Self-reflection was in order! Li Hao swiftly absorbed power from Stellaris, hoping to recover from his wounds and corral the stone bladeâs energy. Heâd truly been too careless this time!
âCome!â Li Hao grit his teeth and fully operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles on the jade sword. A warm and gentle current swirled into being, sweeping through his entire bodyâhurtling power from the stone blade abruptly quieted down like itâd seen its elder brother. Cosmic power began repairing fractured and burst blood vessels while his shifted organs found their proper places. Li Hao heaved a sigh of relief as his wounds started to close.
Heâd almost been the death of himself. It took only one blunder to cause an irrevocable mistake amid carefully laid plans. Heâd grossly overestimated himself!
Moments later, the young man started up the Five Styles. He focused on the bear style this time instead of the ape style. The bear style centered on strength and physique enhancement as opposed to agility. The stone bladeâs energy was well suited for offensive deployment as its momentum was fierce, which actually made the tiger style more apt for it. However, that style would cause such a great disturbance that the auntie downstairs would be inspired by new rumors.
The bear style centered around stability and supplemented with offense. It looked naive and somewhat silly, but even tigers had to cower docilely when a bear palm struck!
Li Haoâs movements remained measured as he ran through the bear style; each step and hand strike used every iota of strength in his body. Vast sums of blade and sword energy traversed through him, particularly his four limbs.
A lock⦠no, multiple locks in his body manifested to his eyes. They were wrapped tightly around himâsupernatural locks!
Opening the supernatural locks enabled one to cross over to the otherworldly domain. Heâd felt them when he absorbed energy from Stellaris, and now he sensed them again. These locks and chains constricted him and prevented mysterious energy from entering core areas such as his brain and heart. It meant he was unable to metamorphose and could only enhance his physical body.
Boom!
The floor shook when Li Hao gently stomped his foot!
Heâd grown stronger, and by a lot! It overwhelmed his capabilities for a second and he couldnât control himself despite the tiny movement. Heâd improved too much today. First it was mysterious energy from the Demon Hunters, then it was his teacher forcefully helping him ascend, now he was absorbing energy from both stone blade and jade sword.
His strength reached several times greater than yesterdayâs within the span of a single day. It was inevitable that he lost control!
âWhat are you doing now, Little Hao?!â Auntie Zhang shrieked. âThe dogâs out of the house, why are you doing this again?!â
This has nothing to do with the dog! Li Hao thought resignedly.
âAuntie Zhang, the fridge fell over! Iâm fixing it!â he called out. The young man wiped off his forehead when downstairs fell silent, coming back with a hand full of blood. Heâd lost a lot of blood when his blood vessels burst.
Li Hao didnât care, instead focusing on decreasing the force behind his movements. Heâd liked living here before as the old house held a lot of memories. But now as he ran through his training routine, a new thought distracted him.
If I make it through thisâ¦. I should get some money and move to a bigger place. Itâll be best if itâs a single family home with enough space to train in. Teacherâs place is nice, he has his own house and yard and can do whatever he wants.
That was all talk for another day. Everything was off the table if he died to the scarlet shadow!
Humm! Punch, punch punch!
The young man refrained from stomping his foot to decrease the amount of disturbance he made. His bones quivered, singing with a low sound every time he moved. Bones and meridians resonated in unison!
Thankfully, this could be controlled. Otherwise, a martial masterâs ringing blows would easily be deciphered in combat and countered. Li Hao yet struggled to control his newfound strength; the sudden increase was as if a child stumbling around after picking up a mallet. It took him half an hour and ten rounds of the bear style before he finally stopped.
âAbsorbing only a little bit took half an hour to digest⦠This energy feels stronger than what came from the two cubes.â Li Hao regarded the stone blade and jade sword with a shifting gaze. âThis⦠also seems to be mysterious power meant for offense! Itâs different from what I took this morning though, it feels higher quality.â
He decided against absorbing more. A conversion process was required with any amount of energy, so he wouldnât improve any further over the next couple of days. It would be good enough to proceed a little further within the Slayer of Tens realm.
Improving too much overnight might also draw suspicion from others. He needed to slowly digest his gains!
âI canât⦠but didnât teacher say that he needs vast sums of mysterious power to cross over? Is he talking about highly combative energy like what the stone blade contains?â Li Hao sank into deep thought.
The professor knew about the jade sword and had likely guessed about the stone blade, despite Li Hao not saying anything. Breathing out heavily, the young man decided to explain that it was possible the scarlet shadowâs faction was much stronger than imagined.
It was probable that theyâd taken the other family weapons. Once they discovered the secrets within, they might grow greater than Sunflare even if this kind of energy wasnât found in all of the weapons!
âIf teacher is able to cross over, he might bypass Sunflare and stand among the five that he speaks of!â Li Hao took a deep breath. He mightâve saved all of this for himself in ordinary times. Humans were selfish creatures after allâthere was a certain kind of amusement in gradually growing stronger.
That was not an option for him at current.
âI hope the reserves here are enough for teacher to advance⦠Only when he succeeds do I have a chance at a future!â Li Hao smiled as he triumphed over the greed in his heart.
