Soon nine days pass. Without a hitch, Li Xing finally breaks through all his skeletal meridians, completing the fourth level of blood practicing! The second all his skeletal meridians are broken through, Li Xing can sense his bones suddenly become much lighter.
The most distinctive change in a person once he reaches level four blood power is that he can move his body swiftly like a swallow at a speed of the wind. And since he is much stronger physically, he can easily defeat a person with level three blood power within three to five moves.
Now that he has broken through all his skeletal meridians, Li Xing starts planning on the next step, “Next is to master the fourth move of the ultimate fist combative skills, break through the marrowy meridians and start the fifth level of blood practicing!”
The fourth move of the ultimate fist combative skills is called the lightning cracking and it carries much more power than the first three moves: the lightening strike, the lighting drilling, and the lighting crumbling.
Li Xing spends five days on practicing the lighting cracking. As he masters the move, the grand competition is also around the corner.
The day comes and the square is teeming with people. Almost everyone from the Li, Chen and Bai families manages to show up for the event. All the onlookers want to find out who from Three Chivalries Garden will be qualified for the competition.
Three Chivalries Garden has a total of nine spots and the winners will be sent to Qiyun Sect, which means they will have access to much higher level of martial art and have the rare opportunity to further improve themselves. Most importantly, since Qiyun Sect is the No. one sect in Ping state, becoming a disciple also means the rise to an extraordinary level of social status.
Even an off-site disciple of Qiyun Sect will have the same status as the minor nobles, and if one manages to become an on-site disciple, his status will upgrade significantly. What’s more, all the on-site disciples will be able to practice spirit power and become immensely powerful.
Given the importance of the competition, Three Chivalries Garden takes it very seriously, with all the three heads of family and the other leaders present on the stage.
Li Ying walks up to the stage and announces, “Today we will select the off-site disciples for Qiyun Sect. Before we start, we will determine whether you are qualified for the competition.” As he swings his hand, two servants come carrying a giant white jade ruler up to the stage.
The moment the ruler is seen, someone in the crowd shouts, “It’s the blood ruler! They are going to have their blood force measured!”
The blood ruler is used to measure the force of a person’s blood power which can be categorized into jin (half a kilogram), dou and jing. Ten thousand jin is one dou, and ten thousand dou is one jing.
The blood ruler is very valuable and considered as a piece of Buddhist ware. Even Three Chivalries Garden has just one such ruler, and it can only measure by the jin. Those which can measure by the dou and the jing are even more rare, which Three Chivalries Garden can’t even imagine to possess.
After the ruler is displayed, Li Ying smiles to the onlookers, saying, “Now, anyone with level four blood power and above can come up to the stage and have his blood force measured. If he has enough blood force, he will be confirmed qualified for the competition. Any disciple from the three families can come up here as long as he has as least level four blood power!”
The crowd starts buzzing. Soon, Li Jie, who likes showing off the most, hastily walks up to the stage, all the while raising his head high and rolling his eyes arrogantly.
The two servants each bow to Li Jie, “Young Master Li Jie, please have your blood force seen in the ruler.”
The day before yesterday, Li Jie managed to break through his marrowy meridians and started level five of blood practicing, which gave him a body strength of ten thousand jin. As he steers his blood and injects its power into the giant ruler, one end of the ruler immediately becomes blood red.
The color gradually spreads to the other end and soon comes to a stop. The two servants look closely at the mark and one of them shouts out, “Young Master Li Jie has a blood force of eleven thousand jin!”
“Alas! Eleven thousand jin means he has reached level five blood practicing!” Someone in the crowd exclaims. Normally, level one blood practicing means about five hundred jin in blood force; level two around one thousand jin; level three about three thousand jin; level four about six thousand jin; while level five means over ten thousand jin.
Therefore, the moment Li Jie’s blood force is announced, everyone there knows he has already reached the fifth level of blood practicing.
Since there are only a very small number of people with level four blood power or above, only a few come up the stage from the large crowd. Altogether, only thirty one people have their blood force measured.
Some out of the rare few have a blood force of over ten thousand jin since they are all in the middle of level four blood practicing.
Seeing no one else take to the stage, Li Xing slowly walks up.
With his appearance, a hush immediately falls over the crowd. It has been widely known that Li Xing is unfit for blood practicing, but his father, Li Ziran, used to be a martial art prodigy.
