Qi and Blood Realm

Several days had passed since he last circulated the Body Burning Art. Bi Changsheng's body had recovered, and he could once again raise his Cultivation Level through circulating the Body Burning Art.

This advancement differed from the previous one. By Bi Changsheng's estimation, after circulating the Body Burning Art this time, he would break through to the Qi and Blood Realm in one stroke.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, drained the All-Inclusive Great Tonic Soup in his hand without hesitation, quickly set down the bowl, and began circulating the Body Burning Art with focused concentration.

The familiar sensation of scorching heat and his lifespan being siphoned away rose within him once more.

Mysterious energy also emerged alongside the burning of the medicinal power and his lifespan. After absorbing that mysterious energy, Bi Changsheng's skin, bones, and internal organs all received comprehensive strengthening.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

His increasingly powerful internal organs began operating on their own, producing the faint rumbling unique to the Inner Strength Realm with every breath Bi Changsheng took. Moreover, the rumbling steadily grew louder as his internal organs strengthened.

Before long, roughly eight years of his lifespan had been drained, yet Bi Changsheng still showed no sign of breaking through.

However, Bi Changsheng was not impatient. The advancement was still continuing, and he estimated that when nearly ten years of lifespan had been burned, his moment of breakthrough would arrive.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, when nearly ten years of lifespan had been burned, Bi Changsheng's internal organs had been strengthened to their utmost limit. The rumbling from within his body was now loud and rapid.

Fortunately, no ordinary person was near Bi Changsheng. If there had been one nearby at this moment, their heart would have involuntarily followed the rhythm of the rumbling inside his body, causing their heart meridians to rupture.

Soon, another change occurred. The rumbling vanished out of thin air. It was as though Bi Changsheng's bodily functions had surpassed a certain limit, and the strength throughout his body began transforming toward qi and blood.

I made it!

Feeling the changes within his body, Bi Changsheng thought to himself. Yet he did not stop cultivating. Instead, he continued burning his lifespan to strengthen his qi and blood.

Only after the medicinal power inside him had been completely exhausted did Bi Changsheng stop cultivating.

"Advancing to the Qi and Blood Realm in just over a month—this speed isn't bad."

Feeling the qi and blood flowing through his body, Bi Changsheng rarely allowed himself a humblebrag. If the Skin Refining Realm was the boundary between ordinary people and martial artists, then the Qi and Blood Realm was the boundary between ordinary people and the extraordinary.

Those at the Qi and Blood Realm could already project their qi and blood beyond their bodies and injure others from afar. Breaking through to the Qi and Blood Realm was equivalent to stepping through the gates of the extraordinary.

Moreover, no matter where in Great Gan one was, a Qi and Blood Realm martial artist could be considered someone of consequence. Their influence could not be mentioned in the same breath as that of the first three realms.

Bi Changsheng's Cultivation Level now stood above all of Lin'an City. On the surface, there was no longer anything in the entire city capable of threatening him. He could have charged straight at Lin'an City's three great powers and avenge the destruction of the Bi Family.

However, his unexpected encounter with that group of Men in Black two nights ago made Bi Changsheng decide to wait a little longer, to act when the right opportunity arose.

He had discussed the encounter with the Men in Black with Uncle Fu, but even after they considered every power in Lin'an City, they could not determine the true identities of that group.

When Bi Changsheng had just heard that the Zhao Family had produced the corpse of a Sun Family retainer as evidence, he immediately thought of that group of Men in Black. Yet with the strength that group possessed, this was definitely only their outward identity.

Why had this unidentified group of Men in Black become retainers of the Sun Family, and why had they secretly acted against Renxin Hall? Bi Changsheng knew none of it.

Yet through this, Bi Changsheng could sense surging undercurrents in Lin'an City. A storm was likely on its way!

Strength. What mattered most was still strength!

As long as he was strong enough, no matter how great the storm, he could sit firm on the fishing platform.

Bi Changsheng thought to himself.

In the study of the rear courtyard of the Lin'an County Office, two middle-aged men sat facing each other. They were none other than Lin'an County Magistrate Shi Kangshun and Chief Constable Fan Shao.

"My lord, has there been any news from the commandery city?"

Fan Shao asked Shi Kangshun, his face full of anticipation.

"We have received definite word. Our transfer orders will be issued within a month at the latest."

Shi Kangshun said with a smile.

"Wonderful. Our efforts during this time have not been in vain."

Clearly, Fan Shao was highly satisfied with this outcome.

"It's a pity we couldn't secure any particularly good positions."

The smile fading from his face, Shi Kangshun spoke with some regret.

"My lord, are we really giving up Lin'an County, which we have managed for so many years?"

Fan Shao was reluctant to leave the place where they had struggled for so many years.

"The Yellow Heaven Cult is raging through neighboring Jin'an Prefecture. Lin'an County borders Jin'an Prefecture, and I have always felt that Lin'an County is no longer safe enough."

Shi Kangshun was also somewhat helpless when speaking of this. Back then, he had paid no small price for the lucrative post of Lin'an County Magistrate. Now, he had to pay another price to request a voluntary transfer away. It was tantamount to letting the efforts of all these years go largely to waste. All he could say was that fate loved to toy with people.

"But hasn't word from above vaguely suggested that the Yellow Heaven Cult's unrest will remain confined to Jin'an Prefecture and will not spread to other prefectures?"

Fan Shao was still unwilling to accept it.

"Though I don't know what agreement those above have reached with the Yellow Heaven Cult, the other side is the Yellow Heaven Cult. When that pack of lunatics goes mad, what wouldn't they do?"

"Money is good, but life is more important."

"I even think that Ningyun Commandery's commandery city isn't truly safe either. If I had enough silver on hand and some connections, I would even want to grease palms in other commandery cities or even prefectural cities, so that we could completely leave this land of conflict behind."

Shi Kangshun analyzed the matter calmly.

"Alas, those above are all bottomless gold-devouring beasts. We threw in several hundred thousand taels, and it nearly vanished without a ripple. Fortunately, we can at least hear an echo in the end."

Fan Shao had merely been venting just now. He had always followed Shi Kangshun's lead. Turning his thoughts around, he began grieving again over the silver spent greasing palms.

"Indeed. Otherwise, I would not have brought the Sun Family, that dragon crossing the river, into Lin'an City back then, agreed to join the Sun Family in swallowing up the Bi Family, and shattered the stable situation in Lin'an City that I had painstakingly built."

"It was all because we lacked silver."

"But there was no helping it. Times have changed. We are not the only clever people, and positions in the commandery city are now fiercely sought after. Being able to transfer to the commandery city smoothly is already quite good."

At this, Shi Kangshun also wore an expression of pain. In order to gather enough silver to grease palms both above and below, he had exhausted every means. Fortunately, there was finally a good outcome now.

"My lord, how do you plan to deal with the Sun Family and the Zhao Family?"

With the matter already settled, Fan Shao grieved over it for a while before asking about the conflict between the Sun Family and the Zhao Family the day before.

"Today, I paid visits to both the Zhao Family and the Sun Family separately, telling them to keep themselves in line during this final month and preserve Lin'an City's stability. Should either one seek to stir up disorder, we will join hands with the other family and wipe it out."

Shi Kangshun declared domineeringly. With his Late Inner Strength Realm Cultivation Level and Fan Shao's Early Inner Strength Realm Cultivation Level, whichever side they joined would pose a fatal threat to the other. Nor did he worry in the slightest that the other two families would refuse to obey or join forces against him. Great Gan at his back was where his confidence came from.

"As for what happens after a month, let whoever takes over worry about it."