Chapter 205: True Martial Arts Lv2, Qi Jin Clone, One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones, Substitute Messeng

Chapter 205: True Martial Arts Lv2, Qi Jin Clone, One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones, Substitute Messenger Xue Jing! (4K)



"Huh? Uncle Pei."

Xue Jing rubbed Ning Fengwan's cat ears with one hand and held his phone with the other as he spoke.

His voice was slightly deeper than usual, perhaps because he had just woken up.

The young girl lay snuggled against his abdomen, her hand reaching for the thin blanket to cover herself. She yawned, her small mouth opening slightly, and then closed her eyes.

"Little Jing, I didn't want to disturb your rest earlier, so I didn't call you... Are you awake now?"

Pei Xiaoen's voice came through the phone, his attitude and tone seemingly more respectful than before.

Xue Jing paid no heed to this and simply smiled, "I just woke up. What's up?"

Pei Xiaoen cautiously said, "Although I've already confirmed it with the high disciples of the Canglong Dojo, I want to double-check with you... Are you the 'Black Dragon Rider'?"

Xue Jing's mouth twitched, "....I'm not, I didn't claim to be, don't spread rumors. I've never acknowledged that title."

Pei Xiaoen forced a laugh, realizing that Xue Jing was indeed this 'Black Dragon Rider', but he just didn't like the title.

"Speaking of which, you guys in the government can influence media propaganda, right? Can you change this title for me?" Xue Jing casually asked.

Pei Xiaoen replied awkwardly, "Well, yes, we can, but a forced change might backfire and have the opposite effect. I don't recommend it."

Xue Jing bit his teeth, "You guys want to promote and create a heroic image, but you can't come up with a better title? Is your entire PR department suffering from chuunibyou?"

Pei Xiaoen said innocently, "....It really isn't our fault. This is what the people chose. Everyone at the scene last night was chanting it, and it just caught on..."

Xue Jing fell silent for a moment before saying, "Never mind that. What else is it?"

Pei Xiaoen paused, as if considering his words carefully, before speaking again, "Little Jing, it's like this. About the reward we agreed upon earlier..."

Xue Jing narrowed his eyes, a hint of danger creeping into his tone, "Oh? Now that the commission is complete, you don't want to pay me?"

"Don't say things you know I don't want to hear... Secretary Pei, the harm I can cause is far greater than that of a mere Mother of the Tianxu Worm." Xue Jing's threat was clear as he dropped the respectful 'Uncle' and addressed Pei Xiaoen by his position.

Hearing the threat in Xue Jing's words, Pei Xiaoen quickly replied, "No, no, you misunderstand. We have a signed agreement, and the promised reward is absolutely guaranteed!"

"It's just that the legislators want to discuss with you the possibility of using your 'Black Dragon Rider' identity for some promotional activities. We can offer additional payment on top of the original reward..."

Before he could finish, Xue Jing cut him off, "No need. Don't involve me in any publicity activities that require me to show my face. I won't agree to it. Just pay me the originally agreed-upon amount."

"...Alright, I understand." Pei Xiaoen could only agree reluctantly, seeing that Xue Jing was leaving no room for negotiation.

They chatted for a while longer, discussing the events of the previous night, the details of the Green Magic Cube, and the handling of the Mother of the Tianxu Worm. They also confirmed the timing of the promised reward—a billion in cash and ten divine artifacts—before ending the call.

"So I've gained a masked hero identity, huh..."

Xue Jing scratched his head.

It did feel pretty cool, he had to admit.

Most men, at some point in their lives, dreamed of becoming a hero, and Xue Jing was no exception.

He just didn't know if this identity would bring anything else besides the emotional satisfaction of fulfilling a heroic fantasy.

Shaking his head, he put those thoughts aside for the moment and opened the panel.

[Divinity: 3672]



His gaze shifted to the Superhuman Skills section.

[True Martial Arts Lv1 (Superhuman)]



[Upgrade Requirements: Experience 10000/10000, Divinity 3672/1000]



Xue Jing stroked his chin, "Hmm... Let's see what happens when I upgrade True Martial Arts by one level."

His current divinity count was still quite abundant, and the Qingcheng government would be providing him with ten more divine artifacts, bringing his total to around five thousand.

He could afford to be generous with his spending, leaving a thousand points for the eventual upgrade of 【Fitness】, whenever that might be.

Xue Jing clicked to upgrade.

