Eagle Wolf Guard Offers a Hefty Bounty, Zhou Qing Integrates Martial Arts

Yuanfeng Era, Year Thirteen, September Sixteenth.

Mad Blade Zhou Qing appeared in Black Stone County, beheaded Eagle Wolf Guard Red Wolf Deputy Commander Lin Feng, executed County Magistrate Lin Yue, and wiped out Zhou Manor.

The moment this news emerged, the entire martial world and imperial court were shaken.

As a pillar of the court's military might, the Eagle Wolf Guard was formidable, and its deputy commander Lin Feng was among the finest of First-rate Martial Artists. No one had expected him to die at Zhou Qing's hands.

Although County Magistrate Lin Yue was only a Second-rate Martial Artist, he was an imperial official of Principal Seventh Rank. Killing an official was no different from rebellion.

For a time, wanted notices for Zhou Qing spread across the land.

Zhou Qing leaped directly from one hundredth place on the wanted list to eightieth, and the bounty on his head changed dramatically as well.

Anyone who provided accurate information regarding Zhou Qing's whereabouts would receive thirty thousand taels of silver and a Second-rate Internal Art.

Anyone who killed Zhou Qing and carried his head to any Eagle Wolf Guard office would receive a First-rate Internal Art and martial technique, as well as the opportunity to study a Divine Intent Diagram for three months.

A Divine Intent Diagram was something created when a Xiantian Realm grandmaster transformed the Power of Momentum they had comprehended into the higher Artistic Conception power, then branded that power onto a special object—usually a painting scroll.

Cultivating with the aid of Artistic Conception power allowed one to raise their Power of Momentum far more quickly.

If a First-rate Martial Artist had a Divine Intent Diagram to study at all times, their cultivation speed could increase dozens, even hundreds of times over.

Even ordinary super First-rate factions did not possess such treasures.

That was because even if ordinary grandmasters had mastered Artistic Conception power, they found it difficult to create Divine Intent Diagrams. Only some veteran grandmasters could do so.

Even most super First-rate factions possessed only one or two Divine Intent Diagrams. Yet the Eagle Wolf Guard had all kinds of them. No matter what kind of Momentum one cultivated, one could find a corresponding Divine Intent Diagram to study.

The Eagle Wolf Guard's hefty bounty set many martial artists in the martial world itching to make a move. In particular, the Blade Catchers who lived off bounties regarded it as a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

Quite a few Blade Catchers who had reached the First-rate Martial Artist level set out one after another. They even spared no effort in calling upon their connections in the martial world to inquire everywhere about Zhou Qing's whereabouts, hoping to find him first and claim the generous bounty, the precious Internal Arts and martial techniques, and the chance to study a Divine Intent Diagram.

For a time, the martial world was swept by wind and clouds, with countless undercurrents surging beneath the surface. All manner of rumors and information about Zhou Qing flew everywhere.

However, Zhou Qing himself, after leaving Black Stone County, went straight into the deep mountains and ancient forests to cultivate in seclusion. The turmoil of the outside world could not affect him in the slightest.

After a year of arduous cultivation, your understanding of the Gale Nine Wave Blade Technique gradually deepened. Your use of the blade technique became proficient, passing the Beginner, Minor Accomplishment, and Proficient stages to reach Major Accomplishment.

After another half year of arduous cultivation, the Gale Nine Wave Blade Technique reached perfection. You wielded it as easily as an arm, every move naturally flawless, striking wherever you pointed. You could instantly slash the same spot nine times in succession, each slash stronger than the last. You began attempting to merge the Traceless Blade Technique into the Gale Nine Wave Blade Technique, discarding the dross and preserving the essence.

In the third year of arduous cultivation, you incorporated the Traceless Blade Technique's silent, invisible strikes and its blade passing without a trace into the Gale Nine Wave Blade Technique. Combining the strengths of both blade techniques, you created a new blade technique: the Traceless Thirteen Wave Blade Technique!

