Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

Chen Fei cast a quick look at Chi Shuqing, who, in the eyes of others, was a respected expert at the Aperture Tempering realm but was now being played with by this bizarre creature, and it had instilled in her a sense of subservience.

The Rat Demon leaped onto Chen Fei’s shoulder and growled softly at Ghost Lady. However, when it made eye contact with Ghost Lady, the look of malice in her eyes frightened the Rat Demon, causing it to immediately retreat into Chen Fei’s sleeve.

“So, how much do you want?” Chen Fei asked calmly, not getting angry.

“One hundred copper coins, and 1 will spare you for trespassing!” Ghost Lady laughed insidiously. In the courtyard, fog had begun to rise without anyone noticing, obscuring the bright sky.

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Plus, for that Rat Demon, another one hundred copper coins!”

“What about this tree?” Chen Fei asked casually as if he hadn’t noticed the chilling atmosphere around him.

“I have already developed an attachment to this tree. If you want it, I’ll sell it to you for two hundred copper coins!” Ghost Lady looked at Chen Fei with unmasked greed in her eyes.

“That adds up to four hundred copper coins,” Chen Fei chuckled softly.

“Do you think it’s expensive? If you think it’s expensive, I can give you a discount on the tree, but you can’t have less than two hundred copper coins for the tree and the Rat Demon!” Ghost Lady said sternly.

“No, you’ve misunderstood. The price is quite reasonable, and it’s even cheap. Let’s make it a total of five hundred copper coins, shall we?” Chen Fei shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Ghost Lady was momentarily stunned. This negotiation seemed to be going in the opposite direction.

“But now, I don’t have that many copper coins on hand,” Chen Fei said with some regret.

“No money, and yet you dare to say five hundred copper coins!” Ghost Lady’s eyes turned red, and the fog around them churned violently, as if it would engulf Chen Fei in the next moment.

“I don’t have it right now, but I’m sure you do. How about you lend me five hundred copper coins? I’ll buy this tree, and then I’ll leave here immediately, no longer bothering you,” Chen Fei looked at Ghost Lady earnestly.

“Then how will you repay the five hundred copper coins you owe me?” Ghost Lady was a bit confused, but she still remembered the five hundred copper coins, which was a huge sum of money.

“You don’t need to worry, I borrowed five hundred copper coins from you, didn’t 1? I’ll give you back what I borrowed from you. This way, our accounts will be settled,” Chen Fei said seriously.

Ghost Lady couldn’t help but be stunned. The money she had lent had come back, and it seemed like there was no loss? Chi Shuqing listened on the side and felt that something was not right, but her mind was foggy, and she couldn’t figure it out for a moment. She could only stare blankly at Chen Fei.

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No, you haven’t given me the two hundred copper coins for trespassing here, and the two hundred copper coins for this tree!” Ghost Lady’s aura suddenly soared.

“That’s because you haven’t lent me five hundred copper coins yet! If you lend them to me, then I can give it to you!” Chen Fei said loudly, his voice filled with sincerity. “I’ve explained it so clearly. Why don’t you understand, Miss? If you don’t understand, it’s okay. Just take out five hundred copper coins step by step, and it will become clear naturally!”

Ghost Lady’s rising momentum suddenly froze. Her mind, unused for many years, now seemed like a porridge, making it impossible for her to determine whether Chen Fei was right or wrong.

“Not like this! Why would 1 lend you five hundred copper coins?” Because she was thinking too hard, Ghost Lady’s eyes became even redder.

“Because the price you offered just now was too low, only four hundred copper coins. 1 felt bad about it, so 1 raised it to five hundred. But I don’t have five hundred, so 1 need to borrow from you,” Chen Fei explained with a sincere expression. “Miss, don’t you want to earn an extra hundred copper coins?”

Ghost Lady opened her mouth and remembered that this man had raised the price from four hundred to five hundred, so she actually made an extra hundred copper coins. Should she lend him the money?

Oh, her head hurt so much!

Ghost Lady held her head, her eyes red as if they were about to bleed, and in the next moment, she stared at Chen Fei.

A chilling aura rushed over, and in the next moment, the mist transformed into a massive hand of the sky, slamming down towards Chen Fei. If she couldn’t understand, then there was no need to think further; just go ahead and kill!

Once she killed, everything would naturally belong to her!

“Boom!”

The entire courtyard trembled violently. In terror, Chi Shuqing ran to the corner of the wall, shivering as she watched this scene. The killing intent emanating from Ghost Lady was overwhelming, leaving her trembling with fear.

The mist-formed giant hand dispersed, and Chen Fei, holding the Qianyuan Sword, stood in place, gazing at Ghost Lady. A dense black light continuously circulated around the Qianyuan Sword, emitting a profound and majestic sword intent.

Finally, he had forced Ghost Lady to make the first move!

All the words Chen Fei had spoken earlier were intended to provoke Ghost Lady into attacking first.

While Despair City didn’t explicitly prohibit the use of force, it did have strict limitations on violence. Whether it was buying and selling fruit yesterday, treating patients at the clinic, or comprehending martial arts at the martial arts school, none of these transactions involved using force or coercion. Instead, the advantage lay in the strange ability to take the initiative. If they wanted to buy something from you, you had to sell it to them. If they sought medical treatment from you, you had to treat them.

