Chapter 157: New Adventure

The catalog of peerless martial arts...... How come this sounds so familiar to me?" Bai Lang muttered, not bothering to check on the departing guard, and went to flip through the catalog himself. It's a huge volume, but upon opening it, two-thirds of the arts are hardly different from his Black Tiger Fist...... Thinking about it, this kind of martial art is indeed the easiest to get hold of, isn't it? And exchanging for these arts is also quite cheap.

Bai Lang flipped through the back with a clatter; indeed there were plenty of practical, high-level martial arts, but the internal arts suitable for forging a foundation were few, and the details on arts that directly lead to the Innate realm were vague. Flipping further, he finally found the Innate and above-Innate martial arts—however, not only were the exchange prices unmentioned, even the eligibility requirements for exchange were specified, and to Bai Lang these arts seemed hardly suitable for him.

"Does this mean I have to abandon the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield? This art could likely shoot straight to above Innate, and if directly transformed into other martial arts it wouldn't be worth it. However, these Innate martial arts for combat are not bad! But why are almost all of them sword techniques, palm methods, and finger techniques, with few more mighty arts......" Bai Lang also couldn't be sure of his affinity for sword techniques.

But that's far in the future; just looking at the exchange conditions and prices at the back, Bai Lang didn't think he could obtain them. "I'm merely a mercenary bounty hunter—exchanging for those arts at the back? Pure wishful thinking!" Bai Lang now finds even the front arts hard to exchange for, let alone the others. "Here it's mostly for external exchange...... The truly secret transmissions probably aren't like this."

Bai Lang knew there must be some subtlety here, and upon reflection it seemed reasonable—where would the martial arts truly belonging to the great sects and clans appear in a place like this for you to learn? "But I actually have a golden finger!" Bai Lang thought to himself, closed the catalog, and walked out of the room. The guard outside waited silently; Bai Lang grinned, "These are good things, but I have no money to afford them. Hahaha."

"Not coming here, I really wouldn't know how poor I am...... alas, alas, alas, a gentleman's lot is to be poor." Bai Lang sighed, then went out. Returning to the Temple of the Mountain God, Bai Lang set down the load he was carrying—nothing but household goods. Since they had already entered the inner city of Ji City, he might as well take this opportunity to buy some needed items, and also grab an iron rod to carry back.

Anyway, Bai Lang now cultivates the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield and has cultivated divine strength; carrying two loads of "little mountains" back would be no problem. After arranging the rear hall, it finally resembles a normal dwelling. Having put things away, Bai Lang felt a heat in his chest, "Why does this thing feel like a harbinger of death? Last time I went, how long ago was it? Shouldn't there at least be a half-year or year gap? Is it cultivating masters or just playing a game?"

In the next instant, a flicker of the ghostly head on Bai Lang's chest flashed, and he found himself standing inside the Adventure Hall. Others appeared simultaneously, looking not bad. Bai Lang gazed at Mu Ronghua and company, "Yo, long time no see. How's it going? Have you finished training your kung fu?" He didn't say he had already entered the Innate realm, but he could tell the others hadn't stepped into Innate yet—just shy of the final step.

Before they could exchange pleasantries for long, the Adventure Hall burst forth with rays of light, "Seems changed again—this nickel's worth of special effects and the ever-shifting rules—this really isn't a lousy script put together by a third-rate troupe and screenwriter?" Bai Lang muttered, then stepped into the light pillar.

The next moment they stood on an extremely majestic mountain; looking down was an endless sea of clouds, looking up the mountain body radiated golden light, its peak unseen. The mountain was so huge that the platform they stood on was almost as large as a city—indeed, a metropolis the size of Ji City with a million inhabitants. The spiritual energy on this mountain was incredibly abundant; merely breathing felt like inhaling jelly—yet they didn't choke, instead endless spiritual energy coursed through their meridians, making the whole person feel light as if about to ascend.

"Martial arts greatly advanced!" Mu Ronghua exclaimed cheerfully, "My power is increasing rapidly, hahahaha!" Bai Lang merely smiled at this, not intending to burst his illusion—his power had indeed increased greatly, but this was merely a sensation produced by the spiritual energy, like a mirage on a lamp flame; if one tried to actually use it, it would be useless and unworkable. How much power one has is still how much power one has; it would be better to cultivate here by breathing, absorbing, and circulating the techniques—at least progress would be much faster than elsewhere.

As the misty clouds twined around them, characters appeared: "Survive, survive until reaching the summit and persisting for twelve double-hours." Bai Lang immediately laughed, "This loophole......" Ma Rulong also laughed, "If we walk slowly, taking three steps then cultivating for one double-hour, wouldn't we......" Of course there's no such luck—just as his words left his mouth, the characters added a stroke: "Limited to reaching the summit within twelve double-hours."

"A shoddy troupe!" Bai Lang cursed with a laugh, no doubt the Adventure Hall was just a shoddy troupe! The mountain had a staircase leading up, with gold-inlaid jade carvings extravagantly luxurious. Yet the mountain was eerily quiet, as if no creature could be seen. Bai Lang and company walked up the steps; all along it was silent, but upon turning a mountain bend, everyone suddenly felt as if struck hard, collapsing with blood spraying from mouth and nose—except Bai Lang, whose Golden Bell Shield flashed and emitted a long, resonant "clang" of a bell.

It wasn't a heavy blow; merely its presence inflicted serious damage—Bai Lang's Golden Bell Shield showed cracks, and all this was caused by nothing more than a celestial crane lying ahead, several dozen meters long. The crane appeared dead, its neck broken, golden blood flowing from its beak. Even though the crane was dead, its aura could substantiate and deal a heavy blow to these people.

"Even from over three hundred meters away it can have such might?!" Bai Lang muttered, while the others had already seated themselves cross-legged, circulating their qi to heal injuries and had taken pills. "With preparation, one could gradually approach. After all, this is merely the residual aura left by a dead thing. But if even dead it can do this, how strong must it have been alive? At the very least above Innate, perhaps even an expert who projects inner scenery outward, forming a realm of their own."

Perhaps even beyond that......

Fortunately, the injuries these few sustained weren't serious either, after all it was a dead thing. The healing speed was still quite fast, and with careful attention they wouldn't be injured again—speaking of which, the dense spiritual energy here not only magnified the dead creature's aura but also proved quite beneficial for healing. Bai Lang led the way, the others following behind as they gradually approached the celestial crane. "Really huge! Is there actually a celestial crane this big?" Bai Lang asked.

"Under normal circumstances there wouldn't be, but if it's a monster or an aberrant cultivator species, who knows......" Murong Jiu Xiu said.