Chapter 75: Nurturing a Strand of Bai Yuan Strength!

June and July are the rainy season.

Gao Liu County has a saying: rain in July fills a ditch, Yan Yan Maomao fine drizzle drips into autumn.

But after June, Gao Liu County hadn't seen a single rain, and quite a few farm households were already worried it would affect the harvest.

"Bright sunny day, wonder if we'll get rain today…"

In the small courtyard, Li Yuan set down the Wind-Breaking Hammer, his whole body steaming with sweat.

He took off his clothes and washed them, hung them on the drying rack, washed his face, changed into a fresh set, and headed out to work.

Superior-grade sharp blades aren't easy to forge—twelve of them would take at least three-plus months; he didn't dare delay.

Just as he stepped out, Li Yuan bumped into the dejected Fatty Sun; he called out a greeting, and the other barely managed a reply.

"What's with you?"

Following him inside, Li Yuan was still a little worried, but before long, he heard snoring.

"Yu Zhen has withdrawn, so that means in Mount Fajiu Mountain only Cao Yan and his ten-plus men remain?"

Over three months ago, Cao Yan had mobilized the nearby counties, sending most of the apprentices out of the city, but not long after, several factions pulled back; Yue Yue Yunjin and Wu Ming were among that returning batch.

Yu Zhen counts as the last batch—his return means outside the city only Cao Yan remains…

"Is he really hiding?"

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly.

After a short delay, the sky brightened fully and pedestrians filled the road; Li Yuan wasn't in a rush anymore and went to his usual breakfast stall.

"Unlucky, Brother Li…"

From afar, the stall owner came over to greet him, looking helpless.

But before the stall owner could say anything, Li Yuan had already spotted it.

At the stall sat a person—thick steamers stacked taller than a man, fist-sized scalding meat buns stuffed in one mouthful at a time, rice porridge guzzled like it was free.

The man was about thirty, short in stature, a black knife hanging at his waist, with a sallow face—somewhat resembling Yu Zhen, in fact.

"A blade-bearer?"

Li Yuan paid it no mind, ready to find another stall for a bite, but habitually drifted two meters closer.

"Hmm?"

The middle-aged man suddenly turned his head, a cold, piercing gaze sweeping past.

So alert?

Li Yuan quickly stepped back several paces and left, though his heart gave a jolt.

【Human Skin Mask (Second-Tier)】

【A soft-base mask made from Hundred-Year White Cloud White Treasure Clay mixed with Ash Spirit Loach, capable of Ta Yin-ing another person's features…】

【Control Requirement: Bone-Contraction Skill at Great Completion】

【Control Effects: Bone-Contraction Skill at Perfect Completion, Disguise and Change Appearance, Plain and Unremarkable】

That middle-aged man's knife was also second-tier, but compared to this mask it was hardly worth mentioning; Li Yuan was captivated in an instant.

What kind of mask is this—it's practically a divine artifact!

Li Yuan's heart trembled, his eyes burning with desire.

With this mask paired with the Weapon-Holding Register, he could transform into another person in minutes!

"Wait a moment!"

A voice came from behind; the middle-aged man walked over.

"This hero?"

Li Yuan swiftly glanced up, astonished—even at this close distance, he couldn't tell at all that the man was wearing a mask.

Simply a masterwork of nature!

"What hero?"

The middle-aged man gave a snort: "I'm Li Ba, from Dragon-Hibernation Prefecture, passing through. Heard you folks have a Bodhisattva Temple here that's quite efficacious?"

Your dad!

Li Yuan almost wanted to pull out the Wind-Breaking Hammer and give him a whack.

But he pinched his nose and pointed the way: "The Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple is in the inner city—go in and ask anyone, they'll know the way…"

"Many thanks!"

The middle-aged man who called himself Li Ba tossed over two copper coins and turned toward the inner city.

"What's this fellow's background?"

Li Yuan caught the copper coins and tucked them into his sleeve, feeling a bit uneasy.

Would a proper blade-bearer go out wearing a mask?

And that name that sounds fake the moment you hear it…

"Some river-and-lake bandit, maybe?"

Li Yuan was a little curious about the man's identity—mainly because his eyes burned for that mask—but he didn't make trouble, and hurried toward the Weapon-Forging Shop.

