Book 2 - Fame Spreads - Chapter 9 - Complications

In the forest, a nimble figure pushed through like a ghost.
Soon, this figure arrived in the deepest parts of the forest, where one would rarely find signs of humanity.
Apart from the veteran hunters who grew up in the forest itself, only the strong cultivators could ignore the dangers of this place.
This figure was precisely that of He Yiming, who had hurried over from the He manor.
Yesterday, when he couldn’t increase his Internal Energy at all, he immediately understood that his Internal Energy had once again attained the current layer’s peak.
He himself felt somewhat speechless about his cultivation speed.
Since he’d once again attained the peak, he first thought about finding a new cultivation technique, but then he suddenly gained a new insight about Hidden Needle Imprint.
After pondering for a bit, he immediately left for mountains to perform some tests and modifications.
Such insights were extremely rare, like a sudden inspiration- if he didn’t capitalize on it right now, he might never obtain another such opportunity in the future.
His legs stood firm as his hands formed multiple, random Hidden Needle Imprints.
In comparison to Prostrate Imprint, since Hidden Needle Imprint relied on differently attributed Internal Energy, its seals were much more complex. In Houtian realm, one would probably not find another individual who could grasp this technique other than He Yiming, the creator of this technique himself.
As the seals formed, the Internal Energy in his meridians suddenly surged.
Strangely, the Internal Energy circulating inside his body didn’t belong to a certain type of his four primary techniques. Instead, it began with the metal-type Primordial Energy, and following the sequence of the five-phases, ended at the Blaze technique.
Under this constant transformation, the shape of the imprints formed by his hands also changed. However, regardless of how it changed, it still emanated a feeling like that of a needle hidden in a ball of silk floss. It wasn’t a stable and resolute feeling like that of a mountain which Prostrate Imprint emanated, but a strange, gentle one.
At the same time, his feet started to move about in the forest. If Lin Taoli were to see this scene, he would astonishingly discover that the rhythm of He Yiming’s steps somewhat resembled the way he moved while employing the Rain Cloud Imprint.
Gradually, He Yiming’s body started to emit an exceedingly dangerous feeling. His hands started to wave at a lightning fast speed while still emanating a drifting clouds and flowing water sort of natural feeling. When his Internal Energy attained the peak, his palms slightly bulged as a section of Internal Energy quickly rushed in the forefinger of his right hand which stood concealed behind his left hand.
Subsequently, the right hand ‘s forefinger suddenly jerked and flicked through the cracks between the fingers of his left hand. A section of swift and fierce Internal Energy ejected out like an arrow shot from a bow.
“Bang…”
With a soft sound, a slender hole, as if pierced by a pin, appeared on the trunk of a several meters wide and several meter high tree. After piercing the tree trunk through, the Internal Energy completely dissipated.
He Yiming stopped and arrived before the tree. As he observed the hole in the tree trunk, an uncontrollable excitement surged in his heart.
However, as he glanced at his right forefinger, his brows faintly creased.
This was precisely the enlightenment he’d gained. By blending the Rain Cloud Imprint’s sneak attack into his Hidden Needle Imprint, he could shoot such a strange needle-shaped Internal Energy.
The might of this distant assault was indeed extraordinary, but the cost he had to pay was also not light. At this moment, his right forefinger was slightly swelled, even including the meridians inside, which were aching.
With a thought, he immediately circulated Withered Tree technique and Ripple technique in these meridians. Under the soothing effect of these two techniques, the aching in his meridians eventually calmed down.
He had to wait as long as half an hour before he could resume.
After being compressed to the extreme, Internal Energy could leave the body.
This was the special property of Rain Cloud Imprint, but at this moment, it had been assimilated into the Hidden Needle Imprint by He Yiming.
However, the finger energy aroused by He Yiming’s Hidden Needle Imprint was far above that of Rain Cloud Imprint in comparison.
During his battle with Lin Taoli, if the former had been able to produce such a might from a distance, he would have been defeated immediately and even died.
Although one could continuously temper one’s body, some vital parts nevertheless remain weak. Under the assault of such a ghost-like unfathomable sneak attack, one wouldn’t be able to always defend these body parts.
Of course, although the finger energy aroused by the Hidden Needle Imprint was immense, in terms of frequency of attacks, it couldn’t even be compared to Rain Cloud Imprint.
To produce such a frightening distant finger energy, he must circulate all the four primary techniques inside his body in a way that they could complement each other. When his blood and qi would start to boil- seemingly about to explode out of his body- only then could his Internal Energy be compressed to such an extreme.
