Normally, once a cultivator gives rise to a single thread of qi and blood, it marks the Beginner stage.
When the second thread appears, that's the Mastery stage.
For ordinary martial artists, their qi and blood are as thin as a single cord.
But the qi and blood Chen Sanshi produced were like several cords wound together—at least two to three times thicker than a normal person's.
That was likely thanks to the Haoran Breathing Method, but also, no doubt, the mysterious proficiency panel played a role.
His endurance was exceptional to begin with, and now his qi and blood had grown strong and full. He was built for the battlefield.
A battlefield wasn't a duel—kill one enemy, and there'd be thousands more waiting. It was about endurance, not just strength.
That was also the point of forming battle formations.
Even a seasoned martial soldier who had perfected tempering blood, like those at Sub-Flag Officer rank, could be surrounded by trained formation grunts. After killing about twenty enemies, their qi and blood would run dry. Once exhausted, even the strongest would be hacked apart by a flurry of blades.
It wasn't because such warriors were weak—it was because the formations were simply that strong.
During recent drills, Chen Sanshi had made a point to study formation combat closely.
Take a hundred-man formation for example.
Before engaging in close combat, the archers and crossbowmen would unleash volleys of arrows, then the spearmen advanced to thrust, followed by shieldmen and swordsmen closing in to surround the enemy. Only at the very end did the true melee begin.
And one couldn't forget—the enemy had generals too.
In that kind of environment, no matter how strong a martial artist was, human stamina had limits. Once the qi and blood ran out, death was certain.
Unless… your qi and blood could truly endure.
But for Chen Sanshi, all of this was still a long way off. He wasn't going to the battlefield anytime soon.
"You've already reached mastery in tempering blood?"
Xu Bin stood frozen in disbelief.
It had only been a few days!
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Chen Sanshi surpassed him.
"All thanks to Flag Officer Xu for sparring with me," Chen Sanshi said with a smile. "Without your help, I couldn't have advanced so fast."
Though the breakthrough left his body refreshed and powerful, he didn't let his guard down.
Lately, the Tianyuan Martial Hall had sent people to his home several times, all inviting him to visit—and every time, he refused. He knew he couldn't keep dodging forever. Sooner or later, he'd have to deal with it.
The young master of Tianyuan, Liang Zhan, had already reached the tempering bones stage, and the hall master was even stronger—at minor achievement in tempering bones.
As a mere tempering blood cultivator, Chen Sanshi didn't even rank in comparison.
If he could one day become like Thousand-Household Officer Xiang Tingchun—a tempering organs cultivator—then in all of Poyang County, no one would dare provoke him.
"Time to get to work!"
It was almost time for patrol. Chen Sanshi packed up his Willow-Leaf Spear and gathered his men.
He wasn't the only one who had improved. His subordinates were making progress too.
Zhu Tong had recently cultivated his qi and blood, and another martial soldier named Wang Li wasn't far behind. The other five formation grunts had already learned spear basics and were starting formation drills.
Only Xu Wencai was hopeless.
A few days ago, he'd been kicked by a horse while trying to feed it. Since then, they didn't dare let him near the stables—better that he stay alive.
"Let's move. Patrol duty."
Since the Witch God Sect incident, bodies had been turning up daily inside and outside the city.
Rumor had it the cultists were bloodthirsty maniacs.
That was why the manhunt had grown so severe.
Yet, despite that, martial hall disciples were strictly forbidden from taking part in the hunts.
Clearly, Thousand-Household Officer Xiang Tingchun wanted to find the so-called immortal treasure before anyone else—and then use it to control the martial halls across all of Poyang County.
While patrolling, Chen Sanshi kept extra alert, hoping to spot any trace of the Witch God Sect.
But there was nothing.
Even if he did find them, his current strength wasn't enough to seize the treasure anyway. Cultivation remained his top priority.
With his qi and blood now doubled, one bowl of Blood-Replenishing Soup every three days was barely enough.
So during patrol breaks, he stopped by the martial hall shops to buy more medicine.
Zhu Tong tagged along. His family butchered pigs and had some savings, so he'd scraped together enough silver for one set of medicine too.
Among the four great martial halls, Yunhe and Zhao's Martial Halls dominated the medicinal trade, controlling nearly two-thirds of Poyang County's apothecaries.
Of them, Yunhe Martial Hall's herbs were said to be of the highest quality.
On Guixiang Street, Chen Sanshi saw two apothecaries with nearly identical signs—one labeled "Yunhe," and the other, "Yunyan."
It gave off the same feeling as Sprite and Sprice.
But oddly enough, both were legitimate.
During his recent patrols, he'd picked up plenty of gossip about the martial halls.
