Blood-Qi Pill Breaks Through, Fist Technique Reaches Mastery

Several days passed.

The commotion caused by the fire at Hundred Flowers Pavilion gradually died down, but the undercurrents in the shadows surged all the more violently.

The Bai family was turned upside down from top to bottom by the Six Gates, and the account books of White Horse Pharmacy piled high on Li Dingfang's desk.

Every merchant, accountant, and clerk who had ever had dealings with Zhou Yunhan was invited to the office and strictly interrogated.

Even the government troops checking travelers at the city gates were twice as numerous as usual. Every person entering or leaving the city had to have their identity verified.

The one who suffered the heaviest losses in this case was undoubtedly the shopkeeper of Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

A perfectly good three-story restaurant had burned into ruins. Fortunately, the evacuation had been timely, and the girls and workers inside had not suffered too many deaths or injuries.

To express their apology, the Bai family also paid a large sum of silver. Considering that the Bai family could also be counted as victims, the shopkeeper of Hundred Flowers Pavilion finally let the matter drop.

On Chen Jing's side, life returned to an orderly rhythm.

The Six Gates' commendation was delivered to Lianshan Martial Arts Hall on the second day after the case.

A Clove-Clad Constable came to the door and delivered two rewards.

The first was the bounty for killing two wanted criminals, Du Hai and Du Shan. Each had a bounty of thirty taels, for a total of sixty taels of silver.

The second was a commendation praising the two of them for acting chivalrously at Hundred Flowers Pavilion and thwarting Clear Wind Stronghold's plot.

The original reward was also quite generous, but considering that this case had caused no small amount of public loss and panic among the common people, the amount was reduced at their discretion. They were awarded fifty taels of silver, and Cheng Qingshi also had a share of this reward.

After the constable finished handing over the rewards, he quickly left.

As for the Bai family, Bai Deyuan finally managed to catch his breath after struggling through the rotten mess of searching for internal traitors.

The first thing he did was prepare a generous gift and bring his son, Bai Zhixing, to personally pay a visit and express their thanks.

A small sedan chair of blue cloth stopped at the entrance of Lianshan Martial Arts Hall. The Bai father and son got down from the chair, followed by four household servants carrying a heavy redwood chest.

Cheng Lianshan received the Bai father and son in the inner hall.

After the two sides exchanged a few pleasantries, Bai Deyuan had the thank-you gift brought up.

The redwood chest was opened. Inside, brocade lined the bottom, and porcelain bottles and oil-paper packets were placed in neat rows.

There were Blood-Qi Pills, five each for Chen Jing and Cheng Qingshi, stored in blue-and-white porcelain bottles. Once the stoppers were pulled out, a rich medicinal fragrance spread through the air.

There were also ten portions of Blood-Qi Powder for each person, wrapped tightly in oil paper.

In addition, there were several sets of prepared medicinal bath herbs, all of excellent quality.

For martial artists, this was absolutely a sincere and substantial gift.

Blood-Qi Pills and Blood-Qi Powder were the foundation of a martial artist's cultivation. Because demand was too great, they often had a price but no market.

In particular, the refinement of Blood-Qi Pills—the formula and refining techniques—was controlled by the imperial court, aristocratic families, and sects. Ordinary martial men could not buy them even if they had money.

For White Horse Pharmacy to take out so much in one go meant they had already dug into their family reserves.

And compared with White Horse Pharmacy, the reward from the Six Gates seemed rather shabby.

Chen Jing and Cheng Qingshi did not decline either. They cupped their hands in thanks and accepted this generous gift.

Chen Jing was naturally the happiest.

Compared with others, he had no cultivation bottleneck. As long as he had enough Blood-Qi Pills, he could keep piling resources upward all the way.

The five Blood-Qi Pills and ten portions of Blood-Qi Powder the Bai family had sent were enough to spare him more than half a year of bitter effort.

Moreover, the beginning of the month was coming soon.

The Monthly Examination that Cheng Lianshan had mentioned was right before his eyes.

Since entering the school, his foundational realm had been rising steadily, and Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord had also broken through to minor mastery. This was the perfect chance to push forward again.

After returning to his quarters, Chen Jing shut the doors and windows.

He sat cross-legged on the couch, took out a Blood-Qi Pill, and swallowed it.

The pill entered his stomach, and a warm medicinal force rose from his dantian, spreading along his meridians toward his four limbs and hundred bones.

He circulated the internal force of Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord, refining the medicinal power thread by thread into the blood and qi throughout his body.

After about an hour, the medicinal power of one Blood-Qi Pill had been completely absorbed by him. His blood, qi, and strength erupted like underground fire, climbing higher and higher by the section.

This was not merely the nourishment brought by the Blood-Qi Pill. It was also the deep-level transformation triggered after he had trained his blood, qi, and strength into every seam of bone throughout his body, deep into the marrow.

