Stone Monkey Waste Veins

The drop of blood sank to the bottom of the wooden bowl and vanished in a flash.

A moment later, the bowl trembled slightly. With a bang, a small puff of white mist burst from it. It spun around, then gathered above the bowl into a thumb-sized miniature monkey, curled up with its eyes tightly shut. It looked lifelike, though faint white crystalline threads flickered across its body.

"This... this is an unranked Stone Monkey Bloodline, the most useless kind even among Waste Veins? In that case, I've come all this way for nothing. I, Zhao, have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave." After carefully examining the miniature white monkey and the crystalline threads across its body, the man in the conical hat's expression darkened as he spoke.

With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the miniature white monkey and put the wooden bowl away. He gave a slight cupped-fist salute to Li Canghai and the burly Instructor Min, then walked out of the hall without another word.

From beginning to end, the man surnamed Zhao didn't look at Shi Mu even once.

Li Canghai and Instructor Min had already turned pale.

Seeing this, Shi Mu felt a sudden jolt in his heart and vaguely sensed that something bad was coming.

"Oh, and you, boy. I'd advise you not to take the entrance test for Kaiyuan Martial Academy either. With your Stone Monkey Waste Veins, you'd only be wasting the academy's resources."

The conical-hatted man's cold voice suddenly drifted in from outside the entrance hall. After that, there was no further sound.

"Stone Monkey Waste Veins? Master Li, what does that mean? Does it mean I didn't awaken a bloodline, or that the bloodline I awakened is useless?" Shi Mu's eyes flickered as he turned to ask Li Canghai.

"How should I put it..." Li Canghai murmured instinctively, his expression grim.

"Let me explain. Shi Mu, all I can say is that you're terribly unlucky. You did awaken bloodline power, but it was an unranked Stone Monkey Bloodline. You'd have been better off not awakening one at all! You should know that bloodline users can borrow the power of their bloodlines to soar skyward, and cultivate far faster than ordinary people. But some bloodlines are of little use and may even cause all kinds of obstacles in future cultivation, making it much harder than it is for ordinary people. Those are Waste Veins. Your Stone Monkey Bloodline is among the most widely known Waste Veins. Its power can indeed make someone thick-skinned and strong as an ox during the Martial Disciple stage, but once they comprehend qi, the bloodline power will block the meridians, making it far harder for them to gather true qi than for a normal person. Make the best of it!" The burly man surnamed Min sighed, offered a few words of explanation, then shook his head and strode away.

In the blink of an eye, only Shi Mu and Li Canghai remained in the hall.

After hearing Instructor Min's words, Shi Mu felt his heart sink.

"Master Li..."

"Shi Mu, you really don't need to take this year's Kaiyuan Martial Academy test. As far as I know, no one identified as having awakened Waste Veins has ever been admitted to the Martial Academy, no matter how well they performed in the tests. After all, the academy recruits disciples to train experts who can reach the Houtian and even Xiantian realms. Someone who can only excel at the Martial Disciple stage has no value to the academy." Li Canghai abruptly cut off whatever Shi Mu had been about to ask and spoke in a grave voice.

"To be honest, I'm disappointed too. I'd hoped to personally train a powerful fighter from our martial hall, but I never imagined you'd awaken Waste Veins. I should have realized sooner. Only someone with the Stone Monkey Bloodline could have mastered the Crushing Stone Fist to such terrifying effect in just a few months."

By the end, Li Canghai's words carried a hint of regret.

"Does having Stone Monkey Waste Veins really mean I can never become a powerful martial artist?" Shi Mu forcibly suppressed the cold despair and tangled emotions in his heart, clenched his teeth, and asked again, unwilling to believe it.

"When you start cultivating some Houtian technique and discover that you gather true qi at only half—or even less—the speed of other people, then you'll truly feel despair. As the instructor you once hired, I'll give you one last piece of advice. Treat your old ambition to learn martial arts as a dream, go home, and live an ordinary life. And there's no need to come back to Flowing Wind Martial Hall. We teach martial arts to anyone who pays, but we won't keep teaching someone with Waste Veins who has no value to train. Otherwise, the other martial halls would laugh at us." After saying these last few words without expression, Li Canghai patted Shi Mu on the shoulder and turned to leave the hall.

Shi Mu stood motionless. After a long while, he slowly walked over to the nearest chair and sat down, his expression utterly blank.

"Ha ha... ha... Yesterday I was the top Martial Disciple in Feng City, and today I'm a Stone Monkey with Waste Veins. What a joke... ha..."

Shi Mu's near-mad laughter suddenly rang through the hall.

Li Canghai had only just walked a short distance away. He heard the laughter behind him and his expression shifted slightly, but his feet never stopped.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Shi Mu left Flowing Wind Martial Hall, his expression seemingly calm, and headed straight for the manor outside the city.

Several days later.

The Bloodline Tide had begun, and the Pulse-Seeking Envoys had appeared in Feng City. News that they had discovered three bloodline users, including Wang Tianhao, spread throughout the city, causing a sensation among all its factions and families, great and small.

The news also included the fact that the Pulse-Seeking Envoy had visited Flowing Wind Martial Hall and discovered that Shi Mu possessed Stone Monkey Waste Veins.

Many were astonished by this news, but it also delighted certain others.

