Chapter 62: Cloud Snake Step

Zhu Xiaoqi looked at the item Duan Rong handed over, paused slightly, and asked curiously, "What is inside this?"

"I don't know what to buy! I just bought some osmanthus cakes and candied fruit on the street."

Zhu Xiaoqi looked at Duan Rong's face, reddened by the firelight, the flames in the stove dancing in Duan Rong's eyes, which were as bright as stars...

Zhu Xiaoqi reached out, took the item from Duan Rong's hand, and placed it on the stove counter.

Then Zhu Xiaoqi turned around, wiped both hands on the apron at her waist, lifted the pot lid, and picked them up with a dried lotus leaf!

Duan Rong held the steamed buns, his mouth watering; he glanced at Zhu Xiaoqi and said, "Well, Xiao Qi, I'm heading back!"

Zhu Xiaoqi was sitting on a folding stool, adding firewood to the stove, and did not respond to him.

Duan Rong turned and walked away on his own.

He had only walked two steps when he couldn't help but take a steamed bun and bite into it.

It was sour and spicy long bean filling, and sesame oil had been added; a sense of satisfaction instantly spread from his taste buds...

Just as Duan Rong was swallowing the bun, Zhu Xiaoqi suddenly shouted from behind, "Silly boy, come back!"

Duan Rong swallowed the bun and ran back; thinking Zhu Xiaoqi had something to ask him, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhu Xiaoqi sat on the folding stool, lifted her right foot, took the silver bracelet off her chubby little foot, held it in her hand, and said, "Didn't you want to see this bracelet?"

Duan Rong smiled; only then did he remember this matter.

He used his oily hand, which had been holding the bun, to grab the silver bracelet directly.

Looking at it by the firelight, he saw that the surface of the silver bracelet was embossed with cloud dragon patterns and engraved with the small characters for "wealth and peace."

Duan Rong's eyes blinked, his breathing tightened slightly; there might very well be the Lightness Skill he had been longing for inside!

Duan Rong thought to himself, "Spirit Reader!"

Instantly, a set of data appeared before Duan Rong.

Artifact: Cloud Dragon Pattern Silver Anklet

Spirit Tool Rank: Unranked

Devour Requirement: None

Devour Effect: Cloud Snake Step (Entry Level).

Duan Rong looked at the devour effect and was slightly stunned; it seemed this Cloud Snake Step of Xiao Qi's was only at the entry level.

"Devour." Duan Rong did not hesitate and immediately recited it silently in his heart.

After Duan Rong finished devouring, he handed Zhu Xiaoqi's silver ankle bracelet back.

Zhu Xiaoqi was stunned for a moment and asked, "You're done looking already?"

Duan Rong nodded; after he swallowed the Spirit Tool, there was a sense of discomfort in his brain, and his expression became somewhat sluggish as a result.

Zhu Xiaoqi snatched the bracelet back and called out, "Fool!"

She then immediately put the silver bracelet back on her foot.

When Zhu Xiaoqi looked up again, Duan Rong had already left the kitchen; Zhu Xiaoqi tilted her body and, through the kitchen door, watched Duan Rong's back disappear at the courtyard entrance in the twilight.

Only then did Zhu Xiaoqi turn around, break a piece of firewood into three sections, and stuff it into the stove.

The light from the stove reflected on Zhu Xiaoqi's face; her litchi-like fresh and tender lips curled up slightly, and she muttered to herself, "... so silly... silly boy..."

Because he needed to digest the devoured Spirit Tool, Duan Rong went straight back to his dormitory; he ate as he walked, and by the time he returned to the dormitory, the six steamed buns in the dried lotus leaf were finished.

He wiped his oily hands on a towel and then collapsed onto the bed, snoring away!

In his dreams...

Duan Rong saw a courtyard floor where it seemed that black charcoal had been used to draw more than a dozen black circles, arranged in a scattered yet orderly fashion in strange and eerie positions.

A pair of chubby, crescent-like little feet were jumping back and forth between those black circles, the speed getting faster and faster, and the methods becoming more and more varied...

