North of Qingzhou City, fifty miles away.
In a five-mile stretch of Red Maple Forest stood seven or eight White Wall Red Pillar Black Tile Halls.
In the side hall on the far left, a young man in fine clothes sat cross-legged on a bed. The Divine Wheel behind him flickered erratically, as if it were about to fade.
His face was pale, white cloth was wrapped around his chest, and blood seeped through it. His eyebrows were covered in white frost, making them look white from afar.
"Ah~~~! Damn it! How could that bitch have such terrifying icy qi?"
Situ Rui's teeth chattered from the cold. He kept circulating his sect's cultivation method to drive his Qi and Blood, trying to dispel the icy force Nangong Wan'er had driven into his body. But that freezing saber force had turned into tiny ice blades, each smaller than a grain of rice, and they flowed through his meridians as if they had taken root. He couldn't get rid of them!
Even his Divine Wheel showed signs of crumbling under that terrifying, freezing saber force!
"Father, you have to hurry here!"
Situ Rui stared out the window and muttered to himself. At that moment, he was consumed by fear. If his Divine Wheel crumbled and the Divine Seed condensed within his body was affected, his future cultivation would be hard-pressed to advance!
He had already sent word to the Divine Saber Sect. Once his father arrived, he would surely be able to dispel the freezing saber force!
"No, that bitch doesn't have a saber force this icy. It must be that saber... the saber that bastard gave her!"
"You dog! Once I recover from my injuries, I'll make you regret ever being born!" Thinking of the young man at the restaurant who had given Nangong Wan'er that saber, Situ Rui's eyes filled with venom.
If that dog hadn't given Nangong Wan'er such a strange saber, she wouldn't have been able to defeat him!
And the Startling Swan Saber wouldn't have broken!
Ten miles outside Qingzhou City, Hualing Village.
[Medicine Refining Art, First-Rank (Major Achievement)]
[Simplification: Grind pills 100,000 times; refine one Dragon Blood Pill. Mastery required to advance to Perfection.]
In the kitchen of a brick-and-tile house behind the village, Qin Shuang sat cross-legged. Two lines of text appeared in his mind.
Before him stood a Three-Legged Double-Eared Bronze Alchemy Furnace, its exterior decorated with a Yin-Yang Fish Pattern.
To the left of the furnace, five pale-red Tiger Blood Pills lay in a porcelain dish, filling the air with a rich medicinal fragrance. When Qin Shuang rented the furnace, he had also bought several batches of ingredients for Tiger Blood Pills. Tiger bones and tiger blood were already on hand.
With his experience and insight into First-Rank Alchemy at the mastery level, he had succeeded on his very first batch of Tiger Blood Pills. There had only been five pills, but the task to advance his First-Rank Alchemy to major achievement was complete.
"First-Rank Alchemy has reached major achievement."
"I can start extracting the blood essence of the White Jade Golden Pattern Python."
As Qin Shuang absorbed the experience and techniques of First-Rank Alchemy at major achievement that had appeared in his mind, a satisfied look came into his eyes.
He took out the Yellow Springs Saber and slit open the White Jade Golden Pattern Python's belly. After peeling away its white dragon-scale hide, he was left with the flesh. He cut off a portion and began extracting the blood essence. The other python meat was cut into small pieces with the Yellow Springs Saber by two Golden Tiger Martial Arts School disciples, making it easier for him to extract the essence.
The remaining disciple helped feed the furnace.
With his First-Rank Alchemy at major achievement, Qin Shuang used the Alchemy Furnace to begin extracting the White Jade Golden Pattern Python's blood essence.
Thanks to his First-Rank Alchemy at major achievement, Qin Shuang extracted the python's blood essence quickly. In just an hour, he had drawn out a large bowl of brown, paste-like Qi and Blood Essence. He didn't drink it right away, but set it aside to cool and continued extracting.
"Hey-ya! Hey-ya!"
"Hey-ya!"
At eight that evening, Hualing Village suddenly came alive. Qin Shuang had just finished extracting a batch of blood essence when he looked out the window and saw Liu Hao and Jin Yang leading ten Martial Arts School disciples, along with more than forty strong men from the village. They were carrying back the carcasses of seven tigers.
"Young Master, we brought back seven. The Flying Eagle Gang took two of the other three, and the Green Wolf Gang took one. The Flying Eagle Gang tried to snatch them too, but I wounded them. They threatened to make us spit out all the tigers!"
Jin Yang came before Qin Shuang and spoke respectfully, his fists clasped.
"Mm. You've worked hard. I'll deal with the Flying Eagle Gang. Tonight, we'll have a tiger feast to reward everyone."
Qin Shuang looked at Jin Yang and the others with satisfaction.
Thanks to Jin Yang and Liu Hao, those tigers hadn't gone to waste.
"Yes, Young Master!"
