Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Escape Technique Perfection
"You’re all smiles. I take it things are going well?" Zhang Chi said.
He hadn’t asked the other man to cover his eyes, but he himself was still masked, just like yesterday.
"Thanks to you, friend, everything went smoothly. All of Brother Zhou’s subordinates pledged their loyalty last night. I was even summoned by that Guard Captain."
"He was suspicious of me, but he didn’t want the Mining Slaves to be leaderless, so he just reprimanded me a bit. After I offered to help him increase the Ore output by ten percent, he let me go."
Xiao Yunhong said with a smile.
At this moment, he was full of vigor and even looked much younger.
Or rather, the only reason he had looked old was because life as a miner was just too harsh.
Now that the hard times were over, his spirits were high. He had also used Brother Zhou’s inheritance to buy an Elixir that removed Evil Qi, so he was naturally recovering quickly.
However, there was the faint mark of a handprint on his face, and when he spoke of being reprimanded, his eyes filled with killing intent.
Clearly, he had not only been reprimanded but also slapped.
But since he didn’t mention it, Zhang Chi wasn’t going to expose it.
"That’s good."
Zhang Chi nodded slightly.
After they chatted a bit more, he learned that as soon as work had ended last night, the news of Brother Zhou’s and the others’ deaths had been reported by a subordinate sent by Xiao Yunhong.
Afterward, the Guard Captain had personally led his men to inspect the bodies of Brother Zhou and the others before taking them away.
As expected, suspicion hadn’t fallen on him.
Now, Xiao Yunhong had become Boss Xiao.
However, Xiao Yunhong knew his place and didn’t want to die. Even after becoming a Mine Tyrant, he hadn’t revealed Zhang Chi’s existence to anyone. This time, he had also come to the meeting alone.
Next, Xiao Yunhong began to teach him the Blood Escape Technique.
"You’ve probably noticed, friend, that this Escape Technique isn’t hard. It only takes a few practice sessions to reach Entry Level, and Minor Success only requires twenty to thirty. But even so, reaching Minor Success is almost impossible. That’s because every practice attempt consumes a massive amount of Essence Blood."
"But don’t worry, friend. I’ll get some Blood Spirit Pills for you. With those, reaching Entry Level will be just around the corner."
"It’s just that I can only kill one Mining Slave every few days at most. Even including the Mining Slaves who die from other causes, the supply of Blood Spirit Pills won’t be very large."
"Fortunately, that’s not a bad thing. Taking too many Blood Spirit Pills will affect your mind. And even with the pills to replenish you, using the Blood Escape Technique too often will severely damage your core essence. Besides, the Entry Level of the Blood Escape Technique is enough!"
Xiao Yunhong said after he finished teaching.
"Alright, we’ll do as you say. But don’t specifically kill Mining Slaves anymore. The ones who die by accident will be enough."
"Otherwise, if the Guards find out, it will definitely affect our grand escape plan. Killing too many will also make you unable to complete your tasks," Zhang Chi said after a moment’s thought.
"Okay, friend."
Not wanting to be beaten by the Guards again, Xiao Yunhong readily agreed.
"By the way, I’ve found out that in about four months, the Guards are going to clear out the mine tunnels. You’ll need to be extra careful then, friend."
"What I mean is, if you’re planning to dig a tunnel to escape, you need to hurry up."
Xiao Yunhong continued.
"It’s fine. I’m not planning to dig a tunnel. That would take too long—it would be difficult to succeed without several years of work, and it would inevitably collapse midway. Not only would I fail to escape, but I’d also lose my life." Although inwardly alarmed, Zhang Chi’s expression remained calm as he spoke.
"That makes sense," Xiao Yunhong said.
"Mm, next, you need to find out as much as you can about the Guards. For example, their appearances, names, Cultivation levels, and ages. Also, get a clear understanding of the mine’s layout. If we know ourselves and know our enemy, we’ll have a better chance of success," Zhang Chi continued.
"Okay."
Finding this reasonable, Xiao Yunhong nodded again.
The two discussed for a while longer but couldn’t come up with a concrete plan, so they decided to keep waiting.
But after Xiao Yunhong left, a smile immediately appeared on Zhang Chi’s face.
