Qualitative Change, Blood Sword Dance

Night was dark to begin with, and the pawnshop's only light came from an oil lamp.

When a hoarse voice sounded from outside the door, every hair on Shen Bai's body stood on end.

He knew that voice all too well. He had heard it last night—it was the Old Daoist Priest's voice.

That morning, Zhang Chaofeng had told him that the Old Daoist Priest had died at the Qian residence. So how could he be appearing at the pawnshop tonight?

"Are things like ghosts really that sinister?" Shen Bai gripped the Rusty Longsword on the table.

His adaptability was extremely strong. The moment the thought arose, he had already adapted to it.

There was no use in failing to adapt, anyway.

He had even experienced transmigration. What was anything else compared to that?

After that voice came from outside, all movement ceased.

But immediately afterward, the oil lamp on the table began to flicker.

A set of footsteps suddenly rang out inside the pawnshop.

The pawnshop was open at a glance. Apart from Shen Bai, there was no second person.

Yet the footsteps reminded Shen Bai that the second presence might not be human.

Just as he thought that, the oil lamp suddenly flickered.

A voice sounded to Shen Bai's right.

"Give me the Peachwood Sword."

Shen Bai abruptly turned to look.

In the corner to his right, the Old Daoist Priest was crouching on the ground with his back to him, his hair hanging loose and disheveled.

As though sensing Shen Bai's gaze, the Old Daoist Priest raised his head while still facing away from him.

A full one hundred and eighty degrees, as if his neck had been forcibly twisted apart alive—the back of the Old Daoist Priest's head pressed against his back as he stared at Shen Bai with inverted eyes.

Through the lamplight, Shen Bai saw a section of the Peachwood Sword's tip in the Old Daoist Priest's mouth, stained with scarlet blood.

Crack!

Accompanied by the sound of bones shattering.

The joints at the Old Daoist Priest's elbows flipped around. With his palms braced against the floor and his back facing downward, he charged at Shen Bai at incredible speed.

Those eyes were chillingly cold. The sword tip in his mouth swayed, occasionally protruding farther out.

"Give me the Peachwood Sword... Give me the Peachwood Sword..."

When he reached Shen Bai, sharp broken bones jutted from his elbows and struck toward Shen Bai's chest.

"You elbowing me?"

Dense sweat beaded Shen Bai's forehead, but his mind remained incomparably calm.

The Rusty Longsword swept out from Shen Bai's hand.

At that moment, Shen Bai unleashed the Sword Dance Technique to its fullest extent.

Mighty righteous qi scattered all evil.

The Rusty Longsword slashed past, flashing with a brilliant gleam under the oil lamp's light.

The Old Daoist Priest's elbows shattered apart, and his back slammed viciously into the ground.

Shen Bai reversed the Rusty Longsword in his hand and drove it downward, piercing the Old Daoist Priest through the forehead.

The Old Daoist Priest's limbs began to struggle.

After a while, the struggling gradually stopped.

A wisp of black smoke rose from the Old Daoist Priest's body. Before long, he turned into black smoke and vanished.

Killed an aberration, obtained one wisp of Killing Intent

Killing Intent?

Before Shen Bai had recovered from the danger, he discovered that the smoke before his eyes had turned into words.

"Killing aberrations can grant Killing Intent?"

After confirming it again and again, Shen Bai suddenly understood the source of Killing Intent.

As for what an aberration was...

Did he even need to ask?

Something like the Old Daoist Priest, who had died and then reappeared, bearing some resemblance to a ghost, was one hundred percent an aberration.

"This gives me a bit of inspiration."

Shen Bai rubbed his chin and thought, Perhaps I have an idea about where Killing Intent comes from.

At this moment, everything around him fell silent once more.

The crisis had been resolved. Shen Bai now knew what Killing Intent was, and he had also obtained a wisp of it.

Now was the time to use it.

Smoke surfaced before Shen Bai's eyes again.

