Chapter 27
Six months later.
At the city gate of the inner city.
A slightly handsome young man walked out of the city gate. He was dressed in white luxurious clothes and had a tall and slender figure. He held a folding fan in his hand and looked elegant and talented.
However, his face was a little pale, and the dark circles under his eyes were very obvious. His footsteps were weak, and he looked like he had overindulged. His lascivious aura had completely destroyed his temperament.
This person was Zhang Tianwen.
A month ago, his attempt to break through to the Blood Tempering Realm failed and his blood qi was damaged.
Half a month ago, his big brother, Zhang Wu, who cultivated the Overlord Spear, also failed to break through.
However, the family gave Zhang Wu the blood ginseng that they had bought with a lot of money.
In less than ten days, Zhang Wu’s depleted blood qi had recovered by more than half, but it would take Zhang Tianwen at least a year to recover his blood qi.
As time passed, the gap between them widened.
Feeling depressed, he was invited by Xu Jin and Fang Hongyun to go to the Drunken Moon Pavilion to drink for three days and completely indulge himself.
“Old fart! In terms of aptitude, I’m not inferior to Zhang Wu at all. Do I have to lower myself to Zhang Wu just because my mother is a concubine?!”
Zhang Tianwen was indignant. He wished that a bolt of lightning would fall from the sky and strike Zhang Wu to death. This way, if the family focused its resources, he would definitely be able to break through to the Blood Tempering Realm.
With such a mood, Zhang Tianwen walked towards the martial arts school. Just as he entered the main street of Yejiang District, he saw three luxuriously decorated carriages driving away one after another. From the looks of it, they were coming from the Mountain Shaking Fist Academy.
“Could it be that one of Su Yun and Xu Ling has broken through?!”
Zhang Tianwen’s heart trembled, and his head, which was dizzy from the hangover, instantly sobered up.
“Even if Su Yun has broken through, it must not be Xu Ling!” He actually prayed in his heart. That was because Xu Jin had hinted the day before yesterday that he would think of a way to make Xu Ling marry him. If Xu Ling successfully broke through, then all hope would be lost.
He still wanted to help Xu Ling obtain the family business. This way, he could use the Xu family’s resources to increase his chances of breaking through to the Blood Tempering Realm.
Once he broke through to the Blood Tempering Realm, it was not impossible for him to become the head of the Zhang family. With the resources of the two families to support him, there was still hope for him to grasp Internal Force.
Zhang Tianwen walked to the entrance of the Mountain Shaking Fist Academy nervously and saw that there were already two carriages parked at the entrance.
One of the carriages was embroidered with the word ‘Zhang’. It was his Zhang family’s carriage.
Zhang Tianwen took a deep breath. Just as he stepped onto the steps, he saw a young man in green walking out with two muscular martial artists behind him.
It was his big brother, Zhang Wu.
“Tianwen?” Zhang Wu looked at the pale Zhang Tianwen and frowned slightly. He walked forward. “Tianwen, what’s wrong with you? Are you starting to indulge after failing to break through? You’re only 21 years old. There are still many opportunities. You can’t give up and let Father and me down!”
Seeing Zhang Wu teach him a lesson like an elder brother, Zhang Tianwen felt like vomiting. If he had not obtained the blood ginseng, he would not have had the chance to make sarcastic remarks here.
“Yes, Big Brother.” Zhang Tianwen lowered his head, looking regretful. However, he clenched his fists tightly behind his back.
Seeing him like this, Zhang Wu nodded in satisfaction and changed the topic. “By the way, do you know where your junior brother, Han Zhao, lives?”
“I’m not sure. He…” Zhang Tianwen shook his head and suddenly realized that Han Zhao was the one who had broken through.
“As a fellow disciple of Han Zhao, why don’t you know anything about him? This morning, Martial Master Lu released the news that Han Zhao had broken through to the Bone Tempering Realm. You actually didn’t know?” Zhang Wu pretended to be surprised.
Of course, he knew that his third brother had gone to the Drunken Moon Pavilion to drink for three days. He had even let his servants inadvertently reveal this to his father.
