It was simply a thought born from a moment of inspiration. However, this thought took ahold of his mind and lingered within, refusing to go away!
The more he thought about it, the more feasible this idea seemed! The movement sets of the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique did have great potential.
"Shua!"
Bei Feng switched his stance to a fist strike halfway through one of the movement sets.
The second movement set originally comprised of a stance where the pract.i.tioner would wrap both arms around their chest as if to embrace the earth!
However, Bei Feng was now modifying the stance to one where he raised both his arms above his head, as if he were holding up an archaic sacred mountain!
Bei Feng was actually trying to turn the second movement set into an offensive technique!
With both his hands raised over his head, he mustered his strength and imagined himself gripping onto the archaic sacred mountain as he pivoted his body to smash it downward!
It was only for a brief instance, but Bei Feng felt an immense force in his hands, and the blood and Qi in his body were boiling as if he were really holding an archaic sacred mountain above him! But before the technique could be executed, his shoulders popped out of its socket due to the pressure, and that feeling immediately dissipated.
Bei Feng felt like he was staring at a mountain filled with gold, but lacked the ability to mine it!
‘I can’t give up! Even though it was only for an instant, there"s clearly an immense power hidden within that move! If I could master it, I"ll be able to display strength many times greater than normal!’
A keen light shone within Bei Feng’s pupils. In that brief moment, he felt that all the strength in his body had been gathered together and concentrated in his two hands! It was a really enjoyable feeling!
This strength could be easily understood by drawing an a.n.a.logy between a piece of metal, and a huge chunk of ordinary ice. No matter how big a chunk of ice was, its strength was still inferior to that of a st.u.r.dy piece of metal!
The same went for Bei Feng’s strength. It was impossible for him to gather and display his maximum strength if he did not have a suitable martial technique!
It was already very good if he could display half his entire body’s strength in a full force strike without using any martial technique. But that newly invented stance he had just tried had the potential to gather all of his strength together in a strike!
This was the main function of a martial technique! A good martial technique would allow the pract.i.tioner to display 100% or even 120% of their power!
But, ultimately, Bei Feng’s understanding of the technique was still too low. It was by far insufficient to completely unleash the strike!
Gritting his teeth, Bei Feng called Bai Xiang, who was minding his own business nearby over.
"Ka, cha!"
Two crisp sounds rang out across the yard as Bei Feng had Bai Xiang help him fix his dislocated shoulder, popping it back into its socket.
Throughout the process, Bei Feng only slightly furrowed his brows and did not even wince in pain.
Bei Feng moved his arm back and forth slightly. With his arm set firmly back in place, he no longer felt any discomfort.
However, he did not continue practicing the movement sets but sat down in deep thought instead as he meditated on the intricacies of the evolving fist technique.
"Huu! This is so exhausting, I’m drained…"
An hour pa.s.sed before Bei Feng woke up, shaking his head as he ma.s.saged his throbbing temples.
A fist technique was filled with various possibilities as well as having countless paths to choose from as it evolved. It was impossible for him to fas.h.i.+on a suitable fist technique by himself within a short period of time unless he encountered some special good fortune.
All the countless fist techniques and weapon-wielding techniques in China were only produced through wisdom, research and gradual improvements made over multiple generations.
In light of this, there was no need to mention how difficult it would be to develop the complicated movement sets from Bei Feng’s Minor Illumination Breathing Technique, which was comparable to a divine technique, into a fist technique!
Closing his eyes, Bei Feng directly discarded all thoughts and relaxed his mind and spirit as he laid down on the recliner beneath the Banyan tree. Slowly, the stabbing pain in his head dissipated.
"Boss, time to eat," Bai Xiang had arrived beside Bei Feng.
"En."
Bei Feng made a noise in his throat in response as he got up.
There was a certain old saying: don’t talk when sleeping or eating! This was originally seen as a good habit.
Although it was not that exaggerated, Bei Feng still very rarely opened his mouth to talk during meals.
Similarly, Bai Xiang also did not bother to talk as he ate. When the meal was finished, he automatically gathered the plates and utensils for was.h.i.+ng.
His stomach satisfied, Bei Feng picked up the Purple Bamboo Fis.h.i.+ng Rod with a heart full of hope as he proceeded to cast the line into the well.
But, it was obvious that Bei Feng had exhausted all his luck as he sat beside the well for half an hour without anything to show for it.
Bei Feng did not think too much of it. It wasn’t realistic to expect that he would be able to catch something everyday. In any case, the Myriad Heavens Fis.h.i.+ng System would continue to grant a fresh attempt everyday. He would still get the chance to try again.
"Bai Xiang, I’m going to be away for a period of time. I’m not sure when I’ll be back; It might be a few days, ten days, or even half a month. Here’s one thousand yuan, if there’s anything lacking here, you can go and buy it yourself. If you want to eat, just use the ingredients inside the fridge."
Bei Feng thought deeply for a moment as looked at the black swirl in the well closing. As though he had made up his mind, he kept the Purple Bamboo Fis.h.i.+ng Rod, gave some instructions to Bai Xiang, and left the old mansion.
Around an hour later, Bei Feng stepped off the bus to Qingcheng.
