Chapter 171: Preparations and Cultivation

The news that Crimson Sun Monk, one of the former Dharma Kings of Dìyù Gate, was killed by Zuo Zhicheng quickly spread throughout the martial arts world of the New Continent. It also crossed the seas and reached the ears of some interested parties in the Central Plains.

Dìyù Gate expressed strong dissatisfaction over the death of Crimson Sun Monk. For a time, the entire martial arts world of the New Continent was on edge. The name Zuo Zhicheng also entered the sight of the higher-ups of various major forces for the first time.

As a top force in the Southern Bay region, the Shadow Corps was the first to step forward and declare that Zuo Zhicheng was a secret member of their corps. Riding on the momentum of Zuo Zhicheng’s defeat of Crimson Sun Monk, they engaged in a series of fierce battles with the forces of Dìyù Gate in Southern Bay.

As the death toll continued to rise, the conflict between these two major organizations spread from the martial arts world to dozens of industries in business and politics, becoming increasingly intense.

Meanwhile, at the source of the incident, Xinlu.

After more than half a month of rest and recovery, the burns and scalds on Zuo Zhicheng’s body finally healed. After that, he eagerly began a new cultivation practice.

In the outskirts, Zuo Zhicheng sat bare-chested in the snow.

It was already the heart of winter, and the temperature in the outskirts was between minus one and five degrees. Zuo Zhicheng sat bare-chested in the snow like this. No one knew how long he had been sitting there, but a thin layer of white snow had even covered his body.

His entire body looked pale, and his eyebrows and hair were mixed with snow debris.

The cultivation method Zuo Zhicheng was practicing now was recorded in the Cold Light Rippling Sword. It was a training method to temper his willpower and sense the cold in the world around him.

This method had several benefits. First, it used harsh natural conditions to temper his willpower. As his willpower was honed, his Power of Mind and Spirit would become stronger and more resilient.

Second, through this extreme training, his body would be strengthened, especially his blood circulation, heat supply, blood vessel elasticity, oxygen supply, and bones. While strengthening his body, it also increased his resistance to cold.

The last purpose was to feel the cold of nature in the world, to experience and understand the sensations of cold, numbness, and stinging with his own body. This would enhance the power of Zuo Zhicheng’s killing intent, or his Power of Mind and Spirit, and make it more compatible with the Cold Light Rippling Sword.

This was the characteristic of the Power of Mind and Spirit. After finding a Power of Mind and Spirit that suited him, he would contemplate it, ponder it, observe it, and experience it every day, gradually increasing his strength and willpower.

In the past, Zuo Zhicheng’s Power of Mind and Spirit had more killing intent than cold intent. However, after this kind of cultivation, it was likely that the cold intent would surpass the killing intent.

Although this cultivation method had many benefits, its difficulty and danger went without saying. Only one in ten thousand people would choose this most painful and difficult training method.

Zuo Zhicheng chose this method because it was highly efficient. After his fight with Crimson Sun Monk, he realized his own shortcomings and decided to achieve results in the Cold Light Rippling Sword.

Today was already the ninth day of Zuo Zhicheng’s rigorous cultivation. Every day, he sat like this, using his body and mind to quietly sense the cold in the world. Apart from practicing martial arts and Dao Arts at other times, he would hunt animals in the wild, such as bears, wolves, and foxes, to get food.

The rest of the time, he sat quietly like this, letting the cold of the world slowly seep into his body.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. The muscles all over his body twitched, and all the snow that had fallen on him was shaken off. His blood vessels and organs, which had been contracted, gradually relaxed during this activity. As his muscles released heat, his body slowly returned to its normal state.

As Zuo Zhicheng slowly stood up, visible white vapor continuously emitted from his body, even melting some of the surrounding snow, forming a small pond at his feet.

After he finished all this, Li Xunyi slowly floated to him. He sat cross-legged on his Flying Sword, looking at Zuo Zhicheng with an expression that seemed to say he was a freak.

“It wasn’t easy to find you. It took me a whole day.”

To prevent any relaxation of his will, Zuo Zhicheng had not told anyone the location of his cultivation. So even though Li Xunyi was riding his Flying Sword, it still took him a lot of effort to find Zuo Zhicheng.

“What is it?” Zuo Zhicheng’s eyes flashed slightly.

Li Xunyi felt an astonishing cold intent wash over him. It felt as if he were alone facing a snowstorm, and the temperature around him seemed to drop even lower.

“It seems this self-torture method is really effective,” Li Xunyi said, rubbing his chin. “There’s news about the Golden Spring.”

Zuo Zhicheng let out a breath of white air, grabbed some snow and rubbed it on his body, then began to practice a set of fist techniques. As he practiced, he said, “Do we need to go now? I still need some time.”

“Not for now. That place is extremely dangerous. I plan to find a few more people.” Li Xunyi watched Zuo Zhicheng practicing his fist techniques and suddenly said, “Don’t you think your emotions have been getting thinner lately?”

“I’ve been keeping track, and there is indeed that tendency. But relatively speaking, it has made my cultivation and work efficiency better. I don’t think it needs correction for now.”

“If you like it, then it’s fine.” Li Xunyi shrugged. “So what do you think about Qingyue Qiu? She’s a great beauty. If I were a few years younger, I would want to pursue her.”

But Zuo Zhicheng knew that although Li Xunyi always seemed to like joking around, his heart was just as cold as his, if not colder. However, Li Xunyi was bound by the morals taught by his sect since childhood, which prevented him from doing things that ordinary people would consider evil and also made him wear a mask.

So, when he said this, it definitely wasn’t because he was infatuated with Qingyue Qiu’s beauty, even though Qingyue Qiu was indeed excessively beautiful.

“You want Qingyue Qiu to join?”

“Exactly. The Shadow Guard can freely change forms, which is very helpful for exploring ruins. Moreover, she herself has a lot of knowledge about Dao Arts, ancient ruins, and the history of the New Continent. Most importantly, she trusts you a lot.” Li Xunyi smiled. “You should know that sometimes high combat power isn’t everything.”

Zuo Zhicheng naturally agreed with this. When exploring ancient ruins, research into history, architecture, and culture, as well as mastery of various exploration methods, were very important compared to just high combat power.

“I have no problem with it.”

“Then it’s settled.” Li Xunyi said, “I’ll go find a few more acquaintances and make some preparations for intelligence and logistics. Within six months at most, we’ll come here to find you.”

After they made this agreement, Li Xunyi’s Flying Sword moved slightly, and he flew away with a whoosh. His speed was almost as fast as a horse. However, the Qingwei Sect’s Flying Sword technique was originally a method for killing, and it consumed a lot of Spiritual Power, so it was rarely used for transportation.

Li Xunyi did this to practice his Flying Sword technique at all times.

Clearly, after spending some time with Zuo Zhicheng, he was also motivated.

So, after a short while, only Zuo Zhicheng was left alone on the snowy plain again. Half an hour later, heavy snow began to fall from the sky, soon completely covering Zuo Zhicheng’s body.