"Knock knock knock..."
Three rhythmic knocks sounded from outside the door. The middle-aged man, who was reviewing docunts at his desk, looked up and said,
"Co in."
"Click..."
After the sound of the doorknob turning, a young man with a straight posture, who looked like he had a military background, walked into the room. He held a docunt wrapped in kraft paper, and with a solemn expression, he said,
"Report, the results of the first round of comparison have co out."
"Are there any issues?" The middle-aged man took the file folder, first checking the seal to ensure there were no problems before opening it and taking out the docunts inside. He flipped through them and asked,
"So far, there haven’t been any issues. The conditions in the three control groups are stable. I don’t know the specific data."
Although he said he didn’t know, the young man’s answer was still full of confidence.
The middle-aged man nodded and said, "Understood, you may return."
"Yes!"
After the young man left the office, the middle-aged man opened the file in his hand. The title at the top read "Observational Phase of Comparison Experint on the ’Golden Bell Shield’ Secret Manual."
If it weren’t for the conspicuous steel seal on it, most people would think this was probably so kind of prank tool, but the middle-aged man clearly understood the importance of this docunt.
After noticing this docunt in a courier from Columbia, the Kaidan Counterasure Bureau and relevant departnts took it very seriously. After setting up a special project and confirming that there wasn’t any apparent danger, various studies and experints had been scheduled.
In the first round, thirty volunteers were selected to practice cultivation, divided into three control groups: one group practiced only Inner Strength, one group practiced only outer techniques, and the third group practiced both. Each group was further divided into two subgroups, one using auxiliary dicine and the other not.
Currently, it was their first month of cultivation.
During this month, besides allowing these volunteers to practice, the research group affiliated with the Kaidan Counterasure Bureau was not idle. Experts in fields like traditional Chinese dicine and biology were drawn from the official talent pool to conduct a detailed analysis of this secret manual. Yet, aside from confirming that external applications of the dicine had excellent effects in promoting blood circulation, enhancing bones, and growing muscles, with adverse effects within the scope of conventional dicine, they had little achievent.
At least for the mont, even a seasoned traditional Chinese dicine practitioner versed in acupuncture and massage couldn’t quickly identify whether the breathing and channeling thods in this manual had issues.
"First control group, three individuals in the dicine group developed Qi sense, with no special changes apart from analgesic effects. No one in the non-dicine group developed Qi sense."
"Second control group, the skin color of those in the dicine group changed slightly, and their resistance to impact increased significantly. The resistance in the non-dicine group increased slightly."
"Third control group, everyone in the dicine group developed Qi sense, enhanced resistance to impact, and increased strength. Their skin color changed mildly when manipulating Qi. One person in the non-dicine group developed Qi sense, with slight resistance enhancent..."
Looking at the report in his hand, the man showed no change in expression. He simply returned it to the kraft paper bag, then picked up a pen to jot down a few lines in a notebook, before making a call.
"Old Zhang, you’re calling at this ti, has the result co out?" The mont the call connected, the other party asked first. The middle-aged man’s half-open mouth paused slightly, and then he said,
"Yes, for now, it seems there isn’t any issue, but that’s just for now."
"Oh, from what you’re saying, soone has already developed Qi sense?" The voice on the other end of the line beca clearly excited. The middle-aged man referred to as Old Zhang affird,
"There are nine in total, of which six belong to the third control group."
"Hiss—it’s indeed worthy of being called the ’technique even a fool can learn’ by that Kaidan. Most people practicing ’Bu Tian Ge’ have barely understood the preface! Its demands on mathematics and astronomy are too high, and it’s in an archaic Chinese style. But according to Little Sun’s results, there’s indeed so truth to it... Funny enough, even before the observatory helped complete the cultivation technique, they optimized their algorithm first..."
"Let’s discuss this in a eting later. The issue now is whether to continue?" Old Zhang interrupted the diverging topic on the other end. The other party paused slightly and then said,
"Why not? Didn’t we already decide in the last eting? If initially confird there’s no issue, we can tell the cultivators the na of the Cultivation Technique Creator. After all, from a certain angle, they can be considered their master..."
...
"Give five large bags, ten dium bags."
In the sixth month after crossing dinsions, and the second month after arriving in the South District, Feng Xue finally paused his routine of copying books and exercising. He returned to Xiu’s shop and handed over forty-five million "tower coins."
In one month, Feng Xue’s life was extrely disciplined—copying books, practicing swordsmanship, and reforging. This not only allowed him to accumulate a significant fortune but also consud a large amount of elents.
Although he still had a good stock in his elent bar, most were a series of death descriptions, including [Death], and even the most general [Tool] and [Weapon] were entirely exhausted.
Despite the majority being black balls or not very useful codic items, there was still a bit that was useful.
"Young lad, did you strike it rich?" Without a filter, Feng Xue looked at the scruffy middle-aged man with a hedgehog hairstyle, montarily wanting to beautify the world with a ntal filter. But considering his ntal health, he restrained this impulse and smiled at the man,
"Doing alright, made a bit of money, planning to explore the mountains next."
"I see..." Uncle Xiu nodded, took out five large and ten dium-sized baggage wrappers from the counter and placed them on the table. Yet, he didn’t imdiately take the tower coins, which seed more like a check than paper money, but instead waited for Feng Xue to verify the goods one by one.
However, Feng Xue didn’t need to try them all one by one. With just one glance, he could see the attributes of each baggage wrapper.
After confirming there were no issues, he bundled the remaining baggage cloth together with a large bag and stuffed it into his storage bag. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard Uncle Xiu speak behind him,
"If you plan to go to the garbage mountain, be careful of those slave catching teams. They don’t care if you’ve just co through or if you’re scavenging. Also, watch out for those ’residents’ in the mountains; they’re not as weak as they appear."
"Thanks for the reminder." Feng Xue turned back, giving a nod to the man who conveyed goodwill unexpectedly, and then left the small shop.
His eagerness to head into the mountains wasn’t just due to exhausting elents. It was also because he discovered that his [Demon] tag had undergone so transformation.
It wasn’t that it had turned into a Kaidan entry, but the manner of providing [Identity] had changed.
Initially, when he acquired this tag, he gained [Identity] in large lumps, hundreds or even thousands at a ti, but it was extrely unstable. In recent days, it was nearly constant, yet each gain was very small. If one were to compare it, it was like pouring large buckets of water into a tank before, but now it was more like a steady trickle from a thin pipe.
Despite appearing as a steady stream, Feng Xue didn’t really know what this signified.
It might symbolize increased notoriety or that the emotions of those who rembered him were gradually stabilizing and beginning to slowly forget.
This transformation caused him to feel an uncontrollable sense of tension.
But he also knew that his current strength wasn’t formidable—not strong enough for a Kaidan, not even able to defeat the "Gem Knight" from that Cross Sword Union at the ti.
And presently, the fastest way for him to get stronger wasn’t by continuing to create illusions, but by... killing.
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