Three Sacrifices, Savage Bull Strength Perfected!

"Commander Jiang, the items you requested."

At the back gate of Zhu Manor, several young men in cotton robes stood with their sleeves pulled up in front of a flatbed cart. The elder at the head of the group greeted Jiang Che very politely upon seeing him.

Jiang Che nodded, lifted the cloth covering the items, and inspected them. Once he confirmed everything was correct, a smile touched his lips, and he cupped his hands respectfully towards the elder:

"Thank you for your trouble. Please thank Chief Kou for me when you return."

"Farewell."

After handing the items over to Jiang Che, the group considered their task complete. They exchanged pleasantries for a moment before turning to leave, not lingering at all, and even leaving the flatbed cart for him.

"Commander, what is this..."

Geng Dabiao, who had seen that the items on the cart were meat, couldn't help but feel curious.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't. Wait here for a moment, I have something to attend to." One lie requires more lies to cover it. Jiang Che was no longer the same as before; there was no need to say he was getting things for Captain Zhu or Liu Zhi.

Geng Dabiao nodded repeatedly and wisely kept his mouth shut.

Not long after Jiang Che left, Zhu Qingqing, dressed in a cyan silk dress, emerged from the back gate. She glanced around, approached Geng Dabiao, cleared her throat lightly, and casually asked:

"Your name is Geng. Geng Biao, right?"

"This humble one is Geng Dabiao, greetings, Miss Zhu."

Geng Dabiao bowed slightly.

"I heard just now that Commander Jiang was at the back gate. Where is he? Why isn't he here?"

Zhu Qingqing, unconcerned with Geng Dabiao's name, continued to ask.

"The Commander has some personal matters to attend to and will return later."

"What kind of matters are so secretive..." Zhu Qingqing muttered in disappointment.

"This humble one does not know."

"Alright, I understand." Zhu Qingqing's tone was somewhat impatient as she turned and went back into Zhu Manor.

Meanwhile, Jiang Che had arrived at a nearby inn. He stored the sacrificial items in the Heavenly Stele Space in a secluded spot, and casually discarded the flatbed cart in a corner.

He was already eager to begin the sacrifice.

Savage Bull Strength perfected, Life Breath enhanced!

In the upper-class guest room, after instructing the waiter that no one was to disturb him under any circumstances, Jiang Che immediately closed the door, sat cross-legged on the bed, and slowly closed his eyes.

[Sacrifice Target: Savage Bull Strength Perfected.]

[Sacrifice Cost: One hundred catties of raw beef, one hundred catties of raw bull blood, one hundred catties of raw bull bones, ten stalks of Deer Blood Grass, one Bone Strengthening Flower, one year of lifespan reduction. Confirm sacrifice?]

With a thought, he immediately confirmed.

[Sacrifice!]

Just like the previous two times, the blood-red patterns on the Heavenly Stele began to glow. Then, a familiar gray light emerged from the stone stele, enveloping the beef, bull blood, bull bones, Deer Blood Grass, and Bone Strengthening Flower placed before it.

In an instant, all the sacrificial items vanished without a trace.

Then, the familiar sensation returned.

An invisible surge of vitality was forcibly extracted from Jiang Che's body.

One year of lifespan reduced!

Including the first time, he had already lost a year and a half of his lifespan. Although he didn't feel a significant impact overall, he was still mindful of it.

After all, there would come a day when his lifespan would run out.

What he needed to do was to rapidly increase his strength and enhance his lifespan.

He firmly believed that once his strength reached a certain level, it would definitely have the effect of extending his life.

There were bound to be spiritual items in the world that could extend life.

What he paid now, he would reclaim in the future.

The moment all the sacrificial items before the Heavenly Stele disappeared, two beams of light, one red and one green, emerged from the stone stele once more and circled a foot above Jiang Che's head.

As before, the green light moved first, entering his spiritual platform.

In a daze, he saw a black savage bull several feet tall, its hooves pounding the ground, charging towards him.

Ten feet, Five feet, Three feet, One foot.

The black savage bull crashed directly into him, but the expected trampling did not occur. The black savage bull merged completely with him.

The vague figure from before reappeared before him, striking a set of boxing techniques with one fist and one palm.

It was Savage Bull Strength!

However, the Savage Bull Strength displayed was subtly different from what he had been practicing.

Each move, each stance, as if naturally formed.

More simple, more... mysterious.

His body moved with his mind. Jiang Che, with his eyes closed, descended from the bed and involuntarily began to follow the figure practicing punches.

Stance training, punching techniques, movement skills...

The blurry figure and Jiang Che's punching speed grew faster and faster, more and more similar, and at the same time, closer and closer.

Until...

The two figures completely merged.

With a punch, a muffled sound exploded in front of him.

Jiang Che seemed frozen in time, maintaining his punching posture.

Above his head, red light circled him once and then directly drilled into his chest.

A scorching airflow rose from his chest, like a great river, surging towards his limbs and bones.

The power of blood and qi!

White mist swirled above his head; it was the heat emanating from within him, making his entire body glow red. Blood and qi circulated, surged, and boiled!

This continued for a full hundred breaths before the white airflow finally stopped emanating from his body.

Because he had tightly shut the doors and windows, the temperature in the room had risen considerably. White, misty heat floated above, almost obscuring the entire room.

Calming his mind, Jiang Che could feel a wisp of invisible, cool energy gradually circulating through his internal organs, his arms, fists, head, legs...

Wherever the cool energy passed, the burning sensation on his body quickly receded.

He gradually returned to his original state.

After a long while, Jiang Che suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a stream of white mist, like an arrow, extending a full ten feet.

Internal Breath!

At this moment, as he completely mastered Savage Bull Strength, his own blood and qi had accumulated, truly condensing into Internal Breath.

The cool airflow was connected to his will. With a thought from Jiang Che, the Internal Breath moved to his right arm. Although there were no visible changes on the surface, when he threw another punch, it was accompanied by a sudden roar.

"Bang!"

It was as if a vacuum, compressed to a certain extent, was suddenly released.

He estimated this punch to have at least a thousand catties of force.

And this was just the beginning.

As long as he could continue to strengthen his Internal Breath, even allowing it to exist in various parts of his body simultaneously, then with a casual swing, he could unleash power that would make ordinary people tremble.

"It was worth consuming a year of my lifespan."

Looking at his arm, Jiang Che murmured to himself, unconcealed joy spreading across his face. His entire demeanor became more confident.

This was the confidence that strength brought him.

Jiang Che's breakthrough did not require consolidation. After checking out of his room, he quickly rushed to Zhu Manor. Time was running short, and it was time for him to officially take up his post at the training grounds and meet the so-called troublemakers.

Since he had decided to stir things up, he needed to establish his strength and style in advance.

"Commander, Miss Zhu seemed to be looking for you just now." To Jiang Che's surprise, Geng Dabiao's first words upon seeing him were about Zhu Qingqing.