Minor Accomplishment in Blood Refining

"Just a box of lamp oil?"

Chen Sanshi didn't believe it.

He inspected the Exquisite Jade Box again and confirmed that aside from the self-destruct mechanism, there was nothing else inside, nor was there any hidden compartment.

The Witch God Cult, Xiang Tingchun, the martial halls.

This was what all those factions had fought tooth and nail over?

From Chen Sanshi's conclusions, even the martial halls and Xiang Tingchun might not have known exactly what the immortal treasure was. The Witch God Cult, the only ones who knew the inside story, had all been stubborn as iron and refused to say anything.

It definitely wasn't that simple.

Chen Sanshi went to the kitchen doorway, scraped out an extremely small amount of lamp oil with his finger, and lightly smeared it over a chopping stump. Then he found a fire starter and blew it into a small flame.

Boom—

The instant the tiny flame touched the lamp oil, crimson flames burst forth with a bang, like a Fire Dragon drilling out of thin air and climbing two or three meters high in the blink of an eye.

After only a few breaths, the chopping stump had burned into ash.

The stump was half a meter thick in diameter and thirty centimeters tall. Ordinary flames would struggle even to ignite it. Without splitting it apart, burning the whole thing to ash would probably take a full day and night!

Even from two steps away, Chen Sanshi felt as though he had nearly been roasted alive!

What terrifying power!

What sort of beast's fat was this, for the flames it produced to be so dreadful?

"It truly isn't an ordinary item."

Chen Sanshi felt lingering fear.

The thing was powerful, certainly, but why had they risked their lives to seize it?

To use it as a weapon?

He weighed the palm-sized iron box.

There was so little of it. How many times could it be used?

Surely it wasn't worth fighting over like this?

Chen Sanshi judged that this fire absolutely had another purpose.

He checked the Exquisite Jade Box once more and, after repeated confirmation, reached a conclusion.

There truly was nothing else.

It seemed the method of using the flames might be in the Witch God Cult's hands.

This... left him with no solution for the time being.

Chen Sanshi felt a faint disappointment.

Still, the fire was immensely powerful. It could come in handy at a critical moment.

As for its true purpose, he could only take one step at a time and see where the road led.

"My current goal is to be selected for the vanguard and enter the Eight Great Camps."

"I still need to raise my strength as soon as possible!"

Chen Sanshi put everything away and prepared to get a good night's rest, restoring his energy.

He was only separated from a breakthrough by a single sheet of window paper.

The next day, at the Military Camp.

Chen Sanshi drank a bowl of Nine Revolutions Vitality Soup. While his qi and blood were at their peak, he lifted his spear and practiced the Basic Soldier Spear Technique, which he had long since mastered to the point of perfection.

It was noon, and the blazing sun hung high overhead.

Suddenly, thunderous sounds of air being torn apart rang out across the empty Training Ground.

Nearby soldiers turned their heads to look.

Under the sunlight, every swing of the Reed Leaf Spear made its tip reflect dazzling golden light. As the spear moved faster and faster, those streaks of gold gradually connected together.

From afar, it looked like golden snakes dancing wildly through the void, or a golden brush painting majestic mountains and rivers. It made people want to draw closer for a better look, yet the ceaseless savage shrieks of torn air reminded them that this was no beautiful sight, but a deadly killing art!

The long spear howled as his body shifted and leapt.

The flashing scene of light and shadow continued for nearly half an incense stick's time.

Then, at a certain instant, everything suddenly stopped.

All the golden light contracted and gathered at one point, striking the wooden stump on the Training Ground at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch.

Bang—

The two-meter-tall training post, as broad as an adult man's shoulders, exploded violently from the point where it had been struck. Wooden spikes and splinters filled the sky, flying far away before embedding themselves in the ground like a rain of arrows.

One young soldier who loved to watch a commotion nearly got hit by a wooden spike. He collapsed backward onto the ground, badly frightened.

The youth slowly withdrew his spear. Sweat covered his sleek, taut muscles, and beneath the autumn sunlight, white vapor rose around his entire body, making him look as though he had walked out of a blaze.

Minor Accomplishment!

Two streams of qi and blood had become four, merging into his limbs!

Technique: Basic Soldier Spear Technique (Minor Accomplishment)

Progress: (0/2000)

Effect: Spear force was fierce and swift, endurance astonishing, qi and blood abundant, Blood Manifests Anomaly

Chen Sanshi did not understand the newly added effect for the moment.

