"The only technique I have is Black Tiger Technique and nothing else." Muttering to himself, Yang Ze thought about the skills he had mastered. This was his one and only attacking move. Other than this, he could use illusion, manifestation of mortal objects and a wail that would directly impact the source of internal energy.

If one were to ignore the wind blades he could summon, his attack options were rather limited.

Not to mention that he had been relying on the Etheral Shadow Step for moving around during the fight. But after he merged it with other talents in the cauldron of creation and ended up losing it, he didn't have an effective movement technique anymore.

The only thing he could do to dodge was to use his vein expansion strength to move around. It might look fast in the eyes of the mortals, but in the eyes of the cultivators, it wasn't something special.

"But where to get more techniques?" Were it any other place, he would have definitely bought a hundred techniques. But out here in these woods… even if he were to search for a thousand years, he doubted he was going to find one.

"Wait." It was at this moment that a sudden idea struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"Can't I just use Enlightenment to create skills?"

This was something that he had never thought about before. Till now, he was using Enlightenment to either increase his cultivation or mental energy. The only time he used it for other things was when he practised the Black Tiger Technique.

Other than that, he never thought if this talent was useful for other things.

But now that he thought about it, Yang Ze realised just how shallow his understanding of his own talents was.

The only description he had of his enlightenment talent was that he could enter the state of Enlightenment and nothing else.

He never spent any time or effort to find out what this state could be used for.

Just thinking about it, Yang Ze's breathing hastened as he hurriedly closed his eyes and entered the state of Enlightenment.

This time, he didn't think about cultivation or mental energy, but instead let his mind be free of any distracting thoughts. He didn't think about anything for a while.

It wasn't until a few minutes passed that he thought about the idea of moving fast, and in that instant, numerous methods popped up in his mind related to movement. From numerous gadgets that he could use to the way of moving around… he didn't even have to think. It was as if the entire world itself was pouring those ideas into his mind.

Yang Ze's breathing hastened for a moment, but he controlled his rising emotions. Just as he had thought, he could actually use this state to do things he didn't think about.

Without wasting another moment, he recalled how he moved when he had the talent Etheral Shadow Step and in the next moment, a sense of him moving around unfurled in his mind as well as an additional layer of steps that he could take.

But that wasn't all.

Yang Ze seemed to have lost himself in this wonderful sensation as he sat there in enlightenment, and in his mind, numerous ideas popped up like mushrooms one after another.

And gradually, a technique that was similar to the Black Tiger Technique slowly began to form in his head.

Yang Ze didn't even notice how long he had been sitting there for. It felt like a moment, and yet it felt like a lifetime had passed.

It wasn't until he felt someone poking his face that he finally opened his eyes and came out of the state of Enlightenment.

And the first thing that greeted him was the malnourished and immature face of Qing Cao, whose eyes were filled with worry. It was only after he opened his eyes that the worry in her eyes disappeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" She couldn't help but ask Yang Ze with worry.

"I…" Initially, Yang Ze was angry after being disturbed from his enlightenment state, but after looking at the worried face of Qing Cao, his heart softened, and he merely shook his head with a smile.

"I am fine." With a soft chuckle, he tapped her on her forehead, making her take a few steps back in grievance.

"You have been sitting like that for an entire night. I was afraid you weren't going to wake up."

It was only now that Yang Ze realised that it was already noon. Unknowingly, he had spent an entire night and morning in the state of Enlightenment.

"My bad." Yang Ze merely let out a sigh in response.

"Mmm", Qing Cao simply nodded towards him before reaching inside her robe and taking out a small, finger-sized hexagonal gem that was giving off a hazy green light.

"This is?" The moment Yang Ze saw it, his eyes narrowed into slits. He had never seen something as beautiful as it. It looked like a flawless gem carved out by the most skilled artist.

He was about to use his All-seeing eyes to take a look at what it was, but before he could, Qing Cao's response made him realise what it was.

"It fell from your clothes last night."

"....." Yang Ze looked at her in confusion for a moment before realisation hit him.

"Life gem!" He had almost forgotten that he had the Withering Year Mark talent on him. It would condense 100 days of his life into a life gem. Initially, he didn't know what the gem was useful for, but now that he had it in front of him…

Without any hesitation, he used his All-seeing eyes to take a look at the life gem.

