Chapter 378: First Poison, Then Phoenix: Cultivating Subordinates

If following the lineage of the Five Birds from Golden Crane Mountain, it follows the most orthodox "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix" inheritance.

Using mortal birds to approach the Cinnabar Phoenix!

Whether it be the crane, hawk, falcon, shrike, owl, or peacock, all are based on one's own foundation, referencing the essence of other bird-style fists to integrate them, obtaining the essence of the "Hundred Birds" to seek a moment of "Facing the Phoenix," transcending the mundane and stepping into the Strong Martial Level.

Therefore, the Seven Birds constantly meet and gather to discuss and spar over fist techniques; this is their goal.

The deduction by the Formless Copper Statue is different: Ying Feng Swallows the Dragon requires using a newborn phoenix bird swallowing a dragon as its foundation.

Where does the dragon come from?

As it happens, there is a Poison Palm technique that evolves from a poison snake to a poison flood dragon, and finally from a poison flood dragon into a poison dragon.

That's right, the dragon that Ying Feng must swallow is a poison dragon, using the realm of the Seven Step Poison Sand Palm as nourishment to transform into the Cinnabar Phoenix Divine Art.

The key lies in...

To practice the Seven Step Poison Sand Palm to the poison dragon level, one must also be at the Strong Martial Level.

Zhou You's alias, Lu Zhigang, has only touched the threshold of the poison flood dragon so far; the two bumps on his head haven't even sprouted yet!

The problem arises: since my Poison Martial Arts can break through to the Strong Martial Level, why sacrifice an existing realm to switch to another? Ying Feng Swallows the Dragon, as the name implies, still carries a layer of risk.

After Ying Feng swallows the poison dragon, it must undergo a transformation before it is qualified to become a true divine bird, the phoenix.

High investment, high cost, and the harvest is nowhere in sight—no matter how you look at it, it's a chicken rib! Hmm, then again, it's hard to say!

The further one goes with poison techniques, the greater the hidden dangers; after all, since ancient times, practicing poison has never been the orthodox path.

Take the predecessors as an example: among the Martial Saints throughout history, each has their own achievements, yet which one of them practiced poison to become a saint?

Therefore, the Ying Feng Swallows the Dragon chapter of this fist technique is not useless; rather, it is too useful, having great utility.

It is possible that in the future, when Zhou You breaks through to the Strong Martial Level, changes in his strength will lead to changes in his circumstances, and he will pick up this fist technique again.

Zhou You is currently nowhere near breaking through to the Strong Martial Level, so he temporarily sets this technique aside.

With over 100,000 Experience Points remaining, Zhou You plans to use them sparingly, saving them for a rainy day.

Recently, he has been studying weapon techniques, especially focusing on staff-type weapons.

Thus, he selected the blunt force of the Tiger Head Hammer, the viciousness of the spirit snake whip from the Seven Step Poison Sand Palm, the variations of the feather fan from the Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix, and the piercing characteristics of the "One Line Red" strange blade from the Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record, mixing them all together.

Finally, he poured it all into a short staff, and through the calculation of the Formless Copper Statue, derived a staff technique named... Random Bashing.

It is indeed random bashing; with so many characteristics stewed together in one pot, the strikes are completely unrelated, yet the power is strangely absolute.

The byproducts of the calculation process were all passed down by Zhou You.

"Qingdi, you specialize in the iron flute; here is a set of Iron Feather Flying Knives for you."

"Senior Brother Zuo, I have improved your Two Hearts Fist weapon technique into a double-pointed blade style; give it a try."

"Tie Niu, this ox-horn hammer isn't bad; you try it!"

Although they cannot yet use Qi-Blood Divine Weapons, there is no problem with practicing with ordinary iron tools.

It is not about forcing growth, but in troubled times, one cannot act according to conventional logic; waiting until one is in the late stage of Qi-Blood to practice would be too late.

Practice with these first; once familiar with the routines, one can quickly master them after the Qi-Blood is fully formed in the future.

Qi Qingdi was overjoyed to receive the flying knife technique; this medium-to-long-range attack method complements the power of the Iron Flute Technique.

Among weapon techniques, there are also methods for flying knives, flying swords, flying hammers, and flying staves; despite the fantasy-sounding names, the fighting style is very pragmatic—it is simply throwing the weapon to smash the enemy.

