Infinite Fighting

The trip lasted three days, after which Zhang Ji boarded his return flight.

A new pendant now hung from his chest—the golden Moonlight Cup.

Its size was just right for a pendant, not too big and not too small, making it convenient to carry around.

Zhang Ji had also ordered a drone online. As soon as he got back, he could strap the cup to it at night and send it into the sky to gather moonlight.

For Zhang Ji, the effect of that small half-cup of Moon Essence was equivalent to several Essence Pills.

Besides, Essence Pills didn’t actually restore his Spirit, and they took time to digest. Consuming too many in a short period would also put a great strain on his body.

But the Moon Essence was different; it took effect almost immediately after being consumed.

It could quickly transform into the nutrients his body needed, restoring his stamina and energy.

If he could guarantee a cup of it every day, Zhang Ji felt his training speed could increase significantly.

After traveling for the better part of a day, Zhang Ji returned to Golden Hook Mountain.

He took a shower and ate some roasted duck rice, and by then, the sky had already grown dark.

Zhang Ji unwrapped a package that had been delivered to his courtyard, revealing a new model of drone.

This thing was called the "Eagle Eye" or something. In any case, it could fly very high and see very far.

Zhang Ji had contacted Zhou Hao to help him buy it. He was told flying it into the stratosphere would be no problem at all.

With its help, he could easily admire the moon.

It also had an ultra-long battery life; hovering for an entire night was no mere dream.

Zhang Ji moved the drone, which weighed at least two hundred kilograms, into the courtyard. He placed the Moonlight Cup onto the fixed platform installed on its back and secured it with a clasp.

He had asked the seller to custom-make this clasp, using the excuse that it was for holding a phone and filming equipment.

The seller had even suggested he could use a magnetic accessory instead, which wouldn’t require extra installation.

However, Zhang Ji was worried the cup might fall off by accident, so he reinforced it as much as possible.

He flicked the switch. The system self-check completed, the propellers spun, and in the next moment, the drone shot rapidly into the air.

Zhang Ji maintained a constant signal and could see the live feed from below.

As it gradually ascended, the scenery below grew blurry until it was just a patch of total darkness with no visible light.

Zhang Ji watched the altitude data. When it reached 10,800 meters, the image sent back by the drone suddenly changed.

The feeds from all eight cameras, showing various angles, revealed that it was now above the clouds.

Bathed in moonlight, the roiling sea of clouds was a breathtaking sight.

But what captured Zhang Ji’s attention even more was the cup, pointed directly at the moon.

With no obstructions, the moonlight around the cup was rapidly absorbed, causing it to glow brilliantly.

From time to time, a current of air would cause the drone to sway slightly, but it wasn’t a major issue. The angle of its wobble was small and didn’t affect the cup’s ability to absorb moonlight.

After setting the hover parameters, Zhang Ji began to practice his skills nearby.

After reaching the introductory level with the Snake Form Fist, he began practicing the other Five Elements Sect Fist Skills.

He wanted to see if, after reaching the introductory level in all five Fist Skills, he could find a point of integration and practice all five forms simultaneously, just like Li Long.

He was currently practicing the Crane Form Fist.

Although it was a Fist Skill, it focused more on Body Technique.

Zhang Ji’s feet moved rapidly according to the essentials of the Fist Skill. His force-channeling technique was extremely precise; as soon as his feet touched the ground, he could quickly change his position, launching a swift attack using the momentum from his shift.

The strongest move in the Crane Form Fist was called the Crane’s Beak Peck.

It involved drawing the palm and fingers together and striking out with the fingertips.

When Li Long used it, he could create a sonic boom, and the strike could peck a hole directly through an iron plate.

Zhang Ji’s strength was sufficient to do the same, but it relied on his own Horizontal Training Power, not the Crane Form Fist.

If he wanted to reach that level purely through the techniques of the Crane Form Fist, he still had a lot of practice to do.

About two hours later, Zhang Ji went to check on the drone.

The cup was now about four-fifths full of shimmering, incandescent Moon Essence.

In other words, at this altitude, it took just a little over two hours to fill a single cup.

The corners of Zhang Ji’s mouth curved up.

’Technology really is a wonderful thing.’

’Combining the two has boosted the production efficiency by so much.’

Even accounting for the travel time, Zhang Ji figured he could probably collect about four cups of Moon Essence in one night.

After waiting a little longer, once he saw it was nearly full, Zhang Ji began to pilot the drone back down.

During the descent, the drone was buffeted by air currents, causing it to shake and spill a little of the essence. This made Zhang Ji frown slightly.

’I’ll have to add a cover. Otherwise, anything that spills during the return trip will be a complete waste,’ Zhang Ji thought.

He hadn’t thought of all this at first. After all, he had just acted on a whim once he thought the idea was feasible.

This was his first time working out the specific details.

Fortunately, it was a minor problem that could be easily fixed with a small patch.

He just needed to install a remote-controlled device with a retractable cover that could seal the mouth of the cup.

Soon, the drone landed back in the courtyard. Zhang Ji eagerly took the cup and drank it all in one go.

"Aaaah! Amazing!!!"

A surge of pure vitality spread throughout his entire body.

His slightly fatigued body was instantly restored to peak condition.

Sending the drone back into the sky, Zhang Ji immediately began practicing the Dragon Form Fist.

Inside his body, warm currents collided, continuously refining his True Qi. But under the enhancement of the Moon Essence, he felt no fatigue at all.

This was so much better than before.

Those pills couldn’t even begin to compare to this single cup of Moon Essence.

