Blood-Qi Breaking the Limit, Leaping the Dragon Gate

Time flowed like water, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

At dusk.

In the Tong District, within the small courtyard by the creek.

"Snap--!!"

The air vibrated, emitting a crisp sound.

Inside the courtyard, a figure darted and shifted, an invisible current of air swirling around his body.

The nine forms of the Capture Hand erupted with astonishing power in Fang Xing's hands.

Even though it was merely a basic martial art, it now possessed formidable lethality.

Martial arts are techniques for killing!

"Bang--!!"

A palm struck the old locust tree in the courtyard, causing the massive tree to shudder as leaves were shaken loose by the powerful force and drifted to the ground.

The moment this palm was struck, the blood-qi within his body surged, and a powerful force emerged from within.

As the force circulated throughout his body, Fang Xing felt a distinct change in an instant.

It felt like a transcendence!

His sensory perception sharpened significantly; he could even clearly capture the sound of willow branches swaying outside the courtyard.

The blood-qi in his body had broken through its limits, instantly surging several times over.

He could easily perceive even the most minute changes.

Internal force was born, and Bright Force was achieved!

Standing in place, Fang Xing remained as motionless as a statue.

He calmed his mind to feel the changes in his body.

The force within him roamed at his command, as if it were an extension of his own arm!

Blood-qi had broken its limit, condensing into internal force.

This was the hallmark of having stepped into the Bright Force realm.

After a month of bitter cultivation, he had finally broken through the first Dragon Gate and knocked on the door of Bright Force!

"So this is the power of Bright Force... truly extraordinary."

Feeling the surging power within his body, Fang Xing's eyes shone bright.

This power was completely different from before.

The birth of internal force was a fundamental sublimation.

Stepping into Bright Force also meant that he had officially set foot on the path of martial arts.

"Bang!"

He punched the old locust tree, causing it to tremble and its leaves to rustle as they fell one by one.

A clear fist print appeared on the trunk.

It was deeper than the previous one.

Fused with internal force, the destructive power was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Before entering Bright Force, one's power was scattered, like loose sand.

Upon entering Bright Force, the power condensed, and the lethality increased dramatically.

"This punch, if landed on a person, would be enough to snap tendons and shatter bones."

Looking at the fist print on the trunk, Fang Xing truly felt his formidable strength.

To an ordinary person, a martial artist was a dimension-level strike!

Any casual punch was something an ordinary person could not withstand.

A single punch could break bones; if it didn't kill, it would at least cause grave injury!

Taking on ten men at once was a trivial matter.

Moreover, having stepped into Bright Force, his body's coordination in all aspects had become much stronger.

His perception had improved.

This change was quite astonishing.

"Having become an official martial artist, I finally have the strength to truly protect myself."

Looking at the dusk sky, Fang Xing slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Martial artists held a transcendent status!

Now, he had finally taken this step.

Within the county office, he could now be considered a master of some standing.

The Qingshan County office had over a hundred bailiffs in total across its four departments.

Aside from the four chief bailiffs, those who could step into the realm of martial artists were few and far between!

Only a few deputy chiefs possessed the cultivation of Bright Force.

With the cultivation of Bright Force, he could be considered second only to the chief bailiffs.

Once one stepped into Bright Force, the situation was entirely different.

His status was no longer comparable to that of an ordinary bailiff.

Leaping the Dragon Gate was not just a leap in strength, but a leap in status.

"It's a pity that my Enhancement Points are running low. If I had enough, perhaps I could have progressed even faster."

Fang Xing sighed inwardly; his consumption of Enhancement Points over the past month had been immense.

Excluding his own usage, he only had fourteen Enhancement Points remaining.

A single enhancement of a Blood-Qi Pill would nearly wipe them out.

Stepping into Bright Force meant that the resources required for improvement would only increase.

His supply of Blood-Qi Pills was already nearly exhausted.

If the pills couldn't keep up with the pace, his progress would inevitably plummet.

Glancing at the fourteen points on his Crimson Panel, Fang Xing felt a headache coming on.

If he used his points to enhance Blood-Qi Powder, then enhancing his martial arts would become a distant prospect.

Now that he had entered Bright Force, his martial arts definitely needed enhancement; the basic Capture Hand was fine for dealing with ordinary people, but it was clearly insufficient against other martial artists.

Furthermore, the Capture Hand was only a basic martial art; even if trained to the peak, it would at most reach the Dark Force stage.

He would have to switch martial arts eventually, even if not now.

