Pig Blood Raises Pigs, Dragon Blood Raises Dragons

Pig Blood Raises Pigs, Dragon Blood Raises Dragons

Night.

Yan Niangzi lay in her husband's arms, chattering on about the neighborhood gossip from the day.

Li Yuan listened with great interest as well.

In these rural days without phones, computers, the internet, or even electricity, these were probably the only two things one could do after dark.

If they moved to the county town, settled beside Silver Creek, and had a little spare cash, perhaps they could still go out for a few drinks at night. But that was clearly impossible now.

"That foolish girl Feng Er—Brother Xiong is obviously just playing with her, yet she still gave him her body. Today, she was daydreaming over there again, saying she'd wait for Brother Xiong and marry him as a concubine. It's enough to make your mother furious!"

"Brother Xiong... isn't he pretty good? Didn't you praise him a few days ago?"

"Brother Xiong is restless. He's not a man meant for living a steady life."

"Then am I?"

"You..." Yan Niangzi muttered, wanting to say something like, "You would be if you could bring home more game," but recalling how she had provoked her man into practicing martial arts until he developed a demonic obstruction, she changed her words. "You are. I'm especially fond of you."

The night was long.

Much later.

Yan Niangzi fell asleep from exhaustion.

Li Yuan lay comfortably on the bed.

To be fair, if the quality of life were not so poor, if even their next meal were not so uncertain, he truly would have liked the life here.

Before transmigrating, he had been a pig butcher. Where could he possibly have found a girl as caring as Yan Niangzi?

Outside the window, the bitter winter wind occasionally rattled the bamboo gate in the fence with a creak-creak sound, painfully harsh in the night.

Yet it only made the peace and quiet stand out all the more.

Li Yuan recalled Yan Yu's words, and could not help feeling fortunate once again.

He really had Zhang Mazi to thank. Otherwise, he might well have been fooled by Brother Xiong's sincerity and joined that little team.

How was Brother Xiong bold and enterprising? He simply had not yet secured his advantageous position before he began swaggering about.

It had only been a few days, yet he was already fooling around with women outside.

Li Yuan shook his head. Holding his delicate wife in his arms, he soon fell asleep as well.

The following days passed peacefully.

Li Yuan avoided Brother Xiong and Qian Er, heading into the mountains from time to time, rotating between "bird eggs," "boxed meat," and "wild chickens and rabbits."

To outsiders, it seemed that he could only catch a wild chicken or rabbit every two or three days.

Such small game did not have much meat to begin with, so no one paid much attention for the time being.

One day, news came from the county town that "Monk Pan had been beheaded."

That chivalrous man had died in the end. No miracle had occurred.

After Caihua Sao learned of it, she bowed from afar in the direction of the county town. After that, there was nothing more to say.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed since Li Yuan obtained the Willow Return Technique.

One morning, Li Yuan opened his eyes and glanced at his own information.

Name: Li Yuan

Points: 104

Realm: Not Ranked

Cultivation Method: Willow Return Technique (1/100)

Skills: Expert Archery (0/80); Advanced Tracking (0/40)

Divine Ability: Eternal Life

Equipment Bar: Unlocked

He slipped his arm out from beneath Yan Niangzi's head, put on his clothes and trousers, and rose to the courtyard.

Heaven rewarded diligence; every bit of toil brought its reward.

Today, at last, was the day of harvest.

Li Yuan focused on the "+" behind Willow Return Technique (1/100) and began adding points.

As the points were added, fragments of memories drifted up from the depths of his mind.

They were days upon days of diligent training. The youth worked outside during the day, earning silver to buy medicinal meals and meat to nourish his body; at night, he shed sweat beneath the moonlight. His gaze was resolute, and no matter how many times he failed, he never admitted defeat.

And at last, he succeeded.

A sensation of growing stronger welled up from within his body.

It was a feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced.

