Chapter 331 - 255: Instant Step Breakthrough, Bai Family Enters the City

Chapter 331: Chapter 255: Instant Step Breakthrough, Bai Family Enters the City

In less than half an hour, he broke through the threshold:

[Visualization Martial Arts, Instant Step, Beginner → Master (1/1000)]

After half a day, his experience at the Master Level was close to fifty percent.

Tang Wen was drenched in sweat, his body overheating. It was the middle of winter, and the temperature high in the sky was extremely low.

White steam rose from his head, a sign of his sweat instantly meeting the cold air.

Relentlessly practicing Instant Step not only consumed a massive amount of Spiritual Power but also burned through his physical stamina at a furious pace.

Fortunately, Tang Wen’s physique was no less robust than that of a Sixth Grade.

And his Spiritual Power surpassed that of most Sixth Grades.

"You’re a real monster, kid! Even if that physique of yours can’t quite match us White Tigers, it’s getting close."

Gasping for breath, Tang Wen brushed aside the snow, scooped up a few handfuls from deep within the drift, and stuffed them into his mouth. He mumbled, "So I still can’t match a White Tiger, huh? Looks like I need to keep up the hard training!"

Lying on the ground was a bird-type Exotic Beast, already cleaned of its innards and feathers.

It was an unlucky little bird the two bored White Tigers had killed on a whim.

At Tang Wen’s signal, Hu Qi procured a dried-out tree.

They lit the wood and began to roast the bird meat.

Without any seasoning, the bird meat wasn’t going to be particularly tasty.

Once the meat was cooked, he tossed it to the two big cats, who weren’t picky eaters.

Tang Wen, meanwhile, drank the Extraordinary Blood Marrow he carried with him.

It was only Seventh Grade Blood Marrow, which no longer had any enhancing effect on him. He could only drink it as a potent supplement.

The Blood Marrow’s potency was formidable. Tang Wen sat cross-legged before the fire and slowly began to meditate.

About an hour and a half later, the fire had dried his clothes.

He opened his eyes, his spirit bright and alert, as if he’d just had a full night’s sleep.

Hu Qi, lying lazily on the ground to warm herself, asked, "Has your Spiritual Power reached Great Success?"

After a moment’s thought, Tang Wen nodded.

The two White Tigers sighed. "Little monster!"

The White Tiger Race’s strength lay in their physique and their comprehension of Wind Power.

They were not particularly skilled in the cultivation of Spiritual Power.

Tang Wen seized the opportunity to ask, "Sister Qi, is there any way to rapidly increase one’s Spiritual Power?"

"Hah! Rapidly increase?" Hu Qi shot him a sideways glance. "Sure there is! Train until you’re completely exhausted, until you push yourself to the point of passing out. That will increase it."

"That’s too slow." Tang Wen calmly shook his head.

Hu Qi was startled. "What do you mean? You’ve done that before?"

"Mhm, I trained like that for a while."

"Huh? For real?" Hu Jiu also exclaimed.

It seemed this was yet another incredible revelation.

The two White Tigers sat up, their previous laziness gone, and stared at Tang Wen with unblinking golden pupils.

They seemed to be trying to see right through him.

But seeing the two kings of beasts look so serious, Tang Wen immediately felt the pressure.

He swallowed hard. "What is it? It seems like I’ve done something incredible again."

Hu Qi’s voice was sober. "You go mad."

"What?"

"If you train to exhaustion every time, pushing yourself until you pass out, it won’t be long before you start to become abnormal. If someone is there to notice and intervene in time, you might be okay. Otherwise, you’ll eventually go completely mad."

Hu Jiu explained in detail.

Tang Wen was startled for a moment, but then he thought of his Experience Panel and instantly relaxed.

’Thank goodness for the Panel!’

Hu Qi then said in a speculative tone, "You could also just swallow Sixth Grade Blood Marrow raw to strengthen your Constitution!"

"Huh?" It was Hu Jiu who was surprised. "A Seventh Grade swallowing Sixth Grade Blood Marrow? To strengthen their Constitution? Shouldn’t that be called ’attempted suicide’?"

"Your Constitution and spirit are very special."

Hu Qi’s eyes revealed a mixture of curiosity and astonishment.

Hu Jiu sent her a mental message: "If that’s true, would this special trait be passed down to their children?"

"Hm?" Hu Qi thought of the Saintess and replied via mental message, "It’s possible. Do you remember the laughingstock of the White Tiger Race, that piebald tiger? They say his father was an Extraordinary Black Tiger. The piebald was the product of his mother looking for a thrill!"

"Then we must make sure Elder Tang and the Saintess get together!"

"Of course."

"Perhaps the key to breaking our curse lies with him!"

"Mhm. We should be nicer to him."

Tang Wen watched in confusion as the two White Tigers conversed via mental message. Then, he saw them both turn to him at the same time and flash "amiable" smiles.

He felt a little uneasy and leaned back slightly.

"Cats" are animals suited for acting cute and putting on a cuddly act; they are not suited for smiling.

When they smiled, it just looked bizarre.

"I’m going to continue training."

"Okay, call us anytime you need something."

"Right, call us anytime."

’Something’s off. You two are acting weird.’