In other words, it could only be aroused while his Internal Energy circulated at tenth layer’s peak, and even still, unlike Rain Cloud Imprint, he shouldn’t even dream about unleashing more than one such fingers in succession. Otherwise, his meridians wouldn’t be able to sustain such frantic circulation.
Despite such time gaps and flaws, He Yiming felt completely satisfied.
Henceforth, his Hidden Needle Imprint not only had the ability to counterattack, he could even take the initiative. This indeed was an immense win for him.
However, the only regret he felt was that he’d only grasped Rain Cloud Imprint’s mechanism which allowed one to compress Internal Energy. It’s ultimate move, which could allow one to explode with a thunder-like power, was still far beyond his comprehension.
During that battle, He Yiming had confronted Lin Taoli’s Rain Cloud Imprint with the tenth form of [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Forms]. Relying on his body which was above his opponent’s by one layer of Internal Energy, he’d managed to gain slight advantage. However, he clearly knew that if their Internal Energy had been at the same level, Rain Cloud Imprint’s instantaneous power burst was, in fact, superior to the tenth form of [Splitting Mountain Thirty-Six Forms].
It was somewhat similar to that stunning strike he’d produced while confronting the gold-crowned python- the only difference being that the Internal Energy in the former case didn’t arouse at such an exaggerated rate in its entirety.
He Yiming flicked his sleeves before letting out a soft sigh. Perhaps he should lower his claims and learn an earth-type technique. Perhaps with the completion of the five-phases, he would be able to understand that final strike.
His feet faintly moved before his figure swiftly disappeared from its original position.
Following the familiar path, He Yiming quickly returned to the manor. He unhesitatingly made his way to the Book Pavilion.
Currently, He Laibao solely guarded the Book Pavilion. His eldest uncle, He Quanxin, lived in the grand courtyard with his grandfather.
During this long period of time, he’d been in seclusion- not receiving any visitors. His objective was naturally to cleanse his thoughts and spirits and attain the optimal state before using the golden pellet.
Breaking through the ninth layer’s bottleneck was like fighting with one’s back to the river. At this junction, nobody would dare to be neglectful in the slightest. This point could be clearly seen from the fact that his eldest uncle had been meditating for more than half a year and had still not consumed the golden pellet.
Entering the Book Pavilion, He Yiming directly arrived before the earth-type techniques’ shelf.
This time, he didn’t take out a random technique but made his selection serious consideration. After a long time, he pulled out a book.
Power Secrets- earth type primary cultivation technique.
This technique befitted its name. Once cultivated, one would be able to obtain boundless strength.
Of course, this ‘boundless strength’ at low level merely meant some advantage in terms of strength over cultivators of the same rank. However, according to the scripture, after cultivating this technique to the tenth layer, one’s bones would be tempered to the extreme and flesh would be as tenacious as leather- strengthening the basic essence of one’s body to the extreme.
Although one might not be able to become exceedingly strong, it didn’t seem much of an exaggeration.
The most bizarre aspect of this technique was its claim for an exceedingly high essence of a cultivator’s body, and its cultivation speed was, mildly put, undesirable. Therefore, although the might it offered was pretty good, the number of cultivators that would be able to gain some accomplishment in this technique would be extremely rare.
He Yiming’s face revealed a slight smile. In the five-phases, the cultivation speed of earth-type techniques was already the slowest. It required slow and steady step-by-step progress.
And this technique evidently belonged to the slower ones, even amongst the earth-type techniques. Therefore, this technique not being famous among cultivators seemed quite reasonable.
Putting the scripture of Power Secrets onto the table, He Yiming proficiently copied down its content, then returned to his underground training room.
With the previous experiences in his mind, He Yiming began the cultivation of this earth-type primary cultivation technique.
As always, he didn’t encounter any troubles while cultivating this technique. Like canals formed wherever water flows, he smoothly transcended layer after layer.
In a period of merely two days, he cultivated this technique from naught to the tenth layer.
The technique’s efficiency outstripped his expectations. His muscles and bones seemed to have undergone a new baptism and were far stronger than they were before.
At this moment, he felt that these techniques in the book pavilion being passed down to generations was indeed not baseless.
Previously, the reason he could wield his grandfather’s blade was due to his exceedingly high level of Internal Energy. However, currently, he could easily wield that broadsword just relying on his body’s strength.
To the current him, such a heavy weapon would no longer be a burden.
However, none of this could make He Yiming feel any excitement at all.
After cultivating this technique, he’d discovered that there were no signs of Xiantian realm. All of his techniques still remained at the tenth layer’s peak.
This change made him feel as if he’d fallen into an ice cellar. Could it be…Houtian realm is the peak of my special body….what if it’s incapable of entering the Xiantian realm…