Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Great Progress in Stone Touching Skill
"Little brother, I never thought we’d meet again after going all the way round."
Since her debut in the martial world, Charming Fox has had countless lovers. Whenever she merely so much as clicks her fingers, there are more men willing to share her bed than she can count.
Thus Shi Xiaole’s cold rejection left a deep impression on her that day.
What you can’t get, always stirs up trouble.
For Shi Xiaole, Charming Fox wouldn’t hesitate to kill those vulgar martial-world men surrounding her, whom she had grown tired of long ago.
"Miss, it isn’t safe here. Let’s talk after we get out."
Noticing Charming Fox’s palpable anticipation, Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but warn her.
The situation made him breathe a sigh of relief. Being in this woman’s hands, at least it was better than being killed, although this woman did not seem to be kind-hearted either.
Charming Fox shook her head and said, "This place is a maze, wandering around aimlessly is even less safe."
"If you do as I say, we can quickly escape the maze."
Shi Xiaole had a confident look on his face, which made Charming Fox giggle non-stop. She thought this young boy was quite the bragger. However, for some unknown reason, she did not refuse Shi Xiaole.
Charming Fox helped him up, her waist swaying slightly, she leaned almost half of her body onto Shi Xiaole, which left him speechless.
Shi Xiaole was still just a fifteen-year-old boy, his blood ran hot at his age. Encouraged by her, his blood started to flow rapidly.
"Little brother, it seems like you’re not as modest as you look."
Charming Fox smiled suggestively.
Following Shi Xiaole’s guidance, they turned several corners, and with one step, they managed to escape the maze. This left Charming Fox stunned for a moment, even her teasing stopped.
"Little brother, how did you manage to do that?"
Charming Fox looked at the young boy curiously, her face full of inquiry.
Shi Xiaole ignored her, silently channeling his internal power, secretly considering how to escape. Unfortunately, Charming Fox was very cunning. She appeared to be affectionate, yet her finger was always pointed at his dantian (energy center).
Shi Xiaole believed that if he showed any unusual movements, this woman would definitely press down with her finger, destroying his internal power.
"I like smart young men, especially if they are as handsome as you."
After escaping the maze, Charming Fox finally let down her guard. So, she decided to thoroughly enjoy her spoils of war. With a forceful grip, she began unfastening Shi Xiaole’s clothes.
Shi Xiaole quickly stepped back, Charming Fox sneered, "Don’t struggle in vain, or else you’ll regret it."
"Miss, I hope that you won’t force me."
Shi Xiaole tightened his grip on the Hundred Battles Blade, inwardly cursing his own bad luck. His power was dwindling, and he feared he wouldn’t be a match for Charming Fox even if she didn’t use any hidden weapons.
"Don’t be ungrateful, little brother. Come here!"
Charming Fox, her mind muddled with lust, didn’t care about anything. She directly advanced with force.
Shi Xiaole had no choice but to once again use the Battle Blade Skill. Unfortunately, due to his dwindling internal power, the blade’s force was easily disrupted by Charming Fox’s fifth tier of Hidden Qi. He also spat out blood, smashing into the wall.
Boom!
Unknown whether it was due to him triggering a mechanism or not, a moment after Shi Xiaole fell to the ground, the floor violently jerked to the right and he fell into a bottomless pit.
"Little brother!"
The stone slab quickly closed again, annoying Charming Fox into stomping her foot. Seeing the victory that was within her grasp fly away, she desperately searched around the room, hoping to solve the puzzle and unlock the mechanism.
Unfortunately, the trap mechanism inside was clearly a notch above what was outside. She was actually unable to solve it for the time being.
...
Shi Xiaole landed on a soft bed, feeling dizzy for a while. After his vision eventually cleared, he slowly got up.
What presented before his eyes was a stone chamber about thirty feet in size.
The stone chamber was simply furnished; besides the soft bed, there was only a stone table and two stone stools. On the stone table, there was a wooden box about one foot long, as well as some well-preserved dried meat and water pots.
"Could this be the core of the Third Eye Cave Residence?"
When things are abnormal, there must be an explanation, and Shi Xiaole could not find any other.
His gaze quickly landed on the small box. His intuition told him that the object inside was likely the most treasured object in the Third Eye Cave Residence.
In line with the principle of caution, he stood a distance away and used his long sword to flip open the lid of the box. When there was no sign of anomaly after waiting for quite a while, he slowly approached.
"Friend, I am the Third Eye Elder. The fact that you have opened this box proves that we are connected by fate...."
A single, yellowed sheet of paper had a few lines written on it with several hundred words in total. The Third Eye Elder briefly introduced his own life.
Turns out he was from one of the minority ethnic groups of the Flying Horse Dynasty. Due to a fortuitous encounter, he was taught and eventually became a somewhat renowned Stone Touching Master.
On his deathbed, the Third Eye Elder, having no suitable heir, built this Third Eye Cave Residence in hopes that a future person of destiny might come here and take up his mantle.
"This matter involves my legacy. If you have the talent for Stone Touching, you should practice my secret techniques and use the Stone Touching Skill to leave this place. If you have no talent, I regret that you can only die here."
Placing the paper aside, Shi Xiaole picked up the manual titled ’Perception Tactics’ that was under the wooden box.
After flipping through it for a while, the look on Shi Xiaole’s face turned increasingly ugly.
He finally understood why the Stone Touching Masters were ordinary people without any martial arts skills.
According to the ’Perception Tactics’, to possess the ability to sense Mystic Crystal Stones, one needs to create a special whirlpool of energy within the body’s space.
