Chapter 135: Chapter 135
“And you, Brother Shen?”
Meeting Xiao Wu’s question, Shen Xiuhan answered candidly. “I knocked open Hidden Strength. A modest gain, nothing more.”
“That’s excellent already.”
Xiao Wu sighed, clapped Shen Xiuhan on the shoulder, and offered comfort.
“The qi-blood in this pool is thin and gives out fast. No fault of ours that we lack the talent for more.”
At those words, the muscles in Wang Xuanyang’s face twitched. He looked ready to weep. After a long, strangled pause, he managed:
“At least the rest of you got something… I’d just packed my third aperture full of force, ready to break through, and the qi-blood cut out. What kind of luck is that?!”
The others traded glances. No one knew what to say.
Wang Xuanyang could say such a thing; they could not echo it.
However lacking the Dragon Blood Essence Pool might be, it was still a Wang family treasure — one that countless people would kill for.
This visit had spared every one of them months of bitter training, at minimum.
To still pick and carp — to eat from the bowl and then curse the cook the moment you set down your chopsticks — would be too graceless for words.
Shen Xiuhan stood in silence, eyes lowered, face neutral, and said not a word.
“Ahem… Brother Xuanyang.”
Seeing the awkwardness, Xiao Wu cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“The qi-blood here has run dry. Will it recover in time, do you think?”
Wang Xuanyang opened his mouth, hesitating.
This touched on a Wang family treasure, after all, and its inner workings weren’t for loose talk. He thought a moment, then explained vaguely.
“The Imperial Dragon-Binding Lock is a treasure passed down from ancient times — its wonders are of the very first order. Once the blood-qi has been drawn off, you need only seal it away and wait two or three years on its own. The qi-blood inside will gather full again and recover as before.”
“I see…”
Realization dawned in Xiao Wu’s eyes, and he praised sincerely.
“Truly worthy of an ancient spirit artifact. With a treasure like this anchoring their foundation, the Wang family is as good as owning a well that nourishes their descendants without end — undimmed for generations.”
Hearing Xiao Wu’s flattery, the bitterness faded from Wang Xuanyang’s lips, replaced by a flicker of pride he couldn’t quite suppress.
Some time ago, after a few words of guidance from Wang Zhidao, Wang Xuanyang had finally understood.
Wang Zhifan hadn’t dumped him in Changyun County and left him to fend for himself out of contempt for his status as a concubine’s son.
He had been paving a road for him.
Starting from the bottom, tempering his character, befriending talent — only so could he one day bear the weight of the Wang family.
With that, what little resentment Wang Xuanyang had harbored toward his father had long since melted away.
Now, hearing others speak of the Wang family with such awe, the dejection from his failed breakthrough gave way to a touch of pride.
Even though this, too, was his very first time setting foot in the blood pool.
“Enough.”
Xiao Wu waved a hand, cutting through everyone’s musings, his voice firm.
“The qi-blood here may be thin, but it’s still far richer than the outside world — it’s like swallowing pills the entire time we cultivate. There’s still a day before our time is up. Don’t waste it, everyone. Keep training.”
“Brother Xiao is right.”
The others agreed and dispersed, each finding a spot to settle back into meditation.
Shen Xiuhan quietly chose a corner, sitting on a recessed stone ledge at the pool’s edge.
He appeared to be regulating his breath, but in truth his spirit had already sunk inward to survey the gains of the past two days.
Xiao Wu and the others believed the Dragon Blood Essence Pool was overrated — its potency wildly exaggerated by the Wang family.
Only Shen Xiuhan’s mind was clear as a mirror. He knew exactly how extraordinary this place was.
The pool’s qi-blood was not only vast and immense — what made it rare was that it was pure and gentle, blending like water and milk, without the slightest overbearing clash.
As though it had been tamed, every trace of violent impurity stripped away.
Perfectly suited for a martial artist to refine!
Relying on his Perfection-grade Golden Vulture Soaring Wind Art, Shen Xiuhan had drained nearly half the pool’s qi-blood like a bottomless pit.
And the foundations of his apertures remained solid as mountains, without a hint of instability.
