While doing the task of guarding the border of the sect, Ling Xu had finally hunted his first beast.
It was a wild raccoon which moved very sneakily, using the advantage of the terrain to hide whenever it failed an attack, using any plant and tree to disappear with its fast movement in an instant.
After successfully running away from another pair of guards who were in the fifth and sixth stage of Blood Qi, even though the raccoon was only in the fifth, they couldn't do anything about its use of the place it had ingrained in its body and were left with several bruises.
But unfortunately for the small beast, it had the luck of choosing a place to hide close to Ling Xu and He Xiaosheng.
With his higher cultivation stage and strong blood qi, he didn't have a problem finding out about its presence and managed to cut it in one go.
The cut wasn't as clean as He Xiaosheng's when he killed the purple frog yesterday, but it looked more precise than before he arrived at Skyless realm when he was in the tutorial.
After a few minutes, He Xiaosheng couldn't believe what he was looking at as Ling Xu had started to peel off the skin from the raccoon and cut the meat to separate it into pieces.
"If I had known he would waste the corpse to use the meat as food I wouldn't have allowed him to have all the points." he thought frustrated.
But he didn't say anything as the deed was already done and he had already given his word that he wouldn't take the points from the beasts Ling Xu hunted.
Having cut all the pieces already, Ling Xu took half the meat into the spatial ring he had hidden in his necklace beneath his clothes.
"Can I put the meat in your bag?" he asked He Xiao as he had left his in the room not knowing that it would become useful for now as he couldn't openly show that he had a spatial ring.
Up until now, Ling Xu didn't notice anyone of the unofficial disciples having a spatial ring as it was a precious object that only cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm could have.
…
After their turn ended, they were in the line waiting to receive the points in exchange of the corpse of the fox He Xiao had killed.
Ling Xu had sensed it way before his partner could, but he didn't say anything as he didn't feel any desire to get the points.
Knowing how much time he would be an unofficial disciple, he had estimated that the points he would get after dividing them with He Xiao would surpass a hundred.
This could seem like a lot but if he turned it into merits he would only have one, which was only equal to one low grade spiritual stone.
With his current wealth inside the spatial ring, he didn't feel the need to save the points so he decided to leave the hunting of the beasts to his partner who seemed to need them a lot.
"Are you Ling Xu?"
Turning his head, Ling Xu observed a man around the same age as him who had a big physique.
"It's me indeed, is there something wrong?"
"It depends on what you do from now on, you should know who I'm right?"
Looking at him with a doubtful face, Ling Xu acted dumbfounded as if he had to actually know who he was.
Although he knew him as the young master of the Ma family back in the town he was at just a few days ago, he knew nothing more than that.
He only heard about him while eavesdropping the conversations from other people so it wasn't like he really knew anything about him, only that he came from one of the powerful families.
Making that face, Ling Xu only managed to anger him.
"Then listen well to what I have to say. I'm Ma Dongpil and in less than two months I will become an official disciple in the sect, so you should know what's best and not get in my way."
Feeling where the conversation is going, Ling Xu asked.
"Do you expect something from me?"
"You look like someone smart so I will be straightforward, you just need to give me the pills you receive from the sect and once you enter the outer sect I will make sure you don't have any trouble."
Some people in the line could hear the conversation as they looked interested in what Ling Xu's next answer would be.
"If Ling Xu accepts he could get the support from someone who has already become an outer disciple and had the time to build his foundation in the Qi Refining Realm. On the hand, giving him the blood tempering and blood replenishing pills of the next two months will slow down a lot his cultivation progress." hearing what the muscle headed man said, He Xiao had a troubled face as he was also waiting to see what would be Ling Xu's answer.
"With the resources from my family and the salary of other unofficial disciples it should be enough to last for a while." Ma Dongpil thought as he was planning for the future.
Thinking about once he became an outer disciple and the resources he would need in the Qi Refining Realm increased several times.
After all, with each increase in cultivation realm it becomes harder to progress and the amount of resources you have determines how fast you advance each stage.
But that wasn't the only reason he asked Ling Xu as it wasn't a coincidence that he chose him out of all the disciples who entered the sect.
Ma Dongpil had noticed the special attention Xie Lan had given Ling Xu when they were testing their bone age before boarding the flying boat as he observed him the whole process.
This wasn't normal as he already knew Xie Lan's attitude towards those of the younger generation, never considering anyone to be on the same level as him.
So he felt that it would become an advantage if he managed to get under his wing the only person that he seemed to pay attention to.
Either way, if he was wrong and Ling Xu had nothing special, he would still get his resources and wouldn't pay any attention to him once he entered the outer sect.
"I'm ashamed but I will have to reject the offer, I don't think I have the qualifications to accept your help and I may only become a burden."
Hearing the answer, the people in line felt disappointed as they expected a different kind of answer.
They wanted to see Ling Xu accept Ma Dongpil's offer and act as a licking dog or reject it and show an attitude of not giving in.
