Late at night.
At the foot of Mist Ripple Mountain, by the Shui Bo Lake.
Overcast clouds covered the sky, the bright crescent moon hidden by dark clouds, only allowing scattered dim light to penetrate.
Whoosh—
A cold wind howled past, causing the Yang Liu on both sides to sway erratically.
Amidst the wind, a figure suddenly appeared.
The figure was tall and thin, expressionless, none other than Wanjun, the Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Spirits Sect.
His gaze was calm as he swept over the Shui Bo Lake before him.
He quickly sensed something and, in the space of a breath, had already crossed hundreds of feet.
He arrived at a forest by the lake.
A dense scent of blood permeated from the forest.
A figure was sprawled on the ground, his back towards him, his head constantly bobbing, accompanied by the teeth-grinding sound of flesh tearing.
He seemed like a starving mountain wolf gnawing on the delicious flesh and blood of a Rock Sheep.
Suddenly, the figure sprawled on the ground paused as if sensing something, vigorously twitching his nostrils, seemingly sniffing something, and then he abruptly turned around.
He revealed a hairy, ferocious face with elongated, stark white fangs exposed in his mouth, still stained with scattered bits of flesh. His two yellow beast eyes stared fixedly at Wanjun, who was dozens of feet behind him, his face filled with a violent aura.
The next moment, he dropped to all fours and pounced with extreme speed.
Seeing this scene, Wanjun slightly furrowed his brow. Before the human-like beast could get close, he flicked his hand, sending him flying, crashing heavily to the ground.
Although it was just a light strike, a deep pit had caved in the chest of the ferocious figure, exposing stark white bones and scarlet internal organs.
Despite such severe injuries, he seemed to feel nothing, struggling to his feet and actually charging towards Wanjun again.
Wanjun's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise flashing within them.
He flicked a finger, and a burst of energy shot out, directly shattering the figure's head.
Only then did the human-like beast figure collapse to the ground, completely still.
He couldn't help but step forward to examine the headless corpse, and the more he looked, the more his brows furrowed.
"Did you see? This is the truth of the Beast Suppression Army. Perhaps the truth is even more complicated than it appears on the surface."
A clear, cold voice echoed in the forest as Qi Ning slowly walked out from behind.
"This beast-transformed Martial Artist's original strength was only at the early Blood Transportation Realm, but the power he erupted with after beast transformation is no less than a Martial Artist in the Bone Transformation Realm. Moreover, he has no sense of pain and is fearless of death, making him even harder to deal with than ordinary Bone Transformation Martial Artists."
"Is this why Gongsun Yuanzhou is aggressively recruiting the Beast Suppression Army?"
Hearing Qi Ning's words, Wanjun's expression immediately became solemn.
"This is something Tianhong Pavilion created. They can control these beast-transformed Martial Artists through some means. Even low-level Martial Artists in the Body Tempering Realm are no less than Blood Transportation after beast transformation. This is why the front-line battles have been continuously victorious, causing South Qi to retreat step by step. What this means, I believe Sect Leader Wan should be very clear..."
Qi Ning spoke softly, saying no more.
Hearing this, Wanjun's expression turned somewhat grim.
Low-level Martial Artists being able to unleash the combat power of the Blood Transportation Realm was absolutely unimaginably terrifying.
Blood Transportation Warriors were definitely captain-level existences in the army.
If all soldiers had the combat power of this Realm, then South Qi would be in great peril this time.
This didn't even count the powerful combat power of those Blood Transportation Warriors and Bone Transformation Martial Artists after beast transformation.
It was obvious that once this method matured, South Qi wouldn't be the only one to suffer. The sects and forces within Northern Yan would likely die even faster.
"Didn't anyone in the Ten Thousand Sects Alliance notice this matter?"
After a long while, Wanjun spoke slowly.
"Hehe, Sect Leader Wan, you think the Ten Thousand Sects Alliance could reach today without many people already defecting to the Imperial Court?"
"However, Sect Leader Wan can also report this matter. Perhaps it might be of some use."
Qi Ning said with a smile.
Wanjun fell silent. After a long moment, he finally spoke again.
"About my daughter's matter, what you said is true..."
After the other party revealed information about his daughter that day, he immediately sought out the Seventh Elder.
However, after only a few sentences, the Seventh Elder seemed to sense something, made an excuse to leave, and hastily tried to descend the mountain.
Naturally, he quickly caught up, but to his surprise, the other party simply shattered his own meridians and died.
Although he didn't get any answers, based on the other party's reaction, it was clear there was a major problem.