Then, the scene seemed to shift...

It was still those same feet and waist...

But this time, it was among many wooden stakes of varying heights, arranged in a scattered yet orderly fashion; those little feet seemed to have magic, leaping like rabbits and falling like falcons among the stakes, dodging and shifting, and gradually, there began to be... a trace of an afterimage...

I do not know how much time passed, but the scene changed once again...

This seemed to be a pond, where lotus flowers swayed in the breeze and water droplets on the lotus leaves were like silver beans...

That pair of tender, chubby feet was actually jumping back and forth on the lotus leaves...

The chubby little feet scattered the water droplets on the lotus leaves, but after the lotus leaves swayed, the scattered droplets gathered together again...

In his dream, Duan Rong did not marvel at the profoundness of this Lightness Skill; he only felt that those chubby little feet jumping among the sun-drenched lotus leaves were like carp playing among the lotuses, truly heart-stirring!

In his sleep, Duan Rong actually started to smile...

Three hours later, Duan Rong suddenly woke up.

He immediately jumped off the bed; by this time, those chubby little feet had been cast to the back of his mind.

At this moment, excitement danced in Duan Rong's eyes.

"This Cloud Snake Step is not just a Lightness Skill, it is also a movement technique!"

From the switching of those three scenes, one could see how difficult this martial art was to practice.

Although Duan Rong had just finished digesting the Spirit Tool, he suddenly felt an itch to practice, so he prepared to try out this Lightness Skill, which included movement techniques and excelled in dodging and shifting, right here in his small room.

Although the Martial Arts Arena was spacious, if someone saw that he was using the footwork of the Cloud Snake Step, wouldn't that just lead to another dispute?

In this long and cramped dormitory, Duan Rong stepped out the footwork of the Cloud Snake Step; at the beginning, it was still very slow, but one pass, two passes...

He unconsciously began to speed up!

Gradually, a trace of an afterimage began to appear in Duan Rong's figure...

Because he had already digested the Spirit Tool and obtained the realm of the Cloud Snake Step, he had accidentally unleashed it...

Just as Duan Rong unleashed it, with a "bang," he slammed his head into the wall!

Duan Rong grimaced and sat on the floor, feeling a piercing pain in his forehead...

Immediately, a rustling sound came from the room next door, followed by the sleepy voice of the Accounting Office Apprentice. "Brother Rong, it's the middle of the night, you must take care of your health..."

Duan Rong rubbed his forehead and sat on the floor, not making a sound; at this time, the more he explained, the worse it would look!

After there was no more movement from next door, Duan Rong finally stood up.

His forehead was already slightly swollen, and he estimated that a large bump was inevitable!

"Better not practice for now; doing it this way makes too much noise, and since it's night, it's too disturbing to others..."

Since the Cloud Snake Step could not be practiced, Duan Rong left the dormitory, washed up by the well, and went to the Martial Arts Arena to practice Standing Stake.

After eating breakfast, Duan Rong returned to the dormitory once again.

By this time, the people in the dormitory had basically all gone out.

Those who needed to report for duty did so, and those who needed to practice martial arts did that; who would stay in this cramped and gloomy dormitory in broad daylight?

Wouldn't that make one a rat?

Thus, Duan Rong closed the doors and windows, and within the narrow and cramped dormitory, he began to dodge and maneuver...

Duan Rong's figure became faster and faster, and gradually, it was actually like a ghost...

At first, he was only jumping back and forth on the floor and the bed...

An hour later, he was already able to step on the walls and walk onto the ceiling, although he had to come down from the wall on the other side after only a few steps...

But even so, it was already scary enough; and this was still only the Entry Level Cloud Snake Step!

Duan Rong spent the entire day in this cramped and gloomy dormitory, practicing the Cloud Snake Step!

It was not until the Shen hour, seeing that it was time to go out and set up his stall to paint, that Duan Rong finally stopped his movements, went to the well to wipe off the foul sweat from his body, and hurriedly took his tools to the Wai Bo Zi Liu Shu on West Street...

(End of this chapter)