Three Changes

Xia Hong's idea was simple: gather a group of colleagues and superiors to strike at the Huang Manor! For all the Huang Manor's deep-rooted connections across the Commandery Yamen, Six Doors, Black Armor Army, and Martial Restraint Guard, they were... not strong enough! Their greatest flaw was simply that they lacked sufficient strength! Old Master Huang Xunjiu of the Huang Manor was merely a sixth-rank martial artist, and among their in-laws there were only two in the sixth rank. In the younger generation, Huang Qian was considered the most outstanding, yet he had only reached the seventh rank—not even among the middle three ranks! Their meager strength meant they could never flip the table or mount a mutually destructive counterattack; they could only passively endure blows. Thus, even if the Huang Manor was a tortoise shell, it could not withstand the diamond drill of multiple Battalion Commanders! Of course, in ordinary times, these Battalion Commanders would never have banded together to strike at the Huang Manor. After all, Huang Xunjiu held a certain amount of face in the commandery seat, and if he were to drag his in-laws to weep and plead before the Commandery Governor, matters would be awkward for them as well. Now, however, the situation was completely different! Word of the rift between the Huang Manor and Huang Tian had spread long ago. Which superior across the Martial Restraint Guard, Six Doors, Black Armor Army, and Commandery Yamen did not know Huang Tian harbored deep dissatisfaction toward the Huang Manor? Suppressing the Huang Manor's influence would not only carve out a piece of meat from them to feast upon, but more importantly, it would draw them closer to Huang Tian! The world was a vast arena of self-interest; if courting Huang Tian yielded greater benefits than the cost of offending the Huang Manor, it was well worth doing. Battalion Commander Wang took two soft breaths. "Your mind is sharp, but wicked!" Xia Hong snapped irritably, "Just tell me, are you in or out?" Battalion Commander Wang squared his chest. "In! Of course I am! Only a fool wouldn't be! Why would I turn down free meat and an unearned favor?!" Xia Hong patted his belly and grinned. "I recall you get along well with several Silver Badge Constables in Six Doors. How about this: you go round up a few men, and I'll handle several Battalion Commanders in our Martial Restraint Guard. We'll set a unified plan to hit the Huang Manor together!" Battalion Commander Wang nodded. "Done. Leave it to me!" After conferring in hushed tones a bit longer, the two went their separate ways to attend to business. *** Meanwhile. Qinghui Garden, back courtyard. Rugged, peculiar rockeries stood amid babbling streams. Clear water struck pebbles of diverse shapes, splashing up mists and giving off crisp, chiming notes. Amid lush, fragrant blossoms and trees, Huang Tian stood with his legs naturally parted shoulder-width, the tips of his toes lightly braced as though treading upon clouds. He raised his hands slowly—one palm facing outward, one facing inward, like snake and dragon, as if cradling taiji. This was none other than the Cloud Dragon Stance, derived from the Five Phases Five Forms Cloud Dragon Free Hand! With every movement, his entire body absorbed spiritual qi with leisurely composure. The turbulent spiritual qi blended with his qi and blood, transforming into gentle true qi that circulated compliantly through the meridians throughout his body. Suddenly, his torso leaned slightly forward, then backward—no, not leaning forward and backward, but trembling with an imperceptible micro-vibration, the reaction of qi and blood reaching a peak boil and crashing against the membranes beneath his skin! *Boom!* Sensing the strange stirrings within, Huang Tian knew his breakthrough was imminent. With a tranquil expression, he gently pushed a palm forward. What was visibly a slow, deliberate thrust produced a continuous cascade of explosive cracks in the air! Pushing palms, retracting palms, throwing punches, pivoting, striking with elbows, kicking, shifting footing... Executing technique after technique, the surging qi and blood within him, faintly radiating a reddish glow through his skin, was drawn along. Scorching waves of heat rose, sending up a plume of white vapor over ten feet high above his crown! At the same time, spiritual qi poured furiously into his body like a torrential downpour. Every inch of his skin, muscle, sinew, and bone was remolded under the combined work of spiritual qi, true qi, and qi and blood, the surging vitality burning like molten magma. Were one to press an ear to his chest, one might even hear the roar of a rushing river and the eruption of a volcano! *Gurgle...