Golden Tiger Martial Arts School's Peril, Tiger Roar Divine Intent

"Take another look at that scroll."

After giving it some thought, Qin Shuang went to the kitchen, moved aside the water vat, and dug out the scroll buried beneath it.

The scroll was over two feet long, dark red in color, with the faint image of a curling flame on its surface.

Qin Shuang examined it carefully, but still could not open it. He had no choice but to put it away.

[Ding! You have met the advancement requirements for the Blood Rage Saber Art. The Blood Rage Saber Art has advanced to proficient!]

Three in the afternoon.

A system notification popped up in Qin Shuang's mind.

At the same time.

A vast torrent of information appeared in Qin Shuang's Sea of Consciousness, instantly merging with his awareness. It was precisely the techniques and insights for proficiently wielding the Blood Rage Saber Art.

[Blood Rage Saber Art: (Proficient; practice it a hundred times daily, and you may master it in two years)]

[Simplified advancement requirements: 1. Kill ten pigs. 2. Ten Tiger Blood Pills]

"To advance the Blood Rage Saber Art to mastery, I need ten Tiger Blood Pills. At last, I don't have to keep eating pig's blood!"

Looking at the display on the panel, Qin Shuang finally let out a sigh of relief. For the sake of the Blood Rage Saber Art these past two days, he had been downing three or four bowls of pig's blood every morning, noon, and night, until he was sick of it.

"Tiger Blood Pills..."

Qin Shuang recalled how he had asked at three medicine halls, only to be told they had all been reserved in advance. His brows furrowed slightly. But Tiger Blood Pills concerned tempering his qi and blood and nourishing all 206 of his bones. No matter how difficult it was, he had to get them!

Even if he had to spend more silver to buy some. He was now an expert in the Bone Forging Realm with a Qi and Blood Gauze Robe, no longer the weak youth he had once been. It was time to loosen his restraints a little.

With that thought, Qin Shuang immediately took some silver and headed out, making for an Apricot Grove Spring Medicine Hall outside East Gate Long Street.

Apricot Grove Spring Medicine Hall.

This medicine hall stood on Yacha Street, three li from East Gate Long Street.

"Do you have Tiger Blood Pills for sale?"

Qin Shuang entered Apricot Grove Spring Medicine Hall and asked the Purple-spotted Pharmacist, a man in his thirties with a purple blotch on his face.

"Brother, I'm truly sorry. Tiger Blood Pills have an extremely low yield, and demand is high. They've all been reserved by experts from the city's gangs and martial arts schools. The moment a batch comes out of the furnace, it's snapped up clean. They're often out of stock."

The pharmacist spoke with an apologetic expression.

"I'll pay extra silver. Could you make an exception?"

Qin Shuang stepped forward as he spoke.

"Brother, I'm truly sorry, but we really don't have any Tiger Blood Pills!"

The Purple-spotted Pharmacist spread his hands helplessly.

"This..."

Qin Shuang was equally helpless at those words. Unable to buy them, a thought suddenly struck him. Since I can't buy them, why don't I get the prescription and refine Tiger Blood Pills myself?

After all.

He had the Simplification System. As long as it was a martial art or cultivation method, it could be simplified and quickly brought to perfection. If he possessed a perfected Alchemy Art, the success rate for refining Tiger Blood Pills would definitely be high!

Besides.

To nourish all 206 bones throughout his body with qi and blood would require no small number of Pills, and an ocean of silver as well. Learning an Alchemy Art was indeed necessary.

"Then... could you do me a favor and introduce me to an alchemist?"

"I want to learn to refine Pills."

Qin Shuang took out five taels of silver, stuffed them into the pharmacist's hand, and spoke.

"This..."

The Purple-spotted Pharmacist pushed the silver back, inwardly sighing as he said, "The old pharmacist at our medicine hall already has three disciples and won't take any more. Besides, without decades of bitter study, it's difficult to achieve anything in pill refining. If you truly want to learn, I suggest you go to the Golden Tiger Martial Arts School. Their Old Master can refine Tiger Blood Pills."

It was not that he disliked silver, but that he simply had no way to make such an introduction.

"The Old Master of the Golden Tiger Martial Arts School can refine Tiger Blood Pills?"

Qin Shuang was stunned when he heard that.

He himself was a disciple of the Golden Tiger Martial Arts School, yet he had never expected the Old Master to be able to refine Tiger Blood Pills. That meant the martial arts school had Tiger Blood Pills. Wasn't he taking the long way around when the shortcut lay right before him?

Qin Shuang left the medicine hall and headed for the Golden Tiger Martial Arts School.

