Desert Pursuit

The desert stretched as far as the eye could see.

The wind swept dust from the gravel into the air, blotting out the blood-red setting sun until only the curve of its outline remained.

A few scattered stunted trees swayed their withered branches in the windblown sand.

As darkness fell, the desert appeared ever more desolate and bleak.

Licking his cracked lips, Xia Daoming gazed toward the abandoned village standing as lonely as himself amid the desert. He decided to stay there for the night and resume his journey at dawn.

During the day, the most unbearable things about the desert were the sun hanging overhead at every moment, roasting one's body, and the endless naked gravel that stretched beyond sight.

They could not help but breed despair.

Yet daytime was relatively safe.

At night, the desert was not only pierced by bone-chilling winds, but also concealed countless unknown dangers.

There were packs of wolves roaming everywhere in search of prey, rattlesnakes that silently burst out from beneath the ground, venomous scorpions, eight-legged sand spiders...

Most of the houses in this nameless desert village had already collapsed, leaving only broken walls and crumbling ruins.

At the center of the village stood a dilapidated ancient well, but its water had long since dried up.

There was not a trace of life nearby. There was only yellow sand, withered vegetation, and white bones half-exposed above the dunes.

The sound of the wind echoed through the empty, ruined village.

Bleak.

Deathly silent.

Bang!

Xia Daoming lightly pushed the battered wooden door. It crashed down with a roar, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

Before him lay a white skeleton slumped over a table.

There was another skeleton on the ground, one that appeared to belong to a child.

Xia Daoming gave them a glance, then quickly withdrew from the ruined house.

After searching the village and confirming there was no danger, Xia Daoming chose a place to spend the night.

It was a room that still retained part of its broken roof and four shattered walls.

Xia Daoming roughly tidied the room, scattered some insect- and snake-repelling powder around its interior, then went outside to spread caltrops around the house. He also strung up several threads of ice silkworm silk, tying one end of the threads to his finger.

Only after finishing all this did Xia Daoming sit down and take an ancient wooden box from his chest.

The instant the wooden box was opened, a refreshing fragrance rushed into his nostrils.

Inside lay something five inches long and one inch thick. It was dark purple, covered in dragon-scale-like patterns, shaped like ginseng, and bore obvious bite marks.

Xia Daoming took it out and bit off two large mouthfuls as if he were eating a radish.

White, milky juice actually flowed from the dark-purple thing, releasing waves of fragrance.

Xia Daoming licked clean the juice from the bitten part, placed the thing back into the wooden box, and tucked it close against his body.

Then Xia Daoming sat cross-legged and circulated the Dragon Serpent Art.

After a long while, Xia Daoming slowly opened his eyes in the darkness.

A remarkably simple interface appeared in his mind.

Xia Daoming—

Cultivation: Fourth-Rank Martial Master

Level One Meridian Strengthening Progress: 0%.

"I finally broke through and became a Fourth-Rank Martial Master!"

A flash of delight appeared in Xia Daoming's eyes.

An accident a year ago had sent Xia Daoming through time into the body of this young man with the same name, making him a Second-Rank Martial Master at the Dragon Serpent Martial Hall in Black Stone City.

The human body had Twelve Meridians, which connected to the internal organs.

The ranks of Martial Masters corresponded to the Twelve Meridians and were divided into Twelve Ranks.

When internal force circulated through one meridian, one was a First-Rank Martial Master. When it broke through a meridian's barrier and could circulate through two meridians, one was a Second-Rank Martial Master. And so it continued, all the way to the Twelfth Rank.

At the time, not only had some memories of this body's original owner appeared in his mind, but so had a simple system interface.

The system's functions were as simple as its interface.

It strengthened the toughness and capacity of the meridians.

At every rank of a Martial Master's cultivation, as long as there was enough food to nourish and bolster the blood and qi, the system could continuously strengthen the meridians, up to Level Nine at most.

That meant that, in theory, Xia Daoming's internal force was nine times that of another person at the same realm.

Amid his delight, Xia Daoming suddenly sensed danger.

He sprang to his feet and, like a cat, silently slipped behind the door.

Peering through the crack in the door, Xia Daoming saw six people and a wolf mastiff racing toward the house beneath the moonlight.

As they ran, their formation spread apart, faintly forming an arc-shaped encirclement around the house.

The wolf mastiff's fur actually gleamed with specks of blood-red light under the moon.