He figured the Bai Yuan Strength would be nurtured out in the next day or two; he didn't want to stir up any more trouble.

……

……

"Steady breathing, vigorous qi and blood—that kid's foundation can't be bad, can it?"

The saber-bearing middle-aged Li Ba turned the thought over in his mind.

He walked fast; before long he had reached the inner city, asked a few people at random, and arrived at the main street outside the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple.

From afar, one could see the temple, its incense offerings quite flourishing, and the monks coming and going.

The incense at the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple was naturally very flourishing; not only the inner and outer cities, but also the towns outside the city had no shortage of worshippers, mostly couples.

The Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva, it was said, was very efficacious at granting children.

"Granting children?"

Li Ba tugged at the corner of his mouth and slipped into the crowd.

……

……

Arriving at the Weapon-Forging Shop, Li Li Yuanzhong prepared to go to the warehouse first to select ore. Passing the inner courtyard, he spotted Yu Zhen and Yue Yue Yunjin; the two seemed to be talking very intimately.

"He's trying to win over Senior Brother Yue?"

Li Li Yuanzhong paid it no mind either, and went to the warehouse to select the ores and iron materials he needed for the day.

When he returned, he saw Yue Yue Yunjin standing alone in a daze, and couldn't help being curious.

"Senior Brother Yue?"

Li Li Yuanzhong patted his arm: "Are you all right?"

"Huh?"

Yue Yue Yunjin came back to his senses, shook his head, and his expression turned very ugly: "He… it's nothing, nothing."

"Bewitching Art?"

Li Li Yuanzhong seemed to have guessed something.

"Mm…"

Yue Yue Yunjin's face turned green.

He hadn't expected that this nominal second shopkeeper would actually drug him right at the inner courtyard gate; caught off guard for a moment, he'd actually taken the bait.

"It really was the Bewitching Art?"

The so-called Bewitching Art—Li Li Yuanzhong later asked around about it—was a low-down trick from the jianghu, similar to the *** from his previous life.

Those drugged would become mentally hazy, answering whatever was asked, but because a firm will alone could resist it, it wasn't even useful for interrogation.

'Senior Brother Yue's willpower is a bit weak… probably drugged too many times?

This thought flashed through Li Li Yuanzhong's mind, and he asked:

"What did he ask you?"

"He…"

Yue Yue Yunjin looked around, his expression still very poor:

"He asked me, when we were chasing Nian Jiu at Mount Fajiu Mountain earlier, who had lingered longest in the dense forest…"

"Mm?"

Li Li Yuanzhong's heart skipped a beat: "What did you tell him, Senior Brother?"

Yue Yue Yunjin frowned and shook his head:

"I don't remember…"

"…"

Yue Yue Yunjin, in a very foul mood, turned and left, leaving Li Li Yuanzhong in an equally foul mood.

"That venomous snake really won't stop haunting me!"

Li Li Yuanzhong thought it over; he'd come back fairly early that day, but the feeling of being watched by someone was truly unpleasant.

"Li Li Yuanzhong!"

At that moment, Zhang Ben came looking for him.

"Coming!"

Li Li Yuanzhong answered, and hurried back to the forging room.

"These days, push the work a bit harder. If you ruin a piece, it doesn't matter—try more, gain experience."

Zhang Ben held a blueprint; Li Li Yuanzhong glanced at it—it looked like a hammer-type weapon.

"This disciple understands."

Li Li Yuanzhong didn't have the mind to ask more, picked up the forging hammer, and began to strike.

Selecting ore, forging iron, quenching…

A top-grade sharp blade had to be made from the very beginning; Li Li Yuanzhong's speed was considered fast, yet it still took him eight or nine days to forge one out.

Seeing him so diligent, Zhang Ben nodded inwardly and continued studying the blueprint—a top-grade sharp blade was worth a thousand taels each, and he didn't dare be careless in the slightest.

Li Li Yuanzhong hammered the pig iron, his mind

but wandering a bit:

"Qi and blood boil to generate internal force, a single point of force hidden within qi and blood… Bai Yuan Jin requires violently circulating qi and blood, best aided by a great medicine. Mm, I'm holding onto one top-grade Origin-Supplementing Pill."

……

……

At night, the sky was dark with no moon in sight, as if dark clouds were gathering.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

In the small courtyard, the wind howled.

