Chapter 202

Three days later!

Pei Qingming sensed the change in the Martial Way Seal, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

He currently only had two records left on Mount Wudao; the record for twenty acupoints had been challenged by Lin Chen from Jiangnan Dao, leaving only the record for twenty-four acupoints.

Had Lin Chen also defeated his projection at the twenty-four acupoint mark?

With a flicker of thought, joy appeared on Pei Qingming's face. In such a short time, Lin Chen had already reached the twenty-four acupoint mark. It seemed he was the type to accumulate strength and then burst forth; he had suppressed his cultivation breakthrough earlier, and now that his strength was sufficient, his realm was advancing rapidly as well.

Our Daliang has successors after all.

Pei Qingming wore a smile as he took out the Martial Way Seal, but his expression turned cold the next moment.

His name had been wiped off, but no new name had appeared in its place.

Hmm?

The twenty-three acupoint mark was also blank?

Seeing that the Martial Way Seal showed both the twenty-three and twenty-four acupoint marks as blank, a cold light appeared in the depths of Pei Qingming's eyes.

Mount Wudao was established by the Founding Emperor. Anyone who could climb Mount Wudao and stand firm at a level within six acupoints of their own realm would gain rewards. This was the Founding Emperor's gift to the young martial geniuses of Daliang, and being able to leave one's name on Mount Wudao was not only rewarded but was also a great honor.

But now that the names at the twenty-three and twenty-four acupoint marks were blank, there was only one possibility: the challenger possessed Demon Clan bloodline.

The Founding Emperor harbored extreme hatred for the Demon Clan. According to him, if not for the Demon Clan, the previous dynasties of Daliang would not have seen such rapid dynastic turnover in just a few hundred years. The Demon Clan was one of the reasons why dynasties changed so quickly on this land of Daliang.

The Demon Clan was a great mountain pressing down upon the land of Daliang.

When a dynasty was first established, it had experienced the ravages of war and was in a state of recovery, so the harm caused by the Demon Clan was not yet obvious.

But once a dynasty began its decline, the Demon Clan would seize the opportunity to emerge, sucking the blood of the dynasty and accelerating its decay.

The Founding Emperor hated the Demon Clan deeply, so any young martial artist who climbed Mount Wudao would receive no rewards if they possessed Demon Clan bloodline in their body.

Daliang did not allow the existence of the Demon Clan, but the situation with Demon Clan bloodline was different. In other countries, Demon Clan bloodline was a form of cultivation resource, and many martial artists would go to other countries at great cost to purchase it in order to enhance their own strength.

This situation was not allowed in the early days of Daliang, but following the passing of the Founding Emperor, the restrictions in this regard were relaxed.

This was simply because many martial artists believed that obtaining Demon Clan bloodline to enhance one's own martial strength was not the same as colluding with the Demon Clan; it was the same principle as killing Demon Clan members and absorbing their flesh and blood to refine it—why shouldn't it be allowed?

The Imperial Court eventually adopted this view.

However, such young martial artists had no chance of receiving the rewards of Mount Wudao, which is why no young martial artist with Demon Clan bloodline had ever climbed Mount Wudao.

Now that this situation had suddenly appeared, Pei Qingming knew that something must have happened.

Could it be that someone did not want Lin Chen to leave his name on Mount Wudao again?

Being abroad, Pei Qingming did not have a deep understanding of the situation within the country, but regardless, he had no fondness for anyone blocking Lin Chen from leaving his name on Mount Wudao.

This Mount Wudao belongs to the young geniuses of our authentic Daliang; what business is it of you people tainted with Demon Clan bloodline?

"It seems I must hurry to break through and return to Daliang. With the departure of the Marquis of Zhenbei, I fear all sorts of monsters and demons are jumping out."

Jiangbei Dao.

Three snow pigeons flew from different directions into the fenced courtyard of a thatched cottage.

Inside the courtyard, an old man with white hair lay on a rattan chair. A man stepped forward to remove the slips of paper from the pigeons' feet to examine them, and after reading them, he walked to the old man's side.

"My lord, that Lin Chen does not intend to give up. Over there, they have already re-challenged both the twenty-three and twenty-four acupoint marks on Mount Wudao to prevent Lin Chen from leaving his name there again."

The old man's eyes were narrowed, looking just like an elderly man with poor hearing. After a long pause, he spoke leisurely: "Oh."

"Is there something inappropriate about this?"

The middle-aged man had followed the old man for many years, and upon hearing this, he knew the old man was dissatisfied with the actions over there.

"If you're not going to do it, don't do it; if you are going to do it, see it through to the end. Why weren't the other marks cleared of that Lin Chen?" The old man opened his eyes, a hint of ruthlessness in their depths.

"My lord, it's not that they aren't doing it, but they can't find anyone with a suitable realm. The eighteen acupoint mark is truly too low. Most of those who have accepted Demon Clan bloodline are in the Organ Cultivation Stage; there are too few in the Acupuncture Stage, and most of those are already close to Organ Cultivation."

The old man gave a light huff: "What do you mean 'can't find'? It's just that they don't dare to thoroughly offend Kong Qinglei. They are afraid that Kong Qinglei will take action against them in a fit of rage."

"My lord is right. These people still have ulterior motives. Should I go and warn them?"

"No need."

The old man waved his hand: "These people were just chess pieces to begin with. What is the situation with Li Yuan?"

"Li Yuan returned the items." The middle-aged man asked: "My lord, I fear this Li Yuan will not join us."

