With ample medicinal meals and meat to replenish himself, Wang Hao truly trained as if his life depended on it. His ruthlessness made Zhao Fengxue's face twitch repeatedly when he observed him in secret on several occasions.
This was downright self-torture!
Even so, Zhao Fengxue marveled at the Great Rejuvenation Pill's effects. It truly deserved its reputation as the supreme holy medicine of the martial world, capable of raising a person's talent to such a terrifying level.
He could also see that Wang Hao really did possess formidable regenerative abilities, enough to rival those of a legendary Xiantian Grandmaster.
Otherwise, training in such a self-torturous manner would cripple him, even with the proper medicinal meals to help him recover.
Though it was incredible, he could only conclude that the Great Rejuvenation Pill had met the right person, allowing the potential of both to be pushed to its limits.
After all, the Great Rejuvenation Pill was incomparably precious. Patriarch Damo had refined it long ago using his heaven-reaching cultivation and countless precious spirit medicines, producing only nine pills.
Over the centuries, only a handful of people had taken the Great Rejuvenation Pill, and that had been so long ago that their experiences offered no useful reference.
So hardly anyone knew the limits of the Great Rejuvenation Pill's effects. Even Shaolin Temple itself probably didn't know.
Seen in that light, an anomaly like Wang Hao was just barely plausible!
What Wang Hao didn't know was that Zhao Fengxue and the others had automatically attributed his abnormalities to the Great Rejuvenation Pill. After all, it was a legendary holy medicine of the martial world. Although its effects on Wang Hao were a little heaven-defying, they weren't impossible to accept.
That saved Wang Hao a great deal of trouble.
Of course, Elder Chu's deterrent effect was the main reason.
Though Elder Chu was not well known among the younger generation of Blood Robe Tower, its higher-ups were deeply wary of him.
After all, he was a formidable figure who had once attempted to break through to Xiantian Grandmaster. Though he had ultimately failed, he was still a Half-Step Xiantian Grandmaster, far, far stronger than an ordinary Grandmaster.
If Grandmasters like them went up against him, they would probably be killed in an instant. With such a big shot having spoken, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on Wang Hao even if they had a hundred times their courage!
Of course, that only meant they couldn't act personally. They could still have others do it.
After half a month of frenzied training, Wang Hao finally reached Complete Integration in the Golden Bell Shield, and his cultivation reached Late Second-rate. Yet he felt little joy.
Though his cultivation had improved considerably, his combat strength had not increased by much.
His primary means of attack, the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, was still at the realm of Complete Integration. Although half a month of arduous practice had given him an incomparably solid foundation, the increase in his strength still wasn't enough. It was far from enough.
"Although I can now exchange moves with First-Rate experts, that's only against those at Mid First-Rate. If I run into a Late First-Rate expert, I can hold out for a little while at most. Against someone at Peak First-Rate, I can last ten moves or so at most.
And against someone like Han Long, who's been at Peak First-Rate for a long time and may even have one foot in the Super-First-Rate realm, I'm afraid I'd be defeated and killed in one or two moves. I need to find a way to improve my Ten Stances of Bloody Battle!"
After some thought, Wang Hao turned his attention to the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle.
It was the easiest thing for him to improve quickly at present. The Golden Bell Shield was a hard technique with few shortcuts. Even with the help of his Bloodline Power, which allowed him to train without restraint, he could at most raise his cultivation to Peak Second-rate in the remaining half month.
That small improvement wouldn't help his strength much. By comparison, the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, being an offensive technique, was different. He had already comprehended it completely through the Dao Comprehension Function, so he only needed to meet the requirements in every respect to improve it quickly.
So improving the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle was the most worthwhile and effective choice!
But...
"How should I improve it?"
Thinking it over, Wang Hao headed for the training ground, ready for his daily practice.
His so-called daily practice naturally consisted of sparring with Blood Wind Hall's Yellow-rank assassins, which was extremely beneficial to his Golden Bell Shield training.
The first batch had indeed been beaten so badly that they feared him. As a result, every Yellow-rank assassin in Blood Wind Hall knew about him, and they had all but stopped coming to the training ground to avoid being matched against him.
Wang Hao's solution was simple. He went straight to that old fellow Zhao Fengxue and, on the pretext of exchanging pointers and improving together, invited every Yellow-rank assassin in the hall to fight him.
Although Zhao Fengxue knew what Wang Hao was really after, he didn't mind and agreed at once.
After all, sparring more often was beneficial to everyone's progress, and he too hoped the assassins under him would grow stronger.
With such a fine whetstone as Wang Hao volunteering himself, he was naturally delighted.
Then the Yellow-rank assassins who remained at Blood Wind Hall had a miserable time. Their superiors ordered them to spar with Wang Hao every day, and every time they were beaten to the ground.
Fortunately, Wang Hao knew when to stop. At worst, he would break a few of their bones. For martial artists, such injuries were no great matter; with a good wound medicine applied, they could recover in ten or twenty days.
The process was just a little painful, that was all!
"Old ghost Zhao, this is the level of your Blood Wind Hall? Not much to look at! If no one else steps forward, you won't get a share of this year's dividends, old ghost Zhao!"
Wang Hao had just stepped into the training ground when he heard a voice dripping with mockery. A glance showed him people lying all over the ground, all of them Yellow-rank assassins from his Blood Wind Hall.
