Obtaining the Talent for the Blade

"Brat! Die!"

The burly man, built like an iron tower, roared. Without a moment's hesitation, he raised his twin hammers and pressed his advantage!

BOOM!

He struck directly toward Qin Yu's face.

Despair filled Qin Yu's eyes.

Facing this unreasonable, super-strong monster, how was he supposed to fight?

Just as he thought he would die beneath the man's twin hammers.

Suddenly.

A hand grabbed his arm, instantly yanking Qin Yu backward.

THUD! The twin hammers slammed into the empty ground, smashing two large craters into the earth!

"Who is it?!"

Seeing his prey snatched away at the critical moment, the burly man flew into a rage and bellowed!

"Calm down, it's me!" the horse-faced youth said hurriedly.

It was this horse-faced youth who had intervened at the last second to save Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was also bewildered. Having just returned from the gates of hell, his heart was still pounding. Thinking his savior was an acquaintance, he turned to look, only to see a strange martial artist in black with a horse-like face.

What was going on?

"Brat, what is the meaning of this?" Seeing it was one of his own, the burly man's anger still boiled!

"Big Brother, it's like this. The higher-ups gave an order; this person carries a secret..." the horse-faced youth said with a solemn expression, as if there really were some earth-shattering secret!

As he spoke, his voice grew lower, and he moved closer to the burly man!

People are naturally curious about secrets.

The burly man couldn't stay angry; he was immediately consumed by curiosity about what this secret could be.

"Big Brother, this secret must never be known by others. Lean in closer and I'll tell you..."

The horse-faced youth said mysteriously.

The burly man, suspecting nothing, lowered his body and tilted his ear to listen.

The horse-faced youth cupped a hand to his mouth, about to say something.

The next second.

The horse-faced youth's full power at the peak of the Blood Refining Realm erupted violently!

SPLUTCH!

The Life-Taking Curved Blade, featuring a blood groove with barbs, suddenly pierced through the burly man's neck!

"You!!!..."

Before the burly man could finish his sentence, the power of Blood Qi exploded, and his entire head was blown apart.

Qin Yu watched, dumbfounded. What on earth was happening? Infighting?!

"Senior Brother, it's me." The horse-faced youth wiped his face, and his body frame shifted. A familiar face and figure gradually revealed itself under the moonlight.

"Junior Brother Li Qiming?!" Qin Yu couldn't help but exclaim!

The black-clad, horse-faced man had transformed into none other than Li Qiming!

"It's me, Senior Brother!" Li Qiming nodded.

He had ultimately chosen Entry 3: gaining ten years of Blood Qi cultivation, which allowed him to break through to the peak of the Blood Refining Realm in one go.

He had chosen to kill his way back!

Of course, if the situation turned sour, he could just run again. He had been pleasantly surprised to discover that after stepping into the peak of the Blood Refining Realm, his movement technique, Swallow Skimming Grass, had also reached the Great Success stage!

His speed had increased by nearly three times compared to before!

Even a martial artist in the Bone Refining realm would absolutely not be able to catch him.

Unless they possessed a movement technique comparable to his, but the average martial artist could never master such a technique without fifteen or twenty years of practice.

In other words.

As long as Li Qiming was cautious, the danger here was not as great as he had imagined.

This was the key reason he had dared to come back to "observe."

"Junior Brother Qiming, how do you possess such methods of disguise and bone-shrinking?" Qin Yu couldn't help but ask.

Li Qiming had already prepared his excuse: "When I was begging in my youth, I met an old beggar who taught them to me."

On his way here, he had encountered the corpse of the horse-faced youth. He had checked it, but found no good entries—they were all very ordinary—so he had chosen to adopt the man's identity. Through the mysterious power of the entries, he had transformed into the image of the black-clad, horse-faced youth.

Qin Yu was stunned. Naturally, he didn't doubt him; he simply marveled at his junior brother's disguise skills, which were truly brilliant. Just a moment ago, he hadn't been able to spot a single flaw.

The honest image of his junior brother before him was suddenly cast in a layer of mystery in his heart.

