Chapter 9: Two Extraordinary Skills

Ling Jiu looked at Ling Xiao with a hint of contempt.

There was, naturally, a reason why he had agreed to let Ling Xiao touch the two paintings.

These two paintings had been left behind by the ancestors of the Ling family, said to suppress two extraordinary martial arts manuals.

These two manuals were extremely difficult for any martial artist to cultivate, but once mastered, one would benefit for a lifetime.

However, to obtain these two manuals, one had to first break the seals placed upon the paintings.

The ancestors of the Ling family had never stated the specific reason for doing this, only saying that they were waiting for someone destined to find them.

Yet, for hundreds of years, countless people had attempted to retrieve the two manuals from the paintings, and all had failed.

This even included the current, powerful head of the Ling family.

Of course, Ling Jiu had also tried; he had desperately wanted to obtain these two manuals for his son, Ling Chong, to study.

It was just a pity that he, too, had failed.

Precisely because of this, he did not believe for a second that Ling Xiao could succeed.

However, the next moment, Ling Jiu’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

With almost no effort at all, Ling Xiao had easily retrieved the two manuals from the paintings.

One was the "Ox Demon Technique," and the other was the "Cloud-Soaring Step."

"Hand them over!"

After the shock, greed quickly appeared on Ling Jiu’s face.

"Ninth Uncle, you just said that if I could retrieve these two books, I could take them, didn't you?"

Ling Xiao frowned, but he quickly glanced at the summaries of the two books and copied them into his Mountain and River Map.

He knew that an arm could not twist a thigh; these books would eventually be snatched away by Ling Jiu, so he had to ensure he didn't come out empty-handed.

"Did you not hear me tell you to hand them over?"

Suddenly, Ling Jiu waved his hand, and a powerful force sent Ling Xiao flying, while the two manuals landed in Ling Jiu’s grasp.

"Hahahaha! Truly, one searches high and low for something, only to find it without any effort at all!"

Ling Jiu laughed maniacally. He then flicked his hand, grabbed two random manuals from the shelf, and tossed them at Ling Xiao.

"Kid, don't be resentful. These two extraordinary manuals aren't for you. The two I’ve chosen for you are intermediate-level manuals. Take them back and practice hard; you won't be losing out."

"Hahahaha!"

Ling Jiu laughed loudly, unable to wait to open the two extraordinary manuals to take a look.

Although Ling Xiao had been struck hard enough to cough up blood, he felt a sense of relief in his heart.

Because both extraordinary manuals had already been copied.

He would not forget today’s humiliation.

Ling Jiu, remember this: one day, I, Ling Xiao, will make you suffer a hundred times this humiliation!

Ling Xiao said nothing. He picked up the two manuals Ling Jiu had thrown on the ground and left. Coincidentally, those two manuals happened to be ones he hadn't had time to copy yet.

Might as well take them.

"Hahaha, a beggar like that thinks he’s worthy of cultivating the Ling family’s extraordinary manuals? What a joke!"

Seeing Ling Xiao leave obediently, Ling Jiu felt extremely satisfied. He read the summaries of the two manuals, and they were indeed astonishing.

It was just a pity that these two manuals had a condition: they could only be cultivated by martial artists in the Awakening stage. In other words, once one surpassed the third level of the Martial Veins, they could no longer be practiced unless one crippled their own cultivation.

And who would be stupid enough to do that?

He would just have to take these manuals back for his son, Ling Chong, to cultivate.

Ling Xiao left the library in a sorry state, pointed at and mocked by others along the way.

The events in the library had already been embellished and twisted by the Ling family disciples, and the story had spread.

It had become a tale of Ling Xiao attempting to steal martial arts from the library, only to be caught by Ling Jiu’s sharp eyes and taught a lesson.

Ling Xiao was unaware of this, but he understood that explanations were useless right now. The only way to prove his innocence was to possess strength that surpassed Ling Jiu’s.

