Stepping out of the small courtyard, Hao Wei felt an indescribable tangle of emotions.
No matter how he tried to persuade him afterward, Zhao An still politely declined to work with him and showed no interest whatsoever in becoming gang leader.
It had all been nothing but wishful thinking on his part.
"Looks like I really need to think about how to bow out..." Hao Wei sighed softly and walked away.
In the courtyard, Zhao An didn't give Hao Wei's purpose for coming much thought.
Being the leader of a gang of thugs and villains had never seemed like a promising prospect to him.
Most importantly, he had no interest in associating with a bunch of Red Names.
Turning those Red Names into his Soul Slaves was far more worthwhile.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Who knew what that adviser Hao Wei had said after he returned, but no one from the Tiger Head Gang came looking for Zhao An again.
As for the Python Gang, they had been quite well-behaved these past few days and hadn't come to provoke him either. At most, they dared to have two or three spies watch Zhao An's movements from the streets.
Every day, Zhao An also set aside an hour to go to the clinic and learn to read and write.
Thanks to the cultural foundation he had built in his previous life, he was able to pick up his studies again without much difficulty.
His comprehension and ability to apply what he learned to new situations, in particular, made Meng Wanyi wonder for a while whether Zhao An had chosen the wrong path.
He shouldn't have taken up blade work. Instead, he should have studied literature from childhood, become a refined scholar, and perhaps even passed the provincial examinations and entered officialdom.
Seeing that Zhao An wasn't dull and was sincerely eager to learn, Meng Wanyi taught him quite earnestly instead of brushing him off.
Even when Zhao An wanted to learn a little about medicine, or even the art of alchemy, Meng Wanyi would teach him a bit, for the sake of the silver.
That day.
Zhao An focused his attention on the Soul Pool.
[Soul Slave Li Dazhuang, enslavement period has ended. Extract Karma Fruit?]
"Extract."
At the thought, the Soul Slave, which had already entered standby, instantly turned into a pale red Karma Fruit and was absorbed by Zhao An.
The Soul Slave named Li Dazhuang had been enslaved for a full seven years.
Throughout those seven years, Zhao An had made him focus solely on practicing blade techniques, without a single moment of rest.
Now, the fruits of those seven years of training had finally come time to harvest.
Xu San's five-year enslavement period had previously allowed him to successfully deduce the Fierce Tiger Blade Art and train it to perfection in the First Realm.
Now, this Soul Slave had continued to painstakingly practice the blade art for seven years on top of that foundation.
As everything fused together, a torrent of images and information poured into Zhao An's mind, instantly enlightening him about the Fierce Tiger Blade Art.
At the same time, his muscles, bones, and even his meridians were undergoing a synchronized transformation.
Zhao An was already used to this. Before the hunger could even set in, he had already gulped down a bowl of medicinal soup made with five jin of Red Blood Root.
Before that, he had also eaten his fill.
The energy he had replenished in advance kept this transformation from catching him off guard.
He could feel his body growing stronger and stronger, as if he had truly spent another seven years painstakingly practicing the blade.
What surprised him most was that the Internal Breath circulating through his meridians was increasing in quantity too!
One strand, two strands, three strands...
The Fierce Tiger Blade Art came with its own "internal cultivation" method. As practitioners trained with the blade, they also continuously used this method to refine and strengthen their Internal Breath!
Naturally, Soul Slaves were no exception. Their daily practice of "internal cultivation" had become part of the final result, passed on to their master, Zhao An.
Thus, Zhao An, who had originally possessed only a single strand of Internal Breath, soon had a hundred strands circulating through his body in a full cycle.
Though the strands of Internal Breath were still somewhat unstable, they were far stronger than before!
With a hundred strands of Internal Breath intertwined, Zhao An struck out with his blade again. Its power was on a completely different level!
He drank bowl after bowl of Red Blood Root soup, without stopping for a moment.
That was the source of energy that allowed his Internal Breath to grow out of nowhere and his body to strengthen!
Fortunately, Red Blood Root of this age was fairly cheap, and he didn't even need to go anywhere to get it. He could buy it directly from Meng Wanyi's clinic.
Only after the time it took an incense stick to burn had passed did he completely digest the bountiful rewards from the Soul Slave's seven years of training.
Zhao An was drenched in sweat, but his spirits were high. His eyes gleamed brilliantly.
He merely tapped the tabletop lightly, sending Internal Breath from his palm into its surface.
The long blade beside him instantly jolted upward. He caught it in his hand and headed to the open ground in the small courtyard.
The Fierce Tiger Blade Art swept forth. His blade strokes were domineering, his edge sharp, and his movements as nimble as a tiger's.
With Internal Breath pouring into the blade, its ringing seemed to echo with a tiger's roar, humming through the air.
He stepped forward like a fierce tiger ascending a mountain, then swept his blade down. Dust billowed across the ground, and several stone slabs cracked apart!
The tiger's roar lurked within the wind of his blade, its force surging between heaven and earth.
There was no doubt that Zhao An's blade work had become far more refined!
As fallen leaves drifted down, the blade flashed through the air. The leaves spun as they were sliced into fragments, scattering around Zhao An's feet.
Zhao An swung his blade faster and faster, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Only after he had thoroughly enjoyed himself did he stop, the surging blood and qi within his body gradually settling down.
Zhao An let out a long breath, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
His strength now was as if he had truly undergone seven years of painstaking training—not that, but far greater than what ordinary people could achieve through seven years of practice!
The evolution of his physique, the explosive growth of his Internal Breath, and the Fierce Tiger Blade Art breaking through to the Third Realm!
This ninth-grade blade art had five realms in all. Reaching the Third Realm meant the blade could take on the form of a tiger, its force strong enough to shatter the barrier of wind!
With the very same blade strokes, Zhao An's power was now far greater than before!
Previously, he had only reached perfection in the First Realm of the blade art. Now he had skipped the Second Realm entirely and reached the Third. That was a gap that ordinary people might not bridge even after more than a decade of painstaking study and practice.
"Soul Slaves are wonderful..."
Looking at the more than ten Soul Slaves he still had left unused, Zhao An couldn't help sighing again.
With so many hired hands to train for him, what was there to fear? His blade art was bound to reach the pinnacle!
Now, if he faced Zhou Hu again, he had the confidence to measure himself against him. He no longer needed to lower himself as he had before.
He truly disliked having to swallow his pride, especially when facing someone with a big red name.
"I need to find a chance to test my blade again!"
Zhao An wasn't the sort to sit around waiting for things to happen. What was the point of having strength if he kept it hidden and unused?
But before that, he still had one Karma Fruit to claim.
[Soul Slave Liu Gen, enslavement period has ended. Extract Karma Fruit?]
The Soul Slave named Liu Gen had also been one of the people Zhao An killed when he passed the Three Trials.
But unlike Li Dazhuang, who had been enslaved for seven years, Liu Gen could only be enslaved for five.
The task Zhao An had given him wasn't to practice blade techniques, but to devote himself completely to studying and comprehending the contents of that little booklet.
In other words, the so-called Golden Scale Mountain Piling Art!
He wanted to see whether this thing really was a martial arts technique from a major sect!
Before you continue