In the fourth year of arduous cultivation, you perfected the Traceless Thirteen Wave Blade Technique. You could slash thirteen times in an instant, and your blade strikes vanished in a flash, elusive and impossible to predict, leaving enemies unable to guard against them.

You began cultivating the Golden Gang Art. Since you had already opened the twelve primary meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, and the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique had reached perfection, the meridians within your body were tougher and broader than those of ordinary martial artists. After one year of arduous cultivation, you completed a Great Zhou Cycle. In the second year, you cultivated the Golden Gang Art to perfection.

You began arduously cultivating the Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art... After four years of arduous cultivation, you integrated Swallow Dips Water into the Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art and named it Floating Crossing.

You began arduously cultivating the Illusion Demon Movement Technique...

You began arduously cultivating the Nine Character True Word Seal Fragment...

Days passed one after another.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen days had passed.

Whoosh!

Zhou Qing's consciousness returned from the profound space.

Name: Zhou Qing

Realm: Acquired Realm Ninth Layer (Peak First-rate Martial Artist)

Martial Arts Mastered: Spring Return Technique / Tenth Layer (Traits: Enhanced internal energy healing, lifespan increased by half a century, poison resistance increased by 300%, improved innate talent)

Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique / Ninth Layer (Traits: Indestructible Vajra Body, Blood Qi Furnace, 100% countershock, 50% force dissipation, indestructible)

Golden Gang Art / Sixth Layer (Trait: Golden Edge)

Traceless Thirteen Wave Blade Technique / Perfection (Traits: Blade speed burst 400%, power accumulation, concealment)

Floating Crossing / Perfection (Traits: Body like flying catkins, floating across the void, speed burst 400%)

Illusion Demon Movement Technique / Perfection (Traits: Phantom images, speed burst 500%)

Nine Character True Word Seal Fragment / Three Character True Seal (Traits: Defense increased by 1000%, compressed internal energy, potential activation)

Talent: Nine Breaths Assimilation (So long as you breathe and circulate energy for nine breaths, an inexplicable divine power blesses you, automatically refining the power of the Great Dao of heaven and earth into Dao Source. You automatically gain 1 Dao Source Point each day. Every Dao Source Point is equivalent to one year of arduous cultivation.)

Dao Source: 0

Fifteen days meant fifteen Dao Source Points—fifteen years of arduous cultivation.

Zhou Qing had cultivated the Golden Gang Art, the Gale Nine Wave Blade Technique, the Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art, and the Illusion Demon Movement Technique all to perfection. He had also merged the Traceless Blade Technique into the Gale Nine Wave Blade Technique, and the Swallow Dips Water movement art into the Flying Catkins Misty Smoke Art, creating two even stronger martial techniques.

The Traceless Thirteen Wave Blade Technique and Floating Crossing.

He had also fully mastered the Three Character True Seal recorded within the Nine Character True Word Seal Fragment.

"Not bad!"

A satisfied smile appeared on Zhou Qing's face.

Although his cultivation realm had not improved, his overall strength had increased considerably. His killing power, explosive force, defense, movement technique, and every other aspect had risen dramatically. With his current strength, he could take on several versions of himself from fifteen days ago.

Not to mention, with Floating Crossing combined with the Illusion Demon Movement Technique, the Zhou Qing of fifteen days ago would not even have been qualified to touch the hem of his current clothes. He could only trail behind him and eat dust.

With Zhou Qing's current strength, if he faced First-rate Martial Artist Lin Feng again, he could kill him even without activating the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique.

That was because the Power of Momentum attacks wielded by First-rate Martial Artists were useless against him.

The Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique had reached perfection, tempering even his mind and will into something indestructible. Even Power of Momentum at Major Accomplishment could hardly affect him. Without the advantage of Power of Momentum, First-rate Martial Artists were no different from Second-rate Martial Artists.

However, Zhou Qing was currently only a First-rate Martial Artist in body refinement. To grasp the Power of Momentum, he still had to cultivate a First-rate Internal Art, open the ancestral aperture between his brows, and strengthen the power of his mind.

At once, Zhou Qing ended his arduous cultivation and walked out of the deep mountains.