Either he enhanced his current martial arts, or he had to acquire new ones.

However, new martial arts weren't like cabbages that could be picked up anywhere.

Acquiring them through official channels was extremely difficult!

And obtaining them through other channels was no easy task either.

Perhaps they circulated on the black market.

However, it was hard to tell the real from the fake.

Most were fakes.

There were legitimate ways to acquire martial arts, but they required immense financial resources.

Without a fortune of hundreds or thousands of taels, it wasn't even worth thinking about.

He could sell enhanced Blood-Qi Pills to quickly exchange for money.

However, given his current accumulation of Enhancement Points, that would require a great deal of time.

Moreover, selling too many would certainly attract attention.

Once in a while was fine, but a large sale at once would make it obvious to any fool that something was wrong.

Being targeted was inevitable.

If things went poorly, other factions might even move against him in the shadows.

Having just reached Bright Force, he had only just stepped into the realm of martial arts in Qingshan County; he was still an unknown distance away from the top.

According to what he knew, there were several Transformation Force martial artists within Qingshan County.

The leaders of the top families and the major roaming factions were all Transformation Force martial artists.

Transformation Force surpassed Bright Force and stood above Dark Force.

Their strength was over a hundred times that of a Bright Force practitioner.

Bright Force, Dark Force, Transformation Force!

The gap between these three stages was as vast as heaven and earth.

A Transformation Force martial artist, let alone a lowly bailiff, would be treated with the utmost courtesy even by the Qingshan County Magistrate.

These three stages—Bright, Dark, and Transformation—were also known as the Three Foundation Establishment Realms!

Beyond that, one reached another tier of martial arts.

Borrowing the false to cultivate the true, changing blood and washing the marrow, the martial path leads to divinity!

Most people didn't even know this tier existed.

Reaching this tier meant one's lifespan and strength had already become transcendent.

It was considered the first step toward becoming a saint.

"I'll just accumulate slowly. As long as I have enough Enhancement Points, every problem can be solved."

Temporarily suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind, Fang Xing stopped dwelling on them.

To achieve a qualitative change, one first had to possess a sufficient number of Enhancement Points.

Having already stepped into Bright Force, he could at least be considered to have taken the first step into the extraordinary.

He walked into the small kitchen, stewed some enhanced tiger meat, and after eating his fill, he continued to practice his Capture Hand.

Having entered the realm of Bright Force, the power of his Capture Hand was completely different.

With internal force fused into every move, each strike was brimming with lethality!

Fang Xing did not finish until late at night; he rinsed off his body and went into his room to rest.

The sky was like ink, without a single glimmer of starlight.

In the north of the county town, inside a house within a courtyard, a young man sat on the bed. Illuminated by candlelight, a scarred man stood respectfully before him, looking very restrained.

"Have you investigated the situation clearly?"

The young man looked at the scarred man and said indifferently.

The scarred man nodded, his expression respectful as he said, "Reporting to the envoy, it has been clarified. The constable who pursued you back then is named Fang Xing, and he lives in the east courtyard on Linxi Street in the Tong District."

"Fang Xing..." the young man muttered to himself, nodding slightly. "Good, I understand."

"Envoy, this person is, after all, a member of the government. If we move against him, I fear it will attract the attention of the authorities, which might lead to unnecessary trouble."

The scarred man looked at the young man and said in a low voice.

"A mere petty constable, not even a martial artist—are you that afraid?"

The young man looked at the scarred man with an indifferent expression.

"This... it is not fear, I am just worried that unnecessary trouble will arise," the scarred man said softly.

"What you say makes sense, so I will leave this matter to you to resolve. Make him disappear in a way that seems natural," the young man said calmly.

"This..."

The scarred man felt a lump in his throat, staring blankly at the young man on the bed.

"Is there a problem?"

The young man glanced at him, his expression indifferent.

The scarred man took a deep breath and managed to squeeze out a smile. "Reporting to the envoy, I will certainly do my best."

"Not do your best, but must. If you cannot handle it, you won't need to keep your position," the young man said coldly.

Damn it, it's easy for you to talk while standing there, but I'm the one who has to clean up your mess...

The scar on the man's face twitched as he cursed inwardly, but facing the young man, he dared not show the slightest disrespect and could only nod respectfully. "I will definitely complete it."

"Hmm, go on then!" The young man waved his hand.

After the scarred man bowed respectfully, he retreated from the room.

Leaving the small courtyard and looking at the ink-like night, the scarred man gazed into the distance, finally sighed, and then vanished into the darkness.