Tang Wen shot them a strange look, recalling what they’d said about going mad from depleting one’s Spiritual Power. He silently rejoiced in the fact that he had his Experience Panel.

SWISH!

He crossed five hundred meters in a flash.

The distance he could cover with Master Level Instant Step had clearly increased.

Tang Wen leaped farther and farther. The sky grew completely dark, and the temperature dropped even lower.

None of this affected him. What made him frown, however, was that as he became more proficient, the Experience Points gained from each practice session had decreased significantly.

From the original, respectable ten points.

It had dropped to a ridiculous one point.

’Time to switch up the training routine again.’

SWISH SWISH SWISH! After a series of Instant Steps, a deafening BOOM erupted.

His fist slammed into the mountainside.

Sky-soaring Shock—a double-powered Shocking Fist.

An attack, immediately following an Instant Step.

It was similar in principle to Hu Lan’s Flash Strike.

Experience +13.

The change in routine was a success. Consequently, one towering, cloud-piercing mountain peak after another suffered for it.

The BOOMING sounds echoed for half the night.

Hu Qi and Hu Jiu desperately wanted to erect a wall of wind to block out the noise.

But they feared that if Tang Wen ran into danger, they wouldn’t notice in time.

So, the two of them had no choice but to take turns on watch; one would sleep while the other remained vigilant, keeping a close eye on Tang Wen.

「In the early hours of the morning.」

Tang Wen finally stopped. Hu Jiu, who was on duty, breathed a sigh of relief.

’Finally,’ she thought, ’I can get some proper sleep.’

Just as she was hesitating over whether to let Tang Wen come sleep in her embrace...

...Tang Wen lit a fire to warm his body and dry his clothes, then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Hu Jiu blurted out, "Don’t you ever sleep?"

She then added, "Do you really always train this hard?"

Tang Wen saw nothing surprising or worth hiding in his answer. "Yeah. I’m always like this."

The noise woke Hu Qi. "That kid’s just a monster."

Hu Jiu sent a mental message: "We absolutely cannot let the Saintess end up with someone else!"

"Mhm. I’ll send a message to the race tomorrow."

The reason Tang Wen had stopped wasn’t just because his soaked clothes felt awful in the cold winter.

The main reason was that the "Flash Strike" training method of combining Instant Step with an attack was now yielding far fewer Experience Points.

’I need a new stimulus.’

After meditating, Tang Wen picked up a piece of wood and, using a reasonably sharp stone fragment, carved himself a Wooden Blade.

Instant Step plus Sword Gang.

The Experience Points gained each time increased somewhat.

But they also began to decrease at an even faster rate.

[Visualization Martial Arts, Instant Step, Master (1000/1000)]

The Skill had hit a bottleneck.

Hu Jiu, wide awake, watched Tang Wen’s every move with narrowed eyes.

Seeing him vary his practice methods for Instant Step, she knew he was deliberately increasing the difficulty for himself.

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she sent Tang Wen a mental message: "Since you’re just torturing yourself, I can set up some obstacles for you."

He replied joyfully, "Yes! Thank you, Ah Jiu. Wind pressure. Try putting some pressure on my body first."

With a Fifth Grade expert cooperating with his Cultivation...

...Tang Wen’s speed at grinding Experience Points more than doubled.

Before the morning star had even appeared in the sky...

[Visualization Martial Arts, Instant Step, Master → Mastery (0/3000)]

SWISH!

He took a single step, his gaze landing on a massive mountain peak in the distance.

WHOOSH!

He broke free of the range of Ah Jiu’s wind pressure, reappearing over a kilometer away.

Hu Jiu was stunned, her big eyes wide and round. ’It’s only been half a day and one night, and he’s already reached this level of comprehension? Compared to an Initial-Stage Fifth Grade from our race, he’s not far off, is he?’

Experience +7.

Tang Wen nodded slightly. ’Not too bad.’

But when he returned to the two White Tigers’ side and heard her assessment, he grew dissatisfied again.

’Only about the same as an Initial-Stage Fifth Grade?’

’I still have to keep training!’

’First, I’ll train hard for ten days!’

He didn’t say this out loud, instead telling them he wanted to stay for two more days.

Surprisingly, the two big cats had no objections.

Hu Qi even made a special trip back to the city to inform them, bringing back plenty of seasonings on her return.

When she returned, Hu Jiu was manipulating dozens of millstone-sized boulders, hurtling them toward Tang Wen.

He was repeatedly using Instant Step to evade them, creating a thrilling and perilous scene.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. His clothes were soaked, then dried, then soaked again, time and time over.

A crystalline layer of salt had formed on their surface.

[Visualization Martial Arts, Instant Step, Mastery (1897/3000)]

He was over halfway there, and Tang Wen didn’t want to give up.

That night, during his meditation, he suddenly felt the call of his Blood Crow.

He was too far from Ganshan City for the details to be clear.

The next day, the Blood Crow flew in from the city, bringing news.

The Bai Family’s party, including Bai You Ruo and Bai Shuo, had entered the city.

They were waiting for Tang Wen near the Beast Taming Garden.

In addition to Bai Shuo, another Sixth Grade from the Bai Family had also arrived.

With all preparations complete, the Bai Family’s exploration team was finally making its move!