“Han Zhao?!” Zhang Tianwen’s eyes widened.
He had also cultivated for two years and three months before breaking through to the Bone Tempering Realm. How could Han Zhao breakthrough in just two years?
“This Junior Brother Han of yours is a talent. With his background, he can break through in two years. If he’s willing to join the Zhang family, his future is promising.
“Furthermore, it’s said that he has a good relationship with Zhao Yuantu. This Zhao Yuantu is even more extraordinary. Five days ago, he was escorting goods with the Xu family’s trading company when he was attacked by a Blood Tempering Realm martial artist.”
“He joined forces with another registered elder of the Xu family to severely injure the Blood Tempering Realm expert. This means that the Mountain Shaking Fist is not weak, but there was a problem with the people who practiced it.”
“I think the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique is also worthy of its name. It’s just that the requirements for aptitude are a little high.”
Zhang Wu’s tone was vaguely mocking Zhang Tianwen.
‘If you can’t do it, don’t blame the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique.’
“What?! Zhao Yuantu!” Zhang Tianwen exclaimed.
“He’s your eldest senior brother. Why don’t you know anything about seniority? The Xu family and the Su family have already sent someone to invite Han Zhao. I’ve already come late.” Zhang Wu frowned and berated, “Seriously! You can’t even do a small thing? I actually have to ask around myself.”
With that, Zhang Wu quickly walked down the steps and sat in the carriage.
“Hurry up and drive! Let’s go to Xinqiao District first.”
The two accompanying martial artists drove out of Yejiang District.
“Han Zhao!” Zhang Tianwen gritted his teeth. He felt his face burning as if he had been slapped hard.
Zhao Yuantu’s lackey, a person that he did not even care about, actually wanted to make a comeback now?
However, he could only suppress the humiliation in his heart.
In the future, when he saw Han Zhao, he would probably have to welcome him with a smile.
He knew Zhang Wu’s character very well. He was a lecher who frequented prostitutes, but on the surface, he pretended to be polite and approachable. He could even communicate equally with those bumpkins.
With Zhang Wu’s status as the legitimate son of the Zhang family and his disguise, he would definitely pretend to let Han Zhao register with the Zhang family first and rope him in.
Sooner or later, Han Zhao would sign a contract with the Zhang family and work for him.
This was Zhang Wu’s usual trick.
If Han Zhao really got lucky and broke through to the Blood Tempering Realm in the future, would the Zhang family still have a foothold for him?
“Ah!” Zhang Tianwen roared and turned to leave.
How could he face Lu Yi in such a state? He should just go home.
He had to endure it!
Sooner or later, these people would pay the price.
…
Xinqiao District.
Han Zhao stood in the middle of the courtyard with his eyes closed.
His posture was upright, like an unsheathed sword.
There was a saber and a sword hanging from his waist, and his right hand was holding the hilt of his sword.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
Whoosh!
The sword shot out like a dragon, and a black stream flashed across the courtyard!
It was as if a peerless weapon had been unsheathed.
Han Zhao’s entire body was filled with a sharp aura.
“Clang!”
As the sword returned to its sheath, Han Zhao returned to his gentle and elegant image as if everything just now was an illusion.
[This strike is completely unleashed. It’s about 1.5 times as powerful as when you use your saber technique with all your might. It’s not bad.]
He did not expect to receive a ‘not bad’ evaluation.
[The proficiency of the Sword and Saber Duo has increased. The Saber Dao Aptitude has increased by five times. The Sword Dao Aptitude has increased by four times.]
Looking at the notification on the system interface, Han Zhao smiled happily. “It’s finally upgraded! This ‘Sword Accumulation Technique’ is indeed extraordinary.”
The process of him holding the sword without unsheathing it was to ‘sword nurturing’, while the unsheathing process was to ‘drawing the sword’.
Of course, simply drawing the sword and not releasing the sword qi nurtured in it would only increase his proficiency.
Three months ago, Zhu Kangsheng had finished forging the sword.
Han Zhao named the sword ‘Afterlife’.
From the moment he obtained the sword, he began to “nurture” