“I am Guo Huaijin.”
After the burly old man simply introduced himself, he lowered his gaze to Li Hai, who was standing quietly at the courtyard gate, and slowly said, “Young friend, do you know… why this old man saved your life?”
Li Hai remained silent, not answering Guo Huaijin’s question.
Or rather, he didn’t even notice what the other person said.
Because at this moment, Li Hai’s attention was completely drawn to Guo Huaijin’s personal interface—
Character Name: Guo Huaijin
Rank: Zhengchuan Martial Arts → Strong Soul Cycle
Skills Possessed: “Tiger Claw Knife Fist”
Entry Traits: 【Strong Soul Rank 1】 【Finger Claw Rank 1】
Strong Fragment: None
Guo Huaijin actually possessed all three: Rank, skills, and traits.
This was an unexpected surprise for Li Hai.
He, who felt extremely insecure, was just worrying about not having any Cultivation Technique to rely on, and then Guo Huaijin conveniently presented himself.
How wonderful.
Li Hai, secretly delighted, immediately and discreetly shifted his gaze to the “Tiger Claw Knife Fist” in Guo Huaijin’s skill bar.
Just like before, this Cultivation Technique entry immediately expanded into a message under his gaze:
“‘Tiger Claw Knife Fist’ has a total of six layers. This character has cultivated all six layers. Do you want to learn this Cultivation Technique—Yes/No?”
Li Hai immediately chose 【Yes】 without hesitation.
In an instant, a torrent of information, far vaster and more complex than the Five Animal Qi Gong, appeared out of thin air in the depths of his mind.
At the same time, Li Hai also quickly comprehended all the Profound Truths and essences of this Cultivation Technique, feeling as familiar with it as if he had read it thousands of times.
From the Profound Truth of this Cultivation Technique, it was completely different from the gentle and mild Five Animal Qi Gong.
All its content was for more effective killing, not for nourishing the body or prolonging life.
The former focused on cultivating Qi and accumulating essence, thereby excavating potential, protecting life, and extending longevity; while the latter focused on refining essence and tempering the body, stimulating an invisible internal strength that could be both rigid and flexible.
According to what was recorded in “Tiger Claw Knife Fist,” as long as one cultivated two layers, they could activate the so-called internal strength.
And once this intangible and formless mysterious internal strength was activated, the practitioner of this Cultivation Technique could enter the first Realm of the so-called Zhengchuan Martial Arts System—【Vigorous Power Manifestation】.
From the information contained in the “Tiger Claw Knife Fist” Cultivation Technique, those who stayed in this Realm, even without using any Technique, could easily suppress ten ordinary people who were not skilled in martial arts, relying solely on a surge of internal strength.
This level of combat power was already equivalent to that of the elite combatants in Li Hai’s previous life.
But from the information Li Hai obtained, this level was only the first step in the Zhengchuan Martial Arts System.
After this, if one cultivated “Tiger Claw Knife Fist” to the fourth layer, they could enter the second Realm of the Zhengchuan Martial Arts System—【Qi Circulation】.
Those in this Realm could transform strength into Qi, making it flow like mercury and silver streams, covering all parts of the body, both inside and out, and then through specific breathing and resonance methods, continuously temper and strengthen their skin, muscles, and bones, thereby constantly increasing their physical strength, even eventually reaching a colossal seven to eight hundred catties.
And when the last two layers of “Tiger Claw Knife Fist” were cultivated, one could reach the third Realm of the Zhengchuan Martial Arts System—【Strong Soul Cycle】.
Those who entered this Realm could push the mysterious internal Qi circulating within their bones, skin, and muscles, as well as the invisible internal strength that erupted from within to without based on this foundation, all to a higher level.
Furthermore, a Martial Artist in this Realm could integrate the relationship between their Qi, strength, and body, organizing and constructing a perfect and solid strength-body cycle, greatly stimulating a surge in their physical strength, thereby possessing a colossal force of several thousand catties.
