Blood Mist Flower

"Chen Lie, have you studied this Army-Breaking Fist before?"

Hong Chengshuo could not help asking.

Chen Lie shook his head. "No, this is my first time."

"Your first time?"

Hong Chengshuo found himself studying Chen Lie.

Was superior comprehension really this terrifying?

He had only demonstrated a C-rank martial art once and taught it carefully once more, and Chen Lie could already perform it this well?

But with comprehension like that, he should have stood out in his first year of high school. He should even have a place on the Elite Student Top 100 Ranking by now. Why had he only just entered the Elite Class? And why was his blood qi value below seven ka?

Wait, something's wrong!

It suddenly struck Hong Chengshuo that if Chen Lie's blood qi value was only in the single digits, how could he have defeated Zhang Xun, whose blood qi value had already passed thirty ka?

He said to Chen Lie, "Stop practicing for now. Come to my office."

At his instructor's words, Chen Lie had no choice but to stop and follow Hong Chengshuo to his office.

"The rest of you, keep practicing."

Before leaving, Hong Chengshuo gave the other students that instruction.

Once they reached the office, Hong Chengshuo sat behind his desk and had Chen Lie sit down as well.

"Chen Lie, there's something I'd like to ask. With a blood qi value of just over six ka, how did you defeat Zhang Xun?"

"My blood qi value reached double digits long ago," Chen Lie said. "It isn't just six."

He possessed memories of more than fifty years of battle and slaughter from his previous life. His combat instincts and experience were beyond anything a novice like Zhang Xun could match. Even with weaker blood qi, he could have defeated Zhang Xun easily.

In the blood-qi stage, his martial knowledge and combat experience meant that as long as his opponent was not overwhelmingly stronger, he could ultimately win.

"You hid your strength?" Hong Chengshuo asked with a frown. "But the elite student assessment can't be faked. How did you get past it?"

"I have my ways, of course. Please don't press me for the details, sir."

"Then how high is your blood qi value now?" Hong Chengshuo asked.

"Against someone like Zhang Xun, I could finish him with one hand in under three seconds."

Chen Lie did not give his actual blood qi value, choosing to put it another way.

But to Hong Chengshuo, that meant Chen Lie's blood qi value far exceeded Zhang Xun's.

Once blood qi values reached the tens of ka, a difference of a few ka had a negligible effect on combat strength.

The deciding factors were martial arts and combat experience. Otherwise, one's blood qi value had to be much higher than the opponent's.

"I never imagined your blood qi value had already reached that level.

"Why didn't you join the Elite Class sooner?"

"I had my own considerations," Chen Lie said.

"All right, I won't interfere. But if you can defeat Zhang Xun so easily, your strength probably isn't far from qualifying you for the Elite Student Top 100 Ranking.

"The semester is nearly over, and the school will soon hold a grand Final Martial Tournament.

"Anyone who places in the tournament will receive a substantial reward from the school's Martial Arts Incentive Fund.

"If you think you can place in the Final Martial Tournament, you need to work hard starting now. Your comprehension is exceptionally high. Learn a few more martial arts, and even if your blood qi falls short of someone else's, you can make up the difference with technique."

Chen Lie nodded. "Understood. I'll definitely enter the Final Martial Tournament, and I'll definitely place."

"Give me your Elite Student ID. Your blood qi value is already far above that of the other students. I'll apply to have your resource allowance doubled."

Hearing that, Chen Lie immediately handed Hong Chengshuo his Elite Student ID.

After taking the ID, Hong Chengshuo promptly entered a few things on the office's Superbrain, then returned it to Chen Lie.

"If there's anything you don't understand about martial arts, come and ask me anytime."

Chen Lie nodded, took back his Elite Student ID, and left the office.

After a day of lessons in the Elite Class, Chen Lie returned home.

When he pushed open the door, he discovered that they had a visitor.

Seeing Chen Lie enter, a middle-aged man rose from the living room sofa.

"You're back, Chen Lie?"

Only after the man stood did Chen Lie get a clear look at his face.

It was his second uncle, Chen Guangqun.

"Second Uncle."

Chen Lie greeted his uncle.

"Mm."

Chen Guangqun nodded.

"About what I mentioned earlier, discuss it with Gequn when you have a moment. Rest assured, I certainly won't let your family lose out.

"Leaving Chen Lie aside, once Yaoyao's blood qi value reaches Chen Ye's current level, our family will do everything we can to help her."

Feng Yuelan nodded. "All right, Brother. I'll talk to Gequn."

"Good. Then I won't stay any longer. There's a pile of things waiting for me to handle at home," Chen Guangqun said.

Feng Yuelan saw Chen Guangqun out and waited a while before closing the door.

Then Chen Lie asked, "Mom, what did Second Uncle come for?"

"Nothing much. Your father and I will handle it. Don't worry about it," Feng Yuelan said.

