Chapter 17

In the room, the star energy flickered but did not spill out.

Outside the room, even if someone were there, even a superhuman, they would not see or sense anything.

The mysterious energy radiating from the star sword had a limited range, quickly dissipating and disappearing into space beyond a certain distance.

Moreover, there was a black panther present.

The mysterious energy that overflowed was completely absorbed by this creature, leaving nothing to spill out.

Li Hao had overdone it a bit!

At this moment, he felt an overwhelming surge of power, restless and continuously practicing the Ape Technique, each round lasting three minutes. Li Hao didn't know how many rounds he had practiced.

He felt that if he didn't release this energy, he would explode.

He had absorbed too much!

Even so, Li Hao didn't stop the "Five Animals Breathing Technique." Of course, it wasn't the complete version; he just maintained the breathing method.

The "Five Animals Breathing Technique" can be divided into two parts.

One is the complete version, combining postures and breathing methods. The other is the breathing method alone, without the postures, which can still absorb some mysterious energy, though not as effectively as the complete version.

"Ha!"

A low, muffled shout echoed.

Li Hao, who had been jumping non-stop, suddenly stopped, his hands like ape paws, reaching out to grab the wall.

The Ape Technique is not just a light-footed method.

In the past, Li Hao rarely used the killing techniques in the Ape Technique because there was no need.

At this moment, with too much energy in his body, he couldn't bear it, and with a crisis approaching, he no longer cared. His hands bent, like an ape's claws.

Bang!

"Ouch!"

Li Hao sucked in a breath; it hurt!

His hands, after all, were made of flesh and blood. This clawing left a few small holes in the wall, but his fingertips ached terribly, and his nails were almost torn off.

However, Li Hao couldn't afford to feel the pain!

He glanced at the wall, his eyes flickering.

Using his hands to claw the wall and leaving a few small holes was something he couldn't have done before.

The contact area of his fingertips was too small, and the force he could apply was limited.

Moreover, the wall was smooth, lacking a grip point.

This wasn't a mud wall but a painted cement wall.

"Liu Long punched through the kitchen wall with his fist, which was much stronger, and the Zhang family's kitchen was just a brick wall... Of course, it was still very strong, but I seem to be much stronger now!"

Li Hao was secretly amazed. Just practicing the "Five Animals Breathing Technique" today made him feel much more powerful.

Of course, this was related to his initial weakness.

The weaker one is, the more noticeable the improvement.

Once one reaches Liu Long's level, even with a lot of mysterious energy, it would only be a drop in the bucket, and there wouldn't be much change.

"The teacher's method is truly powerful!"

Li Hao examined his fingers, which were still a bit red, with some bruised nails.

But as more mysterious energy flowed in, these minor injuries quickly healed.

Li Hao also felt his muscles becoming tighter.

His blood seemed to flow faster!

His bones were also changing.

To be precise... compressed!

Yes, the mysterious energy seemed to compress Li Hao a bit.

Originally, Li Hao was about 178 cm tall, not particularly tall but not short either.

At this moment, though he hadn't measured himself, he felt he had become a bit shorter, maybe just a centimeter or even less, but he definitely felt shorter.

Compressed!

His muscles were tighter, and the gaps in his bones were smaller.

"Will I keep getting shorter if this continues?"

Li Hao was a bit puzzled. Liu Long was still quite tall.

He had never seen anyone become shorter from practicing martial arts.

Of course, others started practicing from a young age, unlike Li Hao, who only began three years ago at the ancient academy and didn't practice as diligently in the first two years.

As he thought, Li Hao didn't waste time.

In the next moment, he suddenly opened his right hand, no longer clenching it like an ape's paw. This time, Li Hao spread his fingers and grabbed the wall in front of him!

Bang!

A crisp sound, mixed with the unpleasant sound of nails scraping, as his fingers dug into the wall. The holes weren't deep, leaving only a handprint on the wall without touching the concrete inside.

But this time, the entire wall seemed to tremble slightly, perhaps just Li Hao's imagination.

However, Li Hao felt it was more destructive than before.

"Tiger Claw!"

This was the attack method from the Tiger Fighting Technique in the Five Animals New Book.

Li Hao wasn't very proficient in the other four animal techniques, but that didn't mean he couldn't do them. Yuan Shuo had taught him, but Li Hao mainly focused on the Ape Technique.

He felt the Tiger Fighting Technique was better for attacking.

Sure enough, when he used the Tiger Claw, the way he applied force was different, not just a change in posture but also in breathing. The different force application made Li Hao feel that the Tiger Claw was much more powerful!

The Ape Technique's "ape paw" was more agile and faster, but the force it generated was much weaker compared to the Tiger Claw.

"The Tiger Fighting Technique is indeed the most suitable for attacking among the Five Animal Techniques!"

Li Hao felt some subtle changes in his body and was quite impressed.

He was stronger!

His muscles reacted faster, and his body felt lighter.

It was as if he had been running with a heavy load before, and now that load was gone. Was this the effect of the mysterious energy?

