Chapter 138: Reaching the Pinnacle

Ahem!

Su Jingxing clenched his fist, a brilliant light flashing in his eyes. With his current strength, he could go anywhere in Qinghe City. The top floor of the Xuantian University library was, naturally, no exception.

After wandering around the underground cavern twice to ensure nothing else was hidden, Su Jingxing returned the way he came. He left the dozen or so crates where they were. As he had thought before, he wasn't short on money. Gold, silver, jewelry, calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain were all burdens; even if he kept them in his palm space, they took up valuable room. Since he would eventually return to the cavern to figure out the nature of that glowing willow tree, there was no point in hauling the crates out. It was easier to travel light.

Back at the reservoir bank, Su Jingxing cleared away everything left behind by the Shi family’s exploration team. He even lifted the two off-road vehicles and relocated them from the air to the distant main road for the public security team to handle.

Unburdened, Su Jingxing returned to his small courtyard at the foot of the mountain. He immediately took out the cards he had gathered and read their information one by one. The four martial arts practice cards were already accounted for and set aside. Among the remaining cards, he counted eight bloodline cards and five true energy cards, the latter ranging from three to twelve years of cultivation.

The invisibility card from the giant crocodile was a total surprise. Compared to the previous one, this card lasted significantly longer—a full half-hour. Moreover, its functionality was even more advanced: it didn't just render his body and clothes invisible, but also completely masked his heartbeat, breathing, energy flow, and aura. Su Jingxing had been unable to detect the giant crocodile at all, even with his heightened perception and the "Sound Immersive" secret technique. This new card offered the exact same capability.

Su Jingxing was very satisfied. Although he had been practicing the "Ghost Python Breath-Concealing Technique," it had not yet reached the pinnacle of perfection. Until then, this invisibility card would serve as a powerful trump card.

The remaining cards were all internal energy cards, totaling over two hundred and thirty years of cultivation. Su Jingxing decisively consumed them all, converting them into true energy via the "Nine Steps to Heaven" technique, which added over two years to his cultivation. He then consumed the five true energy cards, absorbing the attribute-less energy and converting it into "Heaven-Stepping True Energy," adding another forty years. Combined with his previous total, his true energy cultivation reached over 346 years. After a moment's thought, he took out a spare five-year cultivation card, absorbed it, and pushed his total cultivation to 351 years. The newly added true energy didn't immediately condense into mist, but Su Jingxing was in no rush.

He took out the eight bloodline cards, decoded them one by one, and harvested eight blood beads to feed his weapon, "Thunderclap."

Before he could finish feeding them, "Thunderclap" suddenly burst into light. The small wooden blade, shrouded in cyan radiance, began to grow on its own. When it finally stopped, the blade was four feet long, covered in lightning-like patterns.

*Swish!*

With a thought, Su Jingxing controlled "Thunderclap" to fly in a circle around him. With another thought, the enlarged blade shrank back to the size of a finger.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Enlarge, shrink. Enlarge, shrink. Su Jingxing first experienced the shrinking and enlarging functions, though he hadn't yet touched upon the weapon's true capabilities. Overall, it felt excellent. Of course, this control relied entirely on his mental energy and was quite taxing. If he had practiced the "Divine Firmament Spirit Control Technique," it would be a different story. Su Jingxing sighed; unfortunately, that profound technique was not only incomplete but also just a fragment. To cultivate it, he would need at least twenty years' worth of deduction cards. For now, he would have to put it aside.

As for "Thunderclap's" ability to absorb and release lightning, he would need to find an opportunity to charge it. Charging it in his room wasn't practical; the power of a blood-spirit weapon was well-known, and heaven knows how much of a commotion it would cause if he plugged it into the wall. Furthermore, a sudden power outage could cause all sorts of accidents. He would have to wait for the right moment—or better yet, wait for a thunderstorm to absorb the energy of heavenly lightning!

Having made his decision, Su Jingxing put "Thunderclap" away and took out the branch he had broken off the glowing willow tree. As soon as it left his palm space, it emitted a burst of light. To be precise, the branch was constantly glowing, even away from the tree.

"This is brighter than a flashlight," Su Jingxing remarked. He examined it for a moment, scraped off some bark with a knife, and sniffed it; it had no scent. Should he taste it? Su Jingxing decided against it. Who knew if it was poisonous? The same went for the giant crocodile meat—he wasn't sure if it was toxic. To test it, he would need some live animals, like chickens or ducks. "Yes, I'll go to the market first thing tomorrow morning and buy some live chickens!"

Checking the time, he saw there was about half an hour left until dawn. Su Jingxing decided to take out a martial arts practice card and spend the time training.

Each of the four cards from the corpse puppet contained thirteen years of experience. Su Jingxing entered the practice space and immediately began training the "Sky-Splitting Palm." This art was easy to learn but difficult to master. He exhausted the entire thirteen-year card, reaching the "Pinnacle" realm, though not quite "Transcendent." He decided not to push further; the "Pinnacle" realm was sufficient for now.

He used the second thirteen-year card on the "Hundred-Step King Fist." Previously, he had only reached the entry-level, but this card successfully propelled it to the "Pinnacle" realm. He did the same for the "Ghost Python Breath-Concealing Technique," using the third card to reach the "Pinnacle" realm. He kept the last card for later.

With these improvements, his strength had increased by several folds. The speed at which he could mobilize his true energy and the explosive power behind it had both multiplied. For example, if he were to fight Shi Zhinié now, he could consume sixty years of true energy and use the "Hundred-Step King Fist" to shatter his Blood Flood Dragon martial intent. As for the "Ghost Python Breath-Concealing Technique," he could now suppress his heartbeat and breathing to the point of being undetectable. While it still fell short of the invisibility card's capabilities, it was more than enough for him to lurk effectively. Tomorrow night, when he went to the Xuantian University library, no one would be able to detect him—unless they were a top-three-grade expert who had condensed their own martial intent!

After a brief period of meditation to calm his mind, he looked out the window and saw that day had fully broken. Su Jingxing immediately got up, went to the market, and bought ten live chickens.

He first boiled the willow bark in water and forced the chickens to drink it. After waiting a while, they were fine. He then boiled an entire branch and fed that water to the chickens. They were still fine. It was non-toxic! The glowing willow tree was safe.

Su Jingxing took out the crocodile meat, boiled it, chopped it up, and was preparing to force-feed it to the chickens when, unexpectedly, as soon as he set the bowl on the ground, the ten chickens in the yard rushed over, fighting each other to peck at the meat.

"Is it really that good?"