News

Zhao Family, Martial Artist Courtyard, Room Six.

"Haha, I'm back."

A vigorous voice rang out.

Immediately afterward, Li Peng, who had been recuperating at home for over a month, walked in.

"Zhao Qing, you're here too."

Li Peng greeted Zhao Qing, then seemingly casually asked, "By the way, where's Liu Feng, the one who was with you?"

At the mention of Liu Feng's name, a trace of displeasure instinctively surfaced on Zhao Qing's face.

"Him? He latched onto the Ninth Young Master and became his attendant."

Though displeased, he still answered, with an almost imperceptible hint of envy in his tone.

"What?"

Li Peng froze, then a flash of jealousy crossed his face. "What happened? How did he catch the Ninth Young Master's eye?"

Zhao Qing told him what had happened, and the jealousy on Li Peng's face only deepened.

"That damned mud-legged peasant, what absurd luck."

He gritted his teeth and muttered, so quietly that even Zhao Qing beside him did not hear clearly.

Just then, a figure hurriedly burst in from outside. It was Zhang Shitou.

"Something terrible has happened."

Zhang Shitou panted heavily and shouted urgently.

His appearance immediately drew the attention of Li Peng and Zhao Qing.

"What happened?"

Li Peng hurriedly asked.

"Don't panic. Have some water first, then tell us slowly."

Chen Xun, who had just come in from outside, poured Zhang Shitou a cup of water and helped him catch his breath.

The difference between their actions was as clear as day.

Damn Chen Xun. All he knows is how to put on an act and play the good man.

Li Peng cursed inwardly, his already unpleasant expression turning even gloomier.

"Thank you, Chen Xun."

Having caught his breath, Zhang Shitou quickly said, "Something major has happened. The Li Family Hunting Team suffered devastating losses. It seems they encountered some kind of mishap in the mountains."

"This..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xun and the other two in the room all grew solemn.

This truly was a major matter.

The Hunting Team was a force the Li Family valued greatly. Everyone who could enter it had at least reached the Qi-Blood Second Transformation, and there were even quite a few Blood-Qi Third Transformation Martial Artists among them.

If such an elite team met with an accident, the Li Family would suffer no small loss.

"Where did you get this news? Is it reliable?"

Li Peng could not help asking suspiciously.

He did not believe that such a major event would be known by someone like Zhang Shitou.

"How could it not be reliable? I saw it with my own eyes."

Zhang Shitou hurriedly argued.

As it turned out, Zhang Shitou had come from a hunter's family. His father had died in an accident last year, and with no surplus grain left at home, he had sold himself to the Li Family.

After becoming a Martial Artist, he picked up his hunting skills again. Whenever he had time, he would wander through the mountains, hoping to hunt something valuable for money and buy more Blood-Strength Powder for cultivation.

This time, as usual, he had been preparing to head into the mountains. Before he even reached the foot of the mountain, he saw several people covered in blood rushing out from within.

He had seen one of them several times before. The man was broad and burly, extremely conspicuous. Asking around casually, one would know he was from the Hunting Team.

Whenever Zhang Shitou saw him before, the man had always looked like someone not to be trifled with.

Yet at that moment, he was like a fleeing rat, his face full of terror, as though he had encountered something unimaginably frightening.

After witnessing that scene, Zhang Shitou no longer had any mind to hunt and hurried back.

"It would be best not to spread this matter. If the residence holds us accountable, none of us will have any good fruit to eat."

Realizing the matter was serious and beyond their ability to touch, Chen Xun immediately warned them.

"Mm, mm. I definitely won't breathe a single word of it."

"I only told you three. I won't tell anyone else."

Zhang Shitou hurriedly promised.

Finally, everyone looked toward Li Peng.

Li Peng said with an unhappy expression, "If you don't say anything, neither will I."

Chen Xun gave Li Peng a deep look but said nothing.

Afterward, the four parted ways, each burdened with thoughts.

Chen Xun continued cultivating.

At this point, seven days had already passed since he broke through to the Qi-Blood Second Transformation.

Over those seven days, Chen Xun had taken a sufficient amount of Blood-Strength Powder every day, condensing vast amounts of Blood Qi and storing it in the Blood Pool Acupoint.

One bottle of Blood-Strength Powder had been nearly two-thirds used up in seven days.

Back when he was at the First Blood-Qi Transformation, even at his fastest, one bottle of Blood-Strength Powder would last him twenty days.

That was nearly double the difference.

The reason for this disparity was, first, that Chen Xun's realm had improved, making his refinement of medicinal powder more efficient.

Second, the assistance of Calm Mind and Absorption Acceleration had further increased Chen Xun's efficiency in absorbing the medicinal powder.

