Chapter 80

That night, Liu Liu Xiaolou tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Suddenly, there were two more powerful competitors for the retainer position, and their cultivation levels were both two levels higher than his. How could he sleep well?

These two competitors were also very cautious and unwilling to expose their strength in advance, making him unable to get a glimpse of their true appearance. His own cultivation was shallow, and he couldn't know the enemy. Tomorrow, it would inevitably be difficult to gain any advantage. He didn't know how many retainers the Red Snail Manor was recruiting. If it were few, his wish would probably fall through.

The next day at dawn, there was no one in the east and west side rooms, and he didn't know where the two had gone. It was still early before the banquet. Liu Liu Xiaolou left the courtyard and strolled leisurely in the manor. There were some places he couldn't go, and naturally, the manor manager would politely block him, so he walked and looked along the places he could go, and unknowingly walked to the north of the manor.

The north of the manor was close to White Dew Lake. Under the sunlight, the snow on the shore yesterday continued to melt, gurgling into the lake water, rising with wisps of smoke. Liu Liu Xiaolou stood on the lake embankment and looked out, feeling refreshed. All the worries of last night gradually dissipated and were no longer on his mind. If I get it, it's my luck; if I lose it, it's my fate. Why force it?

Suddenly, he saw a person sitting cross-legged on the tree crown a few dozen feet away on his left, his snow-white Daoist robe fluttering in the breeze. It was the Bai Yun Swordsman. Looking to the right, a hundred feet away, there was a three-foot-high lake stone. The one sitting on the lake stone and breathing to practice was the Green-Shirt Scholar.

Liu Liu Xiaolou secretly felt ashamed, blaming himself for wasting half an hour of time. Although there were no spirit stones, transforming true qi was not the whole of cultivation. After thinking about it, he prepared to familiarize himself with the Ground-Severing Yuan-Binding Rope.

Liu Liu Xiaolou did not have the ability of the Bai Yun Swordsman to meditate on the tree crown. It was no problem to jump up and step on the tree crown, but he couldn't sit steadily on it for a long time; at most, he could hold on for a few breaths before falling down. This kind of ability was quite eye-catching, and he didn't know if he could achieve it when he broke through to the fifth level in the future.

As for the large lake stone under the Green-Shirt Scholar, Liu Liu Xiaolou looked around but couldn't find another one, so he had to find a place that looked relatively clean to sit cross-legged.

True qi was infused into his right arm, and he sensed the spiritual rope that was like a meridian. He guided the true qi into it, and the spiritual rope immediately revealed half of its head, wriggling like a spiritual snake spitting its core.

At the same time, the eleven acupoints of the Hand Taiyin Meridian, the twenty acupoints of the Hand Yangming Meridian, the twenty-one acupoints of the Foot Taiyin Meridian, the forty-five acupoints of the Foot Yangming Meridian, as well as the eight acupoints already opened in the Hand Hand Jueyin Meridian, and the Jingming point opened by swallowing a snake gallbladder in Mount Wuling Mountain, all 106 acupoints trembled and lit up one by one in the Ground-Severing Yuan-Binding Rope, flickering like stars. These were the shadow acupoints.

The effect of this spiritual rope was closely related to the owner's cultivation. It reflected the owner's cultivation realm. As long as the enemy had opened no more than 106 acupoints, they would be completely covered by the 106 shadow acupoints lit up in the spiritual rope. The true qi in the acupoint pools could not flow, losing its spirituality and the spiritual power possessed by true qi, waiting to be sucked dry by the rope.

It was as if a person's breathing passages were covered, and they were suffocated and drained alive. This was the effect of "scattering yuan."

Of course, its weakness was also very prominent. As long as the acupoints opened by the enemy could not be completely covered, the true qi would have room to flow, and "breathing" would still have a path. The more acupoints that could not be covered, the weaker the effect of "scattering yuan."

Therefore, for Liu Liu Xiaolou at present, this spiritual rope could not exert its full effect—because the meridians and acupoints opened by everyone in the Qi Refining stage were different. At the same cultivation level, it could only lock part of the opponent's acupoints. But it could increase its power as Liu Liu Xiaolou's cultivation increased, and its growth potential was extremely strong.