He also believed that Ling Jiu wouldn't make a massive scene out of this; otherwise, once the truth came out, it wouldn't look good on him.

After all, the Ling family was not a monolith, and Ling Jiu still had to be wary of certain things.

Returning home, Ling Xiao entered his room and took out the "Cloud-Soaring Step" to read.

"Cloud-Soaring Step": A growth-type movement technique. Currently at the "Cloud-Soaring Step" stage. Each time it grows, the name of the technique and the requirements will change, but the ultimate goal remains the same!

After cultivation, it allows the martial artist to be as light as a swallow, tread upon clouds to chase the moon, and command the mists... If one can ascend to the highest stage, one can even ride the clouds and laugh at the heavens!

This movement technique can only be cultivated starting from the Awakening stage; otherwise, the foundation will be unstable, and it will not succeed.

Even at the "Cloud-Soaring Step" stage, if cultivated to Great Perfection, one can briefly traverse the air and fight while treading on clouds for a limited time!

At this stage, it is an invincible movement technique for anyone below the Qi-Gong stage, that is, below the sixth level of the Martial Veins.

Seeing this, the pain in Ling Xiao’s body vanished, replaced by excitement!

An invincible movement technique below the Qi-Gong stage!

Doesn't this mean he wouldn't need to change his movement technique even after reaching the sixth level of the Martial Veins? And this was only the "Cloud-Soaring Step" stage.

This technique could grow.

Briefly traversing the air, even fighting while treading on clouds—even if Ling Xiao was ill-informed, he was still a disciple of the Ling family, and he had truly never heard of such a thing.

Regardless, he could be certain that it didn't exist among intermediate movement techniques. He didn't know about high-level ones, but he guessed they were rare; after all, there were experts in the Ling family who practiced high-level movement techniques, and he had never seen them treading on clouds to fight.

It truly lived up to the name of an extraordinary manual!

But if it was such a good technique, why did the Ling family ancestor seal it away with a painting instead of letting the family disciples cultivate it?

Holding this confusion, Ling Xiao continued reading. Sure enough, when he turned to the last page, he saw a line of handwritten text.

"This extraordinary manual can only be successfully cultivated by those who have awakened a Martial Soul. If an ordinary martial artist cultivates it, while there may be some effect, it will be no more than an intermediate movement technique—plain and unremarkable. Furthermore, the difficulty of cultivation is too high, which will hinder progress, hence it is sealed!"

It seemed the Ling family ancestor knew about Martial Souls and might have even seen someone who had awakened one!

Could it be that Martial Souls were not extinct? Perhaps there were just so few people who awakened them nowadays that it was practically the same as being extinct?

Hahaha!

Hahahaha!

Ling Xiao couldn't help but laugh wildly in his room.

Ling Jiu, oh Ling Jiu, you shamelessly snatched these two extraordinary manuals from my hands at the cost of your own reputation, only for it to be all for nothing in the end.

Very well, let me use these extraordinary manuals to teach your son a lesson at the annual competition!

Besides that, the "Cloud-Soaring Step" had one cultivation method that was a bit of a headache.

It required one to have an intermediate movement technique reach the state of Great Perfection before the first "Heavenly Step" of the "Cloud-Soaring Step" could be unlocked.

The "Cloud-Soaring Step" consisted of nine "Heavenly Steps" to reach ultimate Great Perfection.

In other words, this thing had no direct cultivation method; it accumulated experience through other movement techniques to level up.

Seeing this, he hurriedly checked the "Ox Demon Technique" and discovered something interesting.

The "Cloud-Soaring Step" pursued elegance and speed; it was a movement technique.

The "Ox Demon Technique," however, pursued power and dominance; it was an application of martial arts.

Not only that, the "Ox Demon Technique" was also a growth-type martial art, but unlike the "Cloud-Soaring Step," which grew by accumulating experience, the "Ox Demon Technique" grew by devouring.

It didn't devour True Qi, nor did it devour objects; it devoured cultivation experience.

(End of chapter)