"Your subordinate still has one matter he doesn't understand! I hope Lord Sinan can enlighten me!"
After listening to Si Nanyue's instructions, Xia Qi'an had almost forgotten to ask about the important matter. Now that he remembered, he opened his mouth to inquire.
"What is it?"
"Your subordinate wanted to ask how to check my merit points, and how to use them to exchange for the cultivation arts and resources I want?"
Si Nanyue explained, "Merit points are handled by the Snake Guards. There are dedicated personnel among them who record and compile them. If you want to exchange for a cultivation art, it will be more troublesome. The Wei Dao Si headquarters has a Scripture Pavilion containing countless martial arts from across the world. If you want to exchange for a cultivation art, the Snake Guards must report it to the headquarters, and the headquarters will naturally send someone to deliver it!"
"I see! Your subordinate understands."
Hearing Si Nanyue say this, Xia Qi'an felt somewhat dejected.
He had never expected that such an important responsibility as recording merit points was actually controlled by the Snake Guards.
No wonder Chu Shiqing could cover the sky with one hand in Jinling. It turned out to be because he held great power.
In that case, the people of the Wei Dao Si naturally would not be willing to offend him easily.
It seemed that if he wanted to sever ties with Chu Shiqing, he would have to make a long-term plan.
After Si Nanyue finished her instructions,
Xia Qi'an returned home with a heavy heart.
According to Si Nanyue,
Everyone in the Hound Guard knew that Su Mu was Chu Shiqing's spy planted among them.
Furthermore, as a member of the Hound Guard, he openly worked for Chu Shiqing.
This caused Su Mu to be disliked by his fellow Hound Guards in Jinling City.
Thus, when he was seriously injured while carrying out a mission, no one was willing to go and support him.
Therefore, Su Mu's death
had not concerned anyone in the Hound Guard at all.
As for Chu Shiqing, he had merely treated Su Mu as a tool. Naturally, if he died, then he died.
It could be said that Su Mu was disliked by both sides in the Jinling City Wei Dao Si.
"Ah... You really can't be a fence-sitter in life!" Xia Qi'an sighed inwardly.
But when he thought that the next unlucky bastard to replace Su Mu was none other than himself,
Xia Qi'an felt even more depressed.
Originally, he had planned to wait until he had established himself in the Hound Guard and raised his martial realm.
Only then would he sever ties with Chu Shiqing.
But after learning that Chu Shiqing controlled the authority to record merit points, he abandoned that notion.
If he offended Chu Shiqing, it was hard to say whether Chu Shiqing might tamper with his merit points.
The merit points he painstakingly accumulated through missions might all end up being completely wasted.
However, today Xia Qi'an had unexpectedly developed some goodwill toward the people of the Hound Guard.
He genuinely wanted to integrate into the Hound Guard and develop in peace.
But if they found out about his relationship with Chu Shiqing, he would probably become the next Su Mu.
Fortunately, Chu Shiqing had concealed the news this time.
At present, Si Nanyue and the others still did not know that Xia Qi'an had entered the Wei Dao Si through Chu Shiqing's recommendation.
After returning home, Xia Qi'an immediately devoted himself to cultivating the Golden Body Technique.
He knew very well that he was still a minor figure, far from being able to control his own fate.
If he wanted to change that, he had to grasp powerful strength.
When that time came, who cared whether it was Chu Shiqing or Chu Shizhuo?
He would simply slaughter them all.
After this period of cultivation, Xia Qi'an had gained many insights into cultivating the Golden Body Technique.
In terms of its effects, the Golden Body Technique was undoubtedly a powerful cultivation art.
If not for its extremely harsh and painful cultivation conditions, few people could persevere until they achieved results.
Perhaps its reputation among martial artists would have been much higher.
The second layer of the Golden Body Technique, Bone Tempering, required a special Bone Tempering Fluid to cultivate.
This Bone Tempering Fluid was extremely expensive, with a market price of one thousand taels of silver per bottle.
Moreover, one bottle could barely complete the tempering of the bones in Xia Qi'an's two fists.
Xia Qi'an calculated that completing the tempering of all the bones in his body would probably cost over ten thousand taels of silver.
Fortunately, the Yang family, to which Yang Wei belonged, was a merchant clan.
He could purchase this Bone Tempering Fluid from Yang Wei.
Thus, Xia Qi'an was now not only penniless, but also owed Yang Wei six hundred taels of silver.
And that was even after Yang Wei had given Xia Qi'an a twenty-percent discount.
It was clear just how enormous the expenses required for martial arts cultivation were.