The first thing he did after arriving in the city was to move towards the nearest ATM, insert the card Nie Yun had given to him and enter the PIN.
‘Huh? Wrong PIN?!’
Bei Feng stared stupidly at the ATM screen as he punched in the code again.
As expected, the result was still the same. Bei Feng was starting to get fl.u.s.tered. Could it be that that son of b*tch from the Nie family had never intended to give him the money in the first place?
‘Sh*t! If 000000 is wrong, how about 123456?’
Bei Feng punched in another PIN.
A euphoric smile appeared on Bei Feng’s face as he finally accessed the account and a nice long stream of numbers appeared on the screen.
In order to survive in this cruel world, money was indisputably an indispensable a.s.set. The saying that it was difficult to take even a single step without money was far from a mere joke!
"Hey, little fellow, will you please hurry up? There’s still a lot of people waiting to use the ATM!"
A disgruntled middle-aged aunty could not help but feel increasingly annoyed as she looked at the idiot before her, occupying the ATM and grinning foolishly at the screen.
"Oh! I’m sorry," Bei Feng hurriedly retrieved the card from the ATM as he looked at the long line of people behind him apologetically.
Right now, Bei Feng could be considered as someone with a bit of capital. If he included the money in the ATM card, Bei Feng was able to take out over a million yuan at any moment.
Since he had some money now, Bei Feng would naturally not treat himself too shabbily. He casually picked out a few sets of sports jerseys from a large store without even checking the price, pulled out a wad of cash and walked out of the shop arrogantly. When he came across a store which specialized in ancient clothing, Bei Feng only took a nonchalant glance at it before walking in loftily.
But the items in the shop caused him to stare in shock, quickly waking him up from his beautiful dream. It was after much persuasion from the sales a.s.sistant that Bei Feng had three sets of training suits customized for himself. These were not ordinary training clothes. They were those typical of olden days’ martial artists, and was both comfortable and handsome. As opposed to the outer appearance of the shop, the prices for the three sets of training suit were not low at all. It was with great heartache that Bei Feng begrudgingly handed over 10,000 yuan at the counter.
Some time later, Bei Feng finally emerged from the shop with a heavy expression after having his measurements taken.
‘I had thought that I had finally entered the ranks of the rich. In the end, I’m still nothing more than this,’ a trace of bitterness remained hidden in his expression. Whose fault was it that he took such an intense liking to the stuff in that shop with just a single glance?
The sky had begun to grow dark. Bei Feng walked around the street a little longer before booking a room in a decent hotel. He then ordered some "exquisite" dishes, to enjoy in his room.
The food was actually very good. However, this food that once would have tasted heavenly on his tongue only left a boring and insipid taste in Bei Feng’s mouth now.
His tongue had become more and more numb to ‘regular’ food. It was to the point that even Bei Feng himself was beginning to get worried. He did not dare to imagine what he was going to do if he did not manage to catch more tasty creatures from the myriad worlds by the time the Imperial Shrimp was finished!
As he laid on the bed watching TV, Bei Feng eventually drifted into a deep sleep.
Like clockwork, he woke up early in the morning, before the sun had even risen. However, Bei Feng didn’t dare to practice the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique. The level of his mastery over the technique had become extremely profound.
Along with his improved mastery over the technique, the phenomena caused by it had also become that much more obvious. As long as one was not blind, it was impossible to miss the distinct ray of light which was as thick as a person’s middle finger streaking across the sky.
It might be very early in the morning, but there was bound to be someone in the city who also woke up at this kind of hours. In that case, it just took a single quick-witted person to film the strange ray of light flas.h.i.+ng across the sky on their mobile phone and upload it onto the internet.
Bei Feng did not fancy being cornered and questioned by a group of old monsters. Even worse, some perverted people might even attempt to capture and dissect him as though he was an alien.
With nothing to do, Bei Feng could only switch on the TV and flip the channels repeatedly. He couldn’t care less about what the program was about at all.
In his hands was the mysterious Book of Spiritual Contract. The purpose of his trip this time was not as innocent as simple sightseeing.
"This thing is truly inconceivably magical. Such a thin book actually has the ability to control a person’s life and death… although there’s a limit to the number of people it can control, it’s still an extremely frightening ability!"
Bei Feng murmured to himself in wonder. The Book of Spiritual Contract in his hands caused him to think of the legendary Book of Life and Death held by King Yama! [1]
‘By my will, I shall decide the life and death of any who end up in my Book of Spiritual Contract!’
As his thoughts travelled thus, Bei Feng began to grow more serious. He resolved to not look down on any of his opponents, as it was impossible to predict what kind of cards were hidden up someone’s sleeves. If he were to be careless, it would be easy for him to capsize his boat in a shallow ditch!
[1] TL/N: In Chinese mythology, King Yan (Chinese: 閻王, 阎王, Yánwáng) is the G.o.d of death and the ruler of Diyu, overseeing the "Ten Kings of h.e.l.l". He always appears in a male form, and his minions include a judge who holds in his hands a brush and a book listing every soul and the allotted death date for every life. ED/N: Some may be more familiar with another name, Yama. Yep, that’s the same guy (King of h.e.l.l Yama).