This rate of cultivation was too slow. Lu Zhiyuan was no longer particularly young, and advancing would only grow harder with age. More pressing still, the black line on his wrist had steadily thickened since he killed Wei Ning.
[Status: Clinging Blight]
This new status had appeared on his panel a day earlier. Its most obvious effect was the increasingly rapid drain on his stamina.
His breakthrough to the Skin Tempering stage had greatly improved both his stamina and his senses. With Clinging Blight, however, his stamina was now almost the same as when he had been an ordinary person. Perhaps it was even worse.
He could hardly take that lightly. He immediately made some indirect inquiries among the clinic's physicians and finally learned what it was.
It was a mark left by an uncanny entity. Either the entity that had placed it had to be destroyed, causing the mark to vanish naturally, or his cultivation had to become strong enough for him to erase it directly.
Failing that, pills that strengthened blood vitality could help resist the yin-aspected force.
He did not dare seek out the uncanny entity and could not afford pills. Advancing his cultivation was his only option. Nor did he dare let the clinic know he bore the mark. Who knew whether they would abandon him to avoid the trouble?
"It's time I went to see Du Zheng."
That evening, Lu Zhiyuan went to Du Zheng's door and knocked gently.
"Who is it?" came the hoarse reply.
"Head Guard Du, it's me," Lu Zhiyuan said quietly.
"What do you want?"
The door opened. Du Zheng looked down at him, making no move to invite him in.
"Head Guard Du, do you have time now to teach me Clearwell Clinic's techniques?"
"Oh, so that's why you're here."
Seeing Lu Zhiyuan's empty hands, Du Zheng grew displeased, and his voice rose. "Didn't I tell you a few days ago that I'm busy and will teach you when I have time? Why can't you understand?"
"When will you have time, Head Guard Du?"
"I've got so much to do. How should I know? When I have time, I'll call you."
Impatient, Du Zheng waved him away. "All right. If there's nothing else, go back. I've got things to do and no time to entertain you!"
He turned into the room and closed the door. Before it shut completely, a hand stopped it.
"Do you have a death wish?" Du Zheng's eyes widened as he glared viciously at Lu Zhiyuan.
"Head Guard Du, since you're busy, I shouldn't trouble you. Could you lend me the manuals? I can practice on my own."
Lu Zhiyuan spoke calmly, as if he had not noticed the man's expression.
Today had made it clear: Du Zheng wanted money. But Lu Zhiyuan had become a household guard only three days ago. Where was he supposed to find any? Even a household guard's wages were only five silver taels a month.
What would five silver taels mean to Du Zheng? He might as well speak plainly.
"You want to practice on your own? Hahaha!"
Du Zheng laughed loudly, his eyes full of mockery. More than four months to break through to the Skin Tempering stage? That aptitude placed him near the bottom among martial artists.
And he still imagined he could learn more advanced martial arts? Pure delusion. He had no idea of his own limits.
"Fine. I'll lend you the manuals. Return them before noon tomorrow. If you can't learn the techniques, don't accuse me of mistreating you!"
Du Zheng fetched two manuals from his room and tossed them into Lu Zhiyuan's hands. With a sneer, he slammed the door.
People watching from a distance shook their heads at Lu Zhiyuan's retreating back. Newly promoted to household guard, and already he dared clash with a veteran like Du Zheng.
Now he wanted to practice martial arts on his own, too?
If martial arts were that easy to learn, what would anyone need a master for? Without guidance, a technique's complications could easily lead someone astray. In the end, they would waste their time and achieve nothing.
Worse, incorrect practice could leave someone unable to advance for the rest of his life, or even cause hidden injuries. To them, Lu Zhiyuan was an ignorant, headstrong fool.
Ignoring their looks, he took the manuals back to his room.
Two hours later, he put them down and began practicing the two techniques. After another hour, he checked the panel.
[Techniques: Clearwind Sword Art (Basic 1/100), Windborne Method (Basic 1/100), Highpeak Fist (Perfected), Highpeak Breathing Method (Perfected)]
With Highpeak Fist and Highpeak Breathing Method at Perfected proficiency as his foundation, he reached Basic proficiency in both new techniques quite easily.
Clearwind Sword Art was for fighting, while Windborne Method advanced cultivation. The panel could simplify both, but the cost was rather high: ten silver taels each.
He did not have ten silver taels. He had just over two, far short of the simplification fee.
Looking from his Perfected breathing method to Windborne Method, he blinked. Almost instinctively, he tried to fuse the breathing method into Windborne Method. A moment later, both techniques disappeared, replaced by a completely new one.
[Windborne Breathing Method (Proficient 107/1000)]
"It really works!"
His eyes lit with delight. He had only tried it on instinct. He had not expected that a technique at Perfected proficiency really could be fused with another.
On reflection, it made sense. Perfected proficiency meant understanding every aspect of a technique, so naturally it could be incorporated into another.
Even after his cultivation advanced, his outdated techniques would not go to waste. He could combine them with new ones to create stronger techniques.
He also fused Highpeak Fist with Clearwind Sword Art. This time, he deliberately preserved more of the sword art's essence, incorporating only some of Highpeak Fist's ways of applying force.
[Greenpeak Sword Art (Proficient 13/1000)]
Clearwind Sword Art had been light and graceful. The new sword art used broad, sweeping movements, yet its power had not diminished. It had even increased.
After an hour of trying both new techniques, he was pleased, but still not entirely satisfied.
Both were already stronger than their predecessors. At Perfected proficiency, they would certainly surpass them by far. They were only at Proficient now, after all.
Yet several attempts had not increased either technique's proficiency at all. Without simplification, practicing this way would probably yield only one or two points a day. Even that owed something to the old techniques fused into them.
This was probably the limit of this body's martial aptitude. Surpassing it through ordinary, gradual practice would be very difficult for him.
"Money, money, money!"
Lu Zhiyuan frowned deeply. Various ways of earning money passed through his mind, but he could not quite settle on one.