Breakthrough, Qi-Blood Second Transformation

[Advancement: First Blood-Qi Transformation (100%)]

[Martial Art: Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art (Mastery 50/800)]

Chen Xun had already met every prerequisite for breaking through.

Without hesitation, he began his breakthrough directly in his rented house.

First, he swallowed a large mouthful of [Blood-Strength Powder], and an immense current of heat swept through his entire body.

Chen Xun hurriedly assumed the Stake Stance, digesting that tremendous surge of heat.

An hour later, all the heat had transformed into a mass of Blood Qi, temporarily stored within Chen Xun's body.

If it was not used in time, this mass of Blood Qi would rapidly leak away and vanish as time passed.

The [Mountain Lord Breathing Method] began to circulate. The mass of Blood Qi, which had originally remained in one place, began to spread before coursing throughout his body.

At this point, if one's advancement had not reached the limit of the First Blood-Qi Transformation, the body would automatically absorb this Blood Qi to strengthen itself.

But since Chen Xun had already reached the limit of the First Blood-Qi Transformation, his body was saturated and could no longer absorb the Blood Qi.

Thus, hundreds of strands of Blood Qi circulated steadily within Chen Xun's body.

Yet as the Blood Qi moved, it also consumed its own energy.

Therefore, Chen Xun had only around two hours to locate the hidden Blood Pool Acupoint within his body.

If he failed to find it, this Blood Qi would disappear.

All his previous efforts would come to nothing.

"Focus. Feel the condition of every strand of Blood Qi in your body."

Chen Xun murmured under his breath.

At the same time, a fierce tiger was rapidly taking shape within his mind.

Very soon, Chen Xun visualized an enormous White Tiger standing a hundred meters tall.

The White Tiger appeared majestic and imposing, beyond violation.

But upon closer inspection, one could see that many details of this enormous White Tiger were blurry, and its entire form carried an insubstantial, scattered quality.

After all, Chen Xun's [Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art] had only reached the Mastery realm.

Still, a visualization to this degree was enough to assist Chen Xun's breakthrough.

The instant Chen Xun visualized this White Tiger, a sense of control arose within his heart.

For a moment, Chen Xun felt as though he could control all the Blood Qi in his body.

Of course, that was merely an illusion.

With his current level of visualization, he could only vaguely sense the state of the Blood Qi inside his body.

Even so, it was enough.

Time slowly passed. Half an hour later, Chen Xun, who had kept his eyes closed and intently monitored the state of every strand of Blood Qi, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Found it."

The next instant, using one particular strand of Blood Qi as its center, the Blood Qi in other areas rapidly converged under the operation of the breathing method.

When those strands of Blood Qi gathered once more, their volume had already shrunk by a third.

But Chen Xun paid it no mind. He was controlling the Blood Qi to launch an assault on a certain spot inside his body.

With every impact, a portion of the Blood Qi vanished—or rather, was absorbed.

Before long, less than one-tenth of the mass of Blood Qi remained.

Chen Xun quickly swallowed another large mouthful of [Blood-Strength Powder], took up the Stake Stance, and continued refining the medicinal powder to condense Blood Qi.

Strand after strand of Blood Qi condensed, then swiftly rushed toward the front-line battlefield, where they were rapidly depleted.

Chen Xun had no idea how many mouthfuls of [Blood-Strength Powder] he had consumed. His mouth was filled with a bloody taste that would not fade.

One of the ingredients of [Blood-Strength Powder] was exotic beast blood, so eating only a little would leave merely a faint taste of blood.

From this, one could tell just how much [Blood-Strength Powder] Chen Xun had consumed in such a short time.

Fortunately, Chen Xun's efforts had not been in vain.

At last, accompanied by a soundless rumble within his body, the formerly hidden Blood Pool Acupoint was finally blasted open by the unceasing torrent of Blood Qi.

The remaining Blood Qi surged into it all at once.

"It's finally open."

Chen Xun's face lit up with delight.

Then he carefully sensed the Blood Pool Acupoint that had just been opened.

In his perception, the Blood Pool Acupoint was just like its name suggested, like a pool of blood. All the Blood Qi that entered it gathered at the bottom of the pool.

Yet even all that Blood Qi put together could not fill even one percent of the entire Blood Pool space.

"This Blood Pool space is pretty huge."

Chen Xun sighed.

With that, Chen Xun successfully broke through to the Qi-Blood Second Transformation realm.

