"Let's try this!"
Ling Xu felt excited and wanted to try practicing the Basic Blood Circulation technique immediately.
But first, he called his status panel as he expected to change the word "available" in his Basic Blood Circulation technique.
[Name]: Ling Xu
[Realm]: 1st stage of Blood Qi (0%)
[Cultivation]: Basic Blood Circulation (entry 0%)
[Skills]: Enhanced Synapsis (high grade)
Seeing the available word change to entry and having a percentage with it, Ling Xu realized that it probably meant the degree of mastery that he had over the technique.
He stopped looking at the status panel, as nothing else had changed, and he assumed the lotus position.
Following the first step, he focused his mind within his body and while breathing in and out he tried to feel his blood qi flowing through the veins.
"I can feel it."
He was surprised as it took a very short time for him to feel his blood qi. After all, the information he received from the technique said that it could take a few minutes for an average person.
After that, he tried connecting with his blood qi as his mind focused and he slowly attempted to circulate it.
Once he has control over his blood qi and he is able to move it with his own will, he will have officially started practicing the cultivation technique as only then will he be able to refine his body.
Ling Xu was extremely focused as he tried for a minute to establish his connection as he suddenly felt a movement.
"It is moving!" Ling Xu was ecstatic at the speed at which he was learning the Basic Blood Circulation technique.
But just after feeling that he had won something, he realized the difficulty of the next stage as he tried circulating his blood qi
Ling Xu could barely make his blood qi move and turn as it continued circulating on its own. After stepping into a wall, he decided that he would continue until he managed to increase his control over his blood qi before he began exploring the cave again.
After all, with this level of control he wouldn't be able to refine his body and he would never be able to advance into the next stage of the Blood Qi realm.
He poured his heart into practicing the cultivation technique as after several minutes of trial and error he finally made progress. Although his blood qi moved very slowly through his veins, he managed to make it follow his will completely.
Ling Xu knew that this speed wasn't enough to advance into the second stage unless he took several months, but he felt more than satisfied as it was on another level compared to his previous control where every time he made it move, it would stop.
Now Ling Xu had officially started practicing the cultivation technique as he felt his muscles being refined by his blood qi, although extremely slow and the feeling was almost unnoticeable.
Enjoying the feeling that gave him sensing and moving his blood qi while refining his muscles, he stopped abruptly.
A sense of exhaustion came as he realized that his blood qi had been almost completely spent while refining his muscles.
About to end his cultivation, Ling Xu felt something that made him open his eyes.
"Ughh!" suddenly, the feeling of a needle piercing right between his eyes invaded him as he realized that the pain he felt wasn't physical but in his mind.
As the feeling increased, he was about to scream in excruciating pain but the next moment another feeling came making it disappear.
Where he previously felt the pain between his eyes, a path was opened as a stream of golden energy started entering his body.
"I feel so light!" he felt the pain subside and his mind becoming clear every moment that passed, making it run without any obstruction.
"I don't know why this is happening but I will take this opportunity" he focused his mind in continuing circulating his blood qi through his veins.
Closing his eyes once again, through the feeling that he was going through Ling Xu felt any external thought being washed away as he only had the purpose of practicing his cultivation technique.
Every second he was in this state he felt that his connection with his blood qi was increasing as it started moving faster than before under his complete control.
Ling Xu couldn't notice the energy that was entering his body, as he was immersed in this state where his mind became extremely clear and his blood qi, that had almost been completely used was recovering faster than it was used for refining the body thanks to this energy.
The effect of this stream of golden energy didn't stop there as it started bathing his whole body, washing away any impurities wherever it passed through.
As this continued and Ling Xu's body was being baptized, every pore within it started opening.
At the same time, from outside you could see a black substance coming out of his body. This didn't come unnoticed as Ling Xu sensed the circulation of his blood qi become smoother than before.
…
This process took a few more minutes as it finally came to an end.
Ling Xu then opened his eyes with a wide smile that couldn't be hidden.
"What just happened?"
From the moment he felt that pain to the next instant when he entered a clear state of mind, he didn't know what he had done to experience this.
Although Ling Xu was still in the first stage of the Blood Qi realm, he felt like he had been reborn.
If entering the first stage of the Blood Qi realm gave him a sense of increase in strength and energy, now he felt as if his body had broken free from shackles that dragged and made his body feel numb.
Ling Xu's current sense and control over his whole body had become clearer than ever. Even his eyesight, which only allowed for him to see a dozen meters before the light completely faded, had improved as he was able to now see sixteen meters away.
