Chapter 49: Mental Power

　　Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

　　Now that the root of the problem had been eliminated, Bei Feng could finally sleep peacefully without worrying about assassins lying in wait for him at every corner.

　　He didn’t need to fear repercussions from the police either, as it was impossible for anyone to attribute such a huge crater to a civilian like him. Wei Hui’s group had been completely transformed into nothing but ashes, and there was no way to tell that they had even been there!

　　In that moment, Bei Feng felt extremely relaxed, as though he were soaking in a comfortable hot spring.

　　This feeling persisted for over a minute before it disappeared. As he relished the sensation of release from the huge pressure, Bei Feng even felt that his mental power had increased from this incident.

　　After some time, Bei Feng dragged himself back to the old mansion, returning once again with his body ridden with wounds.

　　As he limped past the Ancient Well, Bei Feng felt a hint of regret in his heart. He had to miss yet another opportunity to use the Myriad Heavens Fishing System — because of his wounds reopening, Bei Feng was simply unable to fish in his current state! If he came across another monstrously heavy force like the time when he was reeling in the Book of Spiritual Contract again, there was no way he would be able to pull it out!

　　Finally back in his cosy room, Bei Feng peeled off his blood-stained clothes carelessly and immediately collapsed onto the bed without even taking a bath.

　　When he finally awoke, it was dawn of the next day. Refreshed, Bei Feng felt on top of the world. He was brimming with energy and spirit after a good night’s rest. A sharp gleam was now also apparent in his eyes!

　　The wounds on his body had sealed up once again. Although he didn’t have the aid of Yang Qi’s vitality like the last time, Bei Feng’s body quality was already many times better than the average person’s. A person’s body quality was not determined by just the more obvious factors like strength and speed. There were also other aspects like recuperative abilities which had to be taken into consideration!

　　As Bei Feng still had the residual essence of the Blood Origin Fruit within his body, his regenerative ability was extremely strong!

　　Based on the color of the sky, Bei Feng knew that the sun had not risen yet. He hurriedly washed his face, put on a new set of sportswear and climbed up the mountain.

　　Mental power was an intangible and often neglected trait. Because one could neither see nor feel it, the effects of having abundant mental power were greatly underestimated. In actuality, mental power had a great effect on a person’s daily life!

　　Take a salesperson for example. If the salesperson went to work with a positive mindset, everything would somehow seem to be much smoother and he might be able to close more sales, which would result in an even better mindset. It was almost as if the universe and God himself were assisting that person!

　　In contrast, if the same salesperson had a negative mindset from the moment he stepped out of the house, that person would likely find that everything was going against him. With such a state of mind, it would be a miracle if he could make even a single sale! Although intangible, Mental Power could indeed affect a person in many ways, such as their confidence and their ability to withstand external influences.

　　The same could be said for Bei Feng. All his Mental Power had been greatly exhausted in the long and high-intensity situation where he had been hunted by Wei Hui. Now that the pressure had finally disappeared and a big load had been lifted off his mind, Bei Feng was as carefree and relaxed as a lark. Furthermore, now that he had eliminated that problem with his own hands, he was more confident in himself.

　　Although he was cultivating the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique as usual, Bei Feng seemed to have entered an ineffable state of mind where his consciousness had left his body. It was like he was looking at his body from a third person point of view.

　　“Si!”

　　A sharp, whistling sound like that of a pair of bellows resounded as Bei Feng took a deep breath through his nose.

　　Following that, a ray of light as long and thick as a middle finger shot into his nose.

　　“Pop, crackle!”

　　A series of cracking sounds resounded within Bei Feng’s body as his muscles and bones detonated and reformed constantly.

　　Tyrannical Yang Qi ran unrestrained within his body, charging randomly into his bones, muscles, veins, organs and skin. Huge bulges would appear under his skin and disappear a moment later, as though there was a group of mice scurrying about within him, trying to get out. If one could see Bei Feng right now, they would be completely horrified!

　　Although the first rays of the sun were mellow and easily absorbed, that was under the condition that they were separated from each other! The purple ray of Yang Qi that Bei Feng had absorbed was a highly condensed energy formed from many strands of sunrays! Even if one did not mention its strength, the temperature alone was extremely terrifying!

　　No mater how much it barged about within Bei Feng’s body, its power was only reduced by a tiny bit. Luckily, Bei Feng still had Extreme Arctic Frost within his body!

　　The Grade 2 treasure Extreme Arctic Frost seemed to have sensed that its position was being threatened and began to retaliate against the bountiful Yang Qi!

　　A seemingly inexhaustible amount of Frost Qi gushed out of Extreme Arctic Frost and directly clashed with the domineering Yang Qi!

　　The Blood Orign Fruit’s energy present within his body took a backseat this time around, focusing only on replenishing Bei Feng’s Blood and Qi as quickly as it could!

　　Bei Feng closed his eyes tightly and focused his attention on his body. He did not have to worry about getting shot in the middle of his cultivation this time. His body alternated between icy blue one moment, and boiling red the next!

　　Finally, after an hour, the bountiful purple sunray finally exhausted all its energy!

　　In order for a sunray to overcome Extreme Arctic Frost, it had to contain at least fifty percent more energy than Extreme Arctic Frost’s output. Unfortunately, it was ultimately energy which had been separated from its source. As such, it would be a tall order for it to bulldoze a path through the seemingly inexhaustible Frost Qi!

　　With its energy depleted, the Yang Qi dissolved into countless tiny balls of light which merged into Bei Feng’s blood.

　　Much of the energy gathered around his numerous open wounds as it worked to heal his injuries. Bei Feng only felt a slightly itchy sensation around the wounds as they closed with visible speed.

