novelraw Chapter 165 - 163: Condensing Liquid into Pill, Middle-Level Qi Sect
Chapter 165 - 163: Condensing Liquid into Pill, Middle-Level Qi Sect
Time flowed on, and another two months passed in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Anshan City was peaceful and quiet, as if everything had returned to normal.
The buildings and streets damaged by the arrival of the gray fog had all been completely repaired.
From the outside, you couldn’t even tell that a disaster had occurred.
The giant face from before had purged all the Black Blood Species hiding within Anshan City.
This brought a period of tranquility to the city.
But as time went on, the flow of people naturally brought new Black Blood Species into the area, disguised as ordinary humans.
Since they fed on human flesh and blood, they naturally chose to enter human cities to make hunting easier. As a first-tier metropolis, Anshan City had a large population.
They had heard that the Zhu Xi here conducted extremely strict searches.
However, there were always some powerful Black Blood Species who were either willing to take the risk or simply didn’t take Secret Martial Artists seriously.
Black Blood Species could turn ordinary people into Blood Slaves.
They held the power of life and death over these Blood Slaves.
Thanks to this ability, Black Blood Species could convert powerful and influential humans to use as cover for themselves.
But no matter how secretive they were, the act of feeding on flesh and blood always left traces.
Because of Hu Qi’s orders and the reform of the point system, the members of the Donglin Province Zhu Xi were acting as if they were on steroids.
The moment they saw a Black Blood Species, their eyes would turn redder than a Black Blood Species’s at the sight of food.
They were relentlessly hunting down Black Blood Species every day.
Their motivation was far greater than before. It would have been one thing if they had never been exposed to an Extraordinary System like that of the Secret Martial Artists.
But after coming into contact with it, they learned of Martial Arts Families who could break the shackles of a limited lifespan, and even more powerful beings.
How many people could resign themselves to a mundane life after that?
Before, there was no other way.
But now, things were different.
To them, those damned Black Blood Species were just walking piles of money and Secret Medicine—keys to their own continuous advancement and ascent to a higher level.
Driven by this motivation, the number of Black Blood Species in Donglin Province decreased sharply.
Even the few Black Blood Species lucky enough to survive did their best to flee to other provinces.
Over this period, the monthly homicide cases attributed to Black Blood Species in several cities across Donglin Province dropped from four digits to three.
In a way, this approach also significantly improved the safety index for residents of Donglin Province.
For a time, it felt as if people could live and work in peace and contentment.
Of course, the inevitable consequence was an increase in the death toll among Zhu Xi personnel.
There was nothing to be done about that.
Black Blood Species weren’t harmless little lambs waiting to be captured.
However, there were benefits as well. The surviving Zhu Xi members gained far richer combat experience.
A few of them had even accumulated enough points to exchange for a guidance session with a Martial Arts Family. After viewing a Divine Intent Map, they successfully broke through and became Martial Arts Families themselves.
Although they had only opened the lowest class of Divine Treasure, meaning their future potential was limited and they would likely remain at this level for the rest of their lives, barring any accidents, a Martial Arts Family was still a Martial Arts Family. No matter how weak, they were beyond comparison to an ordinary Qi Blood Realm Secret Martial Artist.
The success of these few individuals was like a shot of adrenaline for all the Zhu Xi members, driving them into an even greater frenzy.
...
Additionally, during this time, some Federation agents came to inquire about the death of the Sealed Wolf Sect’s Sect Leader.
However, this was merely a formality; they didn’t delve too deeply into the matter.
After all, according to the two surviving disciples of the Sealed Wolf Sect, he had been killed by a Middle Black Blood Species.
The subsequent investigation confirmed this.
It had little to do with the Shexin Sect.
But compared to the tranquility of Donglin Province, the other provinces in the Xia Federation governed by Lower-tier Schools were not so peaceful.
During this period, there were numerous cases of Inheritance Secret Martial Arts being plundered, similar to what happened to the Hu Yi Sect.
Within the Lower-tier Schools, the strongest were merely Martial Arts Families.
They were utterly powerless against a Qi Dao Grandmaster like Hu Qi, who acted without any sense of shame.
Of course, there were a few old-timers among them who valued their School’s Secret Martial Arts more than their own lives—stubborn to the point of being willing to die rather than submit.
For such situations, Hu Qi naturally had his own ways of prying their mouths open.
The method was simple; it just required a bit of physical assistance.
For instance, he would grievously injure them to the brink of death and then use Hypnosis while they were weakened. The effect was quite remarkable.
...
When a person has something to do and focuses their efforts on it, time seems to fly by.
In the Zhu Xi Building in Anshan City.
Having just purified the sinful souls of the Black Blood Species and Secret Martial Artists that had been sent over, Hu Qi returned to his office.
He picked up the cup on his desk and downed the hot water inside.
He let out a long breath.
With a thought, he called up the panel.
——————
[Bloodline: Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent (Incomplete 37%) △]
[Talent: Spirit Devouring: Twisted Light]
[Skill: Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Qi Vein Chapter, Third Layer) △ | Traits: Wolf Transformation, Tiger Intent, Rhino Armor, Flash Jump, Infrasound, Frenzy, Bath of Blood, Extreme Speed, Piercing...]
[Seven Evils Saber (Seventh Layer) △ | Trait: Sharpness...]
