Breakthrough

Meanwhile,

Huangshi Town.

A figure staggered into Weilong Martial Arts School within the town, then dropped to his knees before the master like a mountain collapsing and jade pillars toppling, bursting into loud sobs.

"Master, you must seek justice for your disciple!"

Then, beneath the gathered gazes of the many martial arts school students, he recounted his tragic ordeal bit by bit, tears and snot streaming down his face.

The man kneeling on the ground and wailing was named Li Jinbao, a young man from Cuihua Village.

Half a year ago,

his father had scrimped and saved several hundred taels of silver, then asked someone to send him into town to study martial arts at Weilong Martial Arts School.

Li Jinbao had lived up to expectations as well.

After training for a month, he had already refined Qi and Blood and successfully entered the Martial Arts Entry Realm!

His talent was outstanding, and he was honest and simple by nature, so Zhou Weilong, the master of Weilong Martial Arts School, had taken notice of him and accepted him as a disciple, making him one of the school's core disciples.

After learning of this,

Black Wind Stronghold had also announced that it would halve the annual tribute silver demanded from all of Cuihua Village.

At the time, this had caused quite a stir throughout the villages and hamlets within ten miles of the town.

Had nothing unexpected happened, Li Jinbao could have been called a model of a commoner rising against the odds!

But in reality,

misfortune always arrived when one least expected it.

A few days ago, for some unknown reason, the Black Wind Bandits had suddenly gone mad and sent men to attack and plunder the villages under their control, slaughtering all the old and young in the villages and seizing every surviving able-bodied man and woman.

Cuihua Village had not escaped disaster either!

His parents, relatives, and friends had all been carried off by the Black Wind Bandits. Had Li Jinbao not been an Entry Realm Warrior, he likely would not have escaped!

"Good heavens, what a sin! What kind of madness have those damned Black Wind Bandits gone insane with?"

"No idea. I heard more than ten villages have already fallen victim to them."

"Even rabbits do not eat the grass around their burrows. Have they gone mad?!"

After Li Jinbao tearfully told them everything,

the surrounding onlookers began discussing it heatedly.

At this moment,

the master of Weilong Martial Arts School, Zhou Weilong—Li Jinbao's master—stood upon the steps in dark robes, his face stern and imposing, utterly expressionless.

Yet as he looked at the disciple kneeling before him, his face streaked with tears and mucus, thoughts began stirring in his heart.

His heart shifted slightly.

He was not originally from Huangshi Town.

A year ago, he had come to town and opened this Weilong Martial Arts School. In truth, he knew little about the Black Wind Bandits outside the city.

Yet after Li Jinbao entered the Martial Arts Entry Realm, the Black Wind Bandits had voluntarily reduced Cuihua Village's tribute silver by half. No matter how one looked at it, they clearly harbored some apprehension.

In that case, those Black Wind Bandits were nothing much after all.

Why not use this as an excuse to make a trip there, reason things out with those Black Wind Bandits, and lay down the rules?

With his Half-Step Viscera Refining Realm cultivation, those Black Wind Bandits surely would not dare touch him.

And once this matter was over,

his reputation would surely soar!

Wouldn't Weilong Martial Arts School then have wealth rolling in from all directions?

Thus,

Zhou Weilong gave a cough and raised a hand, pressing it down to quiet the crowd.

"Everyone, quiet down!"

Seeing gaze after gaze gather upon him,

he stroked his long beard, seeming to ponder for a moment before speaking gravely:

"Killing is one thing, but slaughtering even the old, weak, women, and children—what those Black Wind Bandits did was beneath contempt!"

"Jinbao, although you have been under my tutelage for only half a year, you are still my disciple. I, Zhou Weilong, am not the sort to hide when my disciples encounter trouble!"

"How about this? Three days from now, I will take your senior and junior brothers up Black Wind Mountain and seek justice for you!"

Zhou Weilong stood with his hands behind his back,

his words sonorous and forceful, each one striking the ground like a hammer!

At once,

the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers.

"Good!"

"Master Zhou is mighty!"

"Master Zhou is righteous!"

"Hmph! Those ridiculous Black Wind Bandits are nothing but losers who could not beat the Black Tiger Gang and could not survive in the city, so they ran outside to wander about! And they dare provoke Weilong Martial Arts School? I'll go too when the time comes. I want to see how those so-called Black Wind Bandits die!"

"Count me in!"

