Fusion and Advancement, An Unexpected Delight

In the courtyard. Enormous changes were taking place in Lin Zheyu's body. Vast Origin Power surged out, drawing the medicinal strength of the herbs in the wooden tubs and turning it into energy that flowed into Lin Zheyu's body. Endless qi and blood power was refined out, and under the purification of the mysterious energy it grew ever purer; the energy contained in each unit of qi and blood grew stronger and stronger. The stronger the qi and blood, the more terrifying the physique it nourished. The mysterious energy guided the medicinal strength into his four limbs and hundred bones, his muscles and sinews, strengthening them further. After a dozen or so breaths. Lin Zheyu opened his eyes, thick exhaustion filling them. Using nine units of Origin Power at once had nearly been too much for him; a strong drowsiness and weariness welled up in his mind. "Phew..." "Using nine units of Origin Power at once is a bit of a stretch." Lin Zheyu let out a long breath. He rubbed the space between his brows and rested a while before he recovered. Both wooden tubs had been drained of their medicinal strength, and the qi and blood in his body was stronger than ever before. "Huh?!" Lin Zheyu looked at his consciousness data and couldn't help blurting out in surprise. [Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Origin Power: 2 Skills: Wild Bull Fist (Perfection) Six Harmonies Saber (Minor Success 79%) Golden Goose Skill (Seventh Layer 2%) Ten Thousand Armies Steps (Fourth Layer 23%) Poison King Body (First Layer 0%) Turtle Breathing Art (Third Layer 4%) "To think the Ten Thousand Armies Steps rose along with it!" Delight showed on Lin Zheyu's face. He had already cultivated the Golden Goose Skill to its peak; to keep improving, the road ahead had to be comprehended and created by himself. After obtaining the Ten Thousand Armies Steps, he had gained new inspiration and found another direction for improving his movement technique. So when cultivating in the consciousness space, he had unconsciously pushed the Golden Goose Skill toward the Ten Thousand Armies Steps, increasing its nimbleness and its close-range dodging ability. "If I keep improving it, I might be able to fuse the two techniques directly into a new one," Lin Zheyu said to himself. Complete fusion would be somewhat difficult, but merging the Ten Thousand Armies Steps into the Golden Goose Skill and cutting away the parts that clashed—that was still doable. It would just take a long stretch of study, pondering, hard practice, and improvement. And time was the one thing he had in greatest supply. One unit of Origin Power could give him roughly a year of hard practice in that special consciousness space. Swish! Lin Zheyu shifted and vanished from where he stood. Using the Golden Goose Skill, he moved swiftly about the courtyard, his figure like an afterimage. He would shoot out less than a meter, then sharply reverse direction and keep accelerating. At times he pivoted in midair, leaping forward and vaulting back, darting left and flashing right, more ethereal than before and impossible to read. Bang! Lin Zheyu abruptly appeared in front of the wooden training post, the qi and blood power in his body erupting as his fist swung out and a powerful aura rose from him. His punch smashed into the wooden training post with a dull boom. "Compared to the First Blood Transformation, my strength has roughly doubled," Lin Zheyu said to himself. After each qualitative change in his qi and blood, the energy held within each unit rose, and the power burst out from each unit grew stronger. Having finished improving his strength, Lin Zheyu didn't use up the remaining two units. After reaching the seventh layer of the Golden Goose Skill, the difficulty of improvement had climbed considerably. He estimated he would need about twelve units of Origin Power to break through to the Qi and Blood Three Transformations, the level of qi and blood like a tiger. Two units of Origin Power wouldn't improve his strength much; there was no rush. He had just broken through and his mind was deeply tired; he needed sufficient rest. Lin Zheyu rested a while, then went out to patrol. After his promotion, there were still some tasks he had originally needed to handle, but Gang Leader Xu had assigned him a deputy, and most of those tasks were handed off to the man. "Sir!" Zhenbin cupped his hands toward Lin Zheyu. Over this stretch of time, he had come to accept Lin Zheyu quite a bit in his heart. This Lord Lin was modest and mild; Zhenbin had come to the door to challenge him several times, and each time Lin Zheyu had beaten him with ease, stopping short and not using much force. After the fight, he would even offer him some pointers, and Zhenbin had gained a good deal from it. "Nothing much going on lately, is there?" Lin Zheyu asked. "No. It's only that the fighting has broken out again recently, and quite a few merchant caravans passing through have come into the city, so things are more disorderly. Rumor has it the rebel army has taken another city, and now the common folk in the city are rather uneasy," Zhenbin said. "Mm. Go on with your work." Lin Zheyu nodded. He came to the Bidan Teahouse, where business was much quieter than usual. The war had eased for over a month, and the people's lives hadn't yet recovered when the rebel army began attacking cities and seizing territory again—how could business