Without question, Li Xing’s appearance fills everyone with curiosity and suspicion.
“Has Li Xing practiced blood, too? What makes him dare to come up to the stage?”
“It’s hard to say. After all, he is the son of Li Ziran. Even if he has no talent, it couldn’t have been hard for him to reach level four blood power.”
“I don’t think so. Maybe he is crazy, or why on earth does he dare to challenge Li Jie?”
The moment Li Xing steps onto the stage, the two servants shoot a warning glance to each other. The two have been ordered to tamper with the ruler if Li Xing fails to meet the qualification.
As Li Xing slowly walks to the middle of the stage, Li Ying, Chen Jinsong and Bai Pingtu all turn their eyes on him. Calm as usual, Li Xing stops in front of the blood ruler, secretly applies his thunder force and pushes all of it in the ruler.
One end of the ruler immediately turns blood red which soon extends to the other end before coming to a stop.
Both servants are dumbfounded at what they just saw and keep staring at the ruler. A moment later, one shouts out, “Li Xing has a blood force of twelve thousand jin!”
Li Hu and Xiaoxu burst into cheers, each watching Li Xing from one side with greater joy than anyone else.
“Young Master, you are the best!” Xiaoxiu is filled with admiration.
For a short moment, Li Xing couldn’t believe what he just saw, doubting his blood force could reach such a high level. Then he realizes that The Book of Ultimate Blood has the most superior skills that can make one much more powerful than any regular book.
That’s why even though he has just completed the fourth level of blood practicing, he is now equipped with the force of level five blood power.
The most surprised of all is Li Jie who has hoped Li Xing would qualify for the competition, because he thought that would give him the chance to kill Li Xing out of spite.
But after seeing Li Xing demonstrating his twelve-thousand-jin blood force, even the most unscrupulously daring man like Li Jie suddenly feels a little intimidated. Isn’t Li Xing only capable of level three blood power? How come he suddenly reached level five?
Could he turn out to be a talent after all, or has Li Ziran been helping his loser son without everyone knowing?
It seems neither of the scenarios bodes well for Li Jie. In the end, it turns out that only fifteen people are qualified for the competition, which means the top fifteen in blood force will be competing for the spots.
Out of the fifteen people, nine of them will each win a spot eventually, while the other six will be eliminated.
Li Ying’s bewilderment is no less than his son’s, and he keeps thinking, “Li Ziran, turns out you are truly sober now and start thinking about you loser son.”
Everyone else under the stage is in awe. Is that really Li Xing who used to be so timid that he could barely look a servant in the eye and who used to be the chickenhearted and weak good-for-nothing that was known to all?
Everyone starts doubting their eyes, but after a good rubbing, they can clearly see it really is Li Xing standing there.
After having his blood force measured, Li Xing, without any word, turns around and strides down from the stage. He was the last one to come up for the measurement. Later, one servant starts announcing the final result, “The top fifteen contestants are…”
Li Xing is one of them, but he is not the one with the highest level of blood force. That person is confirmed to have a blood force of thirty thousand jin, which is much more powerful than Li Xing.
After all the names are read, Li Ying walks to the middle of the stage and announces, “Those fifteen contestants will have three days to prepare. Three days later, we will return here for the official competition!”
Getting over with today’s business, Li Xing comes down and walks away from the stage, followed by Xiaoxiu and Li Hu, both of whom holding their heads high with pride. The onlookers separate and a path forms in between. Up until now everyone has realized that Li Xing is no longer the quiet and useless young man he used to be. Instead, he has become someone capable of practicing level five blood power.
Who knows, maybe someday he will become a great and powerful man like his father, Li Ziran.
In the crowd, there are some who used to belittle or bully Li Xing. Now they all look crestfallen and defeated, worried about what they will do if Li Xing decides to revenge himself and reckon with each one of them.
Inevitably, many in the crowd start shooting malicious look at Li Xing, eager to see him drop dead the next second for their own sake.
But it is nothing but a pipe dream for them. Li Xing manages to return to Purple Bamboo Community, safe and sound.
The moment he is back home, Li Xing says, “Xiaoxiu, I need to shut in. For the next three days, do not let anyone disturb me!”
