Five-Thunder Transmuting Hand = Finger Exercises?

West City.

At the center of Hundred Herbs Hall's vast medicinal garden, spanning fifty li in every direction, stood a secluded little courtyard with white walls and red tiles.

At this moment.

An elderly man well into his twilight years sat in the courtyard. His beard and hair were completely white, his face covered in wrinkles, his arms thin and withered, his eyes dull and lacking spirit. He wore a gray robe.

This elderly man was Tian Ci, the ancestor who had founded Hundred Herbs Hall years ago!

Kneeling before Tian Ci was a middle-aged man of around forty.

That man was Tian Yu, head of the Tian Family—one of Southern Min City's five great lineages—and chief master of Hundred Herbs Hall. His cultivation had already reached the Peak First-Class Realm, and his alchemy was exceptionally superb!

"Yu'er, you... are naturally intelligent and adaptable. You are the hope of our Tian Family! Your great-grandfather does not have much life left. I summoned you here because I have matters to entrust to you..."

Tian Ci looked at Tian Yu, deep worry showing in his eyes.

"Please speak, Great-Grandfather! Yu'er will certainly obey!"

Tian Yu shuffled forward on his knees. As he looked at his great-grandfather, grief filled his eyes.

"Once your great-grandfather passes away, Hundred Herbs Hall will no longer have a Martial Grandmaster Realm expert to hold the fort. Therefore, you must maintain good relations with the Great Yu imperial family, the Golden Saber Sect, the Flowing Cloud Sect, and Eight-Sided Exquisite, and preserve Hundred Herbs Hall's foundation! At the same time, hasten to raise the strength of our clansmen. In these times, one careless step and you will be eaten until not even bone dregs remain! Iron must be hard before it can be forged!"

Tian Ci drew a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Great-Grandfather, Yu'er understands!"

Tian Yu nodded.

"Also, the Dragon Blood Pill and Soul-Nourishing Pill formulas are what Hundred Herbs Hall built its name upon! If there is no other choice, the formulas may be abandoned... to preserve the lineage!"

"As the saying goes, though a thousand pieces of gold may be scattered, they will return again. Look at the rise of Mad Blade Martial Academy and Tiger Roar Martial Academy, and you will understand."

Tian Ci continued.

He knew clearly that once he passed away, the Tian Family's fate would be difficult to predict.

"Yes, Great-Grandfather. But the Dragon Blood Pill and Soul-Nourishing Pill are the roots of our Tian Family!"

Tian Yu's expression changed upon hearing this.

The Tian Family's Hundred Herbs Hall had once been nothing more than a small herbal shop. By a fortunate coincidence, his great-grandfather had obtained a book on medicinal arts and a Soul-Nourishing Pill. The book contained records of the Tiger Blood Pill, Dragon Blood Pill, and Soul-Nourishing Pill.

After taking the Soul-Nourishing Pill, Great-Grandfather Tian Ci had successfully advanced into the Martial Grandmaster Realm. He had also refined Tiger Blood Pills and Dragon Blood Pills, gaining widespread fame and raising the Tian Family into one of Southern Min City's five great lineages!

"A pill formula is merely a sheet of paper. If our clansmen are gone, what use is a pill formula?"

"Besides, formulas can be copied. Your great-grandfather spent his entire life without managing to refine a Soul-Nourishing Pill... If the formula can buy peace for the Tian Family, that would be your great-grandfather's wish!"

Tian Ci gazed at the distant sky and murmured.

"Yu'er understands!"

Tian Yu nodded.

Lin Changsheng brought enough silver, carried Dawn on his back, and tapped a tiger claw in his hand all the way toward Hundred Herbs Hall in West City.

Tiger Roar Fist experience +1!

Red notifications continuously flickered at the corner of his eye.

[Tiger Roar Fist mastered!]

By the time Lin Changsheng arrived in West City, the panel displayed the notification that Tiger Roar Fist had reached mastery.

[Detected mastered Tiger Roar Fist, mastered Thunderfire Finger, and mastered Iron Sand Palm. 150 taels of silver may be consumed to fuse them into a new martial art. Fuse?]

At that moment, Lin Changsheng saw a red notification pop up on the panel.

"Fuse!"

Lin Changsheng immediately selected confirm.

[Mastered Tiger Roar Fist, mastered Thunderfire Finger, and mastered Iron Sand Palm are being fused... Fusion successful. Obtained new martial art: Five-Thunder Transmuting Hand!]

[Detected martial art Five-Thunder Transmuting Hand. 100 taels of silver may be consumed to simplify it. Simplify?]

Not long after Lin Changsheng selected confirm, the red notification flickered once more.

"Simplify!"

Lin Changsheng immediately confirmed it.

The red notification popped up again.

"Five-Thunder Transmuting Hand = Finger Exercises?"

Lin Changsheng blinked.

Finger exercises were far too simple. All he had to do was clasp his hands together, rotate them left and right, loosen his fingers, and squeeze them a little. He had learned them as a child.

Lin Changsheng stretched out his hands and moved them a few times. When he looked at the panel again, he immediately discovered that the experience value had increased by eight points.

