Blood Drawing

As the family's only son, Wu Ming had been entrusted with great hopes. For years, the whole family had scrimped and saved. From the time he turned sixteen, they had supplied him with as much food as possible. Though meat was nearly impossible to come by, he could at least eat his fill of ordinary grain at every meal.

Naturally, Wu Ming did not waste this opportunity. From the age of sixteen until now—a full year and a half—he had scarcely stepped outside the village, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to Martial Path cultivation in hopes of forging Pure Yang Blood Qi.

But—

Reality was ultimately different from what one imagined.

Over the past year and a half, although Wu Ming had cultivated with all his strength, he had spent nearly all that time marking time in place.

Clan Head Wu Qu had once told him that for ordinary poor households like theirs, forging Pure Yang Blood Qi and stepping across the threshold of martial cultivation was exceedingly, exceedingly difficult. They lacked money, lacked meat to replenish themselves, and had no money for medicinal formulas that nourished Blood Qi. Thus, if they wished to forge Blood Qi, they could only rely on their own constitutions—the so-called "aptitude."

And from Wu Ming's careful inquiries, this so-called aptitude was not something like bone structure or natural physique. Rather, it was the far more straightforward ability to "digest and absorb."

Ordinary poor folk lacked money and meat to replenish themselves. If they wanted to forge Blood Qi, they naturally had to draw sufficient nourishment from common grains. Thus, the stronger one's ability to digest and absorb, the easier it was to forge Blood Qi; the weaker it was, the harder it became.

In all of Wu Village, with its hundred-odd households, nearly every family's boys would attempt martial cultivation and Blood Qi forging upon reaching sixteen. Yet those truly gifted enough to cultivate Blood Qi could be counted on one hand—less than one in a hundred.

At the very least, Wu Ming in this life did not belong to that gifted sort.

He took out some coarse grain from a cloth sack.

Wu Ming then pulled another shriveled cloth bag from the inner side of his bed. He fished several dried red dates out of it, then weighed the bag in his hand. Seeing how few dates remained, he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

In his previous life, he had also been an insignificant man at the bottom of society, but he had never been so poor that he could not afford meat. Now, even red dates were treasured items in the household, reserved solely for him. And after a year and a half of cultivation, he was still stuck in place. It was hard not to feel stifled.

A short while later.

A pot of mixed-grain porridge was ready.

Liu Shi and Wu Yu each took only a small bowl. As for the few red dates, neither touched a single one. They had all been left for Wu Ming.

Looking at the red dates in his bowl, stray thoughts drifted through Wu Ming's mind. Perhaps he truly had no aptitude in this life. Perhaps he should not pursue the Martial Path. If he honestly worked and thought of ways to earn money, perhaps he could improve their lives.

Yet those stray thoughts only flashed through his mind.

Not to mention that his family had lived frugally to support his martial training for more than a year and a half—even if he felt there was little hope, they would not let him give up. Besides, he still had the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram of unknown origin within his mind. He could not possibly remain trapped in mediocrity.

After finishing his meal.

Wu Ming went alone into the courtyard. Facing the morning sun, he stood tall. One hand hung low, loosely supporting his dantian, while the other rose high above his head. At the same time, he bent his left knee slightly and lifted his right leg horizontally, resting it atop his left knee. He assumed the stance of the "Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance."

The Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance was a basic standing exercise that aided in guiding Qi and Blood and forging Blood Qi. In this world, it had basically become universally widespread. Generally speaking, regardless of status or rank, everyone began their cultivation with this standing exercise.

"Draw blood as the foundation; Pure Yang slays evil."

After assuming the stance, Wu Ming closed his eyes and silently recited the formula in his heart.

The formula itself did not truly possess any effect, but it contained certain profound principles of Martial Path cultivation. The so-called "slaying evil" did not mean killing wicked demons outside oneself. Rather, it meant regarding one's distracting thoughts and turbulent emotions as demons. Using the standing exercise as a foundation, one suppressed those distracting thoughts, focused the mind, sensed the rhythms of one's Qi and Blood, guided Qi and Blood, and forged Blood Qi.

