Martial Dao: I Can Enhance My Talents

Chapter 279: Chapter 278: Mysterious Person

’Lay low for a while?’

Chu Feng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the roiling qi and blood within him. He commanded Chu Chong in a hoarse voice.

"Go make preparations. I need to leave the Sect for a while."

"Cousin, your injuries..."

Chu Chong hesitated.

"Just do as I say!"

Chu Feng growled, his eyes bloodshot.

Chu Chong didn’t dare say another word. He quickly bowed and retreated.

Chu Feng struggled out of bed, changed into a clean set of clothes, and pushed open the door.

In the early morning at the Qingxuan Sect, most disciples were either asleep or cultivating in their rooms. Only a very few were out and about.

Chu Feng avoided paths where he might encounter people, hurrying straight for the main gate. He successfully left through the main gate of the Qingxuan Sect.

Stepping onto the wide road outside the main gate, Chu Feng glanced back at the towering structure behind him and finally let out a long, heavy exhale.

The suffocating sense of oppression in his chest finally eased a little.

His figure blurred as he sped away from the Qingxuan Sect.

He had no clear destination, only wanting to temporarily escape the people and events that had brought him such shame.

「Several days later」

Chu Feng arrived at a city called Fengwan.

The city was a thousand li away from the Qingxuan Sect. Its most famous establishment was the "Money Pit" in the western part of the city—the Celestial Fragrance Building.

Chu Feng walked straight into the Celestial Fragrance Building, threw down a thick stack of silver notes, and demanded the finest private room and the most popular singing girl.

For the next few days, he lost himself in wine and women, trying to use alcohol and pleasure to numb himself and forget his troubles back at the Sect.

Inside the private room, incense smoke curled in the air, and the sound of a zither was alluringly decadent.

Chu Feng downed cup after cup of strong liquor. The beautiful woman beside him smiled enchantingly, whispering sweet nothings.

However, the burn of alcohol and the allure of beauty could only provide a fleeting illusion.

Whenever the night grew quiet and the drunkenness began to fade, the humiliation and resentment he had suppressed during the day would gnaw at his heart like venomous snakes.

Fang Han’s calm yet indifferent face, the mocking sneers of the disciples below the stage—these images flashed through his mind again and again.

"Why... I, Chu Feng, have outstanding Talent and have cultivated diligently! Why would I lose to a mud-legged peasant who only joined the Sect a little over a year ago!"

The veins on the hand gripping his wine cup bulged. His bloodshot eyes were filled with venomous hatred and madness.

A few days of indulgence did nothing to truly improve his mood. Instead, the wastefulness and idleness only added to his agitation and emptiness.

That evening, Chu Feng, tipsy with drink, dismissed the beauty beside him. He leaned against the window alone, his eyes vacant as he stared at the bustling crowd on the street below.

He decided he would leave the Celestial Fragrance Building tomorrow, find a place for secluded cultivation, and push for the Late Stage of Fifth Grade.

’Only by increasing my strength can I wash away this disgrace!’

Just as his mind was in turmoil, the night outside grew darker, and the lanterns were lit.

Suddenly, an almost imperceptible sound of something cutting through the air rang out, extremely faint.

If it weren’t for his sharp Spiritual Sense as a Fifth Grade Martial Artist, he would have barely noticed it.

His drunkenness vanished in an instant. He whipped his head around and shouted sharply:

"Who’s there?"

In the shadows of a corner of the room, a figure had appeared at some unknown time, completely cloaked in a wide black robe, its face hidden beneath a hood.

The person seemed to have merged with the shadows. Their aura was faint, almost non-existent. Had he not seen them with his own eyes, it would have been nearly impossible to perceive their presence.

But from this person, Chu Feng felt an extremely faint, yet heart-stoppingly cold and dangerous presence.

"COUGH... COUGH..."

The black-robed figure didn’t answer, instead letting out a few suppressed, low coughs. The sound was hoarse and dry, as if their throat were filled with sand.

With the coughing, a subtle disturbance appeared in their aura. Although it stabilized almost immediately, Chu Feng still acutely sensed it.

’This person... is injured, and not lightly!’

"Enough with the theatrics!"

A cold glint flashed in Chu Feng’s eyes. Though his mood was foul, he hadn’t lost his vigilance.

This black-robed person had managed to sneak into his room without a sound; they were clearly no friend.

Without hesitation, he shot up, forming his fingers into a sword-like shape. He gathered a sharp gust of wind around his fingertips and stabbed straight for the black-robed figure’s throat.

The strike was swift and vicious, imbued with the immense Inner Qi of his Middle Stage of Fifth Grade cultivation. It was powerful enough to pierce gold and stone.

However, faced with this sudden attack, the black-robed figure merely lifted a hand slightly.

The movement seemed slow, yet it struck first despite starting later. A withered hand, like a demon’s claw, appeared out of nowhere and lightly slapped Chu Feng’s wrist.

"PAK!"

A soft sound.

Chu Feng felt as if a red-hot iron had seared his wrist. A sinister, cold Qi Force instantly penetrated his meridians. His entire arm went numb and powerless, and the wind from his finger strike dissipated.

He let out a muffled grunt and staggered back several steps, knocking over the tea table behind him and sending cups and plates scattering.

The color instantly drained from his face, and his eyes filled with terror.

One move!

He had been utterly defeated in a single move!

This black-robed person’s strength was far superior to his own. Even gravely injured, they were not someone he could possibly fight!

"Just who are you?"

Chu Feng forcefully suppressed the terror in his heart and blustered, his other hand already secretly moving to the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"COUGH... COUGH... Chu Feng, a Celestial Pride True Inheritor of the Qingxuan Sect, now hiding in a place of vice and drowning your sorrows like a stray dog."