This treasure-hunting trip had been a bit risky, but all in all, it was well worth it.

Over the course of the night, Zhang Ji practiced the Dragon Form Fist for three times his usual duration. He used the True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill to consume the refined True Qi, then used his overflowing Spirit to practice the [Waterfall] combat technique, and also ran through the Crane Form Fist a few times.

He now also had a rough idea of how much Moon Essence he could collect in a single night.

From moonrise to moonset, there were about twelve hours.

Factoring in the round-trip time, and not worrying about spillage, he could obtain a maximum of five cups of Moon Essence.

The enhancement from these five cups of Moon Essence could more than double his current overall training efficiency.

In direct terms, this meant that the Dragon Form Fist, which might have originally taken three months to master, could now be mastered in just over a month.

The Snake Form Fist, which would have taken fifty days to master, would now only take a little over twenty.

’Give me about a year, and reaching B-rank is within my grasp!’

’In fact, if I were to only practice a low Star Level Grandmaster martial art like the Snake Form Fist, I could reach B-rank in less than a year.’

But after becoming a Grandmaster, Zhang Ji began to have other ideas.

’If you synthesize a high-level skill crystal from ten low Star Level skill crystals of the same rank, the resulting crystal won’t be very high-level itself.’

’This would mean that after I break through, my combat power would be much weaker compared to other fighters who broke through by practicing high-level combat techniques.’

’It’s just like the Iron Body Skill crystal synthesized from the Iron Shirt Skill.’

If Zhang Ji mastered the Dragon Form Fist, he was confident he could utterly dominate a version of himself that had only mastered the Iron Body Skill.

’Therefore, if possible, the combat skill crystals used for synthesis should be of a higher grade.’

’Ten Dragon Form Fist crystals would definitely be more powerful than ten Iron Body Skill crystals.’

’However, that’s not to say that having ten of the same skill is necessarily better.’

’Specializing in a single area can make you very strong in that aspect, but it also means having obvious shortcomings.’

’It’s like how after mastering the Iron Body Skill, my Spirit had a clear weakness, and my Control Power was relatively weaker.’

’A truly top-tier fighter must be well-rounded.’

’They can unleash formidable combat power in any environment.’

So, Zhang Ji had already made a decision in his heart. For his breakthrough to B-rank, the five complementary Fist Skill combat crystals from the Five Elements Sect would each take one slot. He would have to choose the rest carefully and not just fill the slots with subpar options.

This way, after he broke through to B-rank, his combat power wouldn’t be too weak.

After all, although he could continue to improve his strength after the breakthrough, the major power-up from accumulating another ten crystals would take a very long time. He couldn’t just remain the weakest among his peers for that whole period, could he?

’I’m not aiming to be invincible among my peers after breaking through, but at the very least, I don’t want to get thrashed the moment I run into a decent opponent of the same rank, right?’

The next day, Zhang Ji, who hadn’t slept all night but was still incredibly energetic, ordered a cover for the cup online. Thanks to the efficient industrial system, it was delivered in just half a day.

He just had to clip it into place on the drone, and the installation was complete.

With that, Zhang Ji’s setup was finally complete.

He wouldn’t be short of five cups of Moon Essence a night.

In the days that followed, Zhang Ji began to rapidly increase his strength.

On October 27th, Zhang Ji reached the introductory level in the Crane Form Fist.

He then switched to practicing the Leopard Form Fist.

On November 1st, he also reached the introductory level in the Leopard Form Fist and began cultivating the Tiger Form Fist.

On November 2nd, he reached the introductory level with [Waterfall], a skill from the Flowing Water Sect. It also formed a combat skill essence, and it was green, meaning the skill was of (Excellent) grade.

In a place with sufficient Flowing Water, Zhang Ji could just barely form some kind of offense at full power.

He could make the water crash forward like a waterfall.

It had a strength roughly equivalent to a professional Fourth Rank.

This was the advantage of the Profound Heart Stream.

In the right environment, its combat power could far exceed that of other masters at the same level.

On November 3rd, Zhang Ji reached the introductory level in the Tiger Form Fist.

With that, he had now reached the introductory level in all of the Five Elements Sect’s Grandmaster martial arts.

With a thought, Zhang Ji’s consciousness sank into the Limited Space. It was now dotted with specks of light. Besides the single combat skill crystal for the Iron Body Skill, there were also numerous skill essences.

Zhang Ji looked them over one by one, taking a quick count.

Raccoon Claw Skill (Common) x1, Dragon Form Fist (Excellent) x4, Snake Form Fist (Excellent) x1, Crane Form Fist (Excellent) x1, Leopard Form Fist (Excellent) x1, Tiger Form Fist (Excellent) x1, True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill (Excellent) x2, [Waterfall] (Excellent) x1.

’It’s a shame. I’ve reached the introductory level in all of them, but I still can’t feel the connection point for practicing all five forms simultaneously. I can feel that the True Qi from the Dragon Form Fist provides a boost when practicing the other four Fist Skills, but compared to the Moon Essence, that boost is better than nothing, I suppose. It’s still better to use the True Qi for the True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill...’

Zhang Ji sighed to himself, then began to formulate his future training plan.

He decided to first practice each of the five Fist Skills of the Five Elements Sect to mastery before considering anything else.

The first one he had to master was still the Snake Form Fist.

He had more than enough ferocity, but he was quite lacking in flexibility. If he could master the Snake Form Fist, it would greatly compensate for this weakness.

With the enhancement from the Moon Essence, Zhang Ji did a quick calculation and figured he could master the Snake Form Fist by the end of the month at the latest.