Chapter 35: Coming

"Normally, bringing forth a strand of Qi-Blood is considered entry-level,"

"Mastering the second strand,"

"For the average Martial Artist, Qi-Blood is only as thick as a thin rope."

"However, the Qi-Blood that Chen Sansi cultivated is equivalent to several thin ropes twisted together, two to three times more than that of an ordinary person."

"This must be credited to the Hao Ran Breathing Skill, but undoubtedly, the proficiency panel also plays a part."

"His endurance is already impressive, and now that his Qi-Blood has become even more robust, he is a perfect fit for the battlefield,"

"A battlefield is not about one-on-one duels where killing an opponent ends the fight; rather, it's about facing countless enemies in what are mostly battles of attrition."

"This is also where the military formations come into play."

"When a Martial Artist with Blood Refining Great Success, roughly the level of a flag leader, is confronted by well-trained Array Soldiers on the battlefield and gets trapped in a formation, they will typically exhaust their Qi-Blood after slaying about twenty or so enemies and consequently collapse from depletion, only to be hacked to death by the chaotic blades,"

"It's not because the Martial Artist is weak, but rather because the formations are strong,"

"During the recent drills, Chen Sansi took special care to learn alongside the others,"

"Taking a small military formation of a hundred men as an example,"

"Before close combat with bare blades, archers and Crossbowmen first unleash a volley of arrows, followed by spearmen thrusting, then shield and sword fighters encircling, and finally hand-to-hand combat ensues,"

"Don't forget that the enemy also has Generals; it's not just you as a military officer,"

"In such a scenario, no matter how high your rank as a Martial Artist, once you run out of manpower, you are bound to be worn down to death,"

"Unless, your Qi-Blood is truly, very enduring,"

"However, all of this is still too early for Chen Sansi to worry about; he won't be going to the battlefield any time soon,"

"You've mastered your Qi-Blood?"

Xu Bin stood frozen on the spot, motionless for a long time,"

"How many days has it been?"

"If this continues, it won't be long before you surpass me,"

"It's all thanks to Xu Flag Officer's sparring with me, otherwise, it wouldn't have been this fast,"

After his breakthrough, Chen Sansi felt invigorated, but he didn't let his guard down mentally,

"Lately, the Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy has sent people to invite him several times, all of which were declined; he was aware that this could not be a long-term solution and that the issue needed to be addressed sooner or later,"

"Young Master Liang Zhan of Tianyuan was at the Bone Training Realm, and the Martial Arts Hall Master was even at Bone Forger Great Success,"

"Blood Refining was still at the bottom rank of Martial Artists, not even worth mentioning,"

"If he could become a Refining Organ Martial Artist like Xiang Tingchun, who in Po Yang County would dare to provoke him?"

"Time for work, time for work!"

"It was almost time to patrol the city, Chen Sansi put away his reed leaf gun and called his men,"

"Not only had he made a breakthrough, but his men had also improved,"

"Zhu Tong had cultivated his Qi-Blood in the past two days, and a military soldier named Wang Li would not be far behind, while the other five Array Soldiers had also learned the spear technique and started practicing military formations,"

"Only Xu Wencai was unable to do anything,"

"The other day he got kicked while feeding the horses, and fearing that he might die under their hooves, he was not asked to go again,"

"Let's go, patrol the city,"

"Ever since the Witch God Sect incident occurred, people were dying daily within and outside the city,"

"Rumors claimed that the Witch God Sect was bloodthirsty by nature,"

"Hence, the recent crackdowns have been extremely stringent,"

"Yet, despite this, no disciples from any Martial Arts Academy were allowed to participate,"

"Clearly, the Lord Thousand Households wanted to seize the Immortal Treasure before the Martial Arts Academies and then use it to coerce all the Martial Arts Halls in Po Yang County,"

"Chen Sansi took his city patrols very seriously, attempting to locate traces of Witch God Sect followers,"

"Unfortunately, he hasn't found any leads so far,"

"And even if he did find them, his current strength probably wouldn't be enough to seize the items, so cultivating remains the most important thing,"

"After advancing his Qi-Blood to two strands, a bowl of Blood Replenishing Soup every three days would most likely not suffice,"

"During a break in his patrols, Chen Sansi went to the Martial Arts Academy to purchase medicines,"

"Zhu Tong accompanied him as well,"

"Having some savings from slaughtering pigs at home, he too gathered enough money for medicine to speed up his Blood Refining,"

"Among the Four Great Martial Arts Schools, Yunhe Martial Arts Hall and Zhao's Martial Arts Academy had the largest business in medicinal materials, comprising two-thirds of Po Yang County's trade,"

"Among them, the quality of medicines from Yunhe Martial Arts Hall was the best,"

"Arriving at Gui Xiang Street, Chen Sansi saw two Yunhe Medicine Stores,"

"To be precise, one of them was the 'Yunhe Medicine Shop'."

