Tiger Roars in the Northern Frontier

Chen Qing was carried back to the Vanguard Camp's temporary encampment by Old Niu and Sun Quezi, taking turns.

He was severely injured. The fist energy from an enraged Meridian Condensing Realm martial artist was no easy matter. His internal organs were displaced, and multiple meridians were damaged. If not for the monstrous defense brought by his mastery of Fierce Tiger Iron Body and the Black Tiger True Intent protecting his heart, coupled with his solid foundation at the peak of the Bone Forging Realm, he would have died on the spot.

Even so, he vomited blood continuously throughout the journey, his face pale as paper, his breath weak.

When their battered remnants, dragging their weary, blood-stained bodies, appeared within the sight of the camp sentries, the entire Vanguard Camp erupted.

Fifty men had gone out, and less than forty returned, all wounded, with their commander Chen Qing critically injured and near death. But... the news they brought back was like pouring a ladle of cold water onto boiling oil!

They had pierced through the Northern Mang's ten-thousand-man vanguard formation! They had burned a portion of their grain and supplies! They had caused immense chaos! Countless enemy officers were killed, suspected to include a Centurion and several Squad Leaders! They had even... withstood a blow from a Meridian Condensing Realm Commander and survived, forcing the opponent to pull back and stabilize the situation!

This record was nothing short of brilliant! It could even be said to be the first, and only, "victory" achieved by the Great Yan army in a surprise attack since the war began on the Northern Frontier!

"Quick! Carry him down! Use the best medicine! Go fetch Physician Wang!" Captain Zhou Han rushed over personally upon hearing the news. Seeing Chen Qing's dire state, his eyes twitched, and he issued orders repeatedly. He looked at Chen Qing with a complex gaze, filled with shock, admiration, and an indescribable... apprehension.

This brat was too ferocious! And too dangerous!

Chen Qing was swiftly carried back to his tent, and Physician Wang, the best at treating internal injuries in the army, was urgently summoned. After taking his pulse, the old physician's brow furrowed, and he shook his head repeatedly.

"His internal injuries are extremely severe, multiple meridians are ruptured, and malevolent energy has invaded his body... The fact that he's still clinging to life is a miracle," Physician Wang sighed, looking at Chen Qing's tightly furrowed brow even in his unconscious state, and the faint black and red aura swirling around him. "Ordinary herbal medicine will have little effect on him. Whether he wakes up depends on his fate and... his peculiar cultivation technique."

Zhou Han's expression turned grim. He waved his hand, telling the physician to do his best to save Chen Qing, and then assigned trusted guards to strictly secure Chen Qing's tent, forbidding anyone from disturbing him.

The news spread like wings throughout the entire Northern Frontier defense line.

"Did you hear? A Squad Leader from the Vanguard Camp led fifty men and pierced through the Northern Mang's ten-thousand-man vanguard!"

"Fiend Star Chen Qing! He took a punch from a Meridian Condensing Realm expert and didn't die!"

"Burned their supplies, killed officers, threw the Northern Mang into a frenzy!"

"My god, is that even human?"

Awe, doubt, worship, fear... various emotions spread through the army. The title "Fierce Tiger" Chen Qing truly echoed through the Northern Frontier for the first time, no longer just a fearsome reputation within the Vanguard Camp, but a symbol that even the Northern Mang army had to take notice of.

The Northern Mang vanguard's setback, while not a fatal blow, did strike their morale and made their actions more cautious, giving the Great Yan defense line a precious breathing room.

And at this moment, the center of this storm, Chen Qing, was in a peculiar state.

His consciousness was not completely dormant, but had sunk into the ravaged battlefield within his body.

The residual energy of the ferocious fist strike continued to rage, tearing at his meridians. The foreign malevolent energy that had invaded his body clashed and was consumed by the malevolent energy of his Fierce Tiger Iron Body. Intense pain constantly tormented his nerves.

But at the same time, the nascent Black Tiger True Intent acted like a stabilizing force, firmly guarding the core of his consciousness. It spontaneously guided the remaining blood and malevolent energy within his body, slowly but surely repairing his damaged physique.