Chen Xun looked inward at the Blood Pool Acupoint. The Blood Pool Acupoint, once empty and vacant, had now filled one-third of its space.

At the bottom of the Blood Pool Acupoint, he could see a drop of Blood Qi resembling blood.

These had been formed when large amounts of gaseous Blood Qi were compressed and condensed by the peculiar force field within the Blood Pool Acupoint.

With a thought, Chen Xun activated the Mountain Lord Breathing Method and moved one drop of liquid Blood Qi out of the Blood Pool Acupoint and into his body.

At once, a tingling, numb sensation spread throughout his entire body.

When that sensation faded, Chen Xun clenched his fist and vaguely felt that his strength had increased.

"One drop is too little. It would be great if there were a few more."

Chen Xun sighed.

This liquid Blood Qi was called Essence Blood—just as its name implied, refined Blood Qi.

After the body absorbed it, it could further strengthen the body. If used against an enemy, it could instantly multiply the power of martial techniques severalfold.

Of course, it also required no small amount of Essence Blood to consume.

With Chen Xun's current cultivation, he could only condense one drop of Essence Blood per day.

At the Qi-Blood Second Transformation realm, the most important thing was this Essence Blood.

Only by condensing enough Essence Blood and further strengthening the body in all aspects could one reach the limit of the Second Transformation.

[Cultivation: Qi-Blood Second Transformation (3%)]

His rate of progress was relatively slow compared to the First Transformation stage.

But for other Qi-Blood Second Transformation Martial Artists, it was already very fast.

To raise his cultivation faster, he either had to continue condensing Blood Qi and fill the Blood Pool Acupoint.

The more Blood Qi there was in the Blood Pool Acupoint, the faster Essence Blood could be condensed.

Or he could open up another Blood Pool Acupoint.

Other people generally only had the first option, but Chen Xun could proceed on two fronts at once.

[Martial Art: Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art (Proficient 400/800)]

As long as this Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art broke through to the Minor Accomplishment realm, Chen Xun was confident he could open up a second Blood Pool Acupoint.

Clearly, that day was not far off.

Just as Chen Xun was diligently cultivating, Li Peng hurried back to his home.

"Son, why are you in such a rush? Did something happen?"

Seeing this, Li Peng's mother could not help asking.

"Nothing happened, Mother. Go do your own work and leave me alone."

Li Peng impatiently waved his hand and headed toward his father's study.

"This child is always so rash and reckless."

Li Peng's mother could not help shaking her head and muttering a few words.

Inside Li Yuan's study, Li Yuan was going over accounts. Hearing movement, he looked up.

When he saw Li Peng, he frowned. "So rash and reckless. What sort of behavior is this?"

Li Peng turned a deaf ear to the rebuke and said to himself, "Father, something happened. Something huge happened."

Then Li Peng hurriedly told Li Yuan the news he had just heard from Zhang Shitou.

As for his earlier promise, he had long since thrown it beyond the clouds.

"How could this be?"

Li Yuan's expression changed after hearing it.

"Wait here. Don't go anywhere. I'll go ask around."

After saying that, Li Yuan hurriedly left the study.

Not long afterward, Li Yuan returned with a solemn expression.

"Well? Is the news true?"

"I didn't hear any rumors at all."

"Ah, then does that mean Zhang Shitou's news was false?"

Li Peng asked in disappointment.

"No, the news he provided is true."

Li Yuan said with certainty, then explained, "Although I didn't hear any related rumors, I learned one thing: the Inner Courtyard Clinic has temporarily closed."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Li Peng asked with a puzzled expression.

"Of course it does." Li Yuan said in a slightly smug tone, "From what I've observed, whenever an important member of the Li Family is injured, the clinic temporarily closes and uses all its medical resources to treat that important member."

"If the Hunting Team truly suffered devastating losses, then the Fourth Master, who recently became the Hunting Team's leader, could not possibly have emerged unscathed."

"In that case, it also indirectly confirms that your news is true."

Then Li Yuan patted Li Peng on the shoulder. "You did well. This news is very useful to me."

"Haha, that's good. Chen Xun even told me to keep it secret. Who does he think he is?"

Li Peng then asked, "Chen Xun and the other two also know about this. Won't that affect you, Father?"

"No. From what you said, that Chen Xun is a smart man. He knows what should be said and what should not."

"They obviously would not dare spread this news."

Li Yuan said with certainty.

"Besides, this news cannot be concealed for long."

"So I must act now and contact that person."

"Do you need my help?"

Li Peng hurriedly asked excitedly.

"No need. You don't need to meddle in this matter. Just cultivate properly. Recovering from your injuries delayed you for over a month, so you need to catch up quickly."

"Oh, I understand."

Li Peng could not help lowering his head, his voice weak and listless.