Chapter 96 - 95: Practice, Let’s Start With a Slash

Chapter 96: Chapter 95: Practice, Let’s Start With a Slash

"Time to stretch a bit."

Ji Zhixing stood up and stretched his stiff body. After a moment of thought, he put on the Fallen Feather Moon-Treading Boots he had refined earlier, lifted the tent flap, and stepped outside. The night breeze brushed against his face, its chilly touch instantly refreshing him.

Scanning his surroundings, he spotted a figure sitting on a nearby rock. Xiao Mingyue was still awake, gazing up at the blood-red night sky.

"Not sleeping again?" Ji Zhixing walked over and sat down beside her.

"I broke through to Tier Two yesterday, so I’m happy," Xiao Mingyue turned her head to look at him, a smile playing on her lips. "Plus, I just drank another bottle of Spiritual Power recovery potion, so I can’t sleep anyway."

"You really just broke through yesterday?" Ji Zhixing looked at her in surprise. He had assumed that Xiao Mingyue had broken through to Tier Two long ago and merely revealed it yesterday.

"It really was yesterday," Xiao Mingyue nodded. She had previously worried that, due to her momentary impulse, it might take her another month or two to break through. She never expected it to happen as early as yesterday. "How is your training going?" she asked, looking at Ji Zhixing.

"It’s going well," Ji Zhixing said. "Teacher Yang gave me fifty bottles of Five Elements Attribute Gene Development Potions. I feel that once I refine them all, even if I can’t develop the Five-Colored Spiritual Light ability, I’ll be very close."

"What about the staff technique?" Xiao Mingyue asked. "How do you feel after refining the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod?"

"I haven’t tried it yet. I’m still not entirely sure how difficult a Five-Star Staff Technique is," Ji Zhixing shook his head. "But I should be able to manage."

"That’s a Five-Star Staff Technique. Are you really that confident?" Xiao Mingyue asked in surprise. When she first saw his choice, she felt he was aiming too high. But since Yang Man Ni had tried to persuade him and failed, she hadn’t said anything more.

"I can’t make any absolute claims right now. I’ll have to practice it for a while first," Ji Zhixing smiled. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Do you want to watch me practice?"

"Sure!" Xiao Mingyue clapped her hands together, her eyes lighting up.

Seeing her reaction, Ji Zhixing smiled and walked over to an open clearing. With a thought, the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod materialized in his hands.

The rod was pale blue. The moment his fingers closed around it, a profound sense of connection surged within him, as if the weapon was linked to his very flesh and blood, achieving a perfect unity between man and staff. Augmented by his divine mastery over staff weapons, the rod felt like more than just an extension of his body—it was an extension of his will.

"Fallen Feather Moon-Treading Boots," he murmured. Taking a deep breath, he didn’t immediately execute the staff technique. Instead, he channeled his genetic source power to activate the boots.

The next moment, as he took a step, illusory grayish-black crow feathers fluttered out from beneath the soles, drifting slowly through the air. Supported by the ethereal feathers, his body became incredibly buoyant. It was as if he were treading on clouds, crossing several meters in a single stride.

"So light..." Ji Zhixing marveled inwardly. He took a few more test steps. Each stride carried him a great distance, and his feet landed without a sound. It felt as though his entire body had become weightless.

"These are nice boots," Xiao Mingyue observed with an approving nod. "The speed boost is very noticeable."

"They really are. Now, let me try the staff technique."

Ji Zhixing halted his steps and gripped the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod. In his mind, the information that had flooded in during the refinement process remained as vivid as if it were etched into his memory. Guided by that knowledge, he began to execute the moves one by one.

First stance: Rising Tide. He thrust the long rod upward from below. As the weapon sliced through the air, it produced the deep, low resonance of a swelling tide. The sound wasn’t loud, yet it carried an oppressive weight, much like ocean waves surging from a distance and drawing ever closer.

Second stance: Surging Waves. He swept the rod horizontally. The wind whipped up by the weapon rolled like crashing waves, one after another.

Third stance: Hidden Currents. He thrust the rod forward. The motion appeared sluggish, but it was blindingly fast. As the tip pierced the air, there was no sharp whistling of wind—only a stifling sensation of turbulent undercurrents.

Fourth stance: Maelstrom.

Fifth stance: Roaring Tide.

Sixth stance: Burial at Sea...

Ji Zhixing practiced every stance in sequence. This was his first time practicing the Nine-layered Tide Staff Technique. If it were anyone else—even someone augmented by an affinity for staff weapons—their first attempt at wielding a Tier Two Five-Star Staff Technique would inevitably be unpolished and clumsy.

But in this moment, the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod felt like a part of his body and a seamless extension of his will. Under these conditions, even though it was his first time executing the Nine-layered Tide Staff Technique, his movements were incredibly masterful, as if he had practiced them countless times before.

After completing one cycle of the technique, Ji Zhixing stopped. He didn’t overdo it, instead walking back to Xiao Mingyue.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Xiao Mingyue nodded, a hint of admiration in her eyes. "This technique is truly impressive. It packs a lot of power. Especially since you can use the Gigantification ability. Coupled with Gigantification, the momentum and heavy strikes of this technique will definitely take its destructive force to the next level.

"Furthermore, your talent for staff arts is remarkable. I couldn’t tell at all that this was your first time using it."