Such power could easily crush a person’s head, or tear out their internal organs, or even pull out a person’s spinal column.
Terrifying… almost like a devil.
While possessing such immense power, the physique of those in this Realm could also reach a level of strength like hard old wood and flexibility like aged rubber.
Therefore, for a third-Realm Martial Artist, as long as they were not stabbed by swords or surrounded by arrows, no matter how many ordinary people attacked together, they could not do them any harm.
And now, Guo Huaijin, who was directly opposite Li Hai, was precisely such a terrifying existence in this Realm.
Of course, relying on the System’s seemingly unrestricted learning and upgrading abilities, Li Hai would not be afraid of him at all.
As long as Li Hai wished, he could completely advance to the same level of strength as the other party in the blink of an eye.
But…
Li Hai subtly glanced at the dozen or so armed strong men standing quietly on either side of Guo Huaijin, muttering to himself:
“They even have proper firearms. This world… could it have developed to a stage similar to the late Qing Dynasty or early Republic? Tsk, difficult to deal with.”
Unlike the relatively peaceful Five Animal Qi Gong.
Li Hai guessed that the “Tiger Claw Knife Fist,” which clearly had several levels of power higher, would definitely not have small movements when breaking through its Realm.
At that time, if it attracted Guo Huaijin’s attention, leading to the firing squad concentrating their fire on him, wouldn’t that be the end of it?
“It seems now…”
Li Hai pondered, “I can only temporarily stay put.”
Just then, a burst of laughter, tinged with Evil Qi, came, interrupting his thoughts.
“Hehehehe~ Why aren’t you speaking?”
Guo Huaijin said with a smile, “Are you mute?”
“Old Master Guo.”
Li Hai composed himself and calmly said, “I guess you saved my life because you need me to do something for you.”
“That’s right.”
Guo Huaijin stroked his beard and leisurely said, “I have a grandson, nineteen years old this year. He has suffered from a serious illness since birth. This illness cannot be cured, only alleviated. He needs to find a person with a specific fate every six months to assist in the treatment to forcibly prolong his life.”
“The so-called person with a specific fate that Old Master Guo mentioned.”
Li Hai raised a hand and pointed to himself, “Is that me?”
“Hmm.”
Guo Huaijin looked Li Hai up and down, nodding slightly, “It is you.”
“Then how do you treat it?” Li Hai spread his hands, “I haven’t learned any medical arts, you know?”
“Hahaha~ Don’t worry.”
Guo Huaijin laughed up to the sky, “The method of treatment is extremely simple. You just need to, at dawn when the sun rises, while you are conscious and your soul is active, extract a large handful of fresh heart blood from you and have my grandson drink it. Then the treatment will be complete.”
“Oh~”
Li Hai showed no fear, instead laughing mockingly, “So, your grandson has been drinking human blood for nineteen years? And killed more than thirty people?”
“More or less. Alright, no more idle talk.”
Guo Huaijin calmly said, “The sun will rise in two hours. In these two hours, no matter what you want to eat, drink, or play, even if you want to pile gold and silver into a bed, wash yourself with fine wine, or burn delicacies as firewood, I can satisfy you, to let you have a good final journey. So… do you have any requests?”
However, facing Guo Huaijin’s question, Li Hai calmly shook his head:
“I don’t need any of that. I just want to know one thing.”
“Oh~”
Guo Huaijin frowned, “Tell me, what is it?”
“I just want to know…”
Li Hai said in a deep voice, “How will you extract my heart blood?”
“Interesting.”
Guo Huaijin shook his head and laughed, “I’ve never seen anyone as concerned about their death as you are. Alright, good! I’ll satisfy you.”
After laughing, he said in a low voice:
“In two hours, you will be tied to a tree stump with ropes, your clothes lifted to expose your chest. At that time, my grandson will personally insert a hollow copper tube into your heart and suck your living heart blood.”