Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, five days had passed.
Lin Chang'sheng kept pacing back and forth on the grassy field outside the bamboo grove by his front door.
[Grass on Air (Perfection)]
"Finally perfected it!"
Lin Chang'sheng looked up, checking his panel, eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
During these five days, he had not gone to the Hundred Herbs Hall, instead heading to the banks of the Grand Canal to run on the grass and skip stones. After mastering Nine-Star Linked Beads, he stopped going to the river, choosing instead to grind experience right outside the bamboo grove.
Now that Grass on Air is perfected, it's ready to merge.
[Detected (Grass on Air, Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill) — both perfected lightness skills of the same type. You can spend 20 taels of silver to merge them into a new lightness skill. Merge now?]
At this moment, a red notification popped up on the panel.
"Merge!"
Lin Chang'sheng clicked confirm without hesitation.
[Grass on Air, Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill merging... Merging successful... New lightness skill acquired: Fleeting Shadows!]
Before ten breaths had passed, the panel flashed with a red notification once again!
"Fleeting Shadows!"
Seeing the alert, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes lit up.
With this upgraded lightness skill, his speed and leaping abilities would both jump up a level. His safety was also much better assured!
[Detected the lightness skill Fleeting Shadows. Consume 30 taels of silver to simplify it?]
Right then, Lin Chang'sheng saw another prompt pop up on the panel.
"Simplify!"
He instantly smashed the confirm button.
[Grand Path Simplification: Simplifying Fleeting Shadows... Simplification successful... Fleeting Shadows == Watching my reflection by the water]
Another notification appeared on the panel.
"Uh..."
"So you want me to just go stare at my reflection in the water? That... that's way too easy, isn't it?"
Seeing the result of Fleeting Shadows' simplification, Lin Chang'sheng could hardly believe it—watching his reflection by the water, just squatting there and looking... It couldn't get any simpler!
But, could it really boost experience like this?
"Guess I'll test it out first!"
With that thought—
Lin Chang'sheng locked the door and dashed out, heading for the pond fifty or so yards away.
There was a pond more than ten yards across, perfect for grinding Fleeting Shadows.
.......
Right now.
Thousands of miles away, northwest of Min Nan City—
Inside a cave.
"I've finally fused 99 Soul Seeds. After I consolidate for three more months, it'll be time to claim the last Soul Seed!"
"Once I fuse that final Soul Seed, the Myriad Souls Banner will be complete!"
A young man with a sinister pattern on his forehead sat cross-legged in the center of an array, gazing eagerly at a small black triangle banner glowing fiercely in front of him.
"Go!"
Qi Hui watched the floating Myriad Souls Banner, made a hand seal, and sent streams of dark energy into it. Instantly, the cave was filled with shrill, ghostly wails and icy black wind.
At the same time.
From within the Myriad Souls Banner, a stream of black aura shot out from the cave, floating southeast, and vanished from sight.
"That Soul Seed hasn't returned yet. Its host's qi and blood must be strong! That's perfect!!"
"The stronger the host's qi and blood, the stronger the nurtured Soul Seed. Eventually, it can serve as the Main Soul of the Myriad Souls Banner!"
A look of anticipation gleamed in Qi Hui's eyes.
......
Lin Chang'sheng's home.
More than fifty yards away.
Fleeting Shadows, Experience Points +1!
Fleeting Shadows, Experience Points +1!
+1!
........
Lin Chang'sheng stood beside the pond, his face reflected in the water. At the edge of his vision, the panel was popping red notifications non-stop!
[Fleeting Shadows (Entry Level 12/1000)]
"It works! This Fleeting Shadows skill gains experience crazy fast!"
He realized that, in less than ten breaths, Fleeting Shadows' experience had jumped up 12 points—at this rate, his Fleeting Shadows lightness skill would max out in maybe two days.
"Huh? Wait... Could it be?"
Suddenly, Lin Chang'sheng felt a chill on his chest and his right eyelid twitched uncontrollably. Frowning, he pulled aside his shirt, and saw a faint, egg-sized skull tattoo emerge on his chest.
