Chapter 67: Self-Cultivation

  Shepard's Shadow Step amazed Lega, who could travel through the void with just a coin's shadow and instantly arrive beside his allies. If he could master this move, wouldn't he be able to go wherever he wanted in the future?

  Xie Pu saw through Le Ga's little thoughts and coldly sneered, "Do you think Shadow Transmission is used to pick up girls?"

  Lei Ga's face turned slightly red with embarrassment, "Boss, I didn't think that much..."

  "Shadow teleportation requires traversing the void boundary, requiring learners to have an extraordinary affinity for shadows and be able to fully merge with them."

  "As long as you teach me, I can do it."

  "What a big tone!"

  Xie Pu Ha Ha smiled, "Youngster, do you know how much time I spent practicing Shadow Harmony?"

  Before Lei Ga could respond, he opened his arms by himself, "Ten years, a whole ten years. Do you want to be stuck in this broken place of Wuya Ridge with me as your partner for ten years? Hehe, I'm not opposed to that."

  Lei Ga lowered his head silently.

  Although he liked Shepu and Crow, and had already taken this place as his home, in order to reclaim the Cangjian Sword and pursue even higher achievements to become a legend, he couldn't stay here for ten years.

  Knowing that they would eventually part ways, the earlier he left, the less likely he was to get bogged down in sentimentality. Leiga had set a timeline for himself, and regardless of whether or not he could break through the tenth stage of Dou Qi, he would leave Xie Pu's protection and venture out into the world within a year.

  Lei Ga suddenly felt a pang of sadness at this thought.

  Xie Pu seemed to be affected as well, but being the old ginger that he was, he returned to the previous topic and said with a pretentious tone: "In short, Shadow Transmission is not suitable for you. Not only is the learning cycle long, but that move is only used for assassin support, and the consumption of Dou Qi is also relatively large. For a combat-type Dou Shi like you, it's not suitable."

  Lei Ga nodded in agreement. He understood that Xie Pu wasn't not teaching him, but rather was tailoring his instruction to suit his abilities, and had already considered what was suitable and what wasn't for the past year.

  "Let's eat first, I've been busy lately, we'll talk about other things later." Xie Pu said lightly.

  "Yes, boss."

  Lei Ga paused for a moment, then opened his mouth and asked: "Right, boss, can I ask new questions today?"

  "Ask away." Shep didn't demur.

  "Are there people in this world who can turn into birds?"

  "What's the big deal?"

  Xie Pu suddenly smiled, "The Holy Light Sisterhood has many transformation spells, let alone turning people into birds, they can also turn them into sheep or pigs."

  Ley shook his head, "I'm not referring to a transformation attack that changes the enemy, but rather transforming myself into a bird's shape."

  Xie Pu's smile at the corner of his mouth faded, and his eyebrows furrowed.

  "Transform into a bird? If it's advanced magic..."

  "This person transformed into a bird is a man."

  "Men..."

  Xie Pu wasn't too surprised, but his eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he fell into deep thought.

  On the continent of Four Kings, there is a clear law that men are not allowed to learn magic. For three thousand years, female mages under the leadership of the Holy Light Sisterhood have held absolute control over magical cultivation. If transforming into a bird was considered advanced magic, then at that time, Meena's mother had seen a man who should have been burned at the stake for practicing magic.

  Lei Ga had thought that Xie Pu would directly tell him that there were no male magicians in this world, but Xie Pu's silence made the situation somewhat strange.

  "Is there really such a thing as a male magician?"

  After waiting for several minutes, Leiga couldn't help but ask out loud.

  Xie Pu's face flashed a thoughtful expression, "About transforming into a bird, did you see it in a book?"

  Lei Ga shook his head, "It was Meina's mother who told me, she said she saw a man touch Elissa's apple and then turn into a big bird and fly away. I thought she was seeing things..."

  Xie Pu sighed, holding his chin with both hands, "I'm afraid I won't be able to answer this question for you, because I once vowed not to discuss matters related to this topic. How about asking a different question?"

  Lei Ga blinked calmly, his gaze falling on the lightning-shaped scar on Xie Pu's arm. "This scar wasn't caused by a female mage from the Holy Light Sisterhood, but was instead specially crafted for you by another mage as a weapon, right?"

  Sherlock's face was strange and stern, like a mask that was about to crack. Under the mask, Sherlock's mouth corners were slightly twisted into a painful shape, his eyes half looking at the present moment, the other half drifting away to somewhere else, recalling something.

  After a moment of silence, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "It's really a two-birds-with-one-stone problem."

  Acknowledging that the lightning scar is a weapon is equivalent to acknowledging that there are indeed "other magicians" in this world besides the Sisters of Holy Light, because the Sisters of Holy Light would not create such an eerie magical weapon for an assassin.

