Blood Exchange Complete

Chengping Year 2, August 29th!

Huff!

Jiang Liu exhaled a mouthful of stale air. This Blood Growth Pill was truly effective. Previously, Blood Exchange progressed at 1% per day, but now, with the Blood Growth Pill, it had reached around 1.5%.

If he had known the Blood Growth Pill was this effective sooner, he would have applied to exchange for it back at the main headquarters. He would have completed the Blood Exchange much faster.

"Ding!"

A deep blue light screen, visible only to Jiang Liu, suddenly appeared before his eyes. A line of text appeared on it:

Host has completed Blood Exchange, finished preliminary Body Refinement, and is now preparing for Martial Path Ranking.

System is preparing to upgrade, which will take approximately one hour. The Auxiliary System will be officially activated upon completion.

Heh! Ptooey! So, I was playing a trial version all this time? You're only giving me the full version now that I'm a martial artist preparing to rank? How insulting.

Jiang Liu felt speechless for a moment, wanting to open the light screen to take a look. All he saw was darkness, with a stopwatch counting down: 59:58.

Suddenly, Jiang Liu felt a wave of heat surge through his body. The stagnant, waste blood within him gushed out incessantly, instantly covering his entire body in blood. His clothes were soaked through. Then, his bone marrow began to produce new blood continuously to replenish the deficit.

Following that, his bones continued to compress ceaselessly, as if to squeeze out every last bit of remaining stagnant, waste blood.

This was the final step in completing the Blood Exchange. During the previous Blood Exchange process, only a small amount of stagnant, waste blood was expelled each day, which is why it wasn't as noticeable.

Jiang Liu endured the convulsions racking his body, gritting his teeth. He knew this was the final hurdle before Martial Path Ranking, and once he overcame it, the martial path would be a smooth road ahead.

This cycle repeated itself, and after the better part of an hour, the bone compression finally ceased.

Jiang Liu, drenched in sweat and covered in bloodstains, stood up. He thought with lingering fear, Finally, I made it through. It was clear that the Blood Exchange caused no small amount of pain. Jiang Liu went to the washroom, thoroughly cleaned himself, changed his clothes, and then sat back down in his room.

Circulating his Blood Essence, he discovered that all his meridians had been unblocked. The sluggishness he felt before when circulating Blood Essence through his meridians had disappeared. Now, he was just waiting to open his Dantian and become a ranked martial artist. Jiang Liu couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

At that moment, a familiar sound echoed in his mind.

"Ding!"

A deep blue light screen, familiar to Jiang Liu, appeared before his eyes.

Compared to the previous light screen, there were some changes.

A line of text appeared on it:

Host has completed Body Refinement, rewarded with Five Elements Heart Sutra (Rank: None) (Claim?)

Below was the familiar interface from before.

Name: Jiang Liu

Realm: Martial Artist (Unranked)

Skills: (Entry, Minor Success, Major Success, Perfection)

Alchemy (Entry 45/100)

Medical Skill (Uninitiated 0/50)

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

Wandering Steps (Perfection) (Trait: Displacement)

Heart Sutra: None

Technique: None

Jiang Liu learned from clicking on the light screen's description that Heart Sutra was the internal cultivation method practiced by ranked martial artists. The attribute of the Heart Sutra determined the attribute of your Primal Qi. Technique was the evolved version of the martial arts practiced during the Body Refinement stage.

The ranking of martial artists was divided into Ninth Rank based on the amount of Primal Qi stored. Strength was divided into Initial Entry, Minor Success, Major Success, and Peak based on the mastery of the techniques.

This was simple and clear, but was the blank space at the top of the screen specifically for issuing rewards?

Right, there was also the rewarded Heart Sutra. Jiang Liu clicked to claim it, and immediately a stream of information automatically transmitted into the depths of Jiang Liu's mind.

This is electric shock transmission! Jiang Liu, clutching his head as if it were about to split open, blurted out a string of curses! "You didn't even warn me!"

After a good while, Jiang Liu finally felt more comfortable. The complete contents of the Five Elements Heart Sutra had appeared in his mind.

After browsing through it, Jiang Liu felt that this Five Elements Heart Sutra was a bit of a pit! Others only learned one element, but he was learning all five. Wouldn't that take five times longer than others? And it was rankless.

Jiang Liu felt a moment of hesitation, unsure whether it was good to learn it or not. But wasn't it said that anything produced by the system was guaranteed to be a high-quality product? What was going on with his? Could it be a counterfeit product? He would definitely complain if he had the chance.

He knew that the techniques circulating in the martial world now all had ranks. The lowest was Yellow Grade, Low Rank, and the highest was Heaven Grade, Peak Rank.

Techniques were divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Heaven Grade was the highest, and Yellow Grade was the lowest. Each grade was further divided into Low, Mid, High, and Peak ranks.

The techniques learned by martial artists in the Body Refinement stage before ranking were all unranked, so they had no grade.

For Body Refinement stage techniques, only the degree of mastery mattered. For ranked techniques, not only did the degree of mastery matter, but also the grade of the technique, in order to ensure a steadier and further path in martial arts.

Jiang Liu pondered, Should I go ask Master Lin and see if there are any suitable Heart Sutras? Thinking of it, he did it. Jiang Liu immediately got up and headed to the council hall to find Master Lin.