Chapter 63: Two Hasty Months, Great Blood Qi Circulation

June sky, continuous night rain.

Heavy rain pours, a misty haze shrouds heaven and earth.

Inside the house, hearing the snoring that even the rain next door couldn't drown out, Li Li Yuanzhong slowly retracted the Soldier Body Stance, went out, walked into the inner room, and pressed a hand on the back of Fatty Sun's head.

The snoring stopped instantly, then grew even louder.

Confirming Fatty Sun was already 'sound asleep', Li Li Yuanzhong returned to the room.

"Only one High-Grade Yuan-Refilling Pill remains; must save it as a backup for emergencies. This is the last Blood Qi Pill. The windfall must be kept for the Army Command Talisman promotion. Still so poor."

Tilting his head to swallow the pill, Li Li Yuanzhong took off his shirt, rolled up his pant legs, barefoot, and lifted the hammer out of the house.

Of the pills obtained from the windfall, except for the Yuan-Refilling Pill, he had long since finished them all; afterwards, he borrowed fifty taels from Fatty Sun, plus the twenty-plus taels of silver earned from his blacksmithing, to buy ten pills.

This was the last one.

Crack!

In the night sky, lightning snakes slashed through.

Li Li Yuanzhong adjusted his breathing; before long, his bare hands, feet, waist, and abdomen were already a patch of red, especially conspicuous in the rainy night.

"A few more times, and I still can't get used to it..."

In the heavy rain, Li Li Yuanzhong gritted his teeth and endured for a while, then let out a muffled groan, swung the hammer, and began the Soldier Body Stance.

Twenty-four forward, twenty-four backward, twenty-four combined.

Over two months had passed; he had thoroughly mastered the foundation stance of the Soldier Dao Battle-Hammer, executing every move and form at will, the hammer reaching wherever his mind went.

In other words, this supreme Wu Gong, whose preface stated it would not be transmitted to those without superior bone structure, he had already entered its door!

Bang!

The hot flow surging within his body grew faster and faster; the force with which Li Li Yuanzhong swung the hammer grew greater and greater, like a gust of wind in the rain, the raindrops scattering everywhere,

yet seeming unable to approach his body, swept aside by the hammer wind.

Swinging the hammer like a cloak, splashing water cannot enter!

In the heavy rain, Li Li Yuanzhong shifted within the courtyard; the burning and itching sensation transmitted from his hands, feet, waist, and abdomen made him strike faster and faster; in the end, it was no longer limited to the Bai Yuan Hammer and the foundation stance.

The eighty-one variations of the First Form Shi Da Fa, long mastered, were also unleashed in succession, finally coalescing into 'Soldier Strike', the heavy hammer suspended in mid-air.

Boom!

The sound of the hammer overlapped with the thunder; the great hammer flew from his hand, landing in the mud.

"Too itchy!"

Li Li Yuanzhong felt as if countless ants were crawling beneath his skin.

He was not someone unable to endure, but this bone-penetrating itch and soreness simply exceeded his limit of tolerance; every time he persisted for a while, he wished he could tear his skin off.

Hoo!

He leaped up at once, jumping into the large vat filled with iron sand, using the pain of intense friction to alleviate this unbearable itch and burning.

The Seven Stars Hard Body Stance is indeed a Wu Gong of self-torture; the pain of iron sand friction can temporarily suppress the itch. Over two months, every time he took a pill, Li Li Yuanzhong would use the opportunity to temper himself; the progress of the Hard Body Wu Gong was rapid, nearly reaching mastery.

For a long while, until the heavy rain gradually lessened, Li Li Yuanzhong, almost drained of strength, collapsed into the mud, covered in marks rubbed by the iron sand.

The medicinal power and blood qi had been completely exhausted.

"The big market day after tomorrow; I should be able to cash the banknote, and prepare for the Army Command Talisman promotion."

Letting the rain wash away the internal heat, Li Li Yuanzhong closed his eyes, expectation in his heart.

