Chapter 1: Desert Pursuit

The desert, boundless and endless.

The wind whipped up dust from the gravel, obscuring the blood-red setting sun, which was now reduced to a mere arc of a silhouette.

A few scattered, stunted trees swayed their withered branches in the wind and sand.

As the sky darkened, the desert appeared even more desolate and bleak.

Licking his cracked lips, Xia Daoming gazed into the distance at an abandoned village standing alone in the desert just like him, and decided to stay there for the night before continuing his journey early the next morning.

In the desert during the day, the most unbearable thing was the sun hanging overhead, scorching the body without a moment's respite, along with the endless, exposed sand and stone that stretched as far as the eye could see.

It made one produce feelings of despair involuntarily.

But relatively speaking, it was still considered safe.

The desert at night was not only bitingly cold, but also concealed many unknown dangers.

There were packs of wolves running everywhere in search of prey, rattlesnakes, scorpions, and eight-legged sand spiders that would suddenly emerge quietly from underground...

Most of the houses in this nameless village in the desert had already collapsed, leaving only broken walls and ruins.

In the center of the village, there was a dilapidated ancient well, but unfortunately, the well water had already dried up.

There was not a trace of life around, only yellow sand, withered vegetation, and white bones half-exposed in the yellow sand.

The sound of the wind echoed in the empty, desolate village.

Desolate.

Dead silent.

"Bang!"

Xia Daoming gently pushed the dilapidated wooden door, and the door collapsed with a crash, kicking up thick dust.

What came into view was a white skeleton lying prone on a table.

On the ground, there was also a skeleton that looked like a child.

Xia Daoming glanced at it and quickly retreated from this ruined house.

After searching the village and confirming there was no danger, Xia Daoming selected a place to spend the night.

A room that still had a broken roof and four crumbling walls.

Xia Daoming tidied up the room roughly, sprinkled some powder to prevent insects and snakes around the room, then went outside to scatter some caltrops, and pulled a few ice-silkworm silk threads, with one end of the ice-silkworm silk thread tied to his finger.

After all this was done, Xia Daoming sat down and took out an ancient wooden box from his bosom.

As soon as the wooden box was opened, a refreshing fragrance immediately assailed his nostrils.

Inside the wooden box lay something five inches long and an inch thick, dark purple in color, with patterns like dragon scales on it, shaped like ginseng, and clearly showing signs of having been gnawed upon.

Xia Daoming took that thing out and, like gnawing on a radish, took two large bites.

That dark purple thing actually had white, paste-like sap flowing out, emitting waves of refreshing fragrance.

Xia Daoming licked the sap from the gnawed area clean, put the thing back into the wooden box, and kept it close to his body.

Next, Xia Daoming sat cross-legged and operated the "Dragon Snake Art".

After a long time, in the dark night, Xia Daoming slowly opened his eyes.

A very simple interface appeared in his mind.

Xia Daoming—

Cultivation: Fourth-rank Wu Shi

First-level meridian strengthening progress: Zero percent.

"Finally broke through to become a fourth-rank Wu Shi!"

A flash of surprise appeared in Xia Daoming's eyes.

An accident a year ago caused Xia Daoming to transmigrate into this young body of the same name, becoming a second-rank Wu Shi at the Dragon Snake Qianjiao Wu Guan in Black Shicheng.

Humans have twelve regular meridians, connecting the internal organs.

The rank of a Wu Shi corresponds to the twelve regular meridians, divided into twelve ranks.

If force operates within one meridian, one is a first-rank Wu Shi; if force clears the meridian barrier and can operate within two meridians, one is a second-rank Wu Shi, and so on, up to the twelfth rank.

At that time, not only did he gain some memories of the original owner of this body in his mind, but he also gained a simple system interface.

The system's function was as simple as its interface.

Strengthen meridian toughness and capacity.

For every rank of a Wu Shi's realm, as long as there is enough nourishing food to strengthen blood and Qi, the system can continuously strengthen the meridians, up to the ninth level.

This also meant that, theoretically, within the same realm, Xia Daoming's force was nine times that of his opponent.

Amidst the surprise, Xia Daoming suddenly felt a sense of alarm.

He stood up abruptly and, like a cat, moved silently behind the door.

Through the crack in the door, Xia Daoming saw six people and one wolf-mastiff rapidly rushing towards the house where he was staying under the moonlight.

While rushing, the formation spread out, faintly forming an arc-shaped encirclement around the house.

