"Where did you buy it?" Huang Xiaolong, hearing his sister Huang Min's exclaims of joy, couldn't help but shake his head and smile. A spiritual beast as rare as the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey couldn't be bought with money.
"Squeak squeak!" The Soul-devouring Purple Monkey, seeing Huang Min calling it a little monkey, suddenly let out a squeal and showed its teeth in anger, startling Huang Min who had been reaching out to touch it.
After being startled, Huang Min glared with angry, puffed-up eyes, intently staring down the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey. Thus, a staring match ensued between the girl and the monkey.
Some time later, Huang Xiaolong finally managed to get his sister Huang Min to leave. Watching her go, he heaved a big sigh of relief.
Once back in his room, Huang Xiaolong had the Soul-devouring Purple Monkey come down from his shoulder and took out the Cold Jade Bed from the Asura Ring. He sat cross-legged upon it and began to cultivate according to the mental method of the Asura Technique's first level.
As he circulated the Asura Technique, a cold air, as if coming from the Nine Netherworld Hell, descended from the void. It was continuously devoured by the Two-headed Snake Martial Soul behind Huang Xiaolong and surged into the meridians within his body.
When this chill invaded his body, Huang Xiaolong couldn't help but shiver, feeling as if he had plunged into an abyss of ice. Shocked in his heart, he guarded his mind and circulated the cultivation technique, slowly refining the cold energy.
This chilling air moved exceedingly slowly through the meridians in Huang Xiaolong's body. With every step it took, Huang Xiaolong felt as though his blood was almost frozen.
Huang Xiaolong clenched his teeth and continued to circulate the Asura Technique's first level, over and over again. Finally, he slowly refined the chilling air, transforming it into pure Fighting Qi.
When the cold air transformed into pure Fighting Qi, Huang Xiaolong discovered that in less than half an hour, his body's Fighting Qi had actually grown stronger by one fraction – this was more than ten times better than the results he got from cultivating the Mystic Azure Technique previously!
This discovery delighted Huang Xiaolong, "It seems the blueprint was right. Although Nine Netherworld Dark Energy is difficult to refine, once it is refined, the benefits are tremendous!"
The blueprint hidden within the Asura Technique had stated that by cultivating the Asura Technique, one could connect with the Nine Netherworld Dark Energy from the void to temper one's body. This chilling air must be the Nine Netherworld Dark Energy.
Nine Netherworld Dark Energy is one of the highest quality forms of nature's spiritual energy. The higher the quality of the spiritual energy, the better the tempering of the body, and the stronger the transformed Fighting Qi will be.
That is the difference between Advanced Skills and low-level skills.
The higher the grade of a cultivation technique, the higher the quality of nature's spiritual energy it attracts, and the stronger the Fighting Qi it transforms. In the Martial Soul World, some practitioners of Earth Rank high-level skills can often challenge those who cultivate high-level skills of a lower grade – this is the reason why.
A Martial Soul determines a person's strength and potential, but the cultivation techniques practiced are equally important.
Time flew by, and a month passed quickly.
In this month, Huang Xiaolong did nothing but cultivate. Unlike before, he no longer practiced the Huang Family's Mystic Azure Technique but had switched to the Asura Technique. In addition to cultivating the Asura Technique, Huang Xiaolong also persisted in practicing Yijinjing.
After switching to the Asura Technique, Huang Xiaolong's cultivation speed increased even more. One month after returning from the valley, he had reached the Second-stage Late-stage Peak and was on the verge of breaking through to the Third Rank.
The night was charming, and the Silver Moon spilled its light.
Huang Xiaolong sat cross-legged on the Cold Jade Bed as streams of Nine Netherworld Dark Energy descended from the void. The Two-headed Snake Martial Soul opened both mouths wide and devoured them fiercely.
Like surging waves, the Fighting Qi rolled and surged within Huang Xiaolong's meridians, battering against them. This sensation was just like when he broke through from the First-stage Late-stage Peak to the Second Rank.
However, the barrier to breaking through to the Third Rank was much thicker and harder to overcome than the one to the Second Rank. But Huang Xiaolong did not give up. He drove the Fighting Qi within his meridians time and again against the Third Rank's barrier until, at last, a tiny breach appeared.
Feeling the Third Rank's barrier finally weakening and the small breach forming, Huang Xiaolong was elated and spurred his Fighting Qi to strike even more furiously. The breach continuously expanded until at last a soft booming sound emanated from Huang Xiaolong's body.
