Treasures

"Begin!"

Gu Han did not dare to be careless at the sight. He hurriedly sat cross-legged and continuously guided the medicinal power, driving his qi and blood to scour his body.

"Rumble!"

Muffled thunder-like roars rang out from within Gu Han's body. The moment the Great Return Pill took effect, the surging blood qi within him began to churn like vast rivers, endlessly washing through his flesh, organs, and entrails, strengthening his body and propelling him toward Minor Accomplishment of Blood Tempering and Minor Accomplishment of Organ Refining.

If his cultivation speed before swallowing the Great Return Pill had been one, then now it had become ten thousand, perhaps even a hundred thousand!

Compared with the past, such speed was practically beyond comparison. This was the terror of Treasure Pearl Temple's Great Return Pill. Even its mere secondary effect was enough to shock the world.

One incense stick!

Two incense sticks!

Three incense sticks!

Four incense sticks!

As time passed, roughly half an hour later, a "Pop!" sounded within Gu Han's body, as though a bottleneck had shattered. His body jolted, and a powerful aura rose from him.

Minor Accomplishment of Blood Tempering, Minor Accomplishment of Organ Refining—breakthrough!

Feeling the terrifying strength within his body, nearly more than twice as formidable as before, Gu Han's eyes flashed with delight. He lightly clenched his hand and felt as though he could crush even the air in an instant, bursting with explosive force.

A single Great Return Pill had not only allowed Gu Han to break through both Blood Tempering and Organ Refining to the Minor Accomplishment realm at once, but had also carried him a considerable distance within both realms.

His current strength might still fall somewhat short of Jue Ming and Liao Kong, the two patriarchs in Treasure Pearl Temple's history, as well as the present era's supreme expert, Barbarian King A Yanda. But the gap was certainly not great. Fighting three hundred rounds with them and exchanging over a thousand moves would pose no problem.

As for A Yanda trying to kill him, that was even more impossible.

With that thought, Gu Han took a few soft breaths, and the wildly surging aura around him swiftly calmed, becoming no different from usual.

With his physical body having reached such a level, he might not have fully comprehended every mystery of the flesh or attained flawless control over it, but there was absolutely no chance that he would be unable to control his suddenly increased power.

Whether the strength of his body had increased twofold or tenfold made no difference to him.

"Jingyuan, wait for me. Your senior brother is coming to avenge you."

Gu Han put his conical hat back on and murmured softly. Then he walked out of the inn, donned his straw rain cape, and stepped into the downpour.

"Drip, drip!"

Torrential rain poured from the sky as if it would never cease. Every so often, thunder exploded, frightening the stray cats and dogs sheltering beneath the eaves until their fur stood on end.

The main street, once packed with people and bustling with life, was now utterly quiet. Only a few scattered figures ran swiftly through the rain in search of shelter.

In all of Xiongyuan City, Fangnan Prefecture, only the lavishly constructed manor at the city's center, surrounded by hundreds upon thousands of Barbarian soldiers, overflowed with laughter and merriment.

"Haha! Your Majesty is truly a heavenly god descended to earth! Treasure Pearl Temple has stood for a thousand years. It is the most formidable martial sect in the Great Yan Kingdom, even bearing the saying, 'All martial arts under heaven come from Treasure Pearl.' Its strength is incomparably great.

"Over these thousand years, from the former dynasty's Chancellor Zhang Xibai, who held power over the world more than six hundred years ago, to more than a dozen figures such as King Tang Li Hanhai, who controlled all four prefectures of Jiangnan and commanded hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers just over a decade ago, all had entertained thoughts of destroying Treasure Pearl Temple and swallowing the wealth it had accumulated over countless centuries. Yet every one of them had failed for various reasons.

"Who would have thought that the moment Your Majesty acted, you would take Treasure Pearl Temple so easily in a single day? Truly extraordinary! Your Majesty, your subordinate Wang Zhongyi offers you a cup!"

Amid the singing and dancing in the manor's banquet hall, Wang Zhongyi, seated below the many Barbarian chieftains, suddenly rose to his feet. While flattering A Yanda, who sat in the seat of honor above, he raised a cup of fine wine beside him and drained it in one gulp before laughing loudly.

"Haha! Wang Zhongyi, you old fellow certainly know how to flatter people. But this time, you have exaggerated somewhat. Though this king's martial arts have reached the divine and I am invincible beneath heaven, Treasure Pearl Temple truly was not weak. Had this king been alone, destroying it would likely have been beyond my strength.

"This success was possible only through the aid of the many warriors and chieftains of our Barbarian Tribe. Salachi in particular was remarkable—despite possessing only Minor Accomplishment of Internal Qi, he slew two old monks of the same realm in succession! Come, this king offers all of you a toast!"

A Yanda first laughed and scolded Wang Zhongyi, then immediately rose as well. Raising his cup, he smiled at the Barbarian chieftains throughout the hall.

Such methods of winning people's hearts were things A Yanda would never have used a dozen years ago, nor would he have deigned to use them.

For among their great Barbarian Tribe, the larger one's fist, the greater the truth. If a Barbarian was weak, saying more was useless. If one was strong, even without speaking, one could easily beat others into submission.

But that had been the past. Now that the Barbarians had defeated Zhu Hong and were about to march north to enter the Central Plains, they naturally could not continue using those savage old methods if they wished to rule the people of the Central Plains.

Moreover, the more A Yanda had studied the Central Plains' cultural heritage over the past decade or so, the more he felt the vast charm of its culture and the profound principles left behind by its sages.

Compared to them, the Barbarian Tribe into which he had been born truly lagged behind in every kind of cultural inheritance.

"Haha! Your Majesty praises us too highly. We succeeded this time only because of Your Majesty's help. Without Your Majesty, we could never have dealt with those two old monks, Yuanyin and Ben Zhen, of Treasure Pearl Temple.

"Who could have imagined that two mere martial artists at Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi—one of whom was even an old thing with half his body already in the grave—would possess such terrifying strength? Together, they could actually fight Your Majesty for nearly a thousand moves and hold you back for several quarter-hours. It is truly unbelievable!"

Hearing A Yanda's praise, the Barbarians all wore broad smiles, yet their words remained modest as they flattered him in return. When Yuanyin and Ben Zhen were mentioned in particular, lingering fear still filled their hearts.

The reason was simple: those two had been far too powerful. One had to know that at A Yanda's level of martial strength, ordinary experts at Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi could not withstand even three punches and two kicks from him. Even if several martial artists at Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi joined forces, they could at most fight fewer than a hundred moves.

Yet Ben Zhen and Yuanyin, two Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi martial artists from the mere Treasure Pearl Temple, had accomplished what even ten such martial artists could not. How could this not leave them deeply shaken?

"Report!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, someone outside seeks an audience. He says he wishes to present a treasure to Your Majesty!"

Just as the Barbarians in the hall were discussing Ben Zhen and Yuanyin, a Barbarian soldier hurried in from outside and respectfully dropped to one knee before Barbarian King A Yanda at the head of the hall.

"Oh? A treasure? What treasure?"

Hearing the Barbarian soldier's words, A Yanda's face showed a trace of curiosity as he asked doubtfully.

"In reply to Your Majesty, that person did not say. He only said that the treasure was too precious, and that he could take it out only after meeting Your Majesty."

Seeing A Yanda question him, the Barbarian soldier did not dare delay and hurriedly replied.

"Very well. Since that is the case, let him enter."