Third Stage Boiling Blood

After completing the registration, Shen Mu left Firewood Gang headquarters.

First, he bought twenty jin of beast meat at a butcher shop run by the Money Gang, then went to a liquor shop and bought fifty jin of strong liquor.

Ever since Origin Mulberry Wine had restored his strength, it had become a necessity for his cultivation.

Shen Mu carried his bundles and headed straight for the city gates.

But he had barely taken a few steps when he saw a group of men wearing Money Gang uniforms coming toward him along the street.

The people along the way hurriedly moved aside, afraid of provoking them.

Shen Mu stood to one side with the crowd, unable to help wondering what had happened to the Money Gang. Why had so many of its members suddenly been sent out?

Just then, Shen Mu spotted Wan Shunkang in the middle of the group. His face was bruised, and a lump swelled on his head; he was no longer the dashing man Shen Mu had seen at the city gates.

Seeing his appearance, Shen Mu couldn't help making a strange face.

What had happened to the guy in the mere half an hour since then?

At the sight of Wan Shunkang's sorry state, the onlookers couldn't help laughing and started chattering among themselves.

"That looks like the third young master of the Money Gang's second-in-command. Why's he walking around with a pig's head?"

"Haha, if you hadn't said so, I might not have recognized Wan Shunkang. Serves him right. That guy spends every day wandering the streets and hitting on respectable women. I bet this is karma catching up with him."

"Heh, you don't know the half of it. Half an hour ago, the guy bought a Dragon Blood Carp at the city gates. Who knew some mysterious martial artist would rob him on the way? He was so furious that he went looking for experts in the gang to help him get even..."

"A Dragon Blood Carp? Haha, serves him right!"

"These days, Cloud County is full of martial artists from out of town. They've all heard about the Dragon Blood Carp. Did Wan Shunkang really think he could walk through the streets carrying one and not get robbed?"

"Come to think of it, I've lived in Cloud County for all these years and never tasted Dragon Blood Carp. Has anyone here ever tried it?"

"More than twenty years ago, thanks to my grandfather, I drank half a cup of wine made with Dragon Blood Carp blood. Tsk, it made my whole body burn. My grandfather was afraid I couldn't handle the tonic, so he hurriedly took me to Fragrant Shadow Pavilion to cool off..."

"Haha, sounds to me like your grandfather had a second spring."

"Tsk. So the blood of the Dragon Blood Carp really does have an aphrodisiac effect?"

"Isn't that obvious? The Dragon Blood Carp evolved from drinking dragon blood. And you drank the blood of the Dragon Blood Carp..."

"Damn it, once I have the money, I'm absolutely buying a Dragon Blood Carp to try."

"Heh, sounds like you've got some trouble in the bedroom, little brother."

"Hahaha..."

Listening to the people around him, Shen Mu couldn't help chuckling to himself.

"So someone robbed Wan Shunkang of the Dragon Blood Carp he bought?"

Shen Mu gave a dry laugh.

At the same time, he now had a general idea of the unrest in the city these days.

Ever since rumors spread through the martial world that Gu Yunfan possessed a copy of the Extreme Profound Scripture and was roaming Cloud Province, martial artists had converged from all directions. Cloud Province's order was now teetering on the brink.

And this was only the small town of Cloud County, where martial artists dared to rob people in broad daylight. The rest of Cloud Province was surely no better.

"The Extreme Profound Scripture... I wonder where in Cloud Province Gu Yunfan is hiding..."

In an age without the internet, news was usually passed from mouth to mouth.

No one knew what might be added to a story as it made its way from person to person.

Shen Mu shook his head. Once the Money Gang's men had gone and order had returned to the street, he continued toward the city gates.

By the time he returned to Emerald Cloud Valley, it was already noon.

Shen Mu sought out Luo Tao and explained the rules of the valley to him.

The man never thought things through, and now that the Origin Mulberry Fruit was in season, Shen Mu worried that if he caught a thief, he would charge in and fight him.

It wasn't worth risking his life for such a meager stipend.

Only after taking care of all that did Shen Mu head straight for his Bamboo Shed.

After briefly curing the beast meat, Shen Mu sat cross-legged on his bed and began gathering the abundant qi and blood within him to break through to the Third Stage Boiling Blood.

"Gather the essence of Heaven and Earth, enter Tiantu, pass through Xuanji, reverse the stars, strengthen qi and blood, open the profound gate, charge the Jade Tower, and reach the Spirit Platform..."

Shen Mu circulated his body-tempering technique, guiding the qi and blood within him as it gathered.

When his qi and blood had gathered into a blood dragon, surging without end, Shen Mu drove it toward the barrier of the Third Stage Boiling Blood.

"Break!"

Shen Mu let out a low roar in his heart.

"Crack!"

A muffled sound rang out within him, and Shen Mu successfully stepped up to the next stage.

His qi and blood burst open within his body and swept in every direction. At that moment, his flesh and blood were like a land parched by drought, greedily drinking in the sudden rain.

"Third Stage Boiling Blood!"

Shen Mu opened his eyes. A strength more than twice as powerful as that of the Second Stage Boiling Blood now filled his entire body.

A scarlet mist of sweat rose from his skin, steaming without end.

After months of body tempering, Shen Mu was no stranger to this sight.

He also understood that this strange phenomenon during the Boiling Blood Stage was probably the body expelling toxins in this way.

"I've finally reached the Third Stage Boiling Blood."

Shen Mu couldn't hide his delight.

As long as he advanced one more stage, he would become a core member of the Firewood Gang and gain the chance to choose a different post.

But he understood that the cultivation level he showed to others still had to remain at the Second Stage Boiling Blood.

"To advance to the Fourth Stage Boiling Blood, I need to digest forty jin of ungraded beast meat. With the Martial Dao Tree speeding up my digestion, I should be able to finish in about two months."

"By then, I can reveal that I've reached the Third Stage Boiling Blood. After registering, I can then break through to the Fourth Stage Boiling Blood."

"However, since the cultivation level I show to others will still only be the Third Stage Boiling Blood, I can stay on guard at Emerald Cloud Valley and nurture the qi and blood I'll need to break through to the Fifth Stage Boiling Blood."

"I'm not short on cultivation resources for now, so there's no need to rush into becoming a core member and choosing another post..."

"I hope I can master the Army-Breaking Saber Technique before I leave Emerald Cloud Valley..."

Once Shen Mu had made a rough plan for the future, he took Moon Embroidery down from the wall, left the Bamboo Shed, and began practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique again.

By sunset, Shen Mu had finished another full run-through of the Army-Breaking Saber Technique. He was panting like a bellows and lay down on the grass to rest.

"Now that I've reached the Third Stage Boiling Blood, I can finally perform the Army-Breaking Saber Technique in full. That should let me gather scarlet mist on the Martial Dao Tree's branches much faster."

Shen Mu focused his mind and checked the changes to the Martial Dao Tree, unable to hide his delight.

After two months of practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, he had gained a much clearer understanding of how the Martial Dao Tree's branches changed.

The Martial Dao Tree's branches governed martial techniques.

Every time he practiced the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, a wisp of scarlet mist emerged on a branch.

From this, it was clear that the more times he practiced the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, the faster the scarlet mist would spread along the branches.