The City of Terror - Chapter 387

Chapter 387

 Wei Xiao Bei impatiently checked his status panel on the way back to the outdoor training grounds .

As expected, [Flame Resistance] in the special ability category had risen to the elementary level, while the [Desertification] ability was still at the basic level . It seemed like the Pheasant’s blood did nothing to his [Desertification] ability .

 Flame Resistance (Elementary): Host can passively endure heat and flames of five hundred degrees Celcius and below, taking half the damage . The host will only take two-thirds of the damage against heat and flames above five hundred degrees Celcius . Raising this ability requires bathing in the blood of heat-related creatures of higher rank .

There was no doubt that this [Flame Resistance] ability was slightly different from the other special abilities . Just advancing from the basic to the elementary level had increased his temperature tolerance from two hundred to five hundred degrees Celcius .

Of course, the resistance effect remained the same .

This was already very decent .

When he passed by the kitchen, Wei Xiao Bei tested the ability on a natural gas stove . The outer flames reached over two thousand degrees Celcius and it wouldn’t be smart to burn his hand with something of that temperature . He wouldn’t be able to see any resistance effect even if there was indeed some resistance .

Thus, Wei Xiao Bei kept his arm two feet above the flames . The temperature there dropped down to three hundred degrees Celcius . Though he could feel a prickly burning sensation on his skin when he put his arm there, it was clear that the damage had been greatly mitigated . The skin had to be roasted for a while before it slowly started to turn white .

Judging from this, the [Flame Resistance] ability was a bit more powerful than its description in the status panel described it as when it came to practical application .

It is a good ability . Wei Xiao Bei lay down on the deck chair, very satisfied .

The benefits he obtained wasn’t just the improvement to the [Flame Resistance] ability . Wei Xiao Bei discovered that the aura in his veins now possessed traces of a fire aura due to the changes from earlier .

It was only a small change, yet he could now sense that his body temperature was a bit higher than the average human’s . Wei Xiao Bei did not use a thermometer, but he still obtained a specific figure through [Precise Calculation . ]

The temperature beneath his tongue should be forty degrees Celcius .

This was already at the level of a severe fever . After all, an ordinary human’s temperature beneath the tongue should be between 36 . 3 and 37 . 2 degrees .

Due to contact with air, the surface of his skin was at a lower temperature, but it was still above thirty-eight degrees Celcius .

This meant that anyone that touched his body would think that he was sick .

However, Wei Xiao Bei knew the situation better himself . His body had never been better and when that trace of aura that carried with it a hint of fire coursed through his veins, he could feel his aura being slowly tempered by the fire . The impurities within his aura were gradually vanishing in this tempering process .

This was undoubtedly a good thing for Wei Xiao Bei .

Next, he carefully removed all the feathers from the Scarlet Pheasant’s corpse .

The feather of the Scarlet Pheasant was completely different from other birds . Wei Xiao Bei’s fingertips were burnt just from touching it .

Some of the feathers were also too soft to be used for arrows, so Xiao Bei kept these soft feathers . These were decent materials and he prepared to use them to make a small stove . Be it in the Dust World or reality, he could now use the heat of the feathers to cook .

There weren’t too many of the tough tail feathers, only seventeen in total . The rest had all been destroyed by Wei Xiao Bei’s strike and could only be used along with the soft feathers to create a stove .

It didn’t matter how careful he was being during the harvesting process . The corpse had already been badly damaged by his qi sword . When all the feathers were taken off the Pheasant’s body, it looked like a heap of minced meat .

Wei Xiao Bei frowned . He could only mince the meat properly and turn it into porridge now . It was impossible to fry or steam it now .

It was now dawn and Wei Xiao Bei had just gotten up from his bed . Before the sun had risen, he drove his car and headed toward Feng Tou Mountain or Phoenix Head Mountain to the west of Cui Hu City .

Cui Hu had two natural wonders near it . One was the Emerald Lake, by which Cui Hu City got its name . The water was clear and the surface of the lake shimmered with light . It was one of the places where the city residents often went to during their leisure time .

The Feng Tou Mountain was the second wonder . It was located on the western outskirts of Cui Hu . It was the tail of Phoenix Mountain, one of the four famous mountains of the Chuan Province . This tail had stretched to Cui Hu and it had gotten its name due to the peak resembling the head of a phoenix .

If the Emerald Lake was a good spot for picnics and relaxation, then this mountain was a good place for the residents to come during autumn .

Feng Tou Mountain had three peaks in total, one main peak and three side peaks . All three of these peaks had towering ginko trees along the trail . When autumn came, countless golden leaves fell from the trees, coloring the three peaks a golden-yellow, as if they were three mountains forged of gold . A small stream known as Washhorse Stream wound about the feet of the three hills and headed east, ultimately joining into the Emerald River . One could truly say that the scenery was that of golden clothes and an emerald belt along the waist . It was a grand and magnificent, with a visual impact that wasn’t too gaudy to the eyes .

