Chapter 5 - Martial Arts Masters (2/2)

“Spirit Robbing Array!”

This was the most basic array formation that the cultivator could summon.

The herbs he had scattered around him started to dance around on the ground until they threw themselves at Chen Fan.

As the name of the array suggested, the technique was used to draw out the spirit qi from the herbs and fuse them with the caster’s system. This was an easy spell to cast, but extremely effective. It could not only draw out the qi in common herbs but also that in numinous treasures.

The cultivators had been studying and developing the cultivation techniques over millions of years, and therefore no longer did they need to follow the c.u.mbersome methods of cultivation described in Wuxia novels. This was the era of Xianxia!

The effectiveness of the array, to a large extent, depends on the experience of the cultivator. In Chen Fan’s past life, he had been widely regarded as a great master in using arrays.

Eyes closed, Chen Fan continued harnessing qi in the herbs for many hours. When he finally opened his eyes, it was already late evening.

“Today’s cultivation was even more effective than last night’s effort. Unfortunately, the effect wouldn’t last long.” Chen Fan frowned. “Why the heck are these herbs so freaking expensive? I have already spent most of the money my mother had given me; I can’t afford another round of harnessing anymore.”

“It seems that I will have to go to the same place that I had spent last night.” Chen Fan had never thought that money— the quintessential of worldly burden—would become so essential in his cultivation.

“Why is my mother so stingy? It’s not like she is poor!” He thought resentfully.

He went to bed and slept until five in the morning. As soon as he got out of his bed, he went straight to that old gnarly willow tree by the lake.

When Chen Fan finally arrived, he was surprised to find someone else had already taken his spot under the tree.

It was that same girl with the ponytail that he had met yesterday, and she was practicing martial arts under the tree. Soon, Chen Fan noticed that she was not alone. The old man stood behind the tree and watched over the girl’s practice. From time to time, he would stop the girl to offer some advice and guidance.

The sharp-eyed young man was sitting inside of a black jeep-like vehicle, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings with a great measure of vigilance.

Wasn’t that the same group of strangers he had met yesterday morning?

Unable to contain his curiosity, Chen Fan approached the group. The old man graced him a glance and then returned his attention to the girl next to him.

Chen Fan was in a hurry yesterday, so he wasn’t able to take a good look at the girl, but after observing the girl for a while today, he was shocked by what he found.

In addition to the girl’s exquisite face and tenacious body, she carried an almost heroine-like quality in every single movement. Even the simple act of lifting an arm seemed like a declaration of victory, and her powerful roundhouse kicks a righteous ultimatum to her enemy.

However, her appearance wasn’t what surprised Chen Fan. It was what he saw inside of her: arcane energy.

“Is she also a cultivator?” Chen Fan was caught by surprise as he did not expect to meet another cultivator on Earth.

“No…” upon a closer look, Chen Fan found out that something was amiss about the energy inside of her. “It was too weak and too… simple. Probably isn’t even strong enough to summon the simplest spell.”

As Chen Fan continued his observation, he noticed the unique s.h.i.+rt the girl was wearing, as well as the traditional martial arts suit the old man was in; he finally put the two and two together.

“Is that the so-called ‘internal energy’ inside of her?”

Chen Fan grew up watching Wuxia shows on TV, and therefore he had heard plenty of high tales about Gongfu and Internal energy. He always thought those high tales and legends were exactly what they were: high tales and legends, until now.

He wagered that the so-called internal energy was a much weaker form of the arcane energy inside of the cultivators. Although Chen Fan was at the earliest stage of his cultivation, he would already be the most deadly Martial Artist in the realm of Wuxia.

The internal force inside of the girl was far inferior to the arcane dharma force inside of even the most incompetent cultivator. The difference in the two forms of energy was much like that of the diesel and rocket fuels, where Diesel could only be used to fuel trucks, but rocket fuel could be used to propel a rocket into s.p.a.ce. They were both fuels, but one provided far more energy than the other.

In addition, a cultivator could harness the power in the universe to command powerful spells and create miraculous numinous treasures. All of those were way beyond the reach of a martial artist.

After Chen Fan’s curiosities were satisfied, he gathered himself and continued watching the girl’s practice.

From time to time, he would shake his head disapprovingly.

The girl had noticed Chen Fan’s criticism, and it didn’t sit well with her. She paused and asked hotly, “What are you staring at? Do you even understand what this is?”