Rumors Everywhere

Ever since they learned that the Yuwen Family was going to make a move against Lady Wenjing.

After Blind Cheng, he did not go out to post notices or apprehend the culprits during this period.

Chu Tianshu's life remained as fulfilling as ever.

I would treat patients, promote some of the prescriptions, and then practice my martial arts.

Every night, checking the progress of the Evil Spirit materials and the Fortune column, he felt an urge to stir up trouble, but it wasn't the right time yet.

As the saying goes, "Build high walls, store up plenty of grain, and delay declaring yourself king!"

To experience the exhilaration and arrogance of reaching the summit, one must be patient, seize opportunities, and develop further.

These past few days, Chu Tianshu has been practicing the Heartfire Fist Form in the afternoons, and in the mornings, aside from seeing patients, he spends his time studying the "Blood Refinement Weapon Method."

According to the description in "Blood River Chariot", when the rituals for Weapon Soul are first performed, a quiet place should be found, preferably a place where the yin energy is contained but not revealed.

Those in the army who meet the standards and are taught the Blood River Chariot initially train on a battlefield near their garrison.

The battlefield has plenty of yin energy. As for keeping the yin energy contained, just practice at noon.

At that time, the yin energy was often in a very restrained state.

Chu Tianshu couldn't find any large-scale battlefields near the Nanzhao Royal City.

However, there is a mass grave outside the city.

Those elderly people without children, swordsmen from other places seeking fame, beggars and vagrants—no one gave them a proper burial; they were always just buried there.

He estimated that the yin energy in the mass grave was not as strong as that of a large battlefield, so he decided not to go there at noon.

I went there to cultivate in the morning, so that the yin energy in the environment was in a state that met the standard.

Those buried here, aside from the mounds of earth, don't even have the privilege of having their names carved on wooden plaques.

Some of the graves were so large that it looked like a dozen people were buried underneath at once.

Some graves were so small that it looked as if only a child was buried there.

Although the sunlight was bright, it could only cast cold, desolate shadows here.

Chu Tianshu stood in the shadow of a large tomb mound taller than a person, and took the Sanqi Divine Sword off his wrist.

With a slight release of his Mind Power, the divine sword hummed and became as straight as steel.

Before the Blood River Chariot had been deduced by the token, Chu Tianshu did not have that indescribable feeling of "correctness" in his mind.

However, relying solely on his understanding of words and patterns, he quickly mastered the skills and began practicing.

The Blood River Chariot's three chariots and three passes mainly describe the mysteries of transporting qi and blood.

Chu Tianshu himself possessed a strong physique and pure blood. If we were to classify him as Sheep Chariot, Deer Chariot, or Ox Chariot practitioner, he would be equivalent to someone who had already cultivated to a very high level in the Deer Chariot stage.

He didn't need to use any small thorns to draw blood; he simply exerted his strength, and a smear of blood seeped from under the nail of his left index finger.

With his fingertips touching the divine sword, he began to draw patterns.

As Chu Tianshu was describing the scene, the various images he conjured in his mind were also changing.

Visualization is something that sounds simple, but in practice it is quite complicated.

People are extremely familiar with their own palms, but it's difficult to even imagine the front and back of a palm in one's mind.

Imagine the dynamic change of this hand clenching into a fist, making sure you don't have any distracting thoughts or let your attention wander to other ideas.

This alone requires a long period of training. If there is even the slightest distraction or a momentary shift in attention, the visualization will be interrupted and have no effect.

Once you have a certain level of skill, complex patterns in your mind will appear instantly, with every detail vivid in your mind, as easily as instinctively raising a finger.

Only at this point can you multitask, chanting mantras and drawing talismans while visualizing.

Chu Tianshu spent more time learning the fundamentals of "Annotations on Ghost Gate Witch Medicine" than he later spent learning various acupuncture techniques.

The visualization diagrams for "Blood River Chariot" do not require projecting Mind Power outwards, and each diagram is slightly less difficult.

But this is precisely what Chu Tianshu couldn't understand.

If Mind Power is not projected outwards, visualizing so many things will only affect one's own body and will not affect the weapon at all.

Why perform these visualizations when weapons are stained with blood?

A martial artist's visualization focuses on the inner self. To establish a connection with the outside world, the only possibility is that there is some powerful spiritual force in the outside world actively sensing the martial artist's visualization process and changes in aura.

Speaking of which, back in my hometown, martial arts practitioners can also perform rituals to communicate with the Spirit Realm Ghost God when certain conditions are met.

That's the principle.

Is it possible that the formation of Weapon Soul in this world is so easy due to the assistance of Ghost God?

Chu Tianshu wanted to test the waters.

In the past few days, he has performed the rituals repeatedly and has vaguely sensed that the atmosphere around him is changing, but the changes are not significant enough.

Improve little by little.

After completing this blood refining ritual today, he should be able to transform that change in atmosphere from a very subtle and vague sign into a clear perception.

The patterns on the sword resemble incantations, seal script, and even cursive script depicting flying birds, stretching out in continuous lines.

After finishing one side, the other side was also drawn from near the hilt to the tip.

A single stroke, finer than the tip of a sword, leaves a faint, ethereal red mark.

Call!!!

A strange wind arose in the graveyard.

The soil on the grave has turned black, and the wild grass has grown even greener.

Especially where Chu Tianshu stood, faint white smoke seemed to rise from the pores of the soil a few feet away.

