Blood Martial Black Market: Buying Exotic Materials, an Old Enemy Repays a Debt of Gratitude

[Rock Shattering Claw (1%, Third Level)]

[Potential: 5908]

Borrowing the momentum of his breakthrough in the Wood Element Art's Second Level, he struck while the iron was hot and pushed the Rock Shattering Claw up to the Third Level as well, gaining another 385 potential points.

After breaking through two true arts in succession, his qi and blood were somewhat depleted.

He grabbed the nourishing Blood Food that had long since been prepared on the table and tore into it, gulping it down to replenish what he had expended.

The obvious effect of the Wood Element Art's First Level was "endless stamina," while its Second Level focused on "purging impurities and detoxifying." Its effects were more restrained and not readily perceptible on the surface, yet they washed away hidden dangers in the minutiae.

The Wood Element Art's Second Level had temporarily come to an end. From here on, he needed to return his focus to honing his other true arts.

After all, the Third Level threshold of the Wood Element Art was the moment when its true secrets would finally be revealed.

He had still never met that Martial Master. He knew nothing of his temperament or methods, only that he was a "Fifth Level" expert...

"Fifth Level, huh..."

Chen Duan clenched his fist in midair, his knuckles cracking crisply.

There was not the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.

Only when the fist of a strong man was swung at someone stronger could he appreciate the scenery atop the martial path—and nothing made the blood surge more fiercely.

Whoosh—

His thoughts shifted slightly, and the inner force of the Rock Shattering Claw began to circulate. As he casually swung both arms, his five fingers sliced through the air, raising waves of shrill whistles.

The nature of this true art's inner force was rather peculiar. It was like an aloof wolf king that lived apart from the pack, occupying its own territory with pride and ferocity.

It did not take the initiative to cause trouble, but neither would it ever tolerate others invading its territory. This saved Chen Duan quite a bit of worry.

As his realm deepened, his understanding of inner force grew clearer as well.

He discovered that, much like the false arts, the inner forces of many true arts shared subtle similarities or commonalities in their "properties."

For example, the Water Soft Palm and the Void Inch Palm both possessed the quality of "softness," while the Lingyan Step and the Treading Waves Step achieved similar results through different means in the marvel of "lightness."

He had pondered whether, since their properties were similar, it might be possible to "fuse" these inner forces through some ingenious method.

It would not be a matter of the strong devouring the weak, but of taking the essence and discarding the dross, allowing two or even several inner forces to complement one another under Chen Duan's absolute control and form a stronger, more perfect "whole."

The idea was wonderful, but putting it into practice was not easy.

At least with his current control over power, he was still incapable of carrying out such a delicate operation. If he tried by force, the result would still be one side completely annihilating the other, rather than achieving true "compatibility and inclusiveness."

Moreover, having read through all the martial knowledge he knew, he had never heard of anyone successfully fusing inner forces of different properties.

Perhaps no one had truly managed it, or perhaps his own horizons were still limited and he had yet to touch upon secrets of a higher level.

His gaze swept over the table nearby. Several Secret Manuals lay there, all spoils of war he had "confiscated" from the Tang Family Martial Masters at Miao Mansion that day.

In addition, after Miao Wu finished taking stock of the Tang Family's assets, he had promised that another batch of martial arts manuals would be delivered later.

Now, he had no need to worry about the source of his martial arts at all.

Continually cultivating new arts and breaking through realms could indeed rapidly earn potential points, but every additional true art he mastered also meant another stream of inner force that required his attention to harmonize, invisibly increasing his burden.

That was precisely why he had been considering whether he could find a way to "smelt" his inner forces and simplify the complicated into the simple.

Putting away his tangled thoughts, Chen Duan rose and left the small courtyard, heading for the Blood Martial Stage.

The Blood Martial Stage was not merely a venue for death duels. It also operated many gray industries, with the Black Market being one of them.

But although it was called a black market, it in fact enjoyed the tacit approval and even investment of the authorities. This sort of market catered only to the powerful and Martial Masters. Ordinary commoners had no way of learning about it, much less any qualification to enter.

"Master Chen, as you requested, I've already registered the news of your advancement to the Four Refinements."

Chen Duan's personal steward, Little Xie, reported respectfully, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at him.

Chen Duan had not been at the Blood Martial Stage for long. Although he competed extremely frequently, his total number of bouts was not particularly high. He had not even fought the several publicly recognized top experts in the Third Level Arena.

Little Xie had watched all of Chen Duan's matches and had long since been convinced by his strength. In his original estimation, Chen Duan would challenge every Third Level expert step by step, eventually ascend to the summit of the Third Level, and make his name known throughout Qingzhou.

However, developments had exceeded his expectations.

After only a few days apart, this Lord had broken through to the Four Refinements without making a sound and directly asked for fights to be arranged in the Four Refinements Arena.

Chen Duan had never been one to hide his strength.

To him, the Blood Martial Stage was simply a place to vent his desire for battle.

Now that he had advanced to the Four Refinements, remaining in the Third Level Arena would be no different from binding his own hands and feet. There would be no fun in it at all.

"It's just that... Master Chen." Little Xie hesitated, but still could not help lowering his voice in warning. "You've only just broken through to the Four Refinements, and your realm hasn't stabilized yet. Would you like to settle in for a while longer?

"The experts in the Four Refinements Arena have all immersed themselves in this realm for many years. Their experience and methods are far beyond those of Third Level fighters."

Four Refinements Martial Masters were already considered first-rate experts throughout Qingzhou. Naturally, there were far fewer of them than there were Third Level and Second Level martial artists.

Over the past year, Chen Duan was the only newly advanced Four Refinements Martial Master at the Blood Martial Stage.

In other words, all of Chen Duan's opponents would be figures with deep foundations and years of ruthless experience.

"Little Xie, I know my own limits."

Little Xie immediately and tactfully shut his mouth, well aware of the principle that one could invite disaster by talking too much.

"I spoke out of turn. Rest assured, I'll arrange everything properly. It's just that the Four Refinements Arena is different from the lower-level arenas. The experts come and go as they please, and the Blood Martial Stage has no participation requirements for them. We'll have to wait for them to return before we can open a match, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while."

"Tsk..." Chen Duan was somewhat disappointed. His Battle Intent was running high today, and he had wanted to stretch his limbs properly.

It seemed that pillows did not always arrive just when one felt sleepy.

"My lord, this is the 'Aperture Shell' of the Earth Sky Ox you requested last time. I had an apothecary carefully grind it into powder so that you can use it in medicinal preparations."

A merchant presented a Rosewood Box.

The Earth Sky Ox was an exotic monster. The powder ground from its shell was the core material for preparing the Great Medicine specially used with the Rock Shattering Claw.

Chen Duan estimated that he would not be cultivating the Rock Shattering Claw for too long, so he could not be bothered with the extra trouble of capturing and raising one alive. He might as well buy a finished product directly at the Black Market.

Now that he had money to burn, he naturally did whatever was most convenient.

He also bought a batch of materials required by his other martial arts before finally heading home.

However, as soon as he reached his doorstep, he saw Miao Wu waiting there. He had clearly been waiting for quite some time.

It turned out that the inventory of the Tang Family's assets had been completed, and Miao Wu had personally brought over Chen Duan's share of the "spoils of war" ahead of time.

Besides that, Miao Wu had also brought along two people bound tightly with ropes.

Chen Duan recognized one of them. It was none other than Kuang Jing, the Tang Family retainer he had defeated on the arena at Shuxin Lake that day.

His hair was disheveled, yet his back remained ramrod straight.

The other had an unfamiliar face. His name was Yun Zhi.

"Master Chen! Please show mercy and spare Big Brother Kuang's life!"

When the young man Yun Zhi saw Chen Duan, he threw himself to the ground and slammed his forehead heavily against the stone paving. "It was Big Brother Kuang who risked his life to deliver that letter to you! My life is worthless. Kill me or flay me as you wish—I only ask that you spare Big Brother Kuang!"

Seeing this, Miao Wu hurried forward and quickly explained the situation to Chen Duan.

After listening, a look of understanding flashed through Chen Duan's eyes.

It turned out that the anonymous letter warning him in time of the Iron Blood Hand's attack that night had been this man's work.

He signaled Miao Wu to untie the two men, then turned his gaze to Kuang Jing's stubborn face and asked with an intrigued smile, "Oh? That's interesting. I crippled one of your legs and ruined your future. Why did you turn around and save me?"

Kuang Jing's voice was hoarse, yet it carried a hard edge.

"On that arena, I issued the Death Duel Challenge. Life and death were left to fate! You could clearly have killed me then, but you ultimately held back."

"Heh." Chen Duan's tone was laced with amusement. "I spared you because I found killing you pointless, not because I was deliberately showing you mercy."

"But in the end, you didn't take my life! Kuang Jing has never been willing to owe anyone a debt of gratitude."

"Yet what you did amounted to betraying your allies and turning your back on the Tang Family. If you hadn't warned me, I might have been killed by the Iron Blood Hand, and the Tang Family naturally would not have ended up in its current state."