Impenetrable All Over?

In the side room.

Lu Li glanced at the sleeping Liu Yueling, then sat cross-legged beside her and refined his blood qi.

Through the Weapon Lord's senses, he found that the owners of the three blades who had just been on the roof had now left.

Lu Li observed the surroundings along the way but found no suspicious people.

"This martial world is far more chaotic than the game. I ran into something like this right after leaving Cloud Province City. It seems the road to the Southern Wasteland won't be peaceful either."

Lu Li slightly closed his eyes. A trace of urgency weighed on his mind. After sensing that the people lurking in the dark had left, he circulated his Essence-Eroding Internal Qi and accelerated his refinement of the blood qi.

Once refined, the blood qi transformed into Essence-Eroding Internal Qi. His cultivation technique was currently at the first layer; once he reached the second level of Meridian Opening, it too would advance to the second layer.

As the technique advanced, the poison carried by his Essence-Eroding Internal Qi would grow stronger, while the internal qi consumed when condensing poison would decrease.

My internal qi is poisonous, but my body itself isn't. If I want to take the path of body tempering and poison, I'll still need a poison technique to stack my stats to the limit...

Lu Li closed his eyes. As the thought passed through his mind, his face flushed red. An invisible gust seemed to rise within three feet of him, making his robes flap loudly.

Even after experiencing it once already, he still felt intoxicated. The moment blood qi was refined into internal qi, the sensation was more exhilarating than taking drugs.

Others meditated and endured loneliness. He simply absorbed blood qi and grew stronger while sitting there.

Playing an overpowered build really is comfortable. Even cultivation feels motivating!

Time passed slowly. Half an hour remained before midnight when Lu Li's closed eyes suddenly opened a sliver. As though he had sensed something, he cast a sidelong glance.

The martial artist carrying three blades had returned. This time, however, he was not on the roof, but in the courtyard behind the side room.

After sensing the newcomer, Lu Li stopped cultivating. He rose to his full height and stretched his limbs.

He sensed that more than half of the second hidden meridian within his body had already been filled. He would soon break through to the second level of Meridian Opening.

The moment I entered the martial world, trouble came knocking. This is nothing like I imagined.

Lu Li shook his head inwardly.

Lixi Inn was backed by a major power and prohibited armed conflict. But in an era where it took more than ten days for reinforcements to arrive after an entire city fell, how could any place be absolutely safe?

Unhurried, Lu Li first tucked Liu Yueling's bedding around her. Then, with Intransigent Qi reinforcing his entire body and Essence-Eroding Internal Qi flowing through him, he raised his right hand, clenched his fingers into a fist, took a fierce step forward, and drove his fist into the wall beside him!

The inn's walls were made of wood and had limited sturdiness. Under that punch, the wall exploded apart.

Splintered wood shot out like hidden weapons. The person crouching by the wall leaped up, exposing himself beneath the moonlight.

Lu Li looked at him and saw a fierce-looking martial artist with a black hairy mole at the corner of his eye, gripping a pair of sabers in both hands.

The newcomer was none other than Flow-Ring Blade!

"How did you discover me?"

A flash of shock crossed Flow-Ring Blade's eyes. He had believed his concealment technique to be flawless. With this martial art, he, a third-level Meridian Opening martial artist, had once successfully assassinated a fifth-level Meridian Opening martial artist.

So why had it failed today?

Without saying a word, Lu Li moved the instant he saw Flow-Ring Blade. His body shot forward, fingers curling into claws as he struck with a poisonous green gleam.

Flow-Ring Blade hurriedly dodged. The incoming claw struck the artificial rock in the courtyard, instantly blasting it into fragments.

With Intransigent Qi, as well as the enhancements of the Erosion Essence Scripture and Poison Blood Hand, Lu Li could fight a third-level Meridian Opening martial artist despite being only at the first level.

Seeing the strength of Lu Li's claw technique, Flow-Ring Blade's eyes flickered.

"Brother, you and I have no grudge against each other. Why make such a big fuss?"

"No grudge?"

