Night

After two days of contemplation, Qin Yang had already memorized the Turtle-Snake Art backward and forward.

He felt the time was ripe for a breakthrough.

That night, he downed a bowl of black medicinal soup.

This soup was no ordinary brew—it had been decocted from the ten-year-old ginseng Li Tong had given him earlier.

Once it entered his stomach, he felt the medicinal power spread rapidly, his whole body burning with heat.

Qin Yang sat cross-legged, his hands forming a seal with fingers interlaced.

This was the Turtle-Snake Seal, representing the harmony of yin and yang, capable of relaxing the mind.

At this moment, Qin Yang was also in a state of deep focus, circulating his own blood and qi.

The circulation routes of the Turtle-Snake Art spanned his entire body. If these meridian pathways were traced out, they would form the outline of a turtle-snake.

The Qi Gathering Cultivation Method also included a visualization diagram.

The cultivator needed to visualize the turtle-snake, synchronize it with the flow of blood and qi, and then, upon reaching a certain state of coordination, inner qi would be born.

Qin Yang imagined himself submerged in a deep, pitch-black ocean.

He transformed into a massive, dark giant turtle, its aura deep and profound.

Coiled around this giant turtle was an enormous jet-black serpent.

The two seemed unrelated, yet also fused as one, existing in a very peculiar state.

The icy currents surged violently, but the turtle-snake felt nothing, lying quietly at the bottom of the sea.

Qin Yang's breathing gradually grew faint, even his presence becoming barely perceptible, as if he were a dark turtle in hibernation.

At that moment, his spirit seemed to resonate with the blood and qi flowing within his body.

A wisp of black inner qi slowly formed from his blood and qi, then converged into his dantian.

This was the Turtle-Snake Qi.

As the Turtle-Snake Art cycled again and again, more and more Turtle-Snake Qi condensed.

When Qin Yang finally snapped back to awareness, he found that over a dozen wisps of Turtle-Snake Qi had accumulated in his dantian.

"So this is the Gathering Qi Realm."

"Breaking through was pretty easy."

Qin Yang muttered to himself.

He called up his panel.

Host: Qin Yang

Arhat Fist: Perfection (Zen Meditation)

Azure Wave Blood Transference Method: Perfection (Rushing Rivers Return to the Sea)

Flying Swallow Steps: Perfection (Fleeting Light, Glancing Shadow)

Turtle-Snake Art: Layer 1 (12/300)

Po Jun Saber Technique: Minor Accomplishment (1345/1500)

Primordial Qi Shield: Layer 5 (873/1000)

When he saw the proficiency for the Turtle-Snake Art, he was slightly startled.

Three hundred experience points just for the first layer.

"Breaking through from Gathering Qi to the Inner Breath Realm is a major realm breakthrough—it requires constantly refining inner qi and then opening the meridians.

No wonder there are so many Qi Gathering Martial Artists in the city, yet not a single Inner Breath Realm martial artist."

Qin Yang's gaze turned serious.

A martial artist's two major realms were blood and qi, and inner breath. He had now reached the final step of blood and qi.

As for inner breath, although Linjiang City had no such martial artists, he had still heard a bit about the realm divisions.

They were True Qi, Gang Qi, and True Gang.

These three realms should all involve the purification and condensation of inner qi.

Qin Yang didn't need to worry about that for now. He estimated it would take over a year just to cultivate the Turtle-Snake Art to perfection.

Not to mention the other martial arts waiting for him to train.

"First, I'll cultivate the Turtle-Snake Art to Layer 3 to stabilize my realm, then train the Rushing Thunder Palm, and immediately push the Po Jun Saber Technique to Great Accomplishment."

Qin Yang laid out his subsequent training plan.

The pitch-black, gloomy night shrouded the Linjiang Outer City.

The Outer City becomes far more brutal and terrifying once night falls.

Gang fights, arson, looting, and murder all take place, with screams occasionally echoing through the streets.

Shanmei Street.

This was now a piece of territory under the White River Gang.

Gang Leader Luo Jian was leading his men, moving swiftly through a pitch-black alley.

His face was dark and grim.

Tonight, he had come to Shanmei Street to find someone.

The White River Gang had four Hall Masters, all of whom were Condensing Force Martial Artists.

One of them was named Zhao Guang.

This man was an old-timer who had followed Luo Jian since the docks, and Luo Jian trusted him deeply, always entrusting him with the gang's finances.

But today, Zhao Guang had mysteriously vanished.

By the time Luo Jian sensed something was wrong, he was shocked to discover that several thousand taels of silver from the gang's coffers had disappeared along with Zhao Guang.

Fled with the money!

That was Luo Jian's first thought.

Caught off guard, he hurriedly ordered men to watch the city gates of Linjiang City, then personally led a team to Zhao Guang's home.

Even though he knew Zhao Guang's residence was long empty.

Still, Luo Jian could only ransack the place and see if he could find any clues.

Soon.

They arrived before a residence.

"Li San, you and a few men guard the corners nearby."

"The rest of you, follow me."

Luo Jian lowered his voice.

A sturdy man quickly acknowledged the order and led a few brothers to guard the back door of the residence.

Luo Jian himself vaulted over the wall and landed inside the courtyard.

The residence wasn't very large—only three rooms.

A kitchen, two bedrooms, and a small courtyard in the middle.

After a brief scan, Luo Jian gestured for his three underlings to check the left room.

He himself led two men to the main room.

Bang~

Luo Jian kicked the door open.

His two men rushed in swiftly.

"Who's there?!"

A voice suddenly rang out from the dark room.

"Zhao Guang!"

"I didn't think you'd still dare to stay here!"

Luo Jian barked upon hearing the voice.

Moonlight spilled in through the open door, landing on the bed at the far end of the room.

A pale-faced man sat up from the bed, startled. "Gang Leader, what's going on?!"

As he spoke.

The two underlings had already lit the room's lamp.

Luo Jian strode over to Zhao Guang and demanded, "Did you take those few thousand taels from the gang?"

Zhao Guang grew anxious at once, scrambling out of bed to explain. "Gang Leader, I've followed you for nearly ten years—how could I do something like that?"

"I caught a chill today and stayed home resting all day!"

Luo Jian picked up the candle from the table and stepped closer to Zhao Guang, noticing that his complexion was indeed pale and weak, as if he were ill.

"If it wasn't you, then who else could it be?!"

Zhao Guang shook his head. "It really wasn't me. I didn't go to the gang at all today."

Now, Luo Jian's brow furrowed deeply. He didn't know whether to believe Zhao Guang or not.

"Enough. Get dressed first, then come back to the gang with me so we can get to the bottom of this."

Either way, the man had to be detained first.

Zhao Guang was straightforward about it. He got up and dressed, letting the two underlings bind his hands.

Luo Jian finally felt reassured and escorted Zhao Guang out of the room.

Once in the courtyard, he noticed the left-side building was pitch black, utterly silent, and furrowed his brow slightly.

"What the hell is Wang Hu doing?"

"Zhao Hai, go call Wang Hu and the others out."

Luo Jian said in a low voice.

A minion acknowledged the order and strode into the left-side room.

Then, after a dozen or so breaths.

There was no sound either.

No one came out.

Zhao Hai didn't come out either.

No movement came from inside the building.

Luo Jian's brow tightened, a chill creeping into his heart.

He now stared at the dark, silent building on the left, suddenly feeling an inexplicable gloom and eerie strangeness.

It was as if the building were a tomb, a forbidden zone for the living.

Once a living person entered, something terrifying would swallow them up.