[Life Gem: Use it to give one hundred days of lifespan to a person or being.]

"Hiss…" Just looking at it, Yang Ze's breathing almost stopped. This damn thing was even more outrageous than he had initially imagined.

When he first read about it in the talent's description, he merely thought that it was some kind of treasure that could be used to heal wounds. But now…

Looking at the Life Gem in his hand, Yang Ze felt like he was holding a scalding hot potato.

If there is one thing in this world that everyone is afraid of… it is death.

For those old monsters whose lifespan has run out, this thing was a heavenly elixir.

If words about it got out… Yang Ze didn't dare to imagine just how miserable his fate was going to be.

"Damn it." Without any hesitation, he immediately crushed it and, in that instant, felt a cool sensation all over his body. He had a feeling that the lifespan he lost had been recovered.

"....."

It was only now that he realised that there was another person in the room.

Lifting his head up… sure enough, he saw Qing Cao looking at him with sparkling eyes. Although she didn't know what just happened, it didn't stop her from being in awe of something so magical.

"Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Yang Ze tapped her forehead again before speaking in a soft voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"And where are the others?"

He looked around, but other than him and Qing Cao, there wasn't another person in the room.

"They are working on the animal you brought." Qing Cao replied as her finger pointed in the direction where the large deer was placed last night.

"Working on it?" Yang Ze couldn't help but furrow his brows. What was there to even work on it?

As if sensing his confusion, Qing Cao answered him.

"The animal is rather large, and even after everyone ate their fill yesterday, there is still more than eighty per cent of it remaining.

"We were thinking that instead of keeping it that way and letting it go bad, it was better to dry the meat."

"This way, we can eat it whenever we want."

"Uh." Yang Ze couldn't help but pat his head. How could he have forgotten about something so simple?

"I was worried about you, so I stayed here." Qing Cao grumbled as she lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.

Yang Ze couldn't help but look at her before letting out a deep sigh.

"Come here."

Qing Cao's frail body trembled for an instant as she didn't know how to respond. And before she could even react, she felt Yang Ze's warm hands around her waist as he lifted her up and placed her in front of him on the bed.

She wanted to say something, but no words came out. The only response that came from her was her violent trembling, which was only increasing with time.

"...." Yang Ze merely smiled at her exaggerated reaction as he raised his hand, and with that, a simple, old-style, exquisite wooden comb appeared in his hand.

He then gently patted Qing Cao's head before slowly gathering her messy hair and began to comb it.

Initially, Qing Cao was afraid and nervous as to what Yang Ze was going to do, but when she felt the comb in her hair, her tensed body visibly relaxed as she simply sat there unmoving like a rabbit.

Seconds turned into minutes as Yang Ze combed her hair gently.

It wasn't until a few more minutes passed that Yang Ze spoke up, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"I used to have a little sister, you know."

His words made Qing Cao's eyes widen a bit, but she didn't say a word. She simply nodded in response.

"She was just like you…" Yang Ze continued speaking.

"Always so full of bravado but always so fearful from the inside."

Speaking till here, Yang Ze couldn't help but chuckle for a moment.

"She would act so tough and all strong, but when our mother got angry, she would be the first one to run away, putting the blame on me."

Just thinking about it, a smile formed on Yang Ze's lips as he continued further.

"When she was a child, she would always be dependent on me. Always following me around, meddling with my affairs…"

"And when she got older… about your age… she began to fight me."

"Heh." Yang Ze couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"The two of us would always get into the most stupid fights imaginable."

Speaking till here, Yang Ze went silent, and his eyes went in a daze, as he reminisced about the past events.

It wasn't until a few more minutes passed that Qing Cao spoke for the first time.

"What happened then?"

"..."

"..."

"Heh." Yang Ze didn't answer her but simply manifested two rubber bands and tied up her hair into two ponytails before patting her head from behind.

"Go and play with the others. I still have something to do."

Ignoring her disgruntled expression, Yang Ze took in a deep breath as he recalled the gains of the last night's enlightenment.

He had managed to create a set of movement techniques.

A movement technique that was equally, if not stronger than, his Mystic Nether Steps.

"I shall call it…"

Yang Ze thought for a long time before whispering to himself.

"Thousand Blooms."

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