Banditry

It was fortunate that he had not yet used the Virtue Fruit he had previously obtained.

Subconsciously, he flipped his hand over.

The Little White Fruit immediately appeared in his palm.

"I wish for the Heavenly Profound Pulse-Severing Finger!" he whispered, holding the ancient medical text in one hand and the Little White Fruit in the other.

This was the name of the finger technique.

After making the wish, Zhao An stared intently at the Little White Fruit.

Suddenly, the Little White Fruit reacted; smoke churned within it, and eventually, a secret manual manifested.

On the cover of that manual, the words Heavenly Profound Pulse-Severing Finger were clearly visible!

But just as the wish was about to succeed, the smoke dissipated, and the Virtue Fruit returned to a state of calm.

The wish had failed.

Yet, even so, this was enough to thrill Zhao An!

The reason the wish failed was simply because the quality of this Virtue Fruit was not high enough.

If even things that had been lost to history could be wished for, then many legendary items recorded only in ancient texts might also have a chance to be summoned by him and reappear in the world!

He suddenly felt that this was the correct way to utilize the Virtue Fruit's wishing power!

If he only used the Virtue Fruit to wish for pills that were already available on the market, what would be the point? After all, he could buy those with silver just the same.

"Heavenly Profound Pulse-Severing Finger..."

His gaze fell once again upon the bright white name hovering above Meng Wanyi's head.

To this day, she remained the person with the deepest virtue he had ever encountered.

If he could obtain her Virtue Fruit, perhaps he could successfully wish for this legendary finger technique capable of altering life and death!

Unfortunately, he had been looking for an opportunity for some time, but he had yet to find the right moment to obtain the Virtue Fruit from Meng Wanyi.

This was not something to be rushed, nor could it be forced.

Several more days passed.

During this time, another Soul Slave who had been practicing the Fierce Tiger Blade Art for five full years of servitude was absorbed by Zhao An as a Karma Fruit.

The blade art, which was already near the perfection of the third realm, successfully broke through into the fourth realm as he had hoped.

At this realm, Zhao An's blade work became more rounded and fluid; he no longer pursued extreme sharpness, gaining instead a sense of steady, defensive intent.

Like a great tiger crouching in the forest, he was prepared for both offense and defense, and his movements now possessed a touch of mastery that bordered on the divine!

This blade art had been practiced by multiple Soul Slaves in relay within the Soul Pool for over twenty years, finally achieving great success.

Only the final realm remained—perfection without flaw, reaching the absolute peak.

Thus, Zhao An selected two more Soul Slaves with seven years of servitude to practice the blade art together, seeking that final perfection.

As for his Internal Breath, he gained another twenty strands, bringing his total to one hundred and fifty, marking further progress.

The medical texts in the clinic recorded that one thousand strands of Internal Breath formed a single "path."

He was still quite far from condensing a path of Internal Breath.

The Soul Slaves relied on time to grind away, and their progress in martial realms was not slow.

However, regarding internal energy, whether it was due to the lack of a physical body or the absence of rare treasures and medicinal supplements, the growth of Internal Breath was much slower than that of martial realms.

Of course, this slowness was only relative.

Compared to other martial artists, his progress was still rapid, and his strength was soaring.

Besides this, the Soul Slave he had assigned to practice the Silver Snake Hand also yielded results.

After absorbing it, his Internal Breath increased by another twenty strands!

The Silver Snake Hand, a palm technique, had also reached the first realm, which could be considered as having entered the hall of mastery.

Compared to the five realms of the blade art, this ninth-grade palm technique only had three levels, focusing primarily on grappling and the art of dislocating bones and separating tendons.

The strikes were sinister and tricky, possessing considerable power.

Having learned the Silver Snake Hand, he had effectively compensated for his shortcomings in unarmed combat.

If he were to fight someone again in the future, even without his blade, he would still have the strength to battle!

However, not everything went as planned these past few days; he discovered that the Soul Slaves were not omnipotent.

Even after consuming two more Soul Slaves, he still could not grasp the essence of the martial arts technique from Golden Scale Mountain.

He speculated that these Python Gang Soul Slaves lacked the aptitude and comprehension, or perhaps their martial cultivation while alive was not high enough to meet the minimum requirements for understanding this technique.

It was like a child who had only learned simple addition trying to solve advanced mathematical problems.

Therefore, he activated the Soul Slave Xu Donglai to contemplate this great sect's martial art.

As a Martial Master, the possibility of him comprehending it was much higher.

On this day.

In an old neighborhood, there stood a stone house with drafts blowing through every corner.

"These scrolls on military strategy were passed down by my great-grandfather. Zhao, Master Zhao, you may borrow them..." A frail-looking young man opened a wooden box, inside which lay several thick bamboo slips that appeared to be well-preserved.

Before he could finish his sentence, the young man covered his mouth and began to cough, his face devoid of any color.

Zhao An flipped through them for a moment, and after confirming they were indeed treatises on military strategy, he nodded in satisfaction. Zhao Chunzi, standing to the side, immediately took the wooden box and handed over a money pouch.

"No, I do not want money. I only ask that you please remember to return them and do not damage the scrolls," the young man said, shaking his head and trying to decline.

"Take it. The books will naturally be returned. Use this money to see a doctor at the clinic. You are about to lose your life, so what is the point of holding onto such pride?" Zhao An said, his tone brooking no argument.

The young man hesitated for a moment before finally accepting the silver.

He truly needed this money to sustain his life right now; otherwise, he feared he wouldn't even last until this year's imperial examination.

For a scholar from a humble background like him, the imperial examination was almost the only path he had to survive and change his destiny.

Even though the imperial court was currently in decline and the Great Wu Dynasty was teetering on the brink of collapse, having one's name on the list and possessing an official title still carried significant weight.

"Thank you, Master Zhao." Feeling the heavy weight of the money pouch, the young man bowed to Zhao An with complicated emotions.

At the same time, a white light flew out from above his head and transformed into a Virtue Fruit in Zhao An's hand.

Zhao An felt a sudden flash of insight; he realized that if he hadn't given this money, this young scholar named Li Tianhuai would likely have died from his illness.

He had reversed Li Tianhuai's fatal predicament, and thus he had obtained this Virtue Fruit.

"It is nothing. If you are not familiar with the physicians in the outer city, you can go to the Bright Moon Clinic. The physicians there are kind-hearted and allow students from poor backgrounds like you to run a tab."

Zhao An said no more. As soon as he and Zhao Chunzi stepped out of the alley, they saw a crowd of people gathered on the main road by the city gate, looking around curiously.

"Brother Zhao, it's the County Soldiers!" Zhao Chunzi pointed.

Zhao An looked over and saw a troop of several hundred armored men assembling at the city gate. They held swords, spears, and shields, with crossbows at their sides, appearing well-trained.

These were the County Soldiers of Lianjiang City!

At the head of the group, riding a tall, maned horse, was a man in striking silver armor.

This man was none other than the current County Commandant, He Zhang.

In charge of the County Soldiers and the yamen runners, he held immense power and was effectively the second-in-command of the entire Lianjiang County!

At the same time, he was a martial artist of unfathomable strength, a name that resonated throughout both the inner and outer cities!

Even Zhao An knew a great deal about him.

Compared to his distinguished military achievements, Zhao An's feat of single-handedly slaughtering his way through the Python Gang was not even worth mentioning.

His appearance, leading so many County Soldiers, suggested he was preparing to head out of the city.

There was no doubt that something major was about to happen.

After making a brief inquiry, Zhao An understood.

They were heading out of the city to suppress bandits!