Chapter 328: Blood Soul Strengthening

April 2nd.

In a pawnshop in the south of the city, Lu Mengyang was wearing glasses and recording accounts.

"Boss, I want to pawn something."

Someone walked into the pawnshop.

"This is an heirloom vase of mine. Could you take a look and see how much you can pawn it for?"

The person handed the vase they were holding to Lu Mengyang.

Lu Mengyang took the vase, glanced at it casually, and said:

"Three yuan."

"Three yuan?!"

The person raised their voice, "Boss, could you take a closer look? This is an heirloom, it's been in my family for decades!"

"Three yuan at most. Take it or leave it."

Lu Mengyang appeared very impatient.

"What kind of person is this? No eye for quality!"

The person grumbled, but in the end, they chose to pawn the vase.

After they left, Lu Mengyang glanced outside the door, then reached his hand into the inner wall of the vase to fumble for a moment, pulling out a piece of paper from inside.

This was intelligence sent to him by his informant.

To prevent being seen through, the informants below always brought different items to pawn each time they delivered intelligence, and the pawn money served as their reward.

So the grumbling from the person just now wasn't an act; they were genuinely cursing Lu Mengyang for being stingy.

Lu Mengyang began to read the content on the paper, which stated that the Moon Gazing Tower had released the latest edition of the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking.

"This kind of intelligence is only worth three yuan? Damn it, what a loss."

Lu Mengyang cursed.

The Moon Gazing Tower's ranking list would spread throughout the entire Feng Province before long, so this piece of intelligence wasn't worth much.

Cursing aside, Lu Mengyang still carefully browsed the ranking list at the first opportunity.

The first place on the list was still the professor of Wuan University—Qin Zhen.

Ever since this person was included in the candidate list for the overall Wind and Cloud Ranking three years ago, he had sat firmly at the top of the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking for these three years, being the undisputed strongest Dao Foundation realm in Feng Province!

Lu Mengyang had a premonition that Green-Faced Ghost's ranking would be very high this time, he just didn't know if it would be second or third?

He continued to look down:

Second place on the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking—Gu Yuefeng.

"It's still Gu Yuefeng."

Lu Mengyang muttered.

Gu Yuefeng, nicknamed 'Moon-Waning Sword', was the number one swordsman in the provincial capital.

The other party was the Junior Martial Uncle of the 'Green Mountain Sword Sect', a major martial arts sect in the provincial capital.

Before Qin Zhen reached the top, this person had dominated the number one spot on the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking for a full eight years, and was a 7th-tier Dao Foundation realm powerhouse.

In addition to the rankings, the list provided by the Moon Gazing Tower included a series of corresponding battle records and comments under each powerhouse's name.

Lu Mengyang discovered that a new battle record had been added under Gu Yuefeng's name:

On March 31st, Gu Yuefeng broke through his seclusion and cleared the sea of clouds on Green Cloud Peak with a single sword strike!

Green Cloud Peak was the sect peak of the Green Mountain Sword Sect, surrounded year-round by a vast sea of clouds; it was a major scenic spot in Feng Province, but only those from the Green Mountain Sword Sect could see it often.

Gu Yuefeng had announced his seclusion a few months ago, and everyone thought he was breaking through to the Martial Arts Master realm. Now it seemed that although he hadn't broken through the realm, his swordsmanship had improved again.

The comment from the Moon Gazing Tower below read: With one sword strike, he cleared Green Cloud Peak; Gu Yuefeng's combat power should have officially exceeded the 7th tier, stepping into the peak of the Dao Foundation realm, with the potential to challenge Qin Zhen!

"Another peak Dao Foundation realm."

Lu Mengyang sighed.

Gu Yuefeng only had four core-level extraordinary abilities, so theoretically, he could only be a 7th-tier Dao Foundation realm powerhouse at most.

But nothing in the world is absolute; some martial artists in this world can raise their combat power tier by relying on extraordinary martial techniques or combat talent.

For example, Gu Yuefeng had raised his combat power by one tier relying on his sword techniques, and was evaluated by the Moon Gazing Tower as a peak Dao Foundation realm powerhouse exceeding the 7th tier!

As long as one incorporates five types of implants and cultivates them all to the Qi Transformation realm, there is a chance to build the foundation of martial arts and become a Martial Arts Master.

But this probability is actually very low; not even one in ten people might succeed.

