Blood on the Wind

"I never imagined First Stage Boiling Blood could pack such a punch!"

As they walked home, Luo Tao couldn't help marveling.

The power behind Mao Shouzhuo's punch had undoubtedly stunned everyone present.

"Yeah."

Shen Mu agreed.

For them, reaching the ranks of a true martial artist still felt like an unattainable dream.

But First Stage Boiling Blood seemed close enough to touch.

"By the way, Taozi."

Shen Mu turned to Luo Tao and asked, "How much of the monster meat you ate this morning do you think you've digested?"

"How much have I digested?"

Luo Tao paused at the question. He thought it over carefully before answering, "Probably about one tenth."

One tenth?

Shen Mu fell into thought.

Given Luo Tao's bear-like build, he was bound to digest monster meat faster than an ordinary person.

Yet after a whole day of body tempering, he could only digest one or two taels of monster meat. At that rate, wouldn't it take a full ten days to digest one jin?

Shen Mu, on the other hand, could clearly feel that after a day of body tempering, he wasn't nearly as full. He'd probably already digested three taels of the monster meat he'd eaten.

Another two or three days, and he would likely have digested all of it.

"Something's not right. Could it be..."

Shen Mu's heart gave a sudden thump.

If Luo Tao's digestion was typical for someone tempering their body, then Shen Mu had digested a full three taels of monster meat after just one day.

Did that mean he could temper his body and cultivate his blood qi three times faster than an ordinary person?

"I get it. The ancient tree in my mind must be letting me digest monster meat three times faster!"

Shen Mu's heart pounded.

Mao Shouzhuo had said during their body-tempering session that reaching First Stage Boiling Blood required consuming at least ten jin of ungraded monster meat.

At the rate an ordinary person could digest one tael of monster meat a day, reaching First Stage Boiling Blood would take at least three months.

But Shen Mu digested it three times as fast. Didn't that mean he could reach First Stage Boiling Blood in about a month?

As the saying went, one step ahead meant staying ahead at every step.

While the others were still trying to break through to First Stage Boiling Blood, he would have already reached it and might even be pushing for Second Stage Boiling Blood. The gap between them would only widen with time.

After parting ways with Luo Tao, Shen Mu hurried home, unable to wait another moment.

Once home, he took a quick bath and changed into clean clothes. Then he sat cross-legged on his bed, sank his mind into his consciousness, and examined the ancient tree's changes.

Scarlet Mist had spread across about three percent of one of the ancient tree's roots.

"Looks like my guess was right. The Scarlet Mist appearing on the roots of the ancient tree is the blood qi I cultivated through body tempering."

"Does that mean that once Scarlet Mist completely covers this root, I'll be able to break through to First Stage Boiling Blood?"

Shen Mu gazed at the towering ancient tree in his mind and pondered.

If the pinnacle of martial arts meant filling the entire tree in his mind with Scarlet Mist, then he hadn't even taken his first step yet. He still had a long, long road ahead.

"Since this tree can help me advance my cultivation, I'll call it the Martial Dao Tree from now on."

Shen Mu gave the tree in his mind a name.

Now that he had a rough idea of what the Martial Dao Tree could do, another problem confronted him.

As an outer member of the Firewood Gang, he could only get one jin of ungraded monster meat each month.

If he wanted to speed up his body tempering, he would have to buy more monster meat himself.

He'd paid ten taels of silver to become an outer member of the Firewood Gang, and all the money he had left now amounted to only two taels and eight qian—enough to buy just two jin of monster meat.

That was nowhere near enough to get his cultivation to First Stage Boiling Blood.

"I don't have enough money..."

Shen Mu glanced around the bare-walled house.

To the people of this world, a home was the foundation of a stable life. Selling one was unthinkable unless they had no other choice.

But Shen Mu felt no such compunction.

A house was just a worldly possession. As long as he grew strong, he could rebuild his fortune even if it was all scattered to the winds.

"This house covers a hundred square meters. I should be able to sell it for a few dozen taels of silver."

"As for somewhere to live afterward, I can rent a place for a while."

"I wonder if my cheap old man would be furious enough to claw his way out of the ancestral grave and come after me when he finds out."

Shen Mu's expression turned peculiar. He immediately dug out the deed, left the house, and headed to the real estate agency.

When Shen Mu entered the agency, he saw a shopkeeper at the counter turning an abacus while a young clerk idly dusted with a feather duster.

"Welcome, sir. How can I help you?"

The moment he saw Shen Mu come in, the clerk hurriedly set down the feather duster and came over with an ingratiating smile.

"I want to sell a house. I'd like the agency to advertise it for me."

Shen Mu got straight to the point.

The real estate agencies here were much like the brokers of his previous life.