"Didn't you leave? I thought you had gone back to the martial arts hall to report the news..." Qin Yu asked.

"I thought about it and couldn't rest easy, so I came back to check. Besides, the mountains are high and the roads are long; I wouldn't have made it back to the hall in time, and I'm not familiar with the surrounding terrain, so I had no idea where to run..."

Li Qiming spoke the honest truth.

"Senior Brother Qin Yu, hurry and take your pill to regulate your breath. I will stand guard for you," Li Qiming reminded him.

"Good." Qin Yu knew this was not the time for a detailed conversation, so he quickly gathered his focus, nodded, swallowed a Blood Recovery Pill, and sat cross-legged to circulate his blood qi and recover.

The strength of the burly man like an iron tower had left him severely injured, and he needed to recover a bit immediately... The surrounding escort agency martial artists and his fellow junior brothers were all locked in a life-or-death struggle with the black-clad Demon Sect martial artists; there was no time to lose!

While Qin Yu was recovering through meditation.

Li Qiming turned his head to look at the corpse of the burly man and gave it a nudge with the tip of his boot.

[Corpse looting triggered entries]

[1. Twelve Years of Blood Qi: Martial Arts Cultivation/Rare]

[2. Demon Sect Blood Refining Realm minor leader: Identity/Precious]

[3. Strength of a Tiger: Talent/Scarce]

Li Qiming was stunned, and then his heart gave a violent jolt. What was he seeing? Twelve Years of Blood Qi?

He hurriedly looked closer:

[1. Twelve Years of Blood Qi: Martial Arts Cultivation/Rare]

[Twelve Years of Blood Qi: Directly increases blood qi power by twelve years, but... beware of exploding to death! Choose this entry at your own risk!]

Li Qiming was immediately doused with a bucket of cold water, though after a moment of thought, he understood.

After all, it was being infused into him. Even if the mysterious power of the entry used the gentlest possible method, his body naturally could not fully adapt to such a sudden, massive increase in blood qi.

When he was at the Great Perfection of the Blood Refining Realm earlier, he had been infused with ten years of blood qi power, which was incredibly painful—he had nearly passed out. It was a feeling of his bones, meridians, blood vessels, skin, and flesh being stuffed to the brim and torn apart...

It was extremely uncomfortable!

The surge in blood qi power had left him unable to fully control it even now.

Every part of his body was aching faintly.

Furthermore, the blood qi was disobedient when he tried to use it.

The blade he used to ambush the burly man earlier had been a bit too forceful, blowing the man's head apart.

The dagger used to kill the burly man was, naturally, the one from Shadow Blade.

After all, since Shadow Blade had broken Li Qiming's blade, compensating him with two daggers could be considered a fair trade.

Li Qiming collected his thoughts, shook his head, and looked at the entries dropped by the burly man.

He desperately wanted to choose entry 1, but this twelve years of blood qi cultivation was too hot to handle; he simply couldn't take it.

Choosing it would mean a ninety-nine percent chance of certain death.

With a slight sigh of regret, he turned his gaze to entry 2.

[2. Demon Sect Blood Refining Realm minor leader: Identity/Precious]

[You take on the image of the burly man, with a certain chance to obtain several Demon Blade techniques... 100% chance to obtain the second-rate technique Ape Hammer!]

"There is no need to choose this." Li Qiming judged immediately, because what he needed most right now were entries like "infusion of ten years of cultivation" that could make him stronger instantly.

"Actually, I have another choice: not to choose at all!" A thought suddenly struck Li Qiming, and he mentally cheered for his own idea.

Because after looting a corpse, the entries did not disappear.

He could accumulate the entries.

Then, wait for the moment he needed them to make a choice!

Once he thought of this, he felt his idea was simply perfect!

Once his body had fully absorbed the "ten years of blood qi cultivation" he had already been infused with, couldn't he then choose to be infused with the "twelve years of blood qi cultivation"?

Just thinking about it made him feel expectant!

However, Li Qiming calmed his heart and looked at entry 3.

[3. Strength of a Tiger: Talent/Scarce]