Li Ling was currently seated on the back of the Steel Feathered Raptor, rapidly reading through the Disguise Art. Among the techniques he bought, he had categorized which ones to read and initiate in terms of importance, but his priority list had to shift a bit in the face of his current circumstances.
The Disguise Art was not hard to grasp, as its main difficulty lay in having strong enough control over internal energy and muscles, as well as knowledge of anatomy and faces. While Li Ling was definitely not a master, he knew enough about the structure of the human body thanks to his education on Earth to get by.
His face quickly trembled and shook, shifting to resemble that of the famous Ip Man. He only maintained it for a second before reverting back, massaging his facial muscles which were inevitably damaged by his hasty application, but he did not care because it would heal quickly enough, not to mention that the skill appeared on the panel.
As such, Li Ling then opened the Earth Escape Technique, because he did not think for a second that even with the Steel Feathered Raptor, he would outrun the Qing Shan Sect's furious pursuit. This was their domain, their home ground, and while Firmament Heaven was backwards technologically, they still had ways to transmit information over long distances.
Likely, every single cultivation-related settlement or area within this region would soon have his face and details pasted, along with a hefty bounty that would tempt the brave and the bold. Hence, having this escape technique mastered would allow him to preserve his life for even longer.
This technique was a daoist art though, so unlike the Disguise Art, it was far harder to initiate. Even though he had an earth-element spirit root, that only gave him the basic qualification to cultivate along with a basic elemental affinity, with no bonuses whatsoever. This was not something he could enter into in one instant without strong comprehension, so he began to focus on it seriously.
As the Steel Feathered Raptor flew at its cruising speed, time flew.
It hit nighttime around seven hours later, with the raptor descending into a nearby valley to rest under Li Ling's control. It had expended a significant portion of its stamina and energy by flying so fast, so unless Li Ling wanted to either kill it or have it revolt, he would have to let it rest.
Li Ling jumped down and let the raptor drop Cai Dong rudely to the ground, causing her to groan in pain as she slowly came to. Li Ling casually dug out a portion of the grass to make a firepit and began laying down the groundwork for a basic night camp.
Cai Dong slowly understood her circumstances and became silent, not making a fuss, something which surprised Li Ling. She did not cry in sorrow for lost ones, nor did she try to question him on what he wanted from her.
She simply sat on the ground with her legs brought inward, watching him quietly and coldly.
This actually made Li Ling want to kill her all the more. A woman who could retain her calm in this situation and not make any foolish moves was not someone who could easily be deceived, suppressed or trusted at all. If Li Ling lowered his guard around her, he would likely find himself tied and bound the next moment, the roles between them reversing.
Cai Dong shuddered when she saw Li Ling display open killing intent and heft his spear, visibly considering whether to kill her. She stopped looking at him coldly and fearfully said, "I won't try anything stupid and I will comply with all your demands. Just don't kill me."
Li Ling remained silent and eventually retracted his killing intent because he still wanted something from her. He was not sure when he would encounter another Sage Race person who had significant cultivation but was weak enough to be captured by him.
Cai Dong saw this and sighed with relief, relaxing slightly. She then glanced at the fatigued Steel Feathered Raptor that had laid down on the ground to rest, not bothering to look at the two humans who had mounted it, as it was still quite scared of Li Ling.
She truly did not have any ideas of escaping right now, because first of all, she had been out cold since the beginning so she had no idea where they were, and second of all, she had no supplies with her. Qi cultivators could begin to forgo food at Foundation Establishment, but at Qi Refinement, one still needed to eat and drink for sustenance.
This was also the case for her, who did not even practice typical qi cultivation but rather the special Sage Race method, so her situation was worse than Li Ling's, being no different from a normal mortal woman in terms of the need for food.
Right now, her best bet was to develop goodwill with her captor and wait for him to arrive at a nearby town or city, then execute one of three plans. Either alert the authorities that he was a fugitive, use a moment of carelessness to escape and hide, or try to assassinate him in a moment of weakness.
So Cai Dong sat down obediently and quietly, looking at Li Ling who got a campfire going and brought out a demon beast carcass from a void ring, making Cai Dong's eyes narrow. Li Ling then began to cook it after preparation, taking out condiments to make the grill taste good which even made the fatigued raptor raise its head with interest.
Li Ling casually cut half of the corpse and tossed it to the raptor, which happily began to eat with relish. He then cut a small portion off and tossed it to Cai Dong who caught it with what seemed like a form of telekinesis, a blue outline faintly forming around her body.
Li Ling raised an eyebrow but did not inquire about the ability despite it being one of the reasons he even kidnapped her. Right now, he had bigger concerns, so he plopped down to the ground and took out the book on Qi Sealing, which was necessary to subdue his captive.
He had already brought the Earth Escape Technique to the entry level after much difficulty these past few hours, satisfied to see it pop up on the panel. The Qi Sealing Technique was far less complex, and he reckoned he could get it going in a quarter hour or more.
