The head belonging to the black robed man was rolling on the ground, leaving behind a trace of blood.
"Ufff!" Ling Xu took a breath of cold air since he could finally relax, feeling his body surrounded with several scars that were superficial and some a little deeper.
They all stained his robe that represented his status as an unofficial disciple, making him look quite scary as he was in the middle of the night with his sword reflecting the light of the moon, full of blood since he had just killed somebody.
"Rumble!"
All of a sudden, the clouds in the sky gathered and Ling Xu heard the thunder as it had started raining almost instantly.
With his robe now wet he decided to fasten up and do what was needed as he didn't intend on letting the corpse rest on the floor to be discovered as he would certainly be found out.
Although he wasn't the one at fault here as he was only defending himself, he didn't plan on letting others know about his current strength which was capable of surpassing the Blood Qi Realm.
And even less would he let it be known that it was him who killed this man as whoever had given him the mission wouldn't let any loose ends.
He first searched the body, looking for anything that could be useful as this was the corpse from someone who was in the Qi Refining Realm.
"Found it!" after searching through his whole body, he found a spatial ring that was in his left hand.
Ling Xu then didn't find anything else so he proceeded to move the corpse through the heavy rain to a faraway place that wouldn't attract the attention to him nor his residence villa, as he didn't intend on letting any possibility to being found out.
Taking a long time, he made a whole that was deep enough to bury the corpse and head having still three feet before the surface.
After three hours he could finally return to his room, sure that no one would find the corpse unless they searched there intentionally.
As he arrived at the entrance of his room he observed the scene of the fight, searching for any possible clue that would spell that something had happened here.
"Fortunately, it started to rain and it seems that it won't stop for a while. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known how I would have erased the blood marks on the ground."
Entering his room, Ling Xu took out his second set of clothes as the one he was wearing was tattered and full of blood.
After changing the set of clothes, he began circulating his profound blood qi through his whole body as he was seeking to recover his energy reserves.
After a stick of incense time, he stopped circulating his silent blood qi and opened his eyes once again, without a drop of water remaining in his body since it had turned into steam.
"It's the turn to see the spoils from the fight." he said as he was eager to find out what he could gain from this new spatial ring that seemed to be of higher quality. After all, he observed that the black stone in the center was a little wider.
Inserting his blood qi into the ring, he waited to feel the suction force that he had already gotten accustomed to.
"…"
"What is going on?" he said with frustration after realizing that the spatial ring wasn't activated even though he fed his energy into it.
He persisted for a while but seeing that he couldn't do anything about it he put it aside and decided to go to sleep right away.
…
The next day, Ling Xu woke up very comfortable as if nothing had happened the day before.
He went outside of his room with everything he had in his spatial ring and realized that he had overslept, seeing that it was already the time for the menial workers to go do their respective daily tasks.
"Senior brother Xu, it's good to see you are still here!" Xiao Lao came in fast as he saw Ling Xu's figure coming out of the room.
"Brother Lao, what's the matter?" he asked in confusion, seeing that his junior brother was eager to talk with him as if he wouldn't have a chance again.
"After seeing you past the test yesterday against the elder I thought that you had already left to enter the outer sect. Fortunately, you are still here so I have the chance to bid you farewell." he said with emotion while a drop of tear could be seen almost coming out from his eyes.
Seeing his junior brother getting so sensitive, Ling Xu revealed a slight smile as he realized that he had actually gotten pretty close with him even though their time together was very short.
Waking up every morning and training together in the Three Purities Sword technique for the last few weeks had created a bond between them that wasn't comparable to how they called themselves brother but barely knew each other when they first entered the sect.
"It's not like we won't be seeing each other again. I will be waiting for you to enter the outer sect so we can still train together." he said, trying to cheer up Xiao Lao.
"You are totally right, we will be seeing each other once again so wait until I pass the test of the elder and don't start training with someone else!"
Ling Xu looked at his brother who was once again full of enthusiasm and smiled as he bade his farewell to him.
In the border of the sect's array, He Xiasheng could be seen looking up through the gaps of the trees observing the rays of light that barely entered.
"He should already be gone by now. Let's meet once again when I complete the ninth stage of Blood Qi, brother Xu." he said to the air.
…
Entering the outer sect once again, Ling Xu headed anxiously to a place he had been waiting to go since he had heard about it from Zhao Liu, the inner elder who first brought him to the sect.
After a short time, he was already in front of it, looking at it as if he was about to devour the whole place.
"This is the so called Books Pavilion that contains all the manuals available for the outer disciples!" he said, observing the three floor pavilion that looked like a national treasure to him.
"Now I will have a purpose to use the energy for enlightenment and I will be able to get stronger with the different set of techniques available inside."
Entering the pavilion, he found an old man in a desk positioned next to the entrance to guard against anyone that would try to rob the sect's manuals.
Reading with extreme focus, he didn't even look at Ling Xu who had already gotten in front of him.
Feeling the old man's aura, he was surprised as he couldn't feel anything, this was the same feeling that he had felt when he previously came into contact with elder Zhao while he was being tested by the age of his bones.