Li Xing is determined to reach level five blood power in three days at all costs! Only by accomplishing that will he have a bigger chance at winning a spot. Li Xing decides to make every effort because he is aware that once he enters Qiyun Sect, he will not only have higher social status, but also an opportunity to reach new heights in practice.
Xiaoxiu nods her head and says with a smile, “Young Master, you can rest assured. I will not let anyone disturb you!”
Li Xing then returns to the stone cottage and shuts himself inside. The reason he is doing this is that the only option to make a breakthrough from level four blood power and reach level five is for him to hurt himself yet again. So he reaches to the pillow and takes out an awl from under it.
The awl is about twenty centimeters in length, and Li Xing took it from Xiaoxiu’s sewing kit without her knowing. After spending a while staring at the sharp tool, he can feel his cheeks starting to twitch. He mumbles, “God damn this world! Why cannot there be another option for me to continue practicing?”
The thought of the awl drilling holes on his skin and flesh makes Li Xing shudder. But if he doesn’t do this, he will never move beyond level four blood power and eventually lose the sure chance of winning the coveted spot.
“This may be the chance of a lifetime and I cannot miss it no matter what! Who cares if I have to punch a few holes on my own body to get it!” Li Xing makes up his mind and with an unnatural sneer, he plunges the awl into his thigh.
Since he already has level four blood power, he is well aware of the layout of his blood vessels. The first stab is driven down to his muscles and doesn’t tough any major blood vessel, avoiding causing as much bleeding as he did the last time.
As the pointed needle of the awl enters his body, Li Xing opens his mouth and bites the edge of the pillow in agony. The veins on his forehead keep popping, his eyes wide open, and his nose keeps puffing in great pain.
Puff!
The second stab is driven into his flesh, making him tremble uncontrollably.
Unfortunately, there is no anesthetic in this world, so Li Xing has to endure the agonizing pain. Strangely, it seems he gradually becomes numb from the pain. As he punches holes one after another all over his body, his movement becomes mechanical and stiff.
“Only those who endure the most can rise to the highest. That is goddamn right!” Li Xing howls inside.
Although he doesn’t touch any major blood vessel, some minute ones are pierced in the process and blood keeps tricking out of his wounds.
Soon nine days pass. Without a hitch, Li Xing finally breaks through all his skeletal meridians, completing the fourth level of blood practicing! The second all his skeletal meridians are broken through, Li Xing can sense his bones suddenly become much lighter.
The most distinctive change in a person once he reaches level four blood power is that he can move his body swiftly like a swallow at a speed of the wind. And since he is much stronger physically, he can easily defeat a person with level three blood power within three to five moves.
Now that he has broken through all his skeletal meridians, Li Xing starts planning on the next step, “Next is to master the fourth move of the ultimate fist combative skills, break through the marrowy meridians and start the fifth level of blood practicing!”
The fourth move of the ultimate fist combative skills is called the lightning cracking and it carries much more power than the first three moves: the lightening strike, the lighting drilling, and the lighting crumbling.
Li Xing spends five days on practicing the lighting cracking. As he masters the move, the grand competition is also around the corner.
The day comes and the square is teeming with people. Almost everyone from the Li, Chen and Bai families manages to show up for the event. All the onlookers want to find out who from Three Chivalries Garden will be qualified for the competition.
Three Chivalries Garden has a total of nine spots and the winners will be sent to Qiyun Sect, which means they will have access to much higher level of martial art and have the rare opportunity to further improve themselves. Most importantly, since Qiyun Sect is the No. one sect in Ping state, becoming a disciple also means the rise to an extraordinary level of social status.
Even an off-site disciple of Qiyun Sect will have the same status as the minor nobles, and if one manages to become an on-site disciple, his status will upgrade significantly. What’s more, all the on-site disciples will be able to practice spirit power and become immensely powerful.
Given the importance of the competition, Three Chivalries Garden takes it very seriously, with all the three heads of family and the other leaders present on the stage.
Li Ying walks up to the stage and announces, “Today we will select the off-site disciples for Qiyun Sect. Before we start, we will determine whether you are qualified for the competition.” As he swings his hand, two servants come carrying a giant white jade ruler up to the stage.
The moment the ruler is seen, someone in the crowd shouts, “It’s the blood ruler! They are going to have their blood force measured!”
