The Origins of the Three Gangs, Blood Essence Pills

Lu Hao looked at Cao Ling. Before he could speak, Shi Kang cut in from the side and asked, "Elder Cao, how much authority does the deputy gang leader have in our gang?"

Cao Ling stroked his walrus mustache, glanced at Shi Kang, then turned to Lu Hao and said leisurely, "Then let me tell you about the deputy gang leader's authority."

He paused.

"Our Black Tiger Gang currently has three deputy gang leaders. Ding Mian handles internal affairs, Xue Yong handles external affairs, and Luo Pojun handles money and provisions. All three are Upper-Grade Bright Force Martial Artists. As for our gang leader, Han Black Tiger, he is a Dark Force Martial Artist."

Lu Hao asked from the side, "Brother Cao, I heard Gang Leader Han rarely shows himself in the gang?"

Cao Ling chuckled. "Gang Leader Han stays in the Central District of Bluestone County Seat year-round and seldom comes to the gang."

"Why does the gang leader remain in the Central District instead of returning to hold down the fort?" Shi Kang pressed.

Cao Ling laughed and cursed, "You brat, you really won't stop until you've broken the casserole and gotten to the bottom of it."

He paused and looked at everyone in the council hall.

"Do you know how the Black Tiger Gang in the west of the city, the Golden Saber Gang in the north, and the Water Serpent Gang in the south came to be?"

Everyone shook their heads and looked at him.

"The three major gangs are each backed by one of the three great lineages in the Central District."

Cao Ling raised three fingers. "Our Black Tiger Gang is backed by the Han family. The Golden Saber Gang is backed by the Zhao family, while the Water Serpent Gang is backed by the Wei family. In truth, our three gangs are nothing more than tools those three great lineages use to make money."

He sneered.

"More than half the silver our Black Tiger Gang earns every year must be offered up to the Han family. Luo Pojun is specifically responsible for passing messages between the gang and the Han family, so he is away from the gang year-round as well. The ones truly running things in the gang are only Ding Mian and Xue Yong."

After hearing this, Lu Hao gained a clearer understanding of the powers within Bluestone County. He had never expected the Black Tiger Gang to be merely a tool for the wealthy households of the city to squeeze the people dry.

Cao Ling looked at Lu Hao again.

"Brother Lu, now you know just how much authority the deputy gang leader has, right?"

Lu Hao nodded slightly. "The deputy gang leader essentially exercises the authority of an acting gang leader."

"Exactly!"

"Now that you are an elder of the gang, your monthly stipend is one hundred taels of silver. If you become a deputy gang leader, your monthly stipend will be five hundred taels. Beyond that, you can also receive twelve Blood Essence Pills each year."

With that, Cao Ling took a porcelain bottle from his robes and handed it to Lu Hao.

"These are the two Blood Essence Pills you receive each year as an elder. I brought them for you."

Lu Hao accepted the Blood Essence Pills. "Brother Cao, how does one obtain these Blood Essence Pills?"

Cao Ling shook his head.

"You cannot buy Blood Essence Pills anywhere in Bluestone County Seat. Every time, Luo Pojun brings them back from the Central District. As for how the Han family obtains Blood Essence Pills, I do not know either. I only know that for Bright Force Martial Artists, these Blood Essence Pills are excellent for aiding breakthroughs."

By then, the gang members had already returned with wine and meat.

The people of the Everjoy Hall Branch began wolfing down meat and drinking bowl after bowl of wine. Lu Hao also drank a bowl with his brothers, then used the excuse that his battle with Diao Xiaolin today had drained too much of his strength and returned to his room to rest.

Cao Ling, meanwhile, remained at the branch and continued drinking with the gang members.

Lu Hao said he was going to rest, but he actually went to the training room. His mind was now wholly focused on cultivation.

The moment he shut the door, Lu Hao pulled the stopper from the porcelain bottle containing the Blood Essence Pills. The pill was roughly the size of a peanut, crimson throughout with a faint sheen, and a very subtle medicinal fragrance drifted out.

