Chapter 65.1: Marrow Transformation Complete; Blood Qi Surges! (I)

“How should I address you, hero?” the yamen officer asked.

“Shen Ying,” the man replied before walking into the yamen.

The onlookers exchanged puzzled looks.

“Shen Ying? Never heard of him.”

“Me neither. But anyone who dares accept a Call for Heroes deserves respect, regardless of their strength and stature.”

“You’re right. No one else dared to take the bounty after the Seven Brothers of Cloud Mountain and the One-Armed Hero failed. Let’s hope Shen Ying truly has the ability to take on the Thirteen Riders of the Great Desert.”

The crowd buzzed with speculation. No one had ever heard the name “Shen Ying,” except Lu Changsheng.

“What’s Shen Ying doing here?” Lu Changsheng muttered in disbelief.

Having met Shen Ying during the incident with the Blood Strengthening Pill, Lu Changsheng knew he was only at the Organ Refinement Stage, and not even at its peak. With such limited strength, taking on this Call for Heroes was practically suicide. After all, those who had already died had been renowned figures.

“No, he must have some kind of ace up his sleeve…” Lu Changsheng pondered. “Poison, maybe?”

He recalled that Shen Ying had spent years tracking the Myriad Poison Cult, the group that had slaughtered his entire family to refine the Myriad Poison Pill.

Considering how many years Shen Ying had spent pursuing a cult devoted to poison, one could safely assume he had a deep understanding of poisons. If he were to use poison in combat, he might actually stand a chance against the Thirteen Riders of the Great Desert.

Truth be told, Lu Changsheng cared little for Shen Ying’s motives, be it wealth, ambition, or a pursuit of justice. What mattered most to Lu Changsheng was the outcome, and he truly hoped that Shen Ying could take down the Thirteen Riders.

***

More than ten days had passed.

By now, Lu Changsheng could clearly feel that the marrow in his bones had been completely replaced. He had succeeded in Marrow Transformation.

With a single thought, blood qi surged through his body like a tide.

“Fifty percent!” he exclaimed. “My blood qi has increased by fifty percent, just from transforming my marrow once!”

His blood qi had long surpassed the peak of most Organ Refinement martial artists. He had already been ten times stronger than the average Organ Refinement martial artist, and now, his blood qi had grown stronger yet again.

“Marrow transformation and blood replacement are truly extraordinary…” he murmured in awe.

Many martial artists dreamed of completing those processes. By doing so, their blood qi would break past its limits and reach a terrifying level, allowing their bodies to grow far stronger.

Such was the case for Lu Changsheng. He felt as though his physique had already surpassed what could still be considered human. Even someone with tremendous innate strength, like the Saber-Dragging Heavenly King, could not compare to Lu Changsheng.

Moreover, he hadn’t even reached the Divine Strength Realm yet. That thought made him wonder just how terrifying someone at that stage had to be.

Lu Changsheng turned his senses inward. Fresh blood continued to well up from his bone marrow, flowing through his body and nourishing every inch of it. At this pace, his physical strength would keep rising—a slow but steady cycle of reinforcement.

Marrow transformation and blood replacement were, in essence, a kind of metamorphosis, gradually reshaping a person into a higher form of life.

After marrow transformation and blood replacement comes the opening of the Profound Gate of Life and Death, Lu Changsheng thought, that’s the final step to ascend into the Divine Strength Realm.

He proceeded to open the manuals of the Myriad Poison Scripture and the Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art. The Myriad Poison Scripture had its own Divine Strength chapter. He could not cultivate it himself, but he could still study and compare it with the Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art.

Both manuals pointed to the same truth: entering the Divine Strength Realm required opening the Profound Gate of Life and Death. However, the Profound Gate of Life and Death was an abstract concept. No one knew exactly how to access it. It was said to lie somewhere within the mind, so naturally, only those trying to open the gate could sense it.

In the mind?

Lu Changsheng closed his eyes and tried to attune his senses, but no matter how hard he tried, his mind remained utterly blank. He could not detect even the faintest trace of the Profound Gate of Life and Death.

Puzzled, he turned back to the manuals, trying to search for answers. Upon further inspection, he noticed that the Divine Strength chapter of the Myriad Poison Scripture described a method that could help reveal the Profound Gate of Life and Death. It involved the use of a rare toxin: Illusory Poison. Once ingested, it would plunge the user into an illusionary world. By following the experiences within that illusion, the practitioner could naturally come to sense the Profound Gate of Life and Death. Unfortunately, Lu Changsheng had no such poison.

Illusory Poison was extraordinarily rare and difficult to refine. Even within the Myriad Poison Cult, its exact method and ingredients were a closely guarded secret. No ordinary person could ever hope to obtain it.

The Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art offered another path, summed up in eight words: Focus the mind, and let thoughts flow unhindered.

The manual described several ways to achieve this state, such as fulfilling a long-cherished wish, vanquishing a lifelong enemy, or doing something that stirred overwhelming excitement. The essence was to push your emotions to their limit, driving the mind and spirit into a state of intense fluctuation. In other words, a martial artist could sense the Profound Gate of Life and Death in moments of either great joy or deep sorrow.

To Lu Changsheng, this method seemed far more practical and achievable, but when he sifted through his memories, he found nothing that could trigger such emotions.

Before crossing over into the world of martial arts, he had been an orphaned beggar. Even if he were to somehow reunite with his family, they would be strangers to him now, and he would feel nothing toward them.

What could possibly make me feel extreme anger, sorrow, or joy?

He knew that until he found the answer, he would not be able to sense the Profound Gate of Life and Death. Still, discovering the gate didn’t seem like an insurmountable task to him. It was simply a matter of time, and he was in no hurry. He had already spent many days in seclusion to complete his marrow transformation. Waiting a little longer made no difference.

Lu Changsheng ended his cultivation session and headed toward Miaoren Hall. As he passed by the yamen, he noticed that a large crowd had gathered outside again.

A yamen officer was nailing up a new Call for Heroes. “The Thirteen Riders of the Great Desert have ravaged Nanyang, spreading chaos wherever they go! Many heroes have attempted to eliminate them, but all have failed.” he shouted. “The reward has increased! Anyone who wipes out the Thirteen Riders will receive one thousand taels of gold and a Divine Strength Realm martial art!”

A thousand gold taels?!

Hearing that, Lu Changsheng felt a sense of unease rise in his chest. The new reward was equivalent to ten thousand taels of silver!

When imperial troops were first mobilized to eradicate the Thirteen Riders, the richest families and merchants of Nanyang had struggled to scrape together even three thousand taels of silver. Now, the fact that the authorities offered a thousand taels of gold proved just how desperate the city’s rich and powerful were.

Lu Changsheng pushed through the crowd to get a closer look. It wasn’t until he reached the center that he noticed the corpse. It lay on the ground, covered in deep cuts and countless wounds. Its face was mutilated beyond recognition, but Lu Changsheng recognized Shen Ying by his clothing.

To think that Shen Ying ruthlessly hunted the Myriad Poison Cult for more than a decade… only to meet his end at the hands of the Thirteen Riders of the Great Desert instead. What a bitter fate.

Lu Changsheng was about to ask what had happened, but the whispers were already spreading among the crowd.

“Look at his body. It’s obvious he died a horrific death by multiple poisons. The Thirteen Riders and the White Demons are truly ruthless!”

“I heard that Hero Shen used poison himself. Apparently he managed to contaminate the water source at the Thirteen Riders’ stronghold.”

“He poisoned and killed many of the bandits, but the White Demons caught him, and that’s how he met his end.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep