Top Hundred on the Wanted List, Advancement to First-rate Martial Artist

On the first day of the ninth month, the thirteenth year of Yuanfeng.

Zhao Sheng, the Shadowless Sword of the Anqing Prefecture Eagle Wolf Guard, pursued Zhou Qing to Qiuye Town, only to be slain by Zhou Qing in the street.

The moment this news emerged, both the Anqing Prefecture authorities and the martial world were shaken.

The Eagle Wolf Guard, the sharpest blade in the imperial court's hand, was made up of extraordinary experts. No one knew how many martial forces had been wiped out by them.

The martial world hated them enough to grind their teeth, yet there was nothing they could do. They could only curse the Eagle Wolf Guard in secret as the court's running dogs and lackeys.

This time, Zhou Qing had slain Zhao Sheng, the Shadowless Sword. Naturally, the martial world applauded in delight.

Yet for the imperial court and the Eagle Wolf Guard, this was undoubtedly a tremendous blow, and their authority had suffered an unprecedented challenge.

Upon learning that Zhou Qing had killed Zhao Sheng, the Eagle Wolf Guard's upper ranks flew into a rage. They immediately raised Zhou Qing's name into the top hundred of the wanted list. Anyone who could provide confirmed, genuine clues to Zhou Qing's whereabouts would be rewarded with a second-rate Internal Art.

This news was like a bolt from the blue, stirring up a towering uproar in Anqing Prefecture's martial world and causing no small commotion across the entirety of Wanzhou.

One had to know that among the criminals on the imperial court's wanted list, every person ranked in the top hundred was a vicious criminal of formidable strength and ruthless methods. At the very least, they were First-rate Martial Artists above the seventh level of the Acquired Realm.

Those ranked in the top twenty were even Xiantian Realm grandmasters who had committed monstrous massacres. Every one of them was a supreme fiend who had slaughtered villages and wiped out towns.

Zhou Qing was an unknown nobody, not even a First-rate Martial Artist, yet he had managed to enter the top hundred. Though he was merely at the bottom, ranked one hundredth, it was still enough to leave people stunned.

From another perspective, the Eagle Wolf Guard was truly enraged.

They swore to capture Zhou Qing and bring him to justice, making an example of him while restoring the Eagle Wolf Guard's prestige.

Otherwise, with Zhou Qing's strength, he was simply not qualified to enter the top hundred of the wanted list.

For a time, discussions about Zhou Qing swiftly spread through the martial world. They were no longer confined to Anqing Prefecture, but soon reached every prefecture in Wanzhou as well as several neighboring provinces.

In the martial world, Zhou Qing also gained the nickname Mad Blade.

The "Blade" in Mad Blade represented Zhou Qing's strength and his incredibly swift blade techniques, while "Mad" meant that he was lawless enough to kill even Eagle Wolf Guard members.

Some criminals, even if they possessed the strength to kill the Eagle Wolf Guard pursuing them, chose to flee instead. Unless driven to the brink, they would not choose to kill an Eagle Wolf Guard member.

That was because behind the Eagle Wolf Guard stood the Great Xuan Dynasty—the imperial authority, the guardian of order across this continent.

Once one killed an Eagle Wolf Guard member, it was equivalent to killing an imperial official and challenging the entire court. Naturally, the court would not let the matter rest.

Even if they truly intended to kill an Eagle Wolf Guard member, they would choose a deserted place or strike in secret. They would never openly kill one.

Killing an Eagle Wolf Guard member before countless witnesses was no different from rebellion.

Such an act was undoubtedly courting death.

Yet Zhou Qing had done exactly that.

People could not help but marvel that Zhou Qing was truly bold enough to swallow the heavens and feared nothing beneath them. Thus, the martial world gave him the nickname Mad Blade.

The Eagle Wolf Guard's covert agents throughout Wanzhou all sprang into action. From peddlers and porters to refugees and beggars, every village and every town contained Eagle Wolf Guard informants searching for traces of Zhou Qing.

