Chapter 18: Earning Merit, Gaining the Green Ox Fist and Piercing Arrow

 One day later,

"Chi!"

While meditating, Xu Taiping suddenly heard a bird call from outside the courtyard.

"It should be Uncle Diao bringing me some money."

Xu Taiping quickly jumped off his bed.

When he arrived at the courtyard gate, he indeed saw the white-headed eagle from yesterday.

"Pa!"

The white-headed eagle wasted no time and threw a bag of money to Xu Taiping. Then, in a cold tone, it said,

"A total of ninety-seven merit coins were sold. After deducting my three, there are ninety-four left. You can count them yourself."

"No need to count, thank you, Uncle Diao."

Xu Taiping cupped his hands in gratitude.

The spirit birds of Yunlu Mountain had signed blood contracts with Qingxuan Sect, and they would never engage in petty theft.

Xu Taiping's gesture softened the eagle's gaze toward him.

"If you need something, blow the flute. I'm currently managing this area."

The white-headed eagle spoke淡淡ly.

"Then I'll be bothering Uncle Diao from now on."

Xu Taiping nodded.

"Eh? Why does your courtyard have the aura of a demon beast?"

Just as the white-headed eagle was about to leave, it suddenly turned back, its eyes full of suspicion as it glanced at the courtyard behind Xu Taiping.

"This eagle can actually sense the aura of the demon wolf in my courtyard?"

Xu Taiping was somewhat surprised.

However, he didn't plan to hide anything and told the eagle about what had happened the previous day, as there was nothing to conceal.

"How could there be a demon wolf on Sheep Deer Mountain?"

After hearing Xu Taiping's story, the white-headed eagle also looked puzzled.

"You're quite lucky, but for the next while, it's better that you avoid Sheep Deer Mountain. I'll also have a word with the West Wind Pavilion about it."

The eagle seemed to have no intention of delving further into the matter.

"That works out even better."

Xu Taiping nodded in gratitude.

It would be great if someone from the sect came to check on it, as his current cultivation was not enough to handle any demon creatures.

"By the way, are you planning to sell the demon wolf's body?"

The white-headed eagle asked again.

"Sell it, of course!"

Xu Taiping nodded without hesitation.

"Then sell it to me. My son is preparing to break through, and although the demon wolf's grade isn't high, it's perfect for nourishing our spirit birds and boosting their blood flow."

The white-headed eagle said.

"Uncle Diao, you're welcome to take it."

Xu Taiping responded readily.

He didn't mind using the demon wolf's corpse to make a friend with the white-headed eagle.

"I can't just take something from a young one, especially when you risked your life for it."

The white-headed eagle rolled its eyes at Xu Taiping, but its regard for the boy increased.

"Here's the deal. If you were to sell it yourself, it might be worth around ten merit coins, but I'll offer twenty merit coins for it. How does that sound, young man?"

The white-headed eagle asked.

Upon hearing this, Xu Taiping didn't hesitate. He returned to the courtyard and dragged the demon wolf's corpse out.

"Uncle Diao, take it."

He placed the demon wolf's body in front of the white-headed eagle.

"Take care, young man."

The white-headed eagle smiled heartily, then with a flap of its wings, it tossed twenty merit coins perfectly into Xu Taiping's hands.

"Also, my former sect leader gave me the name Bai Hong, so you can just call me Uncle Bai."

The white-headed eagle spoke as it grabbed the demon wolf's corpse and with a powerful flap of its wings, soared into the air.

"Seems like the sect leader personally named him."

Xu Taiping muttered as he watched the eagle fly away.

"Thanks to this unexpected windfall of twenty merit coins, it's time to pick out some better martial arts skills and a decent weapon."

Looking at the money bag in his left hand and the twenty merit coins in his right, Xu Taiping showed an unusual childlike delight as he happily bounced back to his little courtyard.

...

Back in his bedroom,

Xu Taiping immediately tossed a merit coin into the copper mirror.

"Qingzhu Residence Xu Taiping, what do you seek from me?"

The voice of the mirror spirit came from within the mirror.

"Lord Xuanjing, I'd like to select some martial arts skills and weapons. Do you have any recommendations?"

Although he already knew the mirror spirit was just an emotionless artifact, Xu Taiping still addressed it respectfully.

"You outer sect scattered cultivators can only purchase martial arts and weapons from the West Wind Pavilion's library. The mirror now displays the martial arts and weapons currently available in the West Wind Pavilion. You may choose at will."

The mirror spirit's tone remained completely neutral.

"Thank you, Lord Xuanjing."

Xu Taiping expressed his gratitude and then began browsing through the selections.

"I remember the True Master Ziyang once said that the best martial art to pair with 'Canghai Skill' is fist and palm techniques, as they can maximize the advantage of having deep true energy. Once the Canghai true energy is activated, each punch and palm strike carries the force of an ordinary person wielding a weapon."

Recalling the teachings of Master Ziyang during his lecture, Xu Taiping immediately focused on the various fist and palm techniques displayed in the mirror.

In the end, he selected a technique called "Qing Niu Fist".

According to the description of this technique, after practicing "Qing Niu Fist" and combining it with his internal true energy, each punch could crush rocks in the mountain.

Moreover, this technique had two ultimate moves.

One was called "Bull Horns Crashing Mountain", where when fully unleashed, the power was like a bull charging into a mountain, eight times stronger than an ordinary "Qing Niu Fist".

The other was called "Charging Bulls Breaking Formation", where the punch's force grew stronger with each strike, and the user wouldn't stop until they were exhausted.

Overall, "Qing Niu Fist" was perfect for Xu Taiping at the moment and very compatible with his Canghai Skill, which allowed quick recovery of true energy.

Of course, there were better and more suitable fist techniques in the West Wind Pavilion's library, but unfortunately, most of them were priced above a hundred merit coins, while this "Qing Niu Fist" only cost thirty merit coins.

As a transitional martial art for self-defense, this "Qing Niu Fist" was a perfect fit.

In addition to "Qing Niu Fist", Xu Taiping also spent ten merit coins on a bow and arrow skill called "Piercing Yang Arrows".

This martial art was rather ordinary, only teaching the practitioner how to enhance their eyesight and focus with true energy, as well as how to infuse true energy into arrows to increase their power.

In simple terms, it elevated regular archery to the level of cultivation.

For Xu Taiping, getting such a martial art for only ten merit coins was an excellent bargain.

For example, had he known the method of infusing true energy into arrows earlier, he could have easily killed the demon wolf in the mountain without needing the mechanism.