In all seriousness, it is a little difficult to describe such a feeling with words .

Wei Xiao parked the car at the parking lot and then quickly ran up to the peak along the tiled mountain road .

He was a little early here for sure . It was only a little past five right now and even the old men and old ladies who got up early for exercise had not shown up yet .

Though it wasn’t quite deep enough into autumn to see all the golden leaves yet, the occasional flurry of leaves that fell when a breeze ran across was still an intoxicating sight . It caused Xiao Bei to lose himself in the beauty of the scenery .

Feng Tou Mountain’s main peak was 818 . 712 meters above sea level and 370 meters from the feet of the mountain to the top .

It was undoubtedly the tallest mountain in the entire area around Cui Hu City .

Of course, if one were to expand the range a bit more, Pheonixhead Mountain wouldn’t even be on the list .

Wei Xiao Bei reached the peak and what appeared before him was a wooden corridor . At the end of the corridor was a fancy pavilion suspended over the cliff . All sorts of delicate phoenix carvings decorated the pavilion, along with stories of phoenixes .

This fine pavilion platform was created by a gathering of local merchants in Cui Hu a thousand years ago, back in the Tang Dynasty . It was known as the Phoenix Terrace .

One could see the two side peaks from the pavilion on the left and right, and the river beneath . It was a place with amazing scenery .

The great Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty had once reached this place and gathered in the terrace to drink and write with his friends . Thus, he left the famous poem that has lasted until now .

 Upon the Phoenix Terrace of Feng Tou

 Upon Phoenix Terrace, phoenixes did once stay,

Where the river flows by but sees no phoenixes play .  

The weeds take o’er Wu palace and paths far and nigh;

The robes and hats of the Jin realm entombed in an array .

Afar the Trihill seems half gone in the blue sky;

The Egret Shoal parts the stream in a middle way .

Oft clouds block the’ sun and Chang’an city from my eye,

Which saddens me more than I could honestly say .  

Wei Xiao Bei had also learned this poem . It was said that this poem described the sorrow of the poet of having an unsuccessful career, but he thought that it was more bold and generous than sorrowful .

He looked past the pavilion and turned toward the plaza on the left . He wasn’t here to write poems or sing .

Three years ago, the clearing here was still full of greenery . However, now, to provide a place for the residents of the city to exercise, the ground had been flattened and covered with cement, turning it from a lush green to a dull grey . Indeed, it was like a scar on the pretty mountain top .

Still, this was the responsibility and job of the park management department . It had nothing to do with Xiao Bei .

He looked at the horizon . There was a thin white line in the distance, as fine as mist, and the air couldn’t be fresher .

Wei Xiao Bei took a deep breath and stood at the clearing . His body sunk slightly and the cement beneath his feet started cracking as he put himself in the Roaring Tiger Booming Thunder Stance .

His eyes shut slightly and the aura in his dantian started to slowly move and accelerate . They coursed through his organs and his body also started to move slowly . Sometimes it was like a tiger lunging from the mountains, sometimes it was like a leopard climbing up a tree . As his body continued to move, his organs vibrated slightly from the impact of his aura, creating a slight sensation of pain .

Wei Xiao Bei knew that these were minor wounds that had occurred from his organs being washed by the aura in his meridian . Such wounds would allow his organs to constantly heal and become even stronger .

This was one of the important ways by which masters of neutral jing and above trained their organs .

Of course, much like other skills, the Roaring Tiger Booming Thunder Stance required time .

Ordinary people could only train it once a week or their damaged organs would not be able to heal in time . It would instead cause internal injuries .

They could train it once every three days once they reached an intermediate level . They would need to reach an advanced level to train it every day .

For most experts of the neutral jing level, they would require at least fifteen years to train the Stance to advanced level .

Meanwhile, Wei Xiao Bei was very advantaged when it came to training this move . His recovery ability was tremendous . An ordinary person had to stop after half an hour of practice .

However, Wei Xiao Bei could train for over four hours and he had been doing so daily over this period .

Thus, after an entire month of such practice, it was as if he had done four to five years of practice for the average person . Take into consideration his powerful regenerative abilities and his organs were much more powerful than the average person’s when they healed .

Wei Xiao Bei had already sensed his Roaring Tiger Booming Thunder Stance breaking through to the advanced level .

As time slowly passed, his body started to move faster and faster, like a tiger on the hunt and a leopard on the prowl . By the end of it, it was hard to even see his shadow .

This Stance was originally a mobility technique of the Neigong school . There was a saying that it went from slow to fast . This meant that the stance slowly increased in speed before it reached the advanced level, relying on the acceleration to strengthen the internal organs . There was also a saying that followed after- the stance moves from fast to slow . This meant that upon reaching the advanced level, the speed of the moves went from fast to slow . The extreme speed would focus all the aura on the purpose of tempering and training the organs .