[Hypnosis Technique (Perfection) | Trait: Descent]
[True Crane Secret Martial Arts (Entry-Level) △]
[Golden Shark Secret Martial Arts (Entry-Level) △]
...
[Modification Points: 139 (21%)]
The panel had changed slightly compared to before.
Most noticeably, the number of Traits listed after the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map had grown to twenty.
Those were all brought by the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts he had integrated into it.
Integrating so many Inheritance Secret Martial Arts into the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map, aside from adding Traits, had also brought about other significant changes.
First, it had strengthened some extremely subtle parts of his body.
It had also allowed him to become compatible with the Traits of all the various Inheritance Secret Martial Arts.
At the same time, he could feel that as he continuously fed the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map with Inheritance Secret Martial Arts as fuel, it had optimized the pathways for his True Essence to circulate.
This made his True Essence flow faster, granting his attacks more power and greater endurance.
Furthermore, his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Bloodline, which was originally at 35%, had reached 37%, an increase of 2%.
It seemed that because the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map had integrated other Inheritance Secret Martial Arts, the arts themselves were enhanced, which in turn catalyzed the growth of his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Bloodline. Though it was only a 2% increase, it was still pretty good.
Hu Qi looked at the panel.
With a thought, he commanded inwardly, ’Crimson, modify and upgrade the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map to the Qi Vein Chapter, Fourth Layer!’
The panel trembled, and fifty Modification Points transformed into a streak of red light that fell into the entry for the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
At that same moment, inside his body, within his Qi Vein Divine Treasure, a vortex rapidly formed at the center of the vast, seemingly boundless Sea of True Essence.
It began to churn the surrounding dark red Sea of True Essence, which was like a bottomless abyss.
As a massive amount of True Essence was drawn into the vortex, its speed increased exponentially.
The vast Sea of True Essence began to shrink at a visible rate.
Even the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy that was constantly gathering and transforming into True Essence Power couldn’t replenish it fast enough.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The dark red Sea of True Essence that had once filled the entire Qi Vein Divine Treasure vanished.
In its place floated a crimson sphere.
The crimson sphere was like a blood-red sun, radiating red light.
On the surface of this blood-red sun, the somewhat illusory and transparent figure of a giant serpent was coiled, constantly slithering around it.
Hu Qi was very familiar with that giant serpent; it was the same Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent he had seen in the Illusion Mirror.
At the same time, the text for the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map on his panel became clear once more.
————
[Skill: Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Qi Vein Chapter, Fourth Layer) △ | Traits: Wolf Transformation, Tiger Intent, Rhino Armor, Flash Jump...]
...
[Modification Points: 89 (21%)]
Condensing Liquid into Pill required one to condense True Essence into a True Pill.
Now that the True Pill was formed, it meant Hu Qi had reached the level of a Middle-Level Qi Sect.
After sensing the condition of his body, Hu Qi once again modified and upgraded the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map by another layer.
Instantly, within his Qi Sea, the True Pill compressed inward, shrinking by a full circle compared to before.
The illusory figure of the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent coiled around it became a bit more solid, but other than that, there were no other changes.
Afterward, Hu Qi used his remaining Modification Points to raise his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Bloodline from 37% to 40%.
He closed his eyes and waited for a moment, digesting the explosive surge of power within his body.
Hu Qi opened his eyes.
He stretched his body briefly, producing a series of crackling sounds like firecrackers.
’This kind of peaceful life is actually quite nice, but it’s a pity...’
Hu Qi was a peace-loving person.
If it wasn’t necessary, he didn’t want to stain his hands with blood. To live peacefully like this, with no worries about food or drink, and watching himself grow stronger bit by bit every day—the feeling couldn’t be better.
Unfortunately, he also knew that his current life was like a rootless duckweed, or a bubble that would pop at the slightest touch.
It could disappear at any moment.
...
A few more days passed.
Within the Shexin Sect, a shocking piece of news was released.
Helinta had successfully broken through to become a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
The news instantly sent shockwaves through the community.
——————
CRACK!
In a bright and spacious training room, Han Yuan, who had just finished his cultivation, heard the report from his subordinate.
His expression changed drastically.
With a squeeze of his hand, the iron rod made of refined iron was crushed to pieces.
"What did you say? Helinta broke through to become a Qi Dao Grandmaster?"
Han Yuan stared at the person before him and asked, his words slow and deliberate.
At that moment, the person before Han Yuan was a young woman. Crushed by his aura as a Martial Arts Family, her face turned pale, and she stumbled, nearly falling.
Fortunately, she wasn’t an ordinary person but a Secret Martial Artist who had cultivated Qi and Blood; otherwise, she might have fainted on the spot.
Seemingly realizing his loss of composure, Han Yuan took two deep breaths and reined in his aura.
Noticing this, the woman’s complexion finally returned to normal.
"Ye... Yes, the information is absolutely correct."
Even as she said this, she couldn’t help but feel a little confused.
’Third Senior Brother’s reaction is a bit too extreme.’
’Second Senior Sister became a Qi Dao Grandmaster, so now our Shexin Sect has two of them.’
’Shouldn’t that be a good thing?’
’Why doesn’t Third Senior Brother look happy about it at all?’
However, that was a question she didn’t dare to ask.