Blade Qi Infuses the Body

He exhaled every last breath, leaving his chest cavity empty. He could clearly feel a wisp of breath rising from within his chest.

It circulated through his entire body again and again.

Thirty-six times in all.

These were the Thirty-Six Celestial Cycles.

As he drew in fresh breath, he distinctly felt a faint warmth beneath his feet. Without hesitation, he gripped the long saber at his side.

Boom!

One slash, then two. Gradually, sweat seeped across Li Rui's forehead, and his clothes became soaked, yet his expression remained incomparably calm. He did not feel tired in the slightest, nor did he even pant. He only felt the breath coursing through his body grow hotter and hotter, until it became as scorching as blazing fire.

Bang!

At a certain moment, Li Rui slashed out. The wooden table ten paces away shattered in response.

Blade Qi!

A sharp gleam flashed in Li Rui's eyes.

An exceedingly faint yet incomparably fierce current of air circulated through his body again and again.

This breakthrough into the Eighth Rank had unexpectedly allowed him to cultivate Blade Qi. This was something only martial arts experts above the Seventh Rank could comprehend.

Blade Qi Infusion!

He had actually grasped it the moment he entered the Eighth Rank.

Even peerless prodigies were no more than this.

Perhaps it was because he had once comprehended a trace of the true meaning of Profound Clear Qi that he had been able to master Blade Qi ahead of time.

His whole body was drenched, reeking of sweat, yet Li Rui's eyes had never been clearer. Even though the books had recorded it, those were ultimately someone else's words, nowhere near as real as experiencing it himself.

Exhilarating!

At this moment, his qi and blood flowed through his limbs and bones, washing over every bone in his body again and again, removing its impurities. Their texture grew harder with time, until he would eventually reach the terrifying point of catching weapons barehanded.

Not only that, his strength and speed had both doubled.

His combat power had surged!

"No wonder there are so many Martial Arts Obsessives in this world. This feeling really is incredible!"

It had been a long time since his emotions had stirred so fiercely. Li Rui felt as though even his state of mind had become much younger, and he nearly could not resist the urge to throw back his head and howl at the sky.

Yet he did not become complacent and let himself run wild because of it.

The Eighth Rank was merely an admission ticket into Clear River's upper ranks.

Entering Rank martial artists like Wu Tu could only be considered high-level thugs. In a force like the Heaven and Earth Alliance, they were laborers. Even if wealthy households like the Zhu Family hired them to guard their homes, they were ultimately still earning money for someone else.

But once one broke through to the Copper Bone Realm, things became entirely different.

The masters of the martial arts schools within the city, as well as the leaders of the Firewood Gang and Fishing Gang, were all in this realm.

Only those above the Eighth Rank in the Heaven and Earth Alliance were qualified to compete for the position of vice branch master.

Branch Master Dao Xiong was also Eighth Rank.

It was only that he had been in the Eighth Rank for an extremely long time, with foundations as solid as iron. Ordinary Eighth Rank martial artists were no match for him at all.

Otherwise, he could not possibly have kept his four vice branch masters under control.

Beyond the Copper Bone Realm lay the Willow Tendon Realm.

The overwhelming majority of Martial Masters stopped at this step. Those who could go further were few and far between. At least in Clear River, no one had managed it.

Thus, the Willow Tendon Realm was also often called the Talent Retention Realm.

To advance from Copper Bone to Willow Tendon—difficult, difficult, difficult!

What was needed was not merely extraordinary talent, but also a mountain of resources. Otherwise, one could cultivate for a lifetime and still have no hope.

"Looks like I have no choice but to compete."

Li Rui had originally been unwilling to get involved in the disputes surrounding the assessment.

But now, the Heaven One Hall Master's paltry offering of ten taels clearly could no longer satisfy the appetite of an Eighth Rank martial artist.

Still, Li Rui had no intention of fully exposing his strength.

As long as he could secure a lucrative position, that would be enough. He could still make money. There was no need to stubbornly expose every trump card just to fight for a vice branch master position for the sake of pride. Fame and status were things he had stopped caring about long ago.

