Nine-Orifices Indestructibility

"Even a mosquito leg is still meat..."

After absorbing the blood qi of the five men, Lu Li entered the temple with a rosy complexion, unable to resist rubbing his hands together.

Now came the real feast!

Inside the temple, an extremely thick stench of blood assaulted his nose, making him nauseous. Looking at the Blood Pool before him, Lu Li's heart surged with excitement.

It was no exaggeration to say that the blood qi contained in this Blood Pool already rivaled that of a Qi Solidification martial artist.

After all, Drooping-Ear Monk had maintained it for two years, continuously feeding it essence blood.

"Once I reach the Astral Condensation Realm, the Erosion Essence Scripture will upgrade and condense Blood Orifices. As long as the Blood Orifices remain, the body will not die..."

Thinking over the Erosion Essence Scripture's later stages, Lu Li did not hesitate. He sat cross-legged beside the Blood Pool and plunged one hand directly into it.

The instant he circulated the Erosion Essence Scripture, Lu Li's body trembled slightly. Torrential blood qi flooded into him, and he bared his teeth in a grin.

"Now this has some kick!"

A breeze swept across the ground, stirring the heavy stench of blood.

The Blood Pool visibly faded and shrank. Before long, Lu Li had absorbed it completely.

Drooping-Ear Monk's two years of accumulation had been utterly drained.

But the results were equally astonishing.

"Now I have enough blood qi to cultivate to the Twelfth Stage of Meridian Opening..."

Lu Li's eyes gleamed. Having tasted the speed of cultivating the Demon Martial Path, how could he possibly return to meditating and cultivating obediently?

"Now that I have sufficient blood qi, conservatively speaking, I can reach Meridian Opening Perfection within a year, break through to the Astral Condensation Realm, and perhaps even have some left over."

Lu Li clenched his fist, feeling power course through every inch of his body.

Blood qi was not only useful for assisting cultivation; it was also an excellent healing remedy.

No matter the injury—even a shattered heart—it could be healed with blood qi!

That was why the Xiangliu Martial Dao was known as the Blood-Sucking Undying Style...

And that was only secondary. Once he reached the Astral Condensation Realm and awakened the next ability of the Nine-Orifices Indestructibility, Blood Containment, Poison Concealment, only then could he truly be called an immortal body that was difficult to kill.

"It's time to head back."

Lu Li rose to his full height and glanced at the sky. The sun was setting in the west, and the light had turned dusky yellow.

This trip had been a complete success. He could already imagine the wonderful expressions on Drooping-Ear Monk and Yin Duanyue's faces when they realized something was wrong seven days later.

With Kong Ye and Yuchen dead, the threat to Peng Shan and the others had more or less faded. Lu Li still held great respect for people who dared to take the lead for the sake of the world.

Besides, they had drunk together before. There was some friendship between them, and lending a hand could be considered repayment for that bowl of wine.

Lu Li returned to the inn before dusk, then, without lingering, went back to the Peng Family Noodle Shop.

The noodle shop was still empty. After dinner, once Liu Yueling had fallen asleep, Lu Li sat alone in his room and cultivated.

"I'm currently at the Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening. If I want to obtain Bo's token without any risk, my cultivation still needs to catch up to Drooping-Ear Monk's."

"Fighting above my level is all well and good, but crushing them outright is safer."

Over the next seven days, Lu Li entered seclusion and trained without pause.

While refining blood qi, Lu Li did not neglect his martial arts. His Body-Devouring Powder had temporarily run out, but the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body and the Ride Things, Roam the Mind Manual were both close to breaking through again.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside and outside the execution ground, crowds surged. After seven days of spreading the news, the matter of Slender Golden Saber's execution had already become the talk of Qingzhou City. Everyone knew of it.

"Alas, Slender Golden Saber was a good man. How did he get captured?"

"Exactly. What a pity."

"These dog officials who aid and abet tyrants!"

The commoners below discussed it heatedly, most of them filled with indignation.

