Chapter 76: Mental Power

At noon, Duan Rong only drank a small pot of yellow wine!

However, this evening, at a greasy table in the corner of this small tavern, Duan Rong drank an entire jar of Bamboo Leaf Green!

He did not drink fast!

But he drank very happily!

In his past life, because of an alcohol allergy, he was afraid the moment he saw a drinking scene!

But he never expected that after this soul-transmigration, although the original body's fate was so miserable, it was naturally immune to getting drunk after a thousand cups!

Duan Rong drank until his dark face flushed and his eyes shone, then he swayed as he left the tavern and returned to the Yuanshun Escort Agency!

Actually, Duan Rong had not originally intended to drink, but when he sat in the small tavern eating, he realized that the hand holding his chopsticks was trembling uncontrollably...

Duan Rong immediately understood that although he appeared to be acting relaxed on the surface, the nausea after the slaughter was actually still hidden within his body!

It had only been suppressed by him!

This was perhaps the aftereffect of him killing, and he feared it would follow him forever...

He wanted to use the anesthesia of alcohol to dispel his repression...

Unpleasantness in a person's body is usually dispersed quite quickly through some bad habit!

This was also one of the very important experiences of his survival in his past life!

In his past life, he couldn't drink, so when he felt depressed, he would binge eat!

When Duan Rong returned to the Yuanshun Escort Agency and walked to the Martial Arts Arena, he suddenly remembered Zhou Shoushan's Yellow Springs Saber Technique!

He remembered it was right there in the Spirit Tool of a certain saber on the weapon rack in the Martial Arts Arena!

Duan Rong immediately, while breathing out alcohol fumes, began searching in front of the weapon rack!

After Duan Rong tried several sabers, he suddenly looked at the data before him, smiled slightly, let out a drunken hiccup, and secretly thought: "Devour!"

Artifact: Mo Dao

Spirit Artifact Tier: First Tier

Devouring Requirement: Host Mental Power Level 1 (Satisfied).

Devouring Effect: Yellow Springs Saber Technique Proficiency.

Duan Rong was already drunk, and coupled with the discomfort in his brain after devouring the Spirit Tool, he returned to his dormitory, fell over, and slept like the dead...

When Duan Rong woke up, the sun had already risen high, and the sunlight pierced through the thin cloth pasted over the carved wooden window, hitting his face!

Duan Rong struggled to crawl up and immediately felt a splitting headache!

This is actually a common ailment for people with a high tolerance for alcohol; most of them only feel the effects of the alcohol the next day!

This pain from the alcohol's aftereffects is almost similar to a sense of world-weariness!

After a few breaths, the explosive headache slowly receded like a tide...

Duan Rong gasped for air, looking exhausted, picked up the wooden basin and towel from the corner of the wall, and went to the well in the dormitory courtyard to wash up!

After washing, Duan Rong felt much refreshed, and as a thought stirred, he realized that the devoured Yellow Springs Saber Technique had already been digested and absorbed while he was drunk and sleeping last night.

The Yellow Springs Saber Technique was not a saber technique taught by the Yuanshun Escort Agency!

If he practiced it directly in the Martial Arts Arena and someone saw him, he would likely invite unnecessary trouble!

However, it was already morning, and there was basically no one in the dormitory, so he had no choice but to play the mouse again and study this Yellow Springs Saber Technique inside the dormitory.

Although the dormitory was cramped and narrow, Duan Rong had the Cloud Snake Step, so performing ordinary saber techniques was still no problem!

Duan Rong held the Ox-Tail Saber and, relying on the enchanting footwork of the Cloud Snake Step, performed the routines of the Proficiency-level Yellow Springs Saber Technique three or four times in the cramped dormitory!

Duan Rong suddenly stopped by the bed, stood with his saber sheathed, and a look of contemplation appeared in his eyes!

The defensive logic of this Yellow Springs Saber Technique indeed had its clever points!

Moreover, the defensive techniques within this saber art had quite a miraculous effect against fast attacks with elusive footwork!

But it was just... if he really encountered an opponent with an Internal Breath stronger than his own, this defensive technique would be somewhat lackluster!

Duan Rong had originally been quite interested in this saber technique, but after truly learning it, he found it was nothing more than that!

It felt much like the boredom one feels after a magic trick is revealed!

