Chapter Eighteen: Earth Dragon Fruit

  Compared with "Rolling Fist", the practice of "Burst Step" is much simpler.

  Ning Chong originally had a very good and suspicious feeling when selecting the secret book, "Explosive Step". However, after actually cultivating it, Ning Chong found that the strange feeling was indeed correct. This "Explosive Step" is simple, but it's the most suitable for his current body technique.

  "In the external sect, the most popular movement is a technique called 'Butterfly Dancing Through Flowers'. This technique has beautiful and elegant movements, and when performed, it looks extremely good, often causing many young girls to scream in amazement. Therefore, in the external sect, almost everyone pursues this technique, with about two-thirds of people learning it. In contrast, the simple, direct, and rough 'Exploding Step' is unknown, with hardly anyone practicing it."

  "After many actual battles, I am quite certain that forms like 'Butterfly Dancing Steps' are almost useless except for being beautiful and elegant. Such light and airy forms may look good, but in actual combat, the soft movements and fancy footwork not only fail to bring about any increase in power, but sometimes even become a hindrance."

  "The 'Burst Step' technique I'm using is simple and straightforward, focusing on explosive force to propel my body forward. Although it's rough and unrefined, its speed is among the top in techniques of the same level. At my current low-level cultivation stage, I don't need any fancy moves - this technique is undoubtedly the most practical and effective, bringing me the greatest boost in power!"

  After quickly understanding the "Bao Bu" secret recipe, Ning Chong began to practice and cultivate.

  Five days later...

  The water flowing from the small waterfall gathered into a small river, and as it flowed for a distance, the river surface gradually widened and the flow slowed down. In this slow-moving riverbed, there were many smooth round stones the size of human heads exposed above the water surface.

  These stones are not only unusually smooth on the surface, but many of them also have a thin layer of moss growing on top. This undoubtedly makes these stones even more slippery.

  Bang bang bang——!

  A series of explosions sounded, and a white figure was speeding through the riverbed.

  This figure's movements were extremely fast, with clean and efficient footwork, only revealing the rounded stones on the water's surface, one by one, as they stepped behind them, their body rapidly sprinting towards the waterfall.

  The round stone's slipperiness had almost reached its limit, but strangely, this white figure was walking swiftly and smoothly. The slipperiness of the round stone seemed to have no effect on him at all. His feet continuously tapped and stepped on the round stones, his body balanced and stable as a mountain, his movements swift and leaving only afterimages behind. And on his boots, not a single drop of water was left!

  "Haha! I did it! In just five days, I've cultivated 'Burst Step' to the realm of perfection! Who would have thought that the solid foundation of martial skills I built up over a decade of bitter practice would be so helpful? It seems my years of hard work haven't gone to waste. If not for these ten-odd years of foundation-building, even with the assistance of this strange sensation, I fear it would've taken me several times as long to achieve what I have today!"

  Among the long laughter, Ning Chun's figure flashed and he was already standing steadily at the edge of the waterfall. This "Explosive Step" had been practiced to perfection; except for the fact that when it was executed, the internal yuan energy would surge in his soles, producing a loud "thumping" sound which wasn't conducive to stealth, and the movement being less agile and varied compared to other footwork techniques, everything else was almost flawless.

  His martial arts and combat skills had all been mastered, but Ning Chong didn't become arrogant. He continued to practice his skills during the day, taking time out to hunt and kill low-level demonic beasts, meditating at night to cultivate his internal energy, and so on, further solidifying everything he had grasped and increasing his own strength.

  In this way, more than a month's time passed in the blink of an eye. Ning Chong's "Explosive Step" and "Rolling Stone Fist" had made progress again, becoming even more proficient, and the highest and most difficult "Mental State" boundary was already faintly touched at the edge.

  And his internal energy cultivation, "Basic Qi Decision" has been cultivated to the highest realm of intention, and the speed of cultivation has surged again. In just one month's time, he had opened up a main meridian, and was now at the second stage of martial arts cultivation.

  In the Ning family, the first person of the new generation, Ning Zihou, took more than a month to advance from the first stage of Wu Tu to the second stage; while ordinary family disciples would need at least three months.

  Considering Ning Chong's poor innate talent, he was cultivating the most basic and trashy "Basic Qi Refining Technique", without any assistance from elixirs or other resources. His cultivation speed could only be described as shocking!

  For such a result, Ning Chong was excited at the time, but also more deeply felt that "low-level skills and martial arts, if they can be cultivated to a high level, their effectiveness can even surpass ordinary high-level skills and martial arts" This sentence of Wuxia's true words has been circulating in the Wuxia world!

  "Hmm, my cultivation and strength have increased quite well, now it's also time to go capture that big buttocks bear!"

  Ning Chong clenched his fist and made a decision. He immediately left the cave, bid farewell to the small waterfall, and headed deep into the forest.

  About ten days ago, Ning Chong found a nearly ripe "Dilong Fruit" in a small canyon, and he was overjoyed, his heart racing with excitement.

  According to the "Tian Cai Di Bao Zhi", the Dilong fruit is an excellent calcined spiritual medicine, which can effectively calcine the body, increase strength and enhance physical intensity when used by martial artists. However, the Dilong fruit is extremely precious, it takes 50 years to bloom, another 50 years to bear fruit, and another 50 years for the fruit to ripen.

  The value of a single dragon fruit is at least worth 100,000 taels of gold, enough to make a family of five rich and wealthy for several generations. What's more, this is a rare and precious dragon fruit that is about to mature!

  Obviously, Ning Chong was able to discover this almost mature pitaya, truly extremely lucky.

  Unfortunately, Ning Chong also discovered at the same time that a powerful black demon bear was guarding near the Dilong fruit.

  For over ten days, Ning Chong has been fighting non-stop with this giant black bear, and they have clashed in numerous battles big and small. This black bear is incredibly powerful, its skin thick and tough, and Ning Chong's attacks are like scratching an itch to it. With just a casual swipe of its paw, even the wind from its palm carries extremely strong force.

  In such a fierce battle, Ning Chong suffered quite a bit of loss several times and was even injured by the black bear a few times, unfolding his body method and fleeing in defeat.

  That black bear is one of the more formidable lower-level demon beasts, and it's also quite intelligent. After Ning Chong escaped, it didn't chase after him, instead lazily guarding the Earth Dragon Fruit as it lay on the ground sleeping, waiting for the fruit to ripen without moving an inch.

  Although this greatly alleviated the pressure on Ning Chong, who was trying to escape with his life, it later made him hate the black bear even more for trying to deceive him several times in a "luring the tiger away from its mountain" manner.

  But it was always due to his own lack of strength, so Ning Chong had no choice but to put up with the black demonic bear's temper.

  Now his strength has been upgraded to the second stage of martial arts, with a more majestic inner yuan energy, increased power and physical intensity. It's time for him to go find that black demon bear to settle the score.