In the next three days, Aotian continued to train tirelessly. Although this time wasn’t enough to achieve significant progress, his strength grew gradually each day. He knew that sooner or later, quantitative changes would lead to qualitative changes.

‘I estimate that I’ll need another half a year to reach the peak of blood refinement. Incredibly, this is the most time-consuming realm among all martial arts realms. My progress is only this fast thanks to my powerful manual and the deep foundation established through the accumulated experience of my avatars,’ Aotian pondered.

The blood refinement realm was known as the barrier for martial artists.

Most martial artists got stuck in this realm. Few advanced to bone refinement, and those who did usually did so at an advanced age. Aged bones couldn’t withstand the intense tempering of the bone refinement stage, and these artists ended up not progressing much.

Only the most talented completed blood refinement while still young. If they didn’t die prematurely, these prodigies would advance rapidly to the perfection of bone refinement.

However, even these few talents still had to face a final obstacle: the lack of spiritual energy, which prevented entry into essence refinement.

The main difficulty of blood refinement lay in the delicacy of blood and organs. Since spiritual energy couldn’t be directly inserted into the organs, it needed to be injected into the blood, which reacted strongly, and then had to be resisted by the skin before finally calming down and nourishing the organs.

This resistance, however, damaged both the skin and blood vessels. Martial artists needed to stop frequently to avoid permanent injuries, giving the body time to recover.

To better deal with this problem, one needed to train the skin to the extreme in the skin refinement stage. The tougher the skin, the longer the artist could train without interruptions.

That’s why Aotian progressed so quickly. His exercises were of the highest quality, as was his foundation. Except for a slight pain in his skin and veins, he didn’t suffer any aftereffects and could train continuously.

This pain, in fact, was an indication of the power of his blood refinement manual. If he were using common exercises, he probably wouldn’t feel anything.

After training to his limit, Aotian took off his sweaty clothes and threw them in a corner. He walked to the bathtub already prepared by the maidservants, stepped into the hot water, and relaxed, letting the fatigue melt away.

“Haah… this is the life!” He sighed, sinking into the water as steam gently rose around him.

He remembered how he used to train naked because he didn’t have enough clothes and how he used to wash himself by simply wiping his body with a damp cloth. Compared to those days, his life now was almost paradise.

Now he had comfortable, high-quality clothes, much better than the simple burlap robes he wore before. There were maidservants who prepared his heated baths, washed his sweaty clothes, and brought food directly to his door.

If he didn’t have the mindset of a modern man, he might even intimidate the maidservants, as was common in this era. However, Aotian couldn’t treat people like objects.

Moreover, he now had a complete wardrobe instead of the two burlap outfits he used to have. The food was also plentiful and delicious, with real spices, unlike the dubious stuff from before.

Aotian was finally starting to feel the good side of being a reincarnator.

However, as an inevitable curse, when a protagonist’s life became too comfortable, trouble would appear out of nowhere.

After the bath, Aotian got dressed, tied his hair, fastened his sword at his waist, and went out to get some fresh air—staying locked in the room all day was far from pleasant.

It was already night by then, and as Aotian crossed the doorway, he overheard the conversation of two men walking by:

“Have you noticed that the city’s been getting busier lately?” One of them asked, frowning as he walked.

“Oh, you don’t know? Didn’t you come to Red Tiger City because of that?” asked the second man, looking at his friend in surprise.

Aotian grew curious. Moving quietly, he followed the two without being noticed, eager to find out what was happening.

“No! I came to take care of some business and visit relatives. I haven’t heard about any recent events…” The first man replied, looking confused.

“You’re really out of the loop. Let me fill you in: you know City Lord Li, right?”

“Of course! But what about him?”

“You know he has a son, right?”

“Of course, everyone knows he sent his son away to study. But no one knows where or with whom.”

“Well, this time the commotion in the city is because of him. They say he sent a message to the city lord over a month ago, saying he would bring two friends to finally get rid of the Red Tiger in the mountains.” The man spoke in a low voice and shot a warning look at his friend, signaling for discretion.

The uninformed friend’s eyes widened in shock, and he fiercely whispered:

“G-Get rid of the Red Tiger?! Is he insane? Everyone knows that, in the last 200 years, more than ten innate masters have died under the claws of the Red Tiger! How could he possibly do that?! Whenever it’s provoked, that beast descends with an army of beasts and creates a bloodbath in the city. Only then does it return to the mountains with its beasts, their stomachs full!” The uninformed man couldn’t contain his indignation, angrily whispering.

He had family in the city and was already considering the idea of fleeing with them.

Aotian, watching everything from the rooftop illuminated by the moonlight, was stunned by what he heard. In all the cities he had wandered through with his avatars, he hadn’t encountered a single innate master. How could this small city have attracted more than ten “legendary” innate masters?

“Calm down! This time it’s different!” The well-informed friend reprimanded in a low voice.

“Different? How?!” The uninformed one retorted, his voice about to rise.

The well-informed friend, however, leaned in closer and whispered cautiously:

“They’re not innate masters… they’re immortals!”

The uninformed man froze on the spot, his mouth half-open and eyes wide.

“I-IMMOR—MMMPH-MMMPH!!!” He began to exclaim, but his friend quickly covered his mouth before he could finish.

The well-informed one looked around vigilantly, ensuring no one had overheard that revelation.

Unfortunately, he didn’t notice Aotian standing on the rooftop above them, hidden by the shadows but perfectly positioned to hear every word.

Seeing no one nearby, the well-informed man relaxed a bit.

“The city’s so busy because many powerful people, from wealthy merchants to great martial artists, heard about it and rushed over. They all want a chance to make connections with the immortals… myself included.” He explained in a low voice.

“But if only those powerful people know, why is the city so crowded?”

“Idiot! These common people don’t know about the immortals. They came to curry favor with the powerful ones who were drawn by them.”

“Ah! Right… I didn’t think of that.”

Aotian had heard enough. Slipping away like a shadow, he left the rooftop unnoticed.

In his inn room, he sat cross-legged on the bed, resting his chin on his fist as he pondered.

‘Immortals… If they were really at the Foundation Establishment level or higher, they wouldn’t need to make such a fuss or give advance notice. They could simply come and get the job done. But the message sent over a month ago… That means it might not be that simple… I see!’ Aotian clapped his fist into his palm.

‘They must be just Qi refiners, probably below the advanced level. They’re confident they can defeat the Red Tiger but are afraid of the beast hordes that follow it. Qi refiners can’t withstand that swarm tactic. At best, advanced-stage refiners could escape, but not win. So, they came up with the idea of using their reputation as immortals to attract powerful mortals and create their own human wave.’ Aotian smiled, impressed by the strategy.

‘Beast wave against human wave… Cultivators against the Red Tiger. It’s a clever plan. And by not asking for help directly, they maintain their arrogance as “immortals” and, just with their reputation and the promise of connections, they attract many powerful people to the battlefield willingly, without them knowing they’re being used.’ He reflected, but his expression soon darkened.

‘But what should I do? Should I follow them or flee? If I follow them, I might find the nest of cultivators I’ve been looking for, but it could be extremely dangerous. If I flee, I can cultivate in peace until reaching Bone Refinement, but I might miss the chance to find clues about immortals, and I need that to find spiritual energy strong enough to advance in Essence Refinement.’

Aotian began biting his nails, lost in conflicting thoughts.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep