Third Gate-Knocking Realm

Lu Hao absorbed the chicken meat in the Equipment Slot. Once his Qi-Blood had been fully replenished, he began practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique.

Meanwhile, Shi Kang carried the beef home.

He rinsed the beef with clean water, cut it into several large chunks, threw them into a ceramic urn, filled it with water, and set it to boil.

About half an hour later, he lifted the lid. The meat broth churned within the urn, a layer of bloody foam rolling across its surface, while the fragrance of beef rushed at his nose with the steam.

Shi Kang had not eaten meat in a long time.

The last time he had bought chicken legs, he had intended to eat them himself. But when he saw Lu Hao beaten until his skin split and flesh tore, he gave the chicken legs to Lu Hao instead.

Looking at the pot of beef before him, Shi Kang's Adam's apple bobbed, and saliva nearly spilled from his mouth.

He stabbed a large chunk of beef with his chopsticks and blew on it. Without waiting for it to cool, he began eating.

This plain boiled beef had no seasonings whatsoever to mask its gaminess. Shi Kang did not even have salt at home. In the Great Jin Dynasty, salt was a rare commodity.

Though the beef was gamey and tough, with no seasoning at all, Shi Kang ate with immense relish. He sucked in air through his teeth as he chewed huge mouthfuls of beef, occasionally wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

After ten jin of beef had been cooked, it had shrunk by nearly half.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Shi Kang had devoured every last bit of beef. Then he lifted the ceramic urn and poured the broth, bloody foam and all, into his mouth.

After swallowing the final mouthful of broth, he felt a warm current surge up from his stomach and flow along his meridians into his limbs and bones.

Shi Kang immediately set down the ceramic urn, walked into the courtyard, and assumed the Tiger-Subduing Form of the Black Tiger Stance Art.

Shi Kang had average innate talent, but because he had lacked the money to buy meat and replenish his Qi-Blood, he had always been stuck at the threshold of Gate Breaking, just one kick shy of the door.

Now, with ten jin of beef in his belly, his Qi-Blood churned throughout his body. In particular, a scorching sensation came from the great dragon of his spine.

Suddenly, it was as though a hole had been chiseled into Shi Kang's dantian, and a warm current gushed forth. This current merged with the Qi-Blood absorbed from the beef, forming a thread of warm Qi-Blood around his dantian that slowly revolved around it.

Shi Kang froze for a moment. He carefully sensed the Qi-Blood within his body, then suddenly threw back his head and laughed.

He spread his arms and roared, "It worked! It worked! I did it! I've awakened Qi-Blood too! From now on, I'm a Martial Apprentice as well! Hahaha...!"

The big yellow dog next door and the two roosters seemed to sense Shi Kang's wild joy. The dog began barking along with him, while the roosters started crowing. Crowing, barking, and Shi Kang's frenzied roars rose and fell one after another.

Once Shi Kang calmed down, he thought of Lu Hao.

After mortgaging the deed to his house, Lu Hao had given him one tael of silver. Shi Kang had only lent him half a tael in the beginning, yet Lu Hao had returned an extra half tael. If not for that silver buying meat to replenish his Qi-Blood, he would never have broken through to the First Gate-Breaking Realm.

Shi Kang silently thought that when they went to negotiate with the Water Serpent Gang in a few days, he would protect Lu Hao no matter the cost, even if it meant staking his life on it.

At the same time, a very different scene was unfolding in Qian Hao's home.

Qian Hao was still some distance from the Third Gate-Knocking Realm, but he had to negotiate with the Water Serpent Gang in four days. Left with no choice, he could only take a gamble and forcibly charge toward the Third Gate-Knocking Realm.

Looking at the Blood-Qi Pill pinched between his fingers, he took a deep breath and put it into his mouth.

The moment he swallowed the pill, its abundant Qi-Blood power turned into a searing current that exploded inside his abdomen. The Qi-Blood throughout Qian Hao's body was instantly ignited.

The three threads of Qi-Blood in his body spun rapidly around his dantian, instantly forming a vortex.

As the saying went, three threads of Qi-Blood became one mass, and one mass of Qi-Blood broke into nine threads. If he could divide nine threads of Qi-Blood from that vortex, he could step into the Third Gate-Knocking Realm.

Qian Hao clenched his teeth, veins bulging across his forehead. The vortex in his dantian spun faster and faster as Qi-Blood crashed wildly through his body.