Using this whirlpool as a base and the Technique of Perception, establish a connection between the whirlpool and Mystic Crystal Stones. In this way, you can naturally find Mystic Crystal Stones.
But the problem is, ’Perception Tactics’ clearly states that only the dantian in the body has enough space to establish this whirlpool.
And unfortunately, the whirlpool and the internal power are incompatible.
This means, if Shi Xiaole wants to practice the Stone Touching Skill, he must first disperse all of his Internal Power, and from then on, genuinely act as a Stone Touching Master.
Of course, this is impossible.
The reason why Shi Xiaole wants to learn the Stone Touching Skill is mainly to serve his martial arts and to enhance his own strength more quickly.
But now, Third Eye Elder has definitely set a trap. If he doesn’t practice the Stone Touching Skill, he’ll surely die here.
"I was too rash. Adventuring, this danger is not something an ordinary person can handle."
Shi Xiaole sat down, feeling extremely depressed.
"The human body’s large space, for ordinary people, there is only the lower Dantian, but for me..."
Suddenly, Shi Xiaole shuddered, as if he had found a way out of the crisis.
He suddenly remembered, doesn’t he have a system in his brain? The space of the system is at least several times larger than his own Dantian, right?
Acting on his thoughts, it was a dead-end anyway. Shi Xiaole calmed his mind and began to condense the Qi Vortex in the system space following the method of Perception Tactics.
The so-called Qi Vortex, in fact, is the energy derived from thought, it originates from within the human body.
According to Perception Tactics, among a thousand people, at most, only one person can condense the Qi Vortex. This is a type of willpower talent that ordinary people can’t learn even if they want to.
Shi Xiaole manipulated his consciousness and about two hours later, a small vortex composed of thought-energy was formed within the system space.
At this instant, Shi Xiaole felt as if there were some inexplicable connections between himself and the surrounding air.
If Third Eye Elder were to resurrect here and knew about all this, he would probably jump in astonishment.
Ordinary Stone Touching Masters, trying to condense the Qi Vortex, usually require at least a month even if they meditate for three two-hour periods daily.
Those with better aptitude need about half a month.
Even for those with outstanding talent for Stone Touching Skill, the shortest would not be less than three days.
Shi Xiaole was remarkable, just after two hours, he had actually succeeded easily. It was simply a miracle.
Condensing the Qi Vortex was the first step. Shi Xiaole began to practice the Sensing Method recorded in Perception Tactics.
Time passes unnoticed in the room.
Before he knew it, a whole day had passed.
At a certain moment, the Qi Vortex in the system’s space was like an octopus, extending invisible tendrils of thought. Shi Xiaole’s vision was immersed in darkness, but pinpricks of light appeared in the distance.
He abruptly opened his eyes, looking towards the eastern wall of the stone room.
If he had not guessed wrongly, those few ordinary stones embedded on the surface of the wall are the legendary Mystic Crystal Stones.
Shi Xiaole immediately walked over, touched the surface of the stone, and his heart surged with joy.
If it was a day earlier, he wouldn’t have any feelings. But now, he had a certain Stone Touching ability and easily discovered the strange thin film on the surface of the stone.
Thought-energy burst out again, following a specific method, it pierced through the thin film of a Mystic Crystal Stone. At that instant, a burst of fresh spiritual energy sprayed out, entering his body through Shi Xiaole’s arm.
Suppressing his excitement, Shi Xiaole circulated his Embracing the Origin Energy. The spiritual energy inside his body obediently merged into his original Internal Power, transforming into a part of his Internal Power after a few cycles.
Shi Xiaole had a feeling, within these few short seconds, his Internal Power had increased by the effects of ten or more days of training!
"So this is the Mystic Crystal Stone? No wonder, no wonder people in the Martial World chase after it fervently."
Taking a deep breath, Shi Xiaole would hesitate no more and continued to absorb the remaining Mystic Crystal Stones.
When all the Mystic Crystal Stones on the wall turned into a pile of shards, the surging Internal Power dashed fiercely, with a bang, the invisible barrier within the body shattered. Shi Xiaole broke through.
Hidden Qi Fourth Tier Peak.
Hidden Qi Fifth Tier Early Stage.
Hidden Qi Fifth Tier Mid Stage.
Eventually, Shi Xiaole’s Internal Power cultivation level halted at the Mid Stage of Hidden Qi Fifth Tier.
If he were to compare his previous Internal Power to a water ditch, then his current Internal Power would be a broadened water channel.
Not only did the circulation speed increase, but also the power had become more violent.
Two swift movements, the sword light sparkled.
"Good! The same swordsmanship level, the power increased by about thirty to forty percent."
The surprise wasn’t over, soon after the last Mystic Crystal Stone disappeared, the eastern wall suddenly split open, revealing a passage. Obviously, this was the way out.
"I mustn’t rush. When the Third Eye Elder initially designed this, he clearly didn’t take into account the fight between the two factions. If I directly leave the cave now, it would be okay. But if I were to encounter Xue again, I’d probably still suffer a loss."
He must remain calm especially in exciting moments.
Shi Xiaole thought for a while, sank his consciousness into the Martial God Hall, and asked, "Can this Perception Tactics be used to exchange for reward points?"
"This is a type of secret manual similar to cultivating mind. It can barely do so."
The system said after a long consideration.
"Great, exchange it immediately."
"After the system’s evaluation, Perception Tactics is considered as top grade among third-grade. Host, do you want to exchange for reward points, or exchange for a martial skill of the same grade?"
The system asked mechanically.
"Martial skill of the same grade!"
Without hesitation, Shi Xiaole immediately said.
