Chapter 157

: A Surprised Gain
Translator: 
Kazeyuki_ 
 Editor: 
Jimmy_
He tore this man in black apart and started a huge search of his body.
He had heard from the Martial Saint that the first thing after a battle between the Upper Sky users was to rob other’s goods. It was to seize the spoils of war as a form of reward for a blood-bathed fight.
Only, all the equipment on this man in black was gathered in one knapsack.
This knapsack only appeared to be the size of a fist. However, it possessed a massive space inside. Indeed, it was a marvelous storage backpack!
Such storage knapsack was extraordinary. Even those Elders from the Star Gaze Palace may not possess one. After all, to trainees, such a knapsack capable of controlling space would become extremely useful.
Usually, an Upper Sky warrior would always carry some valuable goods. Without such storage knapsack, these precious products would take much more space and was not easy to carry around.
With this knapsack, it completely solved the problem of space. Although this storage bag appeared small as a fist on the outside, there was about ten cubic meters of space inside. It could hide many valuable goods.
Overjoyed, Qin Wushuang felt that this was indeed a surprise gain.
Since he had this storage knapsack, he was not in a rush to count the equipment. He still remembered those two Flame Bird Vultures, and he would not be willing to let others having them.
No one would be satisfied if someone else picked up all the rewards after one had fought through a life-and-death battle.
After putting that soft whip into the knapsack, Qin Wushuang kicked the body of that man in black down the sheer cliff. Next, he quickly rushed toward the previous location.
In a moment, he was back where they had first started the fight.
Feeling euphoric, the two Flame Cloud Vultures were still there. Qin Wushuang put those two vultures into the knapsack along with that Upper Sky blade that he had thrown out as a sneak attack.
After finishing all these tasks, Qin Wushuang did not linger.
For sure, many people had been alerted by the battle. Soon, this place would become lively. He would not want the whole world to know that he had gained some rewards.
To cover up the riches was the number one principle in this training world.
He continued to travel in a rush. After travelling for a day, he finally slowed his pace when he had moved about two or three thousand miles away from the location of the incident.

It should be safe here. It is none of my business if the others want to fight to death. I need to find a place to count the things in that knapsack. It seems that a few goods are in there. Although it may not be a lot, it should not be too bad…

When he thought here, Qin Wushuang started to search for a place. After an arduous search, he finally picked one cave that was free of any danger and went in.
Qin Wushuang felt somewhat suspicious after he opened the knapsack. How come this time, he could feel the leaking of the Spiritual Qi from the inner pellet of the vultures?
With the death of the Flame Cloud Vultures, regardless of taking out the inner pellet, the situation where the Qi leaking should occur. It was common sense because their life vitals had stopped. Without body nutrients, naturally, the inner pellet would disappear.
However, this time, there wasn’t any leaking after traveling for a day!

Could this knapsack be capable of nurturing Spiritual Qi?
Overjoyed at the unexpected find, Qin Wushuang decided to observe a little more. Thus, he di care about the vultures.
Naturally, he did need to investigate that soft whip. Qin Wushuang had fully experienced its function, and it was a tough tool. Even he felt tempted to play around with it.
But that would come later and Qin Wushuang was not in a hurry.
Next, he rustled through the other goods. An ancient scroll came into his eyes first. The shape of this scroll was unique. From its appearance, one would know it would not be something ordinary.
Qin Wushuang took it out and saw three words written on top– <Catalog of Beasts>.
These three words immediately evoked Qin Wushuang’s keen interest. With a little thinking, he arrived at an initial conclusion.

I thought that man in black must have had some unique skills since he was able to train the Spiritual Beasts for his use. It seems he relied on this <Catalog of Beasts>. Earlier when I fought with him, that guy moved his lips to emit a long sentence of strange chants to lure the poisonous snakes. For sure, it was all thanks to this thing!

Inwardly, Qin Wushuang felt quite lucky when he thought here:
This is a real beautiful thing that I have earned!

He put away that <Catalog of Beasts> and turned to investigate the other materials.
Besides this <Catalog of Beasts>, there was one other secret technique book. It was an Upper Sky technique book corresponding to that snake shaped whip. For method books, one would never feel they had too much, and it would not matter if one had a few more. Since he got it, it would not be bad to keep it.
He threw it to the side and went through the knapsack again. Instead, he found a few Spiritual herbs and goods. In total, there were five Spiritual goods, three of them were Spiritual grasses and flowers, and the remaining two Spiritual stones were some form of minerals. Although the use of them was unknown, they were not ordinary things.
The last two items intrigued Qin Wushuang. One of them was an identity jade plate. Two words glowing vigorously was sculpted on it—Deep Black!
Qin Wushuang thought for a moment, and he could not understand the meaning of these two
Deep Black.
Rather, he stopped thinking about it and threw the jade plate into the knapsack.
Next, he picked up the final item. It was a piece of old sheepskin, and many strange paths were drawn by hand. Going in a variety of directions, Qin Wushuang became dazzled and judged that it was a map.
There was not a single hint regarding which places this map depicted. Qin Wushuang smiled bitterly:
It seems that this guy had a lot of secrets. Unfortunately, after he died, whether the map or the identity jade plate, it will all remain a mystery.