It turned out that upon learning the Guards were going to clear the mine tunnels, he had immediately thought of a bold plan.
He just needed to wait four months to put it into action.
At the same time, he could use this period to further increase his strength.
However, to ensure its success, he didn’t tell Xiao Yunhong about it.
Furthermore, the fact that the Blood Escape Technique was easy to learn but hard to master also made him ecstatic.
For ordinary Cultivators, consuming more than a fifth of their Essence Blood would lead to side effects if done too many times, even if they replenished it afterward.
But he had the protection of the Jade Pendant, so he definitely wouldn’t suffer any.
He also had the strange snakes as a supplement, allowing him to rapidly grind his proficiency in this Magic.
Once he succeeded, even an enemy with a higher Cultivation might not be able to catch him.
And so, that very night, he prepared some Four-legged Strange Snake Essence Blood and officially began practicing the Blood Escape Technique.
That’s right, Essence Blood, not roasted meat.
The effects of both were almost identical.
Therefore, after learning the relevant method, he no longer needed to kill the strange snakes.
Although the strange snakes whose blood was drawn would have their Vitality greatly damaged, they could still recover after a period of time. This was more in line with his philosophy of sustainable development.
SWISH!
As he channeled the Magic, the Essence Blood in his body was instantly and violently consumed. His escape speed increased by a huge margin, even far surpassing his Wind Manipulation Technique, which was already at Entry Level.
But afterward, he immediately felt extremely weak.
Fortunately, he swallowed a few drops of the strange snake’s Essence Blood and recovered most of his strength in a short while.
Then, he performed it again.
In less than an hour, he had used it four times and successfully brought the Magic to Entry Level.
’Great! It really works! This must be the proper way to use the Jade Pendant!’
Zhang Chi thought, overjoyed.
But he didn’t stop; he practiced with even more enthusiasm.
He discovered that once the Magic reached Entry Level, his speed was indeed even faster.
When he used it, a blinding crimson light would envelop his entire body, making him as light as a swallow and giving him the ability to fly at low altitudes for a short time.
By the second half of the night, he had successfully cast it more than twenty more times, and his proficiency with the Magic improved again, reaching Minor Success in one go.
The effect of the Escape Technique was now double what it had been at Entry Level.
By now, however, the strange snake’s Essence Blood was all used up, and he was mentally and physically exhausted.
So he finally stopped, rested for a bit, and then began his other Cultivation routines.
For the next period of time, he once again entered a state of Cultivation in Seclusion.
Of course, he still met with Xiao Yunhong frequently to discuss matters related to Cultivation.
Xiao Yunhong also did as he was told, using his status as a Mine Tyrant to gather all sorts of intelligence about the mine and the Guards.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yunhong continued to collect Cultivation Techniques and Magic.
Zhang Chi selected a few, memorizing them with a Cultivator’s powerful memory for future use.
But he only actually practiced a small fraction of those Magic techniques.
If he tried to learn too many, he wouldn’t have enough time, and his focus would be divided, making it easy to end up with nothing. It was better to concentrate on a few useful ones.
And so, five days passed quickly, and his Blood Escape Technique successfully reached the Great Success Realm.
After another half a month, the Blood Escape Technique reached Perfection. The progress was shockingly fast.
Of course, he didn’t tell anyone, including Xiao Yunhong.
Once cast, the Perfected Blood Escape Technique was as fast as lightning, and his entire body seemed to transform into a streak of crimson light.
Zhang Chi didn’t know how fast a Qi Cultivation Peak Cultivator was when using a normal Escape Technique at full power. But he felt that he could now compete with one.
Unless the opponent’s Escape Technique was also very advanced, or their mastery of it was extremely high.
Of course, the Perfected Blood Escape Technique also consumed an extreme amount of Essence Blood.
However, he could control the output. If he didn’t fly at full speed or only flew a short distance, the consumption was completely manageable.
Furthermore, he had practiced it hundreds of times in total, but sure enough, his Vitality had not been damaged.
This was because every time he finished practicing, the Jade Pendant would absorb some negative energy.
It had clearly succeeded in protecting him.
Besides the Escape Technique, his progress in other areas was also obvious, such as Body Refining.