[Advancement: Qi-Blood Second Transformation (1%)]

After breaking through, Chen Xun felt a wave of dizziness cloud his head.

This was merely a side effect from maintaining the visualization method for too long. He only needed to rest for a while.

"So tired. I'll sleep first."

Chen Xun lay down on the bed and, before three seconds had passed, fell into a deep sleep.

That sleep lasted from the afternoon until the next morning.

"Phew, that was a wonderfully comfortable sleep."

Chen Xun stretched, got up and washed, then glanced at his attribute panel as usual.

His movements abruptly froze.

"Why did it increase so much?"

His eyes widened in surprise.

[Martial Art: Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art (Mastery 150/800)]

This secret art had directly gained 100 experience points, enough to match several days of his painstaking training.

"Maybe it was because I kept circulating this secret art yesterday."

Chen Xun could not help but speculate.

Then, beaming with delight, he closed the panel and went out to eat.

Inside a restaurant, Chen Xun ordered four dishes, a soup, and a bucket of rice, eating in large mouthfuls.

Just as he was enjoying his meal, a burst of commotion suddenly sounded.

Normally, Chen Xun would not meddle in such idle affairs, but a familiar voice made the chopsticks in his hand pause.

"Stop pestering me. I've already said that Yun Lang's painting isn't with me. Go look somewhere else."

"Not with you? You're his wife. If he didn't leave it with you, where else would he leave it?"

"I've already gone to his parents' home. That painting wasn't there."

"If you let us visit your home, we'll believe you."

"Impossible. Men and women should keep their distance. How could I, a widow, allow strange men into my home?"

The voice spoke with righteous conviction.

But Chen Xun's expression turned somewhat strange as he listened.

He remembered having gone inside before—and more than once.

That was right. The voice belonged to Sister Ye.

"Hmph. Since you refuse to appreciate kindness, don't blame us for disregarding old ties."

"What do you want?"

"What? Don't worry, we won't do anything reckless. But don't you expect to live peacefully either. Do you recognize this man?"

"It doesn't matter if you don't. Let me introduce him. This is Captain Sun of the Gale Gang."

Then Captain Sun gave a lecherous chuckle. "Who would have thought Green Bamboo Alley had such a beautiful widow? From now on, we'll have to get properly acquainted."

Chen Xun's face darkened when he heard this, and he rose to his feet.

Pushing through the crowd, Chen Xun saw four grown men blocking Sister Ye's path.

Sister Ye's face was tense, her eyes filled with fear and exhaustion.

Her hands were tightly twisting a white handkerchief.

"What sort of skill is it for several men to bully one woman?"

Chen Xun shouted.

"Who are you, daring to interfere in my business?"

Captain Sun immediately turned toward Chen Xun, glaring at him furiously.

At the same time, surprise flashed across Sister Ye's face when she saw Chen Xun, only to quickly turn into worry.

"If you know what's good for you, get the hell out of here."

But before he had even finished speaking, a fist landed on his eye socket.

"Ow! You actually dared to hit your Grandpa Sun!"

Even after being struck, Captain Sun continued to clamor. Then Chen Xun punched him in the stomach, making him instantly double over, foam at the mouth, and collapse unconscious onto the ground.

The other three men paled in shock and hurriedly fled.

Chen Xun still wanted to chase after them, but Sister Ye quickly stopped him.

"Don't chase them. Hurry and leave. You hit someone from the Gale Gang—they won't let you off."

Sister Ye anxiously pulled Chen Xun away.

"Don't worry. This isn't the Gale Gang's territory. They won't be able to find me."

Chen Xun reassured her.

The next moment, they heard a group of people shouting, "Who hit our boss?"

At once, a crowd of people turned to look at Chen Xun and Sister Ye.

"It was them! Chase them! Avenge our boss!"

Chen Xun could not help but startle. "No, where did this bunch come from?"

"They're that Sun fellow's subordinates."

Sister Ye hurriedly explained.

"This really is..." Chen Xun gave a bitter smile, then grabbed Sister Ye and swiftly fled the scene.

It was not that he could not defeat these people. There was simply no need to.

Only after the two ran into a remote alley was Sister Ye left gasping for breath, while Chen Xun merely had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Sister Ye, what happened? Why are those people targeting you?"

Chen Xun asked curiously.

"Ah, it's a long story." Sister Ye could not help but sigh.

"Come to think of it, my husband's death was also closely related to this matter."

"What they're looking for is a century-old painting, said to be worth several hundred taels of silver."