The Qinghe Branch's Great Examination arrived as scheduled.

As early as five days before, an enormous arena capable of holding a hundred people had been erected in the center of the branch's Martial Arts Arena.

The branch disciples arrived at the Martial Arts Arena early.

A sea of heads swayed in the crowd.

Nine chairs had been placed atop the raised platform, with nine people seated upon them.

Li Rui was naturally below the platform, though at least he did not have to mingle with the ordinary disciples.

Wu Tu stood beside him.

"Tut, tut. I never expected Vice Alliance Master Tang to be the one coming for this assessment."

Li Rui's gaze settled on the mustached middle-aged man sitting in the center, whose presence seemed deep and unfathomable.

According to the Heaven and Earth Alliance's rules, whenever a branch held its Great Examination, headquarters would send a vice alliance master to supervise it. This was customary.

"Vice Alliance Master Tang is the strongest beneath the three alliance masters. He's a Seventh Rank Willow Tendon Realm expert, and it seems he hasn't come out to make appearances in many years."

Wu Tu knew the situation within the Heaven and Earth Alliance well.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward the three people seated at the edge.

"Why are they here?"

Besides Branch Master Dao Xiong and the four vice branch masters, the three people from Huaqing Sect were also seated upon the raised platform.

On the raised platform.

Zhu Yue sat upright.

The feeling of looking down on others truly was wonderful.

Unlike Han Qin and Jiang Yan, he had grown up in Clear River and knew far more about the Heaven and Earth Alliance than they did.

In Clear River, even a wealthy family like the Zhu Family could not afford to provoke forces such as the Heaven and Earth Alliance and the Blood Tiger Gang.

Ever since he was young, his father, Zhu Ping, had warned him.

"If you encounter people from the Blood Tiger Gang, never get into conflict with them."

But now, not only had he become an honored guest of the Heaven and Earth Alliance, he was even seated on Equal Footing with the branch master and vice branch masters. This was something he would never have dared imagine as a child.

He glanced at the eight people beside him.

Of the nine people on the raised platform, he alone was not Eighth Rank.

The only reason he could sit in this position was his status as a member of Huaqing Sect. As a major sect of Anning Prefecture, Huaqing Sect naturally received every courtesy from the Heaven and Earth Alliance in public.

Zhu Yue felt even more fortunate that he had entered Huaqing Sect back then.

Otherwise, he might have been no more than one of the countless disciples below the platform, gazing up at those above.

Once everyone had arrived.

Branch Master Dao Xiong gave a light cough and turned toward Vice Alliance Master Tang Sheng, who sat in the center.

"Alliance Master Tang, Clear River has quite a few promising seedlings this time, and moreover—"

He glanced at Han Qin and the other two from the corner of his eye.

"Thanks to Huaqing Sect's favor, Clear River can have exclusive access to one Huaqing Sect disciple slot, and the age limit has even been raised to thirty-five. The top two in this assessment will be qualified to participate in the competition."

"Oh?"

Hearing Dao Xiong's words, Tang Sheng revealed an interested expression.

"Huaqing Sect, huh..."

There was no need to question how precious a Huaqing Sect disciple slot was. Not only were its examinations strict, but more importantly, its age requirements were severe—they only recruited gifted disciples under fifteen.

For a major sect like Huaqing Sect, there was no shortage of exceptionally talented disciples, so they placed greater value on loyalty.

A disciple cultivated from childhood would naturally be more loyal than one who had joined halfway through, and would also be more malleable.

Some mud-legged commoners took shortcuts and exhausted their potential early.

Even if their strength was decent, Huaqing Sect would not think much of them.

That made this slot all the more precious.

Tang Sheng deliberately turned to Han Qin and the other two, smiling and nodding to express his thanks.

The Heaven and Earth Alliance's upper ranks were also happy to see one of their people become a Huaqing Sect disciple.

Only after greeting them did Tang Sheng turn back to Dao Xiong.

"Alright. Begin."