The fur of that wolf-mastiff actually emitted faint blood-colored rays of light under the moonlight.

"The Blood Wolf-Mastiff is truly worthy of its reputation. I've been running for twelve full days, yet I still haven't been able to escape its tracking!" Xia Daoming's pupils shrank slightly, and killing intent flickered.

The Blood Wolf-Mastiff is not only better at tracking than a wolf-dog, but also extremely ferocious and combative.

The combat power of an adult Blood Wolf-Mastiff is comparable to a second-rank Wu Shi.

"Xia Daoming, come out. We know you're inside." The six people and one mastiff stopped at a distance of about three or four zhang from the house, and a pockmarked one-eyed man among them shouted.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" Before the man's voice had even faded, the Blood Wolf-Mastiff had already bared its sharp, interlocking canine teeth and roared at the house.

"Since the Blood Wolf Guards and the Blood Wolf-Mastiff have all come, why is Hall Master Wei still cowering and not coming out? Could it be that you are also worried about being ambushed and killed by me?" Xia Daoming shouted.

The Blood Wolf Hall is one of the gang forces in Black Shicheng.

Hall Master Wei Mao is a fourth-rank Wu Shi, with six great Blood Wolf Guards by his side; the top three Blood Wolf Guards are third-rank Martial Masters, and the latter three Blood Wolf Guards are second-rank Martial Masters.

And Black Shicheng is a small city in the northern region of Mangzhou in the Great Ming Kingdom.

A month ago, the master of the Dragon Snake Qianjiao Wu Guan, Qiu Zhiheng, who was Xia Daoming's master, inadvertently obtained a hundred-year-old Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng in the Black Dragon Mountain outside the city.

The hundred-year-old Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng is a great nourishing item for martial artists; it can not only increase internal power but also has the effect of breaking through realms.

However, the medicinal power of the hundred-year-old Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng is fierce. Although Qiu Zhiheng was a fourth-rank Wu Shi, he was already nearing sixty, and his organs were decaying year by year. Having obtained this great opportunity, he dared not consume it in large quantities, only daring to cut off a small slice to consume daily.

Even so, the decaying organs of Qiu Zhiheng, nearing sixty, began to show a turning point. If he really consumed the entire hundred-year-old Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng, it was not impossible that he might have a chance to reverse his vitality and break through to become a fifth-rank Wu Shi at the age of sixty.

It was just that Qiu Zhiheng's joy turned to sorrow; this secret was inadvertently learned by the Hall Master of the Blood Wolf Hall, Wei Mao.

Twelve days ago, on a dark and windy night, Wei Mao led his younger brother Wei Chan, who was also a fourth-rank Wu Shi, his son Wei Mo, and many experts to raid the Dragon Snake Qianjiao Wu Guan at night.

Qiu Zhiheng was, after all, nearing sixty and had not fought or killed anyone for many years. Besieged by three martial artists of the same level and many experts, he was quickly defeated, killed by the Deputy Hall Master of the Blood Wolf Hall, Wei Chan, who then seized the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng.

However, Wei Chan was also severely injured during Qiu Zhiheng's desperate counterattack before death.

Xia Daoming seized the opportunity to ambush and kill the severely injured Wei Chan, snatched the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng, and fled Black Shicheng.

Wei Mao saw that the item was about to be in his hands, but did not expect a second-rank Wu Shi to suddenly emerge, not only ambushing and killing his younger brother but also snatching away the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng.

Wei Mao was so angry that he almost went berserk, leaving his son Wei Mo in Black Shicheng to sit in the Blood Wolf Hall, while he himself led the six Blood Wolf Guards and one Blood Wolf-Mastiff to pursue and kill Xia Daoming all the way.

If Xia Daoming were just an ordinary second-rank Wu Shi, he would naturally have been caught and killed long ago.

But he was a transmigrator with a system. Although he was only a second-rank Wu Shi, his meridians had already been strengthened to the sixth level, and he could easily fight seven or eight second-rank Martial Masters alone.

And under normal circumstances, a third-rank Wu Shi could only fight three second-rank Martial Masters.

Not only that, because of the system, his ability to withstand and convert medicinal power was much stronger than Qiu Zhiheng's.

And as the meridians were strengthened, the ability to withstand and convert medicinal power became even stronger.

While fleeing, Xia Daoming kept looking for opportunities to consume the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng.

