With Skill in Hand, One Can Decide Life and Death

Stone Bamboo Pearls were precious.

Chu Qing desperately wanted one.

But in the end, he did not cut open Tang Wuming's belly. After all:

Tang Wuming said it had already dissolved inside his stomach.

The odds of finding a Stone Bamboo Pearl by cutting open his belly were too low. Since that was the case, why not give up?

Chu Qing washed his hands and bathed, bloodwater flowing all over the ground. His burlap clothes were torn again.

Fortunately, the Iron Cloth Shirt was reliable and had blocked the knife-wielders' slashes. Otherwise, even if he had survived this time, he would have been seriously injured—or even died.

Crack! Chu Qing snapped apart some wood and tossed it into the bonfire.

Tang Wuming went out and found several straw raincoats.

"Can Stone Bamboo Pearls be eaten?" Chu Qing asked curiously.

Tang Wuming said leisurely, "They can be eaten!"

"This thing is an immense tonic. If ordinary people eat it, they become strong and healthy, and their recovery improves."

"Otherwise, I would have died of fever long ago."

Chu Qing asked curiously, "What if a martial artist eats one?" Tang Wuming gave him a deep look and said, "If you have cultivated 365 Iron Sinews and possess a Limit-Breaking Skill, then eating one can cultivate a Golden Sinew."

"If you do not have 365 Iron Sinews and a Limit-Breaking Skill, eating one will at most cultivate a Silver Sinew, perhaps even only a Copper Sinew."

A thought stirred in Chu Qing's heart. "No wonder so many people fight over them."

"Even if it can only cultivate a Silver Sinew, that is still extraordinary."

Tang Wuming nodded.

Chu Qing continued tending the fire.

After a long while, Tang Wuming finally gathered his courage and asked, "Are you a disciple of some sect, traveling the world?"

Chu Qing shook his head. Puzzled, he asked, "Why would you ask that?"

Tang Wuming rolled his eyes and muttered, "Those were more than twenty high-level knife-wielders."

"Even bottom-tier wild-path martial artists with dozens or over a hundred Iron Sinews would die a violent death under the chaotic slashing of more than twenty blades."

"But you killed them all in only a minute or two, and you were not even injured."

"So..."

Chu Qing sighed. These days, no one believed the truth. Helplessly, he explained, "I am a bottom-tier wild-path martial artist about to take the Martial Academy Preliminary Exam."

Tang Wuming still did not believe him. When he had gone to pick up the straw raincoats just now, he had seen several familiar knife-wielders.

They each had dozens of Iron Sinews and had mastered wild-path blade techniques, giving them astonishing killing power.

His two guards, who had over a hundred Iron Sinews and three to five Iron Bones, had been Outer Court students of the Martial Academy. Yet they had been hacked to death in a single exchange beneath the chaotic blades.

Even Martial Academy students had been hacked to death, yet you had not even entered the academy and had counter-killed them. Who would believe that? Moreover, Martial Academy students were inferior to sect disciples.

Therefore, Chu Qing had to be a sect disciple.

The Armored Soldier Sect? The Great Banner Sect? The Vajra Gate?

"But he knows shockingly little about the secrets of martial arts."

"Could he be a peerless genius who rose from the bottom?"

The wind and rain eased somewhat. Chu Qing rose, put on a straw raincoat, and prepared to continue on the road.

Tang Wuming also donned a straw raincoat and hurriedly said, "Benefactor, give me a ride!"

Chu Qing smiled. "Do you still have Stone Bamboo Pearls?"

Tang Wuming fell silent for a moment, then said:

"At the time, I found two Stone Bamboo Pearls in Stone Rock County."

"I swallowed one."

"The other is in the hands of a stonecutter."

"That stonecutter has a daughter. Half her face is covered by a birthmark, so she is easy to recognize."

"When you find them, just say I told them to give you the Stone Bamboo Pearl. They will give it to you."

Chu Qing was surprised.

Stone Bamboo Pearls were precious. The appearance of even one would trigger a scramble among fortresses and the children of powerful nobles. Yet two had appeared at once, and there had been no great commotion.

What an... unexpected thing.

Chu Qing said, "You are not lying to me, are you?"

Tang Wuming nodded vigorously and patted his chest. "I do not lie."

