It was late at night, and Landlord Jin had long since gone to bed.
Suddenly, a maid hurried over and woke him up. "Master, the Heroes have returned. They even brought back the corpse of a giant mouse..."
Landlord Jin jolted awake.
"A giant mouse?
"Quick, help me get dressed..."
By the time Landlord Jin hastily changed his clothes and arrived at the front hall, he found it already crowded with people.
At a glance, he saw the carcass of a giant mouse lying on the ground, as big as a calf. Covered in blood, the corpse looked hideous and ferocious.
Overjoyed and pleasantly surprised, Landlord Jin hurriedly bowed to the five Martial Artists who had gone to exterminate the rats. "Thank you, five Heroes, for ridding the people of this menace. You've finally eliminated the Rat King and cleared the rat infestation!"
Ji Qing remained calm and composed, graciously accepting the bow. However, the four Sect Martial Artists looked embarrassed, stepping aside and not daring to accept the gesture.
"Someone, bring the silver!" Landlord Jin immediately ordered his servants to bring out one thousand taels of silver.
Illuminated by the firelight, the gleaming white of the one thousand taels was enough to make anyone drool.
Ultimately, the four Sect Martial Artists still cared about their pride and took the initiative to clarify. "Landlord Jin, for this rat extermination, Young Hero Li was the only one who took action. It is entirely his contribution. We cannot accept a reward we haven't earned, so we absolutely cannot take this silver."
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd was in an uproar.
Landlord Jin was also astonished. After all, the five of them had ventured into the mountains together to eliminate the rats. He had assumed that the five of them had joined forces to slay the Rat King. He never expected that Li Mu was the only one to make a move.
"Big Bull, what exactly happened?" Landlord Jin asked the Hunter, Big Bull.
Big Bull's face was flushed with excitement as he said, "Landlord Jin, the Rat King was indeed killed by Hero Li alone. You didn't see the scene back there—this Rat King had truly become a monster! It was even absorbing the essence of the moon..."
Big Bull recounted in great detail everything he had witnessed during "Li Mu's" extermination of the rats. Only then did the crowd realize with a shock that the rumors were true; the Rat King was indeed a monster born from a mouse.
Someone even tried slicing the Rat King's corpse with a knife, only to find it completely impenetrable, truly invulnerable to swords and spears.
Such a bizarre, terrifying, and even invulnerable Rat King had actually been killed by "Li Mu"?
Clearly, "Li Mu" was a true expert and Hero in the Martial World!
"Hero Li, the matter is clear now. You indeed killed the Rat King single-handedly, so naturally, this silver belongs to you." Landlord Jin's address for Ji Qing also changed from "Young Hero" to "Hero."
With a wave of his hand, a servant brought the silver before Ji Qing.
Ji Qing didn't feign modesty. How could one walk the Martial World without silver? Besides, it was silver he had earned through his own skills. He accepted the silver without hesitation.
"Landlord Jin, where is Li Yao?" Ji Qing asked.
"Rest assured, Hero Li. Li Yao and Suo'Er have fallen asleep together. There are maids attending to them; they'll be perfectly fine.
"You Heroes must be tired. I'll have someone prepare food and wine. Once you've had your fill, you can all go and rest."
Ji Qing nodded. He was indeed a bit tired.
"Then we won't stand on ceremony," the four Sect Martial Artists said without declining. Although they hadn't obtained any silver, they still had to eat.
After eating and drinking their fill, the group went to rest. As for the Rat King's corpse, they would discuss it the next morning.
Ji Qing was still somewhat uneasy. He went to the room where Ji Yao was sleeping to check on her. Seeing that there were indeed maids attending to her, he finally relaxed and returned to his own room to rest.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Ji Qing sat cross-legged under a large tree in the courtyard. The view here was excellent; he could even see the rising sun in the east. However, Ji Qing did not practice his Rising Sun Skill as usual. His attention was entirely focused on the Demon Refining Record in his mind.
Yesterday, killing the Mouse Demon had earned him 10 Source Points. Now was the perfect time to use them.
He commanded inwardly, "Upgrade the Rising Sun Skill to Perfection!"
Ji Qing's Rising Sun Skill was currently only at the entry-level. There were still three Realms left: Small Success, Great Success, and Perfection. Therefore, it would cost three Source Points.
As the three Source Points were consumed, a series of images surfaced in his mind.
In these visions, he practiced the Rising Sun Skill facing the morning sun every day. Day after day, year after year.
After nearly thirty years, his Rising Sun Skill finally reached Great Success!
It took another twenty years for Ji Qing to catch a glimmer of inspiration from the Rising Sun Skill, elevating it to the point of Mastery and thereby comprehending the Supreme Yang Inner Power!
After the Rising Sun Skill was converted into Supreme Yang Inner Power, his Inner Power became purer, as well as fiercer and more domineering. Moreover, its poison resistance greatly increased, and it even had a suppressing effect against certain cold-yin Inner Powers.