For a time, all of Anqing Prefecture, and even Wanzhou itself, was shrouded in tension. Everyone feared being connected to Zhou Qing and bringing fatal disaster upon themselves.

Yet Zhou Qing seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. After leaving Qiuye Town, he disappeared without a trace, throwing the Eagle Wolf Guard's pursuit into a stalemate.

The Eagle Wolf Guard's covert agents were spread throughout the Great Xuan Dynasty. So long as Zhou Qing appeared in a city or town, he would not escape their eyes.

But after leaving Qiuye Town, Zhou Qing knew that killing an Eagle Wolf Guard member would bring the imperial court's full pursuit upon him. Thus, he had directly retreated into the deep mountains and ancient forests to recuperate.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, five days went by.

Zhou Qing circulated the Spring Return Technique for an hour each morning, noon, and evening to heal his wounds, so his recovery was swift. After five days, not only had the sword wounds on his body completely healed, not even a scar remained.

Name: Zhou Qing

Realm: Sixth Level Acquired Realm (Peak Second-rate Martial Artist)

Martial Arts Mastered: Spring Return Technique / Tenth Layer (Traits: Enhanced Internal Art healing, extends lifespan by half a century, poison resistance increased by 300%, improves innate constitution)

Traceless Blade Technique / Mastery (Traits: blade speed burst 300%, strength burst 200%)

Swallow Dips Water / Mastery (Traits: light as a swallow, Midair Force Borrowing, speed burst 200%)

Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique / Sixth Layer (Traits: Copper Skin Iron Bones, Blood Qi Wolf Smoke, 80% rebound)

Talent: Nine Breaths Assimilation (So long as one breathes and circulates qi for nine breaths, mysterious divine power grants its blessing, automatically refining the power of heaven, earth, and the Great Dao into Dao Source. Automatically gains 1 Dao Source Point each day. Each Dao Source Point is equivalent to one year of arduous cultivation.)

Dao Source: 5

Zhou Qing opened the panel.

Over five days, he had accumulated another five Dao Source Points.

"All Dao Source Points, enhance the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Qing poured all his Dao Source Points into the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique.

At once, his consciousness entered a mysterious space, and scenes of arduous cultivation flooded into his mind.

After one year of arduous cultivation, the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique reached the peak of the sixth layer. Your physical body had reached a bottleneck and could not be further improved.

After three years of arduous cultivation, through unceasing use of Internal Art to temper your physique, you finally trained the technique into your bones. Internal Art penetrated deep into your marrow, completing a bone-cleansing and marrow-washing transformation. You had taken the first step toward shedding your mortal body and exchanging your bones.

After five years of arduous cultivation, the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique reached the peak of the seventh layer. Your mental tempering had attained the realm of being as firm as a rock.

Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique / Seventh Layer (Traits: Indestructible Vajra Body, Blood Qi Wolf Smoke, 100% rebound, 10% force dissipation, firm as a rock.)

Zhou Qing's consciousness returned.

He felt the surging blood qi throughout his body.

Moreover, this blood qi radiated a faint golden glow. Not only that, his bones, internal organs, twelve primary meridians, and eight extraordinary meridians all emitted a layer of dim golden light.

With the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique reaching the peak of the seventh layer, Zhou Qing had initially cultivated a vajra body. The trait displayed on the panel had also transformed from Copper Skin Iron Bones into an Indestructible Vajra Body.

The rebound trait had improved even further.

Any attack he received would be returned to the opponent in full.

Beyond that, he had gained two additional traits: force dissipation and firm as a rock. Force dissipation of 10% meant that when struck, he could shed one-tenth of the incoming force.

As for firm as a rock, it was not a bodily trait but represented the strength of his mind and will. If he suffered attacks targeting the mind and will, he possessed extremely powerful resistance.