"The Blood Wolf Mastiff truly lives up to its reputation. I've fled for twelve full days, yet I still couldn't escape its tracking!" Xia Daoming's eyes narrowed slightly, murder flickering within them.

The Blood Wolf Mastiff was not only better at tracking than hunting dogs, but was also exceptionally savage and belligerent.

An adult Blood Wolf Mastiff possessed combat strength comparable to that of a Second-Rank Martial Master.

"Xia Daoming, come out. We know you're in there." The six men and the mastiff stopped some thirty to forty feet from the house. One of them, a one-eyed man with a face full of pockmarks, called out loudly.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" Before the man had even finished speaking, the Blood Wolf Mastiff bared its jagged, sharp fangs and roared at the house.

"Since the Blood Wolf Guards and the Blood Wolf Mastiff are here, why is Hall Master Wei still skulking about instead of showing himself? Could it be that he fears I might assassinate him too?" Xia Daoming called back.

The Blood Wolf Hall was one of Black Stone City's gang factions.

Its hall master, Wei Mao, was a Fourth-Rank Martial Master. At his side were six Blood Wolf Guards. The top three were Third-Rank Martial Masters, while the latter three were Second-Rank Martial Masters.

Black Stone City itself was a small city in the northern region of Mang Province in the Great Liang Kingdom.

One month earlier, the Dragon Serpent Martial Hall's master, Qiu Zhiheng—Xia Daoming's teacher—had accidentally obtained a hundred-year-old Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng in Black Dragon Mountain outside the city.

The hundred-year-old Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng was a great tonic for martial artists. It could not only increase one's cultivation, but also help one break through a realm.

However, its medicinal power was fierce. Though Qiu Zhiheng was a Fourth-Rank Martial Master, he was already nearing sixty, and his internal organs had been deteriorating year by year. Despite receiving such a tremendous opportunity, he did not dare consume too much at once, only slicing off and taking a small piece each day.

Even so, Qiu Zhiheng's steadily failing organs had begun to show signs of recovery. If he truly consumed an entire hundred-year-old Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng, there might be a chance for him to reverse his fading vitality and break through to become a Fifth-Rank Martial Master at the age of sixty.

But Qiu Zhiheng's joy turned into sorrow. This secret was accidentally discovered by Wei Mao, the hall master of the Blood Wolf Hall.

Twelve days ago, on a dark and windy night, Wei Mao brought along his younger brother Wei Chan, also a Fourth-Rank Martial Master, as well as his son Wei Mo and numerous skilled fighters, launching a nighttime raid on the Dragon Serpent Martial Hall.

Qiu Zhiheng was ultimately nearing sixty and had not fought anyone in years. Besieged by three Martial Masters of the same rank and numerous skilled fighters, he was quickly overwhelmed. He was killed by the Blood Wolf Hall's deputy hall master, Wei Chan, who seized the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng.

However, Wei Chan was also severely wounded by Qiu Zhiheng's desperate counterattack before death.

Xia Daoming seized the chance to assassinate the badly injured Wei Chan, took the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng, and escaped from Black Stone City.

Wei Mao had thought the prize was practically in his grasp. He never expected a Second-Rank Martial Master to suddenly emerge, assassinate his younger brother, and steal away the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng.

Wei Mao was so furious that the three corpse gods in him nearly ran wild. He left his son Wei Mo behind in Black Stone City to hold down the Blood Wolf Hall, while he himself led the six Blood Wolf Guards and a Blood Wolf Mastiff in pursuit of Xia Daoming.

If Xia Daoming had merely been an ordinary Second-Rank Martial Master, he would naturally have been caught and killed long ago.

But he was a transmigrator with a system at his side. Although he had only been a Second-Rank Martial Master, his meridians had already been strengthened to Level Six. Taking on seven or eight Second-Rank Martial Masters alone was no problem for him.

Under normal circumstances, a Third-Rank Martial Master could only fight three Second-Rank Martial Masters.

Not only that, but because of the system, his ability to withstand and refine medicinal power was far stronger than Qiu Zhiheng's.

Moreover, as his meridians were strengthened, his ability to withstand and refine medicinal power grew stronger as well.

As Xia Daoming fled, he kept searching for opportunities to consume the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng.

