Ch173 Thinking About The Future

I drop Meng Ruo off at her shop and continue walking down Jade Market Alley.

It is still dark, a few hours until the sun rises again, but there are still some cultivators walking the streets.

The major shops are open at this hour, including mine, the Li General Store.

When I walk inside, past two mid-stage Wang Family guards, the layout of the shop is mostly the same.

The white and green high-quality marble releases qi into the air, and the minimal glass wall displays and center displays are filled with products.

A majority of the pills are at least mid-grade, and there are prominent displays for high-grade consumables.

High and Perfect-grade artifacts are being displayed in the center counter. These are all new, most likely the shop's profits invested into display pieces like I asked.

I can sense the qi coming out of the arrays in the walls and floor is over double the density it was on the opening day.

It makes me smile while walking through toward the back counter.

A middle-aged woman with a Wang surname on her system scan greets me, bowing her head and clasping both hands as I approach.

“When does Wang Ruze usually come in?”

She doesn’t lift her head to reply, “He should be here around sunrise, Senior Shop Owner.”

“Great. Thank you. Keep up the good work.”

I walk past her, open up the locked door to the back room of the shop, and turn on all of the concealment and guardian arrays inside.

Then, I disappear into my hidden realm.

I have plenty of leftover useful cultivation resources in my storage.

There are still ten barrier-breaking pills, and five deep blue qi condensation pills shimmering with golden heavenly patterns.

When I take out their vials and smell the sweet and sharp scent coming off them, I can feel my dantian tremble slightly, but the bottleneck is far from loosening up entirely.

I stow them away, deciding to let my new qi refining level settle more before attempting any more breakthroughs.

After all, I still haven’t used my 7th level of qi refining to its limits, nor has my spirit-grade physique been overstrained and really worked hard.

Even killing that half-step foundational demon with a punch and a martial fireball was not too stressful.

I didn’t try to hold back, but I haven’t managed to test the full limits of my strength yet. I know I could probably exert 20 or 30 percent more strength if I was really fighting for my life.

I load up the rematch simulator and spend ten thousand spirit stones to summon that illusory demon with a broken dantian and half-formed foundation into existence.

The 9th-level blood demons I’ve been fighting are far too easy to kill. I can’t make any real progress practicing with them.

However, when this younger-looking man spawns into the sandy arena with me, his body glows white with illusory souls and dense pseudo-foundational qi.

A phantom copy of him springs out at me as he activates his late stage physique, and I run forward with a glowing white fist.

–

3 hours later, a few hundred thousand spirit stones have been spent.

It’s well worth it.

If I force over 25% of my dantian’s qi into a constant state of qi control cycling to split my mental concentration, and I don’t directly target this demon’s weak physique spots to damage his soul, we fight with almost perfectly equal strength and speed.

I’m able to last for five to ten minutes at a time in all-out battles with this demon.

It allows me to push the questionable tension points on my newly solidified physique to their limits.

Sometimes these tension points break, injuring me badly in the simulator. Other times I’m able to endure to their limits, squeezing out more strength than usual and finishing the fight in a single blow.

Once I gain better control of my standard fist fighting style, I move on to releasing the elemental qi in my meridians.

I practice the other fire based spells that I memorized and practiced with my enlightenment talisman a few months back.

One, called Flame Pillar, actually works quite well.

Even with the qi ready to use in my meridians, I still need to take about two seconds to perfectly cast it. However, the release of fire shoots out in a very straight and precise pillar.

The thick red qi is tethered to my Martial Spirit using the same instincts as my Martial Fire Ball, creating a dense shimmering beam of white and red flames.

It leaves my arm sore afterward, but there is no damage to my flesh that slows down my movements.

It takes two Martial Fireballs to kill this demon, while a single Martial Flame Pillar can do the same. This spell takes almost half of the qi in my dantian to be performed at its peak strength, and it is my limit.

When I attempt the stronger Martial Incineration spell, it ends in total failure every time.

My meridians are not strong enough to withstand the intensity of fire qi necessary to fully activate it. Every time I attempt the breathing patterns and movements, either my dantian shatters from the pressure or my entire arm is blown off before I can finish the spell.

It is possible to activate without fusing the qi with my Martial Spirit Vibrations, however, the end result is just a burst of fire far weaker than even a Martial Fireball. It uses up all the qi in my dantian, and cannot even injure this half step foundational demon.

Practicing without incorporating my physique is pointless.

I stop testing this spell and decide to wait until I’m much stronger to try again.

I stick to my two safe fire spells and raw punches.

My footwork and fighting style have improved a lot.

I can feel the Martial Spirit Inheritance tweaking my instincts and fighting patterns every battle.

They aren’t rigid movements that must be followed. Instead, they adapt to my body type, my growing strength, and even the opponent I’m facing.

