"Where's your silver?"
Qin Shuang looked at Yun Shenhai and asked in a low voice.
"In... in Jinyong City... Wenchang Courtyard, number 66, in the cupboard."
Yun Shenhai stammered.
"Good! You can go now!"
Qin Shuang narrowed his eyes. Qi and blood surged through him as he punched Yun Shenhai in the face!
Yun Shenhai's head snapped back. His body flew backward and crashed heavily to the ground four zhang away. He spasmed and trembled, then kicked out his legs and died.
His eyes were wide open, filled with resentment.
The other two saw Qin Shuang kill without hesitation. They scrambled to their feet and tried to run, but it was already too late.
Qin Shuang smashed each of their spines with a single punch. Both died!
"Jinyong City. I'll go collect it when I have time!"
Looking at Yun Shenhai and the others lying dead, Qin Shuang thought to himself.
Jinyong City was a hundred and fifty li from Qingzhou City—not a short journey. He would deal with the tigers first. With that in mind, Qin Shuang immediately raced toward Xuan Yin Mountain.
Before long,
he found a large tree on a hillside, settled onto a branch, and examined the things he had taken from Yun Shenhai.
"This time, I've really hit the jackpot!"
Qin Shuang looked at the contents of the bundle, satisfaction in his eyes.
This trip had been worth every bit of effort.
Not only had he gotten back the five hundred and eighty taels of silver he'd spent on Tiger Blood Pills—meaning those fifty pills had cost him nothing—he'd also gained ten Dragon Blood Pills, a hundred and fifty Tiger Blood Pills, and more than three thousand taels in silver and banknotes!
There was also something that looked like a map.
"This is rather strange... Could it be... a treasure map?"
Qin Shuang looked at the piece of what seemed to be animal hide in his hand, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Both sides of the hide were engraved with maps of mountains and rivers, and of the sea!
It was brown, about a foot and a half square, and made from some unknown animal hide. It was remarkably tough.
[Extreme Earth Qi Sea Divine Intent Skill. Fragment (Incomplete)]
[Simplified Completion: Observe someone practicing this skill perform it once to complete it]
Just then, a system notification rang in Qin Shuang's mind.
"Hmm?
"Extreme Earth Qi Sea Divine Intent Skill?"
Seeing the notification on the panel, Qin Shuang's eyes widened with excitement.
He knew that his Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill had come from comprehending a painting!
He hadn't expected that the bundle he'd taken from Yun Shenhai would contain a fragment of a Divine Intent Skill. Though it was only a partial fragment, it was indeed a Divine Intent Skill!
"I need to find someone who practices the Extreme Earth Qi Sea Divine Intent Skill and watch them perform it once to complete it?"
Qin Shuang studied the fragment for a moment, then stowed it away in his bundle.
He could only ask around about that requirement later.
"Bedrock Iron Body Skill!"
Qin Shuang took the Bedrock Iron Body Skill he'd bought at the Black Market from the bundle and began to leaf through it. Now that it was in his hands, he might as well master the basics first.
[Bedrock Iron Body Skill (Not yet mastered)]
[Simplification: Stand in a stream and let the water wash over you for one minute to master it]
"Stand in a stream, as solid as a bedrock, and let the water wash over me for a minute?"
Qin Shuang studied the simplified requirement on the panel, considering it. It seemed straightforward enough. Tomorrow, when he had a spare moment, he'd find a small stream and master the basics.
For now, he'd take Tiger Blood Pills and strengthen his bones!
[Took Tiger Blood Pill +1]
[Took Tiger Blood Pill +1]
[...]
As Qin Shuang circulated the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill to convert the Tiger Blood Pills' medicinal power into Qi and Blood, the Qi and Blood within him grew stronger and stronger, continually seeping into his bones and nourishing all 206 of them.
At that moment,
the wilderness fell silent!
If anyone had been there, they would have seen a blood-red glow nearly two zhang wide surrounding the fork of the tree where Qin Shuang sat, conspicuous beneath the faint moonlight!
A terrifying aura spread out from that mass of Qi and Blood!
Qin Shuang sat with his eyes closed on the branch, taking one Tiger Blood Pill after another. He felt his bones radiating a rich red glow, growing harder and harder, as if they were made of red jade!
"Hmm? Is Marrow Jade about to form?"
When Qin Shuang took his one hundred and forty-second Tiger Blood Pill, he felt heat rise through his spine. A faint red light shimmered within his bones!
He remembered Nangong Wan'er saying that, when someone in the Bone Forging Realm used Qi and Blood to nourish their bones, feeling heat in their spine and seeing a red glow was a sign they were on the verge of entering the Marrow Jade Realm!
If they continued to nourish their bones with Qi and Blood at this point, their bones would grow even stronger and their foundation would become more solid, allowing them to go farther on the path of martial arts!
Qin Shuang knew
that he had already reached the peak of the Bone Forging Realm. He remembered Nangong Wan'er's words clearly: keep nourishing his bones with Qi and Blood, and don't condense Blood Jade Marrow.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, a pale fish-belly white appeared along the horizon, and Qin Shuang slowly opened his eyes.
At that moment, after absorbing more than a hundred and fifty Tiger Blood Pills and ten Dragon Blood Pills, he felt his strength had surged. He was at least four times stronger than he had been the previous night, when he'd killed Yun Shenhai and the others!
"I've absorbed ten Dragon Blood Pills and a hundred and fifty Tiger Blood Pills!"
"Even though I haven't advanced to the Marrow Jade Realm, my strength should be about equal to someone in the Marrow Jade Realm with Qi and Blood Like Dragon!"
Qin Shuang clenched his fists, feeling as if he had strength to spare in every part of his body.
"Roar~~"
"Awwooo!"
Just then, Qin Shuang suddenly heard two tiger roars from the upper slopes of Xuan Yin Mountain behind him!
"Daylight's here. Perfect time to kill eleven tigers and meet the requirement to advance the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill!"
Qin Shuang looked at the Xuan Yin Mountain Range before him, anticipation in his eyes. He leapt up and used his perfected Grass on Flying, lightly pushing off the treetops like a dragonfly as he darted uphill.
The Xuan Yin Mountain Range stretched across tens of thousands of li, spanning the three provinces of Yanzhou, Xiangzhou, and Kunzhou. Its forests were deep and dense, teeming with ferocious beasts, strange creatures, and Strange Beasts. Martial artists from all three provinces hunted ferocious beasts there for cultivation resources.
After racing ten li uphill, Qin Shuang spotted two striped tigers, black and yellow, drinking by a mountain stream.
"Awwooo!!"
"Awwooo!"
The moment Qin Shuang appeared, both tigers gaped at him as if they'd spotted breakfast and closed in!
"Whoosh!"
Qin Shuang used the Swimming Dragon Steps, moving like a swimming dragon. His surging Qi and Blood swept around him like a dragon, forming the phantom image of a tiger. It let out a mighty roar, just like the real thing!
"Roar!"
A tiger's shadow appeared around Qin Shuang. The two striped tigers immediately halted, as if they'd come face-to-face with their ancestor. Fear filled their eyes.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
In that split second, bones snapped. Both striped tigers took a heavy blow to the jaw and were sent flying, crashing into the stream and raising columns of water several zhang high!
[Killed tiger +1]
[Killed tiger +1]
Two consecutive notifications rang in Qin Shuang's mind.
"One punch, one tiger!"
Qin Shuang looked at the two tiger corpses floating in the stream, both heads smashed by his punches, and nodded in satisfaction.
He had to say,
Wu Song could only beat one tiger. Now Qin Shuang could send one flying with a single punch!
Its head was smashed to bits!
Before you continue