As a result, in just twelve days, Xia Daoming was not only not caught but also, borrowing the medicinal power of the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng, first completed the nine meridian strengthenings of the second-rank realm, then broke through to a third-rank Wu Shi with irresistible force, and then repeatedly strengthened his meridians during the gaps in his flight.

Tonight, he found another opportunity, not only completely completing the nine meridian strengthenings of the third-rank Wu Shi realm but also taking advantage of the momentum to break through to the fourth-rank Wu Shi realm.

Although he had just broken through to the fourth-rank Wu Shi realm, with the nine meridian strengthenings of the third-rank realm, in terms of force alone, Xia Daoming's current force was already more than ten times that of a third-rank Wu Shi.

And the force of an ordinary fourth-rank Wu Shi is generally about three times that of a third-rank Wu Shi.

With the same realm as Wei Mao and a total force far exceeding his, Xia Daoming this time did not choose to flee, but stayed behind.

"Daring to ambush and kill this Hall Master's brother and snatch food from the tiger's mouth, you really do have guts." A man wearing blood-colored tight-fitting clothes, with a thin and tall figure, high cheekbones and sharp eyes, a hooked nose like an eagle, and a few wisps of goat beard under his chin, who was over fifty, walked out from behind a broken wall.

This man was none other than the Hall Master of the Blood Wolf Hall, Wei Mao!

"Wei Mao, you heartless scum, it was in vain that Master Qiu treated you as a friend. You actually bloodbathed the Dragon Snake Qianjiao Wu Guan for a Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng!"

Seeing Wei Mao walk out from the shadows, Xia Daoming's killing intent surged, but he did not push open the door and continued to speak from inside the house.

"Kid, so what if this Hall Master bloodbathed the Dragon Snake Qianjiao Wu Guan? This chaotic world is inherently about the weak being the prey of the strong. If you want to blame someone, blame Qiu Zhiheng for not having the ability to enjoy the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng." Wei Mao sneered.

"Could it be that you think you have the ability to enjoy it?" Xia Daoming mocked.

"What do you mean by that?" Wei Mao's expression changed slightly.

"I am holding the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng in my hand right now. You say, if I would rather be a broken jade than a whole tile, what would be..." Xia Daoming sneered.

"Kid, you dare!"

Wei Mao did not wait for Xia Daoming to finish speaking, his expression had already changed drastically. His feet stomped hard on the ground, and with a few leaps, he had already crossed the six great Blood Wolf Guards, "Bang!" crashing directly through the already dilapidated wooden door.

Wood chips flew everywhere, and dust filled the room.

"Old man, you've fallen for it!"

Amidst the flying dust, Xia Daoming was in mid-air, his right leg performing a Python Tail Sweep, sweeping fiercely towards Wei Mao's head like an iron whip.

Wei Mao had thought that when he crashed through the door, the scene he would see would be Xia Daoming desperately swallowing or destroying the Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng. He did not expect such a fierce kick, and was greatly shocked, hurriedly raising his arms to block!

"Bang!"

A powerful force swept across Wei Mao's arms, carrying his entire body crashing into the earthen wall to the side.

The earthen wall shook, and the dilapidated roof dropped rotten wood and dust onto Wei Mao "pitter-patter".

Wei Mao could not care about this, but looked with horror at the fist that had already appeared on his chest.

This fist, with five fingers curled halfway inward, the palm hollow, the knuckles tightened, and the distal phalanges angled with the back of the fist, resembled a snake head.

"Bang!"

The snake-head fist struck Wei Mao's chest fiercely.

Wei Mao's chest instantly caved in.

The wall behind him was impacted by the huge force, "Boom", a large hole appeared, and earth and stone flew everywhere.

Another fist followed closely and struck.

Wei Mao's entire body flew out of the hole in the wall like a kite with a broken string.

When he landed, he seemed to hear the sound of his own heart rupturing.

"How is this possible!" While flying and falling, Wei Mao's eyes bulged, staring fixedly at Xia Daoming, with fresh blood constantly bubbling from his mouth.

He could not believe that a second-rank Wu Shi from a martial hall who was like a stray dog twelve days ago had suddenly become so powerful!

"Hall Master!"

The six Blood Wolf Guards outside were preparing to rush into the house, but seeing Wei Mao crash through the wall and fall to the ground, their eyes all widened, and cold air rose from their backs.

At this moment, a black shadow had already flown out from the dusty house like a venomous snake hiding in the darkness. ===== CHAPTER 2 =====