It was that skull pattern again.
"Sun and Moon Breathing Technique!"
Seeing the mark, Lin Chang'sheng immediately activated his cultivation technique, inner strength surging through his meridians!
With the technique in motion, not even a quarter of an hour passed before the skull faded out again.
"This skull pattern shows Yin Qi Invasion on the panel, but it keeps reappearing every so often. The Sun and Moon Breathing Technique can suppress it a bit but can't wipe it out yet."
"It seems to truly clear this thing, I'll need to find and fuse more high-level cultivation techniques."
Lin Chang'sheng's face turned grim.
In other words—
He had to find more techniques, fuse them, and form something stronger so he could purge the toxic qi and blood.
This Yin Qi Invasion was always a time bomb.
"Time to leave."
Lin Chang'sheng thought to himself.
To get more techniques and level them up, the only way was to head to Min Nan City. Mu City was just too small—all the cultivation methods there were too low-level.
He'd decided: Once his Floating Green Shadow lightness skill hit perfection, he would make for Min Nan City!
With the plan set—
Lin Chang'sheng simply dragged a boulder over, took a seat by the pond, and watched the red notifications keep flashing on the panel.
......
Another two days passed.
[Fleeting Shadows (Perfection)]
Lin Chang'sheng saw the red notification and finally let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, a torrent of powerful information flooded his mind and instantly fused with his consciousness.
The information—
It was exactly the cultivation and force transmission techniques for Fleeting Shadows.
"Time to test this body technique!"
"Swish!"
With a thought, Lin Chang'sheng's figure flickered into a shadow, and reappeared thirty feet away!
He blurred again, popping up at his own doorstep.
He tapped his foot, body light as a swallow, and floated onto the roof in a blink. The next second, he flashed again—now perched atop a tree thirty feet from the door, swaying with the treetop.
"This Floating Green Shadow is legit, hell yeah!"
"Never thought I'd get another shot at life and finally live out that childhood dream—scaling rooftops like a hero, perching on tree branches just like a bird!"
Employing the Fleeting Shadows Lightness Skill with force transmission, Lin Chang'sheng felt inner strength coursing from both feet, his body as ephemeral as smoke, dashing atop the bamboo grove as fast as lightning, as swift as a shadow. He sped toward Lonely Wolf Mountain!
"Is that Chang'sheng?"
Just then, a hundred yards from Lin Chang'sheng's home, a petite, beautiful young woman with a shapely chest, pretty features, and a food box in hand, caught sight and covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
"Chang'sheng's martial arts are so powerful!"
"So it wasn't some accident. He was the one who rescued me!"
Yan Zhen watched Lin Chang'sheng tap on tree tops, flitting like a bird. Her beautiful eyes brimmed with awe, and she murmured, "Chang'sheng, with such kindness... How could I ever repay you?"
She knew in her heart—
If not for Lin Chang'sheng, she'd have been doomed.
........
Yu City.
Imperial City.
Two hundred miles away.
"Trash! All I have are trash?"
"How could you fail?"
In a lavish residence, a young man dressed in white, attractive but with thin lips, suddenly flipped his desk, the letter in his hand smashed to pieces, face dark as thunder!
This was none other than King Qi of Great Yu, Yu Xiaochang.
Yu Xiaochang had just received a Divine Eagle messenger report: The Eldest Princess had been rescued, turned the tables, killed her assassins, and joined up with Yu City's experts.
He knew it all too well.
The Eldest Princess hadn't died in Mu City. Trying to kill her now was no longer an option.
"I will never yield! Good never loses to evil—how could Yin and Yang ever be reversed?"
"There is still a chance for me!"
Yu Xiaochang clenched his fists, knuckles cracking. After a long silence, he drew a deep breath, eyes flashing with venomous killing intent. In a low, icy voice he growled, "Lin Chang'sheng, you ruined everything for me... I won't let you live!"
"Guards!"
Yu Xiaochang called out in a deep, cold voice.