Chengping Year 2, the fifth day of the third month, in the small courtyard where Jiang Liu lived
After Jiang Liu finished cultivating the Five Elements Fist once, he was just about to sit in meditation and restore his qi and blood when he suddenly felt a stream of heat flow out from his organs. It traveled along his capillaries to his kidneys, then through his liver, followed by his heart, and finally reached his spleen before returning to his organs! It formed a perfect cycle. Had the Five Elements Fist reached perfection?
With a thought from Jiang Liu, a deep-blue light screen appeared before his eyes.
Auxiliary System: Name: Jiang Liu Realm: Body Refinement (Bone Tempering 100/206) Alchemy (Beginner 37/100) Five Elements Fist (Perfection) (Trait: Qi and Blood Generation) Wandering Steps (Minor Accomplishment 528/800)
Feeling his qi and blood slowly circulate, Jiang Liu realized that they were now running on their own without any deliberate guidance. So this is the Five Elements Fist's perfection trait: qi and blood generation! He had never expected the perfected Five Elements Fist to have such an effect.
Wouldn't that make Bone Tempering even faster? He could also devote more time to cultivating Wandering Steps.
He wondered whether anyone in the gang had cultivated the Five Elements Fist to perfection. Jiang Liu knew that he had only managed it with the Auxiliary System's help. Otherwise, it would have been utterly impossible to cultivate the Five Elements Fist to perfection before reaching Entry Grade!
After all, this was a fist technique for laying one's foundation! Once martial practitioners reached Entry Grade, they would have martial arts more suited to them, leaving little time to waste on basic techniques like this.
Jiang Liu practiced the Five Elements Fist's movements once and discovered that as the fist circulated, his qi and blood flowed faster and more smoothly, making the effect of Bone Tempering even better.
Previously, practicing the Five Elements Fist consumed qi and blood, and repeated practice would leave him depleted, which was why he had needed to sit in meditation to recover. Now, practicing the Five Elements Fist stimulated his qi and blood to circulate faster while also slowly restoring them on its own.
More importantly, he could restore his qi and blood while tempering his bones at the same time. It was practically killing two birds with one stone. He consumed less medicinal soup and pills, yet every time he finished taking the medicinal soup, he could cultivate for longer.
Jiang Liu excitedly practiced three consecutive sets of the Five Elements Fist. He did not feel tired at all; instead, he was bright-eyed and full of vigor, his entire body brimming with strength. The feeling was completely different from before.
Jiang Liu sat down cross-legged and sensed that the speed of his Bone Tempering had increased by a large margin. His face lit up with delight. He had originally thought it would take more than four months to complete Bone Tempering.
Now, it seemed he would not need that long. He should be able to complete Blood Exchange within this year. Uncle Hai had said that the fastest could complete Blood Exchange in three months, while the slowest might take a year.
Enough thinking about it. Time to eat.
Bang!
"Bastard! Jiang Hao, go find out which damn dog has been spreading rumors about me and ruining my reputation!" Zheng Lang slammed his palm down on the table in fury, shattering it, as he spoke in the main hall of the Scattered Eagle Hall's headquarters.
After a month of brewing, the rumors Lin Hai had spread had finally traveled throughout the Fallen Blossom Gang, from top to bottom.
"Hall Master, actually..." Jiang Hao glanced at the furious Zheng Lang, not daring to say the rest.
"Actually what? Don't hem and haw! Speak!" Zheng Lang glared at him furiously.
Jiang Hao summoned his courage and finally said, "Actually, I warned you more than ten days ago. You said it was a minor matter and that we didn't need to bother with it. You said the important thing was to hurry and strengthen our hall while winning people's hearts."
Zheng Lang frowned and thought for a moment. It seemed there really had been such a thing. At the time, he had been in a hurry to leave and had brushed it off with a casual remark. He had never expected the rumor to spread farther and farther until it could be heard everywhere. It seems quite a few people in the gang are targeting me!
"Go find out where this rumor originally came from. See which branch hall spread it the most widely. Once you find out, don't alert them. Let me handle it," Zheng Lang instructed.
"Yes, Hall Master! I'll arrange for people to investigate immediately!" Jiang Hao answered with a bow.
"If you discover anything targeting our hall in the future, pay close attention! I don't want people killing their way to our doorstep while we still have no idea what's going on," Zheng Lang said solemnly.
"Yes, Hall Master! I'll be more careful from now on!" Jiang Hao replied.
Zheng Lang stroked his chin in thought. It seemed he had to find a capable chief steward to manage the hall. Otherwise, remaining this passive every time would not do. But where could he find someone?
People like that were not easy to find! He had to be careful not to accidentally push himself into a ditch.
The Six Great Families? Zheng Lang's eyes lit up. But the people from the Six Great Families were not easy to employ. Aside from the Six Great Families, where else could he find people?
"I'll keep an eye out for now," Zheng Lang said to Jiang Hao. "Post a notice saying that our Scattered Eagle Hall is recruiting an accountant."
"Recruiting an accountant? Hall Master, don't we already have one?" Jiang Hao asked in confusion.
"Just do it! I have my own uses for him!" Zheng Lang said unhappily.
Jiang Hao's heart tightened, and he immediately replied, "Yes, Hall Master!"
"Anything else?" Zheng Lang waved his hand.
"Hall Master, these are last month's income and expenditures! I'll give you a detailed report!" As Jiang Hao spoke, he took out the account book and began reporting the details to Zheng Lang.
Since Zheng Lang had never fully trusted the people under him, although the accountant from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall handled the books, he still listened to a detailed report every month.
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