After the Army Command Talisman promotion, not only would the number of soldiers he could command increase, but the interval time for changing commanded soldiers should also decrease.

The range of the command effect would expand greatly, and the Green Jade Copper Hammer could be commanded again.

"It's just that altering this superior bone structure is too troublesome..."

After lying for a long time, his body had grown somewhat cold; only then did Li Li Yuanzhong struggle to rise, return to the room to dry his body, and change into clean clothes.

Only at this moment did the blood qi within him, which had been completely exhausted, begin to re-congeal.

With some heartache, he swallowed a Blood-Containing Pill; Li Li Yuanzhong assumed the Soldier Body Stance, dissolved the medicinal power, shifted his qi and blood, and gradually, his breathing became calm.

After a long while, his eyelids twitched slightly, and the re-filled qi and blood,

after circulating several cycles along the 'X-shaped circulation, suddenly trembled,

then spread outward to his entire body.

"The Great Blood Qi Circulation is about to succeed!"

Li Li Yuanzhong's heart shook; he was no longer heartache-stricken, swallowed the remaining four Blood-Containing Pills, raised his arm, and slowly pushed the Soldier Body Stance.

His movements were very slow, as if large iron balls were tied to his hands and feet; after pushing only a few times, his face turned red; after pushing a few more times, his whole body grew hot.

At the final push of the Soldier Body Stance, Li Li Yuanzhong felt his whole body burning hot, as if he had a high fever, dispelling the slight chill left by the rain, and a 'buzzing' sound even penetrated from his body.

Pfft!

After a long while, Li Li Yuanzhong slowly retracted his fist, opened his mouth slightly; as the redness on his face faded, he exhaled a mouthful of white vapor, which actually formed a column, extending an arm's length.

This was a symbol of extremely substantial breath.

Great sweat immediately squeezed out from every pore of his body, soaking his clothes.

Hoo!

Li Li Yuanzhong lightly flicked his wrist; a visible streak of red spread along his arm; in the blink of an eye, his entire skin turned slightly red; the blood qi had covered his whole body!

Closing his eyes slightly, Li Li Yuanzhong felt as if a fine net woven of blood qi existed beneath his skin, seeming to exist, yet seeming not to exist.

From head to toe, it seemed to surge with astonishing power.

After practicing a few forms of the foundation stance, he felt that both strength and speed had improved significantly; compared to before reaching great mastery, the change could be said to be enormous.

He estimated that his own body possessed a force of a thousand jin, far exceeding that of other apprentices who had achieved great mastery of blood qi!

"Supreme Wu Gong is indeed extraordinary!"

In the dim room, Li Li Yuanzhong's eyes seemed to be glowing; bending and extending his five fingers, he felt his skin also possessed astonishing toughness.

The same level of Qi and blood completion—why is the gap between the small and great circulation so vast?

"Perhaps it's also related to my innate constitution gradually changing?"

Feeling his own transformation, Li Yuan was in high spirits.

The process of consuming medicinal power to alter his innate constitution was itself purifying and tempering his Qi and blood; after more than two months, his constitution had changed markedly, and his Qi and blood great circulation was now fully achieved.

As long as he followed the steps methodically, he could steadily improve—he felt deeply satisfied.

"A thousand jin of force—once I regain control of the Bi Jing Copper Hammer, I'll stack another thousand jin of force, add weight and momentum, and with my armored-breaking, hardened body, I won't need eighteen strikes to crush Qin Xiong!"

"And…"

The night rain gradually ceased; the night was deep, but Li Yuan had no sleepiness—he picked up the long-handled training hammer in the courtyard and returned indoors to assume the Soldier's Stance.

"At most one month, I'll be able to cultivate Bai Yuan's force!"

…

With Qi and blood fully perfected, Li Yuan's energy surged even more, and his sleep quality improved further—even if he slept only a few hours.

When he rose again, he was still full of vigor.

