Chapter 28: Balancing Energies
Xu Min looked at the box of medicinal pills in front of him. With a hesitating and slow hand, he picked up one of the red pills and slowly placed one inside his mouth. He felt it as it melted on his tongue. An overwhelming amount of pure energy seemed to fill his mouth and slowly flow down his throat. It continued to flow until it had reached the dantian which was just below his navel.
The dantian was the place where one stored the mist-like energy known as Qi. This was the energy that came from refining the essence of the heavens and the earth.
This energy that had just entered Xu Min’s body was not refined Qi. Instead, it seemed to be something that allowed for all the pores within his body to increase its absorptivity to suck in the energy of the heavens and the earth. This allowed for a flood of essence to enter his body and float throughout the meridians before it finally became fully refined. The Qi would then settle together with the rest of the energy within the dantian cave.
Xu Min had been an early stage One-Star Warrior by the time he had eaten the first pill. As he ate it, he sat down on the bed, closed his eyes and started to meditate. He wanted to use the effects of the pills to their absolute maximum potential.
Seated like this, Xu Min was astonished. He was filled with veneration for how strong these medications truly were. One pill alone took around seven hours of nonstop cultivation before the effects were to stop working. Xu Min found himself shocked when he felt that his cultivation base had increased to that of the middle stage One-Star Warrior. As soon as he stood up, Xu Min felt rather queasy. His body was bursting with energy but unfortunately, the energy felt as though it was bursting out from his body. The speed that he had absorbed the energy had left his body feeling slightly uncomfortable. Had it not been for the fact that he had the physique of a Two-Star Warrior, he would have been feeling much worse by now.
Pondering about this for a while, Xu Min finally stood up and lifted a hand to the air. His hand expanded and glowed with a pearly white aura. It took up the entire ceiling of the room. By using the energy that was stacking inside of him, it caused the young man to feel much more comfortable. It was as though an overfilled balloon finally managed to let go of some air.
But even though some of the energy had been released, Xu Min still felt uncomfortable. He needed to balance his cultivation stance. However, he was uncertain as to where he should be doing this. Standing within the hotel room, it was obvious that training the two stances he knew would end up destroying the room. This would not allow him to continue his training.
Gritting his teeth, Xu Min made his way down the stairs of the inn. Cao Cao curiously coiled on Xu Min’s throat as he found the entire process interesting. Now that Xu Min felt how more and more energy was clashing inside him, his eyes darkened with displeasure.
Only now did he understand that the young master most likely vented to Xu Min as a reason to let go of the extra energy stored within his body.
Running through town, Xu Min hoped to come across a brawl somewhere. However, he was unable to find any and eventually found himself in front of the Alluring Treasure Pavilion. Sighing deeply, he looked at the location once more. He wondered whether or not to ask for assistance, but he quickly decided not to. He did not wish to owe that woman anything so he made his way away from the Alluring Treasure Pavilion. As he was about to leave, he noticed that the building next to the pavilion was lit up and people were flooding in through the open gates.
Looking at the building, Xu Min frowned slightly but he quickly shrugged as he moved towards it. His curiosity piqued as he slipped into the stream of people.
Once more, an entrance fee was required to be paid. This place had the same feeling as the Alluring Treasure Pavilion yet did not looked the same.
This sturdy building was neither as elaborately adorned nor was it filled with powerful guards. Yet, everyone suddenly decided to enter this building much like they had the previous night when they were trying to enter the Alluring Treasure Pavilion.
Paying the entrance fee, Xu Min looked around only to see that the entire building was filled with small arenas. Within these arenas, experts were battling each other. Many different martial art skills were visible throughout the entire building and ripples of energy were constantly distorting the air.
Looking at this place, Xu Min was completely flabbergasted. He was astonished because what he needed the most had appeared right in front of him. After scanning his surroundings, he quickly found a place where he could sign up to participate in the fights. There was another place where he could bet on the ones he thought would win too.
Walking towards the registration counter, Xu Min could not help but see how a beautiful woman was attracting the attention of many men both young and old alike. Having looked at her, he found out that it was Yong Meilin. With a grimace, he hid behind other cultivators who rustled towards the counter to sign up for the battles.
As he reached the counter, Xu Min found that one would only fight depending on the rank he was and each win had a cash prize. The more popular a fighter became, the more they would get paid upon winning. One could only participate in five battles a day. When one reached a hundred consecutive wins, the reigning winner would become a champion and receive special benefits alongside a larger cash prize.