Slender Golden Saber had quite a reputation as a righteous hero within the city.

On the execution platform, a guillotine was pushed to the front. "Slender Golden Saber" had iron chains around his feet and his hands bound, escorted by two burly men.

The official overseeing the execution glanced at the crowd below and announced loudly:

"Assassinating a court official is a heinous crime. From this moment onward, he shall be beheaded and displayed to the public as a warning to others."

As his words fell, a ripple of commotion spread through the crowd.

Among the crowd, a scar-faced burly man watched the scene with fury written all over his face, his eyes seemingly about to spit fire.

Just as he was about to act, Peng Shan grabbed his shoulder firmly and said in a low voice:

"Brother Yan, stay calm. Let the brothers of the Heavenly Righteousness Society first see whether this truly is Slender Golden Saber!"

"Do not act rashly, lest we fall into a trap."

Hearing this, Yan Dan finally suppressed his anger. He looked around, his gaze landing on a one-eyed man on the other side of the crowd. This man was Liu Qi, the current vice leader of the Heavenly Righteousness Society.

Liu Qi, meanwhile, stared fixedly at Slender Golden Saber on the platform.

Yin Duanyue had found someone with a similar build and used disguise techniques to make him look exactly the same. Ordinary people could not possibly discern the difference.

But Liu Qi and Slender Golden Saber were brothers who had known each other for years and trusted each other with their lives. How could he fail to recognize a fake?

"This man is not my brother. But Brother has not shown himself for many days, and I haven't been able to contact him no matter what. Now even this bait is a fake..."

Liu Qi clenched his fists as deep fury and sorrow welled up in his heart.

He knew that his brother had most likely... been killed!

Huff~

After taking a deep breath, Liu Qi signaled Peng Shan and Yan Dan with his eyes. The two immediately understood and quietly moved out of the crowd.

At that moment, a burst of heavy footsteps approached rapidly, followed by a loud shout.

"Surround them all! Slender Golden Saber's accomplices are here. Don't let a single one escape!"

Hmm?!

The three men's gazes sharpened as they looked toward the source of the voice.

Outside the execution ground, dozens of black-clad men poured in. They were retainers of the Xue Household, most of them at the third or fourth layer of Meridian Opening.

The leader was a fierce-looking man. Ignoring the panic of the surrounding commoners, he swept his gaze around, suspicion rising in his heart.

"Strange. Why don't I see Drooping-Ear Monk's disciple?"

He looked over the crowd, but there was no sign of any bald monk.

"Forget it. Perhaps the two masters are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the bandits to expose themselves first..."

Unable to figure it out, the leading man stopped dwelling on it. He drew his saber and looked around, only to see three burly men suddenly charge out from the crowd.

They were Peng Shan, Yan Dan, and Liu Qi.

"Stop them! Don't let them escape!"

The leader threw up an arm and shouted, taking the first step forward as he charged in to kill.

The accompanying black-clad men also drew their sabers and rushed forward. They knew that two Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening martial artists would secretly support them.

Therefore, even when facing Peng Shan and the other three, all Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening martial artists, they did not seem afraid.

"Kill!"

Shouts of battle erupted into chaos.

Peng Shan's gaze hardened, and he shouted:

"Brothers, be careful. There may be an ambush hidden in the dark."

Yan Dan and Liu Qi nodded heavily, their expressions grave. Rather than looking at the black-clad men charging toward them, they fixed their eyes beyond the crowd.

It was as though deadly venomous snakes lurked in the shadows, waiting only for the right moment to pounce and deal them a devastating blow.

A bloody battle was likely inevitable!

Wind-and-Rain Tower!

"What?!"

Xue Shaokan slammed his palm down in fury, shattering the table before him. He sprang to his feet and glared sharply at the meek-looking monk kneeling before him.

"All my retainers are dead! But what about the people from your Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple?"

"Has that bastard Drooping-Ear Monk grown bold enough to deceive me?!"