In a side hall of the Jin Family's main residence.

Aunt Zhen stood before a stern-faced man in his fifties, her eyebrows raised as she demanded, "Elder Brother, I heard you distributed all ten Spirit Qi Pills that had just arrived at the estate, and gave the one meant for Shi Mu to Jin Tian instead?"

"That's right. I gave the one meant for Shi Mu to my nephew Jin Tian. Seventh Sister, you've come at just the right time. Here's a ten-thousand-tael bank draft from Fifth Brother. You can have someone deliver it to Shi Mu later." The stern-faced man was the current Head of the Jin Family. He answered her question calmly and pulled a bank draft from his sleeve, handing it over.

"You think one bank draft can make up for taking away the Spirit Qi Pill? Elder Brother, do you take Shi Mu for a fool?" Aunt Zhen slapped the bank draft out of his hand, laughing in anger.

"Heh. Even if Shi Mu isn't a fool, this time he has no choice but to play one. It wasn't easy for the Jin Family to acquire these Spirit Qi Pills. How could we waste one on someone with Waste Veins?" The stern-faced man withdrew his hand without a care, his reply still cold.

"Whether Shi Mu has Waste Veins or not, I personally promised him a Spirit Qi Pill. I won't let this matter end like this. I'm going to see Father." Aunt Zhen spoke bluntly.

"Father? Seventh Sister, I'll be honest with you. It was Father himself who ordered us to cancel Shi Mu's Spirit Qi Pill." The Head of the Jin Family spoke flatly.

"What? Father himself gave that order?" Aunt Zhen's expression changed dramatically.

"Don't forget, your surname is Jin, not Shi. Your husband married into the Jin Family. A Spirit Qi Pill is a small matter, but we can't do anything that would make the other great families laugh at the Jin Family. Once you're back, Seventh Sister, you should focus more of your attention on Yuhuan. Now that the Bloodline Tide has begun, the envoys of the Three Great Sects will surely appear. I'm actively making inquiries. This may well be a tremendous opportunity for Yuhuan." At the mention of Shi Yuhuan, the Head of the Jin Family's stern expression finally softened a little.

"Hmph. Since this was Father's idea, I naturally won't go against him. As for Yuhuan, Elder Brother needn't concern himself with her." Aunt Zhen's expression shifted several times before she finally stamped her foot and turned to leave.

"Wait. Take the bank draft with you." The Head of the Jin Family suddenly called after her.

"I can afford ten thousand taels myself, so Fifth Brother needn't grit his teeth to pay it." Aunt Zhen didn't even look back. In an instant, she was out the door.

Shi Yuhuan was waiting outside the side hall. As soon as Aunt Zhen came out, she hurried over and asked, "Mother, how did it go with Uncle? Could you get the Spirit Qi Pill back for my brother?"

"I'm afraid not. This was ordered personally by your maternal grandfather, so there's nothing I can do. But I'll have Steward Cheng deliver thirty thousand taels to Shi Mu later." Aunt Zhen sighed as she replied.

"Mother, Grandfather went too far this time." Shi Yuhuan immediately looked displeased when she heard that.

"It's hard to say that your maternal grandfather and uncle were wrong. Giving a Spirit Qi Pill to someone with Waste Veins really would damage the Jin Family's reputation. This time, I can only say that I broke my promise to Shi Mu." Aunt Zhen looked helpless.

In the rear courtyard of the Heavenly King Temple, Feng Li and Gao Yuan exchanged glances as they listened to a message peddler recounting the sensational rumors circulating through the city.

After a long while, Feng Li waved the man away.

"I never expected Shi Mu to have the Stone Monkey Bloodline. That explains why he could sweep aside all the other Martial Disciples of his rank. Back then, we wanted him to lead the Black Fox Society, but he wouldn't even consider it." Gao Yuan chuckled, with a hint of schadenfreude.

"Yeah, I never would've guessed Brother Shi had Waste Veins. What a pity. Otherwise, even as an ordinary person, he should have made something of himself on the path of martial arts. Now, I'm afraid we'll have to find a new backer." Feng Li looked deeply regretful.

"So Shi Mu is a worthless waste! I can't believe I wanted to challenge him back then."

At Feihong Martial Hall, Tie Dong read a note in his hand and curled his lip in disdain. He then tore it to shreds and focused once more on practicing a new set of boxing techniques.

If he mastered this set of boxing techniques, he would have been able to counter the Crushing Stone Fist to some extent.

Loud laughter rang out from a secret chamber in the Wu Family's residence.

"He awakened Stone Monkey Waste Veins! This is wonderful. I imagine the Jin Family won't bother with this brat anymore. Father, I want to send someone to cripple his legs." Wu Hua laughed wildly as he spoke to the pale-faced man across from him.

"No problem. Since he's a good-for-nothing, there's no need for our Wu Family to fear him. Besides, your uncle and I have just discovered that to unleash the full power of that thing from the Zhong Family, we'll probably need a little of that Zhong girl's blood. Once things have quieted down, your Third Uncle will personally lead men to kidnap her. He'll also help you get your revenge." The pale-faced man looked at Wu Hua with an indulgent expression and answered without hesitation.

"Wonderful! I'll go with Third Uncle then. I want to see Shi Mu's legs get broken with my own eyes and watch him suffer." The arrogant youth was overjoyed.