As a result, in just twelve short days, Xia Daoming had not only avoided capture, but had also used the ginseng's medicinal power to complete nine meridian strengthenings at the Second-Rank realm. Then, like bamboo splitting before a blade, he broke through to become a Third-Rank Martial Master and continued strengthening his meridians whenever gaps in his escape allowed.

Tonight, he had found another opportunity. Not only had he completely finished the nine meridian strengthenings for the Third-Rank Martial Master realm, but he had also ridden the momentum to break through into the Fourth-Rank Martial Master realm.

Although he had only just broken through to the Fourth-Rank Martial Master realm, with the nine meridian strengthenings from the Third-Rank realm, Xia Daoming's internal force was already more than ten times that of a Third-Rank Martial Master in terms of sheer power alone.

An ordinary Fourth-Rank Martial Master's internal force was generally only around three times that of a Third-Rank Martial Master.

His realm was now the same as Wei Mao's, while his total internal force far surpassed Wei Mao's. This time, Xia Daoming no longer chose to flee. He stayed.

"You dared to assassinate this hall master's younger brother and snatch food from a tiger's mouth. You truly do have some nerve." A lean, tall man in blood-red martial clothing stepped out from behind a broken wall. He had high cheekbones, sharp eyes, a hooked eagle-like nose, several strands of goatee beneath his chin, and was past fifty.

This man was Wei Mao, hall master of the Blood Wolf Hall!

"Wei Mao, you heartless, faithless scum! Teacher Qiu treated you as a friend, yet for the sake of a single Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng, you slaughtered the Dragon Serpent Martial Hall!"

When Xia Daoming saw Wei Mao emerge from the shadows, killing intent surged in his eyes. Yet he did not push open the door and continued speaking from inside.

"So what if this hall master slaughtered the Dragon Serpent Martial Hall? In these chaotic times, the weak are meat and the strong devour it. If anyone is to blame, blame Qiu Zhiheng for lacking the ability to enjoy the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng." Wei Mao sneered.

"Do you think you have the ability to enjoy it, then?" Xia Daoming mocked.

"What do you mean by that?" Wei Mao's expression changed slightly.

"I'm holding the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng in my hand right now. Tell me, if I would rather shatter like jade than remain whole like tile, then what will..." Xia Daoming sneered.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Before Xia Daoming could finish, Wei Mao's face changed drastically. He stomped hard against the ground, leaping several times and already passing the six Blood Wolf Guards. With a bang, he crashed directly through the already battered wooden door.

Wood chips flew in every direction, and dust billowed throughout the room.

"Old bastard, you fell for it!"

Amid the swirling dust, Xia Daoming was already airborne. His right leg lashed out in a soaring serpent's sweeping tail, striking viciously toward Wei Mao's head like an iron whip.

Wei Mao had thought that when he smashed through the door, he would surely see Xia Daoming desperately swallowing or destroying the Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng. Instead, he was met with such a fierce kick. Startled, he hastily raised an arm to block it!

Bang!

A tremendous force swept across Wei Mao's arm, sending his entire body crashing into the earthen wall beside him.

The earthen wall shook, while rotten wood and dust from the dilapidated roof came raining down onto Wei Mao with a patter.

Yet Wei Mao had no time to care about that. He stared in terror at the fist that had already appeared before his chest.

The fist was half-curled inward, its palm hollow, its knuckles pressed together, with the final finger bones angled against the back of the fist, resembling a snake's head.

Bang!

The Serpent Head Fist slammed savagely into Wei Mao's chest.

Wei Mao's chest instantly caved inward.

Struck by the immense force, the wall behind him exploded with a boom, opening a huge hole as dirt and stones flew everywhere.

Another fist followed immediately with a savage blow.

Wei Mao flew out through the hole in the wall like a kite with its string cut.

As he hit the ground, he seemed to hear the sound of his own heart rupturing.

"How is this possible?!" As he flew through the air, Wei Mao's eyes bulged as he stared fixedly at Xia Daoming, blood continuously spilling from his mouth.

He simply could not believe that the mere Second-Rank Martial Master from a martial hall, who had fled like a stray dog twelve days ago, had suddenly become so terrifyingly powerful!

"Hall Master!"

The six Blood Wolf Guards outside had been preparing to charge into the house. Seeing Wei Mao burst through the wall and fall to the ground, their eyes all widened, and chills rose from their backs.

At that moment, a black shadow had already darted out from the dust-filled house like a venomous snake lurking in darkness.