Infinite Fighting

Chapter 81: Chapter 72: The Second Nominal Disciple

The desert sun was scorching hot, but the group felt no discomfort. On the contrary, they all seemed quite comfortable.

To varying degrees, they all possessed some of Dela’s bloodline.

Zhang Ji, on the other hand, had been directly implanted with Dela’s blood via Alchemy Technology. For him, the sunlight was a powerful tonic.

So, when it came down to it, the group was probably more resistant to the sun than their camels.

Lying on a camel’s back, Zhang Ji used the Five Elements Primordial Qi in his body to cultivate the True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill. It was far more effective than his original Dragon-form Primordial Qi.

Zhang Ji now estimated that it would take him just over a day to form one mote of essence for the True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill, roughly the same speed as his training for the Iron Body Skill.

But considering this was a top-tier (Fine-grade) combat skill, its training difficulty was far greater than that of the Iron Body Skill.

So, all things considered, the boost the Five Elements Primordial Qi gave to this combat skill was absurdly large.

...

A short distance behind Zhang Ji, Hudson watched him absorb vast amounts of sunlight, his mind starting to wander.

He had never imagined that Zhang Ji possessed the same bloodline as him.

And what’s more, Zhang Ji’s bloodline seemed even stronger.

Not just by a little, either.

He was also resistant to the sun, but he could only use it to recover a bit of stamina.

Zhang Ji, however, was practically inhaling it with ravenous force.

As Zhang Ji’s bloodline power devoured the light, their surroundings visibly dimmed.

"Understand now?" Weston asked Hudson.

"Yes."

Hudson nodded slightly. He now understood why his mother and the others had been so courteous to Zhang Ji.

He had grown up with stories of the Sun God and the Wind God, so he had some idea of how powerful the possessors of these two bloodlines could be.

Now, it was clear that Zhang Ji was also a descendant of the Sun God.

And one with exceptionally high bloodline purity, at that.

’No wonder he could leave a mark like that...’

Hudson’s attitude shifted slightly. He was no longer so resistant to being sent out to travel with Zhang Ji.

...

「Four days passed.」

The desert scenery remained largely unchanged.

Relying on his ability to recognize a few constellations, Zhang Ji managed to lead the group steadily toward the Roman Country.

They had taken some wrong turns, but overall, they hadn’t strayed too far from their path.

Even if they had, it wouldn’t have been a problem for Zhang Ji.

If the current Zhang Ji were to run at full speed, he could cross the entire desert in less than a day. It was only because Hudson and the others weren’t very strong and the camels were slow that their pace was leisurely.

Of course, Zhang Ji wasn’t in a hurry either.

This desert had few clouds, allowing the sun and moon to shine down directly. In a way, it was a perfect Saint Land for his training.

If he didn’t have other plans, he would have stayed to cultivate two more (Excellent)-grade combat crystals before leaving.

That night, they made camp in a dense grove of giant cacti.

The cacti here were at least thirty to forty meters tall, with trunks as thick as trees. They grew in astounding numbers all around. It was currently their fruiting season, and human-head-sized fruits hung from them, some bearing the bite marks of small animals.

"They’re edible," Jonas said.

Hearing this, Weston and the others prepared to draw their blades and chop one down.

Zhang Ji stopped them. "Don’t be so rough. There’s no need to cut it down just to eat a fruit. It wasn’t easy for it to grow this large."

It was a rare sight to see cacti this big, and it wasn’t as if they had no other way to get the fruit, so he stopped Weston.

"I’ll climb up and pick them, then," one of the guards volunteered.

For him, climbing a cactus wasn’t a difficult task.

"You all possess the bloodline powers of the Wind God and the Sun God. Don’t you know how to use them?" Zhang Ji asked.

"Your Excellency Zhang Ji, haven’t we been using them this whole time?" Weston asked, puzzled.

In his eyes, they were using their bloodline powers when they basked in the sun or used air currents to lighten their bodies as they traveled.

