Walking the Ten Thousand Daos

Chapter 6: Ambush

Li Qi resembled a shaman, muttering incantations with strange postures.

But it must be said, this actually worked!

Water flows of unknown origin began to converge into Li Qi's body.

The water streams were like droplets from melting winter icicles, totaling no more than twenty milliliters, thin as threads.

However, these water flows made Li Qi feel comfortable throughout his entire body.

He felt his soul being cleansed, his body being purified.

His abdomen, limbs, and mind were all like corners where flowing water passed, washed by the trickling streams, with all impurities being swept away.

The flowing water also brought abundant life essence, causing his body, which wasn't particularly strong due to his lack of meat in his diet to gradually swell and strengthen.

Li Qi felt a surge of refreshment. As he looked at his own body, he suddenly saw two progress bars.

"Ceremony Strengthening: 92%"

"Bull Strength Art Progress: 100%"

For some unknown reason, the divine will inheritance learning progress for the Bull Strength Art had suddenly filled up.

Perhaps it was the effect of the ritual's distribution, but regardless, Li Qi's mind thundered with revelation as the various key points of the Bull Strength Art were directly learned!

It was truly memory that appeared out of nowhere, as if he had suddenly gained ten years of cultivation.

It was like playing a game, clicking on a skill book and after the progress bar finished loading, achieving perfect mastery instantly.

Could divine will inheritance accomplish this level of effect?

But looking at Sixth Uncle's condition, he definitely didn't have this kind of effect.

Why was he so certain about this? Because Sixth Uncle's Wave-Breaking Force was far inferior to his own, and according to Sixth Uncle himself, his Wave-Breaking Force came from divine will inheritance.

Sixth Uncle had also received divine will inheritance, yet his Wave-Breaking Force was inferior to what Li Qi had achieved through two years of self-practice.

This showed that divine will inheritance shouldn't be able to directly grant mastery.

But now, for some unknown reason, he clearly knew in his heart that he had already practiced the Bull Strength Art to mastery!

"The effect of the progress bar? When the progress bar fills up, I directly learn it?" he couldn't help but speculate.

The sample size was still too small to be certain; it might also be the effect of the ritual.

However, he was still delighted in his heart, he had bet correctly this time!

He quickly got up and broke into a small run, wanting to leave.

After the ceremony, people would be driven away. He had snuck in, and though the defenses weren't strict, there were night watchmen patrolling, so he needed to slip away quickly before anyone noticed.

Threading through the streets and alleys, turning corners, he carefully made his way home.

After turning another corner, suddenly, a stick's shadow appeared before Li Qi.

With insufficient experience and being suddenly ambushed, though he reacted due to his caution, he only managed to dodge halfway and was viciously struck on the shoulder by the staff!

With a dull thud, the wooden staff actually broke directly, and Li Qi groaned in pain, half his body going limp!

Moreover, that person showed no hesitation and swung the staff again!

Li Qi even sensed that there seemed to be someone behind him as well!

Half his body was numbed with pain, and he crouched on the ground, nearly losing all ability to resist.

A normal person being violently struck with a stick would only have this reaction. If Li Qi hadn't reacted and dodged slightly, that staff blow to his head would have certainly caused instant unconsciousness.

Even having practiced Wave-Breaking Force made his body less fragile, but his opponent's strength was also incredibly great. That wooden stick was obviously made from leftover scraps of ironwood used for shipbuilding, hard as metal, yet it broke with a single blow!

But it wasn't over yet. From the darkness came another staff blow, swung with full force, the wooden stick making whooshing sounds as it headed straight for Li Qi.

At the same time, Li Qi clearly saw two progress bars in the darkness, both displaying 'Attack.'

There really were two people!

Then, his body seemed to become not his own.

His skin began to harden, becoming like tanned leather, not only losing elasticity but even his perception seemed dulled, unable to feel anything even when pinched hard.

His muscles began to surge, and a hot energy rushed to his head!

Bang! The wooden stick struck him hard, and this time, only the stick shattered.