"Do you need something?" the old man said, annoyed by Ling Xu's curiosity as it was obvious that he was trying to feel his cultivation level.
"Greeting sir, I'm a new outer disciple and…"
"Do you have proof?" the old man interrupted him, not caring what else he had to say.
"This old man is very excentric." he thought as he realized that he wasn't someone normal.
From the feeling he had, he was on the same level or even higher than elder Zhao, who was an inner elder of the sect.
"Here it is." he gave the item with the word pass to the old man, waiting to hear something else.
"…"
"Do you need something more?" he looked even more annoyed at the young man who was interrupting his reading as he was in the middle of deciphering something of great value to him.
"Where should I look at to chose a cultivation and sword technique? After all, I have yet to advance to the Qi Refining Realm and have only been an outer disciple for today."
"What you are looking for is on the second floor, there you will find all the manuals and cultivation techniques available for outer disciples. The first floor contains all the knowledge you could need as an outer disciple and the past experiences from disciples and elders of the sect. And about the third floor, it's only open for outer elders so you can't go there." the elder said and then returned to his book, completely ignoring Ling Xu who was still looking at him.
"Many thanks sir!" he bowed down to the old man and then entered the Books Pavilion.
"Interesting…" the elder moved down the book he was deciphering and observed at Ling Xu's back, "I didn't expect to find someone like him here."
…
On the second floor, Ling Xu had already found his way into the bookshelf that displayed the different cultivation techniques that could be practiced while in the being in the Qi Refining Realm.
"I didn't expect there to be just five cultivation techniques." he was surprised, observing that there were several bookshelves that had all kinds of techniques on the second floor but there were only this few options to choose a cultivation technique.
Ling Xu then proceeded to take the first cultivation technique and read its name, which was Bursting Fire Breathing.
After reading through the introduction he got a grasp of its effect, "Bursting Fire Breathing refines the qi so the cultivator can use the fire element. This fire qi is very fierce and through the breathing method it is possible to burst with great force through the muscles of the body."
"It's very powerful indeed! I wonder what effects the other cultivation techniques will have and how they compare with this one."
Taking the next cultivation technique, he started by reading its title and then the introduction that was on the first page.
"Luminous Wood Breathing, just like the previous one it refines the qi so the cultivator can use the wood element. This wood qi is very soft and has the ability to heal injuries while in the middle of a combat."
Reading until the end of the introduction, Ling Xu also discovered that this cultivation technique not only had the ability to increase combat power but it could also serve for other purposes.
"Because of the soft and gentle characteristics of the wood qi refined through this breathing method, it can also be used to nurture different kinds of spiritual plants and fasten their growth."
Ling Xu remembered a mission that was in the Affairs Hall that asked for disciples with this wooden qi to go to the medicinal garden of the sect to help growing the spiritual plants.
"Although it seems very helpful to be able to heal in the middle of a fight, I don't think that this is the cultivation technique I want." he thought as he didn't like the idea of becoming a resistant punching bag for others.
After all, once he was pushed back he would always be at a disadvantage, so he preferred a breathing method that refined an energy that could increase his strength just like the Bursting Fire Breathing.
Afterwards he continued reading the third cultivation technique which was named Light Water Breathing. This one also refined the qi in the body so he could use one of the five elements.
By refining the water qi through the breathing method, you obtain precise control over your own energy, making it possible to separate it into thin threads of energy and to condense it into a very small space.
This last method can be used in combat to increase the strength of your attacks to a terrifying degree.
"If I had to choose from these three cultivation techniques, I would take this Light Water Breathing since it seems to be the one that resonates with me the most."
Ling Xu thought, thinking that the last two cultivation techniques would be just like the ones he already read, refining the qi in the body into one of the five elements.
"I wonder if there is another kind of breathing method or they will all be the same." he thought, hoping to see a different cultivation technique that wouldn't just refine into another one of the elements' energy.
As he read the title from the fourth manual, Ling Xu's eyes showed interest as he read the title Sword Energy Breathing.
It took him a short time to read the introduction as he got an idea of what kind of energy he would refine with it.
"Although this cultivation technique doesn't refine the qi into one of the five elements, it's still very strong as it transforms it in a very straightforward manner. Once you have reached a certain level of mastery over it, the qi in the body becomes extremely sharp and will be able to cut through anything." he thought excitedly after reading its introduction, deciding almost instantly to choose the Sword Energy Breathing instead of the Light Water Breathing.
"It can not only be used freely in the body to add a cutting effect to your attacks but if you fuse it into a weapon its sharpness will increase to a terrifying degree."
Apart from that, the energy control resulting from this breathing method was also comparable to the Light Water Breathing's water qi since it was sharp not only in form but in its refining process.
Closing the fourth cultivation technique, Ling Xu was certain that he would choose this one, not caring about what kind of breathing method he would find next.
Still, he decided to read its introduction as it didn't do him any damage and he was also curious about what kind of effect it would have.
"This is…"