But the result was different and Ma Dongpil was surprised as he never expected to receive such an answer.
"It's okay you don't need to feel ashamed, you will be able to become one trust me."
"What is this guy saying? He is encouraging me to give him the resources I get from completing the daily task, does he think I'm retarded or what?" Ling Xu couldn't help but feel as if he was being taken as a clown and decided to answer more straightforward.
"It's okay, I don't need it."
Changing the tone, everyone felt the difference.
He Xiaosheng was surprised by his partner's response as he didn't expect him to stand firm and his decision against Ma Dongpil.
Although he didn't know who this man was he could observe that his cultivation level was higher than him.
If he had felt that it had a strength similar to his or even lower he would have tried to meddle in the conversation and help Ling Xu, but the situation was way different.
All of a sudden, Ma Dongpil's aura erupted as he pressed hard against Ling Xu, using his full strength to pressure him.
Although at first he didn't get it he could now see that Ling Xu wasn't taking him seriously and didn't plan on giving him the resources, so he decided to use his difference in cultivation stage.
"Is this normal for anyone who comes from a higher background?" Ling Xu felt annoyed at the other's answer as he couldn't believe how overbearing the young masters from the big families were.
He didn't even want to know how those who had an even stronger background would react.
While those who were close to him felt the pressure from someone in the ninth stage of Blood Qi and had their faces become pale, Ling Xu didn't react at all showing no problem in standing straight even though the aura was concentrated on him.
"Are you done?"
…
After a few more seconds went by the person who received the beasts' corpses and gave the points appeared and meddled in.
Ma Dongpil was infuriated as he didn't manage to make Ling Xu kneel down even after using his aura on him.
Although he didn't go through two blood exchanges like Xie Lan he was one of the few who managed to go through one, making his strength be above any normal cultivator in the ninth stage of Blood Qi who didn't go through one.
The last thing he said was that he would be seeing him again and that he wouldn't be so lucky or something the next time, but Ling Xu didn't even bother to hear.
After He Xiao got the points from the beast he killed, Ling Xu set off to his residence as he didn't need to continue accompanying him.
"Junior brother, don't forget to bring the meat from the beast you hunted, you can take the bag and return it tomorrow." He Xiao said respectfully.
Seeing Ling Xu's firm character gave him a strong impression.
He still remembered how he was rendered powerless as he was the person closest to him and he felt the strong pressure from Ma Dongpil, making him breathe heavily and having to arch his back as he couldn't withstand his aura.
"It's okay, you can take it as an apology for involving you in the previous trouble."
Ling Xu waved his hand and turned his back to him before he heard his reply.
Seeing his figure walking away, He Xiao's eyes softened a little.
The rest of the day followed the same as yesterday and Ling Xu continued with his training in the sword technique which was still at the beginning of the entry level.
His body was still struggling to display the right technique of the Three Purities Sword as it was actually more difficult than he had thought, taking longer than just a few hours of training.
…
A week had passed since Ling Xu had entered the Formless Sword Sect and everything remained the same.
Starting to take form his routine of practicing the Three Purities Sword technique when the sun was rising, guarding the border of the sect's array at noon and continuing his training on the sword technique in the afternoon.
Ling Xu never stopped, even at night when he was refining his bones as he was about to advance to the eight stage of Blood Qi.
[Name]: Ling Xu
[Realm]: 7th stage of Blood Qi (100%)
[Cultivation]: Basic Blood Circulation (perfection), Existence Shadow Will (27,4%)
[Techniques]: Three Purities Sword (entry 56%), Blood Thread Transformation (completed)
There were a few small changes in his status panel as he observed a very small increase in the progress of Existence Shadow Will.
Having experienced it a few times already, Ling Xu had understood that the way to increase its progress relied in the techniques he was practicing and how much he had comprehended.
A clear example was when he entered enlightenment and his mind entered a state where it could comprehend everything naturally. Every time he completed a stage of the Blood Thread Transformation technique the progress increased a bit.
This was shown even more when he went through the double enlightenment and created a technique which was so advanced he wasn't even able to understand it. At that time it increased to 27,1% in one go, more than doubling its previous progress.
Apart from that, the Three Purities Sword had increased from the previous 8% to 56%, showing dramatic progress for someone who had barely trained with the sword for one week.
But this still felt pretty slow for him as he had become accustomed to the rapid increase he had every time he was enlightened.
Fortunately, he wouldn't have to wait much.
After two weeks had passed, Ling Xu felt for the second time the path between his eyes become stimulated. Although this time it was already opened, he felt the intensity of the energy increase.
He had also claimed the high grade blood tempering and blood replenishing pill he was promised by elder Zhao as it was the sect's payment for completing his daily task every week.
After waking up, he could be seen doing the same three basic moves of the sword technique he had been doing since he entered the sect.
This time, when Xiao Lao entered the training ground, he noticed Ling Xu's technique which seemed to move more naturally as his body had become accustomed to it.