The City of Terror

 Wei Xiao Bei impatiently checked his status panel on the way back to the outdoor training grounds.

As expected, [Flame Resistance] in the special ability category had risen to the elementary level, while the [Desertification] ability was still at the basic level. It seemed like the Pheasant’s blood did nothing to his [Desertification] ability.

 Flame Resistance (Elementary): Host can passively endure heat and flames of five hundred degrees Celcius and below, taking half the damage. The host will only take two-thirds of the damage against heat and flames above five hundred degrees Celcius. Raising this ability requires bathing in the blood of heat-related creatures of higher rank.

There was no doubt that this [Flame Resistance] ability was slightly different from the other special abilities. Just advancing from the basic to the elementary level had increased his temperature tolerance from two hundred to five hundred degrees Celcius.

Of course, the resistance effect remained the same.

This was already very decent.

When he passed by the kitchen, Wei Xiao Bei tested the ability on a natural gas stove. The outer flames reached over two thousand degrees Celcius and it wouldn’t be smart to burn his hand with something of that temperature. He wouldn’t be able to see any resistance effect even if there was indeed some resistance.

Thus, Wei Xiao Bei kept his arm two feet above the flames. The temperature there dropped down to three hundred degrees Celcius. Though he could feel a prickly burning sensation on his skin when he put his arm there, it was clear that the damage had been greatly mitigated. The skin had to be roasted for a while before it slowly started to turn white.

Judging from this, the [Flame Resistance] ability was a bit more powerful than its description in the status panel described it as when it came to practical application.

It is a good ability. Wei Xiao Bei lay down on the deck chair, very satisfied.

The benefits he obtained wasn’t just the improvement to the [Flame Resistance] ability. Wei Xiao Bei discovered that the aura in his veins now possessed traces of a fire aura due to the changes from earlier.

It was only a small change, yet he could now sense that his body temperature was a bit higher than the average human’s. Wei Xiao Bei did not use a thermometer, but he still obtained a specific figure through [Precise Calculation.]

The temperature beneath his tongue should be forty degrees Celcius.

This was already at the level of a severe fever. After all, an ordinary human’s temperature beneath the tongue should be between 36.3 and 37.2 degrees.

Due to contact with air, the surface of his skin was at a lower temperature, but it was still above thirty-eight degrees Celcius.

This meant that anyone that touched his body would think that he was sick.

However, Wei Xiao Bei knew the situation better himself. His body had never been better and when that trace of aura that carried with it a hint of fire coursed through his veins, he could feel his aura being slowly tempered by the fire. The impurities within his aura were gradually vanishing in this tempering process.

This was undoubtedly a good thing for Wei Xiao Bei.

Next, he carefully removed all the feathers from the Scarlet Pheasant’s corpse.

The feather of the Scarlet Pheasant was completely different from other birds. Wei Xiao Bei’s fingertips were burnt just from touching it.

Some of the feathers were also too soft to be used for arrows, so Xiao Bei kept these soft feathers. These were decent materials and he prepared to use them to make a small stove. Be it in the Dust World or reality, he could now use the heat of the feathers to cook.

There weren’t too many of the tough tail feathers, only seventeen in total. The rest had all been destroyed by Wei Xiao Bei’s strike and could only be used along with the soft feathers to create a stove.

It didn’t matter how careful he was being during the harvesting process. The corpse had already been badly damaged by his qi sword. When all the feathers were taken off the Pheasant’s body, it looked like a heap of minced meat.

Wei Xiao Bei frowned. He could only mince the meat properly and turn it into porridge now. It was impossible to fry or steam it now.

It was now dawn and Wei Xiao Bei had just gotten up from his bed. Before the sun had risen, he drove his car and headed toward Feng Tou Mountain or Phoenix Head Mountain to the west of Cui Hu City.

Cui Hu had two natural wonders near it. One was the Emerald Lake, by which Cui Hu City got its name. The water was clear and the surface of the lake shimmered with light. It was one of the places where the city residents often went to during their leisure time.

The Feng Tou Mountain was the second wonder. It was located on the western outskirts of Cui Hu. It was the tail of Phoenix Mountain, one of the four famous mountains of the Chuan Province. This tail had stretched to Cui Hu and it had gotten its name due to the peak resembling the head of a phoenix.

If the Emerald Lake was a good spot for picnics and relaxation, then this mountain was a good place for the residents to come during autumn.

Feng Tou Mountain had three peaks in total, one main peak and three side peaks. All three of these peaks had towering ginko trees along the trail. When autumn came, countless golden leaves fell from the trees, coloring the three peaks a golden-yellow, as if they were three mountains forged of gold. A small stream known as Washhorse Stream wound about the feet of the three hills and headed east, ultimately joining into the Emerald River. One could truly say that the scenery was that of golden clothes and an emerald belt along the waist. It was a grand and magnificent, with a visual impact that wasn’t too gaudy to the eyes.

