Ling Jiu looked at Ling Xiao with a hint of contempt.
There was a reason he allowed Ling Xiao to touch the two guardian paintings.
These paintings were left by the Ling Clan’s ancestors, said to suppress two extraordinary techniques.
These techniques were incredibly difficult for any martial artist to cultivate, but if mastered, they would bring lifelong benefits.
However, to obtain them, one first had to break the restrictions on the paintings.
The ancestors didn’t specify why they did this, only saying they were waiting for the destined one.
Yet, over hundreds of years, countless people, including the current formidable Ling Clan leader, had tried and failed to extract the techniques from the paintings.
Ling Jiu had tried too, hoping to secure them for his son, Ling Chong.
But he failed as well.
That’s why he didn’t believe for a second that Ling Xiao could succeed.
Yet, in the next moment, Ling Jiu’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Ling Xiao, with seemingly no effort at all, effortlessly retrieved two techniques from the paintings.
One was “Bull Demon Technique,” and the other was “Soaring Cloud Steps.”
“Hand them over!”
After the initial shock, greed quickly flashed across Ling Jiu’s face.
“Ninth Master, didn’t you just say that if I could take them out, they’d be mine to keep?” Ling Xiao frowned, swiftly glancing at the summaries of both books and copying them into his Mountain and River Diagram.
He knew he couldn’t overpower Ling Jiu, his arm couldn’t twist a thigh, so the books would likely be taken. But he wasn’t about to let himself lose out entirely.
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to hand them over?”
Suddenly, Ling Jiu waved his hand, and a tremendous force sent Ling Xiao flying. The two techniques fell into Ling Jiu’s grasp.
“Hahahaha! I searched high and low, and here they are, delivered without any effort!”
Ling Jiu laughed maniacally, then casually grabbed two random techniques from the shelf and tossed them to Ling Xiao.
“Kid, don’t get cocky. These extraordinary techniques aren’t meant for you. The two I picked for you are mid-tier techniques, take them and practice well. You won’t lose out.”
“Hahahaha!”
Still laughing heartily, Ling Jiu eagerly flipped open the two extraordinary techniques to examine them.
Though Ling Xiao spat blood from the impact, a flicker of relief stirred in his heart.
Both techniques had already been copied.
He wouldn’t forget today’s humiliation.
Ling Jiu, mark my words, one day, I, Ling Xiao, will make you suffer a hundred times this shame!
Without a word, Ling Xiao picked up the two techniques Ling Jiu had thrown on the ground and left. By a stroke of luck, they happened to be ones he hadn’t had time to copy earlier.
No point in letting them go to waste.
“Hahaha, a beggar like him thinks he’s worthy of practicing the Ling Clan’s extraordinary techniques? What a joke!”
Seeing Ling Xiao leave obediently, Ling Jiu felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. He glanced at the summaries of the two techniques, truly astonishing.
But there was a catch: both required the practitioner to be in the awakening stage, meaning anyone above the third level of the Martial Vein couldn’t cultivate them unless they crippled their own cultivation.
Who’d be foolish enough to do that?
He could only take them back for his son, Ling Chong, to practice.
Ling Xiao left the pavilion in a disheveled state, enduring pointing and mocking along the way.
Word of what happened in the pavilion had already spread, embellished and twisted by the Ling Clan disciples.
Now the story was that Ling Xiao had tried to steal techniques, only to be caught and taught a lesson by the sharp-eyed Ling Jiu.
Ling Xiao didn’t know this yet, but he understood that explanations were useless right now. The only way to prove his innocence was to surpass Ling Jiu in strength.
He also believed Ling Jiu wouldn’t escalate things too far, otherwise, the truth might leak out, and it wouldn’t look good for him either.
The Ling Clan wasn’t a monolith, after all, and Ling Jiu had to tread carefully in some matters.
Back home, Ling Xiao retreated to his room and pulled out “Soaring Cloud Steps” to study.
“Soaring Cloud Steps”: An evolvable movement technique, currently at the “Soaring Cloud Steps” stage. Each evolution changes its name and requirements, though its ultimate pursuit remains the same! Upon cultivation, it allows the martial artist to move as lightly as a swallow, chase the moon atop clouds, and command mist… At its highest stage, one can even ride the clouds and laugh across the nine heavens! This technique can only be cultivated from the awakening stage; otherwise, an unstable foundation prevents success. Even at the “Soaring Cloud Steps” stage, mastering it to perfection enables brief midair traversal and cloud-stepping combat for a limited time! At this stage, below the Gang Qi realm, i.e., under the sixth level of the Martial Vein, it’s an unrivaled movement technique.
Reading this, Ling Xiao’s pain vanished, replaced entirely by excitement!
Unrivaled below the Gang Qi stage!
Didn’t that mean he wouldn’t need to switch movement techniques until the sixth level, and this was just the “Soaring Cloud Steps” stage?
This technique could evolve!
Brief midair traversal, cloud-stepping combat, even with his limited knowledge as a Ling Clan disciple, Ling Xiao had never heard of such a movement technique.
He was certain no mid-tier technique offered this. High-tier ones? Maybe, but probably rare, none of the Ling Clan’s high-tier experts he’d seen could fight atop clouds.
Truly worthy of being called an extraordinary technique!
But why would the Ling Clan’s ancestor seal away such an amazing movement technique instead of letting the clan’s disciples cultivate it?
Puzzled, Ling Xiao kept reading. Sure enough, on the last page, he found a handwritten note.
“This extraordinary technique can only be successfully cultivated by someone who has awakened a martial soul. Ordinary martial artists may achieve some results, but it would peak as a mediocre mid-tier technique, nothing special. Moreover, its cultivation difficulty is immense, hindering progress, thus it was sealed away!”
It seemed the Ling Clan ancestor knew about martial souls, perhaps had even encountered someone with an awakened one!
Could it be that martial souls hadn’t vanished entirely? Were they just so rare now that they might as well be extinct?
Hahaha!
Hahahaha!
Ling Xiao couldn’t help but burst into wild laughter in his room.
Ling Jiu, oh Ling Jiu, you shamelessly snatched these extraordinary techniques from me, throwing away your dignity, only to end up with nothing!
Fine then, at the annual contest, I’ll use these techniques to teach your son a lesson!
That aside, cultivating “Soaring Cloud Steps” came with a tricky requirement.
It demanded mastery of a mid-tier movement technique to perfection before unlocking the first of its nine “heavenly steps,” culminating in full mastery.
In other words, it had no direct cultivation method, it relied on building experience through other movement techniques to advance.
Curious, Ling Xiao hurriedly checked “Bull Demon Technique” and discovered something intriguing.
While “Soaring Cloud Steps” pursued elegance and speed as a movement technique, “Bull Demon Technique” sought power and dominance through martial skill application.
Moreover, it too was an evolvable technique. Unlike “Soaring Cloud Steps,” which grew through accumulated experience, “Bull Demon Technique” progressed by devouring.
Not devouring true qi or people, but devouring cultivation experience.
