Four Blessings Arrive

Sun Tao had his share as well.

After briefly checking the goods and finding no issues, he said, "The past few days have been peaceful. The bandits and monsters nearby have mostly been cleared out. Even if any stragglers remain, they won't dare show themselves recklessly."

"From here on, our men will be patrolling the route. Rest assured."

"Thank you, thank you. You gentlemen from the Judge's Office have worked hard."

The steward showered them with flattery, then led the convoy away.

"Over twenty taels. Not bad."

Sun Tao weighed the money pouch in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

"Brother Sun, what if we find something suspicious while inspecting the goods? Like contraband, or..." Zhao Hong asked in a low voice.

Sun Tao grinned. "Anyone who dares do that is no simple character. Those who dare travel alongside a major caravan on the trade road are even less ordinary. The higher-ups have definitely already been informed."

"We little pawns just need to honestly take the benefits."

"Even if the sky falls, it won't fall on us."

"Of course, if it involves something serious like demons or evil entities, then even if we find it, we should pretend we saw nothing and act according to the situation."

"Staying alive is what matters."

Zhao Hong smiled knowingly.

Everywhere had its own web of relationships and unspoken rules, in all kinds of forms.

Over the following days.

Everything remained calm and uneventful.

Zhou Baishan sent no messages either.

Zhao Hong followed Sun Tao, keeping a low profile within the group as they took turns patrolling.

The only incident was a monster that had charged over without knowing its limits. It was not particularly strong, and Zhao Hong did not even get the chance to make a move.

There were indeed many merchant caravans.

In just a few days.

Zhao Hong's purse had gradually filled, and he had saved two or three hundred taels.

It was not much, but it could at least serve in an emergency.

His cultivation had not fallen behind either.

He had refined and absorbed all five remaining pills.

His cultivation was still at the peak of inner force.

But he was not far from Blood Fiend.

That day.

During a break from patrol duty.

Zhao Hong cultivated in the mountains near the trade road.

More than a dozen thick ancient trees around him were covered in marks from strikes and thrusts. Some were deep, some shallow, leaving them riddled with holes.

"The wind's picking up."

Feeling the wind grow stronger, Zhao Hong looked up at the sky.

The blue skies and white clouds had vanished. The heavens had turned gloomy, and rain was about to fall.

Whoosh!

A fallen leaf spun down from the side.

Zhao Hong twisted like a ghost, bent his arm, and unleashed a crushing strike.

Terrifying force burst forth, and before he even touched the leaf, a frightening hum rang out.

Whoosh!

It was as if the spinning leaf had been gently pushed by a soft palm. It instantly began spinning in reverse, leaving an afterimage through the air as it embedded itself in a tree trunk.

Smack!

Zhao Hong rushed over, his gaze narrowing slightly.

That had been a completely instinctive strike.

The fallen leaf remained completely intact. Even every vein on it was still clearly visible.

It was as though that terrifying blow had contained no power at all.

But when he pressed his curved palm against both sides of the trunk.

Smack!

The bark shattered and caved in.

The inside had already been shaken into powder.

The leaf fell to the ground, truly without the slightest mark on it.

Watching this scene, Zhao Hong was slightly dazed.

It seemed... he had succeeded.

Whoosh, whoosh—

The wind through the forest grew stronger, and the grass and trees swayed.

More leaves rustled down.

With his powerful and keen senses, Zhao Hong, whose mind was free of distractions, heard wave after wave of movement interweaving from every direction around him.

They intensified at a rapid pace.

Whoosh!

He moved again.

His robes flapped in the wind, his curved palm flashing like lightning.

Smack!

A fallen leaf spun wildly through the air before exploding into fragments.

Yet no ripples of force scattered outward. The terrifying energy had actually condensed into a single stream and shot toward one direction.

As the weather suddenly changed, Zhao Hong's figure whirled through the forest before the rain had even begun.

One fallen leaf after another had become the finest targets.

Even he himself did not know why his mind contained not the slightest stray thought.

In the end, he became completely immersed in the sounds of the wind and swaying vegetation, forgetting martial arts such as the Stele-Splitting Hand.

Relying on instinct.

Muscle memory.

Countless fallen leaves shattered.

Now and then, a muffled boom accompanied them.

Tree trunks were pierced through and toppled backward.

At a certain moment.

