Chapter 59: Eating a Bear’s Heart
Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Eating a Bear’s Heart
A bear?
Zhu Ge’s mind raced, a faint thread of an idea solidifying.
"Excellent!"
Zhu Ge’s voice held a hint of excitement.
The next moment, the small boat dove sharply, stopping in front of a mountain cave a moment later.
Zhu Ge leaped from the boat, circulating his Blood Qi throughout his body.
"ROAR!!!"
The young bear in the cave sensed Zhu Ge’s surging Blood Qi and let out a furious roar toward the entrance.
Then, a tremor ran through the ground, and a massive figure over two meters tall emerged from within.
"Is this fucking thing a ’young bear’?" Zhu Ge blurted out.
But the bear on the other side didn’t waste time on words with Zhu Ge. Its paw, larger than Zhu Ge’s head, came whistling down.
"BOOM!!!"
Zhu Ge immediately sprang away with an agile leap, dodging the strike. However, the ground where he had stood was shattered, sending rubble flying.
’Such immense power!’
After leaping, Zhu Ge held his breath and focused, landing a backhand punch on the bear’s chest.
"BANG!!"
With a muffled thud, the bear stumbled back several steps, its body crashing against the cave wall.
But it just shook its head, seemingly completely unharmed.
"Attack its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose! Or go for its knees and backdoor!" the Raincoat Fisherman’s voice called from a distance. "Zhu Ge, your martial skill is too poor! I will grant you a Spirit Level, low-grade combat technique. Listen and watch closely!"
Hearing this, Zhu Ge turned to look.
He saw the Raincoat Fisherman strike a bizarre pose: his left hand reached back to touch his spine, his right arm bent back from his right ear, the middle fingers of both hands interlocked, and his left leg raised high, balancing only on his right foot on the boat.
"This martial technique is called the Raging Vajra Palm!"
"It is said the Vajra glares with rage to subdue the four Demons; the Bodhisattva lowers his gaze in compassion for the six paths of reincarnation. However, the affairs of this world..."
The Raincoat Fisherman recited the technique’s description while changing his posture.
Although it was called the "Raging Vajra Palm," it included many fist, finger, and leg techniques.
Zhu Ge quickly changed direction, moving behind the bear so he could see the postures.
"ROAR!!!"
The bear seemed to have high intelligence. Its two paws stirred up a foul wind, moving several times faster than before.
Even its roar made Zhu Ge’s eardrums ache.
But in less than a minute, the Raincoat Fisherman’s recitation stopped.
Zhu Ge went through the postures the Raincoat Fisherman had demonstrated. He felt a refreshing sensation as Blood Qi surged into his right palm, which he then thrust forward.
"VMMMMM!!!!"
A faint golden halo was visible around his palm.
His palm strike was powerful and heavy as it met the bear’s paw.
"BOOM!!!!"
A massive explosion.
It was immediately followed by a "CRACK!" The bear’s right arm snapped instantly, hanging limply at its side.
"ROAR!!!" The bear howled in pain, its dark eyes suddenly filling with berserk fury.
’It’s gone berserk!’
Seeing this, Zhu Ge’s joy over his newly learned combat technique was cut short by alarm.
Just then, two even mightier roars echoed from the distance.
"Those two bears are back!" The Raincoat Fisherman narrowed his eyes. "Zhu Ge, get back here!"
As he spoke, the fist-sized brass fishhook appeared beside him again.
"WHOOSH!!!!"
The brass fishhook whistled down, instantly piercing the young bear’s chest and pulling out a bloody, still-beating heart.
The bear that Zhu Ge had fought intensely for so long was finished by the Raincoat Fisherman in less than half a second.
Zhu Ge said nothing. Ignoring the dead bear, he leaped onto the small boat in the air.
"Eat it while it’s fresh!" The Raincoat Fisherman rowed his oars, steering the small boat high into the sky.