The blood ruler is used to measure the force of a person’s blood power which can be categorized into jin (half a kilogram), dou and jing. Ten thousand jin is one dou, and ten thousand dou is one jing.
The blood ruler is very valuable and considered as a piece of Buddhist ware. Even Three Chivalries Garden has just one such ruler, and it can only measure by the jin. Those which can measure by the dou and the jing are even more rare, which Three Chivalries Garden can’t even imagine to possess.
After the ruler is displayed, Li Ying smiles to the onlookers, saying, “Now, anyone with level four blood power and above can come up to the stage and have his blood force measured. If he has enough blood force, he will be confirmed qualified for the competition. Any disciple from the three families can come up here as long as he has as least level four blood power!”
The crowd starts buzzing. Soon, Li Jie, who likes showing off the most, hastily walks up to the stage, all the while raising his head high and rolling his eyes arrogantly.
The two servants each bow to Li Jie, “Young Master Li Jie, please have your blood force seen in the ruler.”
The day before yesterday, Li Jie managed to break through his marrowy meridians and started level five of blood practicing, which gave him a body strength of ten thousand jin. As he steers his blood and injects its power into the giant ruler, one end of the ruler immediately becomes blood red.
The color gradually spreads to the other end and soon comes to a stop. The two servants look closely at the mark and one of them shouts out, “Young Master Li Jie has a blood force of eleven thousand jin!”
“Alas! Eleven thousand jin means he has reached level five blood practicing!” Someone in the crowd exclaims. Normally, level one blood practicing means about five hundred jin in blood force; level two around one thousand jin; level three about three thousand jin; level four about six thousand jin; while level five means over ten thousand jin.
Therefore, the moment Li Jie’s blood force is announced, everyone there knows he has already reached the fifth level of blood practicing.
Since there are only a very small number of people with level four blood power or above, only a few come up the stage from the large crowd. Altogether, only thirty one people have their blood force measured.
Some out of the rare few have a blood force of over ten thousand jin since they are all in the middle of level four blood practicing.
Seeing no one else take to the stage, Li Xing slowly walks up.
With his appearance, a hush immediately falls over the crowd. It has been widely known that Li Xing is unfit for blood practicing, but his father, Li Ziran, used to be a martial art prodigy.
Without question, Li Xing’s appearance fills everyone with curiosity and suspicion.
“Has Li Xing practiced blood, too? What makes him dare to come up to the stage?”
“It’s hard to say. After all, he is the son of Li Ziran. Even if he has no talent, it couldn’t have been hard for him to reach level four blood power.”
“I don’t think so. Maybe he is crazy, or why on earth does he dare to challenge Li Jie?”
The moment Li Xing steps onto the stage, the two servants shoot a warning glance to each other. The two have been ordered to tamper with the ruler if Li Xing fails to meet the qualification.
As Li Xing slowly walks to the middle of the stage, Li Ying, Chen Jinsong and Bai Pingtu all turn their eyes on him. Calm as usual, Li Xing stops in front of the blood ruler, secretly applies his thunder force and pushes all of it in the ruler.
One end of the ruler immediately turns blood red which soon extends to the other end before coming to a stop.
Both servants are dumbfounded at what they just saw and keep staring at the ruler. A moment later, one shouts out, “Li Xing has a blood force of twelve thousand jin!”
Li Hu and Xiaoxu burst into cheers, each watching Li Xing from one side with greater joy than anyone else.
“Young Master, you are the best!” Xiaoxiu is filled with admiration.
For a short moment, Li Xing couldn’t believe what he just saw, doubting his blood force could reach such a high level. Then he realizes that The Book of Ultimate Blood has the most superior skills that can make one much more powerful than any regular book.
That’s why even though he has just completed the fourth level of blood practicing, he is now equipped with the force of level five blood power.
The most surprised of all is Li Jie who has hoped Li Xing would qualify for the competition, because he thought that would give him the chance to kill Li Xing out of spite.
But after seeing Li Xing demonstrating his twelve-thousand-jin blood force, even the most unscrupulously daring man like Li Jie suddenly feels a little intimidated. Isn’t Li Xing only capable of level three blood power? How come he suddenly reached level five?
Could he turn out to be a talent after all, or has Li Ziran been helping his loser son without everyone knowing?