And any martial artist who can achieve the peak of the Dao Foundation realm is almost guaranteed to become a Martial Arts Master!

Therefore, Gu Yuefeng had become the next future Martial Arts Master in the entire Feng Province after Qin Zhen.

Lu Mengyang continued to look down:

Third place on the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking—Green-Faced Ghost.

"It really is third!"

Lu Mengyang's spirits lifted; he really hadn't guessed wrong.

He was ranked ninth last time, and jumping to third in less than a month was a speed that had created history for the Feng Province Wind and Cloud Ranking!

Under Green-Faced Ghost's name were his two greatest battle records: one was being besieged by Lou Yujun and Zhang Shan, with a hidden Dao Foundation realm assassin from the Shadow Tower, as well as the Seven Underworld Guards and over a dozen special-grade gunmen.

The other was the Battle of the Wilderness that had recently shocked the entire Datong Prefecture.

On this list, the Moon Gazing Tower pointed out the combat power of these opponents of Green-Faced Ghost in turn:

Among them, the two exotic beasts were equivalent to 4th-tier Dao Foundation realm, Shadow Two was also 4th-tier Dao Foundation realm, and the remaining Yu Longqing, Ximen Huixin, and Ouyang Cheng were all 3. -tier, while the Chen family ancestor Chen Junzhi was 3rd-tier.

Against such a lineup, the vast majority of 6th-tier Dao Foundation realm powerhouses would likely be killed if they encountered it, yet Green-Faced Ghost not only survived but also killed six of them in return!

Therefore, the Moon Gazing Tower classified him as a 7th-tier Dao Foundation realm, and wrote a sentence in the comments: A Master can be expected!

This meant that the Moon Gazing Tower was very optimistic that Green-Faced Ghost could step into the peak of the Dao Foundation realm in the future, and would likewise be able to achieve the first-class realm and become a Martial Arts Master.

"Truly impressive."

Lu Mengyang sighed, and then the phone on the table rang.

He picked up the receiver:

"Hello, who is this?"

"It's me."

A very magnetic male voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Lord Xia!"

Lu Mengyang immediately put on a solemn expression and asked, "What are your orders?"

"Have you seen the updated ranking list from the Moon Gazing Tower?"

Xia Huan asked.

"I just saw it."

"Green-Faced Ghost is evaluated as having the potential to be a Master. We should win over such a person as much as possible."

"Yes, you are right."

"Find an opportunity to sound out Li Fei and see if he can help us make contact with Green-Faced Ghost so we can have a chat."

"Understood, my lord."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Mengyang shook his head and smiled bitterly:

"It really is true that killing and arson lead to golden belts."

At first, Xia Huan promoted and recruited Li Fei to help monitor Green-Faced Ghost and provide information about him to the General Inspection Academy in the future, and even warned Li Fei not to get too close to Green-Faced Ghost.

As a result, they now had to use Li Fei to win over Green-Faced Ghost.

This reversal left Lu Mengyang filled with emotion.

He began to think about how to bring it up with Li Fei.

On the other side, in the dormitory of Wuan University.

Li Fei was taking medicine.

He was taking poison, the latest version of the Nether Spring Poison.

Having studied toxicology with Mo Yizhou for so long, Li Fei had not only concocted the periodic poison he wanted but had also improved the Nether Spring Poison.

It was now the 3. version of the Nether Spring Poison, divided into two types: one for self-use and one for enemies.

The self-use Nether Spring Poison could cause greater damage to Li Fei's body without building up drug resistance in a short time, making it perfect for providing energy to the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

Li Fei waited for two days, and only started taking the poison after the number of blood souls had recovered somewhat.

He had already taken two bottles of Nether Spring Poison in a row, determined to complete the upgrade of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead in one go!

In the dormitory, Li Fei sat quietly on his chair, 'watching' the energy value of the Ten Thousand Blood Bead in his body rise bit by bit:

97% 98% 99% 100%!

【Level: 15, 1%

Blood Souls: 280

Blood Soul Skills: Blood Rage, Blood Fiend, Blood Might, Blood Spring

Transformation Skill: Blood Demon】

This upgrade increased the number of blood souls by 28; after Li Fei broke through to the late stage of Qi Transformation, his physique would be further strengthened.

Originally, the strengthening would have taken some time to complete, but the Battle of the Wilderness provided high-intensity stimulation to the 【Steel Armor】 implant, allowing the strengthening process to finish ahead of schedule.

