Top-tier Unruly Master-Chapter 1709 - 1746: Stealthy Maneuver

Outside Ding Fan’s room, the young woman secretly observed, noticing that Ding Fan seemed to still be under the influence of her Bewitching Technique. He showed no resistance to the gourmet dishes and fine wine on the table, especially the strong liquor, which he gulped down one glass after another. After just a few glasses, Ding Fan began to mutter drunken words.

The young woman felt satisfied and at the same time looked down on Ding Fan with disdain. She initially thought the other party would be interested in beauties, thinking he was a true hero, but didn’t expect that he would be unable to resist some fine wine. This saved the young woman a lot of effort, as she harbored no suspicion that Ding Fan was pretending; she knew that the strong liquor had been specially treated by her.

It was obviously not ordinary strong liquor, and the young woman knew that the wine had been mixed with her Bewitching Technique. Not to mention that Ding Fan’s mind had already been eroded by her Bewitching Technique, even a normal and completely healthy Cultivator, or even a Cultivator at the Distraction Realm, would be unable to resist and eventually end up dead drunk.

Seeing Ding Fan in this state, the young woman felt reassured and promptly left Ding Fan’s courtyard.

Although the young woman was quite attractive, possessing a charm that all men would like, as a Cultivator, even if she was a beauty, she put Cultivation before everything else. After all, only with strong cultivation could one reach greater heights and lead a better life.

Especially for women, it seemed they had particularly strict standards for quality of life, and this was especially so for beauties.

...

Inside the room, Ding Fan feasted while constantly using his Divine Sense to monitor the young woman’s movements outside. After a short while, Ding Fan noticed she had left, and he stopped drinking and eating. Instead, he kept observing the young woman’s whereabouts with his Divine Sense, wanting to see where she came from.

Ding Fan absolutely did not believe the young woman was an ordinary maid; she must have been deliberately arranged by someone. Ultimately, Ding Fan discovered the young woman indeed entered the Qinghe Sect’s residence. This was pretty much as Ding Fan had expected; he had known from the start that she must be someone from the Thirty-Six Caves.

Ding Fan reasoned that, given his relationship with Long Ren, there shouldn’t be anyone from the Thirty-Six Caves looking to trouble him. However, Ding Fan was also well aware that his presence, especially the matter of healing Long Ren’s girlfriend, indeed affected certain people’s interests.

So it could only be those from Leng Jian’s Qinghe Sect. Yet Ding Fan felt no fear or worry. The idea of having Long Ren exchange a Spirit Vein for Liuli Grass from their hands, something which would severely disadvantage Long Ren, was not something Ding Fan could just sit by and watch.

Moreover, Ding Fan knew he was not only protecting Long Ren’s interests but also helping everyone from the Thirty-Six Caves. After all, a Spirit Vein’s impact, while not catastrophic, was still significant for the Thirty-Six Caves. Therefore, by opposing the Qinghe Sect’s demands, Ding Fan was also helping the entire Thirty-Six Caves.

Ding Fan believed that, whether it was Long Ren, his loyal brother, or the entire Thirty-Six Caves, they would support him in the end, and the Qinghe Sect wouldn’t be able to stir up any major trouble.

Nonetheless, Ding Fan couldn’t act recklessly at the moment. During this period, his most crucial task was to quickly cultivate the "Devouring Technique" to awaken Long Ren’s girlfriend in a week’s time, thus resolving a major concern for Long Ren. For Ding Fan, time was tight, and he couldn’t afford to engage in extended maneuvers with Leng Jian and the Qinghe Sect.

At this point, Ding Fan had seen through the opposing party’s scheme and could only use tactics against them because he knew if he exposed the young woman now, he wouldn’t be certain of identifying any new tricks they might pull, nor did he have the time to get entangled with them.

Seeing the young woman enter the Qinghe Sect’s residence, Ding Fan was almost sure she had been sent by them. Additionally, Ding Fan detected strong traces of the Bewitching Technique in those fine liquors, clearly indicating they had been tampered with. Immediately, Ding Fan circulated his Divine Vigor throughout his body, efficiently evaporating the liquor he consumed.

Even though the liquor was specially treated, it posed no challenge for Ding Fan. He had been cautious even before drinking. Although it seemed like Ding Fan consumed the liquor, he had actually sealed it within his body using his Divine Vigor and hadn’t allowed it to spread.

Consequently, with a slight effort, Ding Fan expelled all the alcohol from his body using his Divine Vigor. Next, Ding Fan wasn’t going to waste any time, so he began to cultivate promptly.

Earlier, Ding Fan almost managed to fully perceive the Spiritual Energy in the air before being interrupted by the young woman. But now, with prior experience, Ding Fan quickly felt the presence of Spiritual Energy in the air again, which was an extraordinary sensation.

Of course, the First Level of the "Devouring Technique" involved more than just this; having one’s skin sense the Spiritual Energy in the air was merely the first small step. Only when every cell in one’s body could feel the Spiritual Energy and absorb some of it, would the First Level of cultivation be considered basically successful.

