47: Chapter 44 Crossing the River 47: Chapter 44 Crossing the River Half a month later, in the early morning, Zhengyang Martial Arts Hall was closed for its routine rest day.
Chu Xisheng swallowed an Essence Building Pill in his backyard, and then, with his bare chest, he breathed rhythmically facing the morning sun.
This time Chu Xisheng persisted under the scorching sun for almost half an hour, only stopping when his body began to emit steam.
When Chu Xisheng finished his practice, he habitually glanced at the ‘Nourishing Essence Skill’ in the system interface.
Immediately two pieces of information appeared in his mind.
——Do you want to use 13 Martial Arts Points to elevate your Nourishing Essence Skill’s cultivation to the Second Level of Perfection?
——Do you want to use 50 Martial Arts Points to replace the secret medicine of the Third Level of Nourishing Essence Skill?
Chu Xisheng naturally chose no.
He was checking the system interface primarily to grasp the progress of his Nourishing Essence Skill.
Chu Xisheng had now figured out that 1 Martial Arts Point was roughly equivalent to 3 Essence Building Pills, or the normal cultivation of thirty days.
He remembered that on the fourth day of August, when he came out of the Fire Bone Cave, it took 20 Martial Arts Points to raise his Nourishing Essence Skill to the Second Level of Perfection.
And now, on the thirtieth of August, it only needed 12 points.
Chu Xisheng currently relied mainly on the Essence Building Pills for cultivation and had never stopped.
From the fourth day of August to the present, he had continuously consumed twenty-six pills.
One Essence Building Pill was equivalent to ten days of his usual cultivation effort.
From this, one could see why the offspring of aristocratic families made rapid progress in their cultivation; clearly, they had their reasons.
Qin Muge reached the First Grade at the age of twenty-two, not only because of her own talent but also with the help of the Tieshan Qin Family.
After that, Chu Xisheng began to practice the Chasing Wind Saber and the Light Cloud Jump.
Although he could now practice Martial Arts in his dreams, he did not neglect his daytime cultivation.
Every day for a fixed half hour, without fail.
And at this moment, as Chu Xisheng swung his long saber, the saber pattern on his right arm suddenly emanated a peculiar blood glow.
This was precisely the Secret Technique Totem he had engraved.
Chu Xisheng followed Chu Yunyun’s advice and eventually did not choose the ’empty wind’ style; instead, he had the seventeenth style of the Chasing Wind Saber Technique, ‘Wind and Thunder,’ engraved onto his body.
This was because at least half the movements in ‘Wind and Thunder’ were nearly identical to those of ’empty wind.’
He only needed to slightly modify the ’empty wind’ saber-drawing posture to allow this one Secret Technique Totem to produce the effects of two.
In the future, if he switched to practicing the ‘Divine Wind Bright Mirror Blade,’ this Secret Technique Totem could also correspond to the Draw Sword Style of the Divine Wind Bright Mirror Blade.
This was the advantage of having a Martial Arts Grandmaster of the First Grade by his side; it could save him from taking many detours.
Half an hour passed quickly, and Chu Xisheng wanted to try practicing for longer, but he immediately felt numbness in his limbs and twitching in his heart.
He helplessly sheathed his saber, then turned to look at the Martial Arts section in the system interface.
——Chasing Wind Saber Technique (Second Layer), Light Cloud Jump (First Level).
In the half month, even though Chu Xisheng focused on practicing Light Cloud Jump in his dream cultivation, he still had not been able to elevate its level.
Fortunately, although the text in the Martial Arts column had not changed, the effects of his simulated practice in the dreams were indeed solid.
His movement techniques were now more agile and nimble than half a month ago, and could perfectly complement the Chasing Wind Saber.
These two Martial Arts had already combined seamlessly and were indistinguishable from each other.
Chu Xisheng hesitated over whether or not to use 8 Martial Arts Points to forcibly elevate Light Cloud Jump.
He wanted to master the Second Level of Light Cloud Jump as soon as possible.
Chu Xisheng’s thoughts were simple and pragmatic; since he already had the advantage in movement techniques with the ‘Time Instant Shadow Body,’ he needed to further strengthen this advantage.
Chu Xisheng now also had enough Martial Arts Points to spend.
The book ‘Debating Martial Arts’ had brought astounding effects, altogether providing him with 27 points over half a month, increasing his total Martial Arts Points to 31.
However, it was almost time for another refresh of the Martial Arts Treasure Vault that night, so Chu Xisheng decided to wait a little longer.
And just as he minimized the system interface to the corner of his eye, the door to Chu Yunyun’s room opened with a ‘creak.’
She walked out of the room dressed in lake-green attire, with a light silk cloak on her head, “Have you finished practicing?
Get ready quickly; we should leave soon.
If we’re any later, there will be no ferry.”
Chu Xisheng responded with a voice of acknowledgment, immediately went into his room, and shouldered the prepared knapsack.