Zhao Hong suddenly drew the Black-Iron Ink Saber.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

Saber light flashed like lightning, surging in an unbroken tide.

The Six Harmonies Saber Art had reached minor mastery.

Of its principles, he was most familiar with the outer three harmonies.

As his saber art unfolded, the movements of his body and limbs remained incomparably coordinated no matter how he shifted and turned.

Every slash used the most basic movements—lifting, cutting, cleaving—but when woven together, they made one's heart tremble.

At times, they were swift, fierce, and violent, with force spilling in all directions.

At times, they were slow and soft, like ripples rolling over water.

Fallen leaves spun through the air.

Then suddenly reversed and soared upward.

A saber edge had drifted over, lifting a leaf as it abruptly unleashed terrifying force.

Whoosh!

The spinning leaf shot forward violently, tearing through a tree trunk and burying itself deep in the wood, yet it remained completely undamaged.

The saber turned again.

The surging force became even more terrifying, ripping through the air and smashing into the tree trunk.

Yet the leaf shattered while the trunk remained completely unscathed.

His control was simply astonishing.

As time passed.

Zhao Hong's entire body grew hot.

The outer three harmonies were nearly flawless.

Not a single flaw could be found in any slash.

The wind swept the leaves, while the saber passed without a trace.

As the saber light turned, the leaves seemed to bloom into countless shapes.

Even when torn into four or five pieces, they remained gathered without scattering until they reached the ground.

At that moment, it was like the training plan Zhao Yang had arranged for him.

Only, thin paper had been replaced with fallen leaves.

And the ones suffering were the trees throughout the mountain forest.

In a haze.

Spirit, intent, and qi gradually merged into one.

From without to within, and from within to without.

They stirred his torso and limbs, his blood and force, even his Dragon Tendon and Tiger Bones.

Crash!!

Zhao Hong's mind suddenly went blank.

Only a spark of clarity remained.

At that moment, his five viscera and six bowels gave rise to indescribable surges.

Between his tendons and bones, blood and qi churned, weaving tangible forms of dragons and tigers.

Even Zhao Hong himself did not notice that his breathing had quietly become extraordinarily wondrous and unusual.

All the chaotic sounds by his ears vanished without a trace.

Only the unique hum formed by his organs, tendons, and bones remained.

His entire body and mind seemed to merge with this wilderness.

Smack!

A raindrop the size of a soybean fell from the sky and struck Zhao Hong's face like thunder.

His body trembled slightly. His dazed gaze suddenly cleared, like lightning splitting through endless fog.

Whoosh!

He instinctively stepped forward. His organs roared and his tendons and bones thundered.

The ink-black saber rose toward the heavens.

Clang!

Roar!

The saber cry mixed with a roar was deafening, overwhelming the howling wind and torrential rain.

A terrifyingly violent surge appeared out of nowhere, pouring into heaven and earth alongside the snow-bright saber light.

Within a radius of dozens of yards, the dense raindrops suddenly froze in midair.

The next moment, they came pouring down.

Zhao Hong stood tall, instantly drenched through.

Yet he paid it no mind, savoring that indescribable state.

Was that enlightenment?

The complete fusion of the six harmonies.

It was as if he had uncovered a treasure, bringing a mysterious transformation to both body and mind.

Especially his breathing.

It was as though he had inhaled the essence of heaven and earth.

"Just now... that was saber momentum."

Zhao Hong murmured into the wind and rain, and his body suddenly burned hot.

Boom!

Another explosive roar rang out. Bloody radiance blazed, igniting into fierce flames that surged into the sky.

Like wolf smoke, like beacon fire.

Fierce and blazing, violent and chilling.

That bloody radiance was crystalline, as though it had been poured from jade.

"Blood Fiend."

The wind was sharp as blades and the rain poured down.

Yet all of it was blocked outside, unable to come near him in the slightest.

Only the boiling Blood Fiend stood vast and majestic, its aura suffocating beyond measure.

Zhao Hong's face was dyed crimson by its glow, and an irrepressible flash of delight appeared on it.

"The Six Harmonies Saber Art has reached major mastery. The Stele-Splitting Hand has reached major mastery."

"My cultivation broke through, and I grasped saber momentum."

"Four blessings have arrived at once."

"And the Mighty Vajra Finger will soon reach major mastery as well. Cloud-Breaking Flash also seems to..."

"These four martial arts actually share something in common."