In the end, Li Fei's physical strengthening brought an increase of 8 blood souls, so after this upgrade, his total number of blood souls became 280.

With this upgrade, the total number of blood souls exceeded 250, but the Ten Thousand Blood Bead did not unlock a new soul skill; instead, it granted an opportunity for strengthening:

One of the four blood soul skills—Blood Rage, Blood Fiend, Blood Might, or Blood Spring—could be chosen for strengthening.

Through the information provided by the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, Li Fei could know in advance the effects of these four blood soul techniques after enhancement:

After Blood Rage is enhanced, the duration will increase from one minute to three minutes.

After Blood Fiend is enhanced, the existence time of the fiendish aura will be extended, and the quantity converted will increase.

After Blood Might is enhanced, it will add a group attack effect.

After Blood Spring is enhanced, the amount of blood soul stored daily will become 2% of the total blood soul capacity.

"This."

Li Fei began to ponder.

These four blood soul techniques were all very useful, and the enhanced effects were all things he very much wanted.

After 【Blood Rage】 is enhanced, he can save a large amount of blood soul during battle.

After 【Blood Fiend】 is enhanced, he can store a large amount of high-quality blood fiend in his body in advance, which is actually equivalent to saving blood soul in disguise, and he can have an extra portion of fiendish aura during battle.

After 【Blood Might】 is enhanced, he will be even less afraid of being surrounded in the future.

Not to mention 【Blood Spring】; after enhancement, the amount of blood soul he can store will double.

"In the long run, choosing to enhance 【Blood Spring】 yields the greatest benefit."

Li Fei quickly made his decision—enhance 【Blood Spring】.

Although he would not gain an immediate boost after enhancement, one should always take a long-term view.

The more time that passes, the greater the benefits brought by enhancing 【Blood Spring】 will be!

After making the decision, Li Fei focused his mind, and 【Blood Spring】 completed its enhancement.

In the "information" presented by the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, the display of this blood soul technique changed to—【Blood Spring】 (Enhanced).

This indicated that this blood soul technique had already been enhanced.

Now, Li Fei's total blood soul count was 280, and he could store 5. blood souls in the "spring eye" within his body every day; it would only take a little over a month to store 200 blood souls!

"I wonder if the next time the Ten Thousand Blood Bead upgrades, I will get another chance to enhance a blood soul technique? Or will it unlock a new soul technique? Can a blood soul technique that has already been enhanced be enhanced again?"

Many conjectures arose in Li Fei's heart.

A moment later, he stood up and walked out of the dormitory.

Since the Ten Thousand Blood Bead had successfully upgraded and the blood soul count had refreshed and recovered to its peak, it was time for the Green-Faced Ghost to appear!

Human Face Villa.

Ever since the news of Yu Longqing's death returned, the "Beast King's" forces began to collapse and dissolve.

As Yu Longqing's base of operations, Human Face Villa not only stored a large amount of money, but also precious medicines, firearms, weapons, protective gear, and so on.

It was also an exotic beast farm and a plantation for exotic beast rations; it could be said to be worth a fortune!

Therefore, all parties set their sights on this villa at the first opportunity and sent people to guard outside the villa.

Four days had passed since March 30th, when the news of Yu Longqing's death was brought back.

For four whole days, the four major forces—"Cannon King," "Poison King," "Gambling King," and "Queen"—had sent people to surround Human Face Villa tightly, not allowing anyone inside the villa to leave, yet they had delayed taking action against the villa.

As for the reason for this, those who know, know.

"I say, how long do we have to keep watch?"

On the second floor of a teahouse on the east side of Human Face Villa, Liang Chen lit a cigarette and couldn't help but complain.

He was the captain of the Divine Gun Team under "Cannon King" Gu Xianglin.

The Divine Gun Team assembled by Gu Xianglin was composed entirely of special-grade gunmen. As captain, Liang Chen not only had excellent marksmanship, but his cultivation realm was also not low.

He was a Qi-Transformation stage martial artist, and his implant was 【Grey Pupil】, which gave him extremely strong perception and extraordinary vision, making it more conducive to using firearms.

His martial arts system was also built on firearms; he had practiced a set of close-quarters gun techniques and had even killed a mid-stage Qi-Transformation martial artist in close combat!

