Breaking the Limit

Qi Yu returned to the mansion by carriage. He hurriedly got out and rushed to Madam Liu's residence. After a servant announced his arrival, he pushed open the carved wooden door to the inner room.

Behind the door, the scent of medicine filled the air. Several prescriptions were scattered on the zitan desk in front of Madam Liu. To the left, a copper scale... its iron weight and herbs were balanced.

Madam Liu, with one hand on the bluestone mortar, was adding herbs to the grinding trough.

"Yu'er, why are you in such a hurry?"

"Mother, on the way back to the mansion, I constantly felt like something was following me."

Madam Liu paused, put down the pestle, and chuckled, "The outer city... no one would dare to rob the Third Young Master Qi's carriage in broad daylight, would they?"

Qi Yu said, "First snowmen, then earth and stone golems. I even saw Captain Zhao. Mother, are you hiding something from me?"

Madam Liu looked up and carefully examined him. Seeing that the young man was sturdier than before and his eyes were bright, she swallowed the perfunctory excuse she was about to give. After thinking for a moment, she still said, "Since you are dedicated to martial arts, you should have no distractions. The storms outside... are not your burden to bear. Just don't go to the outer city for these next few days."

Qi Yu knew Madam Liu still saw him as a child and didn't want him involved in matters. So, he didn't argue, merely saying, "Then Mother, Father, you must also be careful."

Madam Liu was stunned.

Was this still her dissolute, ignorant, pleasure-seeking, trouble-making foolish son?

Beyond her shock, a trace of warmth spread through her heart, turning into a smile in her eyes.

She nodded gently.

Although Qi Yu didn't get any answers from his mother, he at least confirmed one thing: his parents were not unprepared for this matter.

He felt slightly relieved. After a hurried meal, he returned to his own courtyard.

His courtyard was located on the eastern side of the inner residential area of the entire mansion.

Back in the room.

Inside.

Candlelight was lit...

The dim light spread out, casting faint shadows on all the furnishings and tables and chairs inside.

The young man sat quietly by the table, rubbing his brow with his fingers.

He was clearly tired, yet he felt a strange sense of chilling dread and nausea in his heart.

His hand suddenly grabbed the Spirit Serpent Skill fist manual and he began flipping through it irritably.

He flipped through it, then pondered, and if he encountered something he didn't understand, he would grab the small booklet gifted by Song Xue to compare.

Night had fallen, and the fog outside... was growing thicker.

Lanterns hung under the corridor.

The wind blew, the fog shifted, and the lanterns began to move.

Pat-pat-pat...

As they swayed, they looked like rolling red eyeballs in mid-air.

Qi Yu stared at the "eyeballs."

He abruptly stood up, grabbed the fist manual, and stepped into the courtyard.

The night fog was damp and cold. Walking in it felt like being squeezed among wriggling living creatures.

He took a deep breath and lightly tapped his toes. His movements took on a clumsy, floating quality. This... was precisely the "Spirit Serpent Pathfinding Step."

Tap-tap-tap...

The bluestone bricks made muffled sounds as he stepped on them. Sweat, mixed with the night fog, gradually soaked through his clothes.

Only when the fog became thick as paste and the lanterns vanished did he stop, panting.

Inside the room...

A Bi had prepared a medicinal bath.

Steam swirled as Qi Yu stripped off his clothes and comfortably sank into the warm medicinal soup.

His bones and muscles gradually relaxed, his fatigue dissipated, and his body was nourished and replenished by the medicine.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of heat rise from the depths of his heart.

A martial artist's blood essence was vigorous, and coupled with the trace of fear from today's stimulation, it had transformed into some inexplicable thoughts.

"Young Master, you..."

A Bi noticed her young master's abnormality.

The next moment, her wrist was grabbed.

A force pulled her into the tub.

The charcoal fire in the room burned fiercely, and the temperature was not low. A Bi was only wearing a silk robe.

As soon as she entered the water, the silk robe, along with her rosy-colored undergarment, clung to her skin.

A Bi hurriedly raised her hand to cover her mouth, lest she cry out and alert those outside...

The medicinal soup... rippled.

After bathing, they experienced the joys of intimacy once more.

It wasn't until midnight that A Bi quietly withdrew. "We can't let Madam find out," she whispered sweetly.

Then... in the faint candlelight, the little maid rustled as she put on her silk socks. She tiptoed a few steps forward, picked up the embroidered shoes that had rolled beside the screen, then gently pushed open the door and returned to the side room.

"Hoo~~"

Qi Yu let out a long sigh.

Life in a wealthy household was truly simple and unadorned. Even without taking wives or concubines, there would always be an attentive maid by one's side.

And now, he felt much calmer.

Qi Yu lay on the couch, feeling refreshed in body and mind.

He re-examined the monstrous thing he had seen that evening.

For a martial artist, cultivation, realm, killing moves, and weapons were all indispensable, thus their combat power had both an upper and lower limit.

That monstrous thing, however, had a lower limit of 0 and an upper limit as high as 60.

This meant that the monstrous thing likely appeared as an ordinary person, or even an ordinary animal, most of the time... perhaps a street vendor, a mountain woodcutter, a field farmer, or maybe a bird, a rabbit.

The monstrous thing lived amongst dense crowds, yet no one could discern anything unusual.

However... once it attacked, it could directly kill martial artists like Old Gu and Green Bamboo.

"It's a Yao!"

He struggled to recall the information he had seen before his transmigration.

Only "Yao" and "Blessing" could cause combat power data to become "abnormal."

Interestingly, "Yao" and "Blessing" shared a common system, with seven levels from weak to strong: Paper, Normal, Strong, Fierce, Nightmare, God, and Extraterrestrial.

