Fight to the Death

Over the next two days, Lin Qing immersed himself completely in cultivation.

On the first day, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to training his stance arts. By late at night, the Drifting Cloud Stance Art had reached perfection as planned and become ingrained in his bodily instincts.

To Lin Qing's delight, after perfecting his second stance art, his consumption of ferocious beast meat had not doubled as he had imagined. He now consumed roughly six pounds a day.

Moreover, the breakthrough time shown on the panel had greatly decreased with the perfection of the Drifting Cloud Stance Art, dropping to 120 days.

After a night of rest, Lin Qing did not train his stance arts on the second day. He had long heard that Qin Hundred-Household Commander would be leaving. Though he did not know the exact time, it should be within these two days.

If he went to the Black Market afterward, the likelihood of encountering danger would rise in a straight line.

Thus, Lin Qing's cultivation focus today was basic martial arts.

The core function of Earthheart Marrow could be understood as improving comprehension. Since it could provide a substantial proficiency boost while cultivating stance arts, it should have the same effect when practicing martial arts.

So, he swallowed a drop of Earthheart Marrow and began today's training.

The first martial art he chose was the Basic Movement Art. Sure enough, after the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he opened his panel. The Basic Movement Art's progress had increased by 5 points.

With the support of Earthheart Marrow, Lin Qing's training efficiency was terrifying. In just one morning, the Basic Movement Art's progress bar filled completely, successfully reaching the realm of complete mastery.

The effect of the Earthheart Marrow had not yet faded, so he struck while the iron was hot and trained the Basic Fist Art. By noon, the Basic Fist Art's progress had also reached 20 points.

And, just as Lin Qing had expected, once the Basic Movement Art reached perfection, the total remaining progress for the other basic martial arts fell to 80 points.

At noon, after eating some stewed ferocious beast meat, Lin Qing specifically found a wooden stick to prepare for practicing the Basic Sword Art that afternoon.

His afternoon training remained highly efficient. He first spent an hour perfecting the Basic Fist Art, which already had 20 points of progress.

Then he spent another hour perfecting the Basic Sword Art, whose total required progress had dropped to 60 points.

In merely one morning and one afternoon, Lin Qing's Basic Movement Art, Basic Fist Art, and Basic Sword Art had all reached perfection.

This was the terrifying efficiency brought about by the combined effects of Earthheart Marrow and the system.

At this moment, Lin Qing's personal panel had undergone considerable changes:

[Host: Lin Qing]

Realm: Mortal (Breakthrough Time: 119 days)

Fused Arts: Drifting Cloud Stance Art, Bedrock Stance Art (Expand)

Recorded Arts: Qingyun Stance Skill (10/300), Thunderstrike Stance (0/300), Coiling Dragon Stance Art (0/300), Mountain-Suppressing Stance Art (0/300)

Body Control Rating: Advanced Mortal Tier (Basic Movement Art, Basic Fist Art, Basic Sword Art)

Recorded Martial Arts: Basic Leg Art (0/40), Basic Saber Art (0/40), Basic Spear Art (0/40)

Today, the two perfected stance arts had consumed another six pounds of ferocious beast meat, leaving only four pounds in stock.

He had thirty-five taels of silver left on him. He had to make another trip to the Black Market tonight.

As the sky gradually darkened, Lin Qing made some simple preparations and headed first to a weapon shop in the city. It was time to prepare a weapon for self-defense.

He entered the weapon shop and swept his gaze around. The longswords and sabers were exquisitely crafted and made of fine materials, but even the cheapest ones cost as much as twenty taels of silver.

After weighing his options again and again, Lin Qing ultimately spent five taels of silver on a refined iron dagger.

Although he had never systematically learned how to use a dagger, with the support of three perfected martial arts, his attainments in dagger techniques could not be underestimated.

Tucking the dagger into his waist, Lin Qing quietly made his way to the Azure Sun County Black Market beneath the cover of night.

After entering the Black Market, he moved through it with ease. He first went to Myriad Beasts Shop and bought ten pounds of First Tier ferocious beast meat, then made his way to the fourth ferocious beast meat shop and bought another ten pounds.

As for the two shops he had visited just two days ago, he obviously could not patronize them again this time.

An hour later, Lin Qing left the Black Market. He had long since changed out of his black robe, while the ferocious beast meat had been wrapped in oil paper and bundled inside the robe, which he held tightly against his chest.

As the saying went, if you often walked by the river, how could your shoes remain dry? No matter how cautious he was, trouble still came knocking on his door.

Three furtive figures trailed behind Lin Qing, and one look told him they meant no good.

In an alleyway, the three robbers followed Lin Qing while speaking in hushed voices. Third Brother sounded full of unease. Tugging at Eldest Brother's sleeve beside him, he said worriedly:

"Big Brother, none of us are even Certified Martial Artists. We come out to rob people every day—what if we run into a tough opponent someday and get killed instead?"

Hearing this, Eldest Brother immediately raised his hand and smacked Third Brother hard on the head, then berated him in a low voice:

"What nonsense are you spouting? Your Second Brother has a sharp eye. When has he ever misjudged someone? We've been doing this for so long—when has your Second Brother ever picked a Certified Martial Artist?"

Second Brother, standing nearby, also shot Third Brother a sidelong glance and comforted him with a face full of disdain:

"You brat, you're just too timid. Could your Second Brother's judgment possibly be poor? Look at that kid ahead. He looks seventeen at most. In all these past decades in Azure Sun County, there has only been one person who became a Certified Martial Artist at seventeen: Ye Lingchuan. Do you think he looks like Ye Lingchuan?"

Third Brother scratched his head.

"Of course not. Ye Lingchuan is already twenty-five."

Second Brother raised his hand and smacked Third Brother on the head again, saying irritably:

"Was I asking whether he was Ye Lingchuan? What I mean is, this kid is definitely not a Certified Martial Artist. The three of us still can't take him down?"

Eldest Brother cut off their conversation at that moment.

"Enough nonsense. Get ready to move! Once we rob another hundred taels, we'll find somewhere to enter seclusion. I refuse to believe that after cultivating in seclusion for a year and eating ferocious beast meat every day, we still won't become Certified Martial Artists!"

The three had committed crimes in this stretch of alleyways for months and knew the terrain like the back of their hands. Using the crisscrossing paths, they quickly circled around and flanked him. In only a short while, they blocked Lin Qing in the middle of the alley, cutting off all his escape routes.

Lin Qing stopped and slowly raised his head. Though he felt nervous inside, his gaze remained calm as he looked at the three men before him.

After more than a month of continuous nourishment from the Life-Nourishing Art, his physical body had already far surpassed that of ordinary people. On top of that, he had cultivated the Bedrock Stance Art for a month. His Bedrock Stance Art had long since reached minor mastery, and its speed of advancement toward perfection was extremely fast.

Even the earlier Bedrock Stance Art's tempering effect on his body had been terrifying. Not to mention that the perfected stance art had now been circulating within him for so many days.

Although Lin Qing's physical qualities had not yet reached the level of a First-Tier Martial Artist, among martial artists who had not entered a tier, he was already considered outstanding.

"Hand over the things in your arms and all the silver on you. Perhaps we'll leave you a life!"

Eldest Brother held a short staff and shouted fiercely at Lin Qing, his eyes brimming with greed.

A month ago, Lin Qing had still needed to launch a careful sneak attack to kill Lin Hu. Today, he wanted a head-on fight to the death. From the moment he set foot on the path of cultivation, he had known this day would come.

He set down the ferocious beast meat in his arms, drew the dagger from his waist, and spoke coldly:

"If you want my things, that depends on whether you have the ability to take them."

"You don't know what's good for you! Move!" At Eldest Brother's command, the three immediately brandished their weapons and rushed forward together, intending to overwhelm Lin Qing with numbers and take him down quickly.

Third Brother was the first to charge forward. He held a battered dagger, and his moves were chaotic and disorderly, utterly without form.

With Lin Qing's current martial attainments, this kind of fighting style was nothing more than handing himself over to be slaughtered.

Lin Qing lightly tapped the ground with his feet, his body instantly turning as he easily dodged Third Brother's attack. Before Third Brother could react, Lin Qing flipped his wrist, took the dagger in a reverse grip, and slashed sideways.

A cold flash streaked through the air. Third Brother cried out in pain. His dagger fell to the ground as both hands clutched tightly at his throat. Making hoarse, gurgling sounds, he dropped to his knees.

In a single exchange, Third Brother's blood spilled across the ground.

In less than a second, Third Brother had been dealt with. Eldest Brother and Second Brother's expressions changed drastically. They had never expected this seemingly thin youth to move with such ruthless precision.

"Third Brother!" Eldest Brother cried out. Holding his short staff, he attacked Lin Qing in a pincer from the left while Second Brother came from the right.

Second Brother held a longsword and thrust straight at Lin Qing, while Eldest Brother's short staff swept horizontally to seal off his retreat.

Yet Lin Qing retreated instead of advancing, charging toward Second Brother. His left arm muscles tightened as he precisely seized Second Brother's wrist and violently twisted along the force of his movement.

"Ah!"

Second Brother let out a miserable scream. His wrist twisted out of shape, and the longsword fell to the ground with a clang.

Lin Qing raised his leg and swiftly kicked Second Brother's two shins twice. The immense force drove Second Brother directly to his knees. Lin Qing raised his right hand, gripping the dagger normally, and viciously plunged it into Second Brother's crown. Second Brother instantly lost his voice, blood gushing from both eyes.

He pulled out the dagger and turned to look at Eldest Brother.

Eldest Brother's face was deathly pale. He waved his short staff in a last-ditch struggle, smashing it wildly toward Lin Qing.

Having lost all composure, Eldest Brother performed terribly. After only three to five exchanges, Lin Qing's dagger pierced his chest. Before long, he lost consciousness completely.

Lin Qing carefully searched the three men. A moment later, he was overjoyed to find a total of eight hundred taels in banknotes and more than fifty taels in silver on them.

Their gains from several months of robbery had been meant to support their secluded cultivation, but now they had fallen into Lin Qing's hands.

Lin Qing did not collect their bodies. People died in this stretch of alleyways every few days.

Passersby who saw them could not even be bothered to report it to the authorities. Only several days later, when the corpses began to stink, would the yamen runners carry them away.

If someone reported such incidents, the yamen would forward the case to the Martial Suppression Office. If no one reported it, the matter would simply be dropped.