All humans possessed selfish desires. No one was born a saint. Those who could see through themselves and look past the fog of personal benefit were the ones who succeeded.
His teacher once said that he was also self-serving. Li Hao even felt his teacherâs greed rise when he absorbed cosmic power, but heâd emerged victorious over himself. This set a prime example for the young man!
âTeacher becoming stronger is the same as me growing stronger. It means that I have much more guarantee!â Li Hao stopped drawing upon the stone blade when his thoughts traveled here. It was a waste to absorb the energy like this. He should bring Panth back and absorb a tiny bit more, letting energy seep out for the dogâs enjoyment.
The little black dog was plump and healthy thanks to cosmic power. It was time to add a little happiness to its comfort! That might also grant immense offensive capabilities and turn Panther into one of his trump cards.
Li Hao grinned with pure delight. Donât you drool over my sword everyday, doggy? See if you dare stare at Stellaris anymore after a good time today!
â¦â¦
Li Hao washed the blood from his face and body before heading downstairs. He dragged a full Panth upstairs, taking pains to make as little noise as possible. If Auntie Zhang saw him again, sheâd suspect him of more unsavory acts with the dog.
Panther quietly acquiesced to its fate.
Inside the house.
âHey Panth, Iâm going to give you some different energy today,â Li Hao murmured with a warm smile. âItâs a bit painful, but youâll be a real panther after absorbing it. Youâll beat the crap out of them at the very least!â
Anticipation dawned in the little black dogâs eyes.
âDo you want it?â Li Hao decided to give a warning after some thought. âItâs really painful, I just had some.â
Haughtiness filtered into the dogâs eyes. If you can absorb it, I can absorb it. Pain? Whatâs that? I donât know that! Just look at the muscles Iâve got! I made a big dog cry with one smack earlier, I got what it takes!
âAre you sure you want the energy?â
Panther fidgeted with impatience. Li Hao was too much talk tonight!
âAlright then!â The young man said nothing further. I warned you, so enjoy!
He briefly operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles and absorbed a little from the stone bladeânot too much, just roughly one or two cubes worth. This energy could be sold for money! Damn he was good to his dog.
Clenching his jaw against the pain, he absorbed a touch of cosmic power and neutralized the body, letting half of the stone bladeâs energy leak out of him.
Panther was on its back with its limbs splayed upward. The little black dog knew the breathing method as well, which funneled massive amounts of energy into it.
âAOOOUU!!â A ghastly shriek ripped through the air like a wolfâs howl!
Auntie Zhang on the second floor sighed, looked at the ceiling, then at her partner sitting across from her.
âThere is no hope for the lad, heâs playing with the dog again! His parents would die of anger if they were still alive!â
To think that she would live to see this day! Why did she see this day! Li Hao had fallen by the wayside! Of course heâd sunk low as soon as he withdrew from school! Did this happen to all good students when they entered the Inspectorate?
Itâs terrifying! My grandson better not join the Inspectorate when he grows up!
â¦â¦
Li Hao didnât have the capacity to consider his neighbors' opinions. He gripped the dogâs mouth and cursed, âWhat are you crying for?! That thing will eat you if you lure it here! I told you multiple times that it hurts. Youâre the one who wanted to absorb the energy!â
âAoooâ¦. ouuâ¦.â Tears flooded out of Pantherâs eyes. It hurts so much! Youâre an awful human being Li Hao! Youâre worse than a dog! I wouldnât have absorbed it no matter what if you told me it hurts this much!
âDigest it well, this energy canât be had for a thousand pieces of gold! Youâll be amazing afterward and kill that thing with one bite!â Li Hao admonished and focused on his own training.
The ape style!
What little heâd absorbed should not be wasted.
The little black dog writhed with agony and sorrow, but there was nothing to be done. It waved its limbs and tail upon seeing Li Hao jump and leap through the living room. Though Panther wanted to learn the ape style, the method wasnât a good fit. Its agility wasnât up to par, so it could only instinctively practice a doggy styleâDog Dig!
One human and one dog began digesting the blade energy, restoring quiet to the apartment.
â¦â¦
Outside the apartment in the building across the way.
Liu Long stared silently at tightly drawn curtains; the other Demon Hunters were also present.
âChief, how about you head over and sleep with Li Haoâ¦â Liu Yan tittered with amusement.
Liu Long swept her with a withering glare, instantly reducing her to silence. The womanâs smile slowly disappeared as well.
âWe might lose this time!â Liu Long said coldly. âBut the gains will be plentiful if we win. Some of us may die, but those who live truly have a hope of crossing over!â
The group quieted down.
âI can vaguely sense a current of mysterious power in the surroundings,â Liu Long breathed out. âItâs very faint, but itâs present even though it knows weâre here. That means the enemy is assured of success and only waiting for the right timing!â
The killer behind the self-immolation cases should know about the Demon Hunters and how the team was hunting them. But they continued to follow Li Hao in close quarters. Liu Long could tell that they were up against a tough foe!
âChief, weâve put our lives on the line all five times!â sneered the skinny Wu Chao. âWeâre the only ones left after those missions. I donât want to live, I want to ascend! But if I die, then thatâs my fate! Just give the word, chief, how do we do it?â