Chapter 14: Hunter

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

He was supposed to meet the client at noon tomorrow.

The journey from the sect’s gate to Wumei Village would only take one morning. Hence, Yang Yi could stay in the wooden hut for the night.

“Hah!”

A handful of purple poisonous powder was scattered in the air above the courtyard.

Yang Yi was wearing a mask and tight-fitting clothes as he circled to the back and threw a punch.

His punch landed on the arm of the wooden puppet. The puppet spun and its other arm attacked from the side.

Yang Yi’s eyes were coated with a protective medicinal liquid, preventing the powder from entering his eyes.

He glanced sideways and blocked with his elbow..

At the same time, he raised one palm, clenched it into a fist, and threw it towards the belly of the puppet.

“Bam!”

With the enhancement of the attribute changes in his cultivation method, the explosive power of the Mountain-hugging Fist increased dramatically.

The mechanical figure made of hardwood exploded from the impact, causing wood chips to fly everywhere.

“I’m not at the Bone Refining stage yet, but my strength is already on par with a Bone Refining cultivator!”

Yang Yi stopped. He was very satisfied with his current condition.

He now understood why cultivation methods were said to be the foundation of a martial artist’s cultivation.

Even if they used the same martial technique, the effects would be different for people who cultivated different cultivation methods.

After successfully evolving the Crimson Afterglow Technique, he gained a huge advantage over his peers.

Moreover, the Mountain-hugging Fist would occasionally steal demonic beast meat to eat which increased its strength, Qi and blood, and other basic attributes. He also received many feedback reports on its actual combat techniques.

As a result, Yang Yi’s physical fitness had improved quite a bit compared to before thanks to the combination of the various achievements.

Even if he were to face a Bone Refining expert, he would not be afraid at all!

However, compared to a true Bone Refining expert, Yang Yi’s ability to withstand blows was still slightly weaker. It was precisely because of this that he prepared so many supporting moves.

He planned to use flexible and changeable tactical thinking and not fight head-on against his opponents. Naturally, this was just a precautionary measure. The risk of this mission was not so high.

He sprinkled some water in the courtyard to make the poisonous powder settle naturally.

Yang Yi took off his tight coat, returned to the long corridor, and sat cross-legged on the clean floor.

There was a table next to him with a plate of green bull python meat which he bought previously.

Yang Yi grabbed a jerky strip and ate it. Then, he closed his eyes and meditated.

The cultivation of a martial artist was lonely.

He needed to train in actual combat. He also needed to calm down and spend some time to gain enlightenment.

A cool breeze blew past his hair.

When he opened his eyes, the courtyard was already covered in a fiery red hue.

The burning clouds in the sky looked like they were covered in blood. It was really beautiful!

Yang Yi opened his attribute panel.

Host: Yang Yi

Realm: Blood Refining (403/500)

Spirit accumulation points: 400

Learned martial arts: Crimson Afterglow Technique, Mountain-hugging Fist

Pending martial arts: None

Number of scans: 1

He turned his focus on the Mountain-hugging Fist.

Martial art: Mountain-hugging Fist (learned)

Realm: Intermediate (13/300)

Characteristics: Competitive

Quality: Body Tempering martial art

Feedback: …

Ever since the Mountain-hugging Fist broke through to the intermediate stage, Yang Yi did not manually request for feedback. Hence, his progress slowed.

He could only collect 200 spirit accumulation points per day, and he wanted to save a little in case he needed it when the Crimson Afterglow Technique breaks through to the Bone Refining stage.

“Sigh, I’m stretched thin! After I break through to the Bone Refining stage, I should be able to increase the daily spirit accumulation points quota, right?”

Yang Yi looked forward to it.

He requested for ten feedback reports!

[Your Crimson Afterglow Technique has undergone a day of painstaking cultivation. Its cultivation was improved. Experience +1.]

[Your Crimson Afterglow Technique has made a bunch of friends at the Spiritual Spring Mountain. It learned some things from them. Refer to the details for more information.]

[Your Crimson Afterglow Technique has observed Zhao Heng’s cultivation under the devil suppression tree. Its meridians became obstructed and resulted in a backlash. Experience -4.]

Out of the 10 feedback reports, there were two special events. One of them resulted in a deduction of experience points. Yang Yi thought to himself that he was out of luck.

He tried to circulate the Crimson Afterglow Technique. It was rather smooth and he did not feel as though his meridians were obstructed.

“I wonder if this description will be reflected in the form of an internal injury, or merely a deduction of experience points?” Yang Yi was not sure.

In fact, a deduction experience points did not matter to him. His overall experience points would increase anyway.

What he was most afraid of was the adverse effects of cultivating the Crimson Afterglow Technique.

“Zhao Heng? If I remember correctly, he’s a disciple of the Li Bamboo Court. Not long ago, he sparred with the First Senior Brother of the Dao Yang Academy and only lost by half a move. He clearly has aptitude. Where did the Crimson Afterglow Technique go wrong while observing his cultivation?”

Yang Yi could not figure it out for now, so he focused on the previous feedback report.

[Liuxi Town to the north of the mountains has not been peaceful recently. Many nearby villages have been attacked by demonic beasts. The people are living in fear.]

This was considered a valuable piece of information.

However, the Sky Light Mountain that Yang Yi was going to visit this time was in the south. He was not worried about any spillover effects from the events mentioned in the feedback report.

Yang Yi looked at the Crimson Afterglow Technique.

He did not dare to request any more feedback reports.

If he obtained any negative effects again, it would very likely affect tomorrow’s mission.

He decided to go to bed early tonight.

The next morning, Yang Yi went to collect spirit accumulation points. Then, he wrapped himself up tightly and set off for the Wumei Village.

Along the way, he met many disciples who gave him strange looks. If Yang Yi put on his mask, he might really be captured as an assassin with evil intentions.

The forest was empty, and insects were chirping and birds were singing.

At noon, Yang Yi arrived at the east entrance of Wumei Village as scheduled.

He saw a hunter with gray hair standing there with a bow and arrow on his back.

When the hunter saw Yang Yi, he immediately went up to him and said gratefully, “Thank you for your assistance, young hero!”

“Uncle, just call me Yang Yi.”

Even though Yang Yi was only an outer disciple, many people would think highly of him in the towns.

“Hello, young hero Yang. I’m a hunter from the Wumei Village. I don’t have a great name, but everyone who knows me calls me Zhang Jiu.”

Zhang Jiu found Yang Yi’s attire strange, but he did not say anything. He then said, “Young hero Yang, this time I’m asking the immortal sect for help because of my poor grandson. Half a year ago, for some unknown reason, my grandson couldn’t sleep normally. He would still be full of energy even at night. Even after seeing the doctor, his condition doesn’t seem to be improving.”

“That’s strange.” Yang Yi was quite surprised.

“This grandson of mine had a hard life. His parents died when he was still a young boy. He followed me around the mountain since he was young. However, ever since he fell ill, he became more and more haggard. My wife and I could only take turns to look after him.” When he spoke about his grandson, Zhang Jiu seemed to have aged several years.

His family had always been poor. They relied on him to go hunting in the mountains to maintain their livelihood. Now that Zhang Jiu had to take care of his grandson, he had to reduce his trips into the mountains.

However, the cost of buying his grandson medicine was increasing day by day. All of this burden fell on the old man with a wrinkled face.

“However,” Zhang Jiu changed the topic, and a hint of hope appeared in his eyes, “Some time ago, a wandering Taoist passed by the our village and treated my grandson. Now, if we can get some morning dew condensed on ghost weeds, we can cure him!”

Ghost weed was a kind of poisonous plant. It was not uncommon deep inside the mountains.

No matter how Yang Yi thought about it, it sounded like a folk prescription for fighting poison with poison.

Yang Yi did not know much about medicine, so he did not say much about it. Instead, he said, “I have a general understanding of the situation now. I’m to escort the two of you to spend the night on Sky Light Mountain, right?”

“Yes, the Taoist said that the morning dew can only be drunk on the spot and can not be collected. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have troubled the celestial sect for this.” Zhang Jiu bowed again.

“There’s no need to be so polite. Uncle Zhang, where’s your grandson?”

As Yang Yi was speaking, he felt a chill behind him.

Without hesitation, he jumped aside and reached into the poison powder bag.