Chapter 8: Leveling Up
"Where did you learn this set of martial arts?" Little Aunt asked softly.
Li Xiaofei had prepared his answer a while ago and replied, "I found a martial arts manual on a corpse outside the sewage plant. He seemed like a skilled martial artist from out of town, but he was severely injured and ended up dying in the slums. The body was already decomposing by the time I found it."
People died in the slums every day when they met hidden dangers in this chaotic place. Some unfortunate martial artists, who had fallen into dire straits, would tragically meet their end in such a fashion. It was rare, but his explanation was plausible.
Little Aunt didn't inquire further since she wasn't a very curious person to begin with. She continued to massage him. Her tender and fair hands were like exquisite works of art, softly pressing on Li Xiaofei's bare muscles. The pressure was neither light nor heavy, and it felt very comfortable.
"This set of martial arts is extraordinary. It’s probably a powerful true ancient martial arts legacy from a certain lineage." Little Aunt's magical hands pressed down on either side of Li Xiaofei's spine, as she said lightly, "Your level of starforce cultivation is insufficient, and practicing forcibly injured your muscles and membranes. If you continue like this, you'll harm your internal organs."
A faint heat was emanating from her palms and fingers. It seemed to be some kind of energy that permeated through Li Xiaofei's muscles, blood vessels, and marrow through his pores.
"Is it that bad?" Li Xiaofei was startled, "Little Aunt, I've finally obtained a set of true legacy-level martial arts… I want to continue practicing."
In the original work of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, mastering the seventy-two stances of the Shaolin Temple required profound Buddhist cultivation. Xiao Yuanshan and Mu Rongbo were both top martial arts masters, but they had nearly played themselves to death by forcibly practicing the seventy-two stances. Even the powerful Mahacakra Jiu Mozhi, who had used the Minor Subtraction skill to activate the seventy-two stances, encountered problems. He had ultimately been forced to disperse his cultivation to save his life.
Could it be that this bug also appeared in me? Surely, I can't go and cultivate Buddhism again just to practice martial arts.
Little Aunt's fair and tender fingers pressed down on Li Xiaofei's body for a while before she turned to soak her hands in a black ceramic jar filled with medicinal water. Then, she continued massaging using her hands soaked in the medicinal water.
She repeated this process until Li Xiaofei's skin was red and his pores were dilated. He felt incredibly comfortable. This was Little Aunt's unique way of treating injuries. It used a secret medicinal water and unique massage technique. Li Xiaofei had been on the receiving end of this treatment several times before. The previous Li Xiaofei’s tough skin and strong recovery ability was likely due to this set of techniques that Little Aunt used on him.
"Don't worry," Little Aunt said lightly. "A massage can temporarily alleviate the hidden injuries after each practice session."
Li Xiaofei was overjoyed at the news. He could enjoy a massage while healing, so life seemed quite good.
Huh? Wait a minute, how does Little Aunt, a blind recluse, know so much?
But then Little Aunt continued, "However, massage is not the ultimate solution. If you want to completely master this martial art, you need to find a way to enhance your starforce cultivation and advance into the Limit Breaking Realm. Once you have a powerful starforce to nurture your body, you should be able to bear the burden of the martial art."
Li Xiaofei listened thoughtfully as Little Aunt finished the massage. She said, "Also, you killed two hall masters of the Blackblood Gang. They won't let it go easily. You should take the time to recover and think about how to deal with the trouble ahead," she said.
She tidied up the bottles and jars in the room before leaving. She seemed like a fairy with her graceful figure and ethereal steps. Her figure would have easily attracted millions of followers with just a few photos of her back five hundred years ago. She definitely would have been an internet celebrity. The only pity was her face that had been marred by disfigurement. There must be a story behind Little Aunt's appearance.
The door closed with a bang, and Li Xiaofei dressed himself. He walked to the window, looking over the desolate neighborhood from the sixth floor as he began to think.