"Fisherman, those two bears are only in the Second Realm. Why not slaughter them to go with our drinks?" Zhu Ge asked, confused.
Though he looked puzzled, Zhu Ge felt this might be related to the Raincoat Fisherman’s weakness, which was why he asked.
"Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life. It wasn’t easy for these two bears to cultivate. There’s no need to annihilate them completely," the Raincoat Fisherman said, continuing to row.
’I believe you, my ass...’ Zhu Ge complained internally.
But he mentally filed this away. If the Raincoat Fisherman’s weakness was related to the bears, it might form a new thread of a clue in the future.
"You eat this heart, and we’ll head back. If we pass by that Over Mountain Peak’s territory, you can practice the Raging Vajra Palm some more."
The Raincoat Fisherman turned his head. The speed of his rowing didn’t change, but the small boat’s velocity increased by more than a notch.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really a boat; after all, a skiff and a ship are hardly the same thing.
But whatever it was, the fact that the Raincoat Fisherman could fly through the sky with Zhu Ge in it was enough for it to be called a Spiritual Artifact.
"SQUELCH." Cupping the still-beating heart in his hands, Zhu Ge took a direct bite.
It wasn’t gamey or foul in his mouth. Instead, it had a clean, sweet taste, like a mildly sweet melon.
Zhu Ge couldn’t be bothered with such details.
Although this bear had suffered an undeserved calamity, this family of three large bears were essentially the local tyrants and had killed their fair share of people.
So this could be considered eliminating a menace.
As for the Over Mountain Peak they were about to fight?
Zhu Ge didn’t believe for a second that the Raincoat Fisherman was being kind enough to let him get some practice.
The most likely possibility was that the Over Mountain Peak was useful to the Raincoat Fisherman.
Or rather, the Over Mountain Peak’s *death* was useful to him.
But whatever the reason, Zhu Ge did indeed want to get some practice.
Having just obtained the Raging Vajra Palm, this combat technique might just be an ordinary, low-grade Spirit Level item to the Raincoat Fisherman.
But for Zhu Ge, it was something that could genuinely boost his combat power.
More practice could only be a good thing.
Just like before, he had initially been helpless against that young bear, which hadn’t even become a proper demon yet.
After all, its innate talent was on full display.
Even if they were in the same realm, an ant could never compare to a divine dragon from birth.
That was why Zhu Ge couldn’t hurt the bear at all.
However, after gaining a combat technique, the bear was beaten back again and again by Zhu Ge, who could shatter its arm with a single palm strike.
This was the use of a combat technique!
"SQUELCH."
Zhu Ge made short work of the bear heart in his hands, then mobilized the Blood Qi in his body and began to circulate it.
After eating the bear heart, his Blood Qi seemed to circulate much faster, and the speed increased as he digested more of the heart.
’This feeling...’
Zhu Ge felt his Blood Qi strengthening and quickening, and his heart stirred.
The next moment, the thick stream of Blood Qi suddenly split down the middle, becoming two separate streams.
’Success!’
’Mid-Anger Realm!’
The Martial Dao cultivates Blood Qi. In the Anger Realm, one starts with a single stream of Blood Qi, gains a second at the mid-stage, and a third at the late-stage.
It was similar to what the Taoist Family called, "The One begets the Two, the Two beget the Three, and the Three beget all things."
Once all three streams of Blood Qi were cultivated, the next major realm would follow.
Now, Zhu Ge had finally taken the second step!
"Not bad. Judging by your aura, you seem to have broken through," came the Raincoat Fisherman’s voice.
Zhu Ge opened his eyes and said joyfully, "Many thanks for your guidance, Fisherman!"
The Raincoat Fisherman smiled, then his expression suddenly shifted. "Oh? That Over Mountain Peak has disappeared?"
Zhu Ge immediately looked down. They had already arrived at the place they had passed by earlier.
"It must have been scared out of its wits when we passed by last time. Fisherman, your divine might is truly world-shaking!"