"Defeated in public by a junior who’s been in the Sect for just over a year, utterly humiliated... How does it feel?"

These words were like poisoned needles, accurately piercing Chu Feng’s most painful wound.

Chu Feng’s breath hitched. His face instantly flushed red, and the fury in his eyes burned so intensely it threatened to erupt. The fingers gripping his sword hilt trembled from the force of his grip.

"What are you trying to say?"

He asked through gritted teeth, his voice distorted with rage.

"Do you want revenge?"

The black-robed figure let out a low chuckle. The sound was like the cry of a Night Owl, utterly bone-chilling.

"Don’t you want... the power to crush Fang Han under your foot and wash away your shame?"

Chu Feng’s heart leaped, and his pupils constricted.

’Revenge? Power?’

’There wasn’t a moment he didn’t want it!’

But his reason told him there was no such thing as a free lunch. This black-robed person had sought him out for a reason.

"You... What’s your solution?"

Chu Feng stared intently at the black-robed figure, his voice laced with a hoarseness and urgency he himself didn’t notice.

The black-robed figure seemed to see through him and slowly raised its withered hand.

In its palm, a thin, dark red book had appeared at some point. It looked as if it were bound in some kind of tanned leather.

The book exuded a faint, unsettling scent of blood.

"The solution... is right here."

With a flick of its wrist, the black-robed figure sent the dark red book floating toward Chu Feng.

Chu Feng subconsciously reached out and caught it.

The book was heavy in his hand, its surface cool and slick, with a strange elasticity.

He looked down. The moment his eyes fell on the cover, his entire body shuddered as if bitten by a venomous snake, and he almost threw it away.

The book’s style, its material, even that faint scent of blood... it was nearly identical to the Blood Demon Skill manual he had found in the Wang Family’s secret chamber and destroyed with his own hands!

"This is... a Demon Skill!"

Chu Feng cried out in shock. The color drained from his face, replaced by extreme fear and revulsion.

As a True Inheritor of the Qingxuan Sect, he knew better than any ordinary disciple what cultivating a Demon Skill meant.

It meant cutting oneself off from the righteous path. Once exposed, he would be hunted down by the Sect and the entire martial arts world of Qingyang County, never to know a day of peace!

He subconsciously wanted to throw the profane object away.

However, just as his arm was about to swing, Fang Han’s face flashed uncontrollably in his mind.

The humiliation of his crushing defeat on the challenge stage, the mocking sneers of the disciples below, the miserable sight of himself fleeing the Sect like a stray dog...

Intense humiliation and hatred instantly overwhelmed his reason like a tide of magma.

His arm froze in mid-air.

The motion to throw it away came to an abrupt halt.

The black-robed figure took in Chu Feng’s struggle and hesitation, and from under the hood came a barely audible, sinister chuckle, filled with the satisfaction of a successful scheme.

"I have given you the Cultivation Technique. The choice is yours."

"Will you continue to be a humiliated Celestial Pride True Inheritor, or will you... seize the power to control the lives and deaths of others and avenge your shame?"

Before the words had even faded, the black-robed figure’s form blurred like a phantom and silently melted into the deep night outside, disappearing without a trace.

It was as if they had never been there at all.

Only Chu Feng was left, standing stiffly amidst the wreckage of the private room.

In his hand, the dark red Blood Demon Skill manual felt like a searing brand, burning his palm and making his very soul tremble.

Outside the window, a night breeze drifted past, carrying the faint, distant sounds of string and bamboo music, which only served to emphasize the dead silence in the room.

Chu Feng looked down at the manual in his hand, the book that would decide his fate. His gaze shifted wildly as struggle, fear, greed, and madness warred within him.

Finally, all his struggles melted away, replaced by a savage, desperate resolve deep in his eyes.

Slowly, he clenched his fist, gripping the dark red manual tightly.

His nails dug so deeply into his palm that they drew blood, but he didn’t even notice.

...

The afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, casting dappled shadows on the open ground of the courtyard.

"SWISH—"

Fang Han slowly came to a halt. The gentle breeze swirling around him quietly subsided, his figure transitioning from extreme motion to absolute stillness without stirring a speck of dust.

He frowned slightly, a flicker of contemplation in his eyes that was hard to detect.

’The Cultivation of the Wind and Cloud Escape is much slower than I expected.’

Despite the terrifying boost from his Sixty-Fourfold Stepping Talent, the difficulty of cultivating a top-level Body Technique far exceeded that of his previous Top Grade Body Technique, the Flowing Wind Shadowless Step.

After reaching the Entry Level, the foundation he had built by mastering the Flowing Wind Shadowless Step to Perfection was completely used up. Every bit of progress now required immense effort and time.

At this rate, he estimated it would take at least three months of painstaking work to cultivate the Wind and Cloud Escape to the Minor Achievement Realm.

’Three months... that’s too slow.’

Fang Han sighed inwardly.

His Cultivation, thanks to his Root Bone being improved by the Earth Core Stone Milk and the boost from his 128-fold Root Bone Talent Amplification, was advancing at an incredible pace. He had already broken through to the Late Stage of Fifth Grade.

His Swordsmanship, with his Swordsmanship Talent improved by the Sword-shaped Grass and the boost from his 128-fold Swordsmanship Talent Amplification, had reached Minor Achievement in the Nine Swords of Sky Splitting.

Moreover, it was still improving rapidly. In half a month at most, he should be able to break through to the Mastery Realm.

Only his Body Technique, despite having a 64-fold Stepping Talent Amplification, still seemed too slow compared to the progress of his Cultivation and Swordsmanship.

If this continued, his Body Technique would inevitably become his biggest weakness.