Chapter 16: The Newly Advanced Assassin

“Silly girl, you don’t have to become a blade in anyone’s hand.” Lei Qing gently stroked her hair with a touch of pity, acting as if he were caring for his own younger sister: “You only need to be yourself, as long as you have a clear conscience, that is enough. Alright, let’s stop the idle chatter. I see that you seem to have practiced some ordinary, non-attributed Fighting Qi Techniques, and you obviously have some foundation. Now, carefully memorize all the cultivation methods for Nether Fighting Qi in this Assassin’s Heart Sutra, and then I will guide you on how to use the Nether Crystal Core to build your foundation and transform your Fighting Qi attribute into Nether.”

Fighting Qi was a complex and vast field of study. Lei Qing had cultivated for over ten years, but he still wouldn’t dare to say how deep his understanding of Fighting Qi truly was. But at the very least, he knew that to cultivate Fighting Qi Techniques with specific attributes, one had to use Crystal Cores of the corresponding attribute to build a foundation. Back then, with the help of his uncle, Lei Qing had used a primary Thunder-attribute Crystal Core to complete his Thunder-attribute foundation building. In the ten-plus years of cultivation that followed, he used a total of over ten Thunder-attribute Crystal Cores, mostly used when breaking through bottlenecks.

Of course, every Demonic Beast Crystal Core was worth a fortune. Only the children of wealthy clans had the qualifications to use Crystal Cores to cultivate; this was an extremely extravagant method. Even a primary Demonic Beast Crystal Core, if sold, would be enough to cover the daily expenses of a commoner family for a lifetime. Because of this, whether they were commoners or soldiers in the army, it was impossible for them to use Crystal Cores to cultivate.

Zuo Qianqian’s memory was quite good, and her comprehension was decent as well. Lei Qing spent only three days helping Zuo Qianqian—who was desperate for revenge, eager to gain power, and avenge her grandfather—successfully build her foundation. He transformed her weak, ordinary Fighting Qi into Nether Fighting Qi.

Furthermore, with the remaining power of that primary Nether Crystal Core, Zuo Qianqian’s strength increased greatly after practicing the Assassin’s Heart Sutra, and she successfully advanced to Elementary-stage Black Iron. Theoretically speaking, she could now be considered a Fighter. Although she was only at Elementary-stage Black Iron, if she were to join the Empire’s army, she would already be considered an elite warrior. After grinding for a year or so to gain seniority, she would be qualified to serve as a low-level officer at the rank of squad leader.

For some commoners, if their talent for cultivating Fighting Qi was decent, joining the army was an excellent path to rise above others. Of course, if one liked to pursue excitement and adventure, yearned for freedom, or had a great need for money, joining various mercenary groups was also good. Although it was dangerous, it offered a high degree of freedom, it was thrilling, and the money came fast. Various dangers also made it easy for people to achieve breakthroughs.

Similarly, one could also join various miscellaneous organizations, or pledge allegiance to a certain clan.

In short, generally speaking, if one could cultivate to Black Iron-rank, one need not worry about going hungry, and one would also have some social status. Various earnings could support an ordinary family, with a little left over.

Of course, Black Iron was easy to cultivate, but Bronze was hard to practice. For those without resources, if they worked hard and risked their lives, as long as their talent was passable, they could always reach Black Iron-rank through various efforts. But many people cultivated their whole lives and still found it difficult to break through Black Iron-rank and reach Bronze-rank.

There were three main limiting factors: resources, which meant various Crystal Cores and medicinal herbs; secondly, the lack of an excellent Fighting Qi method; and thirdly, talent and effort.

Fortunately, Zuo Qianqian seemed to have decent talent, the Assassin’s Heart Sutra didn’t seem like some common trash, and for the time being, Crystal Cores were not lacking. All these things destined Zuo Qianqian’s future path to be much smoother than many others’.

It was also lucky that she had this Assassin’s Heart Sutra; otherwise, Lei Qing would have had no way to teach her the family’s “Three Changes of Heavenly Thunder.” That was a family-inherited cultivation technique, the very foundation upon which the entire clan settled down and got on with their pursuit. Anyone who dared to pass it on to outsiders was basically no different from a traitor to the clan, and the consequences were not as simple as just being spurned by the clan.

Just like Lei Qing’s family-inherited technique, the Assassin’s Heart Sutra also contained some combat Fighting Techniques, and even a lot of scout insights, assassination insights, and various knowledge about traps, reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and so on.