"No, that’s too crude," Zhang Ji said. "You’ve touched the Treasure Pearl of Wind, and you have the Wind God’s bloodline. Have you still not mastered the basic technique of borrowing the wind?"

Weston looked slightly embarrassed.

Although he had touched the Treasure Pearl, learned the information within, and received its legacy, he had studied it for so long yet still hadn’t grasped even the fundamentals.

From his perspective, it was simply too profound and difficult to learn.

One look at his expression told Zhang Ji that Weston’s aptitude wasn’t the best.

"Watch what I do. You can try to learn from it," Zhang Ji said.

Immediately, Zhang Ji closed his eyes and adjusted his Spirit’s frequency, establishing a connection with the surrounding air currents.

For him, this was as easy as breathing.

Then, Zhang Ji kicked out with his foot.

"SHFFFT!"

Zhang Ji kicked out a blade of air that precisely sliced the stem of a ripe red fruit. He then held out his hand, and a gust of wind blew it right into his palm.

"Did you get it?" Zhang Ji asked, looking at the others.

In his eyes, this should have been the most basic of basics.

He could do it without any bloodline enhancement; after a single demonstration, these people who possessed the Wind God’s bloodline should have been able to do it as well.

However, he was met with a group of dazed, stupefied expressions.

Only Hudson wore a thoughtful expression, as if he’d had some sort of epiphany.

Zhang Ji shook his head slightly. "I’ll do it."

With that, Zhang Ji sent out a dozen more kicks, knocking down all the large, ripe fruits nearby.

Weston and the others hurried forward, thanked Zhang Ji, and began to distribute the fruits.

While they had brought food with them, their supplies weren’t plentiful. They also had to feed the camels, and a portion of the camels’ carrying capacity was taken up by valuables like Gold.

Most of the time, they scrimped and saved wherever they could.

As long as they could get by with a bit of sunbathing, it was no great hardship to eat a little less.

So they were quite happy to have fresh fruit to eat now.

Zhang Ji also took a large bite.

The fruit was fresh, sweet, and delicious. It stained his mouth red as he ate, and he replenished a great deal of water.

In truth, it was quite easy for Zhang Ji to get water.

Even in the desert, there was still moisture in the air, which he could gather using the techniques of the Flowing Water Sect.

Furthermore, the air was more humid at night than during the day, making it even easier to gather.

Thanks to Zhang Ji’s ability to manipulate moisture, the group had barely consumed any of the water they’d brought along.

Just then, Zhang Ji suddenly heard the sound of rushing wind behind him.

"SHFFFT!"

"CRACK!"

A section of cactus, severed by a wave of air, crashed to the ground. Not far off stood a stunned-looking Hudson.

’Interesting,’ Zhang Ji thought.

After what had just happened, he understood that these people had a low level of bloodline development and weren’t particularly gifted in terms of aptitude.

But Hudson was clearly an exception.

’As the future master of the Desert Capital in a later version of the game, both of his bloodlines show signs of atavism.’

’Someone who reached the level of a 7th or 8th dan professional without any formal combat training, and who even figured out a Grandmaster-level move on his own... his aptitude and talent are both top-notch.’

’If developed properly, reaching B-rank would be no mere dream.’

’He’s the kind of NPC worth cultivating.’

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!"

Suddenly, accompanied by the squeaking, a large number of jerboas leaped out from the cactus grove.

"Something’s not right!" Weston shouted. "On your guard!"

Everyone immediately dropped the fruit they were eating and looked cautiously toward the grove of cacti.

Hudson also stared nervously into the grove.

Zhang Ji had sensed the situation inside even before they did. After breaking through to B-rank, his vision was much stronger than before. He had already seen what was in there long before Weston even reacted.

It was a giant desert chameleon, over five meters long and nearly two meters tall. Its skin had changed color to match its surroundings, hiding it within the cactus grove. An ordinary person would never be able to spot it.

This kind of Exotic Beast was rare in this world, but they had always existed.

Every now and then, news reports would mention genetically mutated creatures appearing in the wild.

However, the one before them was slightly different.