He thought, "Supreme Yang Inner Power... Its quality far surpasses the previous Inner Power of the Rising Sun Skill, and the Inner Power of the Jade Skill isn't even remotely comparable..."
Now that both of Ji Qing's Inner Powers had reached Perfection, he had to proceed to the next step: fusion.
For ordinary Martial Artists, the fusion of Inner Power was a natural progression without any issues. But Ji Qing was different. Both of his Inner Powers had reached Perfection. Once fused, could the distinct characteristics of both Inner Powers still be preserved?
For example, the Perfection of the Jade Skill granted him the characteristic of an Inner Power burst. Could that be retained?
Ji Qing weighed his options for a long time and ultimately chose to fuse them. Only by fusing his Inner Power would he have a chance to break through.
"Fuse."
Ji Qing began merging his Inner Powers. As the process went on, he realized that fusing Inner Power was actually a process of discarding the dross and selecting the essence.
His original Inner Power was merely that of an ordinary Third-class Martial Art. While his Inner Power was deep, it was very loose, and its Purity was far from sufficient. If he encountered another Third-class Martial Artist who practiced a Top Level Third-class Cultivation Technique, Ji Qing would definitely suffer a huge loss if they competed in Inner Power.
But now, during the fusion of the two Inner Powers, the Supreme Yang Inner Power gradually took a dominant position. The previously loose Inner Power began to merge into the Supreme Yang Inner Power. During this process, a massive amount of Inner Power underwent a "refinement," and the Purity of the newly generated Inner Power vastly exceeded that of the past.
Finally, the fusion was complete. All of his Inner Power had transformed into Supreme Yang Inner Power.
Ji Qing carefully felt this new Supreme Yang Inner Power.
"Hm? The burst characteristic is still there? It can still amplify my Inner Power by thirty percent!" Ji Qing rejoiced in his heart.
The Supreme Yang Inner Power within his body was already extremely potent. Whether in Purity or depth, it was far superior to his two previous Inner Powers. If he added the Inner Power burst on top of that, his Supreme Yang Inner Power would be even stronger!
With seven Source Points remaining, Ji Qing proceeded to upgrade his Lightweight Skill, "Cao Shangfei."
Although this Lightweight Skill was very common in the Martial World, it was indeed highly practical. Currently, his Cao Shangfei was only at the Realm of Small Success.
"Upgrade Cao Shangfei to Perfection!"
With the consumption of two Source Points, scenes of year-round Lightweight Skill practice appeared in Ji Qing's mind. It slowly progressed from Small Success to Great Success. However, after reaching Great Success, Cao Shangfei seemed to have nowhere else to advance.
It took a full twenty years for Ji Qing to finally catch a glimmer of inspiration, allowing him to comprehend the Ultimate Technique, "Void Leverage."
This move, "Void Leverage," was incredibly wondrous. It allowed one to forcefully draw another breath in midair, as if borrowing leverage from the very void to leap upward once more. This was somewhat unbelievable.
SWISH.
Ji Qing opened his eyes. He immediately bounded upward, his body as light as a swallow, leaping high into the air.
"Void Leverage." As Ji Qing executed the Lightweight Skill's Ultimate Technique, the Inner Power beneath his feet circulated in an extremely peculiar manner. Then, stomping fiercely against the empty air, he actually soared upward by another ten feet out of thin air.
Such a Lightweight Skill was simply shocking.
He thought, "To think that a Third-class Lightweight Skill could actually lead to the comprehension of such a terrifying Ultimate Technique?"
Ji Qing now knew that bringing Martial Arts to "Perfection" often allowed one to comprehend certain Ultimate Techniques. However, the exact Ultimate Technique comprehended varied from person to person. It depended entirely on the Martial Artist's own Comprehension.
The Saber Technique's Ultimate Technique and the Lightweight Skill's Ultimate Technique that Ji Qing had currently comprehended were both exceptionally practical and powerful.
At this moment, Ji Qing's information on the first page of the Demon Monster Record had completely changed.
**Ji Qing:** Third-class Martial Artist
**Supreme Yang Rising Sun Skill:** Perfection (Supreme Yang Inner Power, thirty percent Inner Power burst amplification)
**Thirteen Paths of Swift Saber:** Perfection (Ultimate Technique: Heavenly Line)
**Cao Shangfei:** Perfection (Ultimate Technique: Void Leverage)
**Source Points:** 5
The fusion of the two Inner Strengths had formed a new Martial Art called the "Supreme Yang Rising Sun Skill."
Although Ji Qing was still currently a Third-class Martial Artist, he was actually only one Third-class Inner Strength short of reaching the Second-class!
Even though he had expended 5 Source Points, Ji Qing's overall strength had skyrocketed by a massive margin!
He pondered, "I have 5 Source Points left. For now, I need to find a Third-class Inner Strength. Perhaps I also need to find a Saber Technique focused on explosive power to deal with Demon Monsters that possess physically tough bodies."
Just as Ji Qing was deep in thought, urgent footsteps echoed from outside. A group of constables suddenly burst into the courtyard.