Chu Tianshu lowered his gaze, greatly surprised.

This is... the aura of the Spirit Realm?!

But there were no ghosts or Longhua rituals around, yet it felt as if the power of Ghost God had descended from afar.

Although the environment and atmosphere have changed, it is only a change in the atmosphere.

It's not a real-world environmental overlap or change like the Overflow Zone.

Chu Tianshu looked around and took a few steps.

It's confirmed; it really is just a change in atmosphere.

Furthermore, his movement did not conform to the requirements of the ceremony.

That faint trace of the Spirit Realm energy was about to dissipate again.

The Spirit Realm aura is so easily dispelled; back in my hometown, even if I wrote it in a report, no one would believe it.

Many guesses flashed through Chu Tianshu's mind, but in the end, he felt that one of them was the most likely.

That is to say, there are things in this world similar to the Spirit Realm.

However, the "Spirit Realm" of this world exists in another form, so there are not as many Spirit Body or Spirit Realm, but rather a greater preference for the spirituality of weapons.

The ancestors of this world discovered this characteristic and made use of it.

Therefore, "Blood Refinement Weapon Method" becomes the most important part of martial arts.

Only the way of Weapon Soul can make it so prosperous.

"If that's the case, will the Weapon Soul I cultivated here still be useful when I go back?"

Chu Tianshu recalled the relevant knowledge in his mind.

The Weapon Soul is rare in my hometown, mainly because the process of forming it is too difficult; no one knows how to do it.

However, nurturing the Weapon Soul is a very simple matter, not much different from nurturing an ordinary Spirit Body.

If you can cultivate your Weapon Soul here, you'll bypass the most difficult step. After bringing it back, you just need to nurture it, and it should be a piece of cake.

"Since it mainly relies on the special characteristics of the environment, I must nurture my Sword Soul to be as strong as possible in this world."

Chu Tianshu calmed himself down, returned to his original position, and once again held his sword in front of him, silently meditating.

A faint, ethereal aura rose from the surrounding soil and then enveloped the Sanqi Divine Sword.

As the daylight grew brighter, the shadow of the grave grew shorter.

Chu Tianshu stood in meditation for an hour, feeling the sunlight growing increasingly intense. Comparing this to the description in "The Blood River Chariot," he stopped meditating.

He rolled the Sanqi Divine Sword back into his hand, covered it with his sleeve, and strode away.

It should be lunchtime; the Wen Family Restaurant should be bustling with activity.

When Chu Tianshu returned, he found that there weren't many guests in the lobby, and they were all whispering among themselves, not in a hurry to eat.

Several shop assistants stood by the counter, looking furious, while Blind Cheng leaned against the counter.

Lady Wenjing was behind the counter, ladling out the wine from the vat into bottles.

Chu Tianshu walked over. "What happened?"

Blind Cheng said, "A few people were causing trouble, but I chased them away."

"Those people are despicable. They came to extort money from us, and when we refused, they brought in a bunch of rotten, smelly banana leaves, intending to throw them everywhere."

An older woman who helps out in the kitchen said, "We told them we were going to report them to the authorities and have them arrested, but they just kept making a lot of noise."

They say we Tang People are so rich because we stole their money, so we should give them half.

The shop assistant retorted, "That's utter nonsense! We work from dawn till dusk selling food, earning this meager wage. When have we ever robbed them?"

"Besides, there are poor people among us Tang People, and so many rich people among the Nanzhao people. Why don't they go and cause trouble in those people's shops?!"

Lady Wenjing suddenly banged on the wine jar, her tone stern, and said, "What do you mean by causing trouble in a wealthy shop of the Nanzhao people?"

The waiter turned around, momentarily puzzled.

"Nanzhao was a collection of dozens of tribes, large and small. Many of them migrated to the vicinity of this capital city later than we, the Tang People who were captured."

The Lady Wenjing spoke in a moderate tone, clearly intending to speak to the guests as well.

"Nanzhao is not a single ethnic group, nor can it be represented by just one or two individuals. Most of them are ordinary people, struggling to make a living."

"If you were to push all other ethnic groups to the opposite side of the Tang People because of a few bad apples, you would have fallen into their trap."

The men trusted her so much that they had no choice but to nod.

The Blind Cheng called out to Chu Tianshu and led him to the corridor near the guest rooms.

"In the past few days, two or three important figures in the Gentlemen's Alliance have indeed been assassinated, but only one was successfully carried out."

Blind Cheng's expression turned solemn. "But when I inquired about the assassination attempts, I discovered that several other prominent figures have recently been targeted for assassination."

"They are not members of the Gentlemen's Alliance, but rather chieftains and elders of several tribes near the royal city, including the Xi'er and Bo People."

Chu Tianshu understood. "You think the Yuwen Family was also behind this?"

"Recently, rumors have been spreading that it's all because we Tang People plundered the wealth of Nanzhao, which has led to the Nanzhao people's poverty. Those idlers who used to dare to cause trouble at the Wen family's restaurant have been emboldened by these rumors."

Blind Cheng snorted coldly, "I suspect that the Yuwen Family is behind all of this."

Chu Tianshu, on the other hand, remained much calmer.

"But what good would this do for the Yuwen Family?"

Chu Tianshu touched the sword on his wrist and smiled, "They might indeed be involved, but if they really want to cause a big commotion and escalate the situation, it's probably beyond the capabilities of the Yuwen Family alone."

(End of this chapter)