"Whether it is or not, Sect Leader Wan will know when he sees it. It is said that Sect Leader Wan's daughter possesses the Hibernating Dragon Bloodline, which is likely why Gongsun Yuanzhou is targeting her."
Qi Ning spoke softly, without much emotion in her words.
She walked to the side of the headless corpse and flicked a finger, her powerful energy directly shattering the corpse into dust.
"When do you plan to make your move?"
Wanjun spoke slowly.
"Five days from now."
"I agree..."
*
*
Inside the bamboo forest.
Lin Sheng stood by the stream. His originally robust figure had become extremely thin at this moment.
He looked like skin and bones, appearing quite frightening.
His condition was much more severe than it had been two days ago.
However, at this moment, a smile was on his face.
Because in just one day, he had already simulated about seventy percent of the Great Strength.
Although the remaining thirty percent would be more difficult, at most in a week, he was confident he could completely simulate the Great Strength successfully.
"It's just that the Heart Monkey Talent seems much more complex than the Great Strength. The two are completely different types, and the difficulty of simulation is higher. It will likely take a lot of time to simulate."
He had also tried simulating the Heart Monkey Talent, but the result was much more troublesome than he had imagined.
Unlike the ease with which he simulated the Great Strength, simulating the Heart Monkey Talent was quite sluggish, the progress was not only slow but also prone to failure.
"No, perhaps it's not that the Heart Monkey Talent is more complex than Level Three Great Strength, but rather that my body structure is more suited to the Great Strength type of talent than the Heart Monkey Talent."
As he pondered, Lin Sheng's thin figure quickly expanded.
However, he still hadn't fully recovered his original robustness, just looking less frightening than skin and bones.
At this moment, the muscle tissue beneath his skin was still maintaining a compressed state.
Although maintaining this state would cause him constant tearing pain, it allowed his body to continuously utilize this state.
This would allow for more thorough compression and condensation in the future.
In simple terms, the Great Strength can be divided into three parts.
The first part is compressing the bones, the second part is compressing the tendons and meridians, and the third part is compressing the organs.
Currently, his bone and meridian compression was quite thorough, with only the third part, organ compression, having been roughly tested.
After all, compared to bones and meridians, organ compression is more difficult.
Especially for the Great Strength, the degree of organ compression itself is not high.
Therefore, Lin Sheng also had some conjectures in his mind.
If he took the organ compression a step further, exceeding the scope of Level Three Great Strength, would the talent effect also increase?
Of course, this was just a conjecture for now. He would only know the specifics after he reached that step and tried it.
At this moment, his ears twitched slightly, as if he sensed something. He opened his large hand and the tight-fitting clothes resting on a nearby bamboo were drawn into his grasp.
Putting on his tight-fitting clothes, his gaze fell upon the path beside the bamboo forest.
He saw two figures shooting towards the bamboo building.
His eyes narrowed slightly, but quickly relaxed.
Because he recognized the newcomers. The thin old man leading the way was none other than Huang Quan.
"Lin Sheng."
Huang Quan's speed was not slow; in just a few breaths, he had arrived before Lin Sheng. Seeing the greatly changed Lin Sheng, although he was somewhat surprised, he naturally recognized him at a glance.
"Brother Huang, why are you here? Is something the matter?"
A smile appeared on Lin Sheng's face. Huang Quan had also helped him a lot and could be considered an old acquaintance.
Seeing the other party arrive at this moment, he was still somewhat happy.
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the unfamiliar middle-aged strong man behind Huang Quan, who was sizing him up.
Noticing Lin Sheng's gaze, Huang Quan said with a chuckle.
"Lin Sheng, let me introduce you. This is the Hidden Star Envoy from Tainnan, codenamed Jin Qianbao. He's also an old hand in Dark Star. This time I came, I also wanted to see you, our newly promoted Blazing Star Envoy."
"Greetings, Blazing Star Envoy Lin." Jin Qianbao also scratched his head sheepishly and smiled at Lin Sheng at this moment.
"Mm." Lin Sheng nodded slightly, withdrew his gaze, and looked at Huang Quan, a smile on his face.
"Your efficiency is quite high. I didn't expect it to pass so quickly?"
"Of course. With Lord Thousand Faces' recommendation, although your cultivation hasn't reached the Divine Transformation Realm yet, your talent is sufficient. Not everyone can have an Ancestral Reversion Bloodline, especially since your Ancestral Reversion Bloodline's combat power is not weak and is definitely considered High Grade among Ancestral Reversion Bloodlines."