It seems neither of the scenarios bodes well for Li Jie. In the end, it turns out that only fifteen people are qualified for the competition, which means the top fifteen in blood force will be competing for the spots.
Out of the fifteen people, nine of them will each win a spot eventually, while the other six will be eliminated.
Li Ying’s bewilderment is no less than his son’s, and he keeps thinking, “Li Ziran, turns out you are truly sober now and start thinking about you loser son.”
Everyone else under the stage is in awe. Is that really Li Xing who used to be so timid that he could barely look a servant in the eye and who used to be the chickenhearted and weak good-for-nothing that was known to all?
Everyone starts doubting their eyes, but after a good rubbing, they can clearly see it really is Li Xing standing there.
After having his blood force measured, Li Xing, without any word, turns around and strides down from the stage. He was the last one to come up for the measurement. Later, one servant starts announcing the final result, “The top fifteen contestants are…”
Li Xing is one of them, but he is not the one with the highest level of blood force. That person is confirmed to have a blood force of thirty thousand jin, which is much more powerful than Li Xing.
After all the names are read, Li Ying walks to the middle of the stage and announces, “Those fifteen contestants will have three days to prepare. Three days later, we will return here for the official competition!”
Getting over with today’s business, Li Xing comes down and walks away from the stage, followed by Xiaoxiu and Li Hu, both of whom holding their heads high with pride. The onlookers separate and a path forms in between. Up until now everyone has realized that Li Xing is no longer the quiet and useless young man he used to be. Instead, he has become someone capable of practicing level five blood power.
Who knows, maybe someday he will become a great and powerful man like his father, Li Ziran.
In the crowd, there are some who used to belittle or bully Li Xing. Now they all look crestfallen and defeated, worried about what they will do if Li Xing decides to revenge himself and reckon with each one of them.
Inevitably, many in the crowd start shooting malicious look at Li Xing, eager to see him drop dead the next second for their own sake.
But it is nothing but a pipe dream for them. Li Xing manages to return to Purple Bamboo Community, safe and sound.
The moment he is back home, Li Xing says, “Xiaoxiu, I need to shut in. For the next three days, do not let anyone disturb me!”
Li Xing is determined to reach level five blood power in three days at all costs! Only by accomplishing that will he have a bigger chance at winning a spot. Li Xing decides to make every effort because he is aware that once he enters Qiyun Sect, he will not only have higher social status, but also an opportunity to reach new heights in practice.
Xiaoxiu nods her head and says with a smile, “Young Master, you can rest assured. I will not let anyone disturb you!”
Li Xing then returns to the stone cottage and shuts himself inside. The reason he is doing this is that the only option to make a breakthrough from level four blood power and reach level five is for him to hurt himself yet again. So he reaches to the pillow and takes out an awl from under it.
The awl is about twenty centimeters in length, and Li Xing took it from Xiaoxiu’s sewing kit without her knowing. After spending a while staring at the sharp tool, he can feel his cheeks starting to twitch. He mumbles, “God damn this world! Why cannot there be another option for me to continue practicing?”
The thought of the awl drilling holes on his skin and flesh makes Li Xing shudder. But if he doesn’t do this, he will never move beyond level four blood power and eventually lose the sure chance of winning the coveted spot.
“This may be the chance of a lifetime and I cannot miss it no matter what! Who cares if I have to punch a few holes on my own body to get it!” Li Xing makes up his mind and with an unnatural sneer, he plunges the awl into his thigh.
Since he already has level four blood power, he is well aware of the layout of his blood vessels. The first stab is driven down to his muscles and doesn’t tough any major blood vessel, avoiding causing as much bleeding as he did the last time.
As the pointed needle of the awl enters his body, Li Xing opens his mouth and bites the edge of the pillow in agony. The veins on his forehead keep popping, his eyes wide open, and his nose keeps puffing in great pain.
Puff!
The second stab is driven into his flesh, making him tremble uncontrollably.
Unfortunately, there is no anesthetic in this world, so Li Xing has to endure the agonizing pain. Strangely, it seems he gradually becomes numb from the pain. As he punches holes one after another all over his body, his movement becomes mechanical and stiff.
“Only those who endure the most can rise to the highest. That is goddamn right!” Li Xing howls inside.
Although he doesn’t touch any major blood vessel, some minute ones are pierced in the process and blood keeps tricking out of his wounds.