The knapsack was firm and straight, mainly containing several weapons from the Fire Bone Cave and some food.
Today they planned to take a trip to the black market in the east of the river, selling the few weapons they had on hand, and then buying something there.
Since returning from the Fire Bone Cave, Chu Xisheng had stayed inside Zhengyang Martial Arts Hall to cultivate his martial arts in seclusion, scarcely ever stepping out the door of the hall.
This was a rare period of leisure for him since he had crossed over into this world.
No need to escort caravans or buy groceries and cook.
Apart from cultivation, there was nothing he needed to take care of.
But now that was no longer possible, as the two of them had exhausted their supply of Demon Silver and were in urgent need of replenishment.
The magic practiced by Chu Yunyun was a veritable Gold Swallowing Beast.
The salary from the Police Pool of Blood, the hush money from Lu Luanti, and the reward silver given by Cao Xuan totaled over a hundred taels of Demon Silver, all of which Chu Yunyun had spent clean in a single month.
Chu Xisheng carefully bound his luggage to his back and then affectionately attached a saber, covered with blue glow engravings, to his waist.
This was the ‘Magic Refining Light Steel Blade,’ and it was also Chu Xisheng’s new saber.
Half a month ago, Tie Xiaosheng had someone send a significant gift as a token of gratitude for saving his life.
This person was indeed much more generous and forthright than the Martial Arts Academy and the Police Pool of Blood.
He gave Chu Xisheng as many as thirty Essence Building Pills and also gifted him this ‘Magic Refining Light Steel Blade.’
This blade contained a large amount of Demon Silver on top of the Hundred-refined Light Steel Saber, making it lighter, faster, sharper, and more robust.
It was an Upper Ninth Grade treasure sword, and second-hand ones on the market were worth as much as two hundred taels.
The Vice Flag Leader Tie also expressed significant guilt, citing the tense situation of the Iron Banner Gang meaning he could not leave his post just yet.
He sent a modest gift as a thanks first and promised to visit Chu Xisheng personally once the situation stabilized.
After leaving the Martial Arts Academy, the two headed in the direction of East City Pier.
The black market they were going to was located on the east bank of the Shenxiu River, in a market town called ‘Ancient Market.’
This place was directly across the river from the dock on the east, opposite Xiushui County.
Not only was it the hub of water transportation in the southern territory of East State, but it was also the most famous black market within the territory of East State.
All the shady goods from Xiushui County that couldn’t see the light of day, crooked dealings, various smuggling trades, as well as numerous Jianghu people unwelcome by the government, converged in this market town.
Its prosperity was in no way inferior to Xiushui County.
After arriving at East City Pier, Chu Xisheng even made a point to glance in the direction of the Iron Banner Gang’s headquarters.
The headquarters of the Iron Banner Gang was an enormous ten-thousand-stone ship docked on the north side of the pier and highly conspicuous.
There were also several ships of the Iron Banner Gang moored around it, like the stars surrounding the moon.
The numerous banners of the Iron Banner Gang flew on the ships, fluttering vigorously, extremely imposing.
After glancing at them, Chu Xisheng felt relieved.
In the past month, many rumors about the Iron Banner Gang circulated within the Martial Arts Academy.
Some said that the Long Family had rallied several powerful families within the Inner City against the Iron Banner Gang, causing heavy losses; others said there was a traitor within the Iron Banner Gang, and it was nearly brought down by the Long Family.
However, just by looking at the spectacle of the Iron Banner Gang’s headquarters today, Chu Xisheng knew those rumors were not credible.
As long as the Iron Banner Gang was stable, the Long Family wouldn’t have the spare energy to trouble him.
Just then, a ferry boat slowly approached the shore.
Chu Xisheng withdrew his gaze and together with Chu Yunyun boarded the gangway.
This was a sand ship—not a modern dredger but an ancient type of flat-bottomed sailboat.
These ships could navigate between rivers and wouldn’t run aground even in sandy conditions.
They featured two decks, and there was a wooden shade at the rear of the ship.
The ferry business was booming, and the ship quickly filled with passengers.
Just as the boatman was swaying the helm, ready to set sail, a bell-like female voice called from a distance.
“Wait a moment, boatman!”
Chu Xisheng instantly raised his eyebrows, feeling that the voice was very familiar.
Indeed, in the next instant, he saw Lu Luanti hurrying onto the ship.
She looked around and upon seeing Chu Xisheng, her eyes lit up, and she walked over with a surprised and happy expression.
Are you also going to the Ancient Market in Jiangdong?”
As she asked, she squeezed in next to Chu Yunyun and sat down.
Chu Xisheng doubted the authenticity of this ‘coincidence,’ but had no evidence to prove otherwise.
As he was about to respond, another female voice came from outside the boat.
“Wait a moment, boatman, there are more people here!”
This voice was somewhat like the so-called ‘raspy’ voice of modern times—magnetic and pleasant to hear, making one eager to see the speaker’s true visage.