When this staff blow landed, his body felt no pain. As the force entered him, Li Qi couldn't help but pant.

Two white columns shot from his nostrils, and large amounts of white vapor released from within his body, directly enveloping the attacker's form, temporarily blinding him.

The white columns were quite powerful, even scattering the ash residue in the wall corner with the hot flow.

Li Qi suddenly felt incredibly strong, as if he could punch through walls.

The Bull Strength Art activated, and his torso seemed to have a wild bull stuffed into it, visibly swelling up.

Then came a punch!

The person with the wooden stick in front of him had just been blinded by the exhaled white vapor and couldn't react in time. Completely defenseless, he was struck squarely by the punch.

With a crack, that person's eyes bulged wide!

This world had no sophisticated machinery, but if it did, he would certainly use one phrase to describe his current feeling,

Like being hit by a dump truck.

Blood gushed wildly from his mouth, unstoppable. His vision went black, and his entire body was directly pummeled apart!

As Li Qi threw this punch, the attack from the person behind him also arrived as expected.

Li Qi watched as the opponent's "Attack" progress bar filled up, but his body couldn't react in time. He could only helplessly wait for the attack to pierce through.

With a puff, like the sound of a dull blade scraping against tough leather armor.

That person was stunned.

This was a knife!

How could there be someone who couldn't be killed by a knife?

No, this person... how did he suddenly grow taller?

On Li Qi's side, his figure suddenly shot up by a foot, his entire body volume expanding by a third.

White smoke poured from his nose, his skin flushed red, he was clearly a humanoid wild bull!

He grabbed the attacker and violently pressed the opponent to the ground.

He originally wanted to subdue the opponent, but with a bang, the back of that person's skull directly caved in, and after kicking his legs, he breathed his last.

This left Li Qi stunned in place.

From being ambushed to now, it had been less than two seconds total.

In less than two seconds, he had dealt with two enemies? And one of them he had even tried to hold back, yet still crushed to death in one move.

"People from the Strong-Force Gang... before I could only fight two at once, now I can take down one with each move, finishing off two in two seconds?" Li Qi looked at his own hands, somewhat incredulous.

He was already certain these were people from the Strong-Force Gang.

Among those who had grudges against him, only the Strong-Force Gang had the power to smash ironwood staffs.

He just didn't know why the Strong-Force Gang knew it was him.

Though he had killed someone, he didn't feel that killing was problematic at all, nor did he have any nauseous feelings like he had seen others experience.

After all, the Strong-Force Gang people had tried to kill him first. His counter-killing in self-defense would be justified even in court, what was there to feel sick about?

Compared to killing someone, his attention was now focused more on himself.

The effect of the Bull Strength Art far exceeded his expectations!

Truly worthy of being a spell technique!

But now wasn't the time to be amazed. He quickly grabbed the two corpses, one in each hand, lifted them up, thought for a moment, then threw them into the water. He himself also dove into the water, using Wave-Breaking Force to swim to the bottom, digging through silt and searching for stones. He buried both men and pressed them down with rocks to ensure they wouldn't float up. Then he cleaned his body and cleared the crime scene.

While cleaning the scene, he suddenly felt a bout of stuffiness.

Paying attention to his body again, he saw that a progress bar for the Bull Strength Art had appeared on his body.

"Bull Strength Art, Duration 95%."

Calculating the time, roughly ten minutes or so?

He immediately deactivated the Bull Strength Art, and his body deflated like a punctured balloon.

Having adapted to that powerful strength, this made him somewhat uncomfortable. However, according to the memories... the Bull Strength Art could be used three times a day, and if each time lasted ten minutes, that would be extremely powerful.

"Moreover... the progress bar's third function has also been revealed," he thought to himself.

The first was to observe situations.

The second might be that when the learning progress bar filled up, direct mastery was possible.

The third was this, it could actually check the duration progress of his own spell techniques!

With this thing, plus the Bull Strength Art, Li Qi clenched his fists.

Give him some time, and he wouldn't need to be a hauler anymore in the future!

(Chapter End)