Too obvious!

No wonder the black panther's fur became shiny after drinking the water the first day. At the time, Li Hao thought it might be different because the panther was a dog.

But today, after thinking about it... Li Hao cursed inwardly!

It must have been the first bowl of water the panther drank, which contained more mysterious energy!

He drank the second bowl, which had already been diluted by the panther. So, he had only drunk the dregs?

Thinking of the panther, Li Hao remembered something.

The panther hadn't made any noise today!

Turning his head, Li Hao was taken aback.

At that moment, the panther was lying on its back, mimicking Li Hao's earlier posture, and its breathing rhythm was almost the same as Li Hao's.

This guy... was practicing!

"What the hell?"

Li Hao was stunned. He could understand the panther understanding his words, but... this guy had such strong learning ability?

It was actually learning the "Five Animals Breathing Technique" from him!

As Li Hao stopped practicing, the mysterious energy no longer overflowed from the jade sword, and the energy in the room gradually dissipated. A moment later, the panther couldn't absorb any more mysterious energy.

The panther's eyes opened, and seeing Li Hao staring at it, it leaped up and pounced on Li Hao!

Li Hao slightly dodged, avoiding the panther's pounce.

The panther didn't mind, falling to the ground and licking Li Hao's foot with its tongue.

"Get away!"

Li Hao kicked his leg and bent down to pet the panther's head, frowning: "Are you trying to become a spirit?"

He was thinking, was this a good thing or a bad thing?

The panther seemed to be on the verge of becoming a spirit!

As an ordinary person and a member of the Inspection Bureau, Li Hao's first thought was whether this would cause any negative consequences.

But then he thought of the superhumans and the red shadow... and all his other thoughts vanished.

What was that red shadow?

Clearly not human!

The panther was at least familiar with him, and if it became a spirit, so be it.

"The teacher said the 'Five Animals Breathing Technique' should not be taught to others!"

Li Hao looked at the panther, a bit frustrated: "Fortunately, it's just imitation. You've learned the essence of the breathing method, but not the core of the Five Animal Techniques..."

The breathing method was about rhythm and adjusting breathing to coordinate with the pores. The dog had imitated it quite well.

The Five Animal Techniques, including the Five Hearts to Heaven posture, were not as simple as they looked and required some unique techniques, which the panther hadn't learned.

Moreover, humans and dogs are different. Even if it learned, it might not be able to use it.

"The breathing method being learned is my fault!"

Under normal circumstances, even if he practiced the breathing method, he wouldn't be so absorbed and wouldn't perform the entire breathing method in front of others. Any mistake would render the entire method useless.

But with only a dog in front of him, Li Hao didn't pay much attention, and his breathing was heavy, allowing the panther to observe everything.

The panther seemed to understand something, looking up at Li Hao with a pleading look in its eyes.

Li Hao frowned and said sternly, "I know you can understand me. From now on, unless I'm with you, you're not allowed to use this! And... when I have free time, I'll go see the teacher... to see if he's willing to take a dog as a disciple..."

As he spoke, Li Hao suddenly laughed.

It was as if he was scolding himself!

"Forget it, consider I didn't say anything."

He had originally wanted to tease the teacher, but then thought, what if the teacher, who was unconventional, really considered the panther his disciple? Introducing, "This is my disciple Li Hao, and this is my disciple Big Black Dog..."

At that moment, he would be embarrassed!

The panther, a bit confused, just looked at Li Hao. Seeing him laugh, the panther also wagged its tail happily.

Dogs are intuitive and can sense human emotions. Li Hao's laughter meant everything was fine.

Li Hao didn't dwell on it. He would report this to the teacher when he had the chance. Given the teacher's personality, he would likely be more curious than concerned about a dog learning his breathing method.

Ignoring the panther, Li Hao took the jade sword out of his shirt, examining it with a bright look in his eyes.

"Mysterious energy!"

The jade sword seemed to contain a lot of mysterious energy.

Of course, to others, the mysterious energy might not be the key; they would care more about the jade sword itself.

According to the teacher, the mysterious energy on superhuman items is limited. Some items have very little, and after a few uses, the energy might be depleted.

Liu Long didn't care much about this, perhaps because he knew.

He might also think the energy on these items was too little to be useful, and the family heirloom superhuman items he had might not be usable by him, so he didn't care.

Li Hao might have been overly worried. He had initially suspected that Liu Long might be planning something, but now it seemed unlikely.

"They don't care, but I do!"

Li Hao muttered to himself. The teacher thought it was too little to be useful.

Liu Long, a superhuman, found it useless.

But Li Hao, a weakling who couldn't even handle ten cuts, could benefit greatly from even a little mysterious energy.

"Speed, strength, and physical condition have all improved!"

"What would my strength be if I tested it now?"

Probably not yet at the level of ten cuts.

It wouldn't happen that quickly!

Comparing himself to Chen Jian, who had attacked him before, Li Hao felt he could now avoid that slap, but to fight Chen Jian on equal terms was almost impossible.

