The sound of crying in the cold night was as faint as the whimpering of a kitten, and the young girl’s eyes, destined to look down upon all beings, were now furrowed and crying.
Chen Ye stood rigidly in the snow, at a loss.
Is this still the future Divine Maiden of Supreme Forgetting Emotions?
He looked down at the little girl in his arms.
The black furball didn’t even care about being held, just sobbing, her frostbitten little fingers grasping his coat tightly.
A cascade of dark hair poured over his elbow,
the older girl lowered her head and wiped her tears with her left hand, looking pitiful.
"Master will make it up to you," Chen Ye suddenly squatted down, his fingertips flickering with golden light.
The Geng Metal Qi swept over the accumulated snow like a paper cutter, with broken jade and disordered spheres reshaping and reassembling under the guidance of spiritual power.
Zhiwei raised her tear-streaked face, just in time to see a cat carved from ice crystals hovering in Chen Ye’s palm.
The cat appeared life-like, with vibrant eyes.
Far more exquisite than the lump of snow Zhiwei had shaped.
"This is..." She forgot to cry, staring intently at the snow cat.
"Master’s craftsmanship isn’t bad, is it?"
Chen Ye wiped the sweat from his brow, having not been this nervous even when using the Geng Metal Qi to control Gao Ming.
Fortunately, his Geng Metal Qi was already at a marvelous level, with precise control.
He could easily sculpt a lifelike cat from his neighbor’s Mimi image.
"Who would have thought... Zhiwei actually likes this kind of thing."
While the little black furball was distracted, Chen Ye secretly touched her silky black hair.
Petting Qing Jun’s head was nothing difficult,
offer some food, and she’d obediently stand there.
No matter what Chen Ye did, she didn’t mind.
But this was the first time Chen Ye petted Zhiwei’s head.
Zhiwei cradled the crystal-clear ice cat, fine snowflakes freezing into frosty blooms on her eyelashes, her eyes full of wonder.
Chen Ye secretly chuckled at the sight,
just a small toy...
But actually, Zhiwei having such a hobby was perfectly normal.
Didn’t little girls in past lives all like these kinds of toys?
"Zhiwei, just for holding... Master, don’t hold me!"
Zhiwei came back to herself and embarrassedly pushed against Chen Ye’s chest, wanting to get down.
Chen Ye sighed, wondering if the petting experience voucher exchanged for the snow cat was already used up so quickly?
...
That night, golden light blossomed in the cultivation room.
Twenty-two Qi Recovery Pills, each as large as a longan fruit, were piled like a small mountain on the table.
The proficiency panel for practicing the low-tier Geng Metal Technique had a unique advantage.
That being its simple execution!
As long as there was enough spiritual power, the Geng Metal Qi could be quickly acquired.
Currently, Chen Ye could release up to ten Qi manifestations simultaneously, reaching the normal limit of Geng Metal Qi.
Legend has it, even True Man Baili, who created this technique, could only release ten Qi manifestations simultaneously!
"But... with so many pills, you could get full just by eating them, right?"
Chen Ye’s face twisted with bitterness,
In his palm, ten strands of golden light swayed like flowing beams.
When his spiritual power was depleted, Chen Ye would swallow a Qi Recovery Pill.
In the cycle of depletion and replenishment of his dantian, the small mountain of Qi Recovery Pills gradually consumed away.
In his palm, the golden light further diminished, resembling a star core, its color deepening.
"Geng Metal Qi, initially just a clumsy use of the sharpness trait of Gold Element Spiritual Power for combat, is the coarsest form of magic using spiritual power."
"But now..."
The ten strands of Geng Metal Qi flowed like fish between his fingers, dynamic and elusive.
Back then, during a head-on clash with Gao Ming, five of his ten Qi manifestations were intercepted.
But now, not to mention five, Gao Ming likely couldn’t intercept even one!
And this was still the Geng Metal Qi without a Limit Break!
A night of hard cultivation.
At the moment when the last thread of spiritual power was extracted, Chen Ye crushed a Qi Recovery Pill, and the gentle medicinal power surged into his meridians.
Pain!
The pain in the meridians was excruciating!
Chen Ye’s face contorted hideously.
No matter how gentle the medicinal power, running through the meridians over twenty times, the body found it unbearable.
But now, Chen Ye had no time to take things slowly.
Golden light trembled, emerging from the fingertips, with great difficulty.
Yet watch as this brilliant golden light suddenly collapsed to the size of a grain of rice, then explosively dispersed into countless points of light!
[Geng Metal Qi Limit Break: 1/800]
"Whew..."
Twenty-two Qi Recovery Pills, overnight, have pushed the cultivation of Geng Metal Qi to Limit Break!
But the cost, for Chen Ye now, is undoubtedly huge.
