Stronger with Crimson Modifier

Chapter 168 - 166: Temperament

Hu Qi sat to one side, seemingly in thought. After a moment, he finally spoke, "In that case, I’m in!"

"Very good."

Fa Ji nodded.

"Since that’s settled, we’ll take our leave for now. You can attend to your business. After you’ve handled everything, we will rendezvous in half a month and head to the Earth Core."

After saying this and explaining a few more things, the three exchanged contact information on their phones. Then, Fa Ji and Guo Yi stood up and left the area.

Watching the two figures transform into streaks of light and disappear over the distant horizon, a strange glint flashed deep in Hu Qi’s eyes and vanished.

’Fa Ji and Guo Yi are both Qi Dao Grandmasters. They must possess their respective sects’ Inheritance Secret Martial Arts. If I kill them, there’s a high chance I could obtain two Divine Secret Martial Arts.’

’It’s true. When power grows too quickly, your mentality is bound to have trouble keeping up.’

The clarity returned to Hu Qi’s eyes as he muttered to himself.

He realized that as his power had rapidly increased, his personality and actions had become increasingly reckless. His very first thought upon seeing those two was to kill them and seize their Inheritance Secret Martial Arts.

Those two were by no means weak. If he really tried to ambush them, success was far from guaranteed.

Even if he used the Twisted Light to hide his identity, the past incident with Li Fengtian was a problem.

As long as the Golden Buddha Temple and the Thunder Gate weren’t fools, they would definitely suspect him.

Whether they had proof or not was completely irrelevant.

If a Refining God Venerable took action, even if he managed to escape, an endless hunt would await him.

And yet, he had actually entertained such a foolish idea.

This was a very bad sign. It could easily cause him to make a disastrous mistake at a critical moment, which was something Hu Qi wanted to avoid.

He summoned his panel and glanced at it, but found no abnormalities in his status.

Apparently, this was just a change in his mindset.

It couldn’t be altered by the system.

It wasn’t hard to figure out how to solve this problem.

First, slow down the rate of his power growth to give his mentality enough time to adapt.

Second, find a true Dharma Gate for cultivating the spirit and soul.

Third, break through to the Refining God realm.

Hu Qi immediately discarded the first option.

Slowing his power growth, when the Black Blood Species could bring about the apocalypse at any moment, was no different from a slow suicide—an utterly foolish act.

As for the second and third options, they weren’t mutually exclusive and could be pursued simultaneously.

Hu Qi reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing these thoughts aside.

Looking down at the ring in his hand, which represented his status as a Federation Member, Hu Qi thought for a moment before slipping it onto his ring finger.

He infused it with his True Essence Power. The next moment, his expression flickered, and he glanced at the ring with some surprise.

’Interesting. Not only can it speed up the circulation of True Essence, but it can also gather the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy within a certain range, creating an environment rich in Primordial Energy around the wearer.’

’It’s like being in a small-scale Treasure Land. But for me, this kind of boost is just so-so. Better than nothing, I suppose. It’s a decent little trinket, at best.’

Hu Qi mentally appraised it.

Evidently, this ring representing his Federation Member status was made from a special Spiritual Material, similar to Blood Refining Spiritual Soldiers.

If an ordinary person wore it, while it couldn’t advance their cultivation, it could extend their life and ward off all illnesses.

For an ordinary person, this was a true treasure.

But for Hu Qi, it was nothing special—merely icing on the cake.

Compared to an ordinary Qi Dao Grandmaster, he—perhaps due to his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Bloodline—could easily condense Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy and gather it to himself.

Even without his modification panel, his cultivation speed was among the very best of all Secret Martial Artists.

...

Thousands of meters high in the sky, astral winds howled.

Guo Yi and Fa Ji flew almost shoulder to shoulder as clouds streaked past them.

"That Helinta just broke through not long ago. Her power can’t have stabilized yet. Why did you invite her to come with us?"

Guo Yi asked, a puzzled look on his face.

Strangely, his voice carried clearly through the fierce astral winds, as if completely unaffected.

"That person isn’t as simple as you think."

As Fa Ji said this, his expression grew slightly solemn.

He had actually sensed a hint of danger from ’Helinta’, who had supposedly just broken through.

The feeling was very, very faint, but he had still detected it.

If it weren’t for his sharp natural intuition, coupled with the special spiritual bonuses from the Golden Buddha Temple’s Inheritance Secret Martial Arts, he would have missed it completely.

"Not simple? How is she not simple?"

Guo Yi frowned, his expression also turning serious.

He was deeply aware of Fa Ji’s strength. For Fa Ji to call someone ’not simple’ meant that ’Helinta’ must have some kind of special trump card.

This time, however, Fa Ji didn’t answer.

Seeing this, Guo Yi was left speechless.

’Chatting with this bald donkey is such a pain. He can never just say what he means in one go. He always has to hold something back.’

’Always being deliberately mysterious.’

’If I could actually beat him, I’d give him a good thrashing.’

But despite his thoughts, he had known this guy Fa Ji for a long time. He also knew that Fa Ji was incredibly perceptive and wouldn’t lie about something like this.

Therefore, it could only mean that ’Helinta’ possessed some kind of powerful trump card.

Trump cards were something that most Secret Martial Artists who reached the level of Qi Dao Grandmaster had, to one degree or another.

The only difference was how strong they were.

Guo Yi’s eyes were thoughtful.

He might have a rough-looking face, but how could any Secret Martial Artist who had made it this far be a fool?

If he were, he would have died long ago in some dark, forgotten corner.

But these thoughts merely flashed through his mind before he suppressed them, not dwelling on it any further.

Even if ’Helinta’ had a trump card, what did that have to do with him?

