Blood Exchange Complete

Chengping Year 2, August 29!

Whoosh!

Jiang Liu exhaled a breath of turbid air. The Blood Growth Pill worked very well. Before, his Blood Exchange progressed by 1% a day, but after taking the Blood Growth Pill, it had reached around 1.5%.

If only he had known the Blood Growth Pill would be so effective. He should have applied to exchange it for the Blood Growth Pill back at the main hall. He would have completed the Blood Exchange much sooner.

"Ding."

A deep-blue light screen visible only to Jiang Liu suddenly appeared before his eyes. A line of text appeared on it: Host's Blood Exchange complete. Preliminary Body Tempering complete. Preparing for Martial Path Ranking.

The system was preparing to upgrade. It would take approximately one hour. Once the upgrade was complete, the Auxiliary System would officially activate.

Hah! Tui! So what I'd been using before was a trial version? It only gives me the full version once I'm about to rank as a martial practitioner? That's downright bullying.

Jiang Liu felt speechless for a moment and tried to open the light screen to take a look. All he saw was darkness, with only a stopwatch countdown displayed on it: 59:58

Suddenly, Jiang Liu felt a wave of scorching heat surge through his entire body. The putrid and waste blood inside him continuously gushed out, instantly covering him from head to toe in blood and soaking his clothes through. Then, the marrow throughout his body began producing new blood to replenish the deficit.

At the same time, all the bones in his body continued squeezing, as if trying to force out every last trace of putrid and waste blood.

This was the final step of completing the Blood Exchange. During the previous stages, only small amounts of putrid and waste blood had been expelled each day, which was why the process had not felt so obvious.

Jiang Liu endured the pain of his entire body convulsing and clenched his teeth. He knew this was the final hurdle before entering the Martial Path Ranking. Once he made it through, the martial path ahead would be smooth sailing.

The cycle repeated over and over. Only after more than half an hour did the movement of his bones squeezing finally cease.

Jiang Liu stood up drenched in sweat and covered in bloodstains. He thought with lingering fear, I finally made it through. The pain caused by the Blood Exchange really wasn't light. He went to the washroom and carefully cleaned himself before changing his clothes and sitting back down in the room.

He circulated the qi and blood throughout his body and discovered that all his meridians had been cleared. The sluggish sensation from when his qi and blood had previously flowed through his meridians had vanished. Now, all that remained was opening his dantian and becoming a Ranked Martial Practitioner. Jiang Liu could not help feeling delighted.

At that moment, a voice came from deep within his mind.

"Ding!"

A familiar deep-blue light screen appeared before Jiang Liu's eyes.

Compared with the light screen displayed before, it had changed somewhat.

A line of text appeared on it: Host has completed Body Refinement. Reward: Five Elements Heart Sutra (Rank: None) (Claim?)

Below it was the familiar interface from before.

Name: Jiang Liu

Realm: Martial Practitioner (Not Yet Ranked)

Skills: (Beginner, Minor Achievement, Great Achievement, Perfection)

Alchemy (Beginner 45/100)

Medicine (Not Yet Begun 0/50)

Five Elements Fist (Perfection) (Trait: Qi and Blood Growth)

Wandering Steps (Perfection) (Trait: Evasion)

Heart Sutra: None

Technique: None

Only after clicking the light screen to read the introduction did Jiang Liu learn that a heart sutra was the internal cultivation method practiced by Ranked Martial Practitioners. The attribute of one's heart sutra determined the attribute of one's essence qi, while techniques were the evolved versions of the martial skills practiced during the Body Refinement Realm.

The ranks of martial practitioners were divided from first to ninth grade according to the amount of essence qi stored. Their level of strength was divided into Initial, Minor Achievement, Great Achievement, and Peak Realms according to their mastery of their techniques.

This was simple, clear, and easy to understand. 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 claim, and a stream of information instantly transmitted itself into the depths of his mind.

This is electric-shock transmission! Jiang Liu clutched his head, which felt as if it were about to split open, and a national expletive burst from his mouth! You didn't even give me any warning.

After quite a while, Jiang Liu finally felt much better. 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 little too much of a trap. Other people only cultivated a single element, while he had to cultivate all five. Wouldn't that mean he had to spend five times as long as everyone else? And it was even Rankless.

Jiang Liu felt conflicted and did not know whether he should cultivate it. But wasn't it said that anything produced by the system was bound to be a fine product? What was going on with his? Could it be a counterfeit? He would definitely file a complaint if he got the chance.

It had to be known that all the techniques circulating throughout the Jianghu now had ranks. The lowest was Yellow Grade, Low Rank, while 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, Middle, High, and Peak Ranks.

Before entering the Martial Path Ranking, the techniques cultivated during the Body Refinement Realm were all unranked, which was why they had no grade.

Body Refinement Realm techniques were judged only by one's mastery of them. Techniques of the Ranked Realm were judged not only by one's mastery, but also by the technique's grade. Only then could one walk the martial path more steadily and farther.

Jiang Liu pondered: Should I go ask Master Lin and see if he has a suitable heart sutra? Once the thought arose, he acted on it. Jiang Liu immediately got up and headed to the council hall to find Master Lin.