Nangong Wan'er ate half a flatbread. When she saw Qin Shuang staring at her, she said at once, "That Bearded Man from the Flying Eagle Gang probably won't let you off. You're a little weaker than he is, and he's just entered the Bone Forging Realm. Help me evade the search, and once I've recovered my strength, I'll help you kill him!"
"Of course. Thank you in advance, Miss Nangong!"
Qin Shuang looked at Nangong Wan'er, a thought stirring in his mind. "Miss Nangong, could you tell me what martial realms come after the Blood Condensation Realm and the Bone Forging Realm?"
"The Blood Condensation Realm has two defining traits: Blood Vitality Like a Tiger and Blood Like Mercury. You're currently at the peak of Blood Like Mercury. If you keep tempering your Qi and Blood, there's a good chance you'll advance into the Bone Forging Realm."
"The two defining traits of the Bone Forging Realm are Blood and Qi Gauze Robe and Blood and Qi Wolf Smoke."
"Above the Bone Forging Realm is the Marrow Jade Realm. When your Qi and Blood grow dense enough, Marrow Jade can form. Upon entering the Marrow Jade Realm, your sinews and bones grow stronger, and there are two defining traits: Qi and Blood Like Dragon and Qi and Blood Furnace!"
"Entering the Marrow Jade Realm is the pinnacle of an ordinary person's life. How many people spend their whole lives trapped in the Marrow Jade Realm!"
"Practice the Blood Rage Saber Art I taught you. Once you've helped me evade the Flying Eagle Gang, the Green Wolf Gang, and the many Martial Arts Schools searching the whole city, I'll teach you a Profound Grade movement technique and a cultivation method!"
"It's not impossible for you to enter the Marrow Jade Realm in your lifetime!"
"As for what lies beyond Marrow Jade, don't even think about it."
Seeing the hopeful look on Qin Shuang's face, Nangong Wan'er spoke slowly.
She knew full well—
Qin Shuang wasn't even in the Bone Forging Realm yet. He was an ordinary person. In thirty or forty years, he might have a chance of reaching the Marrow Jade Realm; advancing beyond it was simply impossible.
"Oh."
Qin Shuang nodded and didn't ask anything else.
From the way Nangong Wan'er spoke, she had already lumped him in with ordinary people. But she probably didn't know he had the Simplified Golden Finger.
When my strength skyrockets, won't that leave her completely stunned?
"Miss Nangong, how about this? I'll go out and buy us some food. Otherwise, we'll starve to death."
After a moment's thought, Qin Shuang made the suggestion.
He wanted to stop by the river and watch Dragonfly Flight, then visit the medicine hall to buy some Tiger Blood Pills and perfect his Fierce Tiger Fist.
Qin Shuang was eager to find out whether perfecting his Fierce Tiger Fist would let him break through into the Bone Forging Realm.
"All right!"
Nangong Wan'er nodded. They did need to buy some food.
Qin Shuang said goodbye to Nangong Wan'er, locked the front door, took a bundle, and headed out.
In an alley a hundred zhang from Fusheng Restaurant.
After checking that no one was around, Qin Shuang quickly examined the system panel in his mind.
[Martial Arts: Fierce Tiger Fist, Step on Grass, Blood Rage Saber Art] [Blood Rage Saber Art: (Not yet begun; practice ten times daily, and you can begin in half a month)] [Requirements after simplification: 1. Watch a pig being slaughtered once. 2. Eat a bowl of pig's blood]
"Blood Rage Saber Art's simplified requirements for getting started are watching a pig being slaughtered and eating pig's blood?"
Qin Shuang looked at the display on the panel, surprise showing in his eyes.
"First I'll check on the Tiger Blood Pills, then head to the Slaughterhouse behind the market to watch a pig being slaughtered and buy some pig's blood!"
Having made up his mind, Qin Shuang headed for the medicine hall.
"They don't even have Tiger Blood Pills for sale..."
A quarter of an hour later, Qin Shuang stood outside Apricot Grove Spring, his brows furrowed deeply.
He had asked at several branches of three different medicine halls. He learned that Tiger Blood Pills were used to gather Qi and Blood in the Bone Forging Realm. One of their main ingredients was Tiger Blood. Each of the three major medicine halls had an experienced apothecary who could make them, but the yield was low.
They were expensive, to say the least.
Worse, the city's Martial Arts School experts and gang leaders had already reserved them in advance.