Then, he broke through!

[Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord, Entering the Hall!]

[Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord, 326/4000]

[Talent improved: Mountain Lord]

[Mountain Lord] You have gained a slight understanding of fist techniques. Your fist momentum is like a fierce tiger, the Mountain Lord. Under the circulation of your strength, speed increases by 30%, and power increases by 30%.

Chen Jing slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air.

Aside from the overall rise in his blood-qi and force, the attributes amplified by his [Mountain Lord] talent had also doubled. His strength could be said to have soared.

Moreover, once the Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord was trained to the level of entering the hall and reaching the chamber, it was also called Marrow Refining, meaning one had trained the force throughout the body into the marrow.

At this stage, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one could shake the bone marrow, strengthen the sinews and bones, create and replace fresh blood. This was the shedding of the mortal body and exchanging the bones that Cheng Lianshan had spoken of.

In addition, one could make mental strength erupt, urging force to pass through the body. This was called Hidden Force.

And Cheng Qingshi's realm was still one level deeper.

After shedding the mortal body and exchanging the bones, when the creation and replacement of fresh blood reached a certain degree, one trained blood-qi until it was like mercury; every punch and kick was as heavy as a thousand jun, carrying tremendous might. This realm was called Blood Exchange.

In the days that followed, Chen Jing devoted himself to cultivation. By day, he went as usual to the Slaughterhouse to kill pigs and train his blade; by night, he returned and swallowed a Blood-Qi Pill, refining the medicinal power.

For five days in a row, it was water grinding away stone, accumulation day by day.

The proficiency of the Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord rose rapidly, as if it were riding a rocket. Once the five Blood-Qi Pills were fully digested, Chen Jing's foundation had already entered an entirely different world.

Name: Chen Jing

Realm: Blood-Qi (Marrow Refining)

Martial Arts:

Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord (Marrow Refining: 2401/4000)

Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Great Accomplishment: 1715/5000)

Basic Spear Technique (Entering the Hall: 500/2000)

Fierce Tiger Stance (Perfection)

Talents:

[Butcher] When holding a pig-slaughtering knife, blade speed increases by 50%, strength increases by 50%, Bone-Breaking increases by 50%

[Spear Like a Dragon] You handle spear and staff weapons with practiced ease. When using spears and staves, accuracy increases by 25%

[Tiger Valiance] Having grasped the subtlety of circulating force, you can burst forth with the force of your entire body in an instant, instantly increasing strength by 300%

[Mountain Lord] You have a slight comprehension of fist techniques. Your fist momentum is like a fierce tiger, the lord of the mountain. Under the circulation of force, speed increases by 30%, strength increases by 30%

That evening, Cheng Lianshan sent a page to pass on a message, telling all personal disciples to gather at the Academy Training Ground at the chen hour tomorrow.

The Monthly Examination was coming.

The next day, Chen Jing and Liang Youheng arrived together a quarter of an hour early.

Afterward, Zhang Chengji, Mei Qinghe, Cheng Qingshi, Liu Yunfei, and Hu Yang had all arrived as well.

The fellow disciples stood in the center of the training ground. The morning wind brushed past the corners of everyone's robes, raising a burst of crisp, flapping sounds.

Cheng Lianshan entered the martial field right on time and stood before everyone with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze sweeping one by one over the faces of the disciples.

"Today is the Monthly Examination."

Cheng Lianshan's voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet it naturally carried the authority of a teacher.

"Let your master see what progress you have made this past month."

The content of the Monthly Examination began with demonstrating fist techniques before Cheng Lianshan, testing the advancement of their foundations.

After that, the fellow disciples would conduct practical combat drills between themselves.

Starting from Zhang Chengji, they went up in order of disciple ranking.

Zhang Chengji cupped his fists and gave a salute, then walked to the center of the field.

He was nearing thirty, with a burly figure.

Standing there, he was like an iron tower.

He nodded slightly toward Cheng Lianshan, then sank his waist and settled his hips. His fists slowly pushed out, and a set of Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord unfolded in his hands.

His fist frame was extremely steady.

Every punch and every kick carried a heavy sound of tearing wind.

Between the movement and stillness of his fists and feet, the blue bricks beneath him seemed to tremble faintly. Once the set of fists was finished, he withdrew his fists and stood still.

His breathing was long and steady, not the slightest ripple visible on his face.

Chen Jing watched carefully from the side and nodded inwardly.

Eldest Senior Brother's fist technique had extremely deep attainment. Every move and form carried the flavor of having been tempered a thousand times and refined a hundred.

He faintly guessed that Zhang Chengji's Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord had likely already been trained to Great Accomplishment, which was to say, the realm of Blood-Qi Blood Exchange.