Chapter 4: Phantom Movement Technique

"So painful. It seems this body is still a bit too weak to utilize the Phantom Movement Technique."

Inside the room, Chu Fengmian lay on the bed, feeling a near-paralyzing pain in his legs. He massaged them while muttering to himself.

Chu Fengmian’s current cultivation level was merely at the first stage of the Bone Tempering Realm, having just opened his first spiritual meridian.

In terms of raw strength, Cao Dahai was superior to Chu Fengmian. The only reason Chu Fengmian had been able to defeat him just now was by relying on another kind of power.

Movement techniques.

Such techniques were extremely rare in the Wusheng Kingdom. In the vast Lin Mansion, there was only one, the "Light Body Formula," which was ranked as a low-grade Yellow-tier technique.

Even this single Light Body Formula was treated by the Lin Mansion as a treasure of the utmost importance, forbidden to be practiced by anyone other than genius disciples.

As for Chu Fengmian, although he had been unable to cultivate in his past life, he had read countless books belonging to masters of the sword. The movement technique he had just used was one he had studied in his previous life: a low-grade Heaven-tier technique called the Phantom Movement Technique.

Whether it be martial arts, pills, movement techniques, or cultivation methods, everything in the Wusheng Kingdom was divided into four tiers: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow. These were further subdivided into four grades: supreme, superior, middle, and low.

Generally speaking, even a low-grade Yellow-tier technique was something an average martial artist would dream of. The entire Lin Mansion possessed only one middle-grade Mysterious-tier martial art, which was known as the treasure of the house.

In his past life, Chu Fengmian had read countless martial arts, movement techniques, and cultivation methods. His memory was astonishing, enough to never forget what he had seen. However, at that time, Chu Fengmian had no spiritual power in his body, so he had only read them out of boredom. Now, having been reborn, Chu Fengmian finally had the opportunity to put them to use.

"Although I relied on the Phantom Movement Technique to defeat Cao Dahai, it was a pyrrhic victory."

Chu Fengmian lowered his head. On his legs, there were visible bruises—the remnants of forcing his body to execute the Phantom Movement Technique.

Whether it be martial arts, movement techniques, or cultivation methods, they all required a body with sufficient strength. Forcing them without the necessary physical power would inevitably cause damage to the body.

Although the Phantom Movement Technique did not rely heavily on physical strength, Chu Fengmian’s current body was far too frail, and forcing it had come at a price.

"As long as I reach the third stage of the Bone Tempering Realm, I will be able to use this Phantom Movement Technique without suffering any damage. By then, even if I face a martial artist at the fifth stage of the Bone Tempering Realm, I will be able to defeat them."

Chu Fengmian muttered to himself while searching the room.

Before long, he found several jade bottles in a cabinet.

Each bottle was filled with spiritual pills. The pills were the size of dragon eyes and pale blue in color. As soon as he opened one, a fragrant, spiritual energy wafted out.

"Thirty-five Bone Tempering Pills in total."

These Bone Tempering Pills were the most basic pills in the outer sect of the Lin Mansion. They were used by martial artists in the Bone Tempering Realm for cultivation and were effective for anyone below the fifth stage.

These thirty-five pills were the result of over a year of saving by Chu Fengmian.

Although he was nominally the head steward of the outer sect, in reality, his salary was always heavily skimmed by others in the outer sect. In the end, less than one-tenth of it ever reached his hands.

Thirty-five Bone Tempering Pills were the absolute limit of what he had managed to save. He had intended to refine them only after reaching the Bone Tempering Realm.

He hadn't expected that he would be beaten to death before he could even reach that point.

Now that Chu Fengmian had been reborn, these pills finally had a purpose.

"Refine!"

Chu Fengmian sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed, and placed one of the Bone Tempering Pills into his mouth.

As soon as the pill entered his mouth, it dissolved, turning into a stream of refined spiritual energy that dispersed throughout his body.

In his past life, Chu Fengmian had refined countless pills. Let alone these common low-grade Yellow-tier pills, he had refined many Earth-tier and even Heaven-tier ones.

In an instant, he gathered the spiritual energy of the pill and fused it entirely into his body.

When refining pills, those lacking experience might only absorb forty or fifty percent of the energy, with the rest dissipating. But for someone like Chu Fengmian, who had refined countless pills, this tiny Bone Tempering Pill was fully absorbed in an instant.

In less than half a minute, the pill was completely refined.

Chu Fengmian felt that his body was now slightly stronger than before, and the pain in his legs had clearly improved.

What surprised him even more was that his second spiritual meridian, due to the spiritual energy of the pill, was beginning to loosen.

If he could open the second spiritual meridian, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap.

"Continue!"

A look of determination appeared in Chu Fengmian’s eyes as he picked up another Bone Tempering Pill and placed it in his mouth.

Several minutes passed, and more than half of the pills before him had been refined. On Chu Fengmian’s arm, a golden thread was slowly taking shape.

If anyone were to see Chu Fengmian now, they would be shocked. His current state was exactly what it looked like when one was about to open a spiritual meridian.

Opening a spiritual meridian usually required countless resources and the assistance of a powerful expert.

Take Lin Yunfeng, the current top genius of the Lin Mansion, for example. He was born with five spiritual meridians. Later, to increase his talent, the Lin Mansion spent a fortune to purchase two Earth-tier Cold Soul Pills. They also paid a high price to hire two experts at the Wind-Governing Realm to join forces and help him open two more meridians, bringing his total to seven.

But the cost of this had left the Lin Mansion struggling to breathe for a century. The reason the entire mansion was currently cutting back on resources was precisely because of this.

For someone like Chu Fengmian to attempt to open a spiritual meridian on his own, relying only on a few Bone Tempering Pills, was something unheard of.

"Just a little more!"

Chu Fengmian roared in his mind.

He could feel that the second spiritual meridian was on the verge of opening; it just lacked a bit more spiritual energy.

Chu Fengmian grabbed the remaining eight Bone Tempering Pills and shoved them all into his mouth at once.

He instantly condensed their spiritual energy and charged toward the second spiritual meridian.

The pain of breaking through the meridian struck again, but Chu Fengmian’s expression remained unchanged. Letting countless beads of sweat drip down his face, he focused his entire being on the meridian within his body.

"Pop!"

Suddenly, a sound echoed in Chu Fengmian’s mind.

Following that sound, streams of refined spiritual energy surged through his body, filling him with power.

At the same time, on his arm, a second bright spiritual meridian was illuminated.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on the corner of Chu Fengmian’s mouth.

"The second spiritual meridian, opened."