"If you have to discuss it with Dad, it can't be that small, can it? Just tell me," Chen Lie said.

Feng Yuelan sighed. "You know your father retired as a military officer, right?"

Chen Lie murmured an acknowledgment. Of course he knew that.

"During an operation to fend off exotic beasts, your father injured both his legs. The injuries were so severe that they caused irreversible damage to his body.

"But during that same operation, he saved a high-ranking military officer and earned a special-class commendation.

"A special-class military commendation is hard to come by. The merit can be exchanged for all sorts of rare treasures for martial cultivation available only through the military."

At that, realization dawned on Chen Lie. "I get it. Second Uncle's family has their eye on Dad's military merit."

Feng Yuelan nodded. "Your father has never been willing to spend it. He's been saving it for you and your sister.

"Your second uncle explained why he came. His son Chen Ye raised his blood qi too quickly, leaving it unstable and his strength value unable to keep up. He needs a rare treasure to stabilize his blood qi, or his cultivation in the blood-qi stage may have reached its limit.

"But treasures that stabilize blood qi are incredibly scarce on the market. Even when one appears, it costs a fortune, far more than your second uncle's family can afford.

"As it happens, the military merit exchange list has a treasure that can stabilize blood qi, called a blood mist flower.

"So your second uncle's family thought of your father's military merit."

"Unstable blood qi? Chen Ye really does love taking shortcuts!"

Chen Lie scoffed. Chen Ye was his second uncle's son, a cousin about his own age.

He remembered how, during past New Year gatherings, his second aunt had repeatedly compared him with Chen Ye, using his grades to highlight Chen Ye's aptitude and praise her son's genius in a roundabout way.

But if Chen Ye really was a genius, would he have let his blood qi become unstable?

Once blood qi values reached the high tens of ka or even approached triple digits, the body's functions grew increasingly powerful, and blood qi began improving very rapidly.

At that point, the first priority was strength value, measured in jun. If it was less than twice one's blood qi value, that meant the blood qi was not sufficiently condensed. One could no longer force further increases in blood qi. Instead, one had to practice martial arts more and stabilize the blood qi within the body. Only then could one go far in the blood-qi stage.

Yet Chen Ye's blood qi had become unstable. That meant he had abused supplements and medicines in pursuit of quick progress, without giving any thought to keeping his strength value stable.

Using large amounts of supplements and medicines when one's strength value fell short would inevitably destabilize blood qi. If it could not be stabilized, cultivation in the blood-qi stage had reached its limit, and one might as well prepare to break through to become a martial artist.

"Mom, what are you planning to do?"

Chen Lie asked.

He remembered that something like this had happened around this time in his previous life as well. At first, his father, Chen Gequn, had refused outright.

But his second uncle and aunt had kept visiting their home, bringing gifts every time. They bought supplements for his parents, prepared Sunlight Brand blood essence fluid for his sister Chen Xingyao, and enrolled both him and his sister in martial arts training classes.

After half a month of this, Chen Gequn had gradually softened. His second aunt had struck while the iron was hot, promising over and over that if Chen Lie or Chen Xingyao ever encountered difficulties, her family would spare no effort to help.

In the end, Chen Gequn had agreed to spend the military merit he had saved for over a decade to exchange for a blood mist flower for Chen Ye.

After receiving the blood mist flower, his second aunt's family had naturally wept with joy. During the first year, they visited frequently and never arrived empty-handed.

But in the second year, their visits dwindled to a tiny fraction of the first year's. By the third year, there was no word from them at all, and they never visited once.

Later, Chen Lie's martial cultivation had buried his family in debt. When Chen Gequn asked his second uncle's family for help, they lent him only one million Star Dollars.

One million Star Dollars was no small sum, but compared with the blood mist flower obtained through military merit, it did not amount to even a fraction of its value.

"I'm certainly not willing. It's all being saved for you and Yaoyao. Your father probably won't agree either.

"I'll bring it up with him today. Your second uncle will probably come again. We'll see."

Chen Lie nodded. He was in no hurry to interfere. After all, even if events followed the course of his previous life, nothing would be settled for another half a month.

That night, Chen Lie sat cross-legged on his bed and continued cultivating the Lingguang Divine Refining Chapter.

During his last mental power cultivation session, he had lit the first of the Ghost Constellation Four Stars, but its glow was faint. This time, he wanted that dim star to blaze with dazzling light.

A night of cultivation did make the Ghost Constellation's first star considerably brighter, but he still failed to make it truly radiant.

"Mental power cultivation still depends on resources. Without them, it's impossible to get anywhere."

In his previous life, after awakening his divine sense in the Outer Stars, he had never worried about spirit nourishing flowers. They were the most basic resource for cultivating mental power. While they were not exactly everywhere in the Outer Stars, supply exceeded demand, and their price had always remained very low.