Chapter 43: Pinnacle of the First Energy Martial Stage

　　Whoosh!

　　Whoosh!

　　The shadow moved like the wind, traversing around extremely quickly in an unpredictable zigzag manner. At the same time, it was sweeping up gusts of wind that were blowing dust and leaves into the air.

　　All of a sudden.

　　The black shadow seemed to have lost control and crashed into a wall.

　　Thud!

　　A series of cracks appeared on the wall and several bricks fell to the ground, while the entire wall also seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

　　“Crap!”

　　“Is that kid trying to kill himself?!”

　　Lu You and Lu Zuo were extremely alarmed as they leaped up and rushed over to the crumbling wall.

　　Boom!

　　Before they had a chance to help the black shadow to his feet, the wall finally toppled and over a thousand bricks came crashing down.

　　Dust and debris wafted through the air.

　　Lu Zuo and Lu You’s eyes widened.

　　Madam Lu had asked them to look after Qi Ying, but who would have thought that he would crash into a wall while practicing a battle technique?

　　Energy Martial Stage warriors still possessed vulnerable physical bodies. Without True Energy to bolster their frames, even the most ordinary knife could take their lives.

　　That entire wall had been shattered, thereby indicating just how heavy the impact had been. Was he still alive?

　　The Lu twins immediately squatted down and began to clear away the fallen bricks. It was quite clear from the events of the night prior that Madam Lu adored that kid. She had even gone to a jail cell just to testify for him, and if something were to happen to him, Lu You and Lu Zuo were sure that they would be in a lot of trouble. Other people may have been unaware of Madam Lu’s background; they only knew of her as the most powerful and wealthiest woman in the Celestial River County. However, they were aware of the true extent of Madam Lu’s power and influence.

　　At that moment.

　　Whoosh!

　　A hand suddenly emerged from the pile of bricks. Immediately following that, a figure struggled to his feet.

　　“Ow…”

　　Qi Ying grasped his right shoulder, which had rammed straight into the wall, and grimaced with pain.

　　He had been a little too hasty while unleashing the Flowing Shadow Strike, resulting in a slight lapse in concentration. As a result, he lost control of the True Energy injected into the soles of his feet, and his body had hurtled through the air, crashing straight into that wall.

　　What was worthy of celebration, however, was that he had finally achieved basic mastery of all of the movement techniques, and was able to use his True Energy to enhance his speed!

　　Lu Zuo grabbed Qi Ying and examined his body before heaving a sigh of relief. “You almost gave me a heart attack, you little rascal! Don’t be so hasty during your cultivation; you’re only going to hurt yourself! Thank goodness you only crashed into a wall; if you had crashed into a weapons rack instead, you’d be dead by now!”

　　In contrast to Lu Zuo’s distress, Lu You wore a faint smile on his face, creating a stark contrast to his perpetually expressionless face. “That was not bad, buddy.”

　　“It was alright.”

　　Qi Ying dusted himself off before turning to look at the collapsed wall, “About the wall…”

　　Lu Zuo waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it, how much can a wall be worth? Actually, come to think of it, that wall was the one with the white jade dragon carved on it… But that’s alright, Madam Lu likes you a lot, so she won’t mind. Everything’s fine as long as you’re alright!”

　　Qi Ying nodded. “Alright, then I’ll return to my room first and apply some ointment. Thank you for your guidance.”

　　Lu Zuo puckered his lips at the sight of Qi Ying’s departing figure. “Sigh, he’s too eager to make progress. How is he going to master a battle technique if he doesn’t take things step by step?”

　　Lu You had a different opinion. “He’s already close to mastering the technique.”

　　Lu Zuo was unconvinced. “Are you kidding me? Even I had to practice for two hours just to get to the elementary level. He’s only been practicing for fifteen minutes or so… There’s no way he’s made any significant progress.”

