"Let's try this!"

  Ling Xu felt excited and wao try practig the Basic Blood Circution teique immediately.

  But first, he called his status panel as he expected to ge the word "avaible" in his Basic Blood Circution teique.

  [Name]: Ling Xu

  [Realm]: 1st stage of Blood Qi (0%)

  [Cultivation]: Basic Blood Circutiory 0%)

  [Skills]: Enhanced Synapsis (high grade)

  Seeing the avaible word ge to entry and having a pertage with it, Ling Xu realized that it probably meant the degree of mastery that he had over the teique.

  He stopped looking at the status panel, as nothing else had ged, and he assumed the lotus position.

  Following the first step, he focused his mind within his body and while breathing in and out he tried to feel his blood qi flowing through the veins.

  "I feel it."

  He was surprised as it took a very short time for him to feel his blood qi. After all, the information he received from the teique said that it could take a few minutes for an average person.

  After that, he tried eg with his blood qi as his mind focused and he slowly attempted to circute it.

  Once he has trol over his blood qi and he is able to move it with his own will, he will have officially started practig the cultivation teique as only then will he be able to refine his body.

  Ling Xu was extremely focused as he tried for a mio establish his e as he suddenly felt a movement.

  "It is moving!" Ling Xu was ecstatic at the speed at which he was learning the Basic Blood Circution teique.

  But just after feeling that he had won something, he realized the difficulty of the stage as he tried cirg his blood qi

  Ling Xu could barely make his blood qi move and turn as it tinued cirg on its own. After stepping into a wall, he decided that he would tiil he mao increase his trol over his blood qi before he began expl the cave again.

  After all, with this level of trol he wouldn't be able to refine his body and he would never be able to advao the stage of the Blood Qi realm.

  He poured his heart into practig the cultivation teique as after several minutes of trial and error he finally made progress. Although his blood qi moved very slowly through his veins, he mao make it follow his will pletely.

  Ling Xu khat this speed wasn't enough to advao the sed stage unless he took several months, but he felt more than satisfied as it was on another level pared to his previous trol where every time he made it move, it would stop.

  Now Ling Xu had officially started practig the cultivation teique as he felt his muscles being refined by his blood qi, although extremely slow and the feeling was almost unnoticeable.

  Enjoying the feeling that gave him sensing and moving his blood qi while refining his muscles, he stopped abruptly.

  A sense of exhaustion came as he realized that his blood qi had been almost pletely spent while refining his muscles.

  About to end his cultivation, Ling Xu felt something that made him open his eyes.

  "Ughh!" suddenly, the feeling of a needle pierg right between his eyes invaded him as he realized that the pain he felt wasn't physical but in his mind.

  As the feeling increased, he was about to scream in excruciating pain but the moment another feeling came making it disappear.

  Where he previously felt the paiween his eyes, a path ened as a stream of golden energy started entering his body.

  "I feel so light!" he felt the pain subside and his mind being clear every moment that passed, making it run without any obstru.

  "I don't know why this is happening but I will take this opportunity" he focused his mind in tinuing cirg his blood qi through his veins.

  Closing his eyes once again, through the feeling that he was going through Ling Xu felt aernal thought being washed away as he only had the purpose of practig his cultivation teique.

  Every sed he was in this state he felt that his e with his blood qi was increasing as it started moving faster than before under his plete trol.

  Ling Xu couldn't notice the energy that was entering his body, as he was immersed in this state where his mind became extremely clear and his blood qi, that had almost been pletely used was rec faster than it was used for refining the body thanks to this energy.

  The effect of this stream of golden energy didn't stop there as it started bathing his whole body, washing away any impurities wherever it passed through.

  As this tinued and Ling Xu's body was being baptized, every pore within it started opening.

  At the same time, from outside you could see a bck substaning out of his body. This didn't e unnoticed as Ling Xu sehe circution of his blood qi bee smoother than before.

  …

  This process took a few more minutes as it finally came to an end.

  Ling Xu then opened his eyes with a wide smile that couldn't be hidden.

  "What just happened?"

  From the moment he felt that pain to the instant wheered a clear state of mind, he didn't know what he had doo experiehis.

  Although Ling Xu was still in the first stage of the Blood Qi realm, he felt like he had been reborn.

  If entering the first stage of the Blood Qi realm gave him a sense of increase in strength and energy, now he felt as if his body had broken free from shackles that dragged and made his body feel numb.

  Ling Xu's current sense and trol over his whole body had bee clearer than ever. Even his eyesight, whily allowed for him to see a dozeers before the light pletely faded, had improved as he was able to now see sixteeers away.

