“It seems that master of yours was no ordinary person.
So be it, so be it.
Since you’ve found your own path, do whatever you want in the future.
Dad won’t stop you anymore.
I just hope that no matter what you go through, you’ll always make your own survival the top priority.”
“When you’re out in the world, you must be even more discreet to avoid attracting great disaster.
I am just a mere mortal.
This world is vast, and there are many beings beyond the imagination of a mortal like me.
Your mother and I absolutely do not want anything to happen to you.”
Hearing this, Huang Yulang’s expression grew strange, and he looked seriously at his father.
“Dad, do you know if there really are Immortals in this world who can fly through the skies and burrow into the earth?” His father’s expression immediately soured.
Without answering, he let out a forlorn sigh, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
“Dad, come on, tell me.”
“Just get some rest.
I don’t know anything.” Huang Yulang watched his father leave, utterly speechless.
‘He obviously knows something about Cultivators, but for some reason, he refuses to tell me.’
The attack on the Huang Mansion the previous night was no secret.
By the next day, all sorts of rumors were spreading like wildfire throughout Huaiyin City.
However, since no one in the Huang Mansion seemed overly concerned, many of those with ulterior motives temporarily set aside their plans to wait and see how things would develop.
Huang Yulang had finally figured out his special ability, and he once again began to study the Jade Pendant.
Through continuous experimentation, Huang Yulang finally understood the Jade Pendant’s specific function.
Whenever a living creature—be it a person or an animal—was killed, his Jade Pendant would automatically absorb the slain being’s Blood Qi and feed it back to him, enhancing his physical strength.
Not only that, but it could even enhance his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
Huang Yulang suspected the Mysterious Jade Pendant didn’t just devour the Essence of Blood and Qi from dead creatures, but also their very souls.
Otherwise, how could it possibly enhance his Essence, Qi, and Spirit?
Huang Yulang also discovered that ordinary domestic animals provided a limited amount of energy, whereas large, wild beasts provided significantly more.
He guessed the amount of energy fed back to him was directly proportional to the strength of the creature’s Blood Qi and soul.
More importantly, besides him, no one else could see the blood-red Jade Pendant devouring the creatures’ Blood Qi and souls; outsiders couldn’t detect anything unusual at all.
This put Huang Yulang greatly at ease, as it meant the Jade Pendant’s function would not be easily discovered by others.
After devouring the Blood Qi and souls from over thirty corpses at once, Huang Yulang’s physical body had been greatly enhanced.
With a single punch at full strength, he knocked a corner clean off the large rock in the courtyard.
Of course, his fist swelled up instantly, making him howl in pain.
Huang Yulang estimated his current strength.
While he might not possess the colossal power to lift over a thousand pounds, he could now easily hoist a six or seven-hundred-pound boulder without much trouble.
Huang Yulang was confident that an ordinary mortal wouldn’t be able to withstand a single one of his punches.
This display thoroughly shocked Fu, and even Guard Lin wore a look of utter disbelief.
Guard Lin’s Combat Power wasn’t considered first-rate, but he was at the peak of the second-rate.
Even a first-rate master like Huang Yulang’s own father couldn’t perform such a feat so easily.
In terms of sheer physical strength, Huang Yulang had reached the level of a first-rate master in the mortal world.
After all, the Essence of Blood and Qi from the corpses of over thirty first and second-rate experts was a considerable amount.
‘Setting aside the matter of cultivation for now, it seems that if I want to make my body even stronger, killing is the only way.’
But Huang Yulang was no great villain; slaughtering the innocent was out of the question for him.
The Yun Country was at peace, with no wars to be found.
Therefore, if he wanted to continue improving his strength, his only viable targets for now were the wild beasts that roamed the mountain forests outside the city.
More than half a month passed after the night attack, and the various rumors in Huaiyin City gradually subsided.
Huang Yulang informed his parents, then quietly left the Huang Mansion and returned to his cave.
