Wandering Steps Perfected

Just then, the waiter arrived with the Immortal Brew and dishes on a tray.

The waiter set down the food and drinks, saying, "Master Lin, enjoy!" and turned to head downstairs.

"Come on, Brother Jiang! Let's try this Immortal Brew!" Lin Hai said, pouring Jiang Liu a cup.

Jiang Liu picked up his cup, clinked it against Lin Hai's, and downed it in one gulp.

Soon, he felt a faint surge of Blood Essence flowing from his lungs, circulating throughout his body. This Immortal Brew certainly had the effect of stimulating Blood Essence, but as for how much of an effect, it wasn't much to write home about! Its great reputation must be due to hunger marketing!

The two of them began to eat and drink! They ate their fill, but didn't quite finish the wine. Lin Hai got up first to pay the bill, which came to over thirty taels! Not cheap!

Jiang Liu's monthly salary wouldn't even cover half of that meal! The Immortal Brew alone was twenty taels a bottle! And the signature dishes were all made with Exotic Beast Meat, which wasn't cheap either.

Jiang Liu now had just enough silver on him to cover two such meals! He suddenly felt incredibly poor! He had thought the dozens of taels he had would last him a long time.

But as soon as he stepped out of the Training Hall today, he learned what "spending money like water" meant in the world of martial artists.

Lin Hai led Jiang Liu to the Hunting Eagle Hall's headquarters, a compound noticeably smaller than the Fallen Blossom Gang's main headquarters! The gang members guarding the entrance immediately bowed and said, "Chief Lin!"

Lin Hai nodded slightly and walked straight in, leading Jiang Liu into the council hall.

The Hunting Eagle Hall Master, Lin Hao, was sitting on a high chair in the center of the hall, seemingly deep in thought.

Lin Hai stepped forward, cupping his fist and saying, "Hall Master, Jiang Liu has arrived!"

Lin Hao heard this, looked up, and said with a friendly expression, "Jiang Liu, you're here! How is it? What's your current strength?"

"Reporting to the Hall Master, I've already started Blood Exchange!" Jiang Liu replied respectfully, cupping his fist.

"Oh, Blood Exchange already! That fast?" Lin Hao said with a hint of surprise.

Jiang Liu circulated his Blood Essence, his entire body enveloped in Blood Essence Qi.

Lin Hao sensed it and realized that Jiang Liu had indeed started Blood Exchange.

He nodded in satisfaction and said, "Not bad! Not bad at all! My efforts weren't wasted."

"How long do you think it will take you to become Ranked?"

"I estimate I should be able to do it next month!" Jiang Liu said confidently.

"So confident? Many geniuses get stuck before becoming Ranked for a long time!" Lin Hao said with some curiosity.

"I'm no ordinary genius!" Jiang Liu said with confidence.

"Haha! I like your energetic and confident attitude! Good! Good!" Lin Hao laughed heartily in satisfaction.

He turned to Lin Hai and instructed, "Adjust Jiang Liu's benefits. Monthly salary of ten taels, ten Blood Growth Pills, and thirty catties of Exotic Beast Meat."

"Yes, Master Lin!" Lin Hai responded with a bow.

Jiang Liu immediately cupped his fist gratefully and said, "Thank you, Master Lin!"

"Go! Train hard and become Ranked as soon as possible!" Lin Hao patted Jiang Liu on the shoulder.

"Yes, Master Lin!" Jiang Liu turned and followed Lin Hai out of the council hall.

Lin Hai gave Jiang Liu a brief tour of the headquarters layout and finally took him to the Hunting Eagle Hall's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall! Following the procedure, he instructed the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall Disciple to update Jiang Liu's identity jade token information.

With that done, Lin Hai left in a hurry.

Jiang Liu followed the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall gang member to his own small residential courtyard! The layout was similar to the residential courtyards in the main headquarters, but there were fewer individual courtyards, probably because the branch hall had fewer people!

Jiang Liu looked around and, finding nothing to organize, began his daily training.

Time flew by, and it was now August 28th, morning.

Whoosh!

A shadow flashed out of Jiang Liu's residential courtyard.

Ranked martial artists could only sense a shadow flitting about; they couldn't see it clearly with the naked eye! If it weren't broad daylight, they might have thought they'd encountered a ghost.

Jiang Liu had practiced Wandering Steps twice this morning and felt that Wandering Steps was complete! He couldn't help but run around, using Wandering Steps everywhere!

He immediately felt the difference between complete Wandering Steps and perfected Wandering Steps! This complete Wandering Steps had completely abandoned the previous footwork techniques; it was a truly free and unrestrained footwork, allowing him to control the direction of his steps at will, changing direction at will. Wherever his mind went, that was where his steps would go.

This made him even more unpredictable. If he encountered such an enemy in combat, he would only be able to take a beating.

Jiang Liu was extremely satisfied with Wandering Steps.

With a thought, a dark blue light screen appeared before his eyes.

Auxiliary System:

Name: Jiang Liu

Realm: Body Refinement (Blood Exchange 99%)

Alchemy (Novice 45/100)

Medical Skill (Uninitiated 0/50)

Five Elements Fist (Complete) (Trait: Blood Essence Stimulation)

Wandering Steps (Complete) (Trait: Agility)

"Tomorrow I can complete Blood Exchange! What do I need to do to become a Medical Skill novice? I've read the Hundred Cures Compendium dozens of times, but the proficiency hasn't increased at all," Jiang Liu thought.