Chapter Nineteenth: Night Concealment Technique

  After several days of calm and peaceful life, Li Muran also gradually calmed down. At night when no one was around, he took out that book "Thieving Scripture" from the group of books in the hidden library again, carefully studying it.

  The poisonous tricks recorded in this book can instantly disable or take a person's life, and if one is not careful, they may lose their life without even seeing the face of their enemy.

  Some long-range sneak attack spells have become a must-learn for thieves; and there are also many descriptions of various instruments used for sneak attacks in the book, such as the invisible flying needle that comes without a shadow and leaves without a trace, with an unusually fast speed. There are also those powerful but disposable self-destructive instruments that can be used only once. These means, if facing the enemy head-on, may not have obvious effects, but when sneaking up in secret, they often succeed with one move!

  In addition, the records of poisoning in "The Art of Thievery" are also quite detailed. How to extract toxic liquids from common treasures, how to refine them, how to use them, what effects they have, how to detoxify and how to avoid accidentally poisoning oneself are all explained one by one. The book even goes so far as to say that every qualified thief should be a master of poisoning - after all, those colorless and odorless poisonous gases and liquids are the perfect means for secretly plotting against someone.

  Li Muran watched with a shocked heart, although he disapproved of such behavior, but gradually had some admiration for it. How much this book would help him on his future journey to seek immortality was hard to estimate.

  When he saw the chapter "How to Ambush", Li Muran was even more shocked!

  "Yè Yǐn Shù, a mysterious and obscure art that can only be practiced at night; also known as 'Thief's Concealment Technique', named for its prevalence among thieves. This technique allows the practitioner to conceal their figure and breath with the help of nighttime and moonlight, silently approaching their target within several meters without being detected."

  Li Muran read this passage and suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Qing Yuansu could hide in the Luanshi Gang without being discovered by him, as he had cultivated such a wonderful technique!

  "Magic that can only be practiced and used at night!" Li Muran's heart moved - isn't this the magic he has been searching for all along!

  He was proficient in his nighttime magical abilities, and his cultivation progressed rapidly. His spellcasting also became much smoother, and from every aspect, he was very well-suited for cultivating the "Night Concealment Technique".

  "Even if I don't become a thief, I can still cultivate these skills, at least they can be used for self-defense and dealing with unexpected situations." Li Muran thought to himself, having already made up his mind.

  However, this Night Concealment Technique is not as simple as the Flame Explosion Technique, which only requires manipulating, compressing and releasing magical power in a specific way to form an explosive flame; whereas the Night Concealment Technique is relatively more complicated.

  This night stealth technique requires not only the mobilization of magical powers but also the coordination of one's own body in casting the spell.

  To put it simply, Night Concealment is a special magical power that envelops the entire body. When this magical power blends with the surrounding night colors and reaches a certain subtle balance, the caster within the magical power can hide their figure in the night colors, making them difficult to detect.

  At this time, every move of the spellcaster, even just a breath or a blink, may destroy this balance and reveal flaws, losing the effect of concealment.

  So, apart from mobilizing and applying Fa power, one must also practice the specific methods of gathering and holding in one's breath mentioned in Night Hiding Technique. At the same time, every night, one should temper one's body with Fa power under the cover of darkness. After a long period of time, the subtle movements of one's body will not break the effect of Night Hiding Technique.

  Because of this complexity, the cultivation of night hiding technique takes a longer time. This book "Thief Scripture" mentions that it takes at least half a year or even one year to successfully cultivate the night hiding technique.

  Li Muran was not in a hurry to succeed, after all, the key to practicing the Night Concealment Technique is persistence. Every night doesn't require spending too much time, as for the consumed spiritual power - anyway those spiritual powers would disappear during the day, so it's like they're not being wasted if not used.

  That night, Li Muran began to practice the Night Concealment Technique. To practice this technique, one must be under the cover of darkness outdoors. Fortunately, the Chongyuan Peak where the library was located was relatively secluded, and no one came here at night, so Li Muran could practice his skills in the empty space outside the library.

  Li Muran practiced for a while, but soon felt his muscles and skin aching all over. He didn't dare to be greedy or rush forward, so he temporarily stopped practicing. Afterwards, he drew two one-star yuanqi symbols and went to rest.

  On the second day, no one came to visit the library for a long time. In the afternoon, Li Muran simply closed the library and sat inside to practice his skills.

  The yuanqi cultivated in the daytime will not disappear for no reason, so even if progress is slow, it's essential to persist as much as possible.

  "The spiritual wine given by Wooden Brother is quite effective, unfortunately it was finished yesterday. Today I'll try the 'Dan medicine' that's often mentioned in ancient books for external cultivation."

  Li Muran took out a wooden box from his storage bag and retrieved a thumb-sized, semi-transparent yellow dan bead.

  This Dan emits a fragrant aroma that touches the heart and spleen, with a faint aura of yuan qi wrapped around the surface of the dan, gathering but not dispersing, at first glance it is not an ordinary object in the world.