It gives one the impression of Sprite and Thunderbolt.

But in fact, both are genuine.

Lately patrolling the city, he had often heard news about the Martial Arts Halls.

After the County Magistrate passed away, barbarian assassins killed the Master of Yunhe Martial Arts Hall, leading to its split.

It's said that the Young Master of Yunhe Martial Arts Hall had mediocre talent, at nearly thirty years old, he hadn't yet entered the Bone Training Realm, while his uncle had made small achievement in that realm. After the old Master's death, he took away his nephew's right to succession and became the new Hall Master.

Not only that, but he also kicked his nephew out with a single kick, leaving him only a group of insignificant servant disciples and a medicine shop. Since he was not allowed to use the original name, he had to settle for 'Yunhe'.

To compete, Yunhe Medicine Shop even offered discounts; Blood Replenishing Soup, which would normally cost ten taels, was only sold for eight.

More advanced than Blood Replenishing Soup were the Nine Revolutions Replenishing Essence Soup and the Medicine Baths required for the Bone Training Realm, which were also essentially discounted to seventy or eighty percent of their original price, but still outrageously expensive.

Nine Revolutions Replenishing Essence Soup would cost twenty-five taels for one dose.

Chen Sansi simply couldn't afford that.

He had saved up twenty taels from hunting black bears and obtained ten from killing Qin Feng, but his daily expenses were also high; he couldn't go without various exotic beast meats, leaving him hardly any silver left.

In the end, Chen Sansi bought two doses of medicine, spending sixteen taels.

"There goes my savings."

Chen Sansi felt like his heart was bleeding.

And those two doses of medicine would last only about a week.

It seems that he still had to rely on his hunting skills to make big money.

Fortunately, as a flag officer, he could freely venture deep into Second Layer Mountain. Hunting something valuable shouldn't be too difficult.

It would only mean some delay in his Martial Arts training, but that was a necessary sacrifice.

He had heard that a tiger could sell for a hundred taels of silver! An Exotic Beast would be even more expensive.

Exotic Beasts were rare, but there were frequent tales of Big Worms on Second Layer Mountain.

He would inquire about it and if he could hunt down a tiger, the silver he earned would be enough to quickly reach small achievement.

Back in the military camp.

Chen Sansi saw Hundred Households Wang, who had been missing for a few days. The latter claimed he had gone to the Prefecture City to visit relatives and was very pleased to learn of his breakthrough to expertise.

"Good, good, good, you're doing well, kid. You've got the style I had back in my day!"

Wang Zhi fumbled in his bosom and pulled out a golden lock, "This is for you, as a reward for your diligent practice."

"A longevity lock?"

Chen Sansi knew about this object, typically given by elders in the family to young children. Wang Zhi's willingness to give it away meant it definitely wasn't his own, and it was very likely swindled from someone else.

"Thank you for the kind gesture, but I'd better not accept it."

He declined.

"If you don't want it, forget it. Where is there such a good superior like me, willing to buy gold for subordinates!"

Hundred Households Wang wore it around his own neck, "You're asking for leave to go up the mountain tomorrow, right? Go on, go on."

"Thank you, sir."

Chen Sansi took his leave and as he was almost at his front door,

Two figures suddenly appeared, blocking the road ahead, one in front and one behind, old and young, resembling a master-servant relationship.

"Flag Officer Chen, I had invited you several times without success, so I took the liberty to visit, please excuse my presumption," said Liang Zhan as he held his folding fan and bowed with clasped hands, "Please honor us with your presence at the Spring Pavilion for a gathering, plenty of beautiful women and wine."

"You are quite presumptuous."

Chen Sansi spoke indifferently, "I have matters to attend to, so I won't trouble Mr. Liang with the expense."

"I have no malicious intent."

Liang Zhan stepped forward, lowering his voice, "Rest assured, the matter with the Qin brothers won't be pursued by Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy."

"What Qin brothers?"

Chen Sansi said blankly, "I don't understand."

The other party might indeed not pursue the matter with Qin Feng.

But it's more likely that they wanted to use this to get him talking, to ask if he had left the city that night, to see if he had any chance of coming into contact with the Immortal Treasure.

"Flag Officer Chen really is a master at playing dumb."

Liang Zhan's smile didn't reach his eyes, and he gave a sign to the old servant behind him, "But I still hope you can grace us with your presence for a meal."

"Please!"

The old servant extended a pair of withered tree branch-like hands, reaching out to grab him.

Chen Sansi's brows furrowed, his grip tightening on his spear!