"If he truly didn't want to join us, he wouldn't have returned them; he would have moved to detain the people directly." A sharp glint appeared in the old man's eyes: "Li Yuan is waiting to sell at a higher price. Since that's the case, send a portion of Python Clan bloodline to the Li family. Didn't that Lin Chen obtain the True Blood of a Flood Dragon? This Python bloodline is just what Li Yuan's son, Li Zhe, can use."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood his lord's purpose.

The Li family was a rising clan in Jiangnan Dao, but Li Zhe had been overshadowed by Lin Chen. It was impossible for the Li family not to have any misgivings, and the Li family had also reported the Huo family—their own in-laws. Li Zhe must hate Lin Chen to the bone. Although the Python Clan was not as good as the Flood Dragon, their bloodline was stronger than True Blood.

True Blood was a one-time item; once absorbed and refined, it was gone. But possessing Python bloodline could provide continuous help as Li Zhe's martial strength improved. This was the power of Demon Clan bloodline, especially those powerful ones that gave martial artists greater subsequent assistance.

The Li family would not refuse this gift.

"This subordinate understands. I will go and arrange it."

"Go."

Linhu Village!

Lin Chen was also watching the changes in the rankings on the Martial Way Seal, but after just one glance, he put the seal away.

The other side had sent a message through Lord Bu, but neither he nor his teacher had responded, meaning they did not intend to give up the title of Daliang Martial Way Student Exemplar. That was why these people had taken action.

A mocking look curled the corners of Lin Chen's mouth as he began to adjust his breathing. His teacher and Senior Zhao had already prepared the medicinal liquid for him; he only needed to adjust his body to its best state before he could begin consuming the Flood Dragon True Blood.

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Chen had adjusted his state to the best, and he headed to the residence where his teacher lived.

At the lakeside residence, before he even entered, Lin Chen smelled a thick medicinal odor through the courtyard wall. Upon entering, he saw a large iron vat placed in the courtyard.

His teacher was constantly throwing medicinal herbs into the iron vat, while Senior Zhao was pouring various types of Demon blood into it.

"You're here!"

Seeing Lin Chen enter, Jia Nanzhu smiled and said: "Are you prepared?"

"This disciple is prepared."

"If you're prepared, jump in. Don't dawdle. This medicinal liquid is extremely precious. I won't exaggerate when I say that even for your Martial Administration Hall Chief, it would take several years to prepare a vat of this liquid."

Zhao Canghu looked at Lin Chen. Although his words were casual, his expression was very serious. The medicinal herbs and Demon beast blood in this iron vat were things he had slowly accumulated over the years, and some were even brought back from abroad by his late friend. As the Martial Administration Hall Chief, he could obtain these resources, but it still required a great deal of effort.

"Thank you, Senior."

Lin Chen nodded, knowing in his heart that Senior Zhao was likely not exaggerating. Senior Zhao's late friend had traveled to many countries, and some of the medicines were not available in Daliang. Senior Zhao had spent over a decade preparing for this, only just managing to fill this one iron vat.

Taking off his clothes, Lin Chen stepped into the iron vat. As the medicinal liquid soaked into his skin, Lin Chen couldn't help but shiver.

Even though the liquid was boiling hot, as it seeped through his skin, his first sensation was cold!

A bone-chilling cold!

It was several times colder than the water he had felt in the Santan pools back then.

In just three breaths, Lin Chen felt the Qi and blood in his body solidify, and his face turned pale.

Seeing Lin Chen's pale face, Jia Nanzhu took two bottles from his bosom, each containing a drop of Flood Dragon True Blood.

This medicinal liquid could only last for one hour, which meant Lin Chen had to absorb two drops of Flood Dragon True Blood at once.

"Lin Chen, get ready!"

A flash of worry crossed Jia Nanzhu's eyes, but it quickly became firm. As Senior Zhao had said, the achievements Lin Chen had attained were indeed enough, but if he wanted to continue to be this dazzling on his future martial path, he had to endure this suffering.

"Pre... prepared..."

Lin Chen opened his mouth with difficulty, his teeth chattering. The moment he opened his mouth, Jia Nanzhu slapped his right hand, and the two drops of Flood Dragon True Blood shot out of the bottles, accurately landing in Lin Chen's mouth.

As the Flood Dragon True Blood went down his throat into his stomach, Lin Chen felt two tyrannical, boiling-hot energies instantly rampaging through his body, destroying the meridians and acupoints within him.

Ah!

The veins on Lin Chen's body stood out clearly as he let out a painful roar. His originally stiff and pale face instantly turned bright red, and his expression became ferocious.

The two violent energies rampaged through his body like wild horses, twisting and twitching his muscles wherever they passed, and his meridians were constantly rupturing.

Fortunately, after Lin Chen's meridians ruptured, the medicinal liquid in the iron vat constantly surged in with cool energy, beginning to repair the damaged meridians.

One cold and one hot, the two energies constantly washed and changed within Lin Chen's body.

Lin Chen's face could be seen turning red and then white, his body trembling non-stop.

Outside the iron vat, Jia Nanzhu and Zhao Canghu were also staring fixedly at Lin Chen. Whether he succeeded or not depended on whether Lin Chen could endure this wave.

"Kid, you must hold on." Zhao Canghu whispered.

"Lin Chen, teacher believes in you." Jia Nanzhu also whispered.

PS: Something came up with my daughter, so the update is late. Sorry.

(End of chapter)