* The running water beneath the rockery produced clear sounds that echoed the torrent of his qi and blood. *Pfft—* In an instant, as though some bottleneck had been shattered open, the unhindered qi and blood swept forth like a landslide barreling down a mountain, rampaging across everything in its path! Fed by spiritual qi, that true qi also burgeoned rapidly, seemingly on the verge of forming a tiny golden vortex. A surge of boundless power filled Huang Tian's entire body. The lingering soreness in his limbs and skeleton vanished completely, replaced by lightness, natural ease, and total mastery! The currents of air rising around him gradually subsided, and the flush upon his skin receded, replaced by jade-like warmth and smoothness. Huang Tian snapped his eyes open, his gaze striking like thunder in the dead of night, arresting the heart and soul! "Three changes of qi and blood, martial seventh rank—complete!" He clenched his fists and swung casually; gusts howled, rustling the tall trees nearby until their branches shook violently. Sinking slightly into his stance, he slowly reached forth in the Spirit Snake Coiling Mist form. His joints cracked and chimed in succession, producing a ringing sound like clashing metal! "Skin and membrane like thick hide, grand sinews like taut bowstrings, tempered bones like refined steel!" "Not bad!" Collecting his stance with satisfaction, he mused privately, *Even before this breakthrough, relying on the Five Phases Five Forms Cloud Dragon Free Hand, I could completely overwhelm sixth-rank martial artists and match a fifth rank—perhaps slightly stronger, perhaps slightly weaker. But now having broken through to the seventh rank, I am definitely stronger than a fifth rank! As for how much stronger, only a fight will tell!* And what was more! *The greatest hurdle for a lower-three-ranks martial artist to break into the middle three ranks—linking with and absorbing spiritual qi to convert into true qi—was conquered by me long ago. All that remains is further condensing true qi and smelting qi and blood, which is merely a matter of patient effort. At my current rate, half a month! In half a month, I can break through into the middle three ranks!* In merely a month since arriving in this world, three successive breakthroughs! And in another fifteen days, he would step into the realm of the middle three ranks! Such speed left him reasonably satisfied. *Still, for the martial artists of this world, it is a bit too fast,* Huang Tian pondered. *If I immediately announce another breakthrough to the outside, will it draw malicious scrutiny?* After deliberating a moment, he made up his mind: *There is nothing to worry about. The Five Directions Realm is vast, with populations across the five kingdoms totaling several billion to nearly ten billion. Can it really not allow for a genius far surpassing common logic? If one does not defy ordinary imagination, how could one be called an unprecedented prodigy?!* As for whether people with malicious intent would try to pry into the secret behind his astonishingly swift progress, there would certainly be some. Yet everything had two sides. Where there were villains, there would also be those who valued and wished to invest in him. When the time came, it would simply be the two factions clashing against each other, while he himself needed only to continuously break through, break through, and break through again! Once he reached the pinnacle, a few clowns could be wiped out with the flip of a hand. *After washing up, I'll go to the Registration Chamber at the yamen to update my martial cultivation records.* Mind made up, he didn't call for heated water, but picked up a wooden bucket and poured cold water directly over his head, washing himself off quickly before instantly drying the water droplets from his skin using his qi and blood. Changing into his black official uniform and fastening his waist token, he leisurely exited Qinghui Garden and headed toward the Martial Restraint Guard government office. The two locations were very close, just a short walk away. Passing through the front gates under the curious gazes of the guards and clerks, he arrived inside the Registration Chamber. His first words upon seeing the clerk seated behind the desk were: "I have achieved the three changes of qi and blood, and have come specifically to register."