Getting silver was truly an urgent matter!
Xia Qi'an took out a white jade bottle and evenly smeared the mercury-like liquid inside over both his fists.
This liquid was called Bone Tempering Fluid. It was refined from the blood of a demon beast, supplemented with various blood-and-qi medicinal ingredients.
The characteristic of Bone Tempering Fluid was that it only needed to be applied to the skin before it would seep through the skin on its own, ultimately adhering to the bones.
Very soon, the Bone Tempering Fluid began to display its powerful medicinal effects.
Xia Qi'an's hands began to swell like balloons being inflated, becoming increasingly engorged with blood.
Black, filthy blood continued to accumulate, growing larger and larger.
At the same time, the agony surging from his hand bones was like ten million poisonous insects gnawing at him. It was even worse than when he had refined his blood.
Xia Qi'an had originally wanted to cut open his skin and bleed himself to lessen the pain.
But during the Bone Tempering process, his hands were completely numb and utterly unable to move.
In the end, the black blood accumulated to its limit. Like a breached floodbank, it burst through his skin and flowed out on its own.
This process was long and torturous. It continued until midnight before slowly coming to a stop.
Fortunately, Xia Qi'an had the Crimson Pupils as a cheat. He circulated his own blood and qi, wrapping the Bone Tempering Fluid tightly around the bones in both hands like a protective membrane, without wasting the slightest bit.
In the end, he perfectly completed the Bone Tempering of both hands.
By the next morning,
Xia Qi'an had not only completed the Bone Tempering, but the wounds on his hands had also scabbed over.
They would be restored to their original state within a day.
The effects of the final two layers of the Golden Body Technique, tempering the flesh and meridians, were to cultivate self-healing power as tough as a vajra.
When that time came, a minor injury like this would only need an hour or two to heal on its own, like tender shoots brushed by the spring breeze.
After completing the Bone Tempering of both hands, the old elm tree in the courtyard could no longer satisfy his needs for practicing his fists.
He had no choice but to go into the wilderness and carry back two granite boulders taller than a person, placing them in the courtyard.
He used them to cultivate the Great Strength Vajra Fist.
If a martial artist wanted to display the full might of this fist art, they had to drive it with the power of their blood and qi.
When the fists moved, it seemed capable of condensing the phantom of an eight-armed vajra.
With ten punches unleashed at once, its tremendous power was enough to blast an opponent apart. However, at Xia Qi'an's current cultivation realm, he could only condense two golden fists.
Just as Xia Qi'an was engrossed in practicing his fists, he suddenly heard a woman's voice from behind: "Lord Xia, what impressive fists!" Xia Qi'an knew the newcomer was Liu Qing, so he spoke while striking the granite, "You flatter me, Lord Liu! In the eyes of a Bone Forging Realm martial artist, this fist art is hardly worth mentioning."
"Lord Xia, there's no need to be modest! This fist art is exceedingly profound. Once you step into the Bone Tempering Realm, its power will surely increase greatly!"
Xia Qi'an had no intention of continuing to discuss fist arts and asked directly, "Lord Liu, what brings you here?"
Liu Qing nodded and replied, "There's a mission that requires you to make a trip!"
With that, she tossed the mission scroll and wooden token at Xia Qi'an.
"This mission was commissioned by the Jinling City Lord's Manor! You must accompany the Jinling City garrison to Black Wind Mountain to suppress the bandits."
"Considering that martial artists may be hiding in Black Wind Mountain Stronghold, a Wei Dao Si martial artist is needed to hold the line."
"For this mission, sixty percent of the spoils will go to the Jinling government. Of the remaining forty percent, you may take ten percent. The other thirty percent must be handed over to the Wei Dao Si!"
"Do you have any questions?"
"How many martial artists are there in Black Wind Stronghold... and what realms are they in?" Xia Qi'an asked.
Liu Qing explained, "There are three martial artists in total. One is at the mid-stage of the Blood Refining Realm, and two are at the early stage! There are more than one hundred and twenty bandits among the rest!"
"The riffraff in Black Wind Stronghold can be left to the Jinling garrison. You only need to deal with those three martial artists!"
Xia Qi'an was in dire need of silver right now.
Black Wind Mountain Stronghold made its living robbing homes and plundering households, so it must have accumulated quite a bit of silver.
At this thought, Xia Qi'an immediately agreed. "I'll take this mission. When do we set out?"
"At the hour of Chen tomorrow, we'll assemble beneath the city gates."
Liu Qing leaned against the firewood gate at the courtyard entrance, stretched lazily, and spoke in a languid tone.
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