Xu Min was not keen on the cash prize, but was interested in the fact that he could absorb medicinal pills. Afterwards, he could come here and use up the incredible and overwhelming pent-up energy.
“Hello, I’m a One-Star Warrior,’ the young man said. His words caused many people around him to stare at him with shocked expressions. He was clearly still very young and his face still had a childish look to it. To hear such a young child say that he was a One-Star Warrior caused great shock as the majority would not reach that rank before the age of thirty. Geniuses would reach it by the age of twenty, but only the geniuses had access to medicinal pills. They were the only ones who had the ability to become Warriors of the First Rank before they turned twenty.
“You are a One-Star Warrior?” the clerk asked doubtfully. But as soon as he saw the young man’s nod, he no longer continued asking. Instead, he provided an iron medallion with the number two hundred and seventy one.
“You will find the battle schedule over there,” the man said. He pointed towards a wall where there was a list of names which were placed against each other and a small mark saying which one of the many arenas the battle would be held on.
Having accepted the mark, Xu Min instantly went towards the wall which was filled with numbers and arenas. Looking at the wall, there were three men constantly replacing the old numbers with new numbers and writing the winning side on one of the columns to the sides.
Making his way over here, the young man did everything he could to avoid Yong Meilin. Although he had ended last night on friendly terms with the woman, he still had no urge to try and proceed to create a better relationship with her. He was more than satisfied with what he had already seen of the beautiful woman.
Looking at the wall, Xu Min had to wait for some time before his number finally appeared. As he looked at it, he saw that he was up against a combatant who had already won three battles this evening. Seeing this, the young black-haired man felt a tinge of excitement grow inside of him. This sparked an urge to fight and put his life on the line while improving his cultivation base. Although he felt like putting his life on the line, he knew that he could not jeopardize his life for something as small as an arena match.
There were two ways to lose within the arena. One was to lose one’s life and die and the other was to forfeit. Should Xu Min be in a situation where he was to die, forfeiting was without a doubt was the dishonorable way he would go. His mindset was much like the majority of the cultivators present.
Walking towards the arena, it became harder and harder to move behind other people to hide from Yong Meilin. She was fortunately quite busy watching the Fifth and Sixth Ranked Warriors do battle.
Having finished one game, the beautiful woman went towards the betting area to collect her winnings. She bet on another game when her eyes were caught by the letters spelling out Xu Min’s name. The name rung out through her memory and the figure of a quite young but very mysterious person appeared in her mind. Looking at the arena he was about to fight in, Yong Meilin stared and her eyes narrowed as she instantly recognized the young man clad in black.
“I wish to bet all of this on Xu Min,” she said to the broker and handed over all her winnings from the previous rounds. As to why she was certain of his victory she did not know, but from deep inside, it felt as though she was certain that he would not lose.
It was still some time before it was Xu Min’s turn to battle. He too narrowed his eyes as he saw how Yong Meilin was on her way towards him. She had ditched her group of men who were all courting her to meet up with the young man. Xu Min could already feel a headache coming his way.
“Master Xu, I never expected to see you around here,” Yong Meilin said with her clear and beautiful voice. She reminded Xu Min of a clear summer sky with no clouds in sight. She was as bright as the sun that shone its light upon the world and enlightened all with its warmth.
Xu Min was not the only one who heard the alluring voice. Everyone around him heard it too. Any Warrior of Rank Five or above heard it as their senses sharpened through countless battles and years of training.
Being greeted like this from Yong Meilin caused many of the surrounding men to look at this young Master Xu. They all gave anything but friendly glances towards his way. Even Warriors of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Rank were glaring at him and waited to see how he would respond.
Looking at all of them, Xu Min could not help but snort in contempt. Although Yong Meilin was incredibly beautiful, her personality was still lacking. Xu Min was in a foul mood for having been noticed by her.
“Well if it isn’t Lady Yong,” he said with a smile plastered on his face. “I never thought I would see you here,” he continued. His eyes darkened slightly and his smile changed from a gentle smile to a snicker. “I have to thank you for last night. It truly was exquisite. You took so much time out of your busy schedule just to please me. I’ve never been as filled with energy as I am now. I only have you to thank for this miraculous transformation within my body.”
Every word he said was said with a clear voice; however, he never spoke too loudly. He didn’t need to speak loudly as everyone could strain their hearing to hear his words. The words he spoke boomed in the ears of the ultimate experts. Even Yong Meilin was beet red in her face as she heard the words he had spoken. Who would have imagined that he would have said words like these.