My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Do I Need to Avoid Their Edge?

The journey from the peak of Broken Blade Mountain to its base took nearly an hour on foot.

Running at full speed would have saved Wu Chen a considerable amount of time.

But with Liu Linshan’s group and the refugees in tow, he had to slow his pace.

He didn’t let the time go to waste, taking out the second Flesh Refining Realm Martial Arts Manual he had obtained from killing the Direct Disciple.

Yin Wind Leg.

A short while later, the two Flesh Refining Realm martial arts manuals were of no more use to him.

Fortunately, Liu Linshan, Zhou Yuntao, and the others running behind him each held six or seven martial arts manuals.

These manuals had been looted from the ordinary disciples of the Blood Slaughter Sect and contained only Body Tempering Realm Martial Arts.

But there were twenty-five of them in total!

The men had already sorted through them to remove any duplicates.

”Give me the manuals.” Wu Chen slowed to match Liu Linshan’s pace and gestured to the manuals he was carrying.

”...”

Liu Linshan, long accustomed to this sight, handed over the Martial Arts Manuals without a change in expression.

The refugees, trailing about ten paces behind, watched in stunned silence. They could only marvel as Wu Chen finished a manual in the time it took to drink half a cup of tea.

Wu Chen paid them no mind, his focus absolute. He only glanced up occasionally to avoid the embarrassment of running into a tree.

By the time they reached the mountainside, he had finished reading through all twenty-plus Martial Arts Manuals.

Warm currents surged through his body one after another, spreading to his every limb.

His energy was constantly replenishing until he was back at his peak.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, poised to exit the dense forest of Broken Blade Mountain, Wu Chen had finished integrating his newly learned martial arts.

He glanced at his status panel.

[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen

[Martial Arts Realm] Flesh Refining Realm, Sixth Layer

(Breath Concealment Skill · Body Tempering Realm, Fourth Layer)

(Qi Power · Hegemon’s Might)

[Martial Arts & Cultivation Techniques] Ghost Howl Blade Technique, Heart Shattering Palm, Yin Wind Leg...

’The realm increase was expected.’

’But I can’t believe I got the ’Hegemon’s Might’ white Qi Power attribute!’

’It looks like basic martial arts aren’t useless after all.’

’Besides, I’ve learned forty or fifty manuals back to back. My Qi Power must be around four to five thousand pounds. An accumulation of quantity leads to a qualitative leap—this kind of transformation is to be expected!’

A flash of delight appeared in Wu Chen’s eyes as he looked at the panel.

The next moment, he gathered Qi Power in the soles of his feet and stomped down, wanting to test the effect of this new Qi Power attribute.

BOOM!

In an instant, the solid rock beneath his foot shattered. With every subsequent step, a muffled RUMBLE echoed through the forest.

His figure blurred into an afterimage as he weaved through the trees.

The group behind him could only stare, dumbfounded.

”...”

「At the foot of the mountain, just outside the forest.」

The sun was setting in the west, and the sky grew dim.

Enclosed by the surrounding mountains, the landscape seemed even more gloomy.

Hu was idly guarding the foot of the mountain, waiting for the sect’s disciples to return from their trial.

Suddenly, he heard a series of dull thuds from the nearby woods, like the sound of tumbling boulders.

Looking up, he saw a figure dart out of the dense forest.

He assumed it was a disciple who had already obtained the great medicine and was coming down the mountain, but a second glance revealed the person was covered in blood.

A closer look revealed it was actually that ’great medicine’—the one at the Fourth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm named Wu Chen!

’This has to be the worst batch of disciples I’ve ever sent up the mountain.’

’They can’t even handle a single ’great medicine’ at the Fourth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm? They actually let him escape all the way to the foot of the mountain?’

’I wonder which team leader is responsible for this screw-up. When they get back to the sect, they’ll be a laughingstock for years.’

Hu picked up his saber and stood, preparing to kill the ’great medicine’ at the foot of the mountain to alleviate his boredom.

WHIIIIINE!

But before he could even steady himself, a sharp, ghost-like howl rushed toward him.

Then, a spinning steel saber flew into his field of vision.

The saber was terrifyingly fast, arriving before him in the blink of an eye.