In all seriousness, it is a little difficult to describe such a feeling with words.

Wei Xiao parked the car at the parking lot and then quickly ran up to the peak along the tiled mountain road.

He was a little early here for sure. It was only a little past five right now and even the old men and old ladies who got up early for exercise had not shown up yet.

Though it wasn’t quite deep enough into autumn to see all the golden leaves yet, the occasional flurry of leaves that fell when a breeze ran across was still an intoxicating sight. It caused Xiao Bei to lose himself in the beauty of the scenery.

Feng Tou Mountain’s main peak was 818.712 meters above sea level and 370 meters from the feet of the mountain to the top.

It was undoubtedly the tallest mountain in the entire area around Cui Hu City.

Of course, if one were to expand the range a bit more, Pheonixhead Mountain wouldn’t even be on the list.

Wei Xiao Bei reached the peak and what appeared before him was a wooden corridor. At the end of the corridor was a fancy pavilion suspended over the cliff. All sorts of delicate phoenix carvings decorated the pavilion, along with stories of phoenixes.

This fine pavilion platform was created by a gathering of local merchants in Cui Hu a thousand years ago, back in the Tang Dynasty. It was known as the Phoenix Terrace.

One could see the two side peaks from the pavilion on the left and right, and the river beneath. It was a place with amazing scenery.

The great Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty had once reached this place and gathered in the terrace to drink and write with his friends. Thus, he left the famous poem that has lasted until now.

 Upon the Phoenix Terrace of Feng Tou

 Upon Phoenix Terrace, phoenixes did once stay,

Where the river flows by but sees no phoenixes play. 

The weeds take o’er Wu palace and paths far and nigh;

The robes and hats of the Jin realm entombed in an array.

Afar the Trihill seems half gone in the blue sky;

The Egret Shoal parts the stream in a middle way.

Oft clouds block the’ sun and Chang’an city from my eye,

Which saddens me more than I could honestly say. 

Wei Xiao Bei had also learned this poem. It was said that this poem described the sorrow of the poet of having an unsuccessful career, but he thought that it was more bold and generous than sorrowful.

He looked past the pavilion and turned toward the plaza on the left. He wasn’t here to write poems or sing.

Three years ago, the clearing here was still full of greenery. However, now, to provide a place for the residents of the city to exercise, the ground had been flattened and covered with cement, turning it from a lush green to a dull grey. Indeed, it was like a scar on the pretty mountain top.

Still, this was the responsibility and job of the park management department. It had nothing to do with Xiao Bei.

He looked at the horizon. There was a thin white line in the distance, as fine as mist, and the air couldn’t be fresher.

Wei Xiao Bei took a deep breath and stood at the clearing. His body sunk slightly and the cement beneath his feet started cracking as he put himself in the Roaring Tiger Booming Thunder Stance.

His eyes shut slightly and the aura in his dantian started to slowly move and accelerate. They coursed through his organs and his body also started to move slowly. Sometimes it was like a tiger lunging from the mountains, sometimes it was like a leopard climbing up a tree. As his body continued to move, his organs vibrated slightly from the impact of his aura, creating a slight sensation of pain.

Wei Xiao Bei knew that these were minor wounds that had occurred from his organs being washed by the aura in his meridian. Such wounds would allow his organs to constantly heal and become even stronger.

This was one of the important ways by which masters of neutral jing and above trained their organs.

Of course, much like other skills, the Roaring Tiger Booming Thunder Stance required time.

Ordinary people could only train it once a week or their damaged organs would not be able to heal in time. It would instead cause internal injuries.

They could train it once every three days once they reached an intermediate level. They would need to reach an advanced level to train it every day.

For most experts of the neutral jing level, they would require at least fifteen years to train the Stance to advanced level.

Meanwhile, Wei Xiao Bei was very advantaged when it came to training this move. His recovery ability was tremendous. An ordinary person had to stop after half an hour of practice.

However, Wei Xiao Bei could train for over four hours and he had been doing so daily over this period.

Thus, after an entire month of such practice, it was as if he had done four to five years of practice for the average person. Take into consideration his powerful regenerative abilities and his organs were much more powerful than the average person’s when they healed.

Wei Xiao Bei had already sensed his Roaring Tiger Booming Thunder Stance breaking through to the advanced level.

As time slowly passed, his body started to move faster and faster, like a tiger on the hunt and a leopard on the prowl. By the end of it, it was hard to even see his shadow.

This Stance was originally a mobility technique of the Neigong school. There was a saying that it went from slow to fast. This meant that the stance slowly increased in speed before it reached the advanced level, relying on the acceleration to strengthen the internal organs. There was also a saying that followed after- the stance moves from fast to slow. This meant that upon reaching the advanced level, the speed of the moves went from fast to slow. The extreme speed would focus all the aura on the purpose of tempering and training the organs.