Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 7 Birds of Prey
Five days later, at the Green Bamboo Gang's cockfighting arena.

Ji Cheng had a bloody mark on his head and two bites on his neck. Chicken blood stained his golden feathers, making him look extremely disheveled and miserable.

In front of him, a black-necked chicken lay on the ground convulsing, its injuries even more severe.

"What a pity! We were so close, so close to winning against Master Zhao's fighting rooster!"

"Yes, I thought Master Zhao's fighting rooster was no good, but who would have thought it would actually win?"

"The two fighting roosters are not much different in strength; Master Zhao's golden rooster was just lucky!"

The gamblers watching sighed in regret, lamenting that Mr. Qian's black-necked chicken had made a fatal mistake.

Including this match, Master Zhao's fighting cock has achieved a 15-game winning streak. Now, in every cockfighting match, the odds of betting on Master Zhao to lose are as high as 10 to 40 or more. Unfortunately, no one has been able to end Master Zhao's winning streak.

With a pained expression, Master Zhao picked up the fighting rooster and announced to the crowd that the fight would be suspended for a few days until his beloved rooster had recovered from its injuries.

Upon returning to the Zhao residence, he hurriedly took out the medicine prepared by his elder brother to treat the fighting rooster's wounds.

At this moment, Ji Cheng was in a lot of pain, but he didn't care much.

These injuries were actually caused by him deliberately letting his opponent hit him.

With his winning streak these past few days, he has attracted a lot of attention, so in recent matches he has deliberately created the impression that the game was evenly matched and difficult to win.

If you occasionally get injured and need a few days to recover, it becomes even more real.

"How strange! I can't believe this fighting rooster could achieve a fifteen-game winning streak!"

When Zhao Yan returned from the martial arts school, she heard that her father's fighting cock had won again, so she ran straight to the backyard to take a look, wondering when she would be able to eat a chicken meal.

These days, this fighting rooster has gradually become a hot topic of discussion in the Zhao family. No one expected that Second Master Zhao could win all the way with this fighting rooster.

After everyone had left, Ji Cheng stood on one leg and began his cultivation.

【Title: One-Legged Rooster (5/20)】

[Bloodline: Golden Rooster (7%)]

[Realm: Poultry (Strong)]

[Talent: Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Palpation]

After several days of training, Ji Cheng felt that he was about to reach the bottleneck of his breakthrough.

[Weakling]

[You are weak, extremely weak, an insignificant nobody on the sidelines. Your presence has been reduced by 20% (this effect will diminish as you continue your winning streak).]

At the same time, he found that the title of "weakling" seemed to have little effect on him, and the effect of reducing his presence had diminished to 20%.

When he fights other cockfighting roosters to the death, he can win without the title of "Weak Rooster". However, once he returns to the Zhao Mansion, he will switch to the title of "Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg" to practice.

The significance of the title "weakling" is no longer apparent, which also indicates that he is no longer a weakling.

Once you have some cultivation, it won't be difficult to hide your aura, and you can achieve the same effect as the original "weakling" title.

"Crush!"

That night, after some consideration, Ji Cheng decided to shatter the "weakling" title.

Soon, the title of "weakling" disappeared, turning into a wisp of chaotic energy within Ji Cheng's body.

This wisp of chaotic energy felt somewhat like the previous wisp of demonic energy to Ji Cheng, but it was much gentler.

At this moment, the Bloodline section on the panel suddenly lit up.

"Could it be that……"

Ji Cheng immediately realized something and promptly injected the wisp of chaotic energy into the bloodline section of the panel.

In an instant, Ji Cheng felt his blood and meridians begin to evolve wildly.

【Title: One-Legged Rooster (5/20)】

[Bloodline: Golden Rooster (65%)]

[Realm: Poultry (Strong)]

[Talent: Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Palpation]

When all the upheavals ceased, just as Ji Cheng had expected, his bloodline became even purer, evolving from 7% Golden Rooster bloodline to 65% Golden Rooster bloodline.

"So the chaotic energy that turns out after the title is shattered has the effect of evolving bloodlines!"

Ji Cheng was overjoyed; this was truly a useful cheat code! "Whoa!"

He shouted excitedly, startling the sleeping red rooster beside him. The rooster glanced at Ji Cheng, looking somewhat bewildered.

The big yellow dog was about to unlatch its collar and sneak out when it was startled by Ji Cheng's sudden bark and jumped up.

The big yellow dog looked at him, as if to say, "What's wrong with you?"
"Wang!"

Once it was clear that the fighting rooster was acting erratically, the big yellow dog barked fiercely at it, a bark that was both intimidating and threatening, its retaliatory intent quite obvious.

Then, the big yellow dog ignored it and crawled out of the dog hole.

"After the bloodline evolution, the cultivation speed increased several times!"

Ji Cheng felt the effects of the [Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg] training. Just as he had guessed, the speed of a demon beast's training was closely related to the purity of its bloodline.