Cultivation was Huang Yulang’s obsession, something he would never give up.
Even if his talent was terrible, Huang Yulang believed that as long as he worked hard, he would sooner or later break through to the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage.
Huang Yulang sat cross-legged and began his cultivation, circulating his Wood Attribute Qi Refining art.
Huang Yulang captured strands of Wood Attribute Spiritual Qi, drawing them into his body to merge with his One Qi Primordial Skill.
The ball of energy in his Dantian grew stronger bit by bit, but its rate of growth was truly nothing to write home about.
Huang Yulang had no idea how many years it would take him to accumulate enough Mixed Element Qi for a breakthrough.
With no better option, all he could do was cultivate relentlessly.
After several hours, his Wood Attribute Spiritual Root seemed to become saturated again, unable to absorb any more Wood Attribute Spiritual Qi.
Huang Yulang finally rose, slung the Spirit Wood Sword over his back, and bolted from the cave, sprinting deep into the mountain forest.
Soon, a black bear two to three meters in size entered Huang Yulang’s field of vision.
The massive creature was waddling about, constantly twitching its nose as it foraged for food.
The moment Huang Yulang saw the great black bear, his eyes lit up.
He drew his Spirit Wood Sword without a second thought and charged in for the kill.
ROAR!
The great black bear spotted the charging Huang Yulang.
Instead of fleeing, it let out a furious roar, rose up on its hind legs, and lunged at him.
The Spirit Wood Sword clashed with the bear’s claws, producing a muffled THUD.
The impact sent Huang Yulang staggering back two steps.
The bear’s paw stung with pain, and with a guttural roar, it lunged again with reckless abandon.
‘Tsk, tsk.
What immense strength,’ Huang Yulang clicked his tongue.
He executed a profound footwork technique and instantly circled around to the black bear’s back.
The great black bear’s lunge hit nothing but air.
Just as it started to turn, Huang Yulang swung his Spirit Wood Sword and brought it down hard on the bear’s neck.
AWOOO—
The black bear let out a pained howl as its heavy body collapsed to the ground.
Huang Yulang showed no mercy.
With the Blood Qi surging through him, he channeled all his strength into the Spirit Wood Sword and rained a chaotic torrent of blows down upon the bear’s head.
The poor black bear was practically an overlord in this mountain forest, but in the end, it was just a beast with no real intelligence.
Empowered by five or six hundred pounds of force, Huang Yulang used his Spirit Wood Sword to shatter its skull, killing it on the spot.
Huang Yulang stood there quietly as the Jade Pendant on his chest automatically began to absorb the black bear’s Essence of Blood and Qi.
Wisps of this essence rose from the bear’s corpse and flowed into the pendant.
Immediately after, the blood-red Jade Pendant released a crimson radiance, feeding the Blood Qi back into Huang Yulang’s body.
Huang Yulang could feel it clearly.
As the pendant fed its energy back into him and the crimson light entered his system, his blood began to course rapidly, dispersing throughout his body by way of his internal organs.
When the crimson light vanished, Huang Yulang could distinctly feel that his physical body and strength had once again grown a little stronger.
Overjoyed, Huang Yulang dragged the black bear’s corpse back to his cave.
Then, he once again set out on his quest to hunt large beasts.
「Several months passed in a flash.」
Huang Yulang had scoured nearly the entire mountain forest, an area dozens of miles across.
He had slain more than a hundred beasts in total, including black bears, leopards, and wolves.
Huang Yulang’s physical body and strength had improved immensely.
He could now carry a thousand-pound boulder while walking at a brisk pace.
When he attacked with his full power, he could feel his blood begin to boil as a continuous stream of energy surged from every part of his body.
However, the pace of his hunting could no longer keep up with his body’s potential for growth.
Huang Yulang could clearly feel the diminishing returns; a few months ago, a single black bear had significantly increased his strength, but now, the power gained from several bears wasn’t even equal to that of one from before.
