Blood-Qi Pills Again

The mountain bandit flew into a rage:

"Good brat, you actually dare hurt me!"

When the escort saw the mountain bandit was injured, he immediately lunged forward again.

His blade swept horizontally for the man's neck.

But from the tremor traveling through the White-Shaft Spear, Chen Jing clearly sensed the blood and qi throughout the other man's body suddenly surge up, like muffled thunder rolling.

Damn it!

A tremendous force traveled along the spear shaft.

It instantly jolted Chen Jing's White-Shaft Spear out of his body. Then the Ghost-Head Blade chopped out faster and fiercer than before, crashing toward the escort's blade edge.

The instant the blades met, the escort only felt a force like a mountain bearing down. His whole body was cleaved backward through the air and smashed heavily onto a pile of rubble. Without even a groan, he passed out.

After sending the escort flying with one slash, the mountain bandit turned the momentum of his blade and pounced ferociously at Chen Jing again, clearly having been thoroughly enraged by Chen Jing.

Wang Chong was shocked and swept his spear across to block him.

But he had not expected the mountain bandit's pounce at Chen Jing to be only a feint, meant to draw out Wang Chong's opening. The bandit pivoted on his foot, and the Ghost-Head Blade chopped out in a backhand swing.

It struck heavily against Wang Chong's iron spear shaft.

With a clang, Wang Chong felt a tremendous force press down. His knees went weak, and his whole body was forced into a half-kneel on the ground.

The Ghost-Head Blade pressed down on the pitch-black spear shaft, instantly forcing close to Wang Chong's neck. In just one exchange, the balance of attack and defense had reversed!

Neither Wang Chong nor Chen Jing had expected this mountain bandit to be this cunning.

The escort's life or death was already unknown. If Wang Chong died, Chen Jing alone was absolutely no match for this mountain bandit.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Jing opened with [Tiger Valiance]!

His strength instantly rose by 150%.

In that instant, the force throughout Chen Jing's body exploded like a collapsing mountain. Savage power poured through his meridians and into his limbs.

He stomped down, and the rubble beneath his foot burst apart.

His entire body shot sideways like a meteor.

His right hand drew the Pig-Slaughtering Blade from behind his waist. The black, heavy blade traced a black arc beneath the moonlight and smashed heavily toward the mountain bandit.

The mountain bandit sensed that savage aura behind him, and his pupils abruptly shrank. He kicked Wang Chong flying.

Then he brought the Ghost-Head Blade horizontally in front of himself with a backhand motion, wanting to take this strike head-on.

Black light flashed.

The Pig-Slaughtering Blade collided with the Ghost-Head Blade!

[Bone-Breaking]'s blunt force erupted!

Crack!

The blade of the Ghost-Head Blade snapped with the sound. Half the blade flew far away and stabbed into the rubble pile, humming and buzzing.

The Pig-Slaughtering Blade's momentum did not lessen. One slash split open the mountain bandit's chest, from his right shoulder to his left ribs, tearing open a terrifying wound so deep bone could be seen.

Fresh blood sprayed Chen Jing all over like a fountain. The scalding blood mist steamed in the cold air of the mountain gully, forming a red haze.

The mountain bandit screamed miserably and staggered backward.

The half-broken blade in his hand was still raised in midair.

But he no longer had the strength to chop it down.

Behind him, Wang Chong had already forced himself up from the ground.

Blood hung at the corner of his mouth, and his entire face was twisted, but there was not the slightest hesitation in his eyes.

He gripped the iron spear tightly and thrust forward with all the strength in his body. With a pffft, the spear tip stabbed into the mountain bandit's back and pierced out through his chest.

The lingering force of Chen Jing's Tiger Valiance had yet to fade. The muscles in both his arms bulged as he swung the Pig-Slaughtering Blade horizontally.

The pitch-black blade light drew a perfect arc. The mountain bandit's neck, as thick as a tree stump, snapped instantly.

His head flew up, flipped twice in the air, then landed on the rubble pile with a plop and rolled to Steward Bai's feet.

Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique proficiency +100.

The mountain forest abruptly fell silent.

Only Wang Chong's and Chen Jing's heavy gasps drifted through the night wind.

Steward Bai sat collapsed on the rubble pile.