However, after dealing with these initial encounters, the restrictions on human actions in Despair City were considerably weakened. The martial arts school’s head could only encourage Chen Fei to practice martial arts, not force him to do so.

That’s because Chen Fei’s initial identity was not that of a martial arts school apprentice. If he were an apprentice, he would have had to practice martial arts and achieve a certain level of proficiency.

Even today, in the shops, the storekeeper only wanted to keep Chen Fei in the shop rather than resort to violence.

Overhead in the courtyard, a sudden ripple of energy passed through, and Ghost Lady’s aura suddenly dropped, almost completely severing her connection with the entire courtyard.

The punishment of Despair City had arrived!

Though not severe, Chen Fei had achieved his goal because at this point, if he were to retaliate, he wouldn’t face any additional punishment!

Moreover, the strong restraint that the entire courtyard had on him since Ghost Lady’s arrival had also vanished.

With the rules down, Ghost Lady looked at Chen Fei and immediately understood what had happened. She let out a sharp, piercing scream. Black mist swirled in the courtyard but dissipated before it could condense.

Under the rules of Despair City, in a short amount of time, the courtyard was no longer able to empower Ghost Lady.

Ghost Lady’s sharp screams continued to spread, and Chi Shuqing covered her ears, a look of agony on her face. Even though she possessed the power of cultivation, her wisdom was clouded, leaving her panicked and disoriented, much like an ordinary person.

Chen Fei’s body trembled slightly with a faint black light as the rules had not yet taken effect. Before that, Ghost Lady, along with the courtyard, exhibited an aura that was clearly at a mid-stage Second Order, roughly equivalent to a mid-stage Aperture Tempering cultivator.

However, at this moment, Ghost Lady’s aura suddenly dropped to the early stage of the Second Order, although it was at the pinnacle of early stage. For Chen Fei, this significantly reduced the level of threat he faced.

In fact, even if Chen Fei’s plan hadn’t succeeded, with his heightened spiritual power, he would have had a good chance of escaping unscathed from a mid-stage Second Order being like Ghost Lady.

However, it would have been just an escape; he wouldn’t have been able to counter-attack effectively.

But now, with Ghost Lady only in the early stage of the Second Order, the opportunity for a decisive kill presented itself right in front of Chen Fei. Not to mention that copper coins could increase his spiritual power, the upcoming patrol of Ghost Soldiers at night alone would require him to have a lot of copper coins.

“Boom!”

Ghost Lady’s palm slammed onto Chen Fei’s Qianyuan Sword, emitting a dull sound.

At this moment, Ghost Lady had long lost her previous ladylike appearance. Her disheveled hair cascaded down, bloodstains streaked across her cheeks, her once black pupils had vanished, replaced by blood-red ones.

“Boom, boom, boom!”

Dozens of consecutive strikes followed as Ghost Lady’s claw-like hands turned into shadows, covering Chen Fei from all sides. However, Chen Fei managed to block each one.

The chilling aura tried to infiltrate Chen Fei’s body along the Qianyuan Sword, but most of it had been washed away by the sword’s intent. The remaining cold power only grazed Chen Fei’s skin before being burned and dissipated by the mighty blood and energy of the Suppressing Dragon Elephant. As for the spiritual impact coming directly from Ghost Lady’s gaze, Chen Fei easily defused it.

Chen Fei’s greatest strengths at the moment were his core soul energy and the immense force of his blood and energy. Both of these far exceeded the range expected of an early-stage Aperture Tempering cultivator.

If Ghost Lady still possessed a mid-stage Second Order’s combat power, Chen Fei would not be able to withstand her so easily. He would have already been forced to retreat step by step due to the chilling aura.

However, this slight difference in power was not enough to pose any threat to Chen Fei at the moment.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of moves had passed, and although the surrounding chilling aura continued to accumulate, it couldn’t infect Chen Fei in the slightest. Chen Fei slowly raised his head, having observed long enough and now ready to counterattack.

“Clang!”

Suddenly, a sword hum resonated from the Qianyuan Sword, and the power of this high-quality spiritual sword unfolded. Sixty sword pearls instantly split apart, forming threads that wrapped around the sword’s body.

Under the guidance of the Primordial Sword Manual, the entire Qianyuan Sword instantly became weighty, and every inch of the sword’s movement created subtle ripples in the air.

The roars of the dragon and elephant resounded behind Chen Fei. His blood, originally boiling like fire, now resembled a furnace, continuously converging. This kind of convergence intensified the burning of his blood, causing the surrounding cold to retreat from him, unable to come within a foot of his body.

The Slaughter Spirit Technique!

The sword threads on the Qianyuan Sword, which were already rapidly circulating, suddenly boiled over, and the sword’s intent soared, dominating in all directions.

With just nine thousand strikes, Chen Fei had already completed this during the night yesterday, thus mastering the Slaughter Spirit Technique. This art was about killing and capturing spirits, with capturing spirits as the end goal. Without explosive power, how could one kill?

Chen Fei’s momentum reached its peak, surpassing the level expected of an early-stage Aperture Tempering realm cultivator. Furthermore, his core soul energy perfectly controlled this force..