Li Li Yuanzhong hadn't slept all night; at this moment he was shifting about the courtyard, a giant hammer a full one-point-eight meters long in his palm dancing through the air, the sound of breaking wind urgent.

"Hah!"

"Hah!"

The Hundred-jin weight hammer swept around his body, yet Li Li Yuanzhong's breathing remained steady, the Liu Hu Xi Fa cycling in turn, circulating the qi and blood throughout his body.

The Great Qi-Blood Circulation spreads throughout the entire body; a single cycle can mobilize far more qi-blood, recovering quickly and granting great endurance.

Li Li Yuanzhong could keep swinging his hammer for nearly two full hours at a stretch.

"Hoo!"

He set the heavy hammer down — it landed like a tuft of dry grass, making no sound — and Li Li Yuanzhong opened his mouth to exhale a breath of turbid air, his whole body steaming with sweat.

But after only a brief rest, he lifted the hammer and moved again. The heavy hammer tore through the air as he executed the Whirlwind Hammer strike after strike, flowing like water and drifting like clouds.

Eighteen hammers, thirty-six hammers!

The Bai Yuan Whirlwind Hammer, at Great Completion, can stack the force of eighteen hammers; at Perfection, it can stack as many as thirty-six.

Each hammer stronger than the last, and with all thirty-six stacked together, the sound of the air being torn apart was a wailing howl like rolling thunder — enough to make anyone who heard it blanch with fear.

Crack-crack-crack~

Li Li Yuanzhong still did not stop. He twisted his waist and moved, his body spinning like a whirlwind; the tremendous hammer-force made his tendons and bones emit a series of cracking sounds, as if they could not bear the strain.

Yet he still did not stop. Instead, when the hammer-force reached its peak, he swallowed the Upper-Grade Origin-Supplementing Pill he had been holding in his mouth all night.

"More than three months ago, my blood-energy had already reached Great Completion. If I hadn't been waiting for the Great Qi-Blood Circulation, I could have nurtured Bai Yuan Force long ago!"

"Hammer technique at Perfection, Great Qi-Blood Circulation, superior root-bone, Origin-Supplementing Pill…"

"In one go — force out Bai Yuan Force!"

Before Internal Force, there are only four stages: Entry, Proficiency, Minor Completion, and Great Completion. Perfection and Grand Perfection are not ordinary realms at all.

Li Li Yuanzhong had already achieved a wasp-waist and ape-arms; he had no need to chase after Grand Perfection.

Or rather, the fact that he had altered his root-bone postnatally meant his hammer technique had already reached Grand Perfection.

Gulp!

Like a stone dropping into a well.

Li Li Yuanzhong only felt a surge of heat rise in his belly. The qi-blood, already mobilized by the hammer technique and circulating extremely fast, sped up once more, as if he had taken a powerful stimulant.

"Hn!"

Even though he had long prepared himself, Li Li Yuanzhong could not help but let out a muffled grunt, feeling as though raging fire had climbed onto his body, every pore of his skin seeming to spout flames.

His blood-energy had already boiled to an extreme degree!

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh~

For a moment, Li Li Yuanzhong even thought he could hear the sound of his own blood flowing.

Crack!

In the night sky, an electric serpent slashed across, and rolling thunder followed in its wake.

"Kee-ee!"

In the small courtyard, Li Li Yuanzhong — his whole body flushed crimson — shuddered in his heart and opened his eyes amid the sound of a Bai Yuan's furious howl.

Wisps and strands of white steam drifted up from all over his body, as though the high temperature had evaporated his sweat.

"Bai Yuan Force?"

Li Li Yuanzhong spread his palm open; the crimson color was fading, but he could feel a wisp of force — different from qi-blood, more real — gathering in his palm.

Boom!

He suddenly bent at the waist and slammed his fist, still steaming with sweat, heavily into the bluestone of the ground.

Crack!

The bluestone paving the courtyard split apart on the spot!

Bai Yuan Force — achieved!

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Li Li Yuanzhong shook his slightly aching palm, then raised his head and saw dark clouds gathering.

"It's going to rain…"

He withdrew the Gale-Splitting Hammer back into his Weapon-Bearing Space, then strode into the house.

From beneath the bed he took out a set of plain gray hemp clothes,

and a piece of ragged cloth.