This system was outside of martial arts. The only way for a martial artist to come into contact with this system was through "Blessing," and the only way to obtain a "Blessing" was through blood combat.

Blood combat came in many forms: a strong fighter killing another was blood combat, a competitive hunt for Yao was blood combat, and surviving in a demon den was also blood combat...

Martial arts could make everyone as powerful as a dragon.

But this system was a zero-sum game with a fixed total.

Simply put, if one "God" disappeared from the world, it was highly likely that five "Nightmares" would appear.

If a God bestowed a blessing, then that God would correspondingly be missing a portion of that blessing's power.

A combat power of "0~60" should belong to a Paper-grade Yao, because "Blessings" were based on martial artists, and the data could never start from "0."

Yet, even a Paper-grade Yao could easily kill him.

Qi Yu clenched his fist.

He was still too weak...

He needed to become stronger.

The next morning.

The mist dispersed.

Daybreak.

The warm sunlight made the weather feel even a bit warm, a stark contrast to when it was foggy, like two different worlds.

After finishing the red date and ginseng porridge and eating two piping hot meat buns, Qi Yu rested briefly before taking off his clumsy padded coat and changing into a light, exquisite brocade martial arts uniform and dark lantern pants. Then, he began to warm up, practice stances, and train his fists.

When he felt fatigued, he drank a bowl of Blood Activating Secret Soup, and his entire body's Blood Essence surged, leaving him unfazed by the cold.

A half-person-tall sand vat had already been placed in the bluestone courtyard.

Qi Yu rolled up his sleeves, carefully reviewed the skin-grinding essentials in the Spirit Serpent Skill, then sank into a horse stance, his palms like knives, slowly chopping into the iron sand, again and again.

His speed was not fast, but he focused on the feeling of friction as the sand ground his palms.

After a moment...

Pain shot through his hands.

He gritted his teeth and persevered.

Once his hands were red and swollen, he applied some skin-grinding paste and continued training.

The second time, the pain was much stronger, but immediately after, it seemed the skin-grinding paste took effect. His hands felt fiery, and the pain lessened considerably.

He coordinated his breathing, his fingers creating a teeth-grinding "shashasha" sound as they rubbed against the sand grains. Sweat trickled down his spine into his waistband, and soon his entire body was soaked...

After a long while...

He stopped.

His hands were already extremely red and swollen, so swollen that he couldn't even apply the ointment himself.

A Bi knelt beside him, holding a ceramic jar of medicine. Her eyes, as gentle as water, were filled with concern.

The young maid dipped some ointment and lightly touched his swollen palm with her fingertips. Fearing she might hurt him, she gently blew on it.

Her warm breath brushed over the wound, feeling cool.

"Young master... does it hurt?"

"It's fine, continue."

"Tell me if it hurts."

The young maid carefully applied the ointment.

Ever since last night, the way she looked at Qi Yu had become even gentler, but her qipao was now tightly wrapped, no longer easily removed.

In the evening, Master Zhang came as usual to stretch his muscles and give him a blood-activating massage.

Life became simple and regular...

Qi Yu no longer went out, only cultivating diligently at home, day after day, monotonous yet resolute.

On the fifth day...

[Skill Point: 1]

[Cultivation Technique: Spirit Serpent Skill Minor Accomplishment (1/8)]

Looking at the skill point, Qi Yu didn't use it immediately.

When he had previously cultivated the first two stances of the Spirit Serpent Fist, he had already discovered this: the beginning of a cultivation technique required personal comprehension, and then as he progressed, it became harder and took more time.

So, if possible, he would cultivate as much as he could himself. Once he was halfway through, he would use the skill points to directly upgrade.

Qi Yu gritted his teeth and continued his monotonous cultivation.

On the eleventh day...

[Skill Point: 2]

[Cultivation Technique: Spirit Serpent Skill Minor Accomplishment (2/8)]

On the nineteenth day...

[Skill Point: 3]

[Cultivation Technique: Spirit Serpent Skill Minor Accomplishment (3/8)]

On the thirtieth day...

[Skill Point: 4]

[Cultivation Technique: Spirit Serpent Skill Minor Accomplishment (4/8)]

Without hesitation.

Qi Yu looked at the faint "+" sign after [Cultivation Technique: Spirit Serpent Skill Minor Accomplishment (4/8)] and, without hesitation, clicked it four times.

Boom~

A change suddenly occurred.

His Blood Essence felt like it exploded, becoming even more abundant than before.

His hands felt particularly different. The muscle fibers beneath his skin tightened like steel wires, becoming dense and taut as iron. With a slight clench of his fist, his knuckles became distinct, as if he had a pair of iron hands.

Besides that, his hands even faintly emitted a sinister metallic luster.

"Why did they turn black?" Qi Yu was stunned. He had never seen anyone's palms turn black, not Old Gu, nor Chu Xiao, nor even Uncle Song.

"Try it?"

His gaze swept around and landed on a small pebble. He picked it up and squeezed.

Crack...

The pebble instantly turned to dust.

His stats had changed.

[Qi Yu]
[Realm: Ninth Rank Leather Armor]
[Combat Power: 10~20]
[Skill Point: 0]
[Cultivation Technique: Spirit Serpent Skill Minor Accomplishment (8/8)]

"10~20?"

Qi Yu suddenly realized that completion and perfection were not the same.

Completion... was merely the limit for a genius.

And he was not a genius.

He beckoned a servant and said calmly, "Go call Old Gu over."

After the servant left, he looked at A Bi again, his voice steady, "Go invite Mother. Tell her... I'm going to fulfill my first wager."