Jin Yang clasped his fists respectfully, then went off with Liu Hao to make arrangements.
They knew that Young Master Qin had killed even a terrifying White Jade Golden Pattern Python. He certainly wouldn't fear the Flying Eagle Gang.
Qin Shuang returned to his room and continued extracting the White Jade Golden Pattern Python's blood essence. As he grew more practiced, he was soon extracting a bowl every half hour!
Three in the morning.
"Finally, it's all extracted!"
Qin Shuang stood up and looked at the eighteen bowls of White Python Qi and Blood Essence before him, his eyes full of satisfaction. He had set aside only enough flesh to refine Dragon Blood Pills; he had extracted the Qi and Blood Essence from all the rest.
Though it was already three in the morning,
he felt wide awake and didn't want to sleep.
"I'll drink all this White Jade Golden Pattern Python blood essence first!"
Qin Shuang looked forward to it, then turned to Chen Wang, the Martial Arts School disciple who had been assisting him. "Chen Wang, thanks for the trouble. Go get some rest!"
"Yes, Young Master!"
Chen Wang clasped his fists to Qin Shuang, then turned and left.
[Step on Grass +1 time!]
After Chen Wang left, Qin Shuang shut the door, took out the grass beneath his shoe, and replaced it with fresh grass. A notification immediately appeared in his mind again.
Qin Shuang picked up a bowl of White Jade Golden Pattern Python blood essence and tipped half of it back.
"Boom!"
As the White Jade Golden Pattern Python's Qi and Blood Essence went down, Qin Shuang felt a terrifying heat burst from his stomach and race through his meridians, sweeping across his entire body. At that moment, he felt as if he were about to explode, his Qi and Blood surging violently!
Qin Shuang immediately sat cross-legged and circulated the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill. As soon as he began, he discovered that the vast Qi and Blood in his body were being guided by the skill, continually pouring into his bones, where they were absorbed!
The process was incredibly fast!
"Worthy of the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill!"
"No wonder the sects' geniuses cultivate so quickly!"
Qin Shuang found that as he circulated the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill, the feeling that he was about to explode eased at once. He couldn't help but marvel.
The sects' geniuses had the finest techniques and no shortage of resources. They started cultivating from a completely different place!
But Qin Shuang had confidence in himself. In the end, he would crush those Saintesses, Buddha Sons, Demonesses, and Crown Princes!
Because he had the Simplification System!
Any cultivation method could be simplified!
Qin Shuang kept circulating the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill. The White Jade Golden Pattern Python's Qi and Blood within him transformed into his own, and under his conscious control, continued to pour into his bones!
He could clearly feel the 206 bones in his body growing stronger and harder, one by one, as they shimmered with a lustrous red glow!
At that moment,
in a tiled house opposite his, Liu Hao and Jin Yang stood by the window, watching the house where Qin Shuang was cultivating. Their eyes were filled with shock.
At that moment, in their eyes, the room where Qin Shuang cultivated radiated blood-red light more than ten feet high, like a gigantic Qi and Blood Furnace!
Waves of heat rolled out in every direction!
It made them feel as if they were in the blazing heat of midsummer!
"Worthy of the young master. So young, and already at the Qi and Blood Furnace stage!"
Liu Hao watched the house where Qin Shuang was cultivating, his eyes wide with astonishment.
One had to understand:
He was seven or eight years older than Qin Shuang, but even now, he was still far from the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke stage. Compared to Qin Shuang, he was no more than a firefly beside the bright moon!
"You're still young. You may yet reach the Qi and Blood Furnace stage someday. As for me, your Martial Aunt... I've truly lived all these years in vain!"
Jin Yang sighed.
He had trained in Fierce Tiger Fist for nearly fifty years, yet he was still at the Bone Forging Realm, at the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke stage. He didn't know whether he would ever have the hope of entering the Marrow Jade Realm in this lifetime.
Time passed.
The next day, five in the afternoon.
The tiled house was surrounded by blood-red light more than twenty feet high, like a great furnace.
Inside, Qin Shuang sat cross-legged, his entire body flushed red. Eighteen empty bowls were set before him; he hadn't wasted a drop of Qi and Blood Essence, practically licking each bowl clean.
Qin Shuang continued to circulate the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill, transforming the White Jade Golden Pattern Python's Qi and Blood Essence into Qi and Blood and pouring it into the bones throughout his body.
Suddenly, Qin Shuang felt his body shudder. A faint golden light glimmered from a bone between the Danzhong Acupoint and the Zhongting Acupoint in his chest!
"Hm? I absorbed the Qi and Blood Essence of one White Jade Golden Pattern Python, and it forged a small patch of golden bone?"
Qin Shuang saw the fingernail-sized golden glimmer on his chest, and his eyes lit up. His breathing grew rapid!
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