Blood at Dawn

"I am Guo Huaijin."

After the burly old man briefly introduced himself, he lowered his gaze to Li Hai, who stood silently at the courtyard gate, and slowly said, "Young friend, do you know... why I saved your life?"

Li Hai remained silent and did not answer Guo Huaijin's question.

Or rather, he had not paid attention to a word the other man had said.

At that moment, Li Hai's attention had been completely drawn to Guo Huaijin's personal interface—

Name: Guo Huaijin

Rank: Orthodox Martial Arts → Force-Body Circulation

Skill: Tiger Claw Blade Fist

Traits: [Soul Strengthening Lv. 1] [Finger Claw Lv. 1]

Stronger Fragment: None

Guo Huaijin possessed all three: rank, skill, and traits.

To Li Hai, this was simply an unexpected windfall.

Desperately lacking any sense of security and worried that he had no skills to rely on, Li Hai had found Guo Huaijin delivering himself right to his doorstep.

Wonderful.

Secretly delighted, Li Hai calmly shifted his gaze to Tiger Claw Blade Fist in Guo Huaijin's skill panel.

Just as before, under his gaze, the cultivation technique entry immediately expanded and displayed a message:

"Tiger Claw Blade Fist has six levels. This character has mastered all six levels. Learn this cultivation technique—Yes/No?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Hai chose [Yes].

In an instant, a torrent of information far vaster and more complex than that of Five Animals Qigong abruptly appeared in the depths of his mind.

At the same time, Li Hai swiftly grasped every mystery and essential principle of the technique, as though he had studied it hundreds or thousands of times.

Judging from its principles, this technique was utterly unlike the mild and gentle Five Animals Qigong.

Everything about it existed to kill more effectively, not to nourish the body and prolong life.

The former focused on nurturing qi and storing essence, then excavating one's potential to protect life and extend longevity. The latter, however, concentrated on refining essence and tempering the body, stimulating intangible inner force that could be both hard and soft.

According to Tiger Claw Blade Fist, once one cultivated to the second level, one could produce so-called inner force.

Once this intangible, formless, mysterious inner force had been produced, a practitioner could enter the first realm of the Orthodox Martial Arts system—[Force Eruption].

From the information contained in Tiger Claw Blade Fist, someone at this realm could easily suppress ten ordinary people with no martial training, even without using any Technique.

Such combat power was already comparable to the elite fighters of Li Hai's previous life.

Yet according to the information Li Hai had obtained, this level was merely the first step of the Orthodox Martial Arts system.

After that, if one cultivated Tiger Claw Blade Fist to the fourth level, one could enter the second realm of the orthodox martial arts system—[Force-Qi Circulation].

Those in this realm could transform force into qi, allowing it to flow over and cover every part of their body, inside and out, like streams of liquid mercury and silver. Through specific breathing and resonance methods, they could continually temper and strengthen their skin, flesh, muscles, and bones, causing their physical strength to rise without end until it could even reach seven or eight hundred jin.

Once the final two levels of Tiger Claw Blade Fist had been mastered, one could enter the third realm of the orthodox martial arts system—[Force-Body Circulation].

Those who entered this realm could elevate the mysterious force-qi circulating through their muscles, bones, skin, and flesh, along with the intangible force erupting outward from their bodies, to an even higher level.

Furthermore, martial artists in this realm could integrate the relationship between their qi, force, and body, organizing them into a perfect, solid Force-Body Circulation. This would drive their physical strength into a wild surge, granting them several thousand jin of force.

With such strength, they could easily crush a person's head, rip out someone's organs, or even tear out a human spine.

Terrifying... they were practically demons.

While possessing such immense strength, their bodies could also become as tough as old hardwood and as flexible as aged rubber.

Therefore, unless they were surrounded and stabbed by blades or struck by a volley of arrows, no number of ordinary people attacking together could harm a third-realm martial artist in the slightest.

And Guo Huaijin, standing directly before Li Hai, happened to be a terrifying existence at precisely that level.

Of course, relying on the system's seemingly unrestricted ability to learn and upgrade, Li Hai did not fear him at all.

If Li Hai wished, he could reach the same level of strength as Guo Huaijin in the blink of an eye.

But...

Li Hai casually glanced at the dozen or so burly men holding guns, standing quietly on either side of Guo Huaijin, and grumbled inwardly:

They even have proper muskets. Has this world already developed to something like the late Qing and early Republican era? Tsk, this is going to be troublesome.

Unlike the relatively peaceful Five Animals Qigong.

Li Hai guessed that when this clearly far more powerful Tiger Claw Blade Fist broke through its realms, the commotion would definitely not be small.

If it caught Guo Huaijin's attention and caused the Musket Squad to focus their fire on him, would he not be finished?

It seems...

Li Hai pondered inwardly, I can only stay still for the time being.

Just then, a laugh carrying a faint murderous aura interrupted his thoughts.

"Heh heh heh heh~ Why aren't you saying anything?"

Guo Huaijin smiled. "Have you gone mute?"

"Master Guo."

Li Hai composed himself and replied calmly, "I assume you saved my life because you need me to do something for you."

"Correct."

Guo Huaijin stroked his beard and leisurely said, "I have a grandson. He is nineteen this year. Since his birth, he has suffered from a grave illness. It cannot be cured, only alleviated. Every half year, he must find someone with a particular fate to assist in his treatment, only then can his life be forcibly prolonged."

"The person with the particular fate that Master Guo speaks of..."

Li Hai raised a hand and pointed at himself. "That would be me?"

"Yes."

Guo Huaijin looked Li Hai up and down and gave a slight nod. "It is you."

"Then how will you treat him?" Li Hai spread his hands. "I have never studied medicine."

"Hahaha~ Don't worry."

Guo Huaijin threw back his head and laughed. "The method is exceedingly simple. At dawn, when the sun rises, while your mind is clear and your soul is active, we merely need to take a large bowlful of warm blood from your heart and have my grandson drink it. That will complete the treatment."

"Oh~"

Far from afraid, Li Hai smiled with mockery. "Then your grandson has been drinking human blood for nineteen years? Has he drunk more than thirty people to death?"

"More or less. Enough idle chatter."

Guo Huaijin said calmly, "The sun will rise in another two hours. During those two hours, no matter what you wish to eat, drink, or play with—even if you want a bed piled from gold and silver, to bathe in fine wine, or to burn delicacies as firewood—I can satisfy you. I will let you finish your final journey properly. So... do you have any requests?"

Unexpectedly, faced with Guo Huaijin's words, Li Hai calmly shook his head.

"I need none of those things. I only want to know one matter."

"Oh~"

Guo Huaijin furrowed his fierce brows. "Tell me. What is it?"

"I only wish to know..."

Li Hai said in a low voice, "What method will you use to take the blood from my heart?"

"Interesting."

Guo Huaijin shook his head with a laugh. "This is the first time I have seen someone so concerned with the way they will die. Fine. Good! I will satisfy you."

After laughing, he lowered his voice and said:

"In another two hours, you will be tied to a wooden stake with ropes. Your clothes will be pulled aside to expose your chest. Then my grandson will personally insert a hollow copper tube into your heart and suck out the living blood from it."