Immediately, Ding Fan started cultivating, using every cell in his body to sense the spiritual energy in the air. Because Ding Fan completed the first step, the following parts went relatively smoothly. Soon, Ding Fan could sense the spiritual energy with most of the cells in his body.

As dusk approached, Ding Fan finally succeeded in mastering the First Level of cultivation. Now every cell in his body could absorb some of the spiritual energy in the air. Although the amount absorbed wasn’t much and not very adept, the ability to absorb even a little bit meant the First Level of the "Devouring Technique" was a success.

At this moment, Ding Fan sat cross-legged, his body feeling the spiritual energy in the air. Besides absorbing quite a bit of spiritual energy through breath inhalation, his entire body could also absorb thin strands of spiritual energy. Despite the small amount, it was of tremendous help to Ding Fan’s overall cultivation.

Ding Fan clearly felt that the speed of his spiritual energy absorption had increased significantly compared to before. The quantity he managed to absorb was also much greater. What originally took three days to absorb, he could now accomplish in two days, which was truly a fortunate occurrence for Ding Fan.

Ding Fan knew that mastering martial arts wasn’t just for rescuing Long Ren’s girlfriend, but also of significant benefit to himself. Ding Fan understood in his heart that achieving the Ninth Level of the "Devouring Technique" would bring revolutionary changes. Even reaching the Third Level would bring transformations.

At least Ding Fan believed that when the time came, his speed of absorbing spiritual energy would be several times faster than ordinary cultivators, which was something truly incredible for any cultivator. After all, the speed of absorbing spiritual energy directly affects cultivation speed, as Ding Fan realized.

Previously, Ding Fan put a lot of effort into quickly absorbing spiritual energy. He would even set up a Spirit Gathering Array before cultivation to aid his practice. Ding Fan believed that once he had reached a certain proficiency in the "Devouring Technique", he wouldn’t even need to set up a Spirit Gathering Array. His absorption speed would be astonishing.

Moreover, Ding Fan knew that if he set up a Spirit Gathering Array during cultivation, one could only imagine how spectacularly fast his progress would be.

It was a remarkable miracle that the village elder left behind this "Devouring Technique", Ding Fan felt.

Ding Fan understood that if he could eventually master this martial art, he could devour anything from the cultivation world and extract energy from it to enhance himself. This was a truly terrifying prospect. Ding Fan clearly knew that he could unleash tremendous energy in a short period at that time.

Time passed unnoticed during Ding Fan’s cultivation. It was now late into the night, and Ding Fan paused, using his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings. He found no sign of the mysterious girl nearby. Ding Fan realized she would not be coming tonight, so he continued practicing.

Ding Fan was in high spirits after finally succeeding in the First Level of the "Devouring Technique". This accomplishment was indeed a good thing, as beginnings are always arduous. Having already mastered the First Level, subsequent cultivation would be relatively easier.

In the following week, Ding Fan encountered numerous obstacles in his cultivation but eventually overcame them all. During this period, the mysterious girl often came to disturb Ding Fan, even using a Bewitching Technique to try and absorb some Yang Qi from him.

However, Ding Fan would never allow her to succeed. He understood her intention was to delay his progress. Thus, whenever she offered beverages that had been tampered with, Ding Fan pretended to be inebriated. When she intended to absorb his Yang Qi under the guise of serving him while asleep, Ding Fan would use his Divine Sense to hypnotize her, then continue practicing.

It could be said that during this period, the mysterious girl didn’t manage to interfere much with Ding Fan’s cultivation time. Ding Fan cleverly and discreetly resolved the interruptions without detection. From the girl’s perspective, Ding Fan seemed to be perpetually drunk or sleeping like a log.

The girl found it peculiar that her nightly attempts to absorb his essence and Yang Qi didn’t seem to affect him. Her rituals appeared ineffective, and she herself slept well each night, waking up later than Ding Fan, which puzzled her.

Nevertheless, she paid little attention to these trivial matters, convinced that her mission was accomplished. She assumed Ding Fan hadn’t noticed, spending entirely on leisure instead of cultivation. Though she hadn’t absorbed his essence, the delay was satisfying enough.

The girl knew her task was simply to stall him. By now, a week had passed, and when Ding Fan couldn’t heal Long Ren’s girlfriend, Long Ren would eventually seek her sect’s assistance, trading spirit veins for the Liuli Grass from the senior apprentice, which was excellent for the sect.

However, she was unaware that Ding Fan’s cultivation hadn’t suffered in the slightest during this period. He had already mastered the Third Level of the "Devouring Technique" successfully, with the confidence to absorb the excessive True Qi from Long Ren’s girlfriend, waking her up.

Ding Fan planned on passing the "Devouring Technique" on to her, so she could cultivate diligently and manage the excessive True Qi within her body in the future.