Blood Manifests Anomaly.

Did it mean his blood was changing?

He tried mobilizing his qi and blood, discovering that his blood was exceptionally hot. Compared with before, the explosive force of each stream of qi and blood was even greater.

Could it have something to do with the Bone Refining realm after Blood Refining?

"Congratulations, Officer Chen!"

Many people came forward to congratulate him.

General Flag Fang said with a sigh, "Such talent truly makes the rest of us green with envy!"

"I only spent more silver, that's all."

Chen Sanshi humbly said, "If I hadn't hunted to earn money for medicine, I wouldn't have broken through so quickly."

"Listen to you. Isn't hunting also a skill?"

General Flag Fang grew even more envious.

As martial masters at Major Accomplishment in Blood Refining, they could naturally draw heavy bows with ease.

But being able to draw one did not necessarily mean they could shoot accurately.

Even if they spent vast amounts of time training, they would not reach any great level, much less pierce a willow leaf from a hundred paces away and hit targets too distant to see clearly.

For some things, talent truly determined the ceiling.

Chen Sanshi privately sought out Wang Zhi to ask about his next stage of cultivation.

"You broke through again?"

Wang Zhi nearly sprayed the wine from his mouth.

At that moment, he was no longer purely happy. The weight of his shock had increased enormously.

After practicing martial arts for just over a month, Chen Sanshi had traveled a road that most people could not finish in years, or even in their entire lives. Heaven truly was unfair.

"Commander Wang."

Chen Sanshi asked, "Is there anything I should pay attention to at Major Accomplishment in Blood Refining? Is it connected to the Bone Refining realm?"

"Your comprehension isn't bad."

Holding his wine bowl, Wang Zhi explained, "Blood Refining, Blood Refining—just as the name says, it refines the blood.

"After reaching Major Accomplishment, qi and blood will flow freely through the entire body, and then you can begin Bone Refining.

"Only if the qi and blood you cultivate are of sufficient quality will the bones and flesh tempered by blood in the future be better.

"That was why I gave you the Vast Exhalation Breathing Technique in the first place.

"Blood Refining is the foundation. If the foundation isn't solid, it means you've lost from the very beginning.

"You should be able to feel it. Among those at the same realm as you, few should be able to withstand three exchanges against you. The farther you go, the wider the gap will become."

Temper bones with blood...

Blood truly concerned the next realm.

Chen Sanshi did not know whether Blood Manifests Anomaly was unique to the System Panel, so he did not mention it for now. He planned to wait and see its effects first.

"You brat, you're something else."

Wang Zhi counted on his fingers. "Your cultivation speed is fast enough, and our garrison will soon obtain a large batch of Medicinal Materials. You have hope of reaching Bone Refining before spring begins next year!"

Chen Sanshi caught the key point in his words. "The garrison will soon obtain Medicinal Materials?"

"Heh, don't mention it."

Wang Zhi found it rather amusing. After taking a sip of wine, he said, "Yesterday at Eight Treasures Tower, those old bastards from the martial halls were still acting high and mighty, claiming that the garrison had placed them under house arrest and that they would find someone above to lodge a complaint.

"But this morning, they acted like entirely different people.

"They declared that they would fully support our Thousand Household Office's campaign against the barbarians next year.

"Once the four great martial halls agree, the county's local gentry and wealthy merchants will have to pay up too.

"This time, we're going to strike it rich."

Chen Sanshi was suspicious.

From the sound of it, Xiang Tingchun had successfully seized control of the martial halls?

But the item was in his hands. Why would the martial halls obediently listen to him?

Unless...

Xiang Tingchun was pulling a wolf with empty hands!

Good heavens, wasn't he afraid of being exposed?

That afternoon, as dusk approached, Wang Zhi's words came true.

Disciples from the various martial halls arrived in groups, pulling flatbed carts loaded with countless supplies.

"The warehouse for Medicinal Materials is on the left!"

"Grain goes on the right!"

"Isn't your count wrong? You're short two hundred shi of grain. Make sure you deliver it before nightfall tomorrow!"

"..."

The steward of the main warehouse led several clerks in checking the supplies cart by cart.

Warehouses that had sat unused in the Military Camp for years were put to use again. The grain stores were stuffed to bursting, sacks nearly spilling out.

Years of poor harvests?

The wealthy households had grain in abundance.

Woooo—

The assembly horn sounded. The messenger summoned everyone to the Training Ground, announcing that Lord Thousand Households had an important matter to declare.