Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Changes in Martial Artist Level 6
Xu Guang landed, the Soft Sword slithered like a spirit snake, once again kissing the massive wound on Wang Chong’s neck.
Wang Chong’s body convulsed and finally died.
For someone whom a family had pinned high hopes on, he truly wasn’t a fool.
Despite being at Eighth Grade Minor Cultivation, he could exchange three moves with my powered-up self, quite impressive indeed.
[Martial Artist’s Log: Fierce battle! A well-planned assassination, martial artist experience +50]
Xu Guang quickly glanced around, seeing no one coming, swiftly bent down to search the corpse.
Primarily the Turtle Shell Fragment on Wang Chong’s neck, and he also retrieved a bottle of Elixir from Wang Chong’s bosom.
Truly worthy of being a young master from a wealthy family, carrying Elixir at all times.
Placing the Elixir into his own bosom, concerned that taking the Turtle Shell Fragment pendant would be too conspicuous, he stripped Wang Chong’s body of all clothing and threw his corpse into a pre-dug pit.
With a single palm strike, a massive boulder weighing a thousand pounds along with a large amount of earth was pushed into the pit, completely covering the body.
He then used branches to sweep away traces of the battle; as for the traces on the branches, they could only be destroyed with Wang Chong’s sword.
Arriving at the riverside, he wrapped Wang Chong’s clothes with stones and threw them, along with Wang Chong’s Long Sword, into the river. After waiting a long time and confirming that nothing surfaced, he turned and left.
This was his first solo operation, planning and executing such a major action as murder; waiting and killing were not complex as long as there was enough patience and strength.
But handling the corpse was quite a troublesome matter.
One needs to consider whether traces on the corpse might expose oneself.
Xu Guang carefully reviewed everything, confirmed he left no traces, and instead of going into the city, he stopped in the woods on the other side of the city.
General Wei emerged from the woods, its long nose sniffing Xu Guang forcefully, detecting the scent of blood on him.
It rubbed Xu Guang with its nose, filled with concern and anger.
"This is someone else’s blood, I’m fine."
Only then did General Wei calm down.
...
In the morning, golden sunlight fell from the sky, like a divine miracle spilling over the world.
Xu Guang sat in the courtyard, under the sunlight, holding a book in one hand and practicing Alchemy with the other.
The Pill Furnace was not large, a used old Pill Furnace previously owned by Fang Cheng, which Xu Guang bought for 300 taels of silver.
Fang Cheng was unwilling to take the money, but Xu Guang insistently left it.
He was not lacking money now, no need to take small advantage from his master. Originally, his apprenticeship was the sect pressing Fang Cheng, though subsequently Fang Cheng was satisfied with him, he nonetheless must do something to repay the teacher.
He plans to get some rare herbs from Su Yan’s side and give them to Fang Cheng as tuition, after all, without Fang Cheng, it would have taken him considerable time to become a pharmacist.
After killing Wang Chong and obtaining a Turtle Shell Fragment, Xu Guang now had a total of five fragments. According to the results pieced together, it seemed they needed two more pieces.
Take it slow, Wei Shuangnian had been plotting for who knows how many years; he had only gotten the turtle shell not long ago, being anxious wouldn’t help.
After a long while, Xu Guang put down the Feng Shui book he was reading, feeling a sense of awe. The path of Feng Shui was vast and profound; if he were like ordinary people researching by himself, struggling for wisdom, he might never emerge outstanding in this path.
Xu Guang closed the book, opened the panel; his main cultivation White Crane Longevity Technique was now Level 5, equal to his Martial Artist Profession Level, needing to increase his Martial Artist Level to further advance.
Martial Artist and Elephant Envoy would be the professions he continuously invested in this world to enhance experience.
Level up.
[Martial Artist lv6 (1210/700): Current Profession Level bonus, enhances Martial Artist Professional Talent effect, increases special effect power of all cultivation techniques]
This level upgrade surprised Xu Guang somewhat.
It turns out, Profession Level’s effect lies here.
He had imagined Profession Level to be merely a prerequisite for transition, unexpectedly it involved these subsequent changes.
However, with the level up, the experience required increased too.
Previously, gaining over two hundred experience a day, Xu Guang thought he could accumulate quite a lot, but now...
As the number of professions grew, he would have to make choices.
’From now on, I’ll need to plan the daily experience allocation; Martial Artist, Elephant Envoy, Pharmacist, in a 5:4:1 ratio, prioritizing the enhancement of the [Encourage] skill, while prioritizing Pharmacist leveling to prepare for becoming a Feng Shui Master.’
Although resources weren’t severely lacking right now, General Wei’s consumption was increasing daily; after [Encourage], General Wei’s growth speed would increase, so would its appetite and energy needs.
Not to mention, to keep General Wei growing rapidly, at least five pieces of Eighth-Grade Elixir were needed per day.
General Wei was the pillar, thus he would fully supply it; most of the benefits from trading with Su Yan went into General Wei’s stomach.