His eyes stared straight at the human head by his feet, and his lips trembled for a long while before he managed to squeeze out a complete sentence:

"Brother Chen... Chen, are you all right?"

Chen Jing propped himself up on the Pig-Slaughtering Blade, panting in great mouthfuls.

Tiger Valiance had drained more than half his strength. Now both his arms were aching and swollen, and his legs were trembling too.

"I'm fine. My qi and blood are just floating and weak. I'm a little spent."

"Uncle Wang, what about you?"

Wang Chong braced himself on the iron spear with one hand and clutched his chest with the other, spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Should be one broken bone. Won't kill me."

"No telling whether that escort is dead or not."

Hearing that, Steward Bai first hurried over to check on the escort's condition. He was still breathing, only exhausted and unconscious, unable to wake for the moment.

He let out a breath of relief, then quickly returned to Chen Jing and Wang Chong. From inside his clothes, he took out a porcelain bottle, its mouth sealed tight with wax.

"These are Blood-Qi Pills. They replenish qi and nourish the blood. They should have some effect."

As Steward Bai spoke, he pulled out the stopper, tipped out a dark-red pill, and held it out before Chen Jing.

Chen Jing looked at that pill, his pupils contracting slightly.

Dark red in color, round as a bean, with a faintly fishy-sweet smell.

It was exactly the same as the two Blood-Qi Pills he had eaten before.

He knew how precious Blood-Qi Pills were.

A single one could increase his stance technique proficiency by 500 points, yet this young steward of White Horse Pharmacy had casually taken one out from his clothes.

Chen Jing did not immediately reach out to take it. He stared into Steward Bai's eyes, scrutiny in his gaze.

Seeing him hesitate, Steward Bai grew anxious.

"Brother Chen saved my life. How could I harm you!"

"I am a steward of White Horse Pharmacy. Carrying Blood-Qi Pills on me is precisely for unexpected needs like this. Besides..."

He gave a bitter smile. "I still have to rely on you two to survive. How could I tamper with anything at a time like this?"

Suddenly, Wang Chong spoke.

"Give it to me first."

His voice was hoarse, but his tone was very steady.

Steward Bai froze for a moment, then immediately understood. He quickly walked to Wang Chong's side and handed the pill over.

Wang Chong took it and, without the slightest hesitation, tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it down in one gulp.

He closed his eyes and used the breathing method of the Fierce Tiger Stance to guide the medicinal power through a circuit inside his body. A moment later, he opened his eyes and nodded at Chen Jing.

It was a Blood-Qi Pill.

Chen Jing had not expected Wang Chong to test the medicine with his own body.

He took the second pill from Steward Bai's hand, tossed it into his mouth, and swallowed it down in one gulp.

The instant the pill entered his belly, that familiar hot current exploded in his dantian, surging along his meridians toward his limbs and bones.

He immediately used the Fierce Tiger Stance method to digest the medicinal power. The qi and blood that Tiger Valiance had just drained dry rapidly filled up again under the urging of that hot current.

His aching, swollen muscles also recovered bit by bit.

On the system panel, the proficiency of Fierce Tiger Stance jumped upward at a speed visible to the naked eye. It still increased by 500 proficiency.

Seeing that both of them had taken the medicine, Steward Bai ran back to the escort's side, poured another Blood-Qi Pill out of the porcelain bottle, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Then he poured in a mouthful of water from a waterskin and, one way or another, got him to swallow it down.

Although the escort had yet to wake, his breathing had already become much steadier.

Chen Jing withdrew his stance and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. Looking at Steward Bai's back as he busied himself here and there, he silently thought to himself.

This young Steward Bai was carrying at least three Blood-Qi Pills on him, and could take them out to save people without batting an eye. That wealth was definitely not something an ordinary steward of a pharmacy could possess.

But now was not the time to interrogate him. Two mountain bandits had died in the ravine, their corpses still lying there, and people from Clear Wind Stronghold could come searching at any moment.

"Uncle Wang, can you still walk?"

Chen Jing asked.

Wang Chong propped himself up with the iron spear and stood. He tested how his chest felt, grimacing from the pain, but still nodded.

"I can walk. Bring that escort."

"We have to leave this place quickly. Clear Wind Stronghold lost an expert. Before daybreak, they'll definitely send people to look."