Chapter 79 Changes

Duncan nimbly climbed the reef and stood atop it.

He saw a small stream of water trickling downwards to the reef from the other end and falling off the reef. Duncan cautiously made his way tracing back the stream of water. He didn't want to make camp and then find out later that he had intruded upon some other cannibal's territory.

Duncan wasn't keen on engaging in another fight before he restored his qi. And if there was a cannibal here, then it was probably stronger than other cannibals to occupy such a nice place. So, it was imperative that he figured out if there was any danger here.

Following the stream, Duncan came to a tunnel of sorts that wasn't visible until the moment he came near to it. Duncan saw the stream coming through it. After hesitating a bit, Duncan decided to check it out and stepped into this hidden tunnel, and made his way inside.

Duncan made his way in warily, ready for trouble to pop up any moment. Luckily for him, there was no other presence inside the tunnel. The tunnel ended in a dead end. There was a small opening to the side through which the stream was coming in.

The opening wasn't taller than his knee, so it was hard for him to check it out completely. Still, to be on the safer side, Duncan got down on his knees and looked into it. The opening seemed to go on for a distance. He could see some light at the end of it, but Duncan didn't feel the need to check it out right now.

Duncan once again scanned the place for any signs of other beings present here and came up empty. Breathing a sigh of relief, Duncan decided to make his camp here. Not that he had any equipment to erect a proper camp, but considering his situation, this place looked like the perfect hideout for him to spend his week.

Moreover, the water level here was a little bit higher, making it ideal to have a drink from. After drinking his fill, Duncan moved a few paces away from the stream and took up his meditation position. Even then, Duncan was careful to keep his sword on his lap so that he would be able to retrieve it at a moment's notice.

Taking one last look at the spot, Duncan closed his eyes and began to restore his qi.

*****

Duncan opened his eyes, after a short session of meditation to restore his qi.

There was a bit of confusion present in his eyes. Usually, meditation cleared away the excess thoughts a practitioner would have to give them serenity. Duncan had experienced this whenever he cultivated prior to this.

But, this time, Duncan felt a little restless.

The reason for it was the changes that his cultivation technique had gone through. When Duncan began the meditation session, he didn't expect any such changes. Even the booklet hadn't described anything similar to what was happening inside his body.

Initially, Duncan didn't even notice the change in his body. But, as time passed, Duncan was able to see a slight change in his cultivation technique. Duncan's cultivation technique required him to cycle the accumulated qi in his body through his body.

​ That meant, the qi would travel through major meridians and other paths that were specified in the cultivation technique. One such place his accumulated qi had to pass through was his heart.

Until now, Duncan had not seen any kind of changes taking place. However, during this session, the qi that cycled through his heart came out of it with a different hue attached to it.

There was a reddish-black hue attached to the qi that came out of his heart. It was really different from the pure white qi that he had been circulating before this session. It made Duncan confused a bit.

He knew that he hadn't done anything differently. He had just cultivated last night and the result had been what it was before that. But, this time, the hue of his qi had changed.

Normally, this should have freaked out Duncan. But, he was only confused because he had noticed that the new qi that came out of his heart was somehow better in quality compared to the old qi he had been accustomed to.

Not to mention, the thin membrane that had been preventing him from expanding his dantain broke through the moment the new qi touched it. Duncan knew that if he wished, he could break through to the next realm easily. This prevented Duncan from being alarmed by this sudden change.

But that didn't mean he was confused as to the reason for this change. The only thing he had done differently was to kill a few cannibals in between his two cultivation sessions. Apart from that, everything was the same as before.

As Duncan mulled over the issue, his master's words from earlier resonated in his heart.

"How many people have you slaughtered since you started cultivating?"

Duncan felt that he had understood what his master was asking the first time around. But, with hindsight, he felt that his understanding had been only superficial to this point.

Duncan had merely thought that since the name of the technique he cultivated was <Slaughter Demon Sutra>, then he should kill a few people. But, he had never thought that there would be a link between the killings and the changes in his cultivation technique.

One couldn't fault Duncan for thinking like that. How was Duncan supposed to know that his technique would undergo such a change after he killed someone? He hadn't known much about cultivation before this month after all. So, it was only natural to assume such things.

At that moment Duncan realized that cultivation was not simple. There seemed to be hidden conditions and transformations that have never been recorded in the scrolls. He didn't know why people forgot to mention this kind of critical information. But, he was clear that this was the right path for his cultivation technique.

One might ask how Duncan came to such a conclusion. In that case, Duncan would point out a few of the obvious indicators. One, his qi had changed dramatically in quality ever since the change. Two, the block he had found while cultivating to the next stage was nowhere to be found.

And last but not least, there was an intrinsic knowledge that came from deep in his heart that this was the correct way. He didn't know how to articulate that feeling. But, it was there nevertheless.

To add to all this, Duncan felt that it was easier to cultivate currently compared to his earlier sessions. The speed at which his qi replenished was several times faster than when he had practiced last night.

Earlier, it would take him half the night to restore the qi he had spent. But now, all it took was a single short session of meditation. The difference was too huge. The rate at which he absorbed qi was simply unimaginable.

Unbeknownst to Duncan, the reason why no one mentioned this change in the booklet was that no one encountered such a problem before. Usually, <Slaughter Demon Sutra> was reserved for only disciples who have proven their worth. Being a premier cultivation technique of the demonic path, not everyone could get their hands on this.

By the time people got the opportunity to practice this technique, they would have accumulated slaughter aura quite a bit. And the hue of the qi changing to suit the temperament of the technique was a widely known fact in the cultivation world.

Unless someone was entirely new to cultivation like Duncan and got the opportunity to cultivate this technique right at the beginning, they wouldn't run into such a problem.

The reason Liang Tianye was able to immediately identify that Duncan's usage of this technique was flawed was, one, because of his vast knowledge, and two, because he found clear attribute-less qi in Duncan's body.

Being a leader of the Demonic faction, Liang Tianye knew very well what kinds of attributes are common with demonic techniques. Seeing none of them made it easier for him to extrapolate on a probable reason and quiz Duncan on it.

However, what even Liang Tianye didn't expect was Duncan's qi to be of such a high quality after transformation. This could be attributed to the nascent Heart of Killing that Duncan has.

And there was another miscellaneous reason for Duncan to feel that he could absorb qi faster that he wasn't aware of. This cave had been a breeding ground for cannibals for countless years.

All the killings, feastings, and misery that this cave had been witness to, had made this cave rich in the demonic aura. So, the qi present inside this cave was slightly skewed to the demonic path. It made it easier for people practicing demonic techniques to cultivate here.

Regardless of the reasons, Duncan felt that he was blessed to experience such a change. He knew that if he was to survive this week inside this hellhole, then it was essential for him to become stronger.

He had already come across one cannibal that was near to him in power. And he was pretty sure that cannibal wasn't the strongest one in this cave. So, it was imperative that he became stronger sooner, rather than later.

And now, not only did his qi become more purified, it even had some kind of an attribute to it. The only problem he had faced that prevented him from stepping into the next level was also now gone. That meant, he could easily step into the next realm.

Grinning madly, Duncan decided to just do that.

"It is time for me to feel the real effects of cultivation at last. The introductory booklet told that only when someone breaks through for the first time will they get the real benefits of cultivation. It is time to check it out," Duncan smiled happily and once more entered the meditation session.

*****

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