Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art, Elder

Lu Hao returned to his room and took out the Blood Fiend Sword Art and the Golden Blade Method from his tunic.

A short while ago, during the surprise attack on the Golden Saber Gang's branch, he had confiscated many copies of the Golden Blade Method. When he visited the treasury last time, he had picked up a volume and carried it with him.

What he had not expected was that these two sets of cultivation methods could be synthesized into a green-grade method without even needing to be equipped.

Lu Hao's thoughts churned as he mentally commanded the synthesis.

[Synthesize item: Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art (Green)]

[Do you wish to unequip the item in Equipment Slot 1 or 2 and equip the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art (Green)?]

[Note: After actively unequipping an item from an equipment slot, a seven-day cooldown is required before a new item can be equipped again]

Lu Hao chose no. Below the equipment slots, a new grid had appeared, with the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art placed right in the middle of it.

[Item pending equipment: Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art]

Lu Hao tried again to synthesize the Advanced Black Tiger Golden Blade Art and the Black Tiger Blood Fiend Art, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no reaction.

He thought it over. He had been able to synthesize a white method into a green method because his Black Tiger Method had reached perfect mastery.

Could it be that he needed at least one green-grade method to reach perfect mastery before he could synthesize higher-tier methods?

He looked at the equipment slots. Equipment Slot 1 was equipped with the Advanced Black Tiger Golden Blade Art, and Equipment Slot 2 was equipped with the Great Ring Saber.

The durability of the Great Ring Saber was displayed as:

[Durability: 58/100]

Over the past few days, practicing the Black Tiger Hand-Saber Art along with the recent fight against Diao Xiaolin had worn down a considerable amount of the Great Ring Saber's durability. Once the saber's durability was completely exhausted, Equipment Slot 2 would free up.

At that time, he could equip the Black Tiger Blood Fiend Art. He wondered if practicing two sets of methods simultaneously would help with the growth of Blood Essence.

Lu Hao looked back at the progress of the Advanced Black Tiger Golden Blade Art.

[Skill: Black Tiger Golden Saber Blood Essence Formula (Green · Minor Mastery)]

[Progress: 83/500]

[Skill: Black Tiger Hand-Saber Art (Green · Minor Mastery)]

[Progress: 124/500]

A wave of wild elation washed over Lu Hao's heart.

Before his clash with Diao Xiaolin today, the progress of both martial arts had remained stuck at 15/100.

He had not expected that a single battle would cause the Black Tiger Hand-Saber Art to surge by over a hundred points of proficiency in one go.

Even more surprising to him was that the proficiency of the Black Tiger Blood Essence Formula had increased along with it.

He had originally thought the Blood Essence Formula would be like the Black Tiger Stance Art, gaining no proficiency improvements in actual combat.

Upon deeper reflection, Lu Hao deduced that every time he executed the Black Tiger Hand-Saber Art now, he had to detonate the Blood Essence in his dantian and channel it through all his limbs. This entire process was, in itself, an application of the Black Tiger Golden Saber Blood Essence Formula.

The more times he struck, the faster the proficiency of the Blood Essence Formula naturally grew. Moreover, the proficiency gained by green-grade methods in actual combat was far beyond what white-grade methods could compare to.

At that moment, a gang member's report suddenly sounded from outside the door, "Hall Master Lu, Elder Cao Ling has arrived."

Lu Hao set his thoughts aside, got up, and walked over to the assembly hall.

Seeing Lu Hao enter, Cao Ling immediately stood up to greet him, looking him up and down.

"Little Brother Lu, you only stepped into the martial artist realm a few days ago, yet you've managed to kill three martial artists in succession."

"I also heard that after Diao Xiaolin took that drug, he possessed strength comparable to a mid-grade bright force expert."

"Once the elders in the gang heard about this, not a single one of them would dare look down on you anymore!"

Hearing this from the side, Shi Kang stroked his dense, curled beard and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Elder Cao, you didn't see it—after Diao Xiaolin took some unknown pill, he turned into an absolute fiend! His strength increased by so much."

Shi Kang's voice boomed like thunder, startling Cao Ling once again.

Cao Ling first glared at him, then scolded him with a smile, "Can't you keep your voice down when you speak, kid? Every single time sounds like rolling thunder."

Shi Kang scratched his head with an embarrassed chuckle.

Cao Ling then asked Lu Hao in detail about the fight with Diao Xiaolin. After listening, his expression grew slightly grave.

