TBIP: Chapter 23 Part 2

Just as Lou Xingyao was feeling a bit complacent, a familiar figure appeared in front of him. It was Wen Hanshan.

The moment he appeared, Wen Hanshan coldly ordered, “Clean up the battlefield first. In a place like the Endless Forest, the smell of blood will attract more monsters.”

Even though Lou Xingyao didn’t have the strength to move his fingers, he couldn’t express any words of refusal when meeting the other person’s cold eyes.

In the end, he could only grit his teeth and stand up from the ground. He raised his hand and put the giant python into the storage bag.

This storage bag was a gift from Wen Hanshan after he drew qi into his body. Its capacity was barely enough to hold the giant python.

Then Lou Xingyao mobilized the spiritual power in his body. He pinched two dust removal techniques and wiped the blood stains scattered on the ground.

Once he had dealt with everything, Wen Hanshan spoke again.

“What do you think of your performance just now?”

Did he mean to review the fight?

If it was when the giant python just died, Lou Xingyao would’ve answered that he was very satisfied.

But when he met Wen Hanshan’s slightly cold gaze, the words changed to ones lacking in confidence. “Not bad… right?”

“Heh… It seems that you also know your performance just now was very bad?”

Wen Hanshan sneered. Of course, he could see that Lou Xingyao’s words didn’t come from his heart and immediately decided to convince him.

“The blue rock python just now was at the early stage of the first level. Even a cultivator in the third stage of qi condensation could kill it, but it forced you into such an embarrassed state. It is indeed a rare wonder.”

Wen Hanshan’s tone carried unclear sarcasm as he said the last sentence.

But Lou Xingyao could tell that there was more of a disappointment that he failed to meet expectations.

The blue rock python was five feet long, far exceeding the size of the pythons that Lou Xingyao knew in his previous life. After seeing it, he was shocked by its size and felt timid.

In addition, he was frightened by the venom of the blue rock python. His momentum weakened even more.

It was because the blue rock python discovered this that it pursued Lou Xingyao relentlessly.

At that time, Lou Xingyao had only been thinking about escaping and naturally had no chance to distinguish it carefully. Now that he thought about it, he knew that what Wen Hanshan said was true.

The blue rock python was huge, but its cultivation wasn’t high. Otherwise, Lou Xingyao wouldn’t have been able to so easily blind its eyes.

Just as Lou Xingyao was reflecting on it, Wen Hanshan’s voice was heard again.

“You’ve been fighting with the blue rock python for a long time. Why didn’t you use spiritual power and instead only relied on brute force to attack?”

“This…” The expression on Lou Xingyao’s face froze for a moment. He couldn’t say that he forgot, right?

After all, Lou Xingyao had been an ordinary person for over 30 years. His mind was full of the tension that he would die soon when fighting with the giant python. How could he care about spiritual power?

If he had realized this and poured his spiritual power into the dagger, he wouldn’t have only left a few shallow scars on the snake scales, which weren’t fatal. He would’ve damaged the giant python more seriously.

In this way, how could the whole process of his fight with the giant python be considered okay?

It was completely terrible.

Lou Xingyao finally understood why he almost died several times just now, why Wen Hanshan hadn’t made any moves, and why the atmosphere was so cold when Wen Hanshan appeared.

This was clearly an extreme disappointment with his performance.

The satisfaction and small amount of pride in his heart from killing the giant python disappeared in an instant.

If he had used the spiritual power properly, he would’ve been able to kill the giant python with one blow when he first attacked its weak point. Why would he need to waste several hours?

In addition, just after the giant python fell, he clearly felt that he couldn’t squeeze out any strength from head to toe. However, after cleaning up the battlefield under Wen Hanshan’s pressing gaze, the fatigue in his body had dissipated by more than half. Even the dull pain of his wounds was relieved a lot.

This was the convenience brought about by the operation of spiritual power.

All these things were enough to show that he now had the cultivation of the fifth level of qi condensation, but he didn’t have the strength that a fifth level qi condensation cultivator should have.

After thinking of this, Lou Xingyao finally understood why Wen Hanshan’s expression was so ugly. His expression immediately became serious, and he said, “I understand. Brother Wen, thank you for your advice.”

Wen Hanshan wasn’t a person who liked to preach. He saw that Lou Xingyao really understood, and the expression on his face eased a lot.

“It is a good thing that you managed to see the weakness of the blue rock python at a glance. Keep this up.”

Then, just like how he handed over the initiative to Lou Xingyao a few days ago, he disappeared from Lou Xingyao’s field of view again.

Was this a fear of hitting Lou Xingyao too hard?

Lou Xingyao was a bit confused for a moment, but he quickly retracted his attention and returned to being alert.

He didn’t forget Wen Hanshan telling him that the smell of blood would cause trouble in the Endless Forest.

He might’ve cleaned up the battlefield, but he had been fighting the blue rock python for a long time. It wasn’t known if he had attracted the attention of other monsters.

Fortunately, he observed for a bit and found nothing unusual.

After thinking for a while, he understood the key point. Wen Hanshan’s breath was exposed for a moment when he appeared just now.

In this circle of land in the Endless Forest, Wen Hanshan’s cultivation was almost overwhelming. Even if there were monsters that came for the smell of blood, they might not dare to approach at this moment due to Wen Hanshan’s shock.

In any case, this area was no longer a place to stay for a long time.

After operating a few cycles of his spiritual power and sweeping away the fatigue in his body, Lou Xingyao headed in the direction of the area he planned at the beginning and left this battlefield directly.

In the dense forest, a figure in green clothes flexibly flew up and down in the air. Opposite him, a grey-black giant wolf was fighting him.