Huang Yulang guessed his physical strength had hit a bottleneck.
Only by killing a massive number of beasts could he achieve another major breakthrough.
The problem was, he had already hunted nearly all the large beasts in the surrounding mountain forest.
Where else could he go to find so many?
Huang Yulang was frustrated, but he was helpless to change the situation.
It seemed he would have to leave this forest and find another to continue growing stronger.
As for his cultivation of the Qi Refining art, the wisp of Mixed Element Qi in his Dantian had grown considerably over the past few months.
Huang Yulang tried to circulate this energy to open his meridians, but it was completely depleted after surging through his body for a little over an hour.
Huang Yulang was utterly exasperated.
His only option was to cultivate that wisp of Mixed Element Qi all over again and continue the slow process of accumulation.
Based on the meridian path described in the One Qi Primordial Skill, he estimated he would need to accumulate one hundred times his current amount of energy to have any hope of breaking through to the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage.
The corner of Huang Yulang’s mouth twitched uncontrollably when he thought about how long it had taken him to cultivate this meager amount of Mixed Element Qi.
‘At this rate, it will take me about thirty years to become a Junior Cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage.’
Thirty years just to reach the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage.
The mere thought made Huang Yulang despair.
‘No wonder Master was unwilling to take me to Qingcheng Mountain.
He just left behind a Mortal Martial Arts Manual and left.
He truly must have despised my aptitude for cultivation.’
But Huang Yulang wasn’t discouraged.
‘So what if my cultivation is slow?
I’m a Transmigrator with a cheat!
As long as the Jade Pendant can absorb enough Essence of Blood and Qi, I can keep getting stronger.’
‘If my physical body becomes powerful enough, it might not be impossible to utterly dominate other Cultivators.’
‘I once heard my master say that the path of cultivation requires wealth, companions, techniques, and a proper location—all are indispensable.
There are also Elixirs and countless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures that can raise one’s cultivation base.
Once my physical body is powerful enough, I’ll raise my cultivation with Elixirs if I have to, even if it means brute-forcing my way up.
No one can stop me from becoming a Cultivator.’
‘The Mysterious Jade Pendant is my greatest asset in my quest to become a Cultivator.
What the hell is there to be afraid of?’
Huang Yulang knew exactly what path he had to take.
He rose, gave the cave one last look, then slung the Spirit Wood Sword over his back and left with unwavering resolve.
Huang Yulang descended the mountain at a leisurely pace, planning to go home, inform his parents, and then leave to train elsewhere.
However, just as he reached the bottom, four men dressed like wandering martial artists blocked his path.
“You’re Huang Yulang, aren’t you, kid?”
The man in the lead had a savage look on his face.
He was holding an iron hammer that weighed over a hundred pounds and glared at Huang Yulang with fiendish intensity.
Behind him were three others: a tall, skinny man holding a steel pitchfork; a one-eyed man shouldering a Big Ring Saber; and a large, disheveled man with a bluish complexion who was leaning on a Familiar Copper Rod.
The temples of all four men were bulging, a clear sign that they were no ordinary thugs.
Huang Yulang frowned instantly.
‘They’re clearly looking for trouble.’ After sizing up the group, he let out a cold snort.
“What is the meaning of this, gentlemen?
I don’t recall ever offending any of you.
Why are you blocking my path?” The large man gave a savage grin.
“Kid, someone paid us good money to break your legs.
Are you going to do it yourself, or do you want me to do it for you?”
Huang Yulang immediately thought of his feud with that punk from the Xu Family.
‘The only people I’ve offended are those rich wastrels.
I can’t believe it’s been months, but now that they see the Huang Mansion is still standing, they’ve gotten impatient and sent people for revenge.’
“Oh?
Did someone from the Xu Family send you?” The corners of Huang Yulang’s mouth curved upward slightly.
Behind the large man, the tall, skinny man with the steel pitchfork took a step forward.