What he found even stranger was that after flirting with death, especially after withstanding the Meridian Condensing Realm fist strike and fully unleashing the Black Tiger True Intent, his understanding of this "Intent" had deepened considerably.

It was not just a will to fight, but more like a... rule? Or perhaps, the embryo/prototype of some cosmic power? It, along with the malevolent energy stirred by the Fierce Tiger Iron Body and the power application techniques contained within the Black Tiger Fist and Saber, vaguely formed a fragmented yet infinitely potential system.

"Ancestral... Black Tiger... Shattering the Void..."

In his unconsciousness, fragmented thoughts flickered.

He "saw" that at his spine, the integrated hub of blood and energy, guided by the Black Tiger True Intent, began to actively absorb and refine the foreign energy and malevolent energy that had invaded his body. It was being converted into a more refined, more overbearing dark red energy, integrating into his bones, skin, and even attempting to repair the ruptured meridians.

This process was extremely slow and agonizing, like melting and reassembling shattered porcelain shards. But with every bit of repair, he could feel his physique becoming tougher, and his connection to the Black Tiger True Intent becoming closer.

[In critical repair state, Black Tiger True Intent deeply stimulated, Fierce Tiger Iron Body proficiency slowly increasing...]

[Absorbing and refining foreign energy, blood purity increasing...]

The system's prompts, intermittent as they were, proved he was on the right track.

Time passed day by day.

Outside the tent, discussions about Chen Qing gradually subsided, replaced by an increasingly tense atmosphere of wartime readiness. The main Northern Mang forces were approaching, and a major battle was imminent.

Inside the tent, Chen Qing remained unconscious, but the unsettling malevolent aura around him was gradually retracting, and his complexion, once deathly pale, slowly regained a hint of color, his breathing becoming steady and prolonged.

Old Niu, Sun Quezi, and the others waited outside daily, filled with anxiety. Zhou Han also visited several times, his expression growing more somber.

Until the deep night of the seventh day.

Inside the tent, Chen Qing, who was seated cross-legged (arranged in a cultivation posture by the guards), felt his eyelids twitch slightly.

Immediately after, the faint black and red malevolent aura that had constantly lingered around him violently retracted inwards, disappearing entirely into his body! An aura far deeper and more ferocious than before he was injured, like a slumbering beast awakening, flashed and vanished!

He slowly opened his eyes.

Deep within his pupils, a dark red light resembled an abyss, cold, pure, devoid of any human emotion.

He moved his fingers, and a fine yet powerful crackling sound echoed from within his body. The internal injuries had largely healed, and the ruptured meridians, under the effect of the Black Tiger True Intent and the newly generated dark red energy, had not only repaired but seemed to have widened and toughened.

Feeling the transformative power within him, and the Black Tiger True Intent and malevolent energy that now responded to his will like an extension of his own body, Chen Qing knew that this serious injury had not broken him. Instead, it had turned into a blessing in disguise, allowing him to truly touch the threshold of the Meridian Condensing Realm and gain a deeper understanding of the essence of his own power.

He looked at the system interface.

[Host: Chen Qing] [Realm: Bone Forging Realm (Peak) -- (Half-step Meridian Condensing)] [Martial Arts: Black Tiger Fist (Mastery, Proficiency: 4500/5000) -- (True Intent Nascent Awakening)] [Martial Arts: Black Tiger Saber Technique (Mastery, Proficiency: 4200/5000) -- (True Intent Nascent Awakening)] [Martial Arts: Fierce Tiger Iron Body (Mastery, Proficiency: 6500/)]

The Fierce Tiger Iron Body had surprisingly broken through to the Mastery realm! Its proficiency had also surged!

He threw off the thin blanket and stood up. His bones let out a series of popping sounds, like exploding beans, and his body was filled with explosive power.

He walked to the edge of the tent, lifted a corner, and looked out at the deep night and the continuous Northern Mang campfires in the distance, his eyes cold.

The Northern Mang main force... Meridian Condensing Realm Centurions...

He licked his lips, revealing a cold and cruel smile.

It was time to collect some interest.