Starting with Proficiency Panel
Chapter 63 Qi and Blood

Chapter 63: Chapter 63 Qi and Blood

Unexpectedly, I entered the other’s sights as soon as I entered the city.

I did underestimate them a bit.

Indeed, although this is an ancient society, without a complete social system, the people of the Mortal World couldn’t have lasted this long. Even in the ancient societies of the real world, the household registration system was very strict.

Lu Ren fell silent for a while. He didn’t know how to respond, as all his movements seemed to be under their control. If not for honestly buying a house upon entering Chentai City and basically staying home, the government officials would have had no reason to come looking for him.

If he had been flaunting around, he’d likely be getting questioned all over by now.

Seeing Lu Ren remain silent, Cao Jingde chuckled, "Alright, alright, as long as you’re alive."

After a pause, Cao Jingde was somewhat surprised and said, "I see your skills aren’t bad, so why don’t you gather Qi and Blood?"

Gather Qi and Blood?

The Golden Swan Leg Technique has a detailed explanation. When the body is tempered enough, Qi and Blood will naturally generate Inner Breath. After successful transport, you can gather Qi and Blood to unleash Qi and Blood Inner Breath to harm demons.

This attack method is quite fantastical, but unfortunately, Lu Ren couldn’t adopt it due to physical reasons.

Lu Ren: "...Body’s not up to it."

Cao Jingde understood and wasn’t too surprised, as if it was a common sight.

"Indeed, very few can gather Qi and Blood. There are quite a few people like you, yet your skills are indeed formidable, to reach such a level without the aid of Qi Blood Power."

Lu Ren opened his mouth but then sighed, choosing not to elaborate further.

After confirming that Lu Ren couldn’t perform Qi and Blood Transport, Cao Jingde felt slightly reassured and smiled again, saying, "Little brother, although the Mortal World isn’t as full of mysteries as the Underworld, demons still occasionally appear... Especially in the border areas of the Yang Membrane. But don’t worry, the stuff in the well is clean now, no problem."

After a few pleasantries, Lu Ren watched Cao Jingde hum a tune and walk away.

He couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. The fist techniques and swordsmanship he practiced were vastly different from this world’s paths. Although the basic theories might be similar, the subsequent paths diverged completely.

The martial arts ideals of the real world’s fist techniques aim to explore human limits, whereas the Qi and Blood Martial Technique of this world targeted demonic qi to continually strengthen Qi and Blood Inner Breath, ultimately forming what’s known as True Gang.

Qi and Blood, huh.

As Lu Ren pondered, his heart suddenly contracted and expanded violently.

Thump-thump!

A massive amount of blood rushed from his heart and diffused throughout his body, followed by a boiling energy emanating from Lu Ren’s body, vaguely forming a heatwave radiating in all directions.

The air flowed rapidly in the wake of his intense energy.

"Whew..."

Even that brief moment was overwhelming for Lu Ren; the overload was too great. Despite reaching a Slightly Accomplished level in the Phoenix Falcon Fist allowing him to roughly control his body, this sudden expansion and contraction of his heart placed immense stress on his body.

The bloodstream through his body was impacted, causing minor and major blood clots to surface on his skin.

This resulted from his capillaries being unable to withstand such high-speed compression, thus rupturing.

Now Lu Ren’s head was buzzing, and he felt a particularly indescribable discomfort in his internal organs.

"Ding, your blood suddenly circulated rapidly, your Constitution Skill Level +2"

"Ding, due to unsuccessful control, your body suffered some damage. The current state is moderately weakened, combat power reduced; it seems you need a day’s rest."

Seeing the system alert in his mind, Lu Ren couldn’t help but shake his head with frustration.

The Martial Path entirely diverged, otherwise, those two sword strikes earlier wouldn’t have forced Cao Jingde into such a fluster.

As mentioned before, this world’s Qi and Blood Transport dealt mainly with killing Underworld demons. Against humans, it only brought a sweeping heatwave, a temporary increase in physical attributes, with little else.

Perhaps once True Gang is formed, another image will emerge.

The Phoenix Falcon Fist also had potential bursts to temporarily liberate the rigid cognitive limits of the human body for a short burst in strength.

Such bodily manipulation wasn’t too far off for him.

After tidying up the scorched debris in the yard, he went to the well.

Lu Ren couldn’t help but fall into thought. Can the water from this well really be used? If not, how would he solve the issue of drinking water?

He drew some water from the well again with a bucket, examined the water under the bright moonlight, and immersed a detector to confirm it met all standards before calmly pouring it over himself to wash away the dust.

After all, it’s just hair. Unless it’s too strange, having been exposed to countless horror films in the modern world, he found it still acceptable.

Besides, if she was a beautiful ghost when alive, it wouldn’t be unacceptable...

"Still ten days to go..."

Lu Ren exhaled, entered the house to sleep, placing the longsword by his side to respond quickly in case of unexpected incidents.

...

...

"Women only slow down my sword-drawing speed; I refuse!"

Lu Ren didn’t even turn his head, directly rejecting Cao Jingde’s invitation to join him at Nine-Eyed Square, as Cao leaned against the doorframe.

Ever since the incident with the well a few days ago, when Lu Ren’s two sword strikes left him in a panic, he had shown great interest in Lu Ren.

It reached the point where he would frequently visit, eager to spar with Lu Ren.

Lu Ren didn’t refuse the opportunity, as sparring with someone who possessed an innate "whetstone" attribute was beneficial. Although his Skill Level had increased, stabilizing his strength, achieving genuine combat effectiveness and consistency required extensive practice.

It’s not just about handling skills; once the system advances automatically, techniques within the Fist Realm emerge naturally, as if innate, but it deals with combat response tactics.

What’s trained is the awareness.

And without a doubt, Cao Jingde was a quite competent opponent. As a Cyan-Robed Envoy of the Demon Extermination Bureau, he could sustain a Qi and Blood Burst for half an hour without rest.

Lu Ren was able to hold his own against him using only Proficient Level Basic Swordsmanship combined with Heartless Sword techniques.

The vast martial arts Cao Jingde practiced appeared rather crude to Lu Ren; their Qi Blood Martial Technique focused mostly on demons.

Yet undoubtedly, Cao Jingde’s physical attributes were stronger, more resilient, with a higher margin for error, at least allowing him to steadily improve his practical combat skills while honing his people’s Martial Path techniques.

Cao Jingde regretted, "You truly missed one of life’s great pleasures!"

Lu Ren gave him a glance, slowly sheathed his sword, and said, "How can you gather Qi and Blood while you’re scattering your essence daily?"

"Ha, I focus on consuming Dragon Tooth Rice daily. Excessive essence requires expending some of it."