Chen Jing realized a problem.
He could only understand very simple and commonly used characters, while the martial arts manual contained many obscure words!
Chen Jing suspected that those words involved descriptions of very profound meridians or similar things, but they were definitely not common words!
I can't understand it at all!
He looked up, bewildered, at his master. The expert opened his mouth, then said, without embarrassment:
“I have arranged a teacher for you to learn to read. His name is Pan Fengyu. He is skilled in sword making and knows a lot about culture. You can go to him to study. Just say that I introduced you.”
"Pan Fengyu? Is that the old Mr. Pan?" Chen Jing's heart skipped a beat as he realized something.
That was a truly important figure! He was the father-in-law of City Lord Liu Hua, a figure from the founding era of Ash City, who single-handedly designed the entire city! His erudite reputation was known even to the scavengers drinking in the tavern.
"Well, don't cultivate for too long at a time. First, use the spiritual energy you gain for your own benefit before absorbing it. Although there are no strict requirements for the Body Realm, it's good to make it a habit. You'll understand when you reach the Blood Realm and above." After giving some instructions, the expert took back the manual given to Chen Jing, because manuals cannot be taken away.
After leaving his master's residence, Chen Jing reflected on what he had gained from this experience.
His spiritual power is now sufficient to sustain him invisibility for nearly an hour, double what it was before! Furthermore, even though he is not absorbing spiritual energy, he can still feel his spiritual power subtly increasing.
"Is this the effect of the cultivation technique? Is spiritual energy being transformed into usable spiritual power?" Chen Jing wondered to himself.
But I don't even know what the technique is, or how to do it, so why did I master it so quickly...?
...
Inside the Black Hand's cabin, the crew were whispering about the mysterious and powerful cultivator who had single-handedly infiltrated the ship, rescued the crew, and then vanished without a trace. Wearing his signature black wide-brimmed hat, lightweight armor with gauntlets and leg guards, and silent iron boots, with a long sword and a short sword at his waist, "Black Hand" Lu Gang walked into the conference room through the instantly silent passageway, amidst the crew's timid gazes.
As Lu Gang, the "black hand," pushed open the conference room door, his eyes narrowed.
At the head of the long table in front of him, Lu Gang, known as "Black Hand," was sitting in his rightful place. He wore a signature black wide-brimmed hat, light armor, and black iron boots, with long swords and short swords at his waist. On either side of the table were his core members.
The cultivator at the Core Formation Realm, clad in full black armor, stood up. He stared intently at the person at the head of the table and spoke in a neutral, androgynous voice:
"Luo You! You're impersonating the gang leader again."
The "Black Hand," seated at the head of the long table, chuckled softly. Its color faded, its form shifted, and it transformed into a woman with coarse, shoulder-length, light red hair, dressed in an elegant light-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). In a sweet, clear voice, it said:
"This is necessary for cultivation. The gang leader has already agreed."
Mo Wujiang, with a broad face and a bald head marked with blue symbols, said:
"It's good that you were with me back then, otherwise I would really suspect that you were the one who infiltrated the ship and let those assassins go."
"According to Li Si, and some of the people who were captured confessed, the people who infiltrated the ship were also cultivators of Dao Qi, belonging to the Hidden Tower or the Fei family."
Lu Gang, the Black Hand, strode in. Luo You, who had transformed into a red-haired woman, stepped aside, slightly bent her knees, and placed her hands on her waist in a respectful gesture, appearing very elegant.
Lu Gang then turned to the Core Formation cultivator who had been staring at Luo You, his eyes practically blazing with murderous intent, and asked:
"Li Si, have you questioned Xiao Fan and the others about their souls? What were the characteristics of the person who killed them?"
Li Si, clad in full black armor, turned to Lu Gang, the Black Hand, and replied in a neutral, hoarse voice:
"It's too late."
Too much time has passed; the soul has already gone to the underworld. Black Hand Lu Gang wasn't too surprised, saying, "A Daoist cultivator who could infiltrate a large ship and assassinate two Blood Realm cultivators and one Core Realm cultivator must have at least a Core Realm cultivation level. It's normal that we can't find any clues."
"My Blood Realm is enough," said Luo You, the red-haired woman, in a sweet voice, attracting the attention of many.
Noticing that he had attracted attention, Luo You smiled instead:
"What, is it strange? At that time, we all came out, and only Old Xie was on the ship. He was a sorcerer who cultivated the Qi of Heaven. In his old age, I might have been able to assassinate him even when I was only at the Body Realm."
At that moment, a cold voice came from within the long table:
"Next time, I'll set up some traps on the ship that only our own people know about."
The man with the black hair looked at the woman in her early twenties with black hair, black eyes, and cold features who had spoken, and his gaze softened slightly. He said:
“Ms. Pan is right, but let’s talk about fixing the defense vulnerabilities later. The problem now is that we must find out who is targeting us.”
Corpse cultivator Li Si coldly glanced at the black hand and interrupted him without any politeness:
"Should we investigate what happened during the ritual on our ship?"
"The ritual at that altar was directed at everyone in the city. Why do even Xiao Fan and Lao Xie know about it, but I don't?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo You, Mo Wujiang, Miss Pan, and the others all looked at the black hand, waiting for an answer.
Such a major event should, in principle, be communicated to everyone in the core group. Even as the gang leader, Black Hand has no right to make decisions on his own.
If the perpetrators respond poorly or dishonestly, they could easily destroy the trust of everyone here!
Black Hand sighed, leaning on the table, and said in a tone that was both a sigh and a self-deprecating remark:
"This is a request from a very important person. A very important person we cannot refuse. That's all I can say."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com