The giant wolf had dark fur and thick limbs. Its sharp claws flashed with a cold light and weren’t easy to mess with.

In the intervals between attacks, the thick wolf tail would occasionally sweep towards the figure in green. It didn’t hurt the man at all, but the dust that stirred up when it landed showed that the force wasn’t small.

If one was hit by accident, they would lose half their life if they didn’t die.

Just one glance could make people feel terrified.

But the figure in green wasn’t afraid at all. He even took the initiative to attack the weak point of the giant wolf’s neck.

During this time, the giant wolf swept its tail, pounced, and bit. It could be said that it used many methods, but in the end, the opponent was more skilled. In a moment of negligence, the figure in green seized the opportunity and inserted the dagger into the weak point of its neck. It instantly lost its breath.

“Hoo…”

The moment the giant wolf fell, the person fighting it also let out a sigh of relief. After landing, he stepped forward to put the giant wolf’s body into the storage bag and cleaned up the bloodstains around him.

This set of movements could be described as smooth and skillful.

After the person in green clothes raised his hand to wipe the blood off his face, the beautiful face and deer-like eyes were revealed. Who else could it be except Lou Xingyao?

After he cleaned up the battlefield, Wen Hanshan quietly appeared from where he had been hiding.

“Very good.”

The giant wolf that was killed by Lou Xingyao just now was only an early stage second level monster. Judging from its aura, it already had the strength of a seventh level qi condensation cultivator.

It was even two levels higher than Lou Xingyao’s current cultivation.

But when the two sides were fighting just now, Lou Xingyao didn’t show the same helplessness and embarrassment as when he faced the blue rock python. He was able to force the giant wolf to retreat step by step, as well as kill it with his sword in the end.

Who would’ve thought that he could make such great progress in less than a year?

Even Wen Hanshan couldn’t help having a bit more appreciation in his eyes when looking at Lou Xingyao right now.

“Brother Wen, thank you for your hard work.” Lou Xingyao smiled at Wen Hanshan, very satisfied with his performance this time.

Ever since he first encountered the blue rock python more than half a year ago, he had realized his shortcomings in actual combat.

This really wasn’t his face. After all, Lou Xingyao used to live in a peaceful era. Except for special professionals, who would learn techniques that specialized in killing?

Fortunately, he had a way. At the very least, Wen Hanshan could be regarded as an expert in fighting against others.

So after realizing this, Lou Xingyao often asked Wen Hanshan for advice.

The other party never kept things secret and answered everything he knew.

After fighting the monster, Wen Hanshan would take the initiative to appear and review it for Lou Xingyao.

Due to this, Lou Xingyao was able to grow from being cornered by an early stage first level blue rock python to being able to easily kill an early stage second level monster.

“It is all due to your hard work,” Wen Hanshan said calmly without taking credit for it. Then he changed the subject. “Looking at the aura on your body, are you about to break through?”

After entering the Endless Forest for training, Wen Hanshan had asked Lou Xingyao to put away the hidden breath pendant he was wearing.

This would not only increase his vigilance, but also made it easier for Wen Hanshan to observe the changes in his aura, just like he did now.

“Yes.” Lou Xingyao nodded slightly. It was said that practice was the best teacher. It was equally true when it came to cultivation.

During the time when he broke through to the fifth level of qi condensation, he spent a full two months on the last acupoint. Now, after less than a year of training, he had already opened up most of the sixth meridian.

The only acupoint that hadn’t been opened was already shaky, as if it could be opened with just a bit more force. There was no stagnation at all like when he broke through to the fifth level.

“In that case, there happens to be a camp 30 kilometers away. Let’s go there to rest tonight.” Wen Hanshan immediately made arrangements for the next trip.

Lou Xingyao had been training in the Endless Forest for more than half a year. He naturally knew what camp Wen Hanshan was talking about.

As a well-known training place on the Tianming Continent, the Endless Forest usually had a constant stream of people entering it for training.

Many of them were like Lou Xingyao and wouldn’t leave for a year or two.

However, the monster corpses, plants, and other items obtained during their training couldn’t be stored in the storage bag for a long time.

It wasn’t just because the storage bag had limited space, but also because the spiritual energy of the monster would gradually dissipate over time.

Therefore, in order to make it easier for the cultivators to sell their gains and make it easier for themselves to receive goods, the merchants of Xilin County would choose several safe locations on the outskirts of the Endless Forest as trading points.

As more and more cultivators chose to sell their items at trading points, these trading points became the camps of cultivators. Nowadays, cultivators might use it as a transit station during their training and rest there, even if they didn’t participate in any transactions.

In the past six months, Lou Xingyao had encountered two or three such camps but didn’t spend the night in them. Most of the time, he just sold the gains from his training and set off again.

Now that Lou Xingyao was on the verge of a breakthrough, he had to meditate and sort out the gains he made recently. The camp that was 30 kilometers away was the best choice.

Not long after, the two of them arrived at the outskirts of the camp.

The moment he entered the camp, Lou Xingyao noticed the unusual atmosphere.

Compared with other camps in the Endless Forest, this place seemed a bit too active. There were many people gathered in groups of twos and threes, seemingly talking about something.

Just when Lou Xingyao was feeling puzzled, he heard a conversation not far away.

“Have you heard? The Zhou family in Canglan City has produced another genius with a single spiritual root!”

“Zhou Hanshan? Who on this continent doesn’t know about him? How old is this news? Everyone knows he is already useless…”

“Hey! It isn’t him. It is another one!”

“How is this possible? The Zhou family must have their ancestors’ incense burning in their favor. How could they produce two individuals with a single spiritual root?”

“Why would I lie to you? The one this time is said to be a lost pearl in the cast ocean. What was his name…”

“Oh, I remember. His name is Ye Hantian!”