This can be understood as the bloodline of a demon beast being like the innate bones of a human, influencing the speed of cultivation and the upper limit of one's cultivation potential. Ji Cheng didn't think about it any further and immediately maintained the one-legged stance, concentrating entirely on his cultivation.

……

At dawn.

Ji Cheng felt as if some barrier within his body had broken.

"Have I broken through?"

【Title: One-Legged Rooster (5/20)】

[Bloodline: Golden Rooster (65%)]

[Realm: Raptor (Weak)]

[Talent: Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Palpation]

Ji Cheng was right; he had indeed broken through, transforming from a [domestic poultry] to a [raptor].

Although he is still a golden rooster, his beak and claws have evolved to the level of an eagle, greatly enhancing his combat power.

"Now it's a raptor, the next major realm should be the transformation into a demon."

Ji Cheng was quite excited. He never expected that he would have such good fortune after transmigrating into a chicken.

From this perspective, becoming a demon or an immortal doesn't seem like such an unrealistic thing after all.

In addition, Ji Cheng also discovered that after his cultivation level improved, he could wear two titles at the same time.

Unfortunately, his title of "Weak Chicken" has been shattered, and he only has the title of "Golden Rooster Stands Alone." He still needs to win fifteen more cockfights to obtain the next title.

Winning fifteen cockfights would be a piece of cake for him now that he's a bird of prey; he could even take on fifteen cockfighting roosters at once, he wouldn't mind if they outnumbered him.

However, things cannot be done this way.

With such an impressive track record, it's easy to be suspicious. Ji Cheng just wants to be seen as an ordinary fighting cock.

Therefore, controlling the score becomes a necessary task.

You can keep winning streaks, but you need to extend the timeline. Besides throwing the game to increase the difficulty during cockfights, it's normal to occasionally get injured and take a few days off.

In this world, once a demon's identity is exposed, it's tantamount to certain death. Not to mention, Zhao Yan, who is at the mid-stage of Qi and Blood, could easily crush him.

Having figured all this out, Ji Cheng wasn't in a hurry. Staying in the Zhao residence was quite peaceful; he'd just lay low for a few years first.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

The big yellow dog wagged its tail vigorously.

The Zhao residence was bustling with activity today, as the eldest son, Zhao Qian, had returned.

"Big brother, you're finally back! Father, Mother, and I have missed you terribly!"

"Haha, I miss you too, Brother Kun. You're still so weak. I'll teach you a set of boxing techniques later. You can practice for an hour every day. It will be very beneficial!"

"Big brother, please spare me, I'm not cut out for martial arts, cough cough..."

This man was tall and strong, with abundant energy and blood. He had a calm gaze, a steady gait, and was exceptionally sensitive to the movements around him.

He gently placed his large hand on Zhao Kun's shoulder, almost patting Zhao Kun until he was about to fall apart.

Although he had concealed his aura, he still exerted considerable pressure on those around him.

"This is what an internal energy martial artist is like..."

Ji Cheng was greatly shocked. This was the first time he had ever seen a martial artist who had cultivated internal strength. His blood and energy were so strong that he could feel the heatwave even from such a distance.

Zhao Qian was like a lurking ferocious beast; it was unimaginable how terrifying the power he could unleash at full strength would be.

Only after listening to everyone's conversation did I realize that Zhao Qian was still in the early stage of internal strength.

However, once the blood transfusion is successful, his strength will be comparable to that of a martial artist who has achieved the Great Perfection of Internal Energy without the blood transfusion.

Ji Cheng didn't know what a blood transfusion was, but he knew that it was extremely crucial for Zhao Qian, and the Zhao family had gone to great lengths to help Zhao Qian successfully undergo the blood transfusion.

On that day, many guests came to the Zhao residence, all of whom were key figures from prominent families in Wuzhen.

Zhao Yan asked Zhao Qian many questions about martial arts, and Zhao Qian patiently answered them one by one, and even gave Zhao Yan pointers on boxing techniques.

Zhao Kun asked Zhao Qian, "Brother, how far are you from reaching the realm of immortal cultivation?"

Zhao Qian shook his head with a wry smile, indicating that it was a long way off and he hadn't seen a single thing yet.

"Even a martial arts genius like you, elder brother, can't see any hope of cultivating immortality, let alone me."

Zhao Kun felt somewhat disappointed, but then he also felt a sense of relief.

He thought that if he also practiced martial arts, he would work hard all his life, but in the end it would all be for nothing and would be meaningless.

"That's not quite true. In fact, practicing martial arts isn't necessarily inferior to cultivating immortality. With my current strength, even someone at the first or second level of Qi Refining would be severely injured and on the verge of death if they took a punch from me."

Zhao Qian explained with a smile that Zhao Kun was a complete novice who knew nothing about cultivation, but had a certain obsession with it.

He wanted to tell Zhao Kun that, in reality, cultivators with low cultivation levels are nothing special, and they might not be able to win against martial artists of the same level in actual combat.

(End of this chapter)