Like the move Zhou You loves to use most, the flying hammer from the Tiger Head Hammer, it is like a meteor from beyond the heavens, catching the opponent off guard. The Iron Feather Flying Knife is derived from the Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix, throwing light and graceful flying knives in the posture of a bird shedding its feathers.

Forged from refined steel, they are thin like feathers, with sharp edges and silent in flight.

Xiao Gu was most proficient in this flying knife technique, having nurtured dozens of flying knives with her Qi-Blood, specializing in breaking the steel bodies of martial artists, but her efforts were in vain when displayed before Zhou You.

After obtaining the other chapters, Zhou You collected numerous evolutions, calculated this flying knife technique to perfection, and passed it on to his disciples.

In the following days, while Qi Qingdi focused on practicing his fist techniques, he also began to study the flying knives; the area where he stayed became a restricted zone, surrounded by white light everywhere, with iron shards stuck all over the ground and trees.

Although they are not Qi-Blood Divine Weapons, a single flying knife is elusive; hitting a vital point at a critical moment can turn the tide of battle and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Since his Two Hearts Fist was merged, Zuo Shier has focused on practicing the Twin Tiger Form Fist, and Zhou You prepared the double-pointed blades for him.

The double-pointed blade is an exotic weapon that ordinary people cannot use; only by being able to use one's mind for two tasks at once can one operate it freely.

Because his foundational fist technique is the Two Hearts Fist, he is adept at using his mind for two tasks; in this regard, aside from Zhou You's cheating-like abilities, no one can compare to him. Only in his hands can the double-pointed blade exert its maximum power.

As for Tie Niu's ox-horn hammer, it was tailor-made for him by Zhou You, adapted from the Tiger Head Hammer.

"What is this?"

At Zhou You's command, the village blacksmith fused iron materials and forged three types of weapons according to the blueprints.

After the weapons came out of the furnace, as they cooled, they changed from red-hot to a bright, snowy silver, each one so grim that people dared not approach.

The Iron Feather Flying Knives come in a set of twelve, with 6 sets totaling 72 blades; the details of the feathers were meticulously carved, looking just like the real thing.

Ignoring the fact that they were still hot, Qi Qingdi grabbed a handful of flying knives and tucked them into his clothes.

The other two weapons were quite peculiar.

The double-pointed blade forks from the handle, with the two blades slanting to the left and right respectively, so that even when slashing straight down, one can attend to enemies on both sides.

Anyone who uses a blade knows that one must watch the direction of the blade tip, otherwise the force will not be applied correctly and one will not hit the target.

The double-pointed blade has two tips; it is difficult for a pair of eyes to attend to both, and attending to one means losing the other. In the hands of an ordinary person, it is just scrap metal.

Only Zuo Shier can handle it; he picked up the double-pointed blade as if it were a treasure, "Thank you, Master Zhou."

The ox-horn hammer in Tie Niu's hand evolved from a round hammer; the difference is that two curved horns protrude from the two ends of the round head, shaped like water buffalo horns, hence the name.

The hammer head smashes people to smithereens, and the ox horns pierce bodies and disembowel them; the stronger the brute force, the greater the destructive power.

Zhou You handed the three weapons to the individuals and made a promise, "When you reach the late stage of Qi-Blood, I will give each of you a Qi-Blood Divine Weapon."

Zhou You lacks everything, but he does not lack Qi-Blood Divine Weapons; he is just waiting for someone to break through to the late stage of Qi-Blood to pick one at will.

The harvest from the trip to Gongliang City was bountiful; in addition to these Qi-Blood Divine Weapons, there were also the corpses of 5 martial artists.

Just the skin of the martial artists, peeled off and tanned into leather, could be used to make hundreds of Hunger Pouches.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhou You is already so wealthy that he can use Hunger Pouches like disposable plastic bags.

Keep the skin of the Intermediate Martial Master Ge'erbu'dan for now, don't use it yet! There is also one standard-issue Iron Feather battle robe, a defensive-type blood-Qi divine weapon, which Zhou You is keeping for self-defense.

After all, Zhou You personally verified its power; this battle robe can withstand attacks at the level of an Intermediate Martial Master.

Wearing this robe can save his life at a critical moment, so its value is immense.

However, one must be cautious when using stolen goods; Zhou You intends to upgrade and modify the battle robe to fit the crane-form portion of his fist technique before he can bring it out to show.

(End of chapter)