  That wasn't all as he realized that even his appearance had ged, he observed his arms and then upper body as he had lost all his previous body fat.

  If Ling Xu looked like he had gained more volume in his muscles as he ehe first stage, he now looked like a professional athlete ell defined.

  Even his blood qi, which was very difficult to move before, felt very easy to circute through his body now.

  As he realized the sudden improvement he had affected his whole body, Ling Xu thought of a possibility and activated his skill right away.

  "As expected, even my skill has improved. Not only I perceive slower the speed at which I move my head, but even after deactivating it I don't feel any straining in my eyes anymore."

  After all, Ling Xu's skill involved improving the perception speed of his senses which put a great strain on his nerves.

  He never used his skill to the limit as the duration of the fights were very short, but he khat the lohe fight went orohe straining would be.

  "Let's see my status panel now."

  [Name]: Ling Xu

  [Realm]: 1st stage of Blood Qi (0%)

  [Cultivation]: Basic Blood Circution (small success 0%), Existence (Shadow Will 0%)

  [Skills]: Enhanced Synapsis (high grade)

  "Uh?"

  Ling Xu saw a new name appear iegory where his Basic Blood Circution teique was.

  "What is this teique? It has such a unique name" he saw its name and khat it wasn't something ordinary.

  "It must be the reason why I ehat state" Ling Xu didn't uand what its purpose was but he guessed that it had something to do with the sudden ge he had while trying the Basic Blood Circution teique.

  He then looked at the new progress in Basic Blood Circution teique as he realized that it increased from the entry level to small success.

  "It makes sehat the level of mastery has increased as I feel like I trol my blood qi with ease now."

  Suddenly, Ling Xu remembered that he was still ihe cave as he remembered how dangerous it was.

  Entering this state for around ten minutes left him uo do anything, so if a beast approached him and decided to attack while he ractig his teique, he would have been its meal.

  "I 't repeat this mistake again."

  Ling Xu then decided to turn bad returo the beginning where he first appeared.

  It took him a short time to get there as he observed the already familiar se.

  "Swoosh!"

  As he was trying to decide on which path to tinue , he suddenly heard a soft sound of wind flying at him.

  Ling Xu's body reacted instinctively.

  "What was that?"

  The moment the sound of cutting through air passed, Ling Xu avoided purely out of instind took several steps forward.

  He then turned around.

  A few meters away was another person.

  "Someoacked me?"

  The man looked to be around his forty's and he had a hideous smile that made him look as if he didn't just try to attack him with the sword he had in his right hand.

  Apart from that, he looked quite normal with just a few torn clothes, which was normal for the situation they were in.

  Ling Xu could feel from the man a subtle aura which told him that he had also ehe Blood Qi realm.

  "Why did you attack me?"

  "Is it important?"

  The man in front smiled even wider as if it was a funny question.

  "It doesn't matter, here no one would know if I killed you."

  "What?" Ling Xu was left speechless at the man's reasoning.

  "Don't misuand, I wouldn't do it if there was no reward."

  Ling Xu's ears moved when he heard it.

  "What do you mean?"

  "You don't know? Well, it doesn't matter if I tell you, after all you will be dead anyways."

  Ling Xu's face darkened as he tinued hearing.

  "You get skills by killis."

  Ling Xu was surprised by what he heard. He had already killed several ferocious rabbits and even an adult o none of them had dropped any.

  "But what does it have to do with me?"

  "If I get skills from killis, I also get them from killing humans."

  Hearing the statement from the man, Ling Xu was infuriated. He couldn't believe that he would try to kill him without knowing if the reason was valid in the first pce.

  The man he had in front was betting Ling Xu's life to get a skill that may not even drop.

  It was just a slim ce but it seems he didn't care if he had to kill a fellow human for it.

  Ling Xu said inwardly as his eyes activated the skill to enhance his perception speed.

  "Now it's your turn to die."

  He said it inwardly but his eyes were full of murderous i.

  While the man was about to speak again without realizing Ling Xu's ge, he charged forward.

  As the distance was just a few meters apart and Ling Xu's speed had increased after he ehe Blood Qi realm.

  The maed when he was just a meter away from him.

  His eyes shrank as he was surprised by Ling Xu's ued move.

  Ling Xu started attag right away with his dagger when the distance was right.

  As he thought he had the man where he wanted, he was surprised by the sudden ge.

  As he was about to be cut by Ling Xu's on, he avoided the sed.

  Ling Xu was surprised when he saw the man's rea as he got incredibly fast in such a short moment.

  He was even more shocked as the man rivaled his speed while going backwards.

  Amazed by this, he noticed the man's strange movement as his feet barely touched the ground.