　　Due to the high rate of consumption earlier, Extreme Arctic Frost had also stopped releasing its Frost Qi. Even the Frost Qi which often shrouded the spear appeared to have weakened considerably.

　　Bei Feng opened his eyes and looked at the scabs covering his body with an incomparable urge to scratch them.

　　‘At this rate, all my injuries should be completely healed with just one more cultivation session,’ Bei Feng made a rough estimation. However, the remaining bit of Blood Origin Fruit medicinal essence was already insufficient for even one more session!

　　Initially, Bei Feng had calculated that the Blood Origin Fruit’s energy within his body should be enough for at least two or three more sessions. But with Wei Hui’s demise, his mental power had been upgraded and his level of achievement with the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique had also increased considerably!

　　Bei Feng brought up his stats.

　　Human Race: Bei Feng

　　Strength: 39

　　Speed: 34

　　Mental Power: 46

　　Minor Illumination Breathing Technique: Peak of Minor Completion

　　Weapon: Extreme Arctic Frost

　　Required experience points to reach level 2 Fisherman: 5,700!

　　‘Everything is progressing well!’

　　Bei Feng was extremely happy with his rate of cultivation. He was only a single step away from reaching the Grand Completion stage of the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique!

　　Based on the data present within his brain, Bei Feng knew that although there only appeared to be a tiny gap between the peak of Minor Completion and Grand Completion, the actual difference between the two realms were like that of the heavens and the earth!

　　Even Bei Feng would not be able to determine when he would be able to make the breakthrough to Grand Completion stage. The chance to break through might appear randomly in an instant, or never at all!

　　Bei Feng moved his limbs and felt his current body’s condition. The regular temperature within his body was now equal to that of a burning furnace. Even the Frost Qi from Extreme Arctic Frost was unable to affect him as much now.

　　***

　　Old Man Li had gotten up early as usual, and was on his way to Mt. Qing Ling to pick some wild herbs and mushrooms.

　　Those wild ginseng and similar herbs were especially popular among the tourists. Some of the wild mushrooms could even be sold for around 100 dollars per jin!

　　Mt. Qing Ling was divided into two areas; the front and the back of the mountain. The front part had been developed into a scenic location for tourists, while the other part was the one with all the dangerous cliffs and pitfalls. It was a seldom traversed region, and was filled with various wild herbs and ginseng.

　　Old Man Li was walking on a small dirt path, leading to the back mountain.

　　“Good grief! What happened here?! Did the Mountain God go mad in the middle of the night?!”

　　Old Man Li felt his legs go soft. It was like he had been greeted with a scene right out of an apocalypse movie as soon as he turned the corner. In the middle of the chaotic scene, there was a deep crater, its width fifty to sixty meters and its depth over three to four meters! The ground around the crater had all sunk in, and was burnt and cracked.

　　Old people, especially those like Old Man Li who depended on the mountain for their livelihood, were especially superstitious about divine beings like Mountain Demons and Gods.

　　Now, the road which had originally led to the back mountain had completely disappeared. In its place, was only a huge patch of burnt land and a sinister-looking crater.

　　Old Man Li hesitated slightly before turning around and fleeing back the way he came!

　　‘There’s no way I’m entering the mountain today! This looks too infelicitous! It’s too likely for bad things to happen to anyone on the mountain!’ Old Man Li thought with a trembling heart. According to his many years of experience, such a situation was definitely an ill omen. There was no way he would enter the mountain under such circumstances!

　　Although he was already 57 years old, Old Man Li’s body was still in very good shape. It was the result of climbing the mountain all these years to sustain his livelihood.

　　As such, the rate at which he fled could be described as having wings at his feet. It was really not much inferior to those energetic youngsters running about the streets!

　　“Uncle Li, aren’t you going up the mountain today? What are you running so anxiously for? Are you being chased by a ghost?” Luo Qiang looked at the green-faced old man and laughed.

　　Luo Qiang was a police officer, and resident of Qing Ling Village. Old Man Li lived right beside him, and the two were very familiar with other.

　　Previously, Qing Ling Village did not have a law enforcement unit. It was only after the area was developed and the number of tourists increased that the need for a police force appeared. As a result, a local police force was established, and a formal police station constructed. There would be four police officers on shift everyday, and right now happened to be Luo Qiang’s shift.

　　“Monkey-like brat, you even dare to make jokes about your Uncle Li nowadays?” Old Man Li paused his steps and looked at Luo Qiang sternly. “I’m not going up the mountain today. It’s inauspicious!”

　　Old Man Li shook his head stubbornly, a serious look on his face.

　　“What’s wrong? Could it be that there’s really a ghost back there?” Luo Qiang chuckled.

　　“Damn brat, don’t laugh so leisurely! A huge crater had appeared on the path overnight! Do you know how ominous something like that is? There’s no way I’m going up there even if people try to drag this bag of old bones up the mountain!” Old Man Li wiped away the sweat on his forehead and declared as he clicked his tongue.

　　“A crater? Where?”

　　There was still a bit of time before Luo Qiang’s shift ended. Since there could be a crater for him to discover, he could not help but become curious.

　　“If you follow this path all the way, you should be able to see it! That crater is at least 50-60 meters wide and 3-4 meters deep! The ground a hundred zhang around it is also completely charred black!

　　I dare to swear that the crater was not there last night when I came down the mountain. It had somehow appeared overnight, as if the mountain god had smote the ground in a fit of fury!”

　　With that, old man Li shook his head vigorously and left hurriedly as if to dispel the bad luck.

　　“Could it be a meteorite?”

　　Luo Qiang cocked his head as he thought. Based on Old Man Li’s story, he felt that it was most likely that a meteorite had crashed into that part of the road in the night.