[The Great Dao is simplest: Level 1]

[Lin Changsheng: 17/75]

[Cultivation: Martial Grandmaster Realm (2707/62500)]

[Techniques: Five-Element Nourishing Origin Method (Proficient 300/25000), Golden Bell Shield, incomplete fifth level (Mastered)]

[Martial Arts: Five-Thunder Transmuting Hand (Beginner 8/1000), Nine Stars Linked (Arrows/Hidden Weapons) (Mastered), Thunderclap Slash (Mastered), Fleeting Light and Passing Shadow (Mastered), Azure Snake Sword Technique (Mastered), Treading Snow Without Trace (Beginner 0/500), Gale Saber Technique (Proficient 1273/2500)]

[Alchemy: Qi-Replenishing Pill (Mastered)]

[A certain amount of silver may be consumed to simplify techniques, martial skills, and more.]

[Status: Yin energy invading the body (severely weakened)]

"Not bad. I wonder how powerful this Five-Thunder Transmuting Hand is?"

Lin Changsheng clasped his hands together and performed finger exercises as he walked toward Hundred Herbs Hall, anticipation filling his heart.

A fusion of three martial arts should be extremely powerful!

West City.

Hundred Herbs Garden.

"Great-Grandfather, a guest whose cultivation is no weaker than yours has come to the medicinal hall to buy Dragon Blood Pills!!!"

Tian Feng, the third hall master of Hundred Herbs Hall, unfurled his movement technique and arrived at the entrance of the secluded courtyard within the great medicinal garden, where he bowed and reported.

The shock in his eyes had yet to fade.

A guest had just arrived at the medicinal hall. The powerful aura had pressed down on him so hard that he had nearly suffocated!

With no other choice, he could only placate that guest and ask him to wait in the medicinal hall while Tian Feng came to seek his great-grandfather's decision.

"On par with Great-Grandfather? Wouldn't that mean he is in the Martial Grandmaster Realm?"

Tian Yu, who had been speaking with Great-Grandfather Tian Ci inside the courtyard, was startled upon hearing this.

Aside from Great-Grandfather, the Golden Saber Sect, and the Flowing Cloud Sect's three Martial Grandmasters, where else could a Martial Grandmaster have come from in Southern Min City?

Could he be an outsider?

"Forgive Tian Ci for failing to welcome such an honored guest to this humble home!"

At that moment, the elderly Tian Ci looked beyond Tian Feng, his expression shifting as he clasped his hands in greeting.

After speaking, Tian Ci hurriedly said to Tian Yu beside him, "Yu'er, quickly bring out the spirit tea to entertain our honored guest!"

"Ah... yes!"

Tian Yu's expression jolted in surprise.

Great-Grandfather was normally reluctant even to drink that spirit tea himself, yet today he was taking it out to entertain a guest!

Moreover, despite Tian Yu's Peak First-Class Realm cultivation, he had not sensed the guest's arrival at all!

The depth of the newcomer's cultivation was evident!

"I am Lin Changsheng. Forgive me for arriving uninvited!"

Following Tian Ci's words, a young man of eighteen or nineteen flashed into the courtyard. He gave a slight fist salute and spoke.

"Little Friend Lin has reached the Martial Grandmaster Realm at such a young age. This old man has remained stalled for decades without advancing. Shameful! Truly shameful!"

Tian Ci looked at Lin Changsheng's formidable aura. Thinking of how his own lifespan was nearing its end, he could not help but feel countless emotions. After they sat down and conversed for a while, he learned that Lin Changsheng was temporarily staying in Southern Min City, and a thoughtful look immediately appeared on his face.

"Patriarch Tian, please name your price for the Dragon Blood Pills!"

Lin Changsheng did not waste words and directly stated the purpose of his visit.

With Dragon Blood Pills, he could heal the little white fox's injuries and obtain the cultivation method within the jade slip!

Whenever Lin Changsheng thought of that method, his heart burned with excitement.

Tian Ci revealed a troubled expression. "Little Friend Lin, Hundred Herbs Hall produces very few Dragon Blood Pills due to the rarity of the ingredients. Moreover, the vast majority of those refined have been reserved by the imperial family, the Golden Saber Sect, and the Flowing Cloud Sect. At present, there are three left that the Golden Saber Sect has not yet had time to collect... If I sell them to you, I will have no way to answer to the Golden Saber Sect!"

"Patriarch Tian, did the Golden Saber Sect pay a deposit for these Dragon Blood Pills?!"

Lin Changsheng asked in a deep voice.

These Dragon Blood Pills concerned the Flame Cloud Art, a cultivation method. He had to get them!

"They have not paid a deposit. It is merely customary for us to set them aside for them, then collect payment when they send disciples to retrieve them."

Tian Ci's face was bitter.

Though he too was a Martial Grandmaster, he had devoted his heart to alchemy, and combat was his weakness. If the Golden Saber Sect and Flowing Cloud Sect were not wary of him fighting to the death, they would likely not be making reservations—they would have swallowed Hundred Herbs Hall whole.

"Then isn't that settled?"

"They paid no deposit, so why should you save them for them?!"

Lin Changsheng spoke in a deep voice.

"If Little Friend Lin truly wishes to buy them, could you agree to one request from this old man?"

Seeing this, Tian Ci inwardly sighed in helplessness and spoke.

He could not afford to offend the Golden Saber Sect, and he could not afford to offend the person before him either!