The Blood Wind Hall assassins were all glaring angrily at several young men standing in the very center of the training ground. On a raised platform at its edge, eight richly dressed elders sat in chairs, Zhao Fengxue among them.
The speaker was a balding elder seated to Zhao Fengxue's left, an undisguised look of ridicule and mockery on his face.
Zhao Fengxue's expression was ugly. After all, these old fellows had joined forces to come and slap him in the face, and they had succeeded. How could he possibly be in a good mood?
"9341, what's going on?" Wang Hao asked a Blood Wind Hall assassin he knew. He and 9341 were acquaintances; in terms of seniority, 9341 had been around even longer than that show-off 9527, though he wasn't as strong.
This fellow also practiced a hard technique, the Second-rate martial art Thirteen Grand Guardians' Hard Training. Among Blood Robe Tower's external martial arts, it was second only to the External Training Golden Bell Shield.
He was tall and powerfully built. Though not as extreme as Wang Hao's nine chi, he stood eight chi tall. He had a good talent for hard techniques and ranked among the top ten Yellow-rank assassins in Blood Wind Hall.
Since they both practiced hard techniques, Wang Hao had gradually become familiar with him. The fellow also insisted on coming to spar with Wang Hao every day, helping each other improve.
The two got along very well. Wang Hao had even given him pointers on hard-technique training, and after being beaten to the ground more than a dozen times, the fellow had submitted wholeheartedly and acknowledged Wang Hao as his boss, giving Wang Hao a taste of how good it felt to have a lackey.
But now 9341 was in a terrible state. A blade had slashed across his chest, splitting his entire breastbone open; even his beating heart was visible inside.
If not for his tough body and timely aid, he would probably have died already.
An elder was crouched beside him, setting his severed breastbone back in place while stitching up the wound in his chest.
Seeing 9341's miserable condition, Wang Hao no longer merely burned with rage. Killing intent surged within him.
Whatever else might be said, this was his lackey. Now that his own lackey had been cut up like this, how could he not feel killing intent?
"Boss, you finally came!"
Pale-faced, 9341 grinned. He too breathed a sigh of relief at Wang Hao's arrival.
"Every year, the eight great halls of Blood Robe Tower choose a time to hold a martial contest to decide their shares of that year's dividends. The hall masters of the other seven great halls came together today for that very reason. Those seven are the representatives they chose."
Enduring the intense pain in his chest, 9341 briefly explained what had happened.
By then, the other assassins had also received word and hurried over, gathering around the training ground. They glared at the seven young men standing in the middle but didn't dare step forward to challenge them.
What a joke. Their companions lay all over the training ground, and more than half had already stopped breathing. Clearly, people could die in this kind of fight.
They reckoned their own strength was about the same as their companions', so going up would only mean throwing their lives away.
Thus, unwilling as they were, none dared step forward and issue a challenge.
"Heh heh... What, none of you dare come up? Are all the people in Blood Wind Hall cowards?"
A burly young man on the stage gave a sinister chuckle. Four mangled corpses lay around him, their deaths a gruesome sight.
All four had been killed by the burly young man. Of the seven, his fighting style was the most ferocious and brutal, and he was the most intimidating.
The other six on the stage wore looks of disdain, regarding him as a barbarian, but they were also quite wary of him. None of them said much, however.
Before coming, they had received orders from their respective hall masters to join forces against Blood Wind Hall. So, though they disliked him, they absolutely could not start an internal conflict now.
The burly young man's words sent a chill through the hearts of Blood Wind Hall's Yellow-rank assassins. Though their anger grew, so did their fear.
He was absolutely not someone they could stand against!
And just as no one dared step forward to accept the challenge, an exceptionally burly figure appeared. Who else could it be but Wang Hao?
His gaze swept over the seven people on the training ground one by one before settling on the burly young man, the only one wielding a saber. He asked coldly, "You're the one who cut my lackey?"
Looking at Wang Hao's tall frame, a head taller than his own, the burly young man was momentarily stunned. Then he sneered. "If you mean that big guy, then yeah, I was the one who did it. Too bad he was quick-witted enough to escape with his life."
He had fought five people in all during this appearance, killing four on the spot. Only one had left the fight with severe injuries, so he naturally knew who the big fellow before him was asking about.
"Hall Master, there aren't any restrictions on this kind of contest, are there?"
Wang Hao ignored the burly young man and turned his gaze to Zhao Fengxue, who was sipping tea on the raised platform. He made no attempt to conceal the chilling murderous intent in his eyes.
"As long as you don't leave the central fighting area, you may act as you please!"
Zhao Fengxue took a small sip of Da Hong Pao from his cup and spoke indifferently, also breathing a sigh of relief.
The reason he hadn't made a point of gathering people to deal with the other seven great halls' provocation was partly that the strongest Yellow-rank assassins were all laid up in bed, recovering from the injuries Wang Hao had given them in sparring recently. More importantly, he had been waiting for Wang Hao to arrive.
Since you beat the assassins under me into their sickbeds, you can take over this fight for me.
He was also very confident in Wang Hao's strength. Among Yellow-rank assassins, at least, the boy was absolutely invincible.
"Good!"
A ferocious look appeared on Wang Hao's face. Without another word, he drew the greatsword from his back and slashed at the burly young man.
"You're courting death!"
The burly young man's expression turned cold, and killing intent rose in his heart. Without another word, he too drew his saber and met the attack.