Blood Coagulation, Bone Forging, Marrow Jade!

Nangong Wan'er had only eaten half a flatbread when she noticed Qin Shuang staring at her. She immediately said, "That bearded man from the Flying Eagle Gang probably won't let you off. Your strength is a bit worse than his—he just advanced to the Bone Forging Realm. If you help me properly evade the search, once my strength recovers, I'll kill him for you!"

"Alright, thank you in advance, Miss Nangong!"

Qin Shuang looked at Nangong Wan'er, his mind stirring, and said, "Miss Nangong, could you tell me the martial arts realms beyond Blood Condensation and Bone Forging?"

"The Blood Condensation Realm has two major characteristics: Blood Vitality Like a Tiger and Blood Like Mercury. Right now, you're at the peak of Blood Like Mercury. If you keep tempering your qi and blood, there's a good chance you'll advance to the Bone Forging Realm."

"The Bone Forging Realm's two characteristics are the Qi and Blood Gauze Robe and the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke."

"Above the Bone Forging Realm is the Marrow Jade Realm. When qi and blood reach their extreme density, Marrow Jade can be born. Entering the Marrow Jade Realm strengthens the bones and sinews, and it also has two characteristics: Qi and Blood Like a Dragon and the Qi and Blood Furnace!"

"Stepping into the Marrow Jade Realm is the peak of an ordinary person's life. How many spend their entire lives trapped in the Marrow Jade Realm!"

"Practice the Blood Rage Saber Art I taught you well. Once you help me evade the search by the Flying Eagle Gang, the Green Wolf Gang, and all the martial arts schools in the city, I'll teach you a Profound Grade lightness skill and cultivation technique!"

"In your lifetime, entering the Marrow Jade Realm isn't impossible!"

"As for what lies beyond the Marrow Jade Realm, don't even think about it."

Nangong Wan'er looked at Qin Shuang's expectant expression and spoke slowly.

She knew in her heart.

Qin Shuang was still below Bone Forging, just an ordinary person. In thirty or forty years, he might only have a chance to enter the Marrow Jade Realm. Anything beyond that was simply impossible.

"Oh."

Qin Shuang nodded and didn't ask further.

Judging by Nangong Wan'er's attitude, she was lumping him in with ordinary people. But she probably didn't know he had the Simplified Golden Finger.

When his strength suddenly skyrocketed, wouldn't that blow her mind?

"Miss Nangong, how about this: I'll go out and buy some food, or else we'll starve to death."

Qin Shuang thought for a moment and said.

He planned to stop by the river to watch the dragonflies fly, then head to the pharmacy to buy some Tiger Blood Pills and complete the Fierce Tiger Fist.

Qin Shuang was really looking forward to it—if he could complete the Fierce Tiger Fist, would his strength break through to the Bone Forging Realm?

"Fine!"

Nangong Wan'er nodded. They really did need to buy some food.

Qin Shuang bid Nangong Wan'er farewell, locked the main door, and left carrying a bundle.

A hundred zhang from Fusheng Restaurant, in an alley.

Qin Shuang looked around to make sure no one was there and quickly checked the system panel in his mind.

code
[Martial Arts: Fierce Tiger Fist, Grass on Flying, Blood Rage Saber Art]
[Blood Rage Saber Art: (Not Started, practice ten times daily, half a month to start)]
[Simplified Advancement Condition: 1. Watch pig slaughter once, 2. Eat a bowl of pig blood]

"Blood Rage Saber Art—the simplified condition to start is watching pig slaughter and eating pig blood?"

Qin Shuang looked at the display on the panel, surprise in his eyes.

"First, check on the Tiger Blood Pills, then head to the slaughterhouse behind the market to watch pig slaughter and buy pig blood."

Qin Shuang made up his mind and headed toward the pharmacy.

"The Tiger Blood Pills aren't even for sale..."

A quarter of an hour later, Qin Shuang stood at the entrance of Apricot Grove Spring, his brow deeply furrowed.

He had asked at several branches of three pharmacies, and the answer was the same: Tiger Blood Pills were a Bone Forging Realm pill for condensing qi and blood. One of the main ingredients was tiger blood. Each of the three major pharmacies had one old pharmacist who could refine them, but the success rate was low.

Not only were they expensive.

But they were already pre-ordered by the city's martial arts school experts and gang higher-ups.

Basically, they weren't sold over the counter.