　　Lu You said, “Heh, you weren’t paying close attention just then. Before he crashed into the wall, he had already gone through all thirty-six sets of movement techniques in shadow form! He only made a mistake when he tried to conjure up afterimages, and the act of multi-tasking hampered his control over his True Energy.”

　　“Is that so?” Lu Zuo raised an eyebrow.

　　He and Lu You were twins, but Lu You had superior aptitude and was a master in battle techniques. He was a man who had practiced over a thousand battle techniques, and over ninety-nine percent of his judgments were correct.

　　But, if that really were the case… then that kid had terrifying potential! The Flowing Shadow Strike was a Yellow Tier Intermediate-Rank battle technique, and it was one of the most difficult ones out there. Still, that kid was able to master it in fifteen minutes after watching his demonstration?

　　Lu You seemed to know what Lu Zuo was thinking, and he said, “He must be an extraordinary kid to be held in such high regard by Madam Lu and Master Thirteen… A fifteen-year-old First Energy Martial Stage warrior can be considered to be a young prodigy! He probably has exceptional innate True Energy control just like I do, and he has a great future ahead of him. Perhaps he will become a force to be reckoned with in the Celestial River County someday.”

　　A taunting sneer appeared on Lu Zuo’s face. “The Celestial River County is just an insignificant place with no noteworthy prodigies anyway…”

　　…

　　After returning to his room, Qi Ying immediately took an Energy Explosion Pill.

　　Gulp!

　　The power of the pill diffused within his body, and its essence was absorbed by the silver light in his blood.

　　A relieved expression surfaced on Qi Ying’s face.

　　The Flowing Shadow Strike expended True Energy at an alarming rate, far more so than the Dark Falcon Illusionary Claw, and his left hand had almost relapsed.

　　However, there was something Qi Ying was even more frustrated about.

　　He had to take one Energy Explosion Pill per day just to satisfy his requirement for pills!

　　If he were to take Energy Containment Pills instead, he would have to take three or four at least.

　　As for Great Strength Pills, he could probably down an entire vial with almost no effect.

　　Energy Explosion Pills were already considered to be extremely valuable pills, with one pill costing several thousand crystals. Not only could it help Energy Martial Stage warriors improve their cultivation base, it could even assist a Ninth Strength Martial Stage warrior in making a breakthrough to the Energy Martial Stage. Many underprivileged warriors could sell off everything they owned and still be unable to afford even a single Energy Explosion Pill.

　　“I’m going to battle in the Colosseum tomorrow, so I should be able to make some good money there! I wonder what beast I’m going to be fighting this time…”

　　Qi Ying sat on his bed and activated his Purple Energy Cultivation Method, using the remnant power of the Energy Explosion Pill to increase his cultivation base.

　　Within his dantian, the purple energy vortex became more and more substantial, and its mass was steadily expanding as well. It appeared to be close to a certain bottleneck.

　　That indicated that he was getting closer to the pinnacle of the First Energy Martial Stage.

　　He had only just progressed to the Energy Martial Stage three days prior, and about two of those days were spent without doing any cultivation. This instilled Qi Ying with confidence in regards to his cultivation base leading up to the intra-academy tournament, and the subsequent Celestial River County Youth Battle Tournament.

　　Qi Ying spent the entire afternoon practicing the Purple Energy Cultivation Method, refining many pills during the process, and taking his energy vortex closer and closer to saturation.

　　“Phew…”

　　Qi Ying exhaled and decided to stop there for the moment.

　　If he kept cultivating, there was a good chance that he would progress to the Second Energy Martial Stage.

　　However, his meridians and constitution were slightly lagging behind in comparison to the rate of progression of his cultivation base. The True Energy within his body was overly abundant, and his meridians were throbbing as a result.

　　Qi Ying made his way out of the room and at that point in time; night was beginning to set in. Lu Zuo and Lu You had already left the courtyard and were nowhere to be seen.

　　Whoosh!

　　Qi Ying’s body transformed into a black shadow as he rushed out the door.