Chu Qing nodded. "The last person who lied to me made me travel two hundred kilometers. I beat him to death and threw his corpse into the wilderness."

"I can travel two hundred kilometers to kill an enemy. I can also travel a thousand, or three thousand kilometers, to kill one."

Tang Wuming laughed heartily and repeatedly assured him that he was not lying.

Yet Chu Qing's words had scared a cold layer of sweat across his back.

As the wind and rain weakened, Chu Qing hoisted Tang Wuming onto his shoulder and continued onward, their destination—Maple Leaf County.

Relying on the characteristics of the Toad Skill, his vision had improved tremendously. Traveling at night did not slow him down in the slightest.

It only left Tang Wuming so frightened that his thoughts ran wild.

This man is extraordinary, and he has even cultivated some skill like the Witness Technique.

If he truly came from the bottom as a wild-path martial artist, then his future will be beyond measure.

If I can survive this calamity, I must do everything in my power to befriend him in the future.

Near midnight:

The two braved the wind and rain and entered Maple Leaf County.

Maple Leaf County was even larger and more prosperous than Stone Rock County.

Though it was deep at night, inns were still open.

The two casually found an inn to rest in.

After running all the way, Chu Qing was already panting from exhaustion.

Because of the wind and rain, frogs croaked everywhere outside.

Chu Qing took the opportunity to cultivate the Toad Skill, swiftly restoring his Spirit and Energy.

In only a dozen minutes or so, all the exhaustion from traveling through half the night had been replenished.

He stretched his limbs, preparing to bathe and sleep.

At that moment;

Tang Wuming knocked on his door.

"Brother Chu, I cannot sleep."

"Want to talk?"

Chu Qing was full of energy. "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

Tang Wuming gave an awkward laugh. He did not know what to talk about either.

It was merely because he had no guards by his side, and his heart was uneasy. Unable to sleep, he had come over.

He secretly observed Chu Qing and discovered that he was brimming with energy, showing no sign of fatigue.

When we first arrived at the inn, he had been panting and exhausted beyond measure.

Why was he so energetic now?

He is not simple!

Tang Wuming's thoughts turned a thousand times over. Seemingly casually, he asked:

"Why do you not take the civil examinations?"

Chu Qing was speechless.

He had only learned to read a dozen days ago. What civil examinations could he take?

"With martial arts, supreme power belongs to oneself—that is the true kingly path. Official rank? Passing clouds before the eyes."

Tang Wuming laughed. "I was born into a branch of the Tang Lineage. My family has many martial arts experts serving as slaves."

"If I wanted to practice martial arts, I would have countless high-level martial arts manuals to choose from."

"But I only practice skills that strengthen the foundation, cultivate vitality, nourish yin, and replenish yang."

"Do you know why?"

Chu Qing said enviously, "You must have made such a great sacrifice for the sake of continuing the Lineage."

"That... could you give me a set of those yin-nourishing, yang-replenishing skills?"

Tang Wuming: ...

"My father is an official. My grandfather is an official. My great-grandfather is an official. Since the founding of Great Qian, my family has served as officials generation after generation."

"I, too, will become an official—and a high-ranking one."

"Martial Academy students, wandering heroes, and greenwood masters all want to enter my household as guards or slaves."

"Only because we are officials, while they are commoners."

"This is how it is in the Great Gan Empire. It is the same in other empires."

"The character for official has two mouths; it can decide life and death."

Chu Qing curled his lip in disdain. "Many people say that sects and empires rule the world together!"

Tang Wuming burst into laughter. "Most sect members serve as officials in the empire."

"Being an official has the brightest future!"

Chu Qing stretched lazily. "Officials still have to obey the emperor. If you ask me, if one is to be anything, one should be emperor."

Tang Wuming's expression changed drastically. He cried out, "Absurd!"

"How can you say such a thing?"

Chu Qing merely smiled and said nothing.

As a transmigrator, he held not the slightest respect for this world's officials, emperors, and the like.

"With skill in hand, one can decide life and death even more readily."

"Officials... they should not be difficult to kill either!"

Chu Qing raised his hand.

Steel gloves covered both hands.

Iron Wrapped Hand +1

He clenched his fist!

Iron Wrapped Fist +1

Not bad!

Tang Wuming was horrified. Staggering, he left.