It took twenty Spirit Stones,
These Spirit Stones could rent a house for half a year!
"However, if just eating Qi Recovery Pills can cultivate Geng Metal Qi to Limit Break, others might be willing to spend hundreds and thousands of Spirit Stones."
Chen Ye was satisfied, he slightly boosted his spiritual power, wanting to try the Limit Break level of Geng Metal Qi.
Suddenly he felt a tearing pain throughout his body, scaring him into stopping immediately.
Such desperate cultivation, the body simply cannot withstand!
Fortunately, his Heavy Body Technique has already broken through to Great Success.
If he had his previous sickly corpse of a body, Chen Ye feared he’d practice himself to death.
"Don’t mention it, pain is pain, but watching the skill proficiency grow step by step is quite satisfying."
Chen Ye suddenly remembered his past life, where he played games to grind treasures and levels, not tiring out even after days and nights.
Times gone by will not return.
The time of playing games happily while drinking iced lemon tea can’t be re-experienced.
But at that time he was alone, while now, he has two little ones at his knee.
The two little ones, in five hundred years, will still be the ultimate allies!
Yet, Chen Ye suspected,
After practicing for another five hundred years, by then, he will be the little ones’ greatest ally!
...
Two days passed in a flash.
A speck of gold star swirled in the air.
"Zoom!"
The gold star in a blink, soared back and forth in cultivation, flying over a hundred steps, finally dispersing into light points.
The Limit Break level Geng Metal Qi, the attack range had already broken through from fifty steps to a hundred steps!
Within a hundred steps, taking a head is no problem.
This attack range fully satisfies Chen Ye’s needs for a magical battle.
As for the power...
Chen Ye dared not, like in the shantytown area, take the house wall as a test.
Damaging Market houses means paying Spirit Stones!
But at Perfection level, Geng Metal Qi already left Gao Ming of Qi Cultivation Fourth-Layer with no power to fight back.
Limit Break level Geng Metal Qi is unmatched in Qi Cultivation Middle Period, even threatening Late-stage Qi Cultivation!
Keep in mind, Geng Metal Technique is just a low tier technique, and Chen Ye has only practiced it for half a month!
"Brother Chen!"
Tian Feng’s face looked slightly gloomy, as he entered, speaking straightforwardly,
"Were those three sickly Spirit Plants healed by you?"
Chen Ye’s spirit was invigorated, he had no Spirit Stones left at all.
He was just waiting for Tian Feng to come and collect, to deliver Spirit Stones.
In the past two days, after finishing the Geng Metal Technique cultivation, Chen Ye focused on diagnosing the three sickly ones.
"Taoist Friend Tian, just waiting for you to come! Please follow me inside."
Chen Ye invited Tian Feng into the house, bringing out the three Spirit Plants from the Cultivation Room.
The Spirit Plants stretched their branches and leaves, shining with spiritual light, full of vitality.
Tian Feng’s gloomy face revealed a trace of a smile, rubbing his hands while laughing:
"Indeed Brother Chen! In just two days, you’ve healed the three sickly ones! Here are twenty Spirit Stones; please count them! Also, here is this geographical account of Yan Kingdom."
Chen Ye took the Spirit Stones, glanced at them briefly, and put them into the empty pouch.
With the pouch full, he suddenly felt confident.
Just recalling that he still owed thirty Spirit Stones to the neighbor Ping Zhuo, that bit of confidence vanished instantly.
"Taoist Friend Tian, are you not feeling good today?" Chen Ye asked casually.
He tucked the book Tian Feng handed under his arm, this book wasn’t common in the market, and Chen Ye had asked Tian Feng to help find it.
"Oh!"
Tian Feng sighed heavily, especially upon seeing these three healed Spirit Plants, he appeared even angrier.
Though Chen Ye earned a lot, the Stone Mirror Association earned even more!
"The past two days, I wanted to do something big, but it turned out the Jade Lizard Association strengthened the East Valley defense; today, only two sickly ones were available... These two, if healed, are fourteen Spirit Stones!"
Tian Feng sighed, mentioning the Storage Bag while taking out the two sickly plants.
Chen Ye felt even more flustered at heart.
Without the Spirit Plant source from the Stone Mirror Association, he’d be earning Spirit Stones bitterly.
Nowadays, he needed more and more Spirit Stones.
Two days ago, he spent twenty Spirit Stones in a night.
Even the Spirit Stones earned from the Stone Mirror Association weren’t enough!
Before leaving, Tian Feng put on a hat to cover his face.
He added:
"Brother Chen, be careful these days. The Jade Lizard Association seems to suspect something wrong, and recently increased manpower for surveillance. Though I’m usually careful, it’s hard to say I won’t make a mistake, possibly letting someone from the Jade Lizard Association find out about Brother Chen..."