  Taking elixir pills for cultivation is one of the external methods, and it also has its specific ways. The most common one is to combine elixir pills with meditation, taking the elixir pills while meditating to refine them.

  Li Muran sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed, assuming a meditation posture, and then put the Jiyuan Dan in his hand into his mouth.

  He didn't rush to crush the dan pill and swallow it into his abdomen, but instead held it in his mouth, with his tongue against the roof of his mouth, while slowly breathing in and out.

  The essence of yuanqi contained in Zhuyuan Dan was extracted a little each time he breathed out, and then refined into his body.

  An hour later, as strands of yuanqi were drawn away, the Yuanyuan Dan grew smaller and softer, until it was completely dissolved in his mouth and swallowed into his abdomen.

  This method of refining Dan medicine is called the "Containment and Exhalation Method". Compared to directly swallowing the Dan medicine, this method takes more time but refines it thoroughly, with a slightly improved absorption rate.

  Of course, this method is not Li Muran's fantasy, but the information he obtained from the classics. If it were someone else, they would probably be too lazy to care about this detail and directly take in and refine it, which would be cleaner, more convenient and faster. But Li Muran was not like that - he always paid great attention to all kinds of details, which is one of his unique characteristics.

  "This is truly refreshing, this is what cultivation should be like!"

  After refining a Yuanyuan Dan, Li Muran exclaimed with great joy.

  The yuanqi transformed by this聚元丹 has become Li Muran's magical power, flowing in his eight extraordinary meridians like a gurgling spring, nourishing his blood vessels and body.

  This feeling of abundant yuanqi, Li Muran only had at night, previously he had never been able to cultivate so much yuanqi in the daytime, every time he cultivated during the day, he would feel a little disappointed with the small amount of yuanqi he could cultivate, this was the first time he felt satisfied and excited.

  "Juyuan Dan is indeed effective!" Li Muran exclaimed, manipulating his yuanqi while muttering excitedly: "Refining a single Juyuan Dan is almost equivalent to several days of cultivation in the past; if I can continue to rely on refining dan medicine to absorb yuanqi, wouldn't my cultivation speed leave even those talented disciples far behind?"

  Thinking of this, Li Muran's heart suddenly moved, he finally saw the hope of improving his cultivation.

  He calculated in his heart that one Gathering Yuan Pill required three pieces of Spiritual Stone; refining one Gathering Yuan Pill every day meant consuming three pieces of Spiritual Stone to cultivate his Yuan Qi.

  And he can easily make three or four one-star yuanqi talismans in a night, worth about three or four pieces of ling stone, which is enough to meet his own cultivation needs.

  In other words, if he takes Dan during the day and makes talismans at night, then sells talismans to buy Dan, he can basically make ends meet. However, doing so is extremely hard work, having to extract time for cultivation during the day and rushing to make talismans at night, with very little rest time.

  "It's exhausting to the point of having nothing left, but if I were to cultivate with all my might, I wouldn't have time to read books anymore. It would be a pity to leave this vast library with its tens of thousands of volumes unattended!" Li Muran sighed as he gazed at the rows and rows of bookshelves before him.

  He is a "bookworm", but he doesn't read books in the library, it's really hard for him.

  Li Muran thought for a moment, anyway, there were still dozens of聚元丹 in the storage bag, enough for him to use for several months, and there were also some spiritual stones. It was not urgent to make talismans and sell them. Moreover, after the incident with Qingyuanzi, Li Muran had some concerns and did not want to go to the market again for a while.

  "Brother Xiao will be back in half a month, so let's take this opportunity to study the classics. Spend one hour each day practicing the Yuanyuan Dan, and at night, practice the Night Concealment Technique. Also, make one or two Yuanqi talismans."

  After making up his mind, Li Muran's daily routine in the library became much more regular. Every day, he would study, practice, and create talismans, and Li Muran felt very fulfilled. His cultivation also made progress, gradually improving with the help of the聚元丹.

  Mu Li would come to the Cangshuge every few days, returning books or borrowing new ones, and would chat with Li Muran for a while. Although Li Muran rarely left his house, he was still aware of some rumors circulating within their sect recently.

  The news of Qingyuanzi's disappearance spread among the disciples, with some saying that he had left the sect on his own to seek opportunities; others speculated that he had encountered bandits and met with disaster. But no one thought that Qingyuanzi himself was a thief!

  However, this matter was soon forgotten, and even the disciples of Yunxia Guan rarely mentioned it. Li Muran also put the matter down and no longer had any psychological burden.

  "The Flame Explosion Technique has been practiced to perfection, and the Flame Explosion Fist has also been rehearsed thoroughly. It's time to try making the Flame Explosion Symbol." One night, Li Muran moved a stone table out of the library and prepared to make the symbol.

  According to the book, if the Flame Explosion Symbol is made incorrectly, it may cause flames to splatter everywhere, so he didn't dare practice making the Flame Explosion Symbol in the library.

  The moonlight was like silver, the stars were dotted, and Li Muran looked up at the starry sky above his head, and suddenly returned to the night when he made the opening light symbol a few months ago.