23: Chapter 23 Battle

Over the next two days, Lin Qing completely immersed himself in cultivation.

On the first day, he devoted himself entirely to the cultivation of Stance Trainings. By late night, the Flowing Cloud Pile Style reached Perfection as planned and was integrated into his physical instincts.

To Lin Qing's delight, after reaching Perfection in his second Stance Training, the consumption of Vicious Beast meat didn't double as he had imagined. Now, the daily consumption was roughly six catties.

Furthermore, the Breakthrough time on the System panel significantly decreased with the Perfection of the Flowing Cloud Pile Style, reaching 120 days.

After a night of rest, on the second day, Lin Qing did not Cultivate Stance Trainings. He had heard that Thousand-Household Official Qin would be leaving; although he didn't know the exact time, it should be within these two days.

Going to the black market in the future, the probability of encountering danger would rise sharply.

Therefore, Lin Qing's focus for today's cultivation was basic martial arts.

The core function of earth core milk could be understood as enhancing Comprehension Ability. Since it could provide a massive boost to proficiency during Stance Training cultivation, it should have the same effect when practicing martial arts.

Thus, he swallowed a drop of earth core milk and began today's cultivation.

The first martial art he chose was the "Basic Movement Technique." Sure enough, after a tea's time, he opened the panel. The progress of the Basic Movement Technique had increased by 5 points.

With the support of the earth core milk, Lin Qing's cultivation efficiency was terrifying. In just one morning, the progress bar for the Basic Movement Technique was completely filled, successfully reaching the Realm of Mastery.

While the effect of the earth core milk hadn't faded yet, he struck while the iron was hot to Cultivate the "Basic Fist Technique." By noon, the progress of the Basic Fist Technique also reached 20 points.

Moreover, as Lin Qing expected, when the Basic Movement Technique reached Perfection, the total remaining progress for the other basic martial arts also dropped to 80 points.

At noon, after eating some stewed Vicious Beast meat, Lin Qing specifically found a wooden stick to prepare for the afternoon's cultivation of the Basic Sword Technique.

The afternoon's cultivation remained efficient. First, he spent an hour bringing the Basic Fist Technique, which already had 20 points of progress, to Perfection.

Then he spent another hour bringing the Basic Sword Technique, whose total progress had dropped to 60 points, to Perfection.

In just a morning and an afternoon, Lin Qing's Basic Movement Technique, Basic Fist Technique, and Basic Sword Technique had all reached Perfection.

This was the terrifying efficiency brought by the combined effects of the earth core milk and the System.

At this moment, Lin Qing's personal panel had undergone significant changes:

[Host: Lin Qing]

Realm: Mortal (Breakthrough time: 119 days)

Fused Cultivation Techniques: Flowing Cloud Pile Style, Panshi Stake Technique (Expand)

Recorded Cultivation Techniques: Azure Cloud Pile Style (10/300), Jinglei Stake Technique (0/300), Coiling Dragon Pile Style (0/300), Mountain-Suppressing Pile Art (0/300)

Physical Control Rating: Mortal Grade Advanced (Basic Movement Technique, Basic Fist Technique, Basic Sword Technique)

Recorded Martial Arts: Basic Leg Technique (0/40), Basic Blade Technique (0/40), Basic Spear Technique (0/40)

Today, the two Perfection-level Stance Trainings consumed another six catties of Vicious Beast meat, leaving the stock of Vicious Beast meat at four catties.

He had thirty-five taels of silver left; he had to visit the black market again tonight.

As the sky gradually darkened, Lin Qing packed up simply and set off for the city's weapon shop. It was time to prepare a weapon for self-defense.

He walked into the weapon shop and scanned around. The longswords and sabers were exquisitely crafted and made of fine materials, but even the cheapest models cost as much as twenty taels of silver.

After weighing his options, Lin Qing finally spent five taels of silver to buy a Fine Iron Dagger.

Although he hadn't systematically studied the use of daggers, with the support of three Perfection-level martial arts, his proficiency in using a dagger was not to be underestimated.

Hiding the dagger in his waist, Lin Qing used the cover of night to quietly head to the Qingyang County black market.

After entering the black market, he followed the familiar route, first going to the Myriad Beast Shop to buy ten catties of First-Order Vicious Beast meat, then making his way to a fourth Vicious Beast meat shop to buy another ten catties of First-Order Vicious Beast meat.

As for the two shops he had visited just two days ago, he obviously wouldn't patronize them this time.

An hour later, Lin Qing walked out of the black market, having already taken off his black robe. The Vicious Beast meat was wrapped in oil paper, tucked inside the black robe, and held tightly in his arms.

As the saying goes, if you often walk by the riverside, your shoes are bound to get wet. Even though he was extremely cautious, trouble still found its way to him.

Three suspicious figures trailed behind Lin Qing, clearly up to no good.

In the alleyway, the three bandits lowered their voices as they followed Lin Qing. Third Brother's tone was full of apprehension as he tugged at the sleeve of Big Brother beside him, saying worriedly:

"Big Brother, we aren't even official Martial Artists yet, and we come out to rob every day. What if we run into a tough nut one day and get killed instead?"

Hearing this, Big Brother immediately raised his hand and slapped Third Brother hard on the head, scolding him in a low voice:

"Shut up! Your Second Brother has a sharp eye; when has he ever been wrong? We've been in this business for so long, when has your Second Brother ever picked an official Martial Artist?"

