24 Chapter 23: Feas (2/2)

It had to be. There was no other explanation. The demonic qi seemed to be flowing through the crimson lines that were now etched across my skin. I was reminded of the corrupted Silverback Wolves, Lunar Rabbit and Ghost Bear.

I couldn't help but chortle at the thought. I had enrolled in Wu Ling Academy to train as a martial artist in order to fight against the demonic sects, but I ended up becoming a demon myself. There was some sort of sweet irony about this situation. I wondered what the look on Xiao Zhang's face would be when he found out about that. Or the entire Martial Arts Alliance in general.

”So what…I'm a demon now?”

Well, I was a failure as a human being, so I honestly wasn't bothered becoming a demon. Perhaps I could become more popular that way, and finally get my harem of girls like a certain Nagumo Hajime.

So what does this mean for me in terms of cultivation and martial arts?

I had completely no idea. While I could take reference from a certain Japanese light novel that started out as a web novel, I didn't know if there was any precedent for a similar phenomenon in wuxia novels. Probably because I read a lot more Japanese light novels than Chinese wuxia ones, despite supposedly being a Chinese. But that was neither here nor there.

”Well, only one way to find out!”

I began testing my footwork techniques. To my surprise, I could execute them a lot better and more fluidly than before. As I mentioned earlier, my body felt a lot lighter and I could therefore cross much vaster distances at a much faster speed than before. I could even practically walk on water, jumping and striking the surface of the spring to propel myself forward at an incredible velocity. That was something I could never do before I consumed the Silverback Wolf.

”What about kicks?”

I returned to my practice area and swung my foot around for the usual roundhouse kick. A light touch scraped past a boulder, but the mere graze completely obliterated the boulder. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

”Whoa?! How?!”

I missed because I still hadn't gotten used to the sensation and feeling of my new body and had misjudged the distance, but even so, to completely obliterate an entire boulder with just a single graze, wasn't that too exaggerated? I glanced down the row of boulders that marked my week of practice and progress, and clearly enough, right now my kicks were incomparable.

”I might get a kick out of this…”

After practicing a few more kicks and getting amazed at how much destructive power I now possessed, I then sat down and began to meditate. As I suspected, the process of cultivating qi was now slightly different from before. The natural essence came to me more easily, and the conversion to qi was a lot more rapid and reflexive than before.

But what did it mean in terms of elemental manipulation?

”Whoa! I did it! I finally did it!”

Just a day ago, I had failed to use elemental techniques. The best I could do was cause the temperature around me to drop slightly, and maybe wreath my body with a thin and ultimately useless layer of ice.

But now…

”There's such a huge difference between this and before!”

The amount of ice I could conjure was on a completely different level. Not only could I conjure a much thicker layer of frost armor, I could even freeze the water vapor in the air into whatever shape I wanted. An ice sword, an ice katana, an ice spear, and even an ice axe. As long as I shaped it with my imagination, I was able to produce it in reality.

”Awesome!”

Twirling the ice sword around my fingers, I then grabbed it with both hands and began practicing sword swings.

”Well, it's unfortunate that I still can't use long-range ice techniques, though.”

Freezing stuff around me into discernible shapes and creating ice armaments and weapons was the first step, but I had yet to reach the level where I could effortlessly fire off a barrage of icicles like the Silverback Wolf. Still, I was confident that I would reach that stage eventually.

”I can't believe it. I actually managed to succeed in combining what I saw the Ghost Bear used with the Silverback Wolf's ice techniques.”

To be honest, I had been trying to produce the extended ghost claws that the Ghost Bear wielded to kill the Lunar Rabbit and attacked me, but was met with failure this entire time. But now, while I still couldn't create Ghost Claws, I had used the concept to forge ice weapons.

And it worked!

”This is good. If I can keep this up…eh?”

That was when I realized that I didn't know any sword techniques. I had learned kicking from Shadow Steps and by imitating the Lunar Rabbit, and furthermore, by running thirty kilometers everyday, I had built up a strong, solid foundation for practicing kicking and having a stable footwork. All those combined, had led to me becoming the person I was today. Even with the demonic metamorphosis, I believed that I wouldn't be as successful with mastering my footwork techniques and kicking techniques if I hadn't developed such a solid foundation through running.

Not to mention, that stamina and speed I built up through running and physical training had saved my life while I was escaping from the pursuing Ghost Bear.

”…speaking of which, the Ghost Bear's movements…if I can copy them, I can develop some sort of swordsmanship?”

I remembered how the Ghost Bear swung its paws. It hadn't moved as much as the Lunar Rabbit so I couldn't exactly learn anything other than the wild swinging. But if I could spar with it, perhaps I would be able to learn a lot more, enough data that I could use to create some sort of Ghost Bear Swordsmanship, much like the Lunar Rabbit kicking techniques I was now using?