They were hardly ever put out on the counter for sale.
"Looks like perfecting my Fierce Tiger Fist won't happen anytime soon..."
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Qin Shuang took a deep breath and headed for the Slaughterhouse.
He'd get the Blood Rage Saber Art and Step on Grass going first. Those could also improve his strength.
Qingzhou City had quite a few slaughterhouses.
The slaughterhouse in the eastern part of the city lay five li behind East Gate Street, near Clear Water River. The original owner of this body had gone there to buy meat with Old Tang before, so Qin Shuang quickly found the East Gate Slaughterhouse.
"Huh? Dragonflies?"
When Qin Shuang was one li from the East Gate Slaughterhouse, he spotted two dragonflies playing in flight above a patch of grass beside the road. His eyes lit up. He stopped and watched them fly.
As he watched, he followed behind them.
[You have met the requirement of watching Dragonfly Flight for half a quarter of an hour. Step on Grass has advanced to the Proficient Realm!]
A quarter of an hour later, the system's notification rang out in Qin Shuang's mind.
At the same time—
A vast stream of information flowed into his mind, instantly merging with his consciousness. Suddenly, he had mastered Step on Grass at the Proficient Realm.
He also felt a surging wave of warmth flow into his lower back. His waist and legs had grown stronger, his legs more supple, and his Qi and Blood had increased a little, though not as much as they had from the Fierce Tiger Fist.
At that moment, he felt as if he had practiced Step on Grass for three or four years.
[Step on Grass: (Proficient; practice a hundred times daily, and you can reach mastery in ten years)] [Requirements after simplification: 1. Step on grass ten thousand times. 2. Watch Dragonfly Flight for two hours]
"To master Step on Grass, I need to step on grass ten thousand times and watch Dragonfly Flight for two hours?"
Qin Shuang checked the advancement requirements on the panel. The two dragonflies had already flown two zhang away. They were stacked together, mating. A thought struck him, and he immediately set off with Step on Grass at the Proficient Realm.
He planted his feet on the ground, and his whole body sprang toward the dragonflies like a coiled spring!
In the blink of an eye, Qin Shuang was within three chi of them. He reached out to grab them. The dragonflies tried to fly away, but it was already too late. He caught them in his hand.
"With these two dragonflies, I can make a cage when I get back and let them fly around inside!"
Carefully pinching both dragonflies by their wings, Qin Shuang headed toward the Slaughterhouse one li away, satisfied.
"Oink, oink, squeal... oink, squeal, squeal..."
The sound of a pig being slaughtered came from inside the Slaughterhouse. Holding the dragonflies, Qin Shuang watched as the butcher killed a pig. As its blood drained away, the animal gradually fell silent.
[Requirement met: Watch a pig being slaughtered.]
Just then, a notification popped up in Qin Shuang's mind.
Qin Shuang bought ten jin of pig's blood, then went to the market and bought some rice, vegetables, and meat. He also bought a finely woven Bamboo Birdcage and put the two dragonflies inside.
He noticed Martial Arts School disciples and members of the Flying Eagle Gang hurrying along the streets from time to time. Even the market was being searched by gang members.
Carrying the vegetables and meat in one hand and the birdcage with the dragonflies in the other, Qin Shuang walked along, watching them fly.
[You watched Dragonfly Flight for one minute.] [You watched Dragonfly Flight for one minute.] [...]
The two dragonflies flew back and forth inside the cage, trying to escape, only to crash into the bamboo strips again and again. The system notifications kept appearing in Qin Shuang's mind.
Fusheng Restaurant.
Carrying his things, Qin Shuang shut the front door, blocked it with the things he'd brought, and returned to the back courtyard. But Nangong Wan'er was nowhere to be seen.
"Miss Nangong?"
Qin Shuang went upstairs to the second floor and searched, but still couldn't find Nangong Wan'er. He couldn't help muttering, "Did she leave?"
At that moment—
A black figure drifted down from the kitchen roof. It was Nangong Wan'er. Watching Qin Shuang search for her in the rooms on the second floor, she murmured, "Not bad. He's an honest man!"
Her figure moved like a hawk, flashing past like a shadow. In the next instant, she had appeared in a room on the third floor.
Qin Shuang went up to the third floor to search. At last, he found Nangong Wan'er in one of the rooms and let out a sigh of relief. "Miss Nangong, I thought you'd left."
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