Second Brother beside them also glanced at Third Brother with a face full of disdain and comforted him:

"You kid, you're just too cowardly. Could your Second Brother's judgment be bad? Look at that kid in front; he looks seventeen at most. In our Qingyang County over the last few decades, only one person has become an official Martial Artist at seventeen, and that's Ye Lingchuan. Do you think he looks like Ye Lingchuan?"

Third Brother scratched his head:

"Of course not. Ye Lingchuan is already twenty-five."

Second Brother raised his hand and slapped Third Brother's head again, saying crossly:

"Was I asking if he is Ye Lingchuan? My point is, this kid is definitely not an official Martial Artist. Can the three of us not take him down?"

Big Brother interrupted their conversation at this point:

"Stop talking nonsense and get ready! Once we rob another hundred taels, we'll find a place to go into secluded cultivation. I don't believe that if we Cultivate for a year and eat Vicious Beast meat every day, we won't become official Martial Artists."

These three had been committing crimes in this alleyway for several months and knew the terrain like the back of their hands. Using the complex terrain, they quickly circled around and intercepted Lin Qing in the middle of the alley, cutting off all his retreats.

Lin Qing stopped in his tracks and slowly raised his head. Although he was nervous deep down, his gaze remained calm as he looked at the three men before him.

After more than a month of continuous nourishment from the Health-Nourishing Technique, his Physical Body was already far beyond that of an ordinary person. Coupled with a month of cultivating the Panshi Stake Technique—bearing in mind that his Panshi Stake Technique had reached Minor Achievement long ago and reached Perfection extremely quickly...

Even the previous Panshi Stake Technique's tempering effect on his Physical Body was terrifying. Not to mention that a Perfection-level Stance Training had been running through his body for so many days now.

At this time, although Lin Qing's physical attributes hadn't reached the level of a First-Order Martial Artist, he was already considered a standout among those who hadn't yet entered the ranks of martial arts.

"Hand over everything in your arms and the money on you, and maybe we'll let you keep your pathetic life!"

Big Brother, holding a short club, shouted at Lin Qing with a fierce expression, his eyes full of greed.

A month ago, when killing Lin Hu, Lin Qing needed to be cautious and use a sneak attack. Today, Lin Qing wanted to fight head-on. When he embarked on this path of cultivation, he knew such a day would come.

Putting down the Vicious Beast meat in his arms and taking out the dagger from his waist, Lin Qing spoke coldly:

"If you want my things, let's see if you have the ability."

"Stubborn fool! Do it!" At Big Brother's command, the three immediately brandished their weapons and swarmed forward, planning to overwhelm Lin Qing with numbers and take him down quickly.

The first to rush up was Third Brother. He held a worn-out dagger, and his Moves were chaotic and lacked any technique.

From Lin Qing's current martial arts perspective, this kind of fighting style was utterly pathetic.

Lin Qing tapped his feet lightly, his body shifting instantly as he easily dodged Third Brother's attack. Without waiting for Third Brother to react, Lin Qing flipped his wrist, held the dagger in a reverse grip, and slashed as he turned.

A cold light flashed, and Third Brother cried out in pain. The dagger fell to the ground, and he clutched his neck tightly, making gurgling sounds as he collapsed to his knees.

In a single exchange, Third Brother's blood was spilled on the spot.

In less than a second, Third Brother had been dealt with. Big Brother and Second Brother's expressions changed drastically; they never expected this seemingly frail youth to be so agile.

"Third Brother!" Big Brother cried out. Holding his short club, he and Second Brother attacked Lin Qing from both sides.

Second Brother held a longsword and lunged at Lin Qing, while Big Brother's short club swept across to block Lin Qing's retreat.

However, Lin Qing did not retreat but instead charged toward Second Brother. His left arm muscles tensed as he precisely grabbed Second Brother's wrist and twisted it violently along with his momentum.

"Ah!"

Second Brother let out a scream as his wrist was twisted out of shape, and the longsword fell to the ground.

Lin Qing quickly kicked Second Brother's calves twice. The powerful force sent Second Brother straight to his knees. Lin Qing raised his right hand, gripped the dagger normally, and stabbed it hard into Second Brother's crown. Second Brother was instantly silenced, and blood gushed out from both his eyes.

He pulled out the dagger and turned to look at Big Brother.

Big Brother's face was pale as he brandished his short club in a desperate struggle, swinging it wildly at Lin Qing.

Having lost his composure, Big Brother's performance was pathetic. After only three or five Moves, Lin Qing's dagger pierced his chest. In a short while, he completely lost consciousness.

Lin Qing carefully searched the three bodies. A moment later, he was overjoyed; he had actually found a total of eight hundred taels in banknotes and over fifty taels in silver on them.

The loot the three had gathered from months of robbery, which they had intended to use for their secluded cultivation, had now benefited Lin Qing.

Lin Qing didn't bother to dispose of their bodies; people died in this area of alleyways every few days.

Passersby wouldn't even bother to report it to the authorities until a few days later when the stinking corpses were carried away by the yamen's men.

In such matters, if someone reported it, the yamen would forward it to the Zhenwu Division; if no one reported it, it would simply be left unsettled.