That wasn't all as he realized that even his appearance had changed, he observed his arms and then upper body as he had lost all his previous body fat.
If Ling Xu looked like he had gained more volume in his muscles as he entered the first stage, he now looked like a professional athlete who was well defined.
Even his blood qi, which was very difficult to move before, felt very easy to circulate through his body now.
As he realized the sudden improvement he had affected his whole body, Ling Xu thought of a possibility and activated his skill right away.
"As expected, even my skill has improved. Not only can I perceive slower the speed at which I move my head, but even after deactivating it I don't feel any straining in my eyes anymore."
After all, Ling Xu's skill involved improving the perception speed of his senses which put a great strain on his nerves.
He never used his skill to the limit as the duration of the fights were very short, but he knew that the longer the fight went on the stronger the straining would be.
"Let's see my status panel now."
[Name]: Ling Xu
[Realm]: 1st stage of Blood Qi (0%)
[Cultivation]: Basic Blood Circulation (small success 0%), Existence (Shadow Will 0%)
[Skills]: Enhanced Synapsis (high grade)
"Uh?"
Ling Xu saw a new name appear in the category where his Basic Blood Circulation technique was.
"What is this technique? It has such a unique name" he saw its name and knew that it wasn't something ordinary.
"It must be the reason why I entered that state" Ling Xu didn't understand what its purpose was but he guessed that it had something to do with the sudden change he had while trying the Basic Blood Circulation technique.
He then looked at the new progress in Basic Blood Circulation technique as he realized that it increased from the entry level to small success.
"It makes sense that the level of mastery has increased as I feel like I can control my blood qi with ease now."
Suddenly, Ling Xu remembered that he was still inside the cave as he remembered how dangerous it was.
Entering this state for around ten minutes left him unable to do anything, so if a beast approached him and decided to attack while he was practicing his technique, he would have been its meal.
"I can't repeat this mistake again."
Ling Xu then decided to turn back and returned to the beginning where he first appeared.
It took him a short time to get there as he observed the already familiar scene.
"Swoosh!"
As he was trying to decide on which path to continue next, he suddenly heard a soft sound of wind flying at him.
Ling Xu's body reacted instinctively.
"What was that?"
The moment the sound of cutting through air passed, Ling Xu avoided purely out of instinct and took several steps forward.
He then turned around.
A few meters away was another person.
"Someone attacked me?"
The man looked to be around his forty's and he had a hideous smile that made him look as if he didn't just try to attack him with the sword he had in his right hand.
Apart from that, he looked quite normal with just a few torn clothes, which was normal for the situation they were in.
Ling Xu could feel from the man a subtle aura which told him that he had also entered the Blood Qi realm.
"Why did you attack me?"
"Is it important?"
The man in front smiled even wider as if it was a funny question.
"It doesn't matter, here no one would know if I killed you."
"What?" Ling Xu was left speechless at the man's reasoning.
"Don't misunderstand, I wouldn't do it if there was no reward."
Ling Xu's ears moved when he heard it.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't know? Well, it doesn't matter if I tell you, after all you will be dead anyways."
Ling Xu's face darkened as he continued hearing.
"You can get skills by killing beasts."
Ling Xu was surprised by what he heard. He had already killed several ferocious rabbits and even an adult one but none of them had dropped any.
"But what does it have to do with me?"
"If I can get skills from killing beasts, I can also get them from killing humans."
Hearing the statement from the man, Ling Xu was infuriated. He couldn't believe that he would try to kill him without knowing if the reason was valid in the first place.
The man he had in front was betting Ling Xu's life to get a skill that may not even drop.
It was just a slim chance but it seems he didn't care if he had to kill a fellow human for it.
Ling Xu said inwardly as his eyes activated the skill to enhance his perception speed.
"Now it's your turn to die."
He said it inwardly but his eyes were full of murderous intent.
While the man was about to speak again without realizing Ling Xu's change, he charged forward.
As the distance was just a few meters apart and Ling Xu's speed had increased after he entered the Blood Qi realm.
The man reacted when he was just a meter away from him.
His eyes shrank as he was surprised by Ling Xu's unexpected move.
Ling Xu started attacking right away with his dagger when the distance was right.
As he thought he had the man where he wanted, he was surprised by the sudden change.
As he was about to be cut by Ling Xu's weapon, he avoided the next second.
Ling Xu was surprised when he saw the man's reaction as he got incredibly fast in such a short moment.
He was even more shocked as the man rivaled his speed while going backwards.
Amazed by this, he noticed the man's strange movement as his feet barely touched the ground.