Martial Path cultivation in this world took the nurturing of Blood Qi as its foundation. Once one could forge a strand of Pure Yang Blood Qi, one could use it as a base to slowly temper the body, greatly improving one's physique. Ordinary groups of three to five people would find it difficult to approach such a person, and with a sharp weapon in hand, one could even battle demons.

Great strength was the root cause of why martial artists stood so far apart in status from ordinary people.

And so,

Wu Ming maintained his stance, remaining utterly motionless, as though he had merged into his surroundings. Before he knew it, even his thoughts seemed to vanish. His awareness of the outside world was completely cut off, and all his senses withdrew into his body.

At this moment, Wu Ming could clearly sense his heartbeat. With every beat, blood surged through his body, while streams of vigorous Blood Qi burst forth. Yet this Blood Qi was completely beyond his control, scattered in chaos and impossible to gather or restrain.

"Forge blood, guide Qi."

Wu Ming gathered his thoughts into one and attempted to guide the scattered Blood Qi within his body, little by little restraining and collecting it before directing it toward his abdominal dantian. The entire process was like dragging a cart through mud—each step was arduous beyond measure.

No one knew how much time passed before Wu Ming's eyes suddenly flew open. His entire body went limp, and he collapsed into a seated position on the ground. At the same time, sweat poured down like rain. In only an instant, his inner shirt was soaked through completely.

"Just a little short. Again, just a little short."

Wu Ming sat on the ground, gasping continuously. Only after resting for a brief while did he finally catch his breath, his brows drawn tightly together.

As long as he smoothed out the scattered Qi and Blood throughout his body, guided and gathered it, and returned it to his dantian, he would complete the First Blood Forging and take one step across the threshold of martial cultivation. Yet every time, he got stuck at the final step of bringing it into his dantian.

The circulation of Qi and Blood came with losses. Whenever he gathered his Qi and Blood and transported it toward his dantian, the losses became too great, causing him to fail at the final step as it scattered outside the dantian.

"My aptitude probably isn't among the worst. Given my current situation, I'm only short of the final step every time. If I had a medicinal formula that nourished Qi and Blood, or some meat rich in Qi and Blood, I might have a chance to break through."

Wu Ming repeatedly reviewed his entire cultivation process.

If his aptitude were truly terrible, he should not even have been able to gather Qi and Blood. If his aptitude were extremely high, he should have forged blood with ease. His situation seemed to lie somewhere in between, neither up nor down.

If he had been born into a wealthy household in the city, or even a slightly better-off family, perhaps he would have completed Blood Forging long ago and entered the realm of martial cultivation. But unfortunately, he had been born into a poor household in this life. Letting him eat his fill at every meal while also giving him a few extra red dates was already the limit of what his family could manage. They were even finding it difficult to keep that up.

"Should I find a way to get some meat?"

The moment this thought arose, Wu Ming recalled Wu Sijiu's miserable death and could not help shaking his head again.

For an ordinary person like him who had not forged Blood Qi, whether he entered the mountains on his own or went to the nearby river was extremely dangerous. Besides, meat was not something that would necessarily help him succeed after one hearty meal. He would need to eat it continuously for some time at the very least.

Only a special medicinal formula that nourished Qi and Blood might possibly help him succeed with a single dose. But the problem was that such formulas were far too expensive. He had once asked Wu Qu about them, and Wu Qu had said that even the cheapest nourishing formula cost at least forty taels per dose!

Forty taels of silver was nearly two or three years' worth of food for a family of four.

Practicing martial arts—

Was burning money!

Those were Clan Head Wu Qu's exact words.

Wealthy families could burn money to accumulate Blood Qi, but poor people could only rely on their own natural aptitude.

