Chapter 260 – Cat Dad Practices Aura?


    "URAAAA!!"


    "Holy shit! TIME OUT!!"


    BOOM!


    Wei Feng was a lot stronger than the dummies and the king that Xiaomao had fought in stage 1. Although the king had the same level and the same difficulty setting, his attack variations and flexibility weren''t as good as Wei Feng''s.


    This Oni could switch weapons between swords, O-katana, and a long baton. He could also control all his weapons as if they were gund*m''s funnels, disabling Xiaomao''s chance to steal the weapons and use them against him.


    Without a weapon, Xiaomao used his eight tentacles as his swords and shields. Four of them transformed their tips into sharp des while the other four expanded and became his meat shields.


    Each hit from Wei Feng''s baton squashed his long tentacles and caused massive bleeding. Xiaomao started to get lightheaded after his extra arms were destroyed several times.


    POEK!


    While Xiaomao looked for an opening, a flying sword of Wei Feng detoured around Xiaomao and pierced the back of his head. Its de was enveloped in a ck aura, which bypassed Xiaomao''s natural defense!


    Just like that, Xiaomao failed his first attempt.


    .


    Upon waking up, Xiaomao pouted and sat in a corner, hugging his knees. His thoughts contemted why he, whose level and stats were definitely higher than the shadow, lost to him.


    "A flying sword to the back of my head? It can''t even cut through my tentacles and my skin. But how, munya?"


    Mir walked toward Xiaomao and sneered, "See? I told you that stats aren''t everything. You need to learn some basic moves."


    "What was that move? How did a cheap level-100 flying sword kill me in one hit?! My HP is over a million, munya!"


    .


    <strong>Name:</strong> Xiaomao


    <strong>Rarity:</strong> Legendary


    <strong>Level:</strong> 460


    <strong>Contribution Level:</strong> 24


    .


    <strong>Status</strong>


    STR: 33,866


    DEX: 44,577


    AGI: 49,118


    VIT: 37,512


    INT: 46,962


    WIS: 46,911


    QI: 362,123


    LUCK: 4,500


    .


    <strong>Spiritual Roots</strong>


    Fire: 89,010


    Water: 38,761


    Wind: 50,116


    Metal: 35,291


    Wood: 44,098


    Lightning: 132,777


    Dark: 40,460


    Light: 54,779


    Blood: 0


    .


    <strong>Combat Status</strong>


    ATK: 21,957


    DEF: 22,780


    M.ATK: 83,926


    M.DEF: 27,479


    HP: 1,368,141 / 1,368,141


    MP: 1,498,553 / 1,498,553


    Life Qi: 362,123 / 362,123


    .


    This was Xiaomao''s raw stats without a weapon or armor bonus. Thus, Xiaomao was confident that no level 199 or 299 NPC should be able to harm him as they had meager stats and lower than 5,000 physical and magic attacks.


    Despite the supreme stats, Xiaomao lost, which didn''t make sense.


    "Have you ever heard of External Martial Arts, mew?" Mir continued to exin.


    "They''re just martial arts like MMA, Kickboxing, or Karate, right, munya?"


    "You''re half-correct, mew."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Half?"


    "You see, cultivators aren''t just using inner martial arts, such as mana, Qi, Essence, or inner force. They also rely on countless external martial arts that don''t exist in your world and hybrid arts that use both external and internal arts together."


    Mir waved her paw, and the entire bed was lifted in mid-air. Jungwoo, who was sent to redo the first stage, fell off the bed andnded on his neck.


    "For example, what I am doing here is a simple telekinesis ability."


    "Internal martial arts, munya?"


    "Yes. Anything that relies on supernatural energies, such as Qi, mana, and life force falls into the internal martial arts category. However, what about this?"


    Mir grinned and poked Xiaomao with her finger. Then, she drained several strands of Xiaomao Qi into her body and used them to levitate the bed.


    As the owner of the Qi strands, Xiaomao''s sense could follow what Mir had used them for. He looked at the bed and frowned.


    "You used my energy. Is this still an internal martial art, munya?"


    "It''s still an internal art, but it borrows external energy toplete the technique, mew."


    "But does it make a skill so strong that it can kill me?"


    "Let me finish my point. Now, I''m going to do something very different, mew."


    Mir sent her Qi strands to the floating bed. The Qi strands broke into gas and enveloped the bed with a white aura.


    "Try to break it with your raw strength, mew."


    "…"


    Xiaomao extended one of his tentacles from his back and punched it.