They moved elegantly as they showed a flexible movement which allowed him to avoid Ling Xu's attacks.
"Is this a skill?"
The appearance of this skill took away the advantage Ling Xu had gained by taking the lead attacking.
But that didn't matter as Ling Xu's skill allowed him to be in control of his every move.
Ling Xu followed with another slash with the small dagger.
The man managed to avoid the attack again as he moved his feet with great flexibility.
"Got you."
Ling Xu didn't mind and immediately changed his hand's trajectory, following the man's every move.
"Damn!"
He got close to the man very fast, giving a sense of death.
The middle aged man felt a chill running down his spine as his eyes could only see the dagger getting dangerously near him.
Ling Xu's dagger closed by and slashed very fast without leaving him a chance to defend himself.
It didn't take more than a few breaths until the fight ended.
Ling Xu heard a message after he cut the man's head.
[You have killed Liang Yusheng (1st stage of Blood Qi).]
Ling Xu looked at the man's corpse with a mixture of feelings.
He didn't like the idea of killing fellow humans.
"Although I don't like killing, if they try to harm me I won't hesitate to do the same."
Taking the weapon from the corpse, Ling Xu read the message.
[You have obtained Short Sword (low grade semi-treasure).]
As he felt the short sword's grip was more comfortable, Ling Xu changed the small dagger he was using with the short sword.
He then proceeded to put his small dagger between his pants and belt in case of need.
It was uncomfortable but he wasn't planning on leaving it there.
Ling Xu was about to leave when he realized that another message appeared after the killing notification.
[Liang Yusheng (1st stage of Blood Qi) has dropped a skill.]
[Do you want to learn it?]
He froze in his place thinking about what the man had said before.
"He wasn't lying after all."
Ling Xu still didn't think it was justified that the man tried to kill him for his own benefit, after all they were fellow humans. If the line is never drawn, society would be in complete chaos after everyone returned to Earth.
"I want to learn it!"
[You have learned Swift Steps (middle grade).]
Ling Xu suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his legs that intensified in his toes after he said yes, but he felt like this was a joke compared with the pain he had felt when he got the skill Enhanced Synapsis.
Compared with the agony he felt before, this skill barely gave him any discomfort.
As the process ended, Ling Xu felt he could instinctively use this skill as if he had practiced it countless times.
He tried to activate it as he moved his feet, feeling his blood qi moving around the legs and concentrating on his toes to sustain the skill's usage.
Ling Xu felt a little strange at first while using the skill, but after a minute he started to make the same movement the man he killed did.
"Amazing!"
He moved his legs and feet as if they were flowing barely touching the floor, Ling Xu felt excited about the skill he had gotten by luck.
He enjoyed it very much.
When Ling Xu activated his skill not only did his speed increase, but his flexibility improved and he could now do movements while running that he never thought would be possible.
He even felt his legs become lighter as his feet barely touched the ground making the use of his blood qi and stamina not small but enough to last him for a fight.
Ling Xu didn't know how the process of his blood qi moving around his legs allowed for this skill to happen as it flowed naturally thanks to the system.
He then called his status panel once again to see the changes.
[Name]: Ling Xu.
[Realm]: 1st stage of Blood Qi (0,5%)
[Cultivation Method]: Basic Blood Circulation (small success 0%), Existence (Shadow Will 0,005%)
[Skills]: Enhanced Synapsis (high grade), Swift Steps (middle grade)
"Uh?"
As he saw the new skill appear on the status, he also noticed his realm progress had a slight increase.
Although it was already expected that he had to kill beasts to enter the first stage, Ling Xu never thought that killing humans would also increase his experience.
"I hope when I return to Earth things don't get chaotic."
Ling Xu still didn't think that after they return they would start killing each other.
After all it required a lot of experience just so he could advance to the first stage, so killing a fellow of the same species to get experience wasn't enough of a reason.
He also noticed the hundred fold difference as he saw the Existence cultivation technique had a very small increase too.
"How much time will it take me to reach a hundred percent if killing someone in the first stage gives me such low experience. I don't even know what this strange cultivation method is for."
Ling Xu already felt how extraordinary this technique was, after having his mind enter a state of complete clarity, which allowed for his mastery of the Basic Blood Circulation technique to increase rapidly.
Ling Xu realized that if he wanted to reach the hundred percent by killing beasts, he would need to kill thousands of them or even more.
Then he remembered.
If he killed beasts with a higher realm the experience would double for every level increase.
"I need to kill beasts that surpass my own level of cultivation if I want to advance my technique mastery any time soon."
He then stopped thinking about useless things and continued exploring.