Wu Ming pondered for a long time but still could not think of any way to make money. The main reason was that this world differed greatly from his previous life. From Martial Path cultivation, Blood Qi, Demons, and other matters, it was clear that much of the knowledge from his former life was useless here.

Besides,

Even if he truly possessed useful knowledge, as a commoner, if he developed it, others would only swallow him whole, bones and all.

In a world where the strong were revered, only strength was fundamental.

"Whew."

After resting briefly, Wu Ming rose and walked to the water vat. He picked up a ladle and gulped down water in great mouthfuls.

That unboiled water could not be drunk directly was common knowledge from his previous life. But the Wu Ming of today could do nothing about it, because this was not the world of his previous life. To boil water, he needed to light a fire, and to light a fire, he needed firewood.

Here, the nearby mountains and river all had owners. Even going into the mountains to chop wood required payment. To wealthy households, that little bit of silver might be nothing, but for poor people who could barely fill their stomachs, using firewood to boil drinking water was a luxury they could not afford.

Wu Ming knew this was bad, but he could only ignore it. Once he cultivated Pure Yang Blood Qi, abundant Qi and Blood would keep all illnesses at bay. If he failed to cultivate it, then he would spend his life struggling in poverty and obscurity, so there would be even less reason to care about such things.

As that thought passed through his mind,

Wu Ming thought again of the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in his mind.

He felt that the diagram must have an extraordinary origin and was certainly no ordinary thing. If he could borrow its power, escaping his current predicament would likely be as easy as turning his hand over. Yet every night, he tried to explore and study it in his sleep, only to remain unable to grasp its secrets.

A short while later.

Wu Ming shook his head and cast those chaotic thoughts aside. Looking at the water in the vat, he saw that only a shallow layer remained.

"There isn't much water left. While it's still light, I'll go fetch some."

He glanced at the sun, then immediately grabbed a shoulder pole, hung two battered wooden buckets from it, and headed toward the rear of the village.

Behind Wu Village was a well. The villagers relied on it for nearly all their daily drinking water. Only when washing clothes and needing large amounts of water did they go to the nearby river in front of the village. Though that river had an owner and people patrolled it daily, only fishing and harvesting were forbidden.

Very soon.

Wu Ming arrived at the rear of Wu Village.

Besides himself, there was another youth about his age drawing water by the well. He too carried two battered wooden buckets. When he saw Wu Ming arrive, he immediately gave an honest smile and greeted him.

"Brother Wu Ming, you're here to fetch water too?"

"Mm."

Wu Ming nodded slightly. "I heard the Clan Head has been guiding your training lately. How is it going?"

The youth before him had grown up in Wu Village alongside him and was familiar with him. He too bore the surname Wu, with the single given name Zhong. However, Wu Zhong's family was closer to Clan Head Wu Qu. Wu Qu was Wu Zhong's biological second uncle, so naturally, the treatment they received from Wu Qu differed.

For Wu Ming, Wu Qu had merely taught him the standing exercise and mental method for guiding Qi and Blood, offering a little instruction now and then. But for Wu Zhong, he taught him personally and gave him pointers nearly every day.

Wu Ming did not feel any resentment over this. On one hand, distinctions between close and distant relations were perfectly normal. On the other, he and Wu Zhong had been childhood friends and got along quite well. If Wu Zhong was fortunate enough to cultivate Blood Qi and become a martial artist, it would not be a bad thing for Wu Ming.

"Second Uncle says I'm doing well. If this keeps up, I may be able to succeed in another half year."

Wu Zhong scratched the back of his head and smiled honestly. Then he voluntarily stepped aside. "Brother Wu Ming, you draw water first."

"It's fine. Why should drawing water have an order?"

Wu Ming smiled and set down his buckets and shoulder pole.

"Alright."

Wu Zhong grinned and walked to the side of the well.

Gurgle.

From the bottom of the well, a bubble suddenly rose. With a pop, it burst, and a faint wisp of black Qi quietly seeped out.