This time, he led a team of special-grade gunmen to be responsible for guarding the east side of Human Face Villa, and this guard had lasted for four whole days.

"Brother Liang, it's spreading outside now, saying that the various forces don't dare to make a move because they are afraid of being retaliated against by that Green-Faced Ghost. Is that true or false?"

A special-grade gunman from the Divine Gun Team leaned over and asked in a low voice.

Liang Chen glanced at him, exhaled a smoke ring, and said disdainfully:

"What the hell kind of nonsense is that? He's so arrogant that one person can scare big shots like the Cannon King and Poison King into not daring to move?"

"Then why are we waiting all this time?"

The gunman asked.

Liang Chen took a deep drag and cursed:

"You don't know a damn thing! Right now, four forces are fighting over one cake; whoever moves first suffers a loss, so of course we have to wait for the best opportunity."

"Oh."

The gunman always felt it wasn't like that, but he didn't dare to refute Liang Chen.

"Brother Liang, there's a situation!"

Just at this moment, a team member suddenly ran over to report.

"What's wrong?"

Liang Chen immediately stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and asked with an expectant look.

He actually hoped for a situation to occur now, rather than continuing to wait like this.

"Someone is coming towards our side."

"How many people? Which side are they from?"

Liang Chen asked.

When the four forces arrived near Human Face Villa, they had already blocked all the streets, not letting people enter or leave at will.

"Only one person, it looks like the Green-Faced Ghost!"

"Green-Faced Ghost?!"

Liang Chen's eyes widened abruptly, and he swallowed his saliva subconsciously.

"Brother Liang, should we intercept?"

The gunman who had just asked Liang Chen the question spoke up.

Slap!

Liang Chen turned around and slapped the other person hard on the forehead: "Do you want me dead? Intercept my ass! Quickly ask for instructions from above."

Even if they were to intercept, it should be the Dao Foundation stage powerhouses sent by everyone to be the main force.

In any case, Liang Chen was definitely not going to foolishly lead his men to charge.

Soon, Liang Chen received instructions from above: Do not act rashly, let him pass!

"Whew—"

Liang Chen let out a heavy sigh of relief.

A moment later, a figure appeared on the street below.

Liang Chen carefully poked his head out from the window to take a look.

His extraordinary ability was "Super-Vision," so he saw the mask the person was wearing from several hundred meters away—a green evil ghost.

"Damn, it really is the Green-Faced Ghost!"

Liang Chen's hands and feet went cold in an instant.

His second extraordinary ability was "Unknown Detection," a sixth-sense-like ability that could detect a person's approximate strength and certain characteristics.

The moment he looked at the Green-Faced Ghost, "Unknown Detection" activated, and he saw a pitch-black gate, bottomless inside, as if it were hiding countless terrifying things.

At this glance, Liang Chen felt as if he had seen the gates of hell!

This terrifying feeling was something he had never felt from "Cannon King" Gu Xianglin or Ouyang Cheng, the "Number One Expert."

With just one look, Liang Chen knew that if he dared to make a move against the other party, the outcome would definitely be death!

"Luckily we were told to let him pass! Luckily we were told to let him pass!"

Liang Chen kept chanting in his heart, then led his gunmen from the Divine Gun Team to watch the other party walk along the street below and gradually move away.

"Brother Liang."

After the Green-Faced Ghost left, the gunman from before asked cautiously, "Do you think the other forces will move to intercept him?"

"Intercept? Intercept my ass!"

Liang Chen cursed subconsciously.

The gunman curled his lip: "But you just said it was impossible for the Green-Faced Ghost to scare so many big shots by himself."

Liang Chen: "..."

Not long after, they learned the result:

None of the remaining three forces dared to intercept the Green-Faced Ghost, and they just let the other party walk to the front gate of the villa.

Under the night sky, the Green-Faced Ghost's shadow was stretched very long on the ground.

He stood outside the gate for a while.

Just when everyone thought he was going to start a big fight and kill his way in, the gate of Human Face Villa was opened voluntarily by the people inside.

And so, the Green-Faced Ghost walked into the villa with ease.

Tonight, the remnants of the "Beast King's" forces would meet their fate.

PS: I'm going to see my girlfriend's parents today, so I'm posting one chapter first. I don't know what the situation will be tonight, so a second chapter isn't guaranteed, but I'll try my best~

(End of chapter)