Chapter 23: 23 Silky Breakthrough

Staying safely hidden in the deep mountains and ignoring outside affairs allowed Song Cheng to harvest quite a few points.

And now, it is time to improve!

In this strange and chaotic world, a little more strength means a little more hope for survival.

"150 points, White Snake Blade, deduce 50 times."

In an instant, a multitude of memories surged into Song Cheng's mind.

He stood in the courtyard, swinging his blade day after day, pondering how to advance further in this state of Completion.

Practicing martial arts is like climbing a mountain.

After climbing one mountain, one must still see the next.

Yet, no matter how Song Cheng wielded his blade, his eyes remained blank.

He recalled the three realms of "form, power, and strength" that Guan Xi had spoken of, and also remembered the analogy of the "knight and the spear."

He began to deliberately search for that spark of explosive force within his strength.

However, relying solely on his own comprehension was truly too difficult.

The first person to discover power must have been an outstanding talent, and also a lucky one.

50 times. Deduction failed.

Yet, it was not a total loss; at the very least, Song Cheng gained a great deal of experience in blade techniques in his mind.

At this moment, Song Cheng was completely numb; a long-lost "fear of being dominated by gacha probabilities from his past life" surged into his heart.

The key is that gacha has a pity system, but this deduction is not a game, and there is no such thing as a pity system.

He took a deep breath; water vapor, the unique air of the mountain forest, and that strange, rotting stench flooded his nasal cavity.

"What is this smell?"

Song Cheng frowned, simply closed the window, then rubbed his hands together, changed his strategy, and turned to deducing one time after another.

51 times. 52 times. 53 times. Song Cheng was already slumped on the wooden chair, listlessly clicking the "+" sign like a walking corpse.

65 times. 66 times. Song Cheng's eyes were filled with cynicism and hatred for the "lucky European" in his mind.

67 times. Deduction successful!

Song Cheng's previously limp body suddenly sat upright, and then, without even looking, he quickly performed 10 deductions on the Pagoda Meditation Method.

Misfortunes never come singly, but good things come in pairs! Probability-people are all a bit "superstitious."

Instant feedback arrived.

Pagoda Meditation Method, deduction successful!

Song Xiazi let out a breath, and a smile appeared on his face.

He looked at the panel again.

【Add Points: 172 points】

【Cultivation Method】

Black Tortoise Power (Yellow Grade Grade C) (Not Yet Initiated (0/4)) 【Skill】

Ghost Tower Meditation Method (?) (Completion) "A strange thing has appeared, a Ghost Tower Meditation Method of unknown grade?"

Song Cheng scanned it, then closed his eyes, beginning to digest the massive amount of surging memories.

Layer upon layer of high towers, climbing up the steps, and upon reaching the ninth layer, leaping down allows the Soul to leave the body and wander at night.

But he began to be dissatisfied that he could only do these things.

He tried to make his own Soul stronger, but discovered that this matter was a hundred or a thousand times harder than comprehending new martial arts.

With martial arts, you can at least try and fail, and even if you can't, you can still train every day.

As for the Soul, how do you try, how do you train? That he was able to deduce the Pagoda Meditation Method from Heart Eye was entirely due to luck.

He pondered painfully, pinning his hopes on meditation, and sometimes even randomly trying to visualize the gods and demons he knew from his past life, yet all were useless.

This day, he closed his eyes to meditate once more, his Soul left his body, and as expected, there were no new discoveries; but when his Soul returned to the Tower, he suddenly noticed that this "Tower" was a bit strange.

The originally unremarkable tower body actually began to turn black.

Looking closely, he saw strange tadpole-shaped black markings emerging on the eighth layer of the high tower, rotating on the tower's surface and forming two cold and indifferent, terrifying pupils.

He was startled and opened his eyes abruptly, seeing the pair of pupils in the mirror that he had obtained due to the "Blessing of the Drowned Ghost," and he realized something.

Taboo is inherently inclined toward the Soul.

The blessing of the Taboo allowed him to grow eyes.

Now, these eyes had completely merged with him, becoming a part of him, not just in his physical shell, but also entering his Soul.

The Nine-Layered High Tower was a visualization of his own physical shell; if the ninth layer was the Purple Mansion between the eyebrows, then the eighth layer... wasn't it the eyes? And so... the Pagoda became the Ghost Tower.

But he did not feel his Soul becoming stronger; what became stronger was only the Ghost Tower.

The thought settled.

Song Cheng was somewhat speechless.

This was like a strange thing produced by a misspent skill tree, giving the feeling of "you were told to strengthen the warriors in the fortress, but you ended up fortifying the fortress itself."

Immediately after, there was the deduction memory of Black Tortoise Power.

True teachings are a single sentence, false teachings are ten thousand scrolls of books.

In the midst of repeated practice, and with the help of the techniques recorded in the previous Tiger Roar Blade as a reference, he finally understood a principle: flesh and blood are forged by forms, but power does not rely on forms, but on flesh and blood.

But how flesh and blood nourish power, and what kind of power is nourished, has great rules; a miss by a hair is a loss of a thousand miles. If one wants to take this step alone, it is extremely difficult.

White Snake Blade, agile, forged the thoracic spine and the shape of the arms through forms.

Black Tortoise Step, steady, trained the stability of the waist and lower back strength through forms, as well as the legs as if rooted in the ground.

Furthermore, Song Cheng realized that Black Tortoise Step was inspired by the image of the snake coiling around the black tortoise.