  "Lei Ga Lei Ga, you really are..." Xie Pu's face looked like a pure virgin being forced into a dead end by a pervert.

  Being able to push his teacher to this point, Reiga felt a slight sense of pride in his heart, but he tried not to show it: "Boss, you only need to answer yes or no, and I can guess the rest of the questions myself."

  Xie Pu licked his lips, seemingly weighing his words carefully. "...Is."

  Although he had already anticipated the answer in his heart, Leiga still couldn't help but take a cold breath when he heard Shepu's admission.

  "It turns out that there really were male magicians on the Death Continent..."

  "I never said that." Sheppard's expression was as hard as stone.

  "In other words, Meena's mother wasn't seeing things, and Elisa was indeed murdered."

  Lei Ga said to himself, "But why would a male magician who should be burned at the stake use poison on an ordinary girl? This doesn't make sense. Was it a mistake? Maybe the real target was Xu Ling Tian? But why...?"

  "That's enough."

  "Get out of my sight after you finish your meal."

  "Yes, boss."

  Xu Lingtian's case has come to an end, and continuing to investigate the male magician's lead seems a bit pointless.

  Lei Ga buried the puzzle in his heart, quickly finished breakfast, and carefully wiped the table, chairs, benches, and wine cups 100 times. Seeing that it was still early, he bid farewell to Xie Pu and returned to the storage room at the back of the house.

  He didn't choose to continue reading the book, but instead found the five bottles of underwater breathing medicine left by Xu Lingtian, left the Ba Ya wine house, and walked towards the White River under the wooden bridge.

  Although the Dou Qi has been upgraded from 4th stage to 7th stage, the Crow Sword is still not very smooth. To gain an advantage in future battles, it's necessary to seize every moment to practice diligently, and the riverbed is the best place for training.

  After leaving the Crow Tavern, the crow followed him like a follower, hovering and flying above his head, and when it was tired, it landed on his shoulder, tilting its head to tidy up its feathers. Every time Leiga turned his head to look at it, it would proudly turn its head away, awkwardly pretending to be indifferent.

  Lei Ga just smiled and didn't say a word, continuing on his way.

  They soon arrived at the Bahe River via a shortcut through the dense forest. The Bahe River was surging with waves, flowing ceaselessly, and although the wooden suspension bridge above had been repaired, it was empty and deserted, with no one crossing.

  The temperature is lower than in previous days, standing by the river water, you can feel the arrival of winter.

  Lega seriously completed a set of preparatory exercises, stretching his muscles and bones, then took off his clothes, grabbed the Crow Sword and underwater breathing agent, and plunged into the water.

  "Wow!"

  The crow's feathers were wetted by the splashed water, and it circled awkwardly in mid-air above the water surface.

  Lei Ga smiled and drank the underwater breathing agent, then flipped over and dove into the icy river bottom.

  The impact of the White River was much greater than that of the Dark Water River. The riverbed was not calm at all, with weeds growing recklessly everywhere and sudden whirlpools emerging from time to time. Leiga condensed his seventh-stage Dou Qi and began self-training in the turbulent and resistant environment.

  In this harsh environment, training with an intensity of every half hour is equivalent to a day's worth of sweat-drenched training on land, and the effect achieved is also dozens of times that of usual.

  Since the improvement of Moonlight Heart's physique, the Crow Sword is no longer so heavy. However, to thoroughly master the control of this giant sword, it is impossible without re-linking the basic sword techniques from scratch.

  Lei Ga seriously started practicing the first move of basic swordsmanship, and every time the medicine's effect wore off, he would crawl back to shore and drink another bottle. After drinking four bottles of underwater breathing medicine, he was finally able to perfectly execute the first move of basic swordsmanship in the turbulent water flow.

  He was quite satisfied with his progress, and he still had a lot of physical strength left. He wanted to continue practicing the second move, but there was only one bottle of underwater breathing potion left, which he had to keep as a reference for himself to refine the medicine.

  Helpless, he climbed ashore, wiped off the water stains on his body, put on his clothes and prepared to return to the Piao Ya Inn.

  A crow suddenly cried out on his head, and then opened its sharp claws to dive down. That fierce posture was clearly for revenge against Laga's previous splashing of water on its wings.

  "Big Brother Crow, want to come and practice sword with me?"

  The crow is a beast of four products or more, equivalent to the strength of eight levels of Dou Qi. Moreover, the crow and Lei Jia have the same diet and also make progress together. Being able to spar with such a formidable opponent is much more enjoyable than sparring with three soft and fluffy strong bandits!

  Lei Ga's heart was filled with joy, first he raised his Black Crow sword to block, then immediately turned his wrist and made a sideways slash.

  The crow spread its huge wings, turned around and skillfully dodged the slash, its sharp claws grasping towards Lega from an unexpected angle.