Suddenly, a violent surge of Qi-Blood rushed upward. Qian Hao groaned, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out.

Qian Hao's face turned deathly pale. He clutched his chest and gasped for breath.

Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, Qian Hao gave a bitter laugh and mocked himself. "Just as expected, I never touched the threshold. Forcing a breakthrough still ended in failure."

There were three chances to break through each Gate-Breaking realm. Qian Hao still had two chances to break through to the Third Gate-Knocking Realm, but his Qi-Blood was severely depleted now. At the very least, he had to wait until he next felt the stirrings of a breakthrough before trying again.

Qian Hao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and silently cursed Han Zheng and Chen Xuan, those two bastards. If they had not forced him to negotiate with the Water Serpent Gang, why would he have needed to take such a risk and forcefully attempt Gate Breaking?

Well, this was just perfect. His Gate Breaking had failed and damaged his foundation. When he went to the Water Serpent Gang in four days, he could only pray for his own luck.

Meanwhile, Lu Hao was also training hard at home.

Every day, he used the Equipment Slot to absorb the Qi-Blood in chicken meat. Once his Qi-Blood was full, he practiced the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique. When his Qi-Blood ran low, he replenished it again, repeating the cycle over and over. Every day, he trained from the first glimmer of dawn until the sun sank in the west.

As he grew more proficient in the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique, he consumed far more Qi-Blood than before. Originally, two chickens and a packet of chicken offal were enough for him to train until dark. But on the second day, before the sun had even set, the chicken meat and offal had already been used up.

On the morning of the third day, Lu Hao simply bought three chickens and two packets of chicken offal. Only then did he barely have enough Qi-Blood for a day of training.

On the evening of the fourth day, the sun dipped westward, and the evening glow burned half the sky golden. The lingering light of sunset gilded Lu Hao's courtyard in gold as well.

Lu Hao crouched on all fours, his back arched, and completed the final Tiger Pouncing Stance of the Black Tiger Stance Art. Then he straightened his spine and slowly withdrew his stance.

At that moment, the dark blue system panel abruptly refreshed.

[Skill: Black Tiger Stance Art (Grand Mastery)]

[Progress: 1/2000]

[Qi-Blood in Body: 8/30]

Lu Hao felt the three threads of Qi-Blood slowly circulating around his dantian suddenly begin spinning at a furious speed.

A scorching sensation flared in his dantian, and his abdomen seemed as though it were about to burst into flames. The Qi-Blood spun faster and faster.

Suddenly, one thread of Qi-Blood split from that rapidly spinning mass, followed by another, until nine threads had been divided out.

The nine threads of Qi-Blood slowly revolved around his dantian before surging into his limbs and bones. An incomparably soothing warmth spread throughout his entire body.

His Qi-Blood limit had also risen from twenty to thirty units.

Lu Hao activated the Equipment Slot and began absorbing the Qi-Blood from the chicken meat.

In about the time it took to drink two cups of tea, he had replenished all thirty units of Qi-Blood.

Lu Hao felt the Qi-Blood within him surge like a tide, several times more abundant than before his breakthrough.

So this was what Grand Mastery in the Black Tiger Stance Art and the Third Gate-Knocking Realm felt like?

Lu Hao sensed the powerful Qi-Blood of the Third Gate-Knocking Realm for a while longer. Then he slowly exhaled and began practicing the Black Tiger Fist Technique again.

The sound of his fist wind tearing through the air shook the eardrums with a buzzing hum.

After finishing the routine, he felt that the force behind his punches far surpassed what it had been before.

If he faced that Second Gate-Knocking Stage guard captain from Spring Breeze Pavilion again, he was confident that a single punch would send the man flying.

After completing one round of the Black Tiger Fist Technique, the dark blue panel refreshed once more.

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Grand Mastery)]

[Progress: 1/2000]

[Black Tiger Method Durability: 33/100]

Both the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique had broken through to Grand Mastery.

That gave Lu Hao another measure of confidence to protect himself during tomorrow's negotiation with the Water Serpent Gang.

He withdrew his stance and stood tall, a faint eagerness stirring in his heart.

Lu Hao hoped that during tomorrow's negotiations with the Water Serpent Gang, he would have the chance to test the power of a Third Gate-Knocking Realm Martial Apprentice and the Grand Mastery Black Tiger Fist Technique.