Well, I'll leave that for another day. For now…

I was hungry again. This wasn't good. I didn't want to eat that terrible-tasting Silverback Wolf meat and go through that hellish, agonizing experience again. But it was difficult to find food in this cave. Quite possibly I wouldn't find anything at all to help me tide over my time here.

But it's possible that I have developed a resistance to demonic meat after that horrible experience…

I had somewhat transformed into a demon myself, what with these physiological changes, and the red lines on my skin. The excruciating pain was gone too, which could only mean one of two things. Either the poison had finally lost its effect, or my body had eventually developed a resistance to the poison located in the demonic beast's meat.

To test my theory, I decided to eat another small chunk of Silverback Wolf meat. After all, I had the Green Dragon Spring. While I wasn't masochistic enough to want to go through another round of pain, I wasn't eager on dying from starvation either. The Green Dragon Spring would help me survive if my theory turned out to be wrong, and I would just find another way to survive. Maybe leave the underground cavern earlier than planned or something. Otherwise…

”Yuck…”

Using a knife sculpted from ice to carve a piece of meat out of the Silverback Wolf's carcass, I yanked it out and looked at it. For a moment, I just stared at it blankly, reluctant to eat it. The raw meat looked so unappetizing.

Maybe it'll look better if I cook it?

I reversed the flow of qi, suppressing my yin qi and allowing my yang qi to burst forth. While I couldn't wield it as much as my yin qi, I was able to produce a small spark of flame. Probably because the Silverback Wolf that I had just consumed had a closer affinity to the ice element than fire element, which explained my greater control over ice.

Using the small flame, I cooked the Silverback Wolf's meat until it turned from a bloody red to a dull brown. Once it was cooked, and before it could blacken from the excessive heat, I pulled it out of the fire and stared at it for a few moments.

After a few seconds of hesitation, I took the plunge and put the chunk of meat in my mouth. I slowly chewed it, paused for another second, and then swallowed it.

Then I waited.

Even after ten minutes, when nothing happened, I finally sighed in relief. It seemed that my theory was correct after all.

That was a huge risk I had taken, to be honest…well, not that huge, considering that I had the Green Dragon Spring right next to me to keep me alive if anything happened. But even then, to risk that colossal pain had to take a certain kind of guts. And it seemed that my gut had gotten used to digesting demonic meat.

Yay…I think?

”Speaking of which, the Silverback Wolf meat actually tastes better cooked,” I mused to myself. That was right. After I roasted it, it was a lot more tender and delicious. It wasn't as difficult to swallow as before, nor was it as foul-tasting. To be honest, I had no idea how much of it was due to me cooking it, and how much of it was due to me developing a tolerance for demonic meat, but I didn't care. As long as it worked, I was more than happy to work with that.

Sculpting a butcher knife out of ice, I began to work on the other Silverback Wolves' carcasses. After cutting them apart and arranging them into chunks of meat, I began preserving them within ice. It wasn't the best freezer, but by using my qi, I was able to create huge blocks of ice, within which I began storing the Silverback Wolves' meat. It was at this time that I was thankful that I was able to wield the element of ice more than any other element. None of the other elements, save wood, would have helped me preserve the Silverback Wolves' meat for long. Fire and lightning, particularly, would just increase the speed at which they would spoil.

*

I spent the next few days cultivating and training my new skills while living off the Silverback Wolves' meat that I stored in my makeshift freezer. With the preserved meat stored in ice, there wasn't a need for me to venture out of my hideout and into the dangerous surface unless absolutely necessary. So I made use of the time to train instead.

”Let's see…if I can successfully combine my ice elemental techniques with my footwork and kicking techniques, and integrate them together…”

I was practicing in the cave, synergizing my kicking techniques with my footwork techniques and blowing apart rocks and boulders. But right now I was also trying to integrate the ice swordsmanship by speedily creating an ice blade out of thin air and slashing my enemy after using Duo or Liu to ambush them or disrupt their movements.

”I guess it'll only work if I practice these moves on a real, living opponent…”

And just like Li Fu Chen before me, I recognized the value of gaining real combat experience. After a while, I left the burrow to ambush Silverback Wolves and test out my new moves on them. Slowly, but surely, I was able to improve on my skills, pick out flaws and problems with my current versions, then upgrade them.

I did this for another two weeks, until I could perfectly execute a footwork technique, a kick, and then a merciless slash seamlessly.

With this, I might be able to challenge even the Ghost Bear!

I still wanted to spar with the Ghost Bear, but not because I wanted revenge. Right now I still wasn't satisfied with my self-developed swordsmanship. It was too raw, amateurish and underdeveloped. To improve it further, I needed to look at how other swordsmen use their swords. I needed to see how the Ghost Bear used its paws and Ghost Claws.

And from there, I could add more patterns and attacks to my roster. I could develop my own style of Ghost Bear Swordsmanship.

Just wait a bit longer, you bastard…

A smile curled my lips as I vowed to myself.

I'll be coming for you.