"I feel like it suits me perfectly, too," Ji Zhixing smiled, his voice tinged with anticipation. "Now it just depends on how soon I can completely master it."

"You definitely will!" Xiao Mingyue agreed firmly. "I didn’t have much confidence in you earlier, but after watching your practice, I’m certain you can do it!"

"Thanks for the compliment." Ji Zhixing stored the Nine-Tiered Tide Rod back into his Gene Furnace. The two chatted for a little while longer before he checked the time. "Alright, let’s head back to our tents and get some sleep. We still have to hunt Blood Beasts tomorrow."

"Yeah, good night," Xiao Mingyue nodded, standing up and waving at him.

They each returned to their respective tents. However, Ji Zhixing didn’t go to sleep right away.

"I’ll refine a few more Blood Crystals," he decided.

Sitting cross-legged, he willed himself to begin refining the Blood Crystals stored in his Gene Furnace. As he activated it, the Eight Trigrams Map slowly rotated. The Blood Crystals melted down into wisps of pure energy, which were absorbed by the Staff Soldier Stone Monkey gene aperture. His Gigantification ability improved slowly, though the sensation of progress remained very faint.

"I’ll take it slow," he thought. "Even if the progress isn’t fast, as long as I refine a few Blood Crystals and improve a little bit each day, it won’t take too long."

He reasoned as he patiently refined the crystals one by one. He didn’t stop until his mind was thoroughly exhausted once again.

"That should do it." He collapsed onto his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, falling into a deep slumber almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, the blood-red sun was just rising.

Ji Zhixing was awakened by the sound of something tapping against his tent. He got up and squeezed outside, only to find Xiao Mingyue hitting his tent with a branch.

"Morning," he greeted with a smile.

"You’re too lazy. I’ve been waiting for you for a while," Xiao Mingyue shot him a glance, guessing that he had probably stayed up late cultivating again.

Ji Zhixing smiled awkwardly. The two quickly packed up their tents, ate a simple breakfast, and set off. They hunted Blood Beasts along the way while searching for Zhou Han and the others. Since they didn’t know where Zhou Han’s group was, nor their own exact location, their journey felt somewhat aimless.

Fortunately, after working together to snatch the Weapon Order yesterday, they had grown much more familiar with each other. They chatted as they walked, keeping boredom at bay. Given their strength, any Blood Beasts they encountered were dealt with swiftly—provided it wasn’t a massive swarm.

Along the way, they ran into other students a few times. These students were mostly in teams of four or five. Whenever they encountered another group, Ji Zhixing would step forward and ask if they had seen a trio consisting of two guys and a girl.

However, the answers were always no. Left with no other choice, the two continued onward.

"Ji Zhixing!"

Suddenly, just as he and Xiao Mingyue crested a hill, a voice rang out from ahead. Ji Zhixing looked up to see a group of seven or eight people walking up the slope, heading in their direction. The person calling out to him was a familiar figure.

Huang Yu.

Not far behind Huang Yu, he also spotted Qi Xingzhou and Yu Zhirou.

"It’s them..." Ji Zhixing thought to himself.

Huang Yu’s group consisted of seven people, rather than the standard four or five. It looked as though two depleted squads had merged into one. Upon seeing Ji Zhixing, everyone in the group wore peculiar expressions. This was especially true for Yu Zhirou and Qi Xingzhou. Neither of them had expected to run into him here. Yu Zhirou’s expression stiffened slightly before she quickly averted her gaze, not daring to look at him.

"Zhixing!" Huang Yu ran up, his face brimming with excitement. "Hurry up and tell us how you managed to climb onto the points leaderboard! And in fifth place, no less! You even suppressed so many of the genius class students."

"I just got lucky," Ji Zhixing smiled, not elaborating further. He then glanced at Huang Yu’s group and asked, "Are you guys missing some team members?"

"Yeah." Huang Yu sighed, his expression dimming. "We ran into two Tier Two Blood Beasts, and three of our people got teleported out. Now we’re all that’s left, so two teams merged into one."

Ji Zhixing nodded and asked his usual question, "I got separated from my teammates too. Have you seen them?"

"Are you talking about two guys and a girl? One of the guys is really tall, another uses a long saber, and the girl uses fire?" Huang Yu asked.

"Yes! You’ve seen them?" Ji Zhixing’s eyes lit up.

"We spotted them over in that direction earlier." Huang Yu pointed toward a stretch of rolling hills in the distance. "But we only saw them from afar. We were wondering why you weren’t with them. That was about an hour ago. As for the distance, it’s probably around seven or eight miles away."

"Thanks!" Ji Zhixing’s face lit up with joy, and he patted Huang Yu on the shoulder.

"Oh, right," he suddenly added, as if recalling something. "I’ll let it slide this time, but the next time you see me, don’t just run over like this. It makes it look like we’re close.

"I offended Gu Zheng again yesterday, and quite severely at that. If you keep doing this and someone snitches, it won’t be good if you get dragged down with me."

"Uh..." Huang Yu was momentarily stunned before laughing. "Don’t worry. Anywhere else, I’d definitely be careful and keep my distance. But these are all our own people here."

Ji Zhixing gave Huang Yu a look and said calmly, "That’s not necessarily true. The first time I offended Gu Zheng, his group came hunting for me, and Yu was the one who pointed out my direction."

Having said that, he didn’t linger any longer. He gave Xiao Mingyue a look, and the two walked off in the direction Huang Yu had just pointed out.