Duan Rong sighed, sheathed his saber, left the dormitory, crossed the Martial Arts Arena, and headed toward the street!

By this time, the hour for the cafeteria to serve breakfast had long passed, and Duan Rong was hungry, so he walked to the street, bought six steamed buns, and pondered things while eating!

Before him, there was indeed one matter he needed to ponder carefully!

That was the problem of Mental Power!

Duan Rong had already achieved the Internal Breath Second Stage!

The focus of his next stage of cultivation was the Small Success realm of the Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber, which was the Inner Breath Realm Third Layer!

But if he wanted to maintain his original cultivation speed, he had to devour the Spirit Tool of the Small Success realm Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber!

It wasn't that there were no Spirit Tools for the Small Success realm Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber; there were some on the weapon racks in the Martial Arts Arena!

However, it required the host's Mental Power to be Level 2!

And Duan Rong's Mental Power level was only Level 1!

The problem was already very clear: he needed to increase his Mental Power!

So, how to increase it?

Devouring the Spirit Tool of an ancient tree could increase Mental Power.

But the Spirit Tool of that Ginkgo Ancient Tree that could increase Mental Power was Tier 9, and he couldn't devour it at all.

Back when he was first researching the ability to devour Spirit Tools, Duan Rong had made a preliminary attempt; the Spirit Tool of that decades-old Old Locust Tree in the Martial Arts Arena didn't have the effect of increasing Mental Power, did it?

Moreover, at that time, the problem of Mental Power was not the most urgent issue, and he hadn't gone on to dig deeper.

In his past life, Duan Rong had learned a principle: even if you have a thousand threads in your hand, only one thread can pass through the eye of a needle at a time.

At that time, the thread Duan Rong needed to pass through was not Mental Power.

However, now, he finally held the thread of Mental Power in his hand, but where was the eye of the needle he needed to thread it through?

After some deliberation, Duan Rong decided to learn from the lesson of the Guan Yun incident last time; rather than fumbling around on his own, it would be better to ask Xiao Zongting first before making further plans.

Moreover, he had already achieved the Internal Breath Second Stage, so he also happened to need to find Xiao Zongting to ask for the Secret Manual for the Inner Breath Third Layer!

Having settled his thoughts, Duan Rong entered the gates of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, turned a corner, and headed straight for the courtyard where Xiao Zongting lived!

As Duan Rong walked into the front courtyard gate of Xiao Zongting's residence, he saw Zhu Xiaoqi by the kitchen door, turning over dried radishes in the sun.

The sliced radish pieces filled two bamboo baskets, looking quite pleasing under the sunlight!

Duan Rong paced over and smiled at Zhu Xiaoqi, but Zhu Xiaoqi swept a glance at him from the corner of his eye and ignored him.

"Xiao Qi, aren't these radishes quite tender? Why bother drying them into radish strips?" Duan Rong asked with a smile, seeing that Zhu Xiaoqi was ignoring him.

Zhu Xiaoqi looked up, rolled his eyes at him, and said, "These are for making pickled radishes."

"Oh..." Seeing that Zhu Xiaoqi had spoken, Duan Rong glanced at the door leading from the front courtyard to the Back Courtyard and asked, "Xiao Qi, is Xiao Lao in?"

"He's in the main room of the Back Courtyard, talking to someone!" Zhu Xiaoqi replied.

"Who is it?"

"Someone brought in to treat the Second Young Miss..."

"Doctor Gu?"

"No!"

As the two were talking, suddenly two figures walked out from the door of the Back Courtyard!

One of them was Xiao Zongting, walking with a limp, while the other was extremely thin, with a fierce expression, sparse gray hair, and a red, fleshy nose covered in black spots in the middle of his face.

Both of them had unpleasant expressions, talking about something as they walked.

The moment Duan Rong saw the person beside Xiao Zongting, he was slightly stunned, thinking to himself: How can this person look so fierce and ghastly?

Only then did Duan Rong suddenly remember that when he came over on the day Xiao Baijiao gave him the Sachet, he had asked Zhu Xiaoqi about Xiao Lao.

At that time, Zhu Xiaoqi said that Xiao Zongting had gone out very early in the morning, acting all mysterious.

It seemed that he had gone off to who knows where to invite this person to treat Xiao Baijiao!

It was just that this person looked so fierce and strange; he was likely no good sort...

(End of this chapter)