Chapter 19: Mastering Mysterious Steps

  “Those elixirs* were quite plentiful. The number of farmhands at the Eastern Mountain Farmnds wasn’t that rge… which means there’s a group of people in the manor we know nothing about.”

  “Could it be that those who left actually stayed at the farmnds for a while befoing down the mountain?”

  “But if that’s so, why would they drink those elixirs? What is the true effect of these elixirs when they’re not paired with savage beast meat?”

  “Perhaps, behind Hanging Fate Manor… it really is that cult…”

  After returning from the Medie Pavilion to his dormitory, An Jing was filled with doubts.

  An Jing erson of innate wisdom. He had studied diligently from a young age, and throughout the years, he had gained siderable knowledge. bined with the resources of the An Family, he was definitely someone broadly learned in the Huaixu Realm.

  Moreover, based on his experiences over the past few months at Hanging Fate Manor, An Jing could already deduce that the background behind Hanging Fate Manor was likely not .

  Yet just how un it was, he had not thought through before.

  Purely from aional standpoint, he was willing to trust Hanging Fate Manor. For that reason, he would rather ignore certaiails.

  But now, those details had been id ht in front of him, and he could no lourn a blind eye. Once suspi arose, it became difficult to dispel.

  No matter what, he had to carry out a sed iigation to uhe true secret behind Hanging Fate Manor.

  However, An Jing did not pn to sneak out for an iigation straightaway. His strength was still insuffit, and avoiding the patrolling instructors would be difficult.

  Besides, there was only one open, straight path from the main manor to the Eastern Mountain Farmnds. If he wao go unnoticed, he would need a dark, cloudy night.

  He stayed up past midnight not to rush out on a noal probe, but rather to “proactively push himself” and quickly master the “Mysterious Steps” from the Imperial Heaven’s Unified Spirit One-in Qi Cultivatiohod.

  Mysterious Steps Without Uainty e of “movement teique” rarely seen i .

  Killing teiques and nurturihods were not unusual i , but heart teiques and movement teiques—even the simplest ones—were enough to serve as the core iance of a martial family.

  Just as An Jing had deemed the other two ses of the Imperial Heaven Qi Cultivatiohod to be “assassination teiques,” Mysterious Steps likewise upheld the core principle of “as elusive as Heaven’s Will, vanishing without a trace.”

  Its speed was not particurly fast, but it cealed all sound and was extremely stealthy. The emphasis was on arriving without a whisper, theing suddenly like thunder desding from the heavens, only to vanish in an instant and slip away afterward.

  Moreover, that was exactly the be of having a plete set of martial teiques.

  Although Mysterious Steps normally was not quick, in critical moments it could leverage the “Unifying the Spirit Without Doubt” burst of Armor-Pierg True Force to accelerate. The duration was short, but it was enough when needed most.

  By trast, the “Later Earth Body Cultivatiohod**” likely focused on body-tempering arts for frontal bat—or perhaps nourishing the meridians to better develop physical potential.

  That night, by the light of the moon and with vision enhahrough martial training, An Jing carefully studied the secret manual. During the day, he only appeared to be studying on the surface, cealing the true extent of his progress.

  Now that he was ranked first and could enjoy all the bes, there was no dowo hiding a little. Mostly, An Jing was curious about where those medies were going.

  After all, for some time now, he had felt vaguely uneasy.

  Those savage beast bones bearing bck patterns, apparently demoni nature; those elixirs with unknown effects; and the overly mysterious background of Hanging Fate Manor—all left him feeling as though he had no solid footing.

  This was simply who An Jing was. If he could not grasp a situation, he would strive to master it.

  He would never remain idle and lie to himself, saying, “There’s nothing wrong.”

  In short order, a dozen or so days passed.

  An Jing’s “Mysterious Steps” had reached a minor level of aplishment. Wheed, the force beh his feet rose and fell as though stepping on clouds; even if he shattered a tree bran the forest floor, it would make no sound at all, the impapletely absorbed.

  He could also bi with other cultivatiohods. With a heart of Fag the Abyss, he could perform the stance while using Mysterious Steps to accelerate the efficy of nurturing qi.