After the county magistrate's death, a barbarian assassin had killed Yunhe Martial Hall's master, causing the hall to split in two.
Rumor said the late master's son, the young hall master, had mediocre talent. Nearly thirty years old and still hadn't reached the tempering bones stage. His uncle, on the other hand, had achieved minor achievement in that realm. After the old master's death, the uncle seized control, claiming the title of hall master for himself.
Not only that, he kicked his nephew out entirely—leaving him only a few low-ranked disciples and a single apothecary. The uncle even forbade him from using the "Yunhe" name, so the young man could only rename his shop "Yunyan."
To attract customers, the Yunyan Apothecary even offered discounts—Blood-Replenishing Soup that normally cost ten taels of silver was sold for only eight taels.
The higher-grade medicines like Nine-Turn Vitality Soup and medicinal baths required for the tempering bones stage were also discounted to around seventy to eighty percent of their usual price, but they were still outrageously expensive.
Just one set of ingredients for the Nine-Turn Vitality Soup cost twenty-five taels of silver.
There was no way Chen Sanshi could afford that.
He had saved up twenty taels from selling the black bear and earned another ten taels after killing Qin Feng, but daily expenses—especially the constant need for beast meat—quickly drained his savings.
In the end, he bought only two sets of Blood-Replenishing Soup herbs, spending sixteen taels in total.
"My savings are gone again," Chen Sanshi muttered, feeling as though his heart were bleeding.
Those two sets of herbs would barely last him a week.
It seemed hunting was still the best way to earn serious money.
Fortunately, as a Flag Officer, he now had permission to enter the deeper regions of Second Mountain. Finding valuable game there shouldn't be too difficult.
It would just take time away from training—but he had little choice.
He'd heard that a single tiger could sell for one hundred taels of silver. Spirit beasts were worth even more.
Though spirit beasts were rare, rumors of great tigers prowling the Second Mountain were common.
'I'll ask around later,' he thought. 'If I can take down one tiger, that'll be enough silver to push my cultivation straight to Minor Achievement.'
When he returned to the barracks, Chen Sanshi ran into Hundred-Household Officer Wang Zhi, who had been absent for several days. The man claimed he'd gone to the prefectural city to visit family. When he heard Chen Sanshi had broken through to Mastery, he was visibly pleased.
"Good, good, good! You've got promise, boy. Reminds me of myself in my younger days!"
Wang Zhi fished around in his robe and pulled out a small golden pendant. "Here, take this as a reward for your hard work in cultivation."
"A longevity lock?"
Chen Sanshi recognized it immediately. Such trinkets were usually gifted by elders to children for protection. If Wang Zhi was giving one away, it clearly wasn't his own—likely something he'd conned off someone else.
"Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I can't accept that," Chen Sanshi said politely.
"Suit yourself!" Wang Zhi huffed, hanging the pendant around his own neck. "Where else are you gonna find a superior as generous as me—willing to spend gold on his subordinates?"
Then, as if remembering something, he added, "You're taking leave to head up the mountain tomorrow, right? Go on, then."
"Thank you, sir."
Chen Sanshi saluted and left.
He had just reached the alley leading home when two figures appeared out of nowhere, blocking the path.
One stood in front, the other behind—clearly master and servant. The elder carried himself with quiet menace, while the younger had a folding fan in hand and a polished smile.
"Flag Officer Chen," Liang Zhan said with a polite bow, fan in one hand, "I've sent several invitations without success. Forgive my rudeness, but I had no choice but to visit in person. I hope you won't take offense."
He smiled smoothly. "If you'd do me the honor, please join me for a meal at Spring Full Pavilion. Fine wine and beautiful company await—everything on me."
"You're certainly being forward," Chen Sanshi replied coolly. "But I've got business to handle. I wouldn't dare let Young Master Liang waste his coin on me."
"I mean no harm," Liang Zhan said, stepping half a pace closer. His tone lowered to a murmur. "You can rest assured—about the Qin brothers' affair, the Tianyuan Martial Hall won't pursue it."
"The Qin brothers?"
Chen Sanshi blinked, feigning confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Maybe Liang Zhan really did intend to drop the matter of Qin Feng's death.
But more likely, this was just bait—to see if Chen Sanshi would slip up, reveal that he'd left the city that night, or hint that he might've found the so-called immortal treasure.
"Flag Officer Chen plays dumb quite well," Liang Zhan said, the smile fading from his face. He glanced at the old servant behind him and gave a slight nod. "But I still hope you'll grant me the courtesy of a meal."
"Please!"
The old servant stepped forward. His hands, gnarled and dry like withered branches, reached out to grab Chen Sanshi.
Chen Sanshi's brow tightened, and his hand instinctively clenched around the shaft of his spear.