Chen Jian was at the level of ten cuts.

As for the level of ten cuts, whether it was ten or ninety, it was hard to say.

According to Li Hao's understanding, the gap between ten cuts and a hundred cuts was quite significant.

In the entire hunting team, except for Liu Long, the other four were at the level of ten cuts, but there were differences in strength. Liu Long had said that Doctor Yun Yao was not to be provoked.

"I'm probably not yet at the level of ten cuts. I need to work harder, at least to protect myself!"

In the upcoming crisis, he needed to protect his life.

The red shadow was not to be underestimated.

"Continue practicing!"

This time, Li Hao didn't use the breathing technique. He still had some mysterious energy in his body, and with his current energy, he could continue practicing the Five Animal Techniques.

Seize every moment!

Since there was room for improvement, there was no reason to slack off.

...

At the same time.

Qiming Community, Building 5, 6th floor.

Liu Long, with his arms crossed, stood by the balcony, looking at Building 6 across the way. On the 3rd floor, a window was closed, and the curtains were drawn.

He could vaguely see someone jumping around.

That was Li Hao's house.

Beside Liu Long, the tall and thin Wu Chao was also watching. After a while, he shook his head: "This guy, he closed the curtains before it got dark. He has a strong sense of caution. He probably already suspected that Zhang Yuan's case was a murder."

He then looked at Liu Long and said, "Boss, are we just going to keep watching? Will anyone come?"

"I don't know."

Liu Long said calmly, "Let's keep watching!"

Wu Chao didn't say more about this, scanning the surroundings and saying in a low voice, "Boss, this position is the best for observation! But I just checked, and no strangers have come to Building 5."

He then added, "Is no one tailing Li Hao, or are they using some superhuman means to watch him?"

Following someone didn't necessarily require a person to be present.

For example, some superhuman means could track someone quietly, but it was rare for a superhuman to personally tail an ordinary person.

Liu Long didn't deny it but also didn't think there was a superhuman tailing him at the moment.

More likely, the other party was secretly observing, waiting for the right time, perhaps the rainy night Li Hao mentioned.

Li Hao wasn't going anywhere.

If he were going to run, he would have done so already.

Given this, whether he was being tailed or not was not important.

After a moment of consideration, Liu Long didn't continue the topic but said in a low voice, "How much mysterious energy does the team have left?"

Wu Chao thought for a moment and said, "12 units, 10 with attributes, and 2 without."

Liu Long seemed to be thinking about something and said after a while, "When Li Hao goes to the Inspection Bureau tomorrow, have him come see me! Extract the 2 units without attributes and let him absorb them."

Wu Chao wasn't too surprised but was a bit envious: "Boss, we don't have much left! And the ones without attributes are more precious... Why not give him the ones with attributes?"

Mysterious energy with attributes contained special forces like fire or lightning, which might not match a person.

Of course, if it matched someone or a superhuman who specialized in that attribute, it would be better.

It varied from person to person!

For Wu Chao and the other martial artists who hadn't advanced to superhumans, the ones without attributes were more precious because they would enhance their abilities without rejection, and the risk was low.

The team valued the mysterious energy without attributes more.

"He's too weak!"

Liu Long said calmly, "We're not night patrollers. We don't have strong people who can extract the attributes of mysterious energy. If he absorbs and rejects it, we can't control it, and he might explode. If he dies, will you be the bait?"

Wu Chao didn't say anything.

Li Hao was indeed too weak. As a new member, giving him some benefits to improve himself was reasonable.

But Wu Chao still had a question and asked softly, "Boss, did you recruit him for a one-time thing, or do you really plan to cultivate him?"

This was his confusion.

Liu Long glanced at him and smiled, "If he survives, he will always be a teammate! As long as he's alive, he's a comrade. What's his is his, what needs protection will be protected, what needs teaching will be taught... If he dies... what's the point of talking more?"

Wu Chao understood.

He had gone through the same process.

Survival of the fittest!

Surviving in the hunting team meant being a teammate. If one died, there was nothing that could be done. On the first day of joining the team, everyone understood the dangers of hunting superhumans.

"New members are great!"

He sighed. New members didn't have to do much; they just got benefits upon joining, which was enviable.

Of course, this was the rule.

If new members were too weak and had no protection, the team would gradually lose new blood, becoming weaker and eventually dying out.

But when they joined, they only got one unit of mysterious energy.

Moreover, when they first joined, they didn't get any because there were no reserves. The current reserves were squeezed out bit by bit.

Wu Chao thought for a moment and said with some anticipation, "I wonder if we can take down the other side this time. How much mysterious energy will they provide? Will it be with or without attributes? Boss, if you absorb more, will you be able to advance?"

Liu Long shook his head, not speaking.

Advance?

Difficult!

If he couldn't smoothly channel the energy into his body to advance to the Star Master level, it would only make his martial arts cultivation stronger, his physical condition and strength better, but it would make it even harder to advance.

As a superhuman, to advance, he might need several more times, and it would be best to encounter matching mysterious energy