Two things were absolutely necessary to deal with the Blackblood Gang: strength and influence. He knew that there were two methods for martial artists to increase their starforce level. One was through breathing techniques, and the other was by using substances such as reagents and star cores.
The former had a low cost but was slow. Its efficiency would remain low unless one mastered high-level breathing techniques. On the other hand, the latter offered speed but came with a high cost.
Starforce Reagents were synthetic substances produced by some technology companies. They delivered energy into the martial artist's body through ingestion, rapidly increasing starforce cultivation. Conversely, star cores were natural energy crystals found inside star beasts. Obtaining them required hunting star beasts, and the energy they provided was relatively primitive. He would also need the special instruments needed to absorb the energy from star cores.
Whether it was Starforce Reagents, star cores, or star core absorption devices, they were far beyond the monetary capacity of ordinary martial artists in the slums.
"The Mighty Vajra Fist is a combat technique, not a heart technique. The reason I advanced to the second stage was because my previous self had enough accumulation and broke through the shackles in battle. That won’t work every time. I need to find a breathing technique of a higher level than the Clear Spring Breathing Technique to quickly increase my starforce level. At the same time, I also need to figure out a way to obtain Starforce Reagents, star cores, and training instruments. I must try both ways as both are equally important."
Li Xiaofei had a plan in mind. In 2022, he loved Chinese martial arts, valued chivalry, and dreamed of traveling the world with a sword. Many of his words and actions, which imitated the hero in books, were jokingly referred to as chuuni syndrome by his friends. They always said he lived in martial arts novels. It was an era that was incompatible with him. But now… Li Xiaofei liked this world. Since he had come to an era where everyone practiced martial arts, he wanted to fulfill his martial arts dream and experience being a hero.
Shouldering mountains and crossing seas; soaring through the sky and traveling the world with a sword to seek justice and revenge. Not pretending and not fearing. Drawing his sword in anger against injustice! Standing at the pinnacle of martial arts, slaying star beasts, and protecting the people of the nation with a proud laugh. This, perhaps, was the true meaning of transmigration.
Moreover, resources were scarce in the current world, and it was a dog-eat-dog world where only the strong survived. He wanted to, and needed to, become stronger to protect himself and his loved ones. The more Li Xiaofei thought about it, the more excited he became. The blood in his chest started to burn, and his spirit started to soar.
He quietly called out to the Moonlight Treasure Box in his heart. If he could draw internal cultivation techniques like the Innate Art or the Nine Yang Divine Art from the Time Pavilion of the Jin Yong martial arts world, perhaps he could replace breathing techniques to cultivate starforce. He didn't know what the effect would be.
But the response from the Moonlight Treasure Box killed his idea of cheating.
"Sorry, the chance to draw martial arts techniques is not fixed. It depends on meeting certain conditions." A voice sounded.
"What conditions?" asked Li Xiaofei.
"You'll know when the time comes," the voice replied.
"Oh, come on. This is no different from not saying anything at all. By the way, why can you answer questions during the day? Don't you need moonlight to function?" Li Xiaofei asked curiously again.
The Moonlight Treasure Box replied, "One minute of charging provides six hours of battery life."
Li Xiaofei was speechless. It sounded pretty impressive. But the Moonlight Treasure Box's function was limited to the Time Pavilion for now. The next time it could be activated was… 62 hours later.
Li Xiaofei abandoned the idea of extracting internal cultivation techniques.
"I can't cheat, I'll have to figure out a way in the real world. I wonder if the Blackblood Gang has any higher-level breathing techniques or cultivation resources. If they do, I can snatch them for myself. After all, from what I remember, these slum gangs are all bloodsuckers who prey on the weak, so robbing them is like robbing the rich to help the poor.”
Li Xiaofei smiled contentedly as he settled on his goal. “Let's set a small goal first, to become invincible in the slums."
At that moment, he heard someone outside of his room.
Knock, knock, knock!
Someone was urgently knocking on the door.
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