  Relying on that be, An Jihe “Innate One Qi” in his body growing ever more abundant, and he would soon be able to break through to Internal Energy.

  But this was not the right time. If he broke through to Internal Energy, he would certainly cause a grand otion and attract attention afterward, making it impossible for him to explore Hanging Fate Manor freely.

  During this period, the remaining members of Hanging Fate Manor also stabilized in otaling 108 people.

  pared to the inal 240 or so, more than half had been dismissed. Yet those who stayed were indeed more talented and more mentally resilient—true elites.

  This was the final firmed t; after this, no one else would be eliminated.

  When these 108 teenagers learned of this, though they looked happy, they did not burst into cheers. Instead, they simply let out a collective sigh of relief.

  They had not been eliminated, after all.

  Nearly half a year of nurturing and training had made their personalities more “steady,” more “mature”—or perhaps more “cold-hearted”?Even Gu Yeqi and g Linzu were no exception. Their temperaments had grown calmer as well, though for those they genuinely cared about, their emotions had only deepened.

  An Jing observed all of this as well.

  While training in the Imperial Heaven Qi Cultivatiohod***, he felt that his own mi had shifted in some ways, growing loftier like the open sky, as though he were calmly overlooking everything before him from a great height.

  Although An Jing was aware that certain feelings should arise in him, he still felt a strange sense of detat, like he was trolling a game character with an unmoved heart.

  Initially, he had notiothing strange. But one day, when An Jing accepted a bowl of water from Gu Yeqi and politely said, “Thank you, Yeqi,” the odd expressions on both Gu Yeqi’s and g Linzu’s faces suddenly made him realize the ge.

  First of all, what was there to thank each other for among them?

  And even if thanks were warranted, it shouldn’t have been so formal—“Thanks” or “Hey, much appreciated!” would have sounded more natural. The more formal the courtesy, the more distant it felt in their close-knit group!

  These cultivatiohods… and the dietary training… were ging his temperament!

  【Fearless, Selfless, Free of Doubt, Free of Uainty】

  Perhaps that recisely how the Imperial Heaven teags reshaped a person.

  “Indeed, Fag the Abyss Without Fear would make one’s emotions more inwardly tained; Unifying the Spirit Without Doubt would keep one’s mind calm, then abruptly unleash extreme passion… and the further one practiced Mysterious Steps Without Uainty, the more transdent one’s mi would bee, gazing down from on high like the heavens.”

  An Jing grew cautious. “If I practiced the plete Imperial Heaven Qi Cultivatiohod, its effects would no doubt be even stronger… In the end, what sort of person would that turo?”

  It was hard to say whether it would be a good thing.

  It was not difficult to resist the influence of this cultivatiohod, yet Hanging Fate Manor itself was also undergoing ges.

  Ohe final headt was firmed, Hanging Fate Manor divided the 108 youths into twelve groups named after the twelve branches of the day. An Jing served as the leader of the first group.

  An Jing’s team was called “Xingji.” Including him, there were nine members in total—five boys and firls—most of them from around Mingshan City in the northern frontier.

  Gu Yeqi and g Linzu were part of it, too. They were the only two who remained from the inal small circle around An Jing, and now they served as his right a arms.

  Aside from requiring each group’s members to uheir minds in shared meditation, Hanging Fate Manor also demahat each team practice a peculiar battle formation.

  An Jing had once seen something simir in a militia drill ba his hometown, but the focus here did not seem to be on fighting other humans. Rather, the presumed enemy seemed to be something much rger than a human in stature.

  The rolling maneuvers, spear thrusts, and strikes aimed at a creature’s underside were all highly targeted.

  “Hanging Fate Manor wants to train these kids… to hunt savage beasts?”

  (End of Chapter)

  *ged medial solutions to elixirs.

  **It seems the author also khe full name was too long so he's shorte to 后土养体法 (Later Earth Body Cultivatiohod) in the raws.

  ***Same here. It's called 皇天养气法 (Imperial Heaven Qi Cultivatiohod) in the raws.