[True Martial Arts Lv2 (Superhuman)]



[Upgrade Requirements: Experience 0/20000, Divinity 2672/1000]



Compared to when he had first obtained 【True Martial Arts】,

When he upgraded to Level 2, he didn't feel any noticeable changes, unlike the previous time when he had experienced a tingling sensation throughout his body as if it was being crazily transformed.

Xue Jing clenched his fists and pondered for a moment, sensing that his power seemed stronger and his control over his body had improved significantly.

Although his strength had undoubtedly increased, there wasn't a significant leap from 'human' to 'superhuman'.

"Lv2 True Martial Arts still only requires 1000 Divinity to upgrade, with no increase in cost."

Xue Jing fell into deep thought.

"Looks like I was wrong before. Superhuman skills aren't inherently higher in 'status' than divinity skills; they just require more divinity to activate and for the initial upgrade."

"I thought that from Lv2 onwards, the cost would increase to two thousand. Seems like I was mistaken."

"The divinity cost for divinity skills increases drastically at higher levels... If the cost for Superhuman skills remains at a thousand divinity points for Lv3, Lv4, Lv5, and beyond, then my divinity deficit won't be as much of a burden."

"However, I'm not sure if I should be happy or disappointed... The divinity cost is linked to the skill's strength. While a lower cost of a thousand divinity points per level reduces the divinity deficit, it also means there won't be any instances of spending ten thousand divinity points to upgrade a skill by one level and experiencing a massive power spike as a result..."

"Hmm... On second thought, it doesn't matter. Spending ten thousand divinity points to upgrade a skill by ten levels should yield similar results."

Xue Jing gently picked up Ning Fengwan, who was lying on his abdomen, asleep. He then reached out to grab a pillow to place under her head, but the pillow was on the other side of the bed, out of his arm's reach.

Instinctively, he thought about wanting to grab the pillow.

At that moment, his body automatically sprang into action. A moment later, a faint golden-colored tangible Qi Jin emerged from his palm and reached for the pillow.

The golden Qi Jin took the form of a hand, grabbed the pillow, brought it back, and placed it in Xue Jing's hand.

"This..."

Xue Jing blinked in surprise.

He had long been able to exert Qi Jin outside his body, but to control the detached Qi Jin as if it were his own limbs was somewhat outrageous.

After placing the pillow under Ning Fengwan's head, Xue Jing got out of bed and left the room.

After washing up and eating something, he headed out and made his way to the Canglong Dojo.

Upon arriving, he went straight to the meditation room and pushed the door open.

It was around 2:00 PM in the afternoon. Li Qi was wearing a pair of reading glasses and perusing a new thread-bound book titled "Yellow Granny Technique" on his desk—the very book that Xue Jing had transcribed for him.

Hearing the door open, Li Qi looked up and, seeing that it was Xue Jing, asked with a smile:

"Oh, it's Little Jing. What's up?"

Noticing that his master didn't inquire about the source of his strange abilities from the night before, Xue Jing understood his master's intention and refrained from mentioning the matter.

He smiled and said, "Master, I've learned a new move that I'd like to show you."

Li Qi placed the book on the table, took off his reading glasses, and wheeled himself over to Xue Jing. He raised an eyebrow and asked:

"What new move is this?"

Xue Jing took a deep breath and began to circulate his Jin Li.

In the next moment, faint golden Qi Jin emanated from his body, and countless streams of Qi Jin converged by his side.

He had intended to simply condense a Qi Jin fist to show Li Qi, but as the Qi Jin gathered, a new idea formed in Xue Jing's mind.

Gradually, the surrounding Qi Jin began to transform and take shape, forming a faint golden humanoid figure.

Under Xue Jing's control, the Qi Jin figure became more and more refined, and before long, it transformed into a semi-transparent, golden clone of himself.

"This..." Li Qi's eyes widened in surprise.

Xue Jing was also astonished that he had actually created a human-like clone.

He controlled the golden clone and threw a punch at the air.

"Whoosh—"

A powerful gust of wind erupted from the clone's fist, causing the curtains on all four windows of the meditation room to flutter wildly, almost pulling out the curtain rods.

"A freely controllable solid Qi Jin clone... This is the Daoist secret technique, 'Qi Jin Clone, One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones'! When did you learn this, brat?"

Li Qi asked in disbelief.

"Qi Jin Clone, One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones?" Xue Jing was taken aback, confusion written all over his face.

