Breakthrough

After hearing Scholar Lu's report, Zhang Yunhao smiled with satisfaction. "You really are loyal and useful. Go find the hidden treasury, then bring me all the precious medicinal herbs from the storehouse, things like ginseng. I have a use for them."

"Yes, Great Chieftain."

Scholar Lu left excitedly. Now that he had hope, he was more motivated than ever. He had resolved to serve Zhang Yunhao well, then be recruited into the imperial army together with him.

At this, Zhang Yunhao shook his head. He was just dangling a carrot to win people over. Once he completed his mission, he would leave; what happened to the rest was none of his damn business.

A little while later, Zhang Dazhuang, the first to pledge allegiance to Zhang Yunhao, returned with a murderous aura about him. After saluting, he reported, "Great Chieftain, the three original chieftains have been dealt with."

Zhang Yunhao nodded and asked, "Good. Did any bandits escape?"

"Only a few. They didn't know you'd already sent men to guard the pass, so they were all captured. They're waiting for you to decide what to do with them."

"Only a few? Excellent!"

Zhang Yunhao was very pleased. All that he'd said earlier had worked; most of the bandits had stayed. Otherwise, if he'd relied solely on force to suppress them, they would probably have all fled by now. He couldn't keep an eye on so many people by himself.

But now that he had this foundation, taking the next stockade would be easier. After all, he had men he could put to work.

After thinking it over, Zhang Yunhao said to Zhang Dazhuang, "Go kill the ones who tried to escape. Come find me tonight, and I'll teach you martial arts."

"Thank you, Great Chieftain!"

Overjoyed, Zhang Dazhuang strode off, thrilled and eager at the prospect of learning martial arts.

Zhang Yunhao smiled. With the trump card of teaching martial arts, along with his own extraordinary strength, his position as chieftain was secure.

Soon, Zhang Yunhao sensed the Benevolent True Qi within him grow stronger again, and he couldn't help smiling. The experiment had proved that he could gain merit by ordering others to eliminate evil, which in turn strengthened his Benevolent True Qi.

That meant he could lead this band of bandits to kill other bandits and earn merit as well—and plenty of it!

Not only that, now that Zhang Yunhao had become the leader of a bandit gang, he would surely commit evil deeds. That would strengthen his Evil True Qi too. He didn't care about good or evil; becoming stronger was what mattered most!

That was why Zhang Yunhao hadn't killed all the bandits. Of course, the more important reason was to complete his mission. The mission came first.

In the blink of an eye, evening arrived. Zhang Dazhuang received the Iron Cloth Shirt formula from Zhang Yunhao and was so excited—and grateful—that he even knelt before him.

The Iron Cloth Shirt was widely circulated in the Jianghu, but most versions were incomplete. The one Zhang Yunhao gave him was the complete art he'd obtained after killing Iron Eagle, and it could take a practitioner all the way to the True Qi Realm!

The Iron Cloth Shirt consisted of training methods and a mental cultivation method. The training methods used blows from various external forces to strengthen the body's defenses. The mental cultivation method began with breathing techniques and continued with methods for circulating True Qi. Even without training the body externally, one could break through by following the mental cultivation method.

"Get up."

Zhang Yunhao helped Zhang Dazhuang up, then took out a crimson pill. "This pill is specially made to strengthen the body. Take it and break through to the True Qi Realm as soon as possible. We'll have plenty of battles ahead!"

"Thank you, Great Chieftain!"

Without a moment's doubt or hesitation, Zhang Dazhuang got to his feet, took the pill, and swallowed it. Immediately, he felt his blood and qi roil as if boiling, rapidly growing stronger. He was thrilled, and even more grateful to Zhang Yunhao.

"Go and digest it properly."

Zhang Yunhao waved Zhang Dazhuang away to practice. As he watched him leave, a deep look flashed across his eyes.

The pill had actually been made by Zhang Yunhao himself. Its ingredients included the various materials Scholar Lu had provided, but the most important was the blood essence from the Blood Origin Pearl!

The blood essence in the Blood Origin Pearl could be used not only by Zhang Yunhao himself, but by others as well. Breaking through from the Body Tempering Realm to the True Qi Realm meant strengthening one's body and blood and qi. With the Blood Origin Pearl's help, Zhang Dazhuang—who already had a good foundation—would surely break through quickly.

This was an experiment to test the Blood Origin Pearl's effects. If they were good, he could put the method to wider use. Then he could raise a team of experts as quickly as possible and use them to deal with Cao Dan!

Of course, this method had considerable side effects for those people. But Zhang Yunhao wouldn't care, and even if they knew, they wouldn't care either!

This matter caused Zhang Yunhao's Evil True Qi to grow a little stronger. He shook his head and began cultivating. His power had increased considerably today; he should be able to open quite a few meridians, as well as the fourth spiritual aperture, giving him the strength of four oxen.

The human body was like a universe, filled with countless spiritual apertures like stars. Opening each one unleashed a portion of the body's potential, and opening them required the right cultivation art!

The Great Strength Dragon Elephant Art was just such an art. It could help cultivators open the spiritual apertures connected to strength, greatly increasing their power.

In fact, Zhang Yunhao had excellent aptitude in external arts. He was also practicing immortal martial arts, with all their wonders. In such a short time, he had already opened three spiritual apertures. His progress was astonishing—he was a genius among geniuses!

The most amazing thing is that when others practice the Great Strength Dragon Elephant Art, the strength of one ox is only five hundred jin, but for me it's a thousand. The Martial Immortal Power must have transformed my body! External arts really are the best fit for me!

Zhang Yunhao smiled faintly. Whether in his contest with Nangong Ru or in the battles before that, he had been nowhere near using his full strength.

Over the next three days, Zhang Yunhao didn't rush into action. Instead, he focused on bringing the bandits under control. During those three days, something happened that sent all of Black Wind Stockade into an uproar!

Zhang Dazhuang broke through to the True Qi Realm!

With Zhang Yunhao's pill and the cultivation art he'd given him, Zhang Dazhuang's breakthrough was only natural. Once it happened, both he and the other bandits of Black Wind Stockade were thrilled beyond measure.

There was no need to explain why Zhang Dazhuang was excited. He was now an expert. As for the others, they were excited because they'd seen that they, too, could become experts.

Blood Hand Tian Ming hadn't lied. He really would teach them martial arts. What's more, from the news Zhang Dazhuang spread, the bandits also learned that their Great Chieftain had a pill that strengthened the body and could rapidly improve their physical constitution.

In other words, as long as they performed well, they could become experts just like Zhang Dazhuang.

The bandits went wild with excitement. Zhang Yunhao had been Great Chieftain for only three days, and he had taken the position by killing the former chieftains and seizing power by force, but the bandits were every bit as loyal to him as they had been before—if anything, they were even more united.

At the same time, the bandits were eager to attack other stockades. If they performed well, they could earn the chance to learn martial arts!

Under these circumstances, bringing them under control was incredibly easy. With their morale high and ready to fight, Zhang Yunhao naturally wouldn't let the opportunity pass. He set out at once!