"Sell a house?"

The clerk paused, then asked, "May I ask where the house is, sir?"

Shen Mu took out the deed. "Mist Glow Lane, Silver Moon Street."

The clerk glanced at the deed and continued, "That area's a little out of the way. How much are you hoping to sell it for? Is it a quick sale or are you willing to wait?"

"Sixty taels. I want a quick sale."

Shen Mu added, "Ideally, I'd like it sold this month."

"That soon?"

The clerk gave Shen Mu another look, then quickly wrote down the house's exact address.

"Sir, we can list your house first thing tomorrow morning. The agency will charge a five-percent commission after the sale. Do you agree?"

Shen Mu nodded. If the house sold for sixty taels, he could accept a three-tael fee. Without the agency finding a buyer, who knew how long it might take him to sell it?

The clerk continued, "Sir, if a buyer wants to view the house, when are you available?"

Shen Mu replied, "I'm not home during the day. Evening would be best."

The clerk nodded. "Understood. If there's a buyer, I'll bring them by in the evening to see the house."

Shen Mu said no more. The clerk escorted him out of the agency with a fawning smile.

"Hmph. Another brat selling his grandfather's house without a care."

When the clerk returned, the shopkeeper gave a derisive snort and spoke sourly.

In this world, many people wouldn't even think of selling their house, even if they had to get by on thin gruel.

"Heh, Shopkeeper, you'd better not let the customers hear you say that."

The clerk grinned. "He looks about seventeen or eighteen. He's probably selling the house to pay for martial arts training. If he becomes a martial artist someday, earning enough for another house will be a piece of cake."

"Sell a house and become a martial artist?"

The shopkeeper shook his head with a cold laugh. "You really think becoming a martial artist is that easy?"

"My own boy started training at the Hundred Generations Martial Hall last year. In just one year, he's cost me over thirty taels of silver, and he's only at First Stage Blood Tempering. Becoming a ranked martial artist would probably cost at least five hundred taels..."

"Five hundred taels?"

The clerk's expression shifted. He forced a smile and said, "You're quite well-off, Shopkeeper. I doubt I'll earn that much in my whole life."

"Alas."

The shopkeeper sighed. "I'd hoped he'd take over for me and run this agency one day. He could've had a steady, comfortable life. But the little brat's been threatening to kill himself over learning martial arts. Let him have his way."

The clerk chuckled. "Shopkeeper, who doesn't want to become a martial artist?"

"If my father had had the money, I'd have wanted to become one too."

Shen Mu, of course, had no idea what the clerk and shopkeeper said after he left.

Selling his house to pay for his cultivation was a last resort.

Any other way of making money would slow down his body tempering and blood-qi cultivation.

Was he supposed to leave town every day to chop firewood and sell it? How much could he earn that way? He wouldn't even make enough to buy one jin of monster meat in a month.

The best way to use money was always to invest it in yourself!

As Shen Mu headed toward Silver Moon Street, the sudden clatter of hurried hooves rang out from the far end of the street.

People wandering about quickly moved to either side to avoid getting trampled.

Shen Mu hurriedly stepped aside too, then looked toward the approaching hoofbeats.

As far as he knew, only soldiers from the military camp were allowed to ride through Cloud Dragon County. Everyone else had to lead their horses while inside the city.

The military camp was the foremost of Cloud Dragon County's nine great powers.

Long Xiao, Thousand-Man Commander of the Cloud Dragon Battalion, was a Seventh-Rank martial artist and the strongest martial artist in Cloud Dragon County. He could practically be called the county's emperor.

"Clip-clop, clip-clop~"

The hoofbeats drew closer. More than a dozen soldiers galloped past.

At their head, the captain shouted from horseback, "Starting tonight, a curfew will be enforced at midnight! Anyone found lingering in the streets will be arrested and thrown in prison!"

"A curfew?"

Watching the soldiers ride away, Shen Mu paused in surprise, then quickly understood.

"If I'm not mistaken, more and more martial artists are passing through Cloud Dragon County. The military camp must have been forced to impose a curfew to keep ordinary people from getting hurt by the shockwaves of their battles..."

"Times really are getting more and more chaotic."

Shen Mu sighed.

He didn't know whether Gu Yunfan, who had set off all this turmoil, had really obtained a copy of the Extreme Profound Scripture.

For someone like him, the Extreme Profound Scripture was still too far beyond his reach. Even if he obtained it, it would only bring disaster upon him.

With the Martial Dao Tree speeding up his cultivation, he might become a formidable powerhouse in time. He might even follow in the footsteps of the Martial God from ten thousand years ago and become the second Martial God!

The news of the curfew set off heated discussion among passersby. Shen Mu didn't linger. He hurried toward home.