"WHOOSH!"

From nearly a hundred meters away, a tongue shot out as fast as a bullet, aimed directly at Hudson.

It had been drawn out by the disturbance Hudson had caused when he broke the cactus.

This grove of cacti seemed to be its territory.

Faced with such a swift attack, Hudson naturally couldn’t react in time, and neither could Weston and the others.

Zhang Ji, however, was unperturbed.

In his eyes, the tongue was moving quite slowly.

"SHFFFT!"

Though he acted second, his attack arrived first. Zhang Ji flicked a finger, sending a wave of Primordial Qi to strike the chameleon’s tongue.

"SPLAT!"

A piece of the tongue fell to the ground, followed by a splash of blood.

"HISSSSSSS!"

The chameleon cried out in pain, immediately turned, and fled back into the cactus grove.

But how could Zhang Ji possibly let it get away?

In an instant, Zhang Ji’s figure vanished from where he stood.

A moment later, Weston and the others heard a sharp, explosive whistle of air from within the grove, and then silence.

Before long, Zhang Ji emerged from the grove, dragging the chameleon by its tail.

The massive chameleon was bigger than an ox, yet Zhang Ji dragged it out with just one hand. The stark contrast left everyone with astonished expressions.

"It probably eats fruit, so it’s most likely not poisonous. We can eat it," Zhang Ji said, tossing the chameleon in front of Weston and the others.

Hudson’s gaze fell upon the chameleon’s forehead. There was a perfectly round, bloody hole, and the brain inside had been completely pulverized.

He couldn’t imagine how Zhang Ji had done it.

’A fist?’

He looked at his own fist; the hole seemed a little smaller.

Weston and the others quickly began to butcher the chameleon, while Zhang Ji went back to eating his Fire Dragon Fruit.

"I didn’t know that was in there..."

At some point, Hudson had come to stand beside Zhang Ji.

"I’m not blaming you. This is what the wild is like—full of hidden dangers. Just try to be more cautious next time. The outside world is different from the Ruins Realm," Zhang Ji said casually.

The chameleon was only a C-rank monster that he had killed in a single blow, so he didn’t feel like it had caused him any trouble.

In fact, since Hudson had lured it out, they had gained an extra source of food. From Zhang Ji’s perspective, it was a good thing.

"How did you do that?" Hudson asked.

"Picking the fruit, or killing that beast?" Zhang Ji asked, looking at Hudson.

"Both," Hudson replied.

"Want to learn?" Zhang Ji asked with a smile.

"I do," Hudson said with a nod.

"Serve me a cup of tea, kowtow to me, and I can accept you as my second in-name disciple," Zhang Ji said.

He wasn’t particularly interested in taking on disciples, mainly because he found it troublesome.

For those he had some connection with, he would offer a few pointers at most.

Gu Jie was a special case. Gu Ming, after all, had looked after him when he was weak, but even then, he had only accepted Gu Jie as an in-name disciple.

As for Hudson, on the one hand, he was considering the potential benefits and the boy’s talent.

’On the other hand,’ Zhang Ji thought, ’I suppose slaughtering his city in the game was a bit uncharitable of me.’

Hudson didn’t understand the significance of serving tea.

So Zhang Ji explained it to him.

Hudson then symbolically took out a waterskin, poured water into a bowl for Zhang Ji as a substitute for tea, and kowtowed to him.

This surprised Zhang Ji somewhat.

He had expected Hudson to feel humiliated and refuse.

If that had been the case, he would have considered the matter of an in-name disciple closed.

But he hadn’t expected Hudson’s desire to grow stronger to be so firm.

In Hudson’s eyes, however, this wasn’t humiliating at all. In his culture, they worshiped their gods in a similar fashion.

He could kneel for ages before an unmoving statue that offered no tangible rewards. Zhang Ji was willing to teach him such a precious skill in exchange for a brief moment of kneeling to show respect. He’d be a fool to hesitate.

"Good. From this day forward, you will call me Teacher," Zhang Ji said after drinking the water Hudson had offered him.

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