  They moved elegantly as they showed a flexible movement which allowed him to avoid Ling Xu's attacks.

  "Is this a skill?"

  The appearance of this skill took away the advantage Ling Xu had gained by taking the lead attag.

  But that didn't matter as Ling Xu's skill allowed him to be in trol of his every move.

  Ling Xu followed with another ssh with the small dagger.

  The man mao avoid the attack again as he moved his feet with great flexibility.

  "Got you."

  Ling Xu didn't mind and immediately ged his hand's trajectory, following the man's every move.

  "Damn!"

  He got close to the man very fast, giving a sense of death.

  The middle aged ma a chill running down his spine as his eyes could only see the dagger getting dangerously near him.

  Ling Xu's dagger closed by and sshed very fast without leaving him a ce to defend himself.

  It didn't take more than a few breaths until the fight ended.

  Ling Xu heard a message after he cut the man's head.

  [You have killed Liang Yusheng (1st stage of Blood Qi).]

  Ling Xu looked at the man's corpse with a mixture of feelings.

  He didn't like the idea of killing fellow humans.

  "Although I don't like killing, if they try to harm me I won't hesitate to do the same."

  Taking the on from the corpse, Ling Xu read the message.

  [You have obtained Short Sword (low grade semi-treasure).]

  As he felt the short sword's grip was more fortable, Ling Xu ged the small dagger he was using with the short sword.

  He then proceeded to put his small dagger between his pants a in case of need.

  It was unfortable but he wasn't pnning on leaving it there.

  Ling Xu was about to leave when he realized that another message appeared after the killing notification.

  [Liang Yusheng (1st stage of Blood Qi) has dropped a skill.]

  [Do you want to learn it?]

  He froze in his pce thinking about what the man had said before.

  "He wasn't lying after all."

  Ling Xu still didn't think it was justified that the man tried to kill him for his own be, after all they were fellow humans. If the line is never drawn, society would be in plete chaos after everyouro Earth.

  "I want to learn it!"

  [You have learned Swift Steps (middle grade).]

  Ling Xu suddenly felt a tingliion in his legs that intensified in his toes after he said yes, but he felt like this was a joke pared with the pain he had felt whe the skill Enhanced Synapsis.

  pared with the agony he felt before, this skill barely gave him any disfort.

  As the process ended, Ling Xu felt he could instinctively use this skill as if he had practiced it tless times.

  He tried to activate it as he moved his feet, feeling his blood qi moving around the legs and trating on his toes to sustain the skill's usage.

  Ling Xu felt a little stra first while using the skill, but after a minute he started to make the same movement the man he killed did.

  "Amazing!"

  He moved his legs a as if they were flowing barely toug the floor, Ling Xu felt excited about the skill he had gotten by luck.

  He e very much.

  When Ling Xu activated his skill not only did his speed increase, but his flexibility improved and he could now do movements while running that he hought would be possible.

  He eve his legs bee lighter as his feet barely touched the ground making the use of his blood qi and stamina not small but enough to st him for a fight.

  Ling Xu didn't know how the process of his blood qi moving around his legs allowed for this skill to happen as it flowed naturally thanks to the system.

  He then called his status panel once again to see the ges.

  [Name]: Ling Xu.

  [Realm]: 1st stage of Blood Qi (0,5%)

  [Cultivatiohod]: Basic Blood Circution (small success 0%), Existence (Shadow Will 0,005%)

  [Skills]: Enhanced Synapsis (high grade), Swift Steps (middle grade)

  "Uh?"

  As he saw the new skill appear oatus, he also noticed his realm progress had a slight increase.

  Although it was already expected that he had to kill beasts to ehe first stage, Ling Xu hought that killing humans would also increase his experience.

  "I hope when I return to Earth things don't get chaotic."

  Ling Xu still didn't think that after they return they would start killing each other.

  After all it required a lot of experience just so he could advao the first stage, so killing a fellow of the same species to get experience wasn't enough of a reason.

  He also noticed the hundred fold difference as he saw the Existence cultivation teique had a very small increase too.

  "How much time will it take me to reach a hundred pert if killing someone in the first stage gives me such low experience. I don't even know what this strange cultivatiohod is for."

  Ling Xu already felt how extraordinary this teique was, after having his mier a state of plete crity, which allowed for his mastery of the Basic Blood Circution teique to increase rapidly.

  Ling Xu realized that if he wao reach the hundred pert by killis, he would o kill thousands of them or even more.

  Then he remembered.

  If he killed beasts with a higher realm the experience would double for every level increase.

  "I o kill beasts that surpass my own level of cultivation if I want to advance my teique mastery any time soon."

  He then stopped thinking about useless things and tinued expl.