be good? "Lord Lin, over here!" Xie Jiang waved at Lin Zheyu and called him over to join them. "Just call me Brother Lin. Calling me Lord Lin is too distant." Lin Zheyu said with a smile. He had reminded them several times, but these fellows still called him Lord Lin. It sounded strange to his ears. "How could we? If we called you Brother Lin, what would the other brothers think? Where would your dignity be?" Ning Hui said. "Forget it, call me whatever you like." Lin Zheyu was at a loss for words. After drinking tea at the teahouse for a while, chatting with the others, and eating a little something, Lin Zheyu left. In the evening, it was the day the black market opened. At the black market, Lin Zheyu sold off the goods he had taken from the bandits, fetching one hundred and twenty taels of silver. He had originally wanted to set up a stall and sell the Ten Thousand Armies Steps, but no sooner had he set it out than the black market people stopped him. In the black market, no one was allowed to sell techniques of the Qi and Blood Realm or above. Helpless, Lin Zheyu could only give up. He now had over a thousand taels of silver, enough to last him a while, so he hadn't sold the Blood Pill or that pair of gauntlets. Both items were extremely precious, and might prove useful later. Time slipped by, and three days passed. In the courtyard. Lin Zheyu held his saber, practicing the Six Harmonies Saber. His life had returned to calm; he had stayed in the city all this while and never left it again. Swish, swish, swish. Blade light flickered as Lin Zheyu nimbly shifted and dodged within a small space. The Ten Thousand Armies Steps emphasized the agility of movement and short-range dodging at close quarters; it was best suited to fighting in a crowd. Once he had fully fused the Ten Thousand Armies Steps into the Golden Goose Skill, paired with the Six Harmonies Saber, Lin Zheyu would be able to kill ten men in a single step and cross a thousand li without leaving a trace. After two shichen of practice, Lin Zheyu stopped to rest. After eating, he changed his clothes and went straight to the Han Manor. Senior Brother Han had returned to Songyi City yesterday afternoon; Lin Zheyu had sent a calling card yesterday and was visiting today. "Young Master Lin, you're here. Please come in," the Han Manor guard said respectfully. "Mm." Lin Zheyu nodded and, led by the guard, came to the rear courtyard of the Han Manor. Senior Brother Han was bare-chested, practicing the Six Harmonies Saber in the yard, his body drenched in sweat. His saber skill was extraordinarily deep; he had cultivated the Six Harmonies Saber to an unfathomable level. "Senior Brother is about to break through to the Qi and Blood Realm?" Lin Zheyu thought. He sensed that the fluctuations of blood qi on Senior Brother Han's body were much stronger than before; he was only a step away from the Qi and Blood Realm. Lin Zheyu didn't disturb Han Mo's practice. He sat down at the stone table, ate the snacks the maid brought out, and leisurely enjoyed the courtyard scenery. Cold winter had passed and it was now spring; many bright flowers were in bloom in the courtyard. After waiting about an hour, Han Mo finally put away his saber and stopped. "Why didn't you tell me you'd arrived?" Han Mo said with a smile when he saw Lin Zheyu. He had just reached a crucial point in his practice, wholly absorbed in his saber, and hadn't noticed Lin Zheyu arrive. "There was no hurry. Senior Brother had reached a crucial point—how could I disturb you lightly?" "Senior Brother, you're about to break through to the Qi and Blood Realm?" Lin Zheyu said with a smile. "Soon. I've already touched the threshold." Han Mo smiled, clearly delighted. After practicing martial arts for so many years, he was finally about to break through to the Qi and Blood Realm. "Senior Brother, you might try breaking through with the Golden Goose Skill. I'd guess it would come faster than the Six Harmonies Saber," Lin Zheyu suggested. The Golden Goose Skill, after all, was a technique that could be cultivated straight to the Qi and Blood Four Transformations; its training efficiency was far beyond anything the Six Harmonies Saber could match. "No good. I've tried the Golden Goose Skill too; cultivating it is very difficult for me, and I've long failed to grasp the essentials." Han Mo shook his head. Liang Song had taught him the Golden Goose Skill before, but unfortunately he had never gotten the hang of it. Instead, he had a good talent for the Six Harmonies Saber and had progressed with astonishing speed; now he was even on the verge of breaking through to the Qi and Blood Realm. "I picked up a manual off a bandit some time ago. It's also a leg technique, and it can be cultivated straight to the Qi and Blood Three Transformations. Its cultivation difficulty is much lower than the Golden Goose Skill—would you like to try it, Senior Brother?" Lin Zheyu said with a smile. He took a secret manual from his robe and handed it over. Nowadays Lin Zheyu always carried a manual when he went out, and whenever a chance came he'd look for someone to pitch it to, to see whether he could sell it. Selling manuals was far quicker money than going out and robbing bandits. Lin Zheyu planned to pitch one to Qiu Gaoxuan once he recovered from his illness, and see whether he was short of a Qi and Blood Realm technique. Han Mo took the manual and leafed through it. The more he