At the moment, he would not waste energy to think about it and organized all of his goods. Then, he sat cross-legged to meditate.
Indeed, he had gained a lot through this travel. Especially the exploitation of the <Power of Deep North>, he had almost found a new history over his training progress.
Like seamless clothing, the use of <Power of Deep North> combined with the <Coagulated Sword> flawlessly.
It could be said that within the Initial Stage, with the attack power of the <Coagulated Sword> and the absorption power from the <Power of Deep North>, Qin Wushuang would not be afraid of any opponents.
Of course, he also knew that the <Power of Deep North> possessed a great downside. When he met a stronger opponent, this absorption technique may not work. It could create a counter effect and drain his own Spiritual Qi.
To absorb the power from enemies powerful than him, he could only do it when the opponent lost the power to resist or was incapable of stopping him. Or else, he must use this <Power of Deep North> carefully.

Absorbing the Spiritual Qi from Upper Sky warriors using the <Power of Deep North> felt like reaping without sowing. It would not be appropriate for me to take the initiative to catch people and acquire their Qi. However, if someone came to look for trouble, I would be the one to face a disaster if I did not use it.
Qin Wushuang also had his own set of principles. He would never absorb innocent people. After all, it went against the natural law.
Everyone did not have it easy to reach the level of the Upper Sky Spiritual Force.
However, if someone like the man in black had turned themselves in for trouble, he would never show mercy.

The crucial point about the absorption lay in transforming it into his own. And for me, regarding the transformation stage, it did seem as complicated as it was written in the <Sixth Knowledge of Absorption>. Why is that?

The <Sixth Knowledge of Absorption> mentioned that the time needed for absorbing the Spiritual Qi only takes about ten percent of one’s energy. The time required for merging required ninety percent! And the transformation process was extremely complicated and required endurance. The strength of this process also determined the method and speed of the training regime for the Warriors. From this point, it helped to differentiate the strong and the weak between the warriors in the Spiritual Force. In other words, even if not absorbing directly from the natural power, it would not be a slow process.
The most crucial step was transformation and merging the foreign Qi with the user’s own. It was the most difficult step during the training for all Spiritual martial artists.
However, Qin Wushuang did not experience any of the difficulties mentioned in the <Sixth Knowledge of Absorption>. The book had clearly stated that the transformation process would be an all-around baptism for the arteries, muscles, bones and even the skin.
It was the so-called performance to test the
bearing capability of the naked body.

During this process, the Spiritual Qi would cause a backlash if any part of the body could not bear the invasion of this foreign Qi. It would gush out of the inner organs, destroy the body and devour it.
Thus, during the training process for Upper Sky users, their bodies would become stronger. If any Upper Sky martial artists had ignored the need to strengthen their body, then a tragic fate would await for him.

Could it be that the Spiritual Qi I had absorbed did not have much force of impact compared to the Spiritual Qi I acquired through my training? This is not logical.
Qin Wushuang still felt somewhat confused.
There were two ways to absorb Qi. One of them was to consider the nature and to captivate the Qi through progressive training. To put it bluntly, this was a slow process.
The second method was to absorb Qi directly. For example, the act of taking the inner pellet from the Flame Cloud Vulture and absorbing the Qi from that man in black all belonged to direct absorption. Indeed, it was a shortcut.
Those Qi incapable of getting absorbed was not good as the progressive method!

Each step in the path of Upper Sky was arduous and filled with mysteries. It seemed that I must ask for my teacher’s advice when I get a chance.
With such profound question in his mind, Qin Wushuang decided to ask his teacher after going down the mountain.
Qin Wushuang still felt warm when he remembered the kind treatment from Tan Zhongchi. In his former world, he had a mysterious old man that adopted him and taught him ancient martial arts techniques. Throughout his life, he was thankful to him. Unexpectedly, in his world, he still had another teacher caring for him.
It was a good blessing for two lifetimes.
While Qin Wushuang felt deeply moved, he continued to organize the Spiritual Qi inside his body. A portion of Qi absorbed from the man in black still needed to be assimilated. Qin Wushuang decided to focus on stability and to not incorporate those two pellets from the vultures. Instead, he would merge the Qi already in his body into his Middle Altars point and transform it into his own.
No one could become dominant in one sitting. Qin Wushuang kept reminding himself not to aim too high. He had forced himself to dash through the stage and overused his Genuine Qi. As a result, he suffered from the backlash and died tragically.
In this world, with the exciting martial arts world right here, he must never repeat the same mistake!