Lying Low, Lying Low, Lying Low

Heaven and earth turned upside down.

Sun, moon, and stars.

Chen Shaohe clutched the Iron Lotus Seed. After the shock passed, when he opened his eyes again, it was as though he had changed into another body.

This body was sitting with its eyes closed, practicing martial arts.

Inside him.

A current of breath flowed, leaving behind line after line of patterns. The patterns intertwined and gradually grew more complex, forming runes like a tangled skein of hemp.

"Blood-Burning Art!"

Chen Shaohe's heart stirred.

With one glance, he recognized it. These runes were three-dimensional. From this angle, they looked very much like one of the thirteen illustrations his fourth brother had given him.

But those illustrations were flat, far too abstract, requiring extremely strong spatial thinking and three-dimensional imagination.

Now, he did not need that.

Following some intangible feeling, it was as if he could see it with his own eyes.

He compared it with the thirteen illustrations one by one.

Before long, the impression was deeply etched into his mind.

That night.

Chen Shaohe practiced until the middle of the night, but in the end, he still failed to successfully grasp the Blood-Burning Art.

Yet he saw hope.

For the next several days, he kept trying.

Finally.

On the twelfth day.

Drawing on Chen Jichuan's experience and insights, Chen Shaohe finally succeeded—

For the first time, he successfully constructed the Blood-Burning Art inside his body using his inner breath.

Just like Chen Jichuan.

Even though Chen Shaohe himself was an Altered Human, after mastering the Blood-Burning Art, he could only maintain it inside his body for three days at a time before it dissipated and had to be constructed anew.

The difference was.

Chen Shaohe had no Origin Force. To activate the Blood-Burning Art, he had to expend both physical strength and mental energy, while even his meager inner breath would be consumed.

Activating it was relatively slow.

Afterward, he also had to carefully regulate his breathing before he could recover.

For the time being, it was unrealistic to use these "spells" to fight others.

Not only that.

As a beginner, Chen Shaohe was nowhere near as proficient as Chen Jichuan at constructing spells inside his body. He needed nearly half a shichen of repeated attempts and repeated failures before succeeding once.

If a spell dissipated during battle, then at this speed, there would be no point hoping for it anymore.

He still had to practice again and again, becoming proficient as soon as possible.

But for now, using the Blood-Burning Art to assist cultivation was no longer a problem.

The Blood-Burning Art had this limitation and that limitation, but to Chen Shaohe, it was still an overwhelming delight.

Chen Jichuan was pleased as well.

First, this success let Chen Jichuan see hope for the future. If he obtained any life-saving Altered Abilities later on, he could also teach them to Chen Shaohe through this method.

Second.

Now that Chen Shaohe had learned the Blood-Burning Art, Chen Jichuan could finally free himself. In the future, when Chen Shaohe practiced, he could circulate and move his own qi and blood.

Thus.

In the days that followed.

Chen Jichuan and Chen Shaohe each cultivated on their own.

Martial arts practice could not do without Medicinal Herbs.

In recent days, Chen Jichuan had already gathered quite a few herbs through Sheng Dayang.

Mountain folk lived deep in the mountains. Relying on knowledge passed down through generations and the clumsy method of "Shennong tasting a hundred herbs," they recognized some common medicinal herbs.

But a mere dozen or so kinds of herbs could not satisfy Chen Jichuan.

So Chen Jichuan made time to write a volume titled Medicinal Herbs, containing illustrations and growing environments for several hundred common medicinal herbs in great detail.

There was no introduction to their medicinal properties or uses.

Writing those would take far too many words, and Chen Jichuan did not have that much time.

However.

Since he obtained herbs through the mountain folk, there was no need for these people to know their medicinal properties or uses.

Besides Medicinal Herbs.

In recent days, Chen Jichuan had also begun writing a volume titled <Cultivation and Propagation of Common Medicinal Herbs>.

Always living off the mountains and searching all over the hills depended too much on luck and was inefficient as well.

Planting them with proper methods.

That was the stable source.

Chen Jichuan had studied medicine and martial arts in the Great Yan World, and possessed an extremely deep understanding of all kinds of herbs and medicinal materials.

Once this volume of <Cultivation and Propagation of Common Medicinal Herbs> was completed, its value would be considerable.

He did not intend to give it away lightly.

If Sheng Dayang wanted to build up an enterprise, he could exchange White Jade Capital merit for it.

Unfortunately—

Within Shian Commandery, the Li River Gang, Wusheng Sect, and Golden Sun Sect were fighting too fiercely. Medicinal herbs, ironware, salt, grain, and the like had all become controlled goods.

Small quantities could still be obtained, but large batches were difficult.

Otherwise.