read, the brighter his eyes became. The Ten Thousand Armies Steps centered on agility of movement, and the first few layers were much easier to cultivate than the Golden Goose Skill. Only after the fifth and sixth layers did the difficulty climb sharply. "Junior Brother, I'll buy this manual. Name your price!" Han Mo said, rather worked up. This technique really was much easier to cultivate than the Golden Goose Skill; he had a fair chance of mastering it. "Senior Brother, there's no need to stand on ceremony. I picked this manual off a bandit anyway; there's no loss in letting you look at it." Lin Zheyu said with a smile. Senior Brother Han had always been good to him, always thinking to help him; at the very beginning he had given him a great deal of assistance. Just as he said, it was only a looted manual; there was no loss in letting Senior Brother Han see it. "How could that do? If you won't take money, I won't take the manual." Han Mo shook his head. He had his own principles and didn't want to profit off his junior brother over such a trifle. "All right, four hundred taels would be about right." Lin Zheyu said helplessly. "How can a Qi and Blood Realm technique be that cheap? The ones sold inside the army cost over five hundred taels of silver, and you need enough military merit to buy them besides." Han Mo shook his head. The City Guard sold Qi and Blood Realm techniques internally as well, but they required military merit; unfortunately his military merit wasn't enough, or he'd have bought one long ago. Military merit was very hard to accumulate, especially in the City Guard. Only in the past year, after the rebel army appeared and bandits grew numerous, had suppressing bandits let him save up a good amount of merit—and even that wasn't enough. "Li Fei, fetch eighty taels of gold," Han Mo instructed. "That's too much, too much. I can't take that much. If you feel bad about it, sixty taels of gold will do, or I won't take it," Lin Zheyu cut in. "Fine, sixty taels of gold then." Han Mo nodded and had a servant bring sixty taels of gold. To those great families, a Qi and Blood Realm technique was nothing much, but to him it was exceedingly precious. "Senior Brother, you can try cultivating it. If there's anything you don't understand, I can give you some pointers," Lin Zheyu said with a smile. "Not long ago I managed, by luck, to break through to Bone Tempering Peak, so I have some grasp of leg techniques." "Good... Hm??" "You've broken through to Bone Tempering Peak?" Han Mo's eyes went wide, full of disbelief. How long had his junior brother been practicing, and he'd already reached Bone Tempering Peak! Han Mo took quite a while to digest the news, his face full of mixed emotion. "If Master heard this, he'd surely be very happy," Han Mo said. "Yes. I wonder where Master is now." Lin Zheyu said. He was deeply grateful to Liang Song; without him, none of this would have gone so smoothly. A Qi and Blood Realm technique sold for eight hundred taels of silver; without Liang Song, it would have taken him ages to save up enough to afford one at that level. And even with money, he might not have been able to buy one at all. The Songyi City black market was clamped down on tightly by the great families, who wouldn't let anyone sell Qi and Blood Realm techniques or above there. He'd wanted to sell the Ten Thousand Armies Steps there, and someone had quickly appeared to stop him. The two chatted for a while, then Han Mo impatiently began cultivating the Ten Thousand Armies Steps. Lin Zheyu guided him from the side; he had already brought the Ten Thousand Armies Steps to the fourth layer, so guiding Senior Brother Han was easy. Time passed. At his sister-in-law's urging, Lin Zheyu stayed for dinner and left only after eating; by then the sky had grown rather dark. The New Year had passed and war had risen again; the streets of Songyi City were very quiet, drained of their old liveliness. After passing through several streets, a servant dressed as a houseboy appeared ahead of Lin Zheyu. The houseboy bowed to Lin Zheyu from a distance, then came forward and said respectfully, "Young Master Lin, our master invites you." "Which master of yours?" Lin Zheyu asked, somewhat surprised. The ones he was fairly close to were only Xu Qinyi, Ren Qingfeng, and Chen Xihong; usually only they and Gang Leader Xu invited him over. The people they sent to invite him were all men he knew, and he had never seen this one before. "Our master is an elder of the Xing clan and would like to have a word with you," the houseboy said. "The Xing clan... No." Lin Zheyu refused outright. He ignored the houseboy and kept walking forward. Ever since Xing Jinglong and his son had died, he had lived peacefully for a while, and he didn't want any further entanglement with the Xing clan. None of the Xing clan's people were any good. "Young Master Lin would do better not to refuse so lightly. The elder said that if Young Master Lin doesn't go, then Young Master Lin's friends may have to suffer a little." "Young Master Lin's kin aren't in Songyi City, but while you've been here you've made quite a few friends, and you're very close with Wu Yinghe, Jia Yanyong, Xie Jiang, and the others." "You wouldn't want anything to happen to them, would you, Young Master Lin?" The houseboy said it smilingly, as though speaking of some trifling matter. Hearing that, Lin Zheyu's gaze fixed, and he looked coldly at the houseboy.