Hu was completely unable to block it. He didn’t even have time to raise a hand before the steel saber plunged into his body, starting from the shoulder and slicing deep into his chest.

It left a gaping wound that split open half his chest.

’How... how is this possible!’

’So fast!’

Hu fell backward, his eyes fixed on the sky, never having seen how his attacker struck.

On the verge of death, the words of Qian Fugui seemed to echo in his ears:

”Hu, just keep up the good work. When I get back to the sect, I’ll be sure to recommend you to the Elder for the Steward position at this medicine estate...”

A flood of other memories rushed through his mind, but they were all displaced by the face of a young man.

The young man slowly pulled the steel saber from his chest, deliberately twisting the hilt back and forth, shattering his final thoughts.

”Ugh... ah, it hurts...” A weak groan escaped Hu’s lips.

”Don’t worry. It’ll stop hurting soon.”

Wu Chen’s eyes were clear, devoid of either pity or joy.

’Why show mercy to the people of the Demon Sect?’

’Did his victims feel pain when he was digging out their hearts?’

’Did they feel pain when he treated them as ’great medicine’?’

’Now that the blade is in his own flesh, he finally understands pain?’

’Then he can just endure it.’

Flicking the viscous blood from his blade, Wu Chen watched as Liu Linshan and the large group of refugees arrived.

”There should still be a few Guards left. I’m going to kill my way through. All of you should bypass the manor and go your separate ways.”

Wu Chen looked at the crowd. ”Once you’re out of this forest, you all know the road to Cangzhou.”

”Young... Young Hero.”

A refugee glanced nervously at the corpse, nearly cleaved in two on the ground, and asked timidly, ”Th-then what about you? Aren’t you leaving with us?”

”I have to make a trip to the manor,” Wu Chen replied honestly.

Whether for the martial arts held by the Blood Slaughter Sect’s team leader or to rescue Liu Wei from the manor, he had to go back.

”Take care, Young Hero.”

”We’ll be on our way, then.”

”...”

The refugees knew the manor was a den of demons—the most dangerous place imaginable. Naturally, they had no intention of following him.

After exchanging a few polite words of farewell, they all hurried away, their figures quickly vanishing into the twilight forest.

Only Liu Linshan and his men remained, flanking Wu Chen.

”Young Master Wu, according to those disciples...”

Liu Linshan stared ahead, his expression grim. ”There are four major demons at the manor!”

”And three of them are at the Sixth Layer of the Flesh Refining Realm, with one at the Seventh! It’s truly...”

Zhou Yuntao felt overwhelmed as well. He had already heard the details from Liu Linshan.

Moreover, after the battle on the summit, some of the Demon Sect disciples had been left barely breathing.

They had taken the opportunity to verify the information’s credibility.

They confirmed that there were three team leaders and the aforementioned Steward Qian at the manor, all of them at the Sixth or Seventh Layer of the Flesh Refining Realm.

”Young Master Wu, what do you think of this plan?”

After thinking long and hard, Liu Linshan came up with an idea. ”The few of us can lure out the four demons first. We’ll tell them that all their disciples on the mountain have been slaughtered by us.”

”They’re bound to fly into a rage.”

”Then, we’ll scatter and run, and they’ll have to split up to chase us.”

”You, Young Master Wu, can avoid the initial confrontation. Wait for them to scatter and give chase, then you can pick them off one by one.”

”It would be much safer that way.”

”Hah.”

As they ran, Wu Chen let out a short laugh. ”Do you really think...”

”...I need to avoid them?”

At his words, the men fell silent.

Considering the strength Wu Chen had displayed recently—first slaying a hundred demons, and now annihilating hundreds of Demon Sect disciples...

...dealing with these four didn’t seem like it would be a major issue.

But these were elites of the Demon Sect. Who knew what kind of strange and sinister techniques they might possess?

It certainly wouldn’t be easy to deal with them.

Wu Chen, however, had his own line of reasoning.

Liu Linshan’s plan sounded plausible on the surface. Perhaps because each of them had killed four or five Demon Sect disciples on the summit, they had all grown overconfident.

But in practice, Liu Linshan and his men wouldn’t get far against those demons.

They would likely be killed in an instant. The demons would never even need to split up and give chase.