" She was surprised, the day before Zhu Dingxiang tells her that his eyes are unique, but she doesn't expect that it would be so formidable.
She kept on murmuring the word "blackbirds" as if trying to recall something important.
Suddenly, a high pitch screeching resounded, demanding their attention.
Gasping~ "Oh my god, look!" the young guard pointed at the source of the sound.
"Well, Damn..."
"Incredible! It's one of the renowned predators of the sky, the Four-Winged Eagle!" Qiao Qiuyue was sweating slightly, recognizing the creature in the sky. Even though her voice sounded nervous, there is an unconcealed reverence on her beautiful face.
Following her gaze's direction, Zhu Dingxiang looking at the noble and terrifying beast flapping its wings arrogantly while confronting the flock of blackbirds.
As he managed to get a clear look, its information appeared in front of him.
[Species: Four-Winged Eagle.]
[Gender: Male.]
[Bloodlines: Early-stage Human Rank.]
[Cultivation: Stage 2(Late).]
[Innate ability: Whirlwind, Speed Assault.]
[Description: The tyrant of the skies possessed a strong sense of territory.]