On the premise that Zuo Qianqian didn’t mind at all, Lei Qing also read through the Assassin’s Heart Sutra to his heart’s content. Leaving aside those combat Fighting Techniques for now, just those miscellaneous chapters were enough for Lei Qing to gain a lot. These things were much more exquisite than what he had learned in the clan back then.

Naturally, to truly make these things one’s own, one had to constantly sharpen them through practice, branding these methods and experiences into one’s very bones. Otherwise, no matter how good the theoretical knowledge was, it would still be a castle in the air or the moon in the water.

Three days’ time was only enough for Zuo Qianqian to get a preliminary glimpse into the profound Fighting Qi mental method. However, she could already make some use of simple combat formulas and Fighting Techniques. For a Nether System assassin, the most important things were concealing tracks and hiding. Fighting Techniques also pursued bursting out with maximum power in a short time, striving for the effect of killing the enemy with one strike.

Fighting head-on, or engaging in a prolonged battle with the enemy, was often not the proper way for an assassin. If one strike missed, fleeing a thousand miles was the true path. Moreover, orthodox assassins were grim reapers who walked among shadows and darkness. The pitch-black night, where one couldn’t see one’s own hand, was their favorite.

According to the description in that Assassin’s Heart Sutra, if this Nether Fighting Qi was cultivated to the highest level, and the supporting movement technique “Shadow Step” was also cultivated to the peak, one could hide one’s tracks and kill invisibly even under the bright sun and sky. It was very exaggerated.

Perhaps because she had received side guidance from Old Zuo since she was a child, Zuo Qianqian was already good at various stealth and tracking skills, and she was very familiar with this path, so her cultivation of Shadow Step went extremely smoothly. Lei Qing had once tested it; in the darkness, even when he was on alert, this little girl could repeatedly use Shadow Step to get within about ten steps of him before being discovered.

Although Zuo Qianqian was quite disappointed that she was discovered by Lei Qing every time, Lei Qing knew that this was already quite terrifying. Not to mention that he was already a High-stage Bronze Fighter, with sensitivity far exceeding ordinary people. Furthermore, after being hunted and ambushed constantly for months, Lei Qing had gained quite a bit of experience in counter-tracking. No wonder the Ghost Wolf, Scott, was his best teacher so far.

After seven or eight days in a row, all of Lei Qing’s injuries were fully healed, his cultivation had increased slightly, and his realm stabilized at High-stage Bronze. His essence, energy, and spirit were no longer radiating outward but were in a restrained state. At a glance, he looked much more mature and steady. His calm and indifferent eyes faintly revealed the prototype of a master.

As for Zuo Qianqian, she also gained a lot. While working hard to cultivate Nether Fighting Qi, she constantly sharpened her “Shadow Step” and “Shadowless Thorn”; the former was a movement technique, the latter was a Fighting Technique. When Shadowless Thorn was used, it was silent, yet its explosive power was astonishing. It specifically targeted vital points to kill, and the Nether Fighting Qi would attach to the body in an extremely treacherous manner, entangling and destroying the opponent’s meridians, preventing the enemy’s Fighting Qi from circulating.

In other words, even if one strike was not fatal, it would not be easy for the opponent to get rid of the Nether Fighting Qi’s damage, which clung to the bones like a maggot.

Of course, Zuo Qianqian had cultivated for an extremely short time, so she could only be considered to have barely mastered it. She still needed countless practices and time to sharpen and grow. Lei Qing knew from personal experience that the best way to sharpen one’s Fighting Techniques was nothing more than actual combat.

In those moments between life and death, the human body’s potential was often stimulated, allowing one to comprehend many things.

Since being hunted down, this was the first time Lei Qing had been so leisurely for so many days; his body actually felt a bit unaccustomed, as if his whole body were going to rust, which was very uncomfortable. The ones used to sharpen his skills and test his blade naturally had to be that group of hateful bandits with whom he had a grudge.

Assassins were often the best scouts. And scouts were often skilled in assassination.

Lei Qing was just beginning to understand reconnaissance, which was obviously not enough to deal with experts, but taking advantage of the night to help the newly advanced assassin Zuo Qianqian scout some bandit minions was not a big problem. Zuo Qianqian had been trained since childhood, and she had honed many skills in hunting using these things; her mastery of various reconnaissance methods even surpassed Lei Qing’s.

Footprints, broken branches, smells, and various other leftovers and traces. In the eyes of a reconnaissance expert, those things were fully revealed. They would often expose the enemy’s numbers, strength, location, and even how long ago they had passed by or stayed here.

Spending three days, the two finally found their target and tailed that group of bandits. At the same time, they completed the reversal of roles between the hunter and the prey.

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