Master of Kaidan
Chapter 117 The Real Garbage Mountain

Chapter 117: Chapter 117 The Real Garbage Mountain

"Knock knock knock..."

Three rhythmic knocks sounded from outside the door. The middle-aged man, who was reviewing documents at his desk, looked up and said,

"Come in."

"Click..."

After the sound of the doorknob turning, a young man with a straight posture, who looked like he had a military background, walked into the room. He held a document wrapped in kraft paper, and with a solemn expression, he said,

"Report, the results of the first round of comparison have come out."

"Are there any issues?" The middle-aged man took the file folder, first checking the seal to ensure there were no problems before opening it and taking out the documents inside. He flipped through them and asked,

"So far, there haven’t been any issues. The conditions in the three control groups are stable. I don’t know the specific data."

Although he said he didn’t know, the young man’s answer was still full of confidence.

The middle-aged man nodded and said, "Understood, you may return."

"Yes!"

After the young man left the office, the middle-aged man opened the file in his hand. The title at the top read "Observational Phase of Comparison Experiment on the ’Golden Bell Shield’ Secret Manual."

If it weren’t for the conspicuous steel seal on it, most people would think this was probably some kind of prank tool, but the middle-aged man clearly understood the importance of this document.

After noticing this document in a courier from Columbia, the Kaidan Countermeasure Bureau and relevant departments took it very seriously. After setting up a special project and confirming that there wasn’t any apparent danger, various studies and experiments had been scheduled.

In the first round, thirty volunteers were selected to practice cultivation, divided into three control groups: one group practiced only Inner Strength, one group practiced only outer techniques, and the third group practiced both. Each group was further divided into two subgroups, one using auxiliary medicine and the other not.

Currently, it was their first month of cultivation.

During this month, besides allowing these volunteers to practice, the research group affiliated with the Kaidan Countermeasure Bureau was not idle. Experts in fields like traditional Chinese medicine and biology were drawn from the official talent pool to conduct a detailed analysis of this secret manual. Yet, aside from confirming that external applications of the medicine had excellent effects in promoting blood circulation, enhancing bones, and growing muscles, with adverse effects within the scope of conventional medicine, they had little achievement.

At least for the moment, even a seasoned traditional Chinese medicine practitioner versed in acupuncture and massage couldn’t quickly identify whether the breathing and channeling methods in this manual had issues.

"First control group, three individuals in the medicine group developed Qi sense, with no special changes apart from analgesic effects. No one in the non-medicine group developed Qi sense."

"Second control group, the skin color of those in the medicine group changed slightly, and their resistance to impact increased significantly. The resistance in the non-medicine group increased slightly."

"Third control group, everyone in the medicine group developed Qi sense, enhanced resistance to impact, and increased strength. Their skin color changed mildly when manipulating Qi. One person in the non-medicine group developed Qi sense, with slight resistance enhancement..."

Looking at the report in his hand, the man showed no change in expression. He simply returned it to the kraft paper bag, then picked up a pen to jot down a few lines in a notebook, before making a call.

"Old Zhang, you’re calling at this time, has the result come out?" The moment the call connected, the other party asked first. The middle-aged man’s half-open mouth paused slightly, and then he said,

"Yes, for now, it seems there isn’t any issue, but that’s just for now."

"Oh, from what you’re saying, someone has already developed Qi sense?" The voice on the other end of the line became clearly excited. The middle-aged man referred to as Old Zhang affirmed,

"There are nine in total, of which six belong to the third control group."

"Hiss—it’s indeed worthy of being called the ’technique even a fool can learn’ by that Kaidan. Most people practicing ’Bu Tian Ge’ have barely understood the preface! Its demands on mathematics and astronomy are too high, and it’s in an archaic Chinese style. But according to Little Sun’s results, there’s indeed some truth to it... Funny enough, even before the observatory helped complete the cultivation technique, they optimized their algorithm first..."

"Let’s discuss this in a meeting later. The issue now is whether to continue?" Old Zhang interrupted the diverging topic on the other end. The other party paused slightly and then said,

"Why not? Didn’t we already decide in the last meeting? If initially confirmed there’s no issue, we can tell the cultivators the name of the Cultivation Technique Creator. After all, from a certain angle, they can be considered their master..."

...

"Give me five large bags, ten medium bags."

In the sixth month after crossing dimensions, and the second month after arriving in the South District, Feng Xue finally paused his routine of copying books and exercising. He returned to Xiu’s shop and handed over forty-five million "tower coins."

In one month, Feng Xue’s life was extremely disciplined—copying books, practicing swordsmanship, and reforging. This not only allowed him to accumulate a significant fortune but also consumed a large amount of elements.

Although he still had a good stock in his element bar, most were a series of death descriptions, including [Death], and even the most general [Tool] and [Weapon] were entirely exhausted.

Despite the majority being black balls or not very useful comedic items, there was still a bit that was useful.

"Young lad, did you strike it rich?" Without a filter, Feng Xue looked at the scruffy middle-aged man with a hedgehog hairstyle, momentarily wanting to beautify the world with a mental filter. But considering his mental health, he restrained this impulse and smiled at the man,

"Doing alright, made a bit of money, planning to explore the mountains next."

"I see..." Uncle Xiu nodded, took out five large and ten medium-sized baggage wrappers from the counter and placed them on the table. Yet, he didn’t immediately take the tower coins, which seemed more like a check than paper money, but instead waited for Feng Xue to verify the goods one by one.

However, Feng Xue didn’t need to try them all one by one. With just one glance, he could see the attributes of each baggage wrapper.

After confirming there were no issues, he bundled the remaining baggage cloth together with a large bag and stuffed it into his storage bag. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard Uncle Xiu speak behind him,

"If you plan to go to the garbage mountain, be careful of those slave catching teams. They don’t care if you’ve just come through or if you’re scavenging. Also, watch out for those ’residents’ in the mountains; they’re not as weak as they appear."

"Thanks for the reminder." Feng Xue turned back, giving a nod to the man who conveyed goodwill unexpectedly, and then left the small shop.

His eagerness to head into the mountains wasn’t just due to exhausting elements. It was also because he discovered that his [Demon] tag had undergone some transformation.

It wasn’t that it had turned into a Kaidan entry, but the manner of providing [Identity] had changed.

Initially, when he acquired this tag, he gained [Identity] in large lumps, hundreds or even thousands at a time, but it was extremely unstable. In recent days, it was nearly constant, yet each gain was very small. If one were to compare it, it was like pouring large buckets of water into a tank before, but now it was more like a steady trickle from a thin pipe.

Despite appearing as a steady stream, Feng Xue didn’t really know what this signified.

It might symbolize increased notoriety or that the emotions of those who remembered him were gradually stabilizing and beginning to slowly forget.

This transformation caused him to feel an uncontrollable sense of tension.

But he also knew that his current strength wasn’t formidable—not strong enough for a Kaidan, not even able to defeat the "Gem Knight" from that Cross Sword Union at the time.

And presently, the fastest way for him to get stronger wasn’t by continuing to create illusions, but by... killing.