However, General Wei didn’t disappoint; now its shoulder height officially exceeded four meters, body length had reached an astonishing thirteen meters, and its two tusks seemed to finally start developing, having already surpassed two and a half meters a few days ago, and still growing every day.
Pure white as jade, they looked very valuable.
If the growth stages of Seventh-Grade General Wei were divided into three phases like a martial artist, it seemed to have completed the first phase of growth.
As for combat power, Xu Guang wasn’t sure, he only knew that if Tie Kuang, Sect Leader of the Iron Armor Sect, dared to confront General Wei, he would certainly meet a very tragic end.
On the way back from the Martial Arts Academy, Xu Guang heard some news.
Tie Xiong and Zhou Kun, the son of the Four Directions Guard’s Zhou Platform, were vying for attention at Cui Ping Tower. After both had been drinking, Tie Xiong punched and killed Zhou Kun’s companion!
Zhou Kun naturally refused to let it go and demanded Tie Xiong pay the price, killing the woman accompanying Tie Xiong on the spot.
It’s said that Yu Shaohua even went there personally and clashed with the Deputy General of the Four Directions Guard, Sun Yan. The two Seventh-Grade Experts exchanged a couple of moves at Cui Ping Tower.
A large part of the second floor of Cui Ping Tower collapsed.
In the end, it is unknown how the agreement was made, but Tie Xiong and Zhou Kun will duel in three days.
Whoever loses will publicly admit their fault in front of the entire city.
Upon hearing this news, Xu Guang had a peculiar expression.
Something about this seemed... off.
Although Tie Xiong is proud, he’s not a fool. To kill the companion of Zhou Platform’s son in broad daylight seems indeed excessive.
He couldn’t quite make sense of it all.
But soon, he understood the reason.
In the afternoon, Xu Guang was summoned by Tie Kuang.
He arrived early, and people intermittently exited Tie Kuang’s courtyard.
"Today is the day the elders report to the Sect Leader, please wait a moment, Dharma Protector Xu,"
said the disciple guarding Tie Kuang’s courtyard softly to Xu Guang.
Xu Guang nodded, though he didn’t think this was merely a simple report.
He saw some elders with Eighth Grade Great Cultivation, who rarely appeared, indulge in seclusion all day to seek the Seventh Grade.
They usually wouldn’t attend such reports in person.
A thought flashed in his mind, connecting the recent transaction of weapons and armor between Yu Shaohua and Su Yan to the arranged duel between Tie Xiong and Zhou Kun mentioned by Han Song today...
It felt like the calm before the storm was upon them.
Slowly lifting his head, Xu Guang looked up at the sky while seated atop General Wei, no building obstructed the sunlight, making it somewhat blinding.
The last person to come out was Liu Ning.
Seeing Xu Guang, he chuckled lightly, "Xu Guang, you’re here, the Sect Leader is waiting for you."
From start to finish, his gaze remained fixed on General Wei.
Since that incident in the Liu household, during his idle time, Xu Guang pondered Liu Ning’s attitude and realized his intentions.
His focus was not on him, but on General Wei. He viewed General Wei as a formidable weapon, now held by Xu Guang, yet he likely thought that since Xu Guang could take control of General Wei, others could too in the future.
Xu Guang was merely a guardian of the Divine Weapon.
Understanding this, any goodwill Xu Guang had toward Liu Ning vanished.
This was a deeply scheming and intriguing man, no wonder he would engage in both overt and covert battles with the old fox Tie Kuang.
With this in mind, he entered Tie Kuang’s small courtyard.
The smile on Tie Kuang’s face was like a spring breeze, making it difficult to discern his true feelings.
"Dharma Protector Xu is here, sit down, someone, serve tea."
Xu Guang clasped his fists, "Thank you, Sect Leader."
Soon, a man and a woman brought tea, and Tie Kuang drank in silence.
Since he didn’t speak, Xu Guang remained silent too.
The awkward atmosphere lasted for a tea’s time.
Xu Guang put down the teacup and praised, "Good tea."
Tie Kuang looked at Xu Guang, smiled, and then quickly gathered himself, his expression becoming serious.
"You’ve heard about what happened with Xiong’er today, haven’t you? It’s going to be a grand event, and I’m worried petty people might disrupt it, so I’m entrusting the order outside the duel to Dharma Protector Xu and General Wei, your reputations precede you."
Xu Guang felt relieved upon hearing this; it seemed Tie Kuang didn’t fully trust him, and the tasks he was responsible for were not at the core.
Seems there are indeed benefits to laying low.
Seeing Xu Guang agree readily, Tie Kuang nodded in satisfaction and added, "At that time, I’ll have someone bring more food for General Wei, can’t let this great treasure go hungry."
After meeting General Wei today, he valued it even more, but his attitude towards Xu Guang hadn’t changed.
He didn’t know what Xu Guang had done for General Wei’s growth; he just assumed it was due to General Wei’s natural Great Beast talent.
Just as there are geniuses among people, there should be geniuses among beasts as well.