Li Yuan clearly felt a current of heat emerge within his muscles, darting about like little mice. It did not seem to be air, but a powerful kind of blood.

As that blood coursed through him, his limbs, skin, muscles, and bones all felt as though they had been immersed in a hot spring—warm, comfortable beyond measure.

Unfortunately, there was too little of this blood. Otherwise, it would surely have felt countless times better.

Suddenly, Li Yuan remembered Yan Niangzi's words: "Pig blood raises pigs, dragon blood raises dragons." This blood should be some kind of special blood, right? And what was called entering the ranks—its power all came from this special blood.

Right after that, Li Yuan discovered that his muscles had swelled, solid as stone.

He walked straight to a massive boulder in the courtyard, grabbed it lightly, and lifted it.

He raised and lowered it several times in succession, yet did not feel the slightest ache or numbness.

Li Yuan glanced at the value beside him. It had astonishingly become "9–10."

And that was without holding his bow!

Before this, he had only been "1–2."

"Good, good, good!"

Li Yuan was in high spirits. He ran back inside, grabbed the Earthen Bow hanging on the wall, and checked the value again.

"24–25"!!!

This value had already surpassed that plainclothes saber-carrying constable from before!

His panel naturally changed as well.

Name: Li Yuan

Points: 5

Realm: Ninth Rank (Flesh Refinement)

Cultivation Method: Willow Return Technique (100/100)

Skills: Expert Archery (0/80); Advanced Tracking (0/40)

Divine Ability: Eternal Life

Equipment Bar: Unlocked

"Ninth Rank!"

"Just as expected, once my realm rises, the threat posed by my bow and arrows rises too. That's why my value increases so much more when I hold the bow."

"Only, it looks like the Willow Return Technique has been cultivated as far as it can go?"

This left Li Yuan a little depressed, but it was not a major problem.

"Starting today, I can finally hunt openly and honestly. Hahaha!"

Standing beneath the sunlight, the youth's heart brimmed with delight. One had to hide seven parts of one's strength and reveal only three; only then could one protect oneself.

Hearing her husband's laughter, Yan Niangzi knelt by the window, quietly pushed it open a crack, and looked at him with concern.

It was over.

He was having another episode.

That faint movement immediately caught Li Yuan's attention. He turned his head to look at Yan Niangzi. "Sister Yan, from today on, our family will have all the meat we can eat."

Without waiting for Yan Yu's response, he took a sack, grabbed the Firewood Chopping Knife and slung it over his back, then strode outside.

Since his overall strength had already reached "24–25," then... there should be no problem showing strength roughly equal to Brother Xiong with his dog and bow, right?

Second Layer Mountain.

Li Yuan had long since explored it thoroughly.

But he did not want to steal Brother Xiong's thunder, so he bypassed several wild boars. After venturing deep into Second Layer Mountain, he spotted a roe deer.

He swiftly drew the bow and nocked a stone.

Creak... creak-creak-creak.

The Earthen Bow gave off a frail sound as though it were about to break, as if another pull would snap it in two.

Li Yuan had no choice but to rein in some of his strength.

Hearing the noise, the roe deer in the distance curiously turned its head, wanting to see what the sound was.

At that moment, Li Yuan suddenly released the string.

Whoosh!!

The stone shot out and smashed straight into the roe deer's forehead.

With a dull thud, the roe deer fell at once. Its body twitched a few times, then went still.

Li Yuan rushed forward in a few quick strides and stuffed the roe deer into the sack.

He weighed it slightly. More than thirty jin—good enough.

On the way back to the village, things were strangely quiet.

When passersby saw his bulging sack, they no longer teased him. The occasional person who spoke did so in a strange, mocking tone.

"Yuanzi, what did you catch today? It's so big?"

"Can you spare some for me? My family is nearly too poor to lift the lid off the pot."

"We're all from the same neighborhood. Mountain wealth should be shared with the mountain—those who see it deserve a portion."