Huang Quan said with a chuckle, simultaneously taking off the bundle he was carrying.
"Lin Sheng, I've been in Dark Star for so many years, and you are definitely the youngest Blazing Star Envoy I've ever seen. Inside this is something that person from before asked me to bring to you. It contains your identification and so on."
Taking the bundle, Lin Sheng opened it directly. There were only three items inside.
A dark black token made of an unknown material, a bottle of dark green porcelain, and a thin, ancient booklet with only a few pages.
"Lin Sheng, this token is the identification of a Blazing Star Envoy. With this token, you can command the Gray Star Envoys and Hidden Star Envoys within a prefecture, as well as the Star Apprentices. Moreover, you receive 500 contribution points in Salary every month. Of course, you can also choose a Peerless True Art within the organization."
Huang Quan immediately began introducing, and after finishing, he pointed at the dark green porcelain bottle.
"This porcelain bottle contains a blood awakening treasure pill, which has the effect of refining muscles and bones, and also a hint of the effect of tapping into Bloodline potential. It's a first-rate good thing that you absolutely cannot buy outside. Even within Dark Star, you would need 100,000 contribution points for this blood awakening treasure pill."
As he spoke, a hint of envy appeared in Huang Quan's eyes.
Clearly, this blood awakening treasure pill held great attraction for him.
"Refine muscles and bones, tap into Bloodline potential!"
Hearing Huang Quan's words, a look of surprise appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
This was the first time he had heard of something that could tap into Bloodline potential. Besides this, only the blood dragon fruit mentioned in the introduction of the Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey had this effect.
Bloodline potential is related to a person's martial path, and its importance is naturally self-evident.
What's more, in addition to these, he could even choose a Peerless True Art.
Such treatment, even though he had expected the treatment for a Blazing Star Envoy to be extremely good, greatly exceeded his expectations.
One must know that Peerless True Arts are basically the foundation of large sects with thousands of years of inheritance.
"How is it? Generous enough, right? That's not all..."
Huang Quan shook his head, took out his pipe from his waist, knocked it against his foot, and his gaze fell on the last item, the old, yellowed ancient booklet with only a few pages.
"This is the main event."
Lin Sheng's gaze also fell on the ancient booklet. He picked it up and realized that this ancient book was actually a fragmented scroll.
"I didn't expect, Lin Sheng, that you could actually attract Li Shenjun. This is a great Opportunity."
"Li Shenjun?" Lin Sheng's heart stirred, thinking of the Dark Star Envoy Qi Ning had mentioned when she came before.
Noticing the change in Lin Sheng's expression, Huang Quan took a deep puff from his pipe.
"That's right, Li Shenjun is one of the few Dark Star Envoys in the organization, and he is also the strongest among the few Dark Star Envoys, not even inferior to the two Pavilion Masters. If Lin Sheng can become his disciple, it will definitely be a step to heaven."
"It is precisely because of his extremely strong strength that he is called Shenjun, although within the organization, he is referred to as Shen Jun."
"Li Shenjun..." Lin Sheng chewed on the name.
Just these three words were absolutely arrogant.
"Also, this is your letter. Lord Thousand Faces asked me to give it to you. It should contain his intentions."
Huang Quan slapped his head and pulled out a letter sealed with fire wax from his chest, handing it to Lin Sheng.
Taking the letter, tearing open the outer layer, revealing the letter paper inside, there was a lot of content recorded on it. After reading the content on it after a long while, Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed slightly.
Huang Quan, who was beside him, couldn't wait to ask.
"How is it, Lin Sheng? Did he accept you as a disciple!?"
He looked at Lin Sheng expectantly, but Lin Sheng slightly shook his head.
He picked up the heavily worn ancient book.
"He didn't say he would take me as a disciple, only that I should cultivate this method successfully before seeing him again."
"Method? That's simple. With your peerless talent, Lin Sheng, it's just a mere method. I reckon it won't take long to cultivate it successfully. Moreover, since it comes from him, this method is definitely not ordinary."
Speaking of this, Huang Quan paused, his gaze falling on the old, unclear ancient book in Lin Sheng's hand.
"But speaking of which, what method is recorded in this ancient book?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Sheng opened the mottled cover. On the first page, only four blurred characters were written.
"Heavenly Serpent Bone Exchange."
Clang—
After Lin Sheng read out these four words, he heard a clang. Huang Quan's pipe, which he had just lit, fell straight to the ground, making a crisp sound.
Even Jin Qianbao, who had been silent behind him, wide-eyed upon hearing these four words, a strange look on his face.