Night

After two days of contemplation.

Qin Yang had already memorized the contents of the Turtle-Snake Art backward and forward.

He felt the time was ripe for a breakthrough.

That night.

He drank a bowl of black medicinal broth.

This bowl of medicinal broth was no ordinary thing; it had been brewed from the ten-year-old ginseng Li Tong had given him earlier.

After drinking it, he felt the medicine's potency spread rapidly, making his entire body burn with heat.

Qin Yang sat cross-legged, his hands forming seals before his chest.

This was the Turtle-Snake Seal, representing the harmony of yin and yang. It could relax one's mind and spirit.

Qin Yang was also in a state of deep focus as he began circulating his qi and blood.

The circulation route of the Turtle-Snake Art spread throughout the body. If those meridian pathways were traced out, they would form the outline of a turtle and snake.

The Qi Gathering Cultivation Method also had a visualization diagram.

The practitioner needed to visualize the turtle and snake while coordinating it with the circulation of qi and blood. Once a certain harmonious state was reached, inner qi would be born.

Qin Yang imagined himself in a deep, dark sea.

He became an enormous black turtle with an unfathomably deep aura.

Wrapped around the giant turtle was a pitch-black serpent.

The two seemed unrelated, yet also seemed fused as one, existing in an extraordinarily strange state.

The icy current surged fiercely, yet the turtle and snake seemed to feel nothing as they lay quietly upon the depths of the seabed.

Qin Yang's breathing gradually weakened, until even his aura became faint and indistinct, as though a mystical turtle had fallen into slumber.

At that moment.

His spirit and the qi and blood flowing through his body seemed to resonate with each other.

A wisp of pitch-black inner qi slowly formed from his qi and blood before flowing into his dantian.

This was Turtle-Snake Qi.

As the Turtle-Snake Art circulated time and again, more and more Turtle-Snake Qi condensed within him.

When Qin Yang suddenly came to, he discovered that more than a dozen wisps of Turtle-Snake Qi had already accumulated in his dantian.

"This is the Gathering Qi Realm."

"Breaking through was pretty easy."

Qin Yang muttered to himself.

He called up the 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: First Layer (12/300)

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

Primordial Qi Shield: Fifth Layer (873/1000)

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

The first layer alone required three hundred experience points.

"Breaking through from Gathering Qi to the Inner Breath Realm is a major realm breakthrough. It requires continuously refining inner qi, then opening the meridians.

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

Qin Yang's gaze turned grave.

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

As for inner breath, although there were no such martial artists in Linjiang City, he had still heard a little about its realm divisions.

They were true qi, astral qi, and true astral qi.

These three realms should all involve purifying and refining inner qi.

Qin Yang did not need to consider such matters for now. He estimated that cultivating the Turtle-Snake Art to perfection alone would take over a year.

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

"First, cultivate the Turtle-Snake Art to the third layer and stabilize my realm. Then cultivate the Rushing Thunder Palm and bring the Po Jun Saber Technique to great accomplishment in one go."

Qin Yang laid out his subsequent cultivation plan.

The pitch-black, murky night blanketed Linjiang Outer City.

Once night fell, the Outer City became even more brutal and terrifying.

Gang battles, arson, murder, and looting all took place, with screams occasionally ringing out.

Shanmei Street.

This was now White River Gang territory.

Gang Leader Luo Jian was leading men swiftly through a dark alley.

His expression was dark and ugly.

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

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

One of them was named Zhao Guang.

He was an old gang member who had followed Luo Jian all the way from the dock. Luo Jian trusted him deeply and had always entrusted the gang's money to his care.

Yet today, Zhao Guang had mysteriously vanished.

By the time Luo Jian realized something was wrong, he discovered that several thousand taels of the gang's silver had disappeared along with Zhao Guang.

Running off with the money!

That was Luo Jian's first thought.

The incident had come too suddenly. He hurriedly sent men to watch Linjiang City's gates, then personally led others to Zhao Guang's home.

Though he knew Zhao Guang's residence had long since been emptied.

Luo Jian could only search the house first and see whether he could find any clues.

Very quickly.

The group arrived before a residence.

"Li San, have your men guard the nearby corners."

"The rest of you, come with me."

Luo Jian lowered his voice.

A burly man promptly accepted the order and led several brothers to guard the residence's rear entrance.

Luo Jian vaulted over the wall himself and jumped into the residence.

The residence was not large, with only three rooms.

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

After giving it a cursory glance, Luo Jian made a hand signal, telling three of his subordinates to search the room on the left.

He himself led two men to the main room.

Bang!

Luo Jian kicked the door open.

His two subordinates swiftly rushed inside.

"Who is it?!"

A voice suddenly rang out from the dark room.

"Zhao Guang!"

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

Hearing that voice, Luo Jian shouted furiously.

Moonlight spilled through the doorway, falling directly upon the bed in the depths of the room.

A pale-faced man sat up from the bed and asked in alarm, "Gang Leader, what's going on?!"

As he spoke.

The two lackeys had already lit the lamps in the room.

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

Zhao Guang immediately grew anxious and hurriedly got out of bed to explain, "Gang Leader, I, Zhao Guang, have followed you for nearly ten years. How could I do something like that?"

"I caught a chill today and rested at home all day!"

Luo Jian picked up a candle from the table and walked over to Zhao Guang. Seeing that his face was indeed pale and weak, as though he were ill, he frowned.

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?!"

Zhao Guang shook his head. "It really wasn't me. I never even went to the gang today."

Luo Jian's brow furrowed deeply. He no longer knew whether he should believe Zhao Guang.

"Fine. Put your clothes on first and come back to the gang with me. We'll investigate this properly."

No matter what, he had to get the man under control first.

Zhao Guang was also very straightforward. He got up and dressed, allowing the two lackeys to bind his hands.

Only then did Luo Jian feel at ease, escorting Zhao Guang out of the room.

When he reached the courtyard, he saw that the room on the left was pitch-black and utterly silent, and he frowned slightly.

"What is Wang Hu doing?"

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

Luo Jian said in a low voice.

A lackey accepted the order and strode into the room on the left.

Then, after more than a dozen breaths.

There was no sound from him either.

No one came out.

Zhao Hai did not come out either.

Not a single sound came from inside the room.

Luo Jian's brows knitted tightly, and a chill crept into his heart.

As he looked at the pitch-black room on the left, he suddenly found it inexplicably gloomy and eerie.

It was as though the room were a grave, forbidden ground for the living.

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