Lu Li sneered. "If we have no grudge, why were you spying on me in the middle of the night? You clearly have ill intentions. I merely exposed you before you could act."

Before his words had even finished, Lu Li charged forward again. He used the footwork that accompanied Poison Blood Hand, his attacks sharp and his killing intent fully exposed.

He had not wanted to get involved in the conflict between the Crane Flower Sect and the Myriad Life Sect. But the Myriad Life Sect was simply too notorious, and now that they had set their sights on him, if he did not deal with them proactively, he might be ambushed one day.

With Qi Solidification blood qi in his body, he was not afraid of injury at all.

The two fought as they moved. Flow-Ring Blade glanced around and saw people gradually approaching. With a tap of his foot, he used his movement technique and slipped into an alley outside the inn.

At the same time, the blades in his hands slashed repeatedly, leaving afterimages as they struck at Lu Li's vital points again and again.

Yet when the twin blades swept across him, no blood appeared. Only sparks flew.

Whenever Lu Li was injured, the Essence-Eroding Internal Qi in his body circulated his blood qi, and his wounds instantly healed, returning him to normal without affecting his movements in the slightest.

He was like a puppet forged from steel, tireless as his attacks grew fiercer and more violent, forcing Flow-Ring Blade to retreat step by step.

It was not that Flow-Ring Blade lacked strength compared to Lu Li. He simply had no body-tempering technique, nor did he possess a divine weapon capable of piercing armor.

Before reaching Qi Solidification, he could not break Lu Li's defenses. Even if he had greater strength, he could do nothing to his opponent, especially in the confines of an alley fight.

When enemies met on a narrow road, the braver prevailed.

Flow-Ring Blade was stunned. After being forced into the corner of the alley, he raised both blades to block Lu Li's claw strike. It was like weapons clashing, sparks scattering amid a dull boom.

The moment Lu Li's claw struck the twin blades, he seized them and activated the Weapon Lord.

A cold aura was drawn from the blades and rapidly merged into his body. It was as if he had been injected with a stimulant; Lu Li felt his strength rise dramatically.

The effect was immediate.

Crack! Crack!

Fine cracks appeared on the twin blades. Flow-Ring Blade's pupils contracted, then his gaze turned savage.

He took a deep breath, his chest and abdomen swelling. Then the fabric over his abdomen suddenly tore open, and a short blade shot out.

"Watch out!"

Tong Xinghe's voice came from nearby.

Lu Li lowered his head and saw a snow-bright blade emerge from Flow-Ring Blade's abdomen, its tip glinting coldly. But what truly startled him was the pair of infant arms that had grown from Flow-Ring Blade's abdomen and were gripping the hilt!

The martial path emphasized an intact body, so the Myriad Life Sect had virtually no true masters. Yet its sinister methods were countless and impossible to guard against.

"What twisted nonsense is this?!"

Lu Li had heard Tong Xinghe's warning, and the corner of his eye caught the movement tightly. The blade fired from Flow-Ring Blade's abdomen with ferocious speed, slashing straight toward his crotch.

"Haha!"

Seeing that Lu Li could not defend in time, Flow-Ring Blade's expression brightened, and delight filled his heart.

Every body-tempering martial art initially required one to beat the skin and flesh with all manner of blunt weapons, cultivating a body impervious to blades and spears through the aid of internal arts and medicine.

With such a method of cultivation, there were inevitably certain places on a man's body that were difficult to temper—the crotch, throat, eyes, and other vital points.

Only upon reaching Qi Solidification, when qi could circulate to protect those vital points, would there no longer be fatal weaknesses.

Otherwise, even a master of body tempering might not be able to block this move.

"Hmph! So what if you practice body tempering? It's not like I haven't killed men like you before!"

Flow-Ring Blade sneered inwardly as the short blade tore through Lu Li's clothing and stabbed toward his vital point.

Clang!

A crisp sound rang out. The expected bloody mess did not appear. When the short blade struck Lu Li's crotch, sparks flew as well.

"How is that possible?! You've already tempered your entire body to be impenetrable all over while still in the Meridian Opening realm?"