The reason the others felt the pool had given out was that a great portion of its qi-blood had been refined away — by Shen Xiuhan!
And with that qi-blood, he had opened all three of the early-stage Hidden Strength apertures — and cultivated each to Full Mastery.
The Taichong aperture!
The Guanyuan aperture!
The Tinggong aperture!
Three great apertures opened in full, qi-blood strung together like a string of pearls, force condensed solid as steel needles, circulating without cease.
The Shen Xiuhan of this moment was now a mere hair’s breadth from the marker of mid-Hidden Strength — the fourth of the nine apertures, the Mingmen aperture.
‘Once the Tinggong aperture reaches Perfection, I can open the Mingmen aperture — and that will take a month at most!’
“Hoo…”
Shen Xiuhan exhaled, a gleam in his eye, his heart pounding.
He sat there in stillness, feeling the force surging through the three apertures wend its way along his sinews, and an unprecedented confidence welled up within him.
After a long moment, Shen Xiuhan pressed down the churning emotion. He closed his eyes, re-formed the seal, and cultivated on.
Day forty-five since Chenjian Wu’s Ninth Chief Tu Xiaotian lost his eyes.
HUMMM!
The dim blood-pool space suddenly shuddered violently.
Stone-dust sifted down from the vaulted ceiling. Ripples spread across the pool.
The cultivators woke with a start, a scalding heat flaring at their wrists.
A hidden black chain-mark abruptly blazed with dazzling ghost-light, seizing them like an invisible hand.
“The three days are up — it’s pulling us out!”
Wang Xuanyang called out gravely.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
A breath after his words, six pillars of black light shot skyward, and the figures vanished in an instant.
…
The Wang Estate.
In the inner hall of the third courtyard.
THUD, THUD, THUD…
Several muffled impacts sounded in succession. Six figures dropped from midair in a daze, stumbling a few steps before steadying themselves on the floorboards.
At the head of the hall, the Wang family head Wang Zhidao was no longer present.
Only Zhao Zheng stood there, smiling.
He asked nothing. He simply put the Imperial Dragon-Binding Lock back into its case, clapped his hands, and laughed.
“Everyone, the feast ends here. The Longxiang Army’s promise still stands. Should any of you wish to enlist, you’ll be given priority in posting — no need to grind your way up from the rank and file.”
He paused, sweeping his gaze across them, and continued.
“Seven days from now, I’ll lead the army out of Changyun. Any who are interested may come find me at the camp outside the city…”
“Miss it, and the offer’s gone!”
The group offered their farewells with varied expressions and clasped fists.
Leaving the Wang Estate.
Dusk had fallen deep. The lanterns along both sides of the long street were flickering to life one by one.
Wang Xuanyang saw the others to the gate, then turned back inside.
Lin Sheng clasped his fists and took his leave as well.
At that point, Xiao Wu suddenly looked toward Luo Tangyin, then beckoned to Ji Ning and Shen Xiuhan.
Shen Xiuhan blinked, sensing Xiao Wu had something to tell them. He exchanged a glance with Ji Ning and stepped after him.
The four walked shoulder to shoulder through the long street, turning into a quiet, secluded alley.
When they reached a remote, deserted corner, Xiao Wu stopped.
He glanced warily left and right, confirming no one was watching nearby.
Only then did he turn around, his face grave, and lower his voice.
“Brothers — do you trust the kind of man I am?”
“What kind of talk is that, Brother Xiao?” Ji Ning replied without hesitation. “Between brothers like us, there’s no need for such words.”
Shen Xiuhan nodded along.
“If Brother Xiao has something to say, say it. If I can lend a hand, I won’t stand by.”
Luo Tangyin pressed her red lips together and stood silently behind Xiao Wu, her presence alone declaring where she stood.
Seeing this, a flicker of emotion crossed Xiao Wu’s face.
He drew a deep breath, glanced once more toward the alley’s mouth, then dropped his voice and spoke, word by word.
“I won’t hide it from you, brothers. Last month, when I went to Yunshui Lake searching for treasure, I uncovered an earth-shattering secret…”