Li Qi stroked his chin and said, "Hmm?

"Isn't it 'Qi Jin Clone, One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones'?"

Xue Jing furrowed his brows in confusion. "Isn't it just that I can control my Qi Jin to this extent? I came to ask Master about this."

Li Qi scratched his head, tugging at a few stray hairs that had sprouted on his once-smooth Mediterranean hairstyle, and sighed, "I thought I had seen enough 'unexpected' things from you, and from now on, even if there are more outrageous occurrences, I should be able to remain calm... But here I am, surprised yet again."

"How can somebody merely manage their Qi Flow and create a 'replica' of themselves? Even a Limit-Breaking Sect Master who has crossed the dragon barrier would find this incredibly challenging and would have to cultivate a unique hidden method to accomplish it."

Li Qi looked at Xue Jing, his eyes as if staring at an alien. "Are you even human anymore?"

Xue Jing: "..."

"The Daoist secret technique, 'Qi Jin Clone, One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones', utilizes a special 'Three Corpses Method' to sever one's negative thoughts that hinder their cultivation. It divides a portion of one's spiritual consciousness and houses it within detached Qi Jin, thus forming three 'Qi Jin clones' to assist in battle."

Li Qi gazed at the pale golden humanoid figure beside Xue Jing, deep in thought. "But your 'Qi Jin clone'... If I observe carefully, it doesn't seem to be formed by the 'Three Corpses Method' of dividing spiritual consciousness."

He reached out and touched the pale golden figure, feeling it thoughtfully. "It seems to be... simply using spiritual power to forcefully 'shape' it into a clone?"

"It shouldn't be like this. Qi Jin is not that easy to control. Spiritual power is an intangible 'illusion', without a physical substance, it shouldn't be possible..."

"Unfathomable, unfathomable," Li Qi muttered, shaking his head.

Hearing Li Qi's words, Xue Jing's heart stirred.

He had initially thought that it was due to the upgrade of 【True Martial Arts】, and its superpower trait allowed him to gain this unexpected Qi Jin control ability.

But now, it seemed there was another reason.

He opened the panel and looked at one of the skills—【Contemplation·True】.

【Contemplation·True】, which had been upgraded to Lv8 the night before, was already a powerful skill that gave his spiritual power a substantive trait.

It seemed that the upgraded 【Contemplation·True】's effect of substantiating spiritual power had become even stronger, and when combined with the control over Jin Li granted by True Martial Arts Lv2, some sort of chemical reaction occurred, resulting in this Qi Jin control ability.

"So that's how it is..."

......

Without staying in the study for too long, Xue Jing, having figured out the reason, made his way to his cultivation room.

He sat cross-legged on the floor, with the translucent golden 'Xue Jing' floating behind him.

This scene gave Xue Jing a strange sense of deja vu.

"Now I've really become a substitute messenger..."

He thought for a moment, and with a flick of his mind, he activated Shadowflame, causing the shadows in the cultivation room to be drawn out into countless black air currents that gathered around the golden humanoid figure, enveloping it and forming a Shadowflame Armor.

Thus, it transformed into Xue Jing's alter ego—the Black Dragon Rider.

"Damn, it looks even more like a substitute now."

"Can I make another one...?"

Xue Jing's mind stirred, and once again, countless pale golden Qi Jin surged from his body, attempting to condense another Qi Jin clone beside the first one.

However, this time, it wasn't as smooth as the first attempt, and it was rather forced. With Xue Jing exerting his full control, the clone barely managed to take shape.

"Phew—" Xue Jing exhaled, wiping away the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

"With two clones... I'm already at my limit just to maintain them, so they're only good for play and have no practical use in battle."

"Next..."

Xue Jing once again used Shadowflame to envelop the second Qi Jin clone with Shadowflame Armor.

Looking at the two 'Black Dragon Riders' floating in front of him, he snapped his fingers excitedly.

"Go at it!"

Instantly, the two clones moved closer to each other and began wildly swinging their arms, punching and striking each other.

"Ora ora ora ora ora—!"

"Big Wood! Big Wood! Big Wood! Big Wood! Big Wood!—"

"Bang bang bang bang bang—!"

In the void, countless fist shadows collided endlessly, exploding into countless ring-shaped air waves.

Xue Jing's hair was blown backward, forming a slicked-back hairstyle as he watched the two clones engage in combat.

"Fight, hit harder! The winner will be the invincible Platinum Star!"

........................

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end