The two of them had other things to do. Delivering the member’s ring had just been a stop along the way.

Their real purpose was to invite other Qi Dao Grandmasters.

There were quite a few Qi Dao Grandmasters in the Federation—a total of ninety-three.

No, wait. With Hu Qi, it should be ninety-four now.

This number might seem large.

But one had to remember that the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy only began its resurgence two hundred years ago.

Even if a Martial Arts Family member on the brink of death from old age broke through to Qi Dao Grandmaster at the start of the Primordial Energy resurgence and had their life extended by another five hundred years, they would still have at least two or three hundred years of life left. They were in no hurry.

Therefore, not many were willing to risk exploring the Earth Core.

...

The sky was azure blue and cloudless, clear and bright—a rare, beautiful day.

「Anshan Academy.」

At this moment, on a wooden bench in a corner by the academy’s lake, Hu Qi sat, having returned to his original appearance.

In the lake, the Camphor Tea Duck was playing on the water’s surface, occasionally diving in to catch a small fish and swallow it whole.

As the weather gradually warmed, the few pairs of swans that had left for warmer climates had not only returned but had also brought new life with them.

On the lake’s surface, a few fuzzy black cygnets paddled behind the adult swans, occasionally shaking their fluffy bodies and letting out clear chirps.

The Camphor Tea Duck had playmates and was having a great time.

However, during this time, he had fed the Camphor Tea Duck a good amount of blood from Lower-Rank Black Blood Species.

Unfortunately, its size hadn’t changed at all.

It still laid an egg every one or two days that gave Hu Qi a single Modification Point.

Hu Qi didn’t press the issue too much.

When conditions allowed, he could try feeding it the blood of a Middle Black Blood Species.

For now, one Modification Point per day was better than nothing.

Even if the Camphor Tea Duck never changed again, Hu Qi wouldn’t mind.

He now had other sources of Modification Points and no longer needed to rely on the duck.

At this point, he was mostly just keeping it as a pet for fun.

Just then, a light breeze blew past, causing the leaves to rustle.

A tender green leaf traced an arc as it fell from high above.

However, just as it was about to touch the ground, it seemed to be lifted by some Invisible Power. It made a turn in mid-air, spun once around Hu Qi, and finally came to a stop, hovering in front of his face.

Looking at the leaf, a strange light flashed in Hu Qi’s eyes.

The leaf immediately began to spin rapidly like a top, as if pulled by invisible threads.

A Qi Dao Grandmaster could use True Essence Power to guide Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy and achieve a form of Object Control.

But to achieve such a fine degree of control was only possible after becoming a Middle-Level Qi Sect master who had undergone Condensing Liquid into Pill.

The smaller the object, the greater the mastery over True Essence Power required.

With Hu Qi’s strength, he could naturally do this.

But what he was using now was not his so-called True Essence Power.

It was a type of Spiritual Power.

For an ordinary person, trying to move an object like a leaf with just Spiritual Power was nothing short of a fantasy.

That kind of thing only happened in novels and comics.

The reason for this was not that Object Control via Spiritual Power was impossible.

The strength of one’s Spiritual Power was inextricably linked to the strength of one’s soul.

It was, in itself, an external manifestation of Soul Power. Although intangible, it truly existed.

Everyone possessed it.

It was just that the souls of ordinary people, and even those of Secret Martial Artists, were not strong enough and were too diffuse.

They simply didn’t meet the requirements to achieve Object Control with Spiritual Power.

For an ordinary Secret Martial Artist to reach this stage, it was only possible after becoming a Refining God Venerable.

Although Hu Qi had not broken through to the Refining God realm, his Spirit Devouring Talent had made his soul increasingly powerful.

That, combined with the numerous Secret Martial Arts he had integrated into the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map and the techniques from his Hypnosis Technique, allowed him to piece together a method for condensing and controlling his Spiritual Power.

However, this method was still a bit crude, and the consumption of Spiritual Power was not small.

Just maintaining it for this short while had already left Hu Qi feeling a faint sense of exhaustion.

Still, it was a considerable improvement compared to when he first started.

At the very beginning, he could only lift the leaf for three seconds.

Now, after several days of practice, he could sustain it for nearly three minutes.

The only downside was the splitting headache he felt every time he exhausted his Spiritual Power and had to stop. It was very unpleasant.

But Hu Qi was happy to endure it.

Because when his Spiritual Power recovered, he would discover that it had grown much stronger, and his control over it was even more refined.

Looking at the leaf floating before him, Hu Qi’s thoughts shifted slightly, and the tender green leaf instantly seemed to transform into a sharp sword.

It shot out with extreme speed, rushing toward the lake in front of him.

The moment the leaf touched the lake’s surface, it made a soft "PLOP" sound and kicked up a small spray of crystal-clear water.

A few seconds later, thanks to the water’s buoyancy, the leaf slowly floated back to the surface.

Just then, a clamor of voices came from the distance.

He turned his head to look.

A group of students dressed in black and red Martial Arts Uniforms was approaching from afar.

The previous incident had caused considerable losses among the members of the Zhu Xi faction of the Shexin Sect.

Therefore, the core classes were opened earlier this year than in previous years.

Furthermore, under Hu Qi’s direction, the enrollment limits were relaxed, and the number of spots in the core classes increased significantly.

The number of core class spots for each Red Scale Martial Arts Hall increased from five to ten.

And, he had heard that quite a few promising new talents had appeared this year.

There were even a few geniuses who had cultivated Qi Blood Power within ten days.

He heard that the siblings Lin Yao and Lin Tu were both considering taking on apprentices.

As Hu Qi watched the group, he saw a familiar figure among them: Song Jian.