Ch20 Setting a trap

I need to stay lowkey, but the urge to test my newfound strength is still present. I can feel the newly expanded energy pathways, and raw power coursing through me. It feels like I could lift 500 kg if I put my all into it.

My vision is much sharper, able to focus on blades of grass with morning dew dripping off them over 20 meters away.

My hearing has become so sharp that even the footsteps of my neighbor Xu Hong almost 500 meters away can be heard as she chops wood. It is not just the heavy slams of her axe that hit my ears.

The shifting branches and shuffling in the brush of two mysterious stalkers is far easier to track. I can see their shadows out of the corner of my vision every time I turn my head. They are not close enough for me to feel their auras.

My spiritual senses have increased dramatically, from no more than half a meter yesterday to now pushing out almost 3 meters in every direction.

This sensation is not detailed at all in the basic qi cultivation booklet granted by the sect. Instead, all I know about it comes from my intuition gained from the Jade Purity Soul Scripture. After reaching the 2nd level of qi refinement, its basic functions have become very clear.

Even with my eyes closed, I can see everything within about 3 meters of myself: The exact location of floating qi particles, every blade of grass, and even the worms and insects beneath my feet in the dirt.

It is like perfect x-ray vision.

The stalkers are way out of my spiritual range, so I can’t see what they look like, or how strong they are. I have to rely on my natural senses.

A whole day of chopping wood passes, and I hand in my two bins’ worth of logs without an issue.

However, an unexpected notification rings in my inner ear when I get near Zhou Kang today.

[Ding!]
[A more valuable secret within the target has been located. Old data overwritten.]

His whole status pops up, but I only focus on the text box at the bottom.

[Has paid two fellow stewards to watch the Host’s every move. Plans to eliminate the Host once his stash of spirit stones is found.]

As the old man leaves, and his sharp aura recedes with him up the mountain, I start to contemplate a few things.

When I wasn’t refining qi yet, the system would only show this function when I made physical skin-to-skin contact. Yet, when I was a 1st level qi refiner, it even activated when I was half a meter away, clashing axes the first time with Xu Hong.

Now, almost 3 meters away, as Zhou Kang threw me a spirit fragment, this notification was triggered.

I can inspect anyone within my spiritual awareness… and this will only grow larger. After this realization passes, the actual content of the text box sinks in next.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It is actually a sigh of relief that comes out. The stalkers are merely grunts like Zhou Kang, looking to satisfy their greed over the few spirit stones I lied about finding.

Deep in my heart, I was dreading that maybe someone had discovered something about my battle with the black serpent… or worse, that somehow someone found out about my upgrade cards.

Thankfully, now that there is no longer any mystery, I can deal with this without holding back.

–

Over the next 3 days, I stack more and more upgrade cards, bringing my total to 10 in my storage.

There is a pent-up anger growing in Zhou Kang.

In order to entice him further, I even comment that the pills he gave me are working well, after cutting out the impurities.