Chen Jichuan could have taken this volume to collaborate with herb merchants, obtaining herbs much more quickly.

With no other choice.

He could only rely on these mountain folk.

They practiced martial arts every day.

Under the effects of medicine and the Blood-Burning Art, Chen Shaohe, whose foundation had already been weak, improved rapidly in strength.

Chen Jichuan had cultivated Hidden Force. It cleansed his internal organs, making his physique increasingly formidable, while his strength also improved bit by bit. From having just entered Level Six, he steadily and swiftly advanced toward Level Seven.

Sheng Dayang and Fang Dong each maneuvered within the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang.

Just as Chen Jichuan had expected.

After obtaining the Iron Lotus Seed and experiencing its effects firsthand, Sheng Dayang and Fang Dong found it impossible to let go of it. Their minds were fixed on earning merit. And the fastest way to earn merit was none other than collecting Spirit Stones and Clam Pearls.

Spirit Stones were hard to find.

Sheng Dayang had no leads for the time being.

But Clam Pearls from the Li River Gang were much easier to obtain. For instance, Xu Lang, the Flying Eagle Hall incense master of the Li River Gang whom Chen Jichuan had killed, had carried two Clam Pearls on him.

Xu Lang had merely been Fourth Rank.

This showed that within the Li River Gang, Clam Pearls were not exceedingly rare.

The spiritual energy contained in Clam Pearls was admittedly scant, but grains of sand piled up could form a tower. Chen Jichuan did not disdain them.

Even.

Every night, he still spent three shichen entering the Great Yan World. First, he recultivated the martial path, using the insights of his former life within the Dao Fruit to verify each other, patching gaps and correcting omissions as he continuously solidified his foundation. Second, the Dao Fruit's immortal offering was calculated in ten-day periods. These ten days could be days in reality or ten days in the Great Yan World.

Taking advantage of the four-hundredfold time difference.

When Chen Jichuan slept for one night, one hundred days passed in the Great Yan World, allowing him to gain ten points of Origin Force.

Grains of sand piled up could form a tower.

Even without any other methods, Chen Jichuan could gather ten thousand Origin Force within three years and open the next world.

Of course.

This was merely his fallback method.

If he could shorten that time by collecting Clam Pearls and Spirit Stones, Chen Jichuan naturally would not overlook it.

But apart from that.

He would not do anything radical or dangerous.

If nothing unexpected happened.

He would lie low like this. Lie low, lie low.

Until he had completely figured out the Wusheng Sect's and Li River Gang's foundations, pushed his strength to Level Seven or even Level Nine and Level Ten, then swept away his enemies in one thunderous stroke.

In the blink of an eye.

More than twenty days had passed since Chen Jichuan condensed his first Dao Fruit.

This day.

Centipede Mountain, Martial Victory City.

Inside Heavenwave Hall in the eastern part of the city—

Sect Master Wu Guangquan.

Deputy Sect Masters Chen Shengji and He Mingli.

First Elder Chu Sanyang, Second Elder Lü Qing, Third Elder Cao Zheng, Fourth Elder Shi Zhen, and Fifth Elder Mu Junxiong.

All of the Wusheng Sect's upper ranks were present.

Such a situation was rare.

The Wusheng Sect occupied the four counties of Litchi Bank, Mu Transformation, Yongfeng, and Liding. Its territory was not small.

Ordinarily, aside from First Elder Chu Sanyang and Third Elder Cao Zheng, who often remained in Martial Victory City, the other three elders and two deputy sect masters were mostly stationed in the four counties.

Yet today, they had gathered in one hall.

Fifth Elder Mu Junxiong, known as the "River-Turning Dragon," had delicate features and dressed exquisitely. He was the last to arrive in the hall. Seeing everyone waiting for him, he showed no embarrassment and smiled with pursed lips. "I rushed back from Lipu County covered in dust. If I didn't wash up, I couldn't face anyone."

"What is a grown man afraid of?"

"Why are you bathing in broad daylight?"

Fourth Elder Shi Zhen, the "Whirlwind Blade," could not stand Mu Junxiong's habits the most. He frowned and said, "Making all of us wait for you alone—you put on far too much airs!"

"Elder brother is right."

Mu Junxiong covered his mouth and smiled, his eyes curved into crescents. He did not argue.

He sat down unhurriedly.

Then smoothed out the tiny wrinkles in his brocade robe.

"You—"

Shi Zhen felt as though he had punched cotton, leaving him stifled. But with Mu Junxiong acting this way, he could not say anything further lest he seem overly aggressive.

So he turned his head.

Looking toward Sect Master Wu Guangquan at the head of the hall, he said in a muffled voice, "Senior brother, everyone is here. Can we discuss the proper business now?"

Please vote and bookmark!

.