    BOOM


    The tentacle bent and Xiaomao sensed the strange feedback. It felt like his pinky toe hit a table''s leg so hard that it hurt.


    "OUCH! What the hell?!"


    Mir shrugged, "Wanna try again? I''ll use your Qi this time if you think that my Qi is too strong."


    "Alright. Let''s try it, munya!"


    Once again, Mir covered the bed with Qi. Xiaomao punched the bed with his fist and his tentacles. However, he failed to put a dent in it.


    "What kind of sorcery is this?!"


    "The magic of internal and external hybrid martial arts, munya."


    "Exin, please!"


    "Alright, but I''ll wake up Jungwoo first."


    .


    Both Mir and Xiaomao waited for Jungwoo to wake up. A few minutester, Jungwoo died in his pocket dantian and his consciousness returned to his body. Then, Mir started another lecture.


    "When you fought the dummies, have you noticed that some of them dded their weapons with Qi, mew?"


    Upon hearing the question, Xiaomao and Jungwoo looked at each other. Indeed, all elites and regr dummies after the 1,000-man army wave were using Qi. Their weapons and armor always glowed in a strange light, and their attacks were painful.


    "First off, you need to understand the difference between internal and external martial arts. The internal one focuses on using one''s energy, such as Qi, mana, and life force as fuel to boost your physical strength or convert them toplete a spell or a technique. The external martial arts require you to hone your muscle fibers, bones, and heart to build up endurance and strength to use inbat."


    Both men nodded. They understood this part.


    "But cultivators in the game have more variety of external and internal martial arts than Earth. They sometimes mix them together and form new techniques or martial arts. We call them hybrid martial arts."


    Mir deeply exhaled and poured out her Qi with her breath. Then, all her Qi was converted into a white aura, which covered her entire body.


    "At a nce, I''m emitting an aura. The smoke looks fancy, right?"


    Jungwoo and Xiaomao nodded again. But as Xiaomao experienced what it could do firsthand, he concentrated and inspected the aura closely.


    The mist looked different from the fog that was created from his Let It Go spell. Somehow, it moved in and out of Mir''s fur as if it became one with her.


    Mir grinned and brought out a wooden stick that she had picked up for this demonstration. When she held it in her paw, the mist moved and covered the stick as well.


    Xiaomao thought of the aura around Wei Feng''s weapons. He wondered if it was the same.


    "This is what they used against you. Some call it weapon aura. Some call it a sword intent. Even some freaks call it Force. But in reality, it''s about using your Qi as a weapon to cut or pierce through people. The weapons are just a medium. A true master can actually form an energy weapon without a physical weapon, and they can bypass the difference in stats and cultivation level. By the way, do you know who holds the highest record of defeating a stronger foe despite the strength gap?"


    "Who, senior?" Jungwoo was interested, but Xiaomao rolled his eyes. He already guessed an answer.


    "Xiaomao''s dad, Mao Miaomiao, mew."


    "Yup, him again. His name follows me everywhere," Xiaomao shrugged. "By the way, how strong was his opponent, and what was his cultivation base during that fight, munya?"


    "I don''t know the detail, but he was definitely a mortal when he killed a god."


    "HAH?!" Jungwoo and Xiaomao raised their brows.


    "Imagine a level-900ish game character that solo-killed a level-10,000 world boss. It was that kind of fight."


    "…"


    Jungwoo dropped his jaws and looked at Xiaomao. He bowed to the cat dad, "Please introduce me to your father. Let me be his disciple!"


    Xiaomao''s face twitched. He was tired of listening to stories of his previous life''s father.


    "Oh, I haven''t finished," Mir grinned. "When he killed that god, that guy''s soul disappeared forever. His existence vanishedpletely from the universe!"


    "WTF?"


    "He used an advanced technique of what I''m using. What was it called? I think it''s karma severing or something simr. I don''t know. But one thing is for sure, he cut karma and remove that guy''s existence. Even Mu-Nyang banned him from using it since it affected him, too."


    "…"


    "Anyway, back to the topic, mew! Now, I want you two to circte your Qi and breathed it out of your mouth. I''m going to tell you how to cover your body with your Qi first."


    Jungwoo and Xiaomao''s expressions were solemn. They meditated and breathed out Qi strands from their mouths and noses. However, the strands floated aimlessly and failed to be gas.


    "Okay, now is the critical part. Remember how you circte your Qi through your organs? Now, think of the area outside your skin as another part of your body. Order your floating Qi to move around them, mew!"