Three-Pinpoint Reached

On August 20, Lu Hao hadn't rushed to break through during those three days. Instead, he'd kept practicing the Basic Blade Technique. When he'd just broken through to the peak of the second rank, he'd felt that his control over his vital blood was unsteady.

If he continued straight into another breakthrough, his control over his vital blood might fall below the level of a trump card. It was difficult to raise it, but easy enough to let it slip.

So, to preserve his combat strength rather than focus on his rank, Lu Hao had spent the past three days practicing his blade work. Whenever his vital blood ran out, he used Slaughter Points to restore it. After all, he'd learned from what had happened before. His Slaughter Points would shrink anyway, so he might as well use them to improve his control over his vital blood.

After three days of practice, Lu Hao's control had returned to its pre-breakthrough level. It was above the trump-card level, but hadn't yet reached the level of a finishing move.

That evening, with his mother watching over him, Lu Hao began his breakthrough. This time, he needed to finish expanding the meridians in his breastbone and spine.

He took a second-rank Organ Protection Pill and a second-rank Bone Tempering Pill, then began his breakthrough.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

Bai Qiuyao watched from the side. She hadn't even considered that Lu Hao might fail. With his current vital blood, failure was impossible. Given what Lu Hao had achieved before, she had nothing to worry about.

Bai Qiuyao was wondering whether she should tell Lu Hao about the Earth Cave now. Usually, people learned about the Earth Cave once they reached the high stage of the third rank.

After all, by the high stage of the third rank, a martial artist had finished tempering all their bones, and their vital blood flowed smoothly. They could easily use the vital blood throughout their whole body. Only then would middle- and high-ranked martial artists truly recognize them as a mainstay of the martial arts world.

They would also have enough strength to protect themselves in the Earth Cave, unlike first- and second-rank martial artists, who could be killed with ease.

But given Lu Hao's current strength, he might be able to take on high-stage third-rank enemies as soon as he broke through. He might not be able to kill them, but he could still fight them.

Four hours later, Lu Hao successfully broke through to the third rank. There were still eleven days until school started.

Lu Hao opened his eyes and looked at his status panel.

[Slaughter Point System]

[Host: Lu Hao]

[Vital Blood: 93/480 cal]

[Spirit: 68/339 Hz]

[Storage Space: 1000 cubic meters]

[Slaughter Points: 0]

His vital blood had surged by 51 cal, and his mental strength had increased by 25 Hz. Roughly speaking, each meridian added one cal of vital blood, while every two meridians added one hertz of mental strength.

Just opening the meridians had increased his vital blood so much. No wonder it could reach a thousand cal at the peak of the third rank.

Lu Hao checked his control over his vital blood. Thankfully, it was still at the trump-card level. His mother could unleash nearly a hundred cal of vital blood in one move. Against anyone below the middle stage of the third rank, she could take them down in a single strike.

As for high-stage third-rank opponents, if they had mastered control over their vital blood, he could fight them and might even kill them. But if they had a trump card of their own, he'd have no choice but to retreat.

Against martial artists who hadn't mastered control over their vital blood, he could even fight fourth-rank opponents and might possibly kill them. Though fourth-rank martial artists had more vital blood, they could only unleash close to a hundred cal, not much different from Lu Hao.

The good news was that most of the low- and middle-ranked martial artists humanity faced in the Earth Cave hadn't mastered control over their vital blood. They'd advanced on their own under the influence of the immense energy there, which was why they lacked that control.

If Lu Hao went into the Earth Cave now, killing one or two fourth-rank opponents shouldn't be a problem. If he added the third strike of the Blood Battle Mad Blade, he might even be able to trade blows with a fifth-rank opponent at full power.

But if he didn't get any Slaughter Points after that exchange, Lu Hao would be done for.

So Lu Hao's current strength was equivalent to that of a high-stage third-rank martial artist who had mastered control over their vital blood. He could kill fourth-rank opponents from the Earth Cave.

Those were fourth-rank opponents! Just how many Slaughter Points would he get for killing one? Enough to take him straight to the middle stage of the third rank, probably.

Lu Hao wiped away an imaginary tear at the corner of his mouth.

"Hao'er, how did it go? Did something go wrong with your breakthrough?" Seeing Lu Hao standing there in a daze, Bai Qiuyao thought something had gone wrong.

"No, my vital blood just increased by quite a bit, and I'm having a little trouble controlling it."

"That's normal. Go take a shower first, then come sit on the sofa. I have something to tell you," Bai Qiuyao said. She'd decided to tell Lu Hao about the Earth Cave now. He'd find out sooner or later, and knowing now would give him more time to prepare.

"Okay, got it."

Lu Hao went into the bathroom. As for what Bai Qiuyao wanted to tell him, it was probably about the Earth Cave and the truth behind his big brother's death. After all, Lu Hao had reached the third rank, and he'd soon learn about it at school anyway.

Although Lu Hao already knew most of what there was to know about the Earth Cave, he wasn't clear on some of the finer details. This was a good opportunity to learn more.

After washing up, Lu Hao felt that he'd grown quite a bit taller. He'd gone from 182 to 184. So bone tempering could make you taller.

When he went to the sofa, his mother was already sitting there, with a stack of papers in front of her.

"Hao'er, you've always felt that your father, your big brother, and I were hiding something from you. Now that you've reached the third rank, and your strength is no small matter, you're finally ready to learn what being a martial artist means—and the truth about this world."

Bai Qiuyao handed him the documents, looking at him with a complicated expression. From this moment on, Lu Hao would be entering a cruel world.

Lu Hao picked up the documents and began to read.

In 1303, an Earth Cave entrance was discovered, its existence clearly recorded.

The second Earth Cave entrance appeared in Xiwei 450 years ago.

Starting in 1920, a third Earth Cave entrance appeared, causing tens of thousands of casualties.

In 1921, the Capital Martial Arts Club was established, and martial artists officially stepped onto the world stage. That was because only the power of a martial artist's vital blood could be used in the Earth Cave; all other forms of energy were useless there.

So far, a total of twenty-two Earth Cave entrances had opened in Hua Nation.

The documents recorded the history of the Earth Cave, along with some theories about it. Some of them seemed right to Lu Hao, but quite a few were wrong.

For example, the claim that Earth Cave martial artists couldn't be killed on the surface and would revive after being killed was false. It was a deception spread by the True Kings of the Forbidden Zones to trick the Outer Region into attacking humanity with all their might.

What they called revival was simply a True King taking hold of a trace of the Origin of a dead martial artist, then restoring them with the help of Life Essence.

After reading all the documents, Lu Hao had a much clearer understanding of the Earth Cave than before.

"How is it, Hao'er? Now do you understand why martial artists have such high status? It's because their status was built on blood and flesh. Your father is guarding an Earth Cave entrance, so he can't come back. As for your brother, he died in the Magic City Abyss. It wasn't the Evil Cult."

"I'd already suspected as much. I just didn't expect our enemies to be from the Earth Cave. I'd thought they might be aliens or something. Hmph. I believe that one day we'll wipe out the Earth Cave."

The idea of aliens had belonged to Lu Hao's predecessor. It wasn't wrong to say it had been Lu Hao's guess, either.

"Your mother doesn't care about any of that. I just want you to stay safe and healthy. I know I can't stop you, but if you go to the Earth Cave, you must stay on your guard—be careful, and then be even more careful."