Sword Dance Technique lv.2 (Swordsmanship +2, Demon-Breaking +2): 1000/1000

Can undergo qualitative change; requires one wisp of Killing Intent

If he had Killing Intent, he would use it. Shen Bai was not the sort to hide things away.

With a thought from Shen Bai, the Killing Intent before him vanished, and the words for Sword Dance Technique twisted like serpents as they began to reassemble.

Before long, the Sword Dance Technique underwent a qualitative change.

Blood Sword Dance lv.3 (Swordsmanship +4, Demon-Breaking +4, Vibration +4): 0/5000

After the Sword Dance Technique transformed into Blood Sword Dance, a great deal of information appeared in Shen Bai's mind again.

The first two abilities remained the same, only their attributes had doubled. The crucial part was the newly appeared Vibration ability.

Vibration meant using the sword dance to shake his own qi and blood, thereby increasing the power of his swordsmanship.

Shen Bai picked up the Rusty Longsword and casually began to dance with it.

After reaching level three, the Scorching Qi Flow within him increased by another trace.

As Shen Bai danced his sword and the flow surged within him, he felt his qi and blood begin to vibrate.

The power of every sword strike was no longer in the same league as before.

"With the qi flow as the guide and qi and blood as the medium, this swordsmanship is formidable."

Shen Bai practiced his sword for a while before stopping.

Blood Sword Dance +1

"Let's get to it!"

With something new in hand, Shen Bai could not suppress the excitement in his heart.

The Scorching Qi Flow in his body could clear away fatigue. While it could not keep him from sleeping for long periods, it was enough for the short term.

Shen Bai did not hesitate and continued practicing the Blood Sword Dance.

After reaching level three, every strike of the Blood Sword Dance required him to stir his qi and blood, and his proficiency rose more slowly.

Whenever Shen Bai practiced until the qi flow was nearly exhausted, he stopped to recover.

He went back and forth like this until the next day arrived.

When sunlight shone in, Shen Bai let out a long breath.

Smoke appeared before his eyes, gradually gathering into words.

Blood Sword Dance lv.3 (Swordsmanship +4, Demon-Breaking +4, Vibration +4): 400/5000

Over the course of one night, he had gained a full four hundred points. Because proficiency had become somewhat slower and he had needed to restore his qi flow, the progress was still decent.

"Time to open for business."

Shen Bai only felt hunger gnawing at his stomach.

Stirring his qi and blood consumed a tremendous amount of energy, so it was perfectly normal to be hungry.

Shen Bai went out. As he left, he also strapped the Rusty Longsword to his waist.

After the aberrant incident last night, Shen Bai felt that without a longsword on him, he would have no sense of security.

Inside the breakfast shop.

Under the owner's astonished gaze, Shen Bai ate three baskets of buns before paying and heading back.

"No wonder they always said scholars impoverish, martial artists enrich. Just stirring my qi and blood has made me eat three times as much as before."

Shen Bai pondered this as he walked back.

Fortunately, the pawnshop's earnings were not bad, enough to support this appetite.

After giving it some thought, Shen Bai planned to have Zhang Chaofeng keep watch outside once he returned, while he went alone to the backyard to practice the Blood Sword Dance.

When it came to grinding, he could not slack off for even a moment.

Before long, lost in thought, Shen Bai arrived at the pawnshop entrance.

Just as he was about to open the door, someone called out to him.

"Are you the proprietor of the Shen Family Pawnshop?"

Shen Bai frowned and turned around.

Behind him, a middle-aged man dressed in black clothes stood some distance away with more than a dozen constables.

In Ascending Cloud County, black clothes signified a constable chief.

Shen Bai did not know why they had come looking for him.

The black-clothed constable chief stepped forward. Before Shen Bai could speak, he slowly said, "I am Zheng Yuan, constable chief of the county yamen. I came to ask you about something. I heard that not long ago, an Old Daoist Priest redeemed a Peachwood Sword from your place?"