"To punish the strong and aid the weak, to walk the path of chivalry and righteousness—this is what a true man should be!"

The people all around

roared their approval.

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

Li Jinbao said gratefully again and again.

With everyone crowding around him like stars surrounding the moon, Zhou Weilong straightened himself with reserved pride, stroking his long beard as a satisfied, arrogant expression appeared on his face.

A day or two later,

Wang Family Village.

Inside a quiet room,

Yang Qingyun sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes shut, his mind immersed within his body. Following the Methods of the Longevity Technique, he circulated and refined the vast Medicinal Power of the Blood Qi Pill within him, completing cycle after cycle.

Until a certain moment,

Boom!

His dantian opened, and Qi and Blood was born. Fine strands of it stretched through his limbs and hundreds of meridians like molten lava, gradually nourishing and opening the meridians within his body!

At that moment, his entire body seemed to steam with Qi and Blood!

An invisible, intangible aura

also rose steadily at this time!

It spread in all directions, and a terrifying pressure followed, expanding throughout the entire village!

That silent, invisible sense of danger made the villagers of Wang Family Village feel as though, deep within the village, a terrifying ferocious tiger had hidden itself in the darkness at some unknown time!

Like thorns against their backs,

they trembled in fear!

"What is that lord doing?"

"Who knows? It's terrifying. It feels like some savage beast is staring at us from behind!"

"Perhaps this is the martial artist's aura the warrior lords speak of. That is a good thing—the stronger that lord is, the safer we will be."

"Sigh, let us hope so."

"He is truly formidable. That Young Master must be one of the martial arts masters those great martial artists speak of!"

The terrified villagers whispered among themselves, their backs nearly drenched in cold sweat.

Even though they were far from that true forbidden ground in the corner of the village, they did not dare speak loudly, afraid they might anger that terrifying existence.

Yang Qingyun knew nothing of the commotion outside.

At the moment he refined Qi and Blood and entered the realm once more,

the experiences of his Previous Life condensed into an almost tangible oppressive aura.

Because of that, the ordinary villagers of Wang Family Village ultimately felt a pressure and terror that arose from the very level of life itself!

But at this moment,

Yang Qingyun had no mind to pay attention to any of that!

He had broken through!

As the Qi and Blood born within him completed a full cycle according to the Longevity Technique and returned to his dantian, Yang Qingyun had truly stepped into the Martial Arts Entry Realm!

Though this was merely the beginning of the Martial Cultivator's path, a level that could only be considered insignificant among Martial Cultivators,

regaining control of Qi and Blood still greatly strengthened Yang Qingyun's sense of security!

At the same time,

feeling the Qi and Blood within him, more vigorous than ever before, circulate through his body, Yang Qingyun could not help but reveal a faint smile.

"As expected of the Longevity Technique. It truly is extraordinary!"

"Using the Blood Qi Pill as the foundation for entering the realm, coupled with the might of the Longevity Technique, the Qi and Blood born within my body is likely twenty or thirty times more abundant than when I first entered the realm in my Previous Life!"

"In terms of the amount of Qi and Blood refined alone, I now possess even more than the Third Boss of the Black Wind Bandits!"

Feeling the powerful foundation within his body, Yang Qingyun could not help letting out a long breath, excitement appearing on his face!

One had to know,

he had only just entered the realm!

And this time, his gains were not limited to a robust foundation of Qi and Blood.

Under the refinement of the Longevity Technique, the Blood Qi Pill had fused into the extraordinary meridians and eight channels within his body. That wisp of spiritual energy tempered his physique and merged into his dantian and meridians, further cleansing and enhancing his Talent!

Qi and Blood circulated through his dantian and meridians with incomparable smoothness!

Compared to when he had entered the Martial Arts Entry Realm in his Previous Life, when his meridians had been twisted and clogged and his body had leaked from every corner, it was a difference as vast as heaven and earth!

That unprecedentedly smooth sensation

made Yang Qingyun feel that the future before him was bright!

Just as Yang Qingyun rejoiced inwardly and swiftly used the experience of his Previous Life to master the abundant Qi and Blood born within his body,

a hurried, disorderly series of footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

At the same time, ragged gasps and successive shouts approached from afar, growing louder and louder, tinged with sobs and despair:

"Disaster! Disaster! Young Master Yang, the Black Wind Bandits are here! So many Black Wind Bandit horsemen—they're charging toward the village!"