He planned to ask Jin Yang about it and see whether he might be able to take a master and learn pill refining. So long as he could become a disciple, obtaining Tiger Blood Pills afterward would be much easier.

"People from the Golden Whip Martial Arts School and the Golden Saber Martial Arts School? What are they doing here?"

The moment Qin Shuang arrived at the entrance of the Golden Tiger Martial Arts School, he saw a crowd gathered outside. They were split into two groups totaling around one hundred and fifty people. The collars of those on the left were embroidered with a golden whip, while everyone on the right had a long saber embroidered on their chests.

Jin Yang and the martial arts school's senior disciple, Liu Hao, stood at the entrance, blocking them from entering.

The nearby Long Street was packed with onlookers, who pointed and whispered among themselves.

"What happened, brother?"

Qin Shuang grabbed a young man in hemp clothing beside him and asked.

"The daughter of the Golden Whip Martial Arts School's master and the youngest son of the Golden Saber Martial Arts School's master were beaten to death on Clear Water River with the Fierce Tiger Fist. The attacker's Fierce Tiger Fist had reached at least Great Accomplishment. The people from those two martial arts schools have come to demand an explanation."

The hemp-clad youth said.

"This..."

Qin Shuang frowned. What rotten timing. He had come for the Tiger Blood Pill, only to run into this mess.

Golden Tiger Martial Arts School.

In a small courtyard behind the Medicinal Cuisine House.

"Boyang, this was definitely your Martial Aunt's doing. Since she has come, she must be completely certain!"

"I'll wait for her here. Take the things and leave with Qiao'er and the others!"

An elderly man with a head full of white hair, who looked to be over eighty, sat in a chair and spoke to the middle-aged man before him.

"Father, if Martial Aunt wants the Tiger Roar Divine Intent, should we just give it to her?"

"These past years, we have studied this Divine Intent, yet never grasped the Tiger Roar Divine Charm within it or condensed a Divine Seed..."

Jin Boyang looked at his father and offered the suggestion.

The Tiger Roar Divine Intent was an inheritance passed down from his father's martial sect. Back then, his father had fled to this remote county town with the Tiger Roar Divine Intent and opened a martial arts school. Yet after all these years, his father's junior brother had still found them.

And now, the item was on him.

"Your Martial Aunt is full of schemes and never forgives even the smallest slight. She first stirred up conflict between us and the Golden Whip and Golden Saber Martial Arts Schools, weakening our strength. Tonight will be when she strikes. Go, quickly—if you delay, it will be too late!"

Jin Yihang pushed his son and granddaughter out.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Just then, seven or eight Grey Clad Men wearing silver masks and carrying long sabers leaped into the courtyard, surrounding Jin Yihang, Jin Boyang, and the others.

"My dear senior brother, today I'll send your whole family down below to reunite!"

The leader looked at Jin Yihang and said sinisterly.

"Ding Dian, I can give you the item. Why must you slaughter us all?"

Jin Yihang stared at the silver-masked Grey Clad Man at the front and shouted. Qi and blood surged explosively through his body as he shielded his son and granddaughter, Jin Qiao'er, behind him. His voice had been loud just now; the disciples in the front courtyard should arrive soon.

"My dear senior brother, only by wiping out your entire family can I soothe the hatred in my heart that has festered for forty years!"

"Kill them!"

Murderous intent flashed in Ding Dian's eyes beneath his mask. With a sweep of his hand, he charged at Jin Yihang. At Ding Dian's gesture, the other Silver Masked Men struck as well.

Jin Yihang discovered that his junior brother Ding Dian's qi and blood were even more abundant than his own!

Every one of the men Ding Dian had brought was in the Marrow Jade Realm, their qi and blood like dragons!

"Qiao'er, run! Your father and grandfather will hold them back!"

Jin Boyang's heart sank. With a loud shout, he seized his daughter and hurled her over the courtyard wall. Qi and blood throughout his body swelled like a dragon as he pounced toward three of the Silver Masked Men, his fists fierce and unyielding.

Jin Yihang's qi and blood blazed like a furnace as he entangled the remaining Grey Clad Men.

Qin Shuang saw the people from the Golden Whip Martial Arts School and Golden Saber Martial Arts School surrounding the entrance to the Golden Tiger Martial Arts School, demanding an explanation. Forget obtaining the Tiger Blood Pill—he could not even get inside. He could only return first to Step on Grass and watch Dragonfly Flight, then come back tomorrow.

"I'll go catch a few dragonflies by Clear Water River before heading back." Having made up his mind, Qin Shuang headed toward the riverbank.

The few dragonflies he had caught before could no longer fly. He needed to catch fresh, lively ones again.