"If I'm not mistaken, what Diao Xiaolin took should be the Blood Fiend Pill. That is the signature medicine of Yu Wei, the chief escort of the Mighty Escort Bureau."

He paused for a moment.

"A few years ago, Yu Wei came to Bluestone County from out of town. With his strength, he could have established a foothold in the Central District right away. Yet for some reason, he chose to open an escort agency in the civilian district. What's more, his escort agency sends out multiple teams on escort missions every single month."

"Taking the Blood Fiend Pill can instantly boost the Blood Essence power of anyone practicing the Blood Fiend Sword Art."

With that, as if recalling something, he continued slowly.

"It is rumored that during one escort mission, a mid-grade bright force escort swallowed a Blood Fiend Pill and struck down an upper-grade bright force expert on the spot."

"Little Brother Lu, since you were able to kill Diao Xiaolin even after he took two Blood Fiend Pills, your strength is probably not much weaker than mine as an upper-grade bright force martial artist."

As soon as these words were spoken, the gazes the gang members in the hall directed at Lu Hao shifted from awe to fervent adoration.

At that moment, Cao Ling drew a token from his tunic and handed it to Lu Hao.

"Little Brother Lu, this is the Black Tiger Gang elder token. After discussing it with the two vice gang leaders and the elders, the gang unanimously agrees that you are qualified to hold the position of gang elder. It's just that there is currently a shortage of manpower, so you will also retain your concurrent post as the master of the Everjoy Hall Branch."

"An elder token?" Lu Hao looked at Cao Ling in puzzlement.

Unable to help himself, Shi Kang shouted from the side, "Elder Cao, what kind of authority does a Black Tiger Gang elder have?"

This time, Cao Ling couldn't even be bothered to glare at Shi Kang, merely waving his hand helplessly, "With a voice like yours, I reckon you'll never change it in this lifetime!"

Looking at Lu Hao, Cao Ling explained with a beaming smile, "As an elder of the Black Tiger Gang, you can collect two Blood Essence Pills from the gang every year."

"Blood Essence Pills?"

"That's right," Cao Ling nodded.

"The effects of the Blood Essence Pill are somewhat similar to the Blood Fiend Pill, except its medicinal nature is mild rather than tyrannical like the Blood Fiend Pill's. After taking it, you won't suffer from side effects such as physical weakness. It is one of the best auxiliary medicinal pills for bright force martial artists breaking through realms."

"Of course, if you normally use it to replenish depleted Blood Essence, that's not out of the question either. It's just far too extravagant, and very few people actually do that."

Hearing this, Lu Hao suddenly remembered that he still possessed a Blood Qi Pill looted from Chen Xuan, so he asked, "Big Brother Cao, is that Blood Qi Pill still of any use to a martial artist?"

Cao Ling stroked his mustache.

"Little Brother Lu, after stepping into the martial artist realm, you should have noticed that the Qi-Blood within your body has already transformed into Blood Essence. The force contained within Blood Essence is far beyond what Qi-Blood can compare to. Therefore, this Blood Qi Pill no longer has any effect on bright force martial artists."

Lu Hao nodded and immediately pulled the Blood Qi Pill out from his tunic, handing it to Shi Kang.

"Kangzi, prepare yourself well over these next few days. Once your Qi-Blood is abundant, swallow this Blood Qi Pill and see if you can make a breakthrough in one go to the Second-Layer Gate-Breaking Realm."

As Shi Kang took the Blood Qi Pill, his entire body stiffened.

Following Lu Hao had not only allowed him to eat beef and awaken his Qi-Blood, but now he had also acquired an incomparably precious Blood Qi Pill.

A rough fellow like him actually felt his eyes turn red at that moment.

Clutching the porcelain bottle tightly in his hand, Shi Kang resolved inwardly that he must work hard to raise his realm so he could shoulder more responsibilities for Lu Hao in the future. This would be the best way to repay him.

Cao Ling continued, "Little Brother Lu, as a hall master, your monthly stipend is fifty taels of silver. But once you become an elder, your monthly stipend will be one hundred taels."

As his voice trailed off, everyone in the hall collectively drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

These ordinary gang members received a monthly stipend of no more than one tael of silver, whereas Lu Hao's monthly stipend alone amounted to the sum total of all the gang members in the entire hall combined.

Taking in the expressions of everyone present, Cao Ling burst into hearty laughter.

"And that's just the superficial benefit. As an elder, you also qualify to run for vice gang leader."