After 30 or so victories, I leave the simulator and walk back down to the cultivation array.

I’ve settled into my new strength far more, but I have no clear path to explain its usage to the outside world.

The inherited suppression technique I use only makes less vibrations appear, it does not alter their presence.

Qi refiners will be fooled, but keen-eyed foundation establishment cultivators will see through me.

I could attempt to use a tier 2 upgrade card on my ring, but I have no idea what the outcome would be. These cards are too valuable to waste on a gamble right now.

My best option now is to simply hide it myself. It is better to have no fluctuations come off me, than to have ones that I can’t explain.

I completely suppress my entire Martial Spirit Physique, allow for the 4th level of qi refinement to show from my aura, and toss Little Red another foundational fragment.

“We’re going out again.”

–

Wang Ruze enters the shop at his usual time when the sun rises, and he greets me with a wide smile.

“Senior Li, I must thank you. My son told me all about the sparring session you had with him yesterday. You didn’t have to waste such a valuable qi grass. And the marrow cleansing elixir you gifted him, it is the same one you gave to the young heirs, wasn’t it?”

He bows in place until I tell him to stand straight again.

“Yes, I think he’ll become quite the swordsman. His level of focus and motivation to learn cannot be taught, investing a small tuft of grass certainly isn’t a waste in my eyes. Though, his technique and basic battle instincts need work. You’ll have to find him a better teacher than me for that.”

I smile and toss him a storage ring with another heavenly-grade marrow cleansing pill inside.

“As for the pill, I’d like to give you one too. This shop has been managed quite well. It is only natural I pay back the kindness.”

His eyes widen as he catches the ring, and he tries to hand it back to me before even imprinting it.

I shake my head. “Please, take it. I have a task for you to help me with if you’d really like to do something in return.”

The older man sighs and clasps his fingers around the ring. “Alright, what is it?”

I point to my shoulder where Little Red sits.

“I want you to start spreading a few rumors about me. Let the public know I hit the 4th level of qi refining only after the Wang Clan gifted me multiple matured flame toads at the peak of the 3rd level to aid my breakthrough attempts.”

His soul twists in confusion, and I continue.

“Have them believe I dissolved my Martial Elite Physique too, make it unclear why. Some should believe I was gifted a better acquired physique to practice from the Wang Clan, and others should believe it was an accident, that it was a result of forcibly attempting the fourth level breakthrough too many times.”

Wang Ruze looks me up and down but he doesn’t make a comment, he only nods. “No problem. If this is what you wish, I’ll get it done.”

I spend the early hours of the morning strolling around the city as more of the smaller shops open up, looking for interesting finds, but end up buying nothing.

After all of the foundational rings I’ve looted and the extra miscellaneous items I’ve had Lan Xin buy me over the past few months, I’ve stacked up far more tier 1 junk than this entire market holds.

I’m more so walking about to hear the public sentiment of smaller clans and occasional Azure Cloud Sect disciples that recognize me.

“Did you hear? That’s Li Hao. He used six matured flame toads to force his way into the 4th level of qi refinement.”

“Wouldn’t forcing a breakthrough like that ruin your progress in the future?”

“It would… I heard it was closer to ten toads. Look at the one on his shoulder, it’s so weak! It looks like even the toads were artificially leveled with pills full of impurities. What’s the point of reaching the mid-stage of qi refinement if your meridians are clogged for the rest of your life?”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve been stuck at the 3rd level for a decade!”

“I- Hey- You know what, if I had the Wang Clan backing me, I’d be able to break into the mid-stage too. Even with my 8th-grade roots, I bet it’d only take me two or three toads! He’s just a spoiled brat!”

“At least he got rid of that physique the mortals use. The Wang Clan must have given him something good.”

“He’s probably just going to practice the Beast Mastery Technical Physique. I heard he only dissolved it because of a forceful breakthrough. Dissolving a physique in such a manner can disrupt your ability to ever learn physical type physiques again, my Patriarch told me so!”

They wait until I’m out of normal earshot to gossip, but my senses are on par with weak 1st level foundation establishment cultivators.

I smile inwardly as more and more qi refining families hear the news.

Many initial and mid-stage cultivators don’t actually care, but use this as an opportunity to complain about how unfair it is to be at the bottom of the power structure.

A few late-stage cultivators actually talk about me in disgust and compare me to their young generation they are raising. They complain about the entire new generations of the Mu and Wang Clans too, saying none of them will know the value of real hard work.

Once I’m satisfied the rumors have spread enough, and enough eyes have seen my newly transformed body alongside Little Red, I head off back to the Wang Clan’s mountain base.

I have an appointment to heal the Mu Clan Patriarch’s soul injuries.