After manipulating and sensing for a long time, he felt that it was much more proficient and smooth to use. Seeing that there was no one around, he got up and came to the lake, releasing the spiritual rope from his wrist, and one end of the rope drilled into the lake water.

The rope was over a foot long. After most of it probed into the lake water, Liu Liu Xiaolou not only connected his meridians with the spiritual rope, but his perception also merged into the spiritual rope, as if he were that spiritual rope, and his gaze also pierced into the bottom of the water, sensing the situation under the water.

Every grain of sand, every stone, every blade of grass, every insect, every fish, every crab, every shrimp, and every snail were reflected in his mind, as if they were right before his eyes.

Wait, a snail?

That snail was as big as a child's fist, and its shell seemed to be covered with silvery-white dew. It drilled back and forth among several stones and sand at the bottom of the lake, moving with extraordinary agility, even three points faster than the swimming of a fish. It was indeed a spiritual object, very different from ordinary shellfish.

This White Dew Fortune Snail was extremely alert. If there was any movement, it would swim away in the blink of an eye, making it very difficult to catch. Liu Liu Xiaolou spread his spirit, keeping the connection with the spiritual rope in a state of being there and not there. Because of this, the spiritual rope floated softly in the lake water, like a piece of water grass without roots, swaying gently with the ripples.

He didn't know how long it had been, but the spiritual rope finally drifted to the side of the White Dew Fortune Snail. The snail had adapted to the existence of the spiritual rope, thinking it was an ordinary water grass, so it didn't pay attention. Finally, Liu Liu Xiaolou seized the opportunity, the head of the rope burst out, wrapped around the snail shell, and lifted it to the surface of the water.

From the Chen hour until the Shen hour, Liu Liu Xiaolou was focused on catching White Dew Fortune Snails by the lake, using this to practice and improve his control and application of the Ground-Severing Yuan-Binding Rope. After more than half a day, he had only caught three. If he were to slice them, he could cut about half a plate. From this, one could see the difficulty of catching the White Dew Fortune Snail.

Logically speaking, these three white snails were the property of the Red Snail Manor. As a guest, it was not very appropriate for Liu Liu Xiaolou to take them without notice, so he pried out the snail meat and swallowed it raw to fill his stomach before the banquet began. Although there was not much spiritual power, adding bricks and tiles to his true qi required perseverance. Every bit counted, and he could not be the slightest bit slack. This was the habit of a loose cultivator from Wulong Mountain.

By the You hour, the sun was slanting to the west, and the manager found him by the lake, inviting the three to attend the banquet. The Bai Yun Swordsman floated down from the tree crown, the Green-Shirt Scholar tidied his clothes on the lake stone, and Liu Liu Xiaolou hurriedly threw the three snail shells into the lake secretly and followed them into the manor.

Looking back at the lake surface under the setting sun, he suddenly saw several manor servants struggling to move the lake stone where the Green-Shirt Scholar had been meditating. This was to be transported back to the manor. His heart sank; this fellow seemed to have a close relationship with the Red Snail Manor, and his style was truly not small. He must not compete with him.

The banquet was held in the largest Dew-Revealing Hall of the manor. There were two red-painted gold-lacquered purple nanmu pillars standing in the hall, and the regulations were truly not small. More than a dozen tables had been set up in the hall. In addition to the main table in the center, five tables were arranged in order on the left and right, all the way to the door. Many people were standing in the hall, but the host had not arrived, and no one had taken their seats yet.

Liu Liu Xiaolou followed into the hall, chose a corner to stand and wait. Looking out, the hall was actually full of handsome disciples, either with clear eyebrows and bright eyes, or handsome and comfortable, or wearing jade belts and watching the wind, or graceful and steady. Even looking at them himself, he felt it was quite pleasing to the eye.

What is this? The Red Snail Manor is recruiting retainers, and they are judging people by their appearance?

In that case, did his chances increase significantly?

Liu Liu Xiaolou couldn't help but fall into deep thought.