A secluded side room in the county yamen's rear courtyard had been cleared out and turned into Ji Ye's place of seclusion.
The doors and windows were shut tight, every crack stuffed with cotton cloth so that not even a wisp of wind could pass through.
A large wooden barrel stood in the center of the room, filled with scalding water. Thin slices of Crimson Blood Ginseng floated on the surface, along with several supplementary herbs Wang Meng had gathered.
The medicinal fragrance was rich, and steam billowed through the air, making the entire room seem like a huge steamer.
Ji Ye sat naked in the barrel, his eyes tightly closed.
But this body's condition was even worse than he had expected.
"Cough..."
The moment he entered the water, the scorching medicinal power burrowed through his pores, and his already fragile meridians instantly let out a cry of anguish.
Crimson Blood Ginseng had fierce medicinal properties. To the current Ji Ye, it was no different from swallowing a mouthful of lava.
In his previous life, he could have relied on the formidable body granted by Triple Brute Force to endure it head-on and forcibly lock the medicinal power inside his muscles.
But in this life, this body of his was nothing more than a sieve full of holes.
His qi and blood surged wildly, his heartbeat shooting up to two hundred beats per minute, on the verge of stopping altogether.
An eerie flush spread across his skin as capillaries began to rupture, beading his body with fine droplets of blood.
This was a case of a weak body unable to receive nourishment. He was only a thread away from sudden death.
Outside the door, Wang Meng listened to the suppressed growls and splashing water from within, anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
[Martial Arts Through Divinity x3] fully activated.
Within his consciousness, this body was no longer a mass of flesh and blood, but an incomparably precise three-dimensional diagram.
A crimson torrent of medicinal power was madly battering the gray, withered meridians.
"Too fast. It needs to slow down."
A thought stirred in Ji Ye's mind.
Microscopic Control activated.
He controlled all eighty-four thousand pores across his body, snapping them shut at the same instant!
It was like shutting the valve on a pressure cooker.
The heat and medicinal power that had been leaking away were forcibly locked inside his body.
Immediately afterward, he began controlling his heartbeat.
"Thump... thump... thump..."
He forcibly suppressed the rhythm of his heart, turning hurried drumbeats into the steady tolling of a great bell. His blood flow slowed, no longer violently pounding against his vessel walls, but becoming thick and heavy.
"Divide."
Ji Ye's consciousness was like an invisible giant hand, guiding that violent medicinal power.
This portion went to repair the old injury in his lung meridian.
That portion went to nourish the atrophied muscles in his calves.
And this portion entered the great dragon of his spine, awakening its dormant blood-forming functions.
This was not cultivation. This was a "reconstruction project" taking place on a microscopic level.
Even the greatest masters of the Organ Tempering Realm could never control the destination of every thread of medicinal power with such precision.
But Ji Ye did it.
The Crimson Blood Ginseng's originally violent energy was broken down into countless tiny streams, seeping gently yet resolutely into every cell.
Time slowly passed.
The water in the barrel gradually cooled. The originally crimson medicinal broth became clear and transparent, every trace of essence greedily devoured by this body.
The flush on Ji Ye's body faded, replaced by a warm luster like polished jade.
Though he was still lean, without exaggerated bulging muscles, beneath that seemingly thin skin, every bundle of muscle fibers was like a taut string, brimming with explosive force.
More importantly, his lungs had changed.
That bellows-like stabbing pain that had followed him through three lifetimes had finally vanished.
In its place was a long, deep breath, as though he could inhale and exhale the winds and clouds themselves.
"Huu—"
Ji Ye slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
The breath remained condensed instead of dispersing, forming a straight white streak in the air. It struck the edge of the wooden barrel three feet away with a crisp snap.
Exhale Sword!
This was the sign of qi and blood reaching their utmost fullness.
Though in terms of realm, he had only just stepped into the early Skin Tempering Realm and had not even completed the first level.
Yet in terms of control over his body and the purity of his force, he was already a grandmaster.
"That should do it."
Ji Ye rose from the water, droplets sliding down the smooth lines of his muscles.
He stretched out a hand and looked at his long, powerful fingers.
In this life, he had no need for that bloated Dead Flesh Armor.
This body would become a precision instrument born for slaughter.
"Creak—"
The tightly shut door, closed all night, finally opened.
Cold wind poured inside, scattering the heat in the room.
Wang Meng abruptly turned around and saw Ji Ye emerge in that washed-out single-layered robe.
It was still the same face, still the same build.
Yet Wang Meng instinctively stepped half a pace back, every hair on his body standing on end.
As an old constable who had spent years walking the line between life and death, he possessed a beast-like instinct for danger.
At that moment, Ji Ye no longer felt like that sickly scholar. He was like a sharp sword returned to its sheath.
Though its edge could not be seen, the faint chill it gave off could cut a person's eyes.
"Sir...?" Wang Meng called tentatively. "Did it work?"
