Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 731: Learning The Sooty Sky Mystic Art
Hearing Qing Luan's words, Han Yu frowned. "That should not have worked. First discovery usually grants full rights."
"Normally," Qing Luan agreed. "But the other two clans pulled some tricks. Legal pressure, old agreements, external backing... We don't know for sure, but they forced the Qing Clan into a shared claim."
Han Yu understood instantly.
Politics.
With a resource as valuable as Violet Spirit Quartz, rules were always flexible for those with enough influence.
"So now they are stuck negotiating, fighting over shares, and figuring out how to mine it without destroying the crystals," Han Yu said.
"Yes," Qing Luan confirmed. "They are pouring manpower, resources, and attention into it. None of them can afford to back down."
Han Yu felt a deep sense of satisfaction bloom in his chest.
"So they do not have the luxury to focus on us," he said.
"Exactly," Qing Luan replied.
Han Yu chuckled quietly.
"Perfect timing," he said. "They are trapped in their own greed."
He leaned back again, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.
The caravan rolled onward, wheels crunching softly over frozen ground.
Outside, the world moved steadily toward spring. Inside the carriage, Han Yu allowed himself a rare moment of calm.
The caravan rolled steadily across the lightly snowed roads. Most of the snow had started to disappear by now, as this area didn't get cold winters in the first place. The people were sure that in a week or so, no snow would be left at all and spring would finally start showing its face.
The rhythmic creak of wheels and the muffled crunch beneath the beasts' hooves forming a strangely calming backdrop. Inside the reinforced carriage, Han Yu sat cross legged on a thick mat, a single book open in his hands.
The cover was unassuming, dark gray with faint black patterns that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.
Sooty Sky Mystic Art.
Han Yu had only skimmed it before, enough to know it was valuable. Now, with relative safety, warmth, and time, he finally gave it the attention it deserved.
He read slowly at first, page by page, letting every word sink in. Unlike cultivation techniques, Qi skills were often concise, but this one was dense with theory, intent, and subtle guidance on control. It did not merely describe how to move Qi, but how to think while moving it.
Half an hour later, Han Yu closed the book.
He did not need to reread it.
Every character, every diagram, every explanatory note was already etched clearly into his mind. His enhanced soul cultivation made memorization effortless. It was not brute force recollection, but a kind of layered understanding, as if the technique had arranged itself neatly inside his thoughts.
He let out a slow breath and leaned back slightly.
"So four stages," he murmured.
He reviewed them in his head.
The Early Stage, also known as Sooty Hands, was the foundation. Control limited to the hands. Emission localized, crude, but stable. It was the point where one learned to manifest dark elemental Qi outward without it dispersing uselessly.
The Mid Stage, Sooty Body, expanded that control to the entire body. Soot could be emitted from any point, clinging like a second skin or drifting outward. This was where the art truly began to shine in stealth. One could blur outlines, swallow presence, and distort perception.
The Late Stage, Sooty Land, was a qualitative leap. At this point, the soot was no longer tied strictly to the body. It could be spread outward across an area, the maximum range tied directly to the user's spirit sense. Within that zone, vision, perception, and even Qi flow could be disrupted.
And finally, the Peak Stage, Sooty Sky.
Han Yu's lips curved slightly at the thought.
To blanket the sky itself in soot. To create a domain of suffocating darkness where even breathing became difficult, and Qi circulation sluggish or even halted altogether. It was no longer a mere skill, but a pseudo domain, something that brushed dangerously close to a true Dao Skill.
No wonder the book noted that reaching that stage required at least Dao Treading realm cultivation and immense spirit Qi reserves.
"And yet," Han Yu muttered, "the first three stages don't actually demand high realms. Just comprehension and control."
That was the frightening part.
This was a skill that scaled terrifyingly well.
After resting a short while, Han Yu adjusted his posture and began circulating Qi according to the first diagram.
Immediately, he felt the difference.
Dark elemental Qi did not flow like fire, nor did it behave like Wood or Blood qi. It was heavy, viscous in sensation, and carried a faint resistance, as if it did not want to be shaped. Worse still, Han Yu did not possess naturally refined dark elemental Qi.
What he had was neutral spirit Qi, Wood Spirit Qi and Moon Blood Qi.
Which meant conversion.
He guided a wisp of spirit Qi into the conversion circuit described in the manual.
The moment he tried to twist it into darkness, the Qi destabilized slightly, thinning and losing cohesion.
Han Yu frowned.
He adjusted his control, slowed the process, and tried again.
This time, out of ten units of spirit Qi, only one unit successfully converted into dark elemental Qi.
The rest dissipated uselessly.
"…That bad, huh," he muttered.
Still, he was not discouraged.
Affinity mattered.
And Han Yu did have natural darkness affinity. He simply had never cultivated it actively before.
He spent the rest of the day doing nothing but conversion. No emission. No technique. Just refining neutral spirit Qi into dark elemental Qi over and over again.
By the end of the first day, his head ached faintly, but his success rate had already stabilized.
Ten to one.
Crude, but consistent.
The next day, he repeated the process.
And the day after that.
With each cycle, his control grew smoother. The Qi stopped resisting as strongly. The conversion circuit began to feel natural, almost intuitive. He was getting closer.