Fighting Qi, like a flood, surged into the Third Level meridians, trumpeting as it went.
The Third Rank had finally been breached!
Huang Xiaolong opened his eyes, unable to mask the joy in his heart.
With the breakthrough to the Third Rank, the Fourth Stage was no longer far off!
"If I can advance to the Fourth Order, then I can start to cultivate Combat Skills, and upon advancing to the Fourth Order, my Martial Soul will go through a metamorphosis. By then, I'll be able to possess an Innate Soul Skill!" Huang Xiaolong thought to himself.
At the age of seven, his Martial Soul had awakened, but it was only in its initial state. It was only when one's cultivation of Fighting Qi reached the Fourth Order that the Martial Soul would undergo a metamorphosis. Once transformed, the Martial Soul would become stronger and grant its owner a unique Innate Soul Skill.
The higher the level of the Martial Soul, the stronger the Innate Soul Skill born from the metamorphosis!
However, the Fourth Order was a watershed. For some with a low-level, First, Second, or Third Level Martial Soul, due to the inherent limitations of their Martial Souls, it would be difficult to break through to the Fourth Order without encountering some serendipity. Thus, some people with low-level Martial Souls were unable to possess an Innate Soul Skill in their entire lives because they could not break through to the Fourth Order. Their low-level Martial Souls couldn't undergo the first transformation.
Huang Xiaolong stepped off the Cold Jade Bed and left his room.
At this time, the night was still hazy and the moonlight enveloped everything. Huang Xiaolong's figure flashed as he took advantage of the night to leave the Huang Family Manor and then headed to the back mountain. Once at the back mountain, he began to circulate the Asura Technique. His eyes gradually turned blood red and his originally black hair slowly stood up, turning white. Streams of black killing aura continuously swirled around Huang Xiaolong.
This was the Asura Body obtained after cultivating the Asura Technique, but now it was only in a nascent state. According to the scroll, once Huang Xiaolong cultivated the Asura Technique to the highest realm, he would be able to transform into a true Asura.
After summoning the Asura Body, Huang Xiaolong's figure flashed under the moonlight like a dark cloud. He swept his hands and suddenly sent a palm strike towards a large tree that could only be embraced by one person. A palm print, containing the power of extreme cold, burst through the air and struck the trunk of the tree. It passed right through, then successively hit the second, third, and fourth trees in line.
Each of the four trees bore a small palm print.
Huang Xiaolong looked at the palm prints on the trunks of the four trees and nodded in satisfaction. His advancement to the Third Rank coupled with the Nine Netherworld Fighting Qi had made his Mian Palm's destructive power about three times stronger than before. Now, with his strength, he was confident enough to kill a Third Stage Late Stage expert.
Of course, after advancing to the Third Rank and the tempering of his Nine Netherworld Fighting Qi, Huang Xiaolong's physical body had become more robust and sturdy.
After cultivating the Yijinjing on the back mountain for a while, as dawn approached, Huang Xiaolong then returned to the Huang Family Manor.
Upon his return to the Huang Family Manor, Huang Xiaolong's father, Huang Peng, summoned him to the East Hall.
"Dad, Mom, you were looking for me?" Upon arriving at the East Hall, Huang Xiaolong sat down and asked.
Huang Peng and Su Yan had complicated expressions and hesitated to speak.
"Huang Wei advanced to the First Order yesterday," Huang Peng finally said.
Huang Xiaolong then understood why his parents had asked to see him. In the end, they were still worried about the issue of the year-end gathering.
However, it had been less than two months, and Huang Wei had already advanced to the First Order. How could that be so fast? Logically, even with a Tenth-level Martial Soul like the Three-eyed Black Tiger, it shouldn't have been possible for him to reach the First Order so quickly.
"Your grandfather spent a large sum of money at the auction in the county city to buy a Thousand-year-old Luo Xin Grass!" Huang Peng continued.
Thousand-year-old Luo Xin Grass!
Huang Xiaolong was taken aback, then sneered. No wonder Huang Wei had managed to advance to the First Order in less than two months. It turned out that his grandfather, Huang Qide, had spared no expense to purchase a Thousand-year-old Luo Xin Grass for him to consume and cultivate. The price of a Thousand-year-old Luo Xin Grass wouldn't be cheap. It seemed that Grandfather Huang Qide had already started to fully nurture Huang Wei as the future hope of the Huang Family Manor, while he, also a grandson, had not received anything worth mentioning, not even a Fighting Qi Pill!