"It worked."
Ji Ye smiled. The unhealthy pallor had vanished from his face, replaced by a healthy flush.
He walked over to the weapon rack in the courtyard and casually picked up a standard-issue Wild Goose Feather Saber.
The saber was heavy, crudely made, and poorly balanced.
But in Ji Ye's hand, it seemed like an extension of his arm.
"Watch carefully."
Ji Ye did not waste words. With a flick of his wrist—
Clang!
The long saber left its sheath.
There was no earth-shaking display, nor were there saber lights filling the sky.
There was only one slash.
A simple upward diagonal cut.
"Look Back at the Moon."
The blade cut through the air with an exceedingly faint sound, like silk tearing apart.
It was the sound of the saber moving so fast that it sliced through the resistance of the air.
Wang Meng's eyes widened.
In his vision, the slash was clearly still in front of Ji Ye, yet in the next instant, the saber tip seemed to have appeared at the throat of a nonexistent enemy behind him.
It was a visual displacement.
Because it was too fast, too strange.
"This is... the tenth move?" Wang Meng's voice trembled.
"There's more."
Ji Ye turned, the saber's momentum not yet exhausted, and followed through with a downward chop.
This strike was not straight, but carried a subtle curve, as though heavy snow had sealed the mountains and blocked every route of retreat.
"Snow Blocks Blue Pass."
The instant the blade touched the ground, Ji Ye's wrist twisted in an eerie motion. The blade skimmed along the ground before slashing upward, targeting the lower body with vicious, venomous cruelty.
"Severing Gate and Ruining Household."
The demonstration of the three moves ended.
Ji Ye sheathed his saber without taking a long breath, his expression unchanged.
Wang Meng stood rooted to the spot, his mind replaying those three slashes over and over.
They were too exquisite.
Every slash exploited the limits of the human body, and every slash followed the shortest, deadliest path. If he had faced those three slashes just now, he would probably already be dead.
"These three moves are enough to keep you training for half a year."
Ji Ye tossed the saber to Wang Meng. "Master them, and in Black Stone County, apart from Zhao Hei Hu, no one will be able to take ten of your moves."
Wang Meng caught the saber in a flurry, treasuring it as if he had found the greatest prize.
"Thank you, sir!"
"No need."
Ji Ye dusted off his sleeve and looked toward the county yamen's main hall, where the faint sound of court drums could be heard.
"Next, it's time to handle serious business."
"Serious business?" Wang Meng froze.
"Though the Black Tiger Gang was frightened off by me, that is only temporary. Zhao Hei Hu is no fool. Once he realizes the Crimson Blood Ginseng was not poisoned, or has a famous physician examine it, our lie will be exposed."
Ji Ye's eyes were deep and unreadable.
"So before that happens, we need to give him some trouble. Big trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"The Barbarians."
Ji Ye spoke the two words.
In his previous life, he had only fought back passively after the Barbarian army pressed against the border.
In this life, he would take the initiative and detonate this thunderbolt.
"Wang Meng, take a few brothers you trust, change into civilian clothes, and leave the city."
Ji Ye pulled out a map he had prepared long ago and pointed to a mountain valley on it.
"Go here, White Wolf Valley. It is a secret stronghold for Barbarian scouts."
"What are we going there for? To kill Barbarians?" Wang Meng's blood began to boil.
"No."
Ji Ye shook his head, the corner of his mouth curving into a cold arc.
"To deliver a gift."
"Throw the batch of 'fake medicine' we confiscated from Ghost Market, along with the clothes the Black Tiger Gang usually wears, around that area."
"Then kill a few lone Barbarian scouts and arrange their bodies to look as though the Black Tiger Gang robbed and killed them."
Frame one crime upon another.
Though this tactic was old, it worked.
The Barbarians were greedy and held grudges. If they believed the Black Tiger Gang had not only swallowed their goods, but also killed their people...
"Sir means to... kill with a borrowed blade?" Wang Meng sucked in a cold breath. This scholar looked refined, but his heart was truly black.
"Killing with a borrowed blade is only the first step."
Ji Ye looked at the gray sky, as though he could already see the coming storm of blood and wind.
"I want to muddy the waters of Black Stone County."
"Only when the water is muddy can one fish in it."
"Go. Make it clean."
"Yes!"
Wang Meng accepted the order and left, his steps light with the ambition for the future burning within him.
Ji Ye stood alone in the courtyard, feeling the wind and snow brush across his face.
In his previous life, he had bled himself dry defending the city.
In this life, he would turn this city into his chessboard.
Whether it was the Black Tiger Gang, the Barbarians, or Qin Wuji, who had yet to show himself.
All of them would become stepping stones for his ascent to the heavens.
"The first step—the chaos has begun."
Ji Ye murmured softly, then turned and walked back into the room.
He still needed to continue cultivating.
This bit of strength was not enough.
Far from enough.
Before you continue