The camp was quiet as the fire flickered, both humans remaining awake while the raptor had fallen into a food coma, breathing lightly. Cai Dong stared at the flames while her thoughts flickered, making many plans and contingencies, while Li Ling initiated technique after technique based on his needs and their difficulty.
Daytime came and neither of the two had slept, but this was not a problem for Li Ling who ingested a Clear Mind Pill, a popular grade 1 pill for Qi Refinement cultivators to stabilize their minds for long periods of cultivation. As for Cai Dong, she was even better, because the Sage Race's power system precisely focused on the mind, making their intelligence, calculative ability and awareness stronger at the cost of weaker bodies.
Li Ling closed the final book around noon, cricking his neck as he had finally filled his panel with everything he had purchased, especially the most difficult yet most simple Blood Asura Descent.
It was called a simple technique by Li Ling because most body refinement methods were, not to mention that as a demonic technique, it was purposefully designed for everyone to be able to practice easily, regardless of objective talent.
However, Li Ling felt his heart tremble as he thought of the underlying complexities. If you wanted to use it, it was quite easy, since the method focused on harvesting blood resentment from slain cultivators or demon beasts to refine the body.
Obviously, the killing and refining part was easy to do in terms of cultivation complexity, which was the "easy and quick" part of the demonic technique that made it so alluring to those of weaker talents.
The hard aspects though, were the cleansing and fortification parts, which were basically the way to prevent the resentment of those killed from affecting your mind and polluting your soul, thereby driving you crazy before you could even enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Li Ling breathed out and opened the Infinite Slaughter System.
｢The Infinite Slaughter System has detected the presence of new elements. The panel will be updated to show them accordingly.｣
｢Infinite Slaughter System
Owner: Li Ling
Status: Healthy.
Slaughter Points: 442
Qi Cultivation Base: Qi Refinement Perfection (Unable To Breakthrough)
Qi Cultivation Technique: Qi Circulation Mantra (Technique Reached Limit)
Body Refinement Level: Uninitiated (0/10)
Body Refinement Technique: Blood Asura Descent
Daoist Arts:
1. Fireball Technique – Advanced (0/2)
2. Qi Restraining Control – Mastery (0/25)
3. Qi Seeking Technique – Mastery (0/15)
4. Voice Transmission – Entry (0/1)
5. Object Control – Entry (0/3)
6. Earth Escape – Entry (0/10)
7. Golden Bell Shield – Entry (0/3)
8. Cleansing Spell – Entry (0/1)
9. Qi Sealing Technique – Entry (0/5)
10. Essence Locking Technique – Entry (0/5)
11. Falling Boulder Art – Entry (0/10)
Non-Daoist Techniques:
1. Li Family Spear Technique – Advanced (0/3)
2. Disguise Art – Entry (0/1)
3. Swift Swallow Step – Entry (0/1)
4. Sky Rending Palm – Entry (0/1)
5. Hidden Sleeve Art – Entry (0/1)｣
Li Ling's wanton massacre had brought him over 400 Slaughter Points in total, and the numbers had slowly ticked up throughout the night as the leftover injured from his crazed escape either did not make it or were put down after being found to be hopeless.
Because of this, he was spoiled for choice, but his mind was actually quite sober on what was important.
First things first, strength. Strength was the eternal truth of the cultivation world, the modifier and factor that decided whether you got to enjoy your nature-given free will or you were going to suffer harm or exploitation from another being with higher power.
As such, Li Ling directly placed Slaughter Points into the Blood Asura Descent. Among all of the things he learned, none could grant him tangible strength like Body Refining, which would layer upon his Qi Refinement power and give him more avenues for all forms of situations.
Going from uninitiated to Mortal Flesh realm level 1, Li Ling felt his body begin to shake as his musculature was infused with copious amounts of spiritual energy that slowly refined them, like an artificer purifying a piece of mixed ore into an ingot.
A bloody aura emerged from Li Ling, looking very much akin to a sort of malicious miasma that was often used in visual media to depict someone evil or cruel. Seated cross-legged, the miasma trickled from his body but only extended up to one meter away from his skin before dissipating.
Still, seeing this change alone caused both Cai Dong and the seemingly sleeping Steel Feathered Raptor to glance over with caution. Cai Dong especially was confused, wondering how Li Ling broke through so fast, because Body Refinement was nothing like Qi cultivation.
Similar to mortal martial arts in a way, one had to actually take time to refine their body using special medicines, resources and spiritual energy before breaking through slowly. Qi cultivation's breakthroughs were instant, smashing against a semi-corporeal barrier or bottleneck, but Body Refinement was like throwing yourself into a furnace to be hammered.
She was even more confused, and startled, when Li Ling's aura flared again the next second, his bloody aura reaching two meters from his skin and radiating significantly greater strength. Her mind felt like it was going to explode when Li Ling advanced the next second again, and then kept advancing forward every second as if the heavens were bestowing him with power for free.