Therefore, his power should also be two paths intertwined.

One path should be agile, swift, and full of explosive power, like a white snake hunting, killing with a single strike, pushing attack to the extreme.

The other path should focus on defense, prioritizing stability.

The two Jin Powers complement each other, just like a spear and a shield.

Following these thoughts, he began to eat meat in large quantities, forging Jin Power with flesh and blood.

One day, after a long time, he suddenly moved; his arm shot out like a swift, fierce, and vicious venomous snake, exerting force in the air to form a strong, lunging Jin Power.

He stepped forward, his physical strength exploding, and a surge of blood-Qi erupted from within his body, as if many small fists were pounding outward from beneath his skin, landing on the surface and making it appear hard.

This was the "fleeting moment" brought about by his days and nights of bitter contemplation.

After this moment, he hurriedly stopped, attempting to do it again. But he could no longer use those two suddenly generated forces.

Yet even so, he had already found the opportunity.

He named this Jin Power "Black Tortoise Power".

Song Cheng glanced at his points.

There were still 172 points left.

He did not hesitate and began to rapidly increase the cultivation progress of "Black Tortoise Power".

60 points invested.

The progress of "Black Tortoise Power" changed from "Not Yet Initiated (0/4)" to "Completion" without any accidents or obstacles.

And Song Cheng's realm also directly changed to "Yellow Grade Grade C".

He glanced at his own combat power.

A moment ago it was still "18~31", and in this instant, it changed to "38~51".

It was simply outrageous.

Song Cheng closed his eyes to digest the cultivation memories, continued to scan "Black Tortoise Power", and caught sight of a "+" at the end.

The corresponding information emerged.

【Deduce corresponding combat technique, success rate 10%】

【Each deduction costs 3 points】

【Deduce?】

He still had 113 points.

Why not? If one doesn't go to become stronger, is one waiting for love?

Song Cheng began to continue investing 3 points at a time to deduce.

He deduced 10 times like this, but did not succeed.

But on the 11th time, the information appeared.

【Deduction successful】.

White Snake Entwining Tortoise (Yellow Grade Grade C) (Blade Technique) (Not Yet Initiated) (0/4)

"Good, good, good, continue."

Song Cheng continued to invest 60 points.

In an instant, this blade technique move named "White Snake Entwining Tortoise" directly reached Completion.

He scanned his own strength; the "38~51" that hadn't even warmed up jumped again, becoming "38~76".

He dropped the blade he was carrying, and his strength became "35~35".

He went to grab a bamboo blade polished sharp at the side of the door, and his strength became "35~70".

Thus, Song Cheng understood everything.

It seems a good blade is also very important.

Song Cheng sat back in his original spot and continued to look at "Black Tortoise Power" on the panel.

A small "+" sign appeared behind it.

【Deduce Yellow Grade Grade B cultivation method, success rate 1‰】

【Each deduction costs 4 points】

【Deduce?】

【Consult other cultivation methods and undergo tempering to increase success rate】

Song Cheng squinted and looked at this "1‰" for a while.

This wave of resource digestion was quite sufficient.

As for the one-in-a-thousand probability, couldn't he just wait two years? Two years later, he could have 5110 points; would he still be unable to deduce a superior cultivation method for "Black Tortoise Power"?

For those who possess Chang Sheng Bu Lao, being able to endure loneliness is the most important thing.

However, Song Cheng had a vague premonition that perhaps his life of living in the mountains was about to end.

Because he pushed the door open and saw the Young Mistress of the house practicing her blade in the courtyard, and couldn't help but ask: "Can you smell that rot?"

Tong Jia was gripping the long blade she had previously obtained from the third leader of the bandits and was bitterly practicing "White Snake Blade".

Her aptitude was average, but her foundation was quite good; after more than two months of diligent practice and Song Cheng's guidance, she had already entered the threshold and was now sprinting toward the Minor Completion realm.

And the strength above her head had changed from the original "3~3" to "5~5", a great improvement.

Tong Jia stopped her blade, sniffed, and said: "Master, there is a little, but it's very normal."

Song Cheng said: "Did you really smell it?"

Tong Jia nodded and said: "Master, why would I lie to you? It's really very faint."

Song Cheng sniffed again; this stench was strange, not only drilling into his nose but even feeling like it was drilling into his Soul.

Could it be that because he has a visualization technique and his Soul is stronger than an ordinary person's, he is able to smell it? Song Cheng looked toward Nan Hui on the other side.

Nan Hui was weeding in the herb garden.

In the spring, the frozen soil was moist, and even quite a few wild grasses were poking out from the earth.

"Miss Nan Hui, did you smell it?"

"I..." Nan Hui sniffed carefully again and said, "Brother Song Cheng, I smelled it, but it is very faint."

Song Cheng cast his gaze into the distance.

He still had not seen the "red."

However, was there a possibility that in Tanghe Village, it was only just beginning to form because of that "Taboo," which was why he could slowly see the "red"?

But if the "Taboo were complete" and truly appeared, it would already be too late for him to react once he saw that red.

Song Cheng pondered for a while, and a resolution formed in his heart.

It is better to believe in its existence than to believe in its non-existence.

It would be better to first take the villagers to the foot of the mountain to wait for two days, observe the situation, and then decide.

Trouble?

If this jittery, precautionary measure could avoid disaster, even if it were a hundred times more troublesome, he, Song Cheng, would still do it.

(End of chapter)