"It looks like completing the Fierce Tiger Fist won't happen anytime soon..."

If you find this book enjoyable, don't forget to bookmark it so you don't lose track.

Qin Shuang took a deep breath and headed toward the slaughterhouse.

He'd start with the Blood Rage Saber Art and Grass on Flying to boost his strength.

Qingzhou City had quite a few slaughterhouses.

The East City slaughterhouse was located five li behind East Gate Street, near the Clear Water River. His original self had once gone with Old Tang to buy meat there, so Qin Shuang quickly found the 'East Gate Slaughterhouse.'

"Huh? Dragonflies?"

When Qin Shuang was a li away from the East Gate Slaughterhouse, he saw two dragonflies playing and flying over a patch of grass by the roadside. His eyes lit up, and he stood still, watching them fly.

He watched while following behind them.

[Condition met: You have watched dragonfly flight for half an hour. Your Grass on Flying has advanced to the Proficiency level!]

Half a shichen later, Qin Shuang's mind rang with the system's prompt.

At the same time.

A vast torrent of information surged into his mind, instantly merging with his consciousness—and suddenly, he had mastered Grass on Flying at the Proficiency level.

Moreover, he felt a surging wave of heat flow into his lower body. He realized his waist and legs had grown stronger, his legs more resilient, and his Qi and Blood had increased somewhat—though not as much as with Fierce Tiger Fist.

In that moment, it felt as if he had been training Grass on Flying for three or four years.

[Grass on Flying: (Proficiency. Practice a hundred times daily, ten years to Great Accomplishment.)]

[Simplified Promotion Conditions: 1. Step on grass ten thousand times. 2. Watch dragonflies fly for two shichen.]

"To reach Great Accomplishment in Grass on Flying, I need to step on grass ten thousand times and watch dragonflies fly for two shichen?"

Qin Shuang stared at the promotion requirements on the panel. He spotted two dragonflies a couple of zhang away, stacked together in midair as they mated. His mind stirred, and he immediately activated Grass on Flying at the Proficiency level.

His legs pressed against the ground, and his entire body shot toward the dragonflies like a spring!

In the blink of an eye, Qin Shuang appeared three chi away from the dragonflies. He reached out and grabbed—the two dragonflies tried to flee but were too late, caught firmly in his hand.

"With these two dragonflies, I'll make a cage when I get back and let them fly inside."

Qin Shuang carefully pinched the dragonflies' wings and walked contentedly toward the Slaughterhouse, half a li away.

"Oink oink oink... oink oink oink oink oink"

From the Slaughterhouse came the sound of a pig being butchered. Qin Shuang held the dragonflies as the butcher inside worked, and as the blood drained, the pig gradually fell silent.

[Condition for watching pig slaughter met.]

Just then, a prompt appeared in Qin Shuang's mind.

Qin Shuang bought ten jin of pig blood, then went to the market to purchase some rice, vegetables, and meat, as well as a fine-mesh Bamboo Birdcage. He placed the two dragonflies inside the cage.

He noticed that, from time to time, disciples from the Martial Arts School and the Flying Eagle Gang hurried past on the streets. Even in the market, Gang Members were conducting searches.

With one hand carrying the vegetables and meat, and the other holding the birdcage with the dragonflies, Qin Shuang walked while observing.

[You have watched dragonflies fly for one minute.]

[You have watched dragonflies fly for one minute.]

[...]

The two dragonflies flitted back and forth inside the cage, trying to escape but repeatedly crashing into the bamboo strips. His mind received the system's prompts from time to time.

Fusheng Restaurant.

Qin Shuang carried his things inside, closed the main door, and blocked it with some items. He went to the backyard but found no trace of Nangong Wan'er.

"Miss Nangong?"

Qin Shuang searched the second floor as well, still finding no sign of Nangong Wan'er. He murmured to himself, "She couldn't have left, could she?"

At that moment.

On the kitchen rooftop, a dark figure landed lightly—it was Nangong Wan'er. Watching Qin Shuang search room by room on the second floor, she murmured softly, "Not bad. An honest man."

Her figure moved like a sparrowhawk, turning into a blur of shadow. In the next instant, she had already appeared in a room on the Third Floor.

Qin Shuang went up to the third floor to search. Finally, in a room on the Third Floor, he found Nangong Wan'er. He let out a sigh of relief and said, "Miss Nangong, I thought you had left."