[Detected equipable item: Blood Essence Pill]

[Effect: When Blood Essence is insufficient, consuming it immediately restores fifty percent of Blood Essence. When Blood Essence is full, consuming it increases Blood Essence Art proficiency by 100 points. The above effects apply only to the Bright Force realm]

Lu Hao froze. One hundred points of proficiency. If he had possessed Blood Essence Pills earlier and used one after equipping it, he could have directly advanced from Lower Bright Force to the middle grade.

If he got a dozen or so Blood Essence Pills, wouldn't he be able to eat his way straight to Upper-Grade Bright Force?

He forcefully suppressed the urge to equip the Blood Essence Pill at once.

After all, if he removed an item from the Equipment Slot now, it would require a seven-day cooldown. Only after seven days could he equip the Blood Essence Pill.

It would be better to wait until the equipped Great Ring Saber's durability had run out. Equipment Slot 2 would then become vacant, and it would not be too late to equip the Blood Essence Pill then.

Over the next three days, Lu Hao trained the Black Tiger Golden Saber Method bitterly from dawn to dusk every day. Since the progress of his Blood Essence Art lagged behind the Black Tiger Hand-Saber Art, he deliberately practiced several extra rounds of the Blood Essence Art, bringing the progress of the two techniques level.

Lu Hao also had gang members purchase four hundred jin of beef in two batches. Whenever his Blood Essence ran dry, he activated the Equipment Slot to absorb the Qi-Blood in the beef. Once his Blood Essence was replenished, he resumed his grueling training, over and over without weariness.

Three days later, the system panel displayed:

[Skill: Black Tiger Golden Saber Blood Essence Formula (Green · Minor Mastery), Progress: 388/500]

[Skill: Black Tiger Hand-Saber Art (Green · Minor Mastery), Progress: 388/500]

[Great Ring Saber Durability: 0/100]

[Great Ring Saber equipment skill permanently solidified]

[Effect: You are thoroughly familiar with the Great Ring Saber. When using blade techniques, saber-swinging speed increases by 20%]

[Equipment Slot 2 is vacant. Please select an equipable item.]

Looking at the now-empty Equipment Slot 2, Lu Hao silently said, "System, equip the Blood Essence Pill. Thank you!"

[Equipped item: Blood Essence Pill]

[Use immediately?]

"Use it!" Lu Hao said silently.

Lu Hao felt the Blood Essence in his dantian jolt violently. Immediately afterward, a scorching sensation swept from his dantian through his entire body. The color of the three drops of Blood Essence around his dantian also deepened somewhat.

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

[Progress: +100]

[Current Progress: 488/500]

[Blood Essence Pill Durability: 0/100]

[Blood Essence Pill equipment skill permanently solidified]

[Effect: When Blood Essence is insufficient, consuming it immediately restores fifty percent of Blood Essence. When Blood Essence is full, consuming it increases Blood Essence Art proficiency by 100 points. The above effects apply only to the Bright Force realm]

Lu Hao then turned his gaze to the vacant Equipment Slot 2 and silently said, "Equip the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art."

[Equipment Slot 2 equipped item: Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art (Green)]

[Skill: Blood-Baleful Blood-Essence Art (Green · Beginner)]

[Progress: 0/100]

[Skill: Blood Baleful Blade Method (Green · Beginner)]

[Progress: 0/100]

[Note: To cultivate the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art, one must sacrifice a blade with fresh human blood or beast blood and absorb Blood Baleful Intent in order to cultivate]

[Blood Baleful Intent within body: 0/50]

Lu Hao frowned at the note.

Practicing the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art actually required sacrificing a blade with fresh human blood or beast blood?

After some thought, he ordered someone to buy two live chickens from the market.

Holding the Great Ring Saber, Lu Hao slaughtered the two chickens. Then, following the moves of the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art, he began absorbing the Blood Baleful Intent from their blood.

However, the Qi-Blood within the two chickens was far too thin. A thread of extremely faint bloody light first rose on the blade, then immediately dissipated.

Lu Hao gave a bitter smile. It seemed the Qi-Blood of ordinary poultry was too weak to activate the Blood-Baleful Blood-Essence Art at all.

He could not possibly use fresh human blood to cultivate the Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art, could he? Lu Hao was no saint, but he still could not bring himself to casually take the lives of innocent people.

Suddenly, a sharp gleam flashed through Lu Hao's eyes.