The exhilaration of his Wu Gong's rapid progress completely overcame his laziness to stay in bed; he rose early, stood in horse stance for a while, then lit the fire and made breakfast.

"Strange—my head aches again. Looks like I still need to nurture it…"

At this moment, Sun Fatty staggered out from the inner room, rubbing the back of his head and yawning endlessly.

Since moving here, he had slept deeply every day.

"Yes, you do need to nurture it."

Li Yuan agreed and handed him a steamed bun: "How's it going outside the city? Have they caught any of the Poison Snake Gang's leaders?"

"Sigh!"

At the mention of it, Sun Fatty's face darkened, and the bun lost its flavor as he chewed:

"Those beasts of the Poison Snake Gang split into several groups, hiding in the mountains and lakes—even Grand Shopkeeper has no way to catch them!"

The friction between the Forging Shop and the Poison Snake Gang had never ceased over the past two months—it was the biggest topic of conversation among the people inside and outside the city.

The Poison Snake Gang claimed a thousand members, but most were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled—they were no match for the dozen or so factions within the city.

After several clashes, they were utterly defeated, with over a hundred dead and dozens captured.

Yet the Poison Snake Gang included many mountain folk, hunters, and boatmen; as soon as they saw they were outmatched, they vanished—no matter how high Cao Yan's martial skill, he couldn't capture the three gang leaders for the time being.

This situation had remained deadlocked.

"Didn't the City Guard get involved too?"

Li Yuan took a sip of porridge.

"They sent only a dozen men—what good is that? The main force is chasing Nian Jiu, and they still haven't caught a single thief—total waste!"

Sun Fatty chewed his bun fiercely: "I'm going outside the city again today to find Grand Shopkeeper. You eat dinner at your second brother's tonight!"

These days, he kept going outside to search for Cao Yan, though he himself no longer held much hope—he simply refused to believe it.

"Be careful on the road."

Li Yuan sighed inwardly, unable to comfort him, and could only nod in silent support.

After eating, Li Yuan took the Semi-finished product armor to the forge, as usual soaking it in silver liquid, then began hammering iron.

After achieving the Six Harmonies, his forging skill had advanced greatly—he quenched iron especially fast; one man's hammering of wrought iron equaled that of three or five skilled blacksmiths. Each month, just from this, he earned five taels of silver.

Combined with the blades he forged, in a month he earned twelve taels of silver—making many veteran blacksmiths envious, their eyes turning red.

With half the forge's workers reassigned, everyone arrived before dawn and left only after dark; some didn't even leave until midnight.

Li Yuan had to admit he was inferior.

"An upper-grade weapon is worth eight ordinary ones—aren't you going to try again?"

Zhang Ben walked over.

"My Ji Ben Gong is still not solid enough—I'll wait a few more months to deepen my foundation."

Li Yuan expertly quenched, tempered, and forged another Bi Yu Knife.

After the soft armor was perfected, Zhang Ben suggested capitalizing on the momentum, but after much thought, Li Yuan still chose to proceed slowly.

Silver was good, but if Cao Yan forcibly pinned him to the forge and he lost his chance at the Divine Weapon Valley's examination, it would be a terrible loss.

His indenture contract had not yet been redeemed; by the rules, he could not leave the forge for at least eleven years.

"Very well."

Zhang Ben understood Li Yuan likely had his own thoughts and did not press him.

With half the workforce reassigned, the seventy-year-old man picked up his own forging hammer and sweated profusely.

"Cao Yan will probably return soon."

Forging ordinary blades held no challenge for him; the hammering was rapid, yet Li Yuan's mind wandered slightly.

Since Cao Yan left the city to exterminate the Poison Snake Gang, the city's curfew had gradually eased; he had also quietly sold several pearls, agates, and gathered much wrought iron.

He only needed to sell the rest at the Grand Market, then exchange the silver notes for gold.

Only pure gold remained elusive for now…