Human Clan Defender
Chapter 74: Untraceable

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Untraceable

From past experience with advancements, consumption only increased when Martial Arts reached Perfection or when breaking through limits. Before that, all consumption was maintained at an average level. This meant that before reaching the fifteenth layer, the consumption for each layer of the Invincible Golden Body was the same.

The fifth layer of the Invincible Golden Body was already somewhat stronger than the twentieth layer of the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Practice. The sixth layer, moreover, completely surpassed that martial art. Although merging consumed twenty Slaughter Value, in the long run, merging after breaking limits was undoubtedly worthwhile.

When Heavenly Martial Gang Qi breaks its limits, advancing each layer only costs eight Slaughter Value. The Invincible Golden Body, without breaking its limits, has the same advancement cost as Heavenly Martial Gang Qi. This martial art’s rank has already surpassed Heavenly Martial Gang Qi!

Having had the panel for quite some time, Shen Changqing had gained considerable understanding. The most intuitive way to judge a martial art’s rank was to look at its Slaughter Value consumption during advancement. The Invincible Golden Body’s higher consumption naturally meant its rank was much higher than Heavenly Martial Gang Qi’s.

Quietly feeling the surging Qi and Blood within his body, Shen Changqing’s focus now fell on Heavenly Martial Gang Qi. The Invincible Golden Body is strong, true, but Inner Strength is still primary. It’s just a pity that, from the current situation, it seems Inner Strength cannot be merged. However, as long as I have Slaughter Value, whether Inner Strength can be merged or not won’t be too much of an issue. If it can’t be done, it doesn’t matter. I can just use Slaughter Value to level it up directly.

Looking at the Martial Arts on the panel, a thought emerged in Shen Changqing’s mind: Only with Martial Dao True Intent can one be considered a Grandmaster. So, if I were to further enhance my Heavenly Martial Gang Qi, would I only be able to increase the total amount of True Qi, or is there also a possibility of comprehending Martial Dao True Intent? No one ever stipulated that Martial Dao True Intent can’t be comprehended through Inner Strength. But... He also couldn’t be sure if elevating Heavenly Martial Gang Qi to higher levels would allow him to comprehend Martial Dao True Intent.

Casting aside distracting thoughts, Shen Changqing began the next round of enhancements. Slaughter Value was consumed. Heavenly Martial Gang Qi directly transformed from the thirteenth layer to the fourteenth. At the moment of this martial art’s transformation, the surging Qi and Blood within his flesh also depleted frantically, converting into liquefied True Qi in his Dantian.

His Qi and Blood were exhausted. Even though his Invincible Golden Body had broken through to the sixth layer, Shen Changqing found it somewhat unbearable. He immediately grabbed a bottle of Qi and Blood Pills and consumed them. A single Qi and Blood Pill could replenish the entire Qi and Blood of a Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist. Ordinary people naturally wouldn’t dare to consume them recklessly. But for Shen Changqing, swallowing eight Qi and Blood Pills only partially filled the void left by his Qi and Blood depletion. Soon after, he grabbed another bottle of Qi and Blood Pills and consumed them.

After a long while, the commotion gradually subsided. Shen Changqing let out a heavy breath. "It’s over!"

Enhancing Heavenly Martial Gang Qi to the fourteenth layer consumed far more than I imagined. Even with the Invincible Golden Body’s higher rank, advancing to the sixth layer couldn’t completely balance the consumption. If it were the old Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Practice, I would have had to enhance it by at least two layers to achieve this effect.

Shen Changqing frowned deeply. Twenty-two bottles of Qi and Blood Pills, totaling one hundred seventy-six pills, and I just consumed twenty. It seems the further Inner Strength is enhanced, the greater the consumption. Balancing this with the Qi and Blood boosted by Outer Techniques is quite difficult. Unless I enhance Outer Techniques by several layers at once and then advance Inner Strength by a single layer, balance could be achieved. But doing that would consume more Slaughter Value, and the power gained would be considerably less.

Enhancing Outer Techniques doesn’t yield much power; it’s nowhere near as rapid as the boost from enhancing Inner Strength. Feeling his body was still somewhat depleted, this time he didn’t use Qi and Blood Pills. Instead, he consumed several Satiety Pills, immediately using True Qi to break them down and transform the elixirs’ energy entirely into Qi and Blood. Soon, Shen Changqing noted the difference between them.

Satiety Pills can also be converted into Qi and Blood, but the amount is too little; a whole bottle of Satiety Pills cannot compare to a single Qi and Blood Pill. Moreover, there’s a time delay in converting them to Qi and Blood, so they can’t be absorbed by the body as directly as Qi and Blood Pills. During a breakthrough, time is critical; relying on Satiety Pills to offset consumption is simply not feasible. On the contrary, during Outer Technique enhancement, Satiety Pills can indeed be consumed to offset the resulting energy drain.

The effects of the two types of elixirs were just as Shen Changqing had anticipated. Qi and Blood Pills are mainly for Inner Strength advancement to supplement Qi and Blood consumption. Satiety Pills are mainly for Outer Technique advancement to supplement physical energy consumption. Of course, if there’s a Qi and Blood deficit on ordinary days, Satiety Pills can be used to balance it. But during a breakthrough using Slaughter Value, they simply won’t do.

For normal cultivation, Satiety Pills will do. When it’s time to advance, I’ll have to use Qi and Blood Pills. After all, a bottle of Qi and Blood Pills costs forty silver, and even with over twenty thousand silver remaining, I can’t afford to squander it long-term. Shen Changqing mentally calculated his miscellaneous expenses, adding them to the previous one thousand silver. From thirty thousand silver, only a little over twenty-eight thousand is left.

It’s true what they say: the path of letters leads to poverty, while the path of martial arts demands wealth. The expenses are more than ordinary people can afford. Shen Changqing shook his head.

He pulled out the long blade he had long since discarded and slashed his palm again. He felt only a cold touch; unlike last time, no small cuts appeared. The Invincible Golden Body has improved, elevating my flesh’s defense to another level. However, he didn’t try it with the Lengyue Blade. That was a true Treasure Blade capable of slicing through iron like mud; his sixth-layer Invincible Golden Body had no chance of resisting it. Only when the Invincible Golden Body reached Perfection would Shen Changqing consider trying.

Twelve layers of Heavenly Martial Gang Qi meant I had stepped into the Innate Outer Gang Realm. When I elevated it to the thirteenth layer, I was almost at a peak. So now, having upgraded to the fourteenth layer, I should be securely at the Innate Peak. I wonder if advancing one more layer would enable me to break the Innate barrier and reach a level comparable to a Grandmaster. With fourteen layers of Heavenly Martial Gang Qi, he was certain he was at the Innate Peak stage.

After all, twelve layers were already Innate Outer Gang. Having advanced two more layers, the concentration of True Qi in my Dantian is incomparably stronger than it was at the twelfth layer. Calling it Innate Peak might even be an underestimate. If I had comprehended Martial Dao True Intent, I would suspect I could already rival a Grandmaster.

I still lack a bit to be comparable to a Grandmaster, but dealing with ordinary Innate Martial Artists shouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, I only have seven Slaughter Value points left, not enough to continue improving.

Once the upgrade was complete, Shen Changqing left his courtyard and headed to the Scripture Pavilion. His purpose in visiting the Scripture Pavilion this time was not to cultivate Martial Arts. Martial Arts should be valued for quality, not quantity. Given my current state, the Martial Arts I’ve mastered are sufficient; what remains is to become proficient in them. As for fusing Martial Arts, with the scarcity of Slaughter Value I currently have, I have no plans for that either. Therefore, his purpose in going to the Scripture Pavilion was to search for information regarding Mo Zijin.

I’ve encountered many Demon Evils, Shen Changqing mused, but I’ve never seen an existence as eerie as Mo Zijin.

Upon entering the Scripture Pavilion, he didn’t go to the second floor but stayed on the first. The second floor housed Martial Arts, while the first floor contained both Martial Arts and various records about Demon Evils.

Recalling memories, Shen Changqing walked up to a bookshelf and pulled out a book. Turning the pages, he began to read the recorded content:

"In the 132nd year of Great Qin, Demon Evils brought disaster, launching a major attack on Guangyuan Prefecture. The Demon-Subduing Division dispatched powerful experts to suppress them. However, traitors from the Human Clan colluded with the Demon Evils, resulting in heavy losses for the Division.

"As a result, seven Defender Envoys fell in battle, and countless Demon Hunters perished.

"The Demon Evils breached twenty-one cities, and innumerable citizens were slain by their hands. Later, the Demon-Subduing Division, disregarding the cost in casualties, managed to either execute or expel the Demon Evils, resolving the crisis in Guangyuan Prefecture.

"In that battle, a vast number of civilians died. Corpses piled up like mountains, eventually causing an epidemic that infected many.

"The plague persisted for four years until the 136th year of Great Qin, when the last infected person died, finally ending the disaster. f.(r)eew ebnov\ll.com

"According to statistics, nearly ten million citizens of Guangyuan Prefecture died or were injured over those four years. More than a million of them died from the epidemic, while the rest perished at the hands of the Demon Evils."

Shen Changqing flipped through the text. One can only imagine the scale of devastation caused by the Demon Evil disaster in the 132nd year of Great Qin and the subsequent epidemic. I don’t know the total population of Great Qin, but a death and injury toll nearing ten million was definitely a crippling blow. NovelFire

Long ago, Shen Changqing had stumbled upon this by chance. At that time, he had merely glanced at it before putting it back, so he only remembered parts of the content. Now that I’ve read it again, I fully understand the situation. Regrettably, I still haven’t found any information about Mo Zijin in it.

Returning the book to its place, Shen Changqing continued to browse other volumes.

For the next three days, Shen Changqing remained in the Scripture Pavilion, constantly browsing through books to bolster his understanding of Demon Evils. From these books, he learned a great deal, filling many gaps in his previous knowledge. However, he found no records whatsoever regarding Mo Zijin or similar Demon Evils.

Searching through books is proving unreliable; I’ll have to ask Jiang Zuo! Shen Changqing put down the book in his hand, stood up, and looked around the spacious first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, feeling quite helpless. The Scripture Pavilion is too large, housing countless books. Relying solely on my own efforts to find what I want is undoubtedly a difficult task. Three days of this had made Shen Changqing completely abandon the idea of solving the mystery by himself.

Leaving the Scripture Pavilion, he returned to the Huang Department’s Demon Hunting Court and knocked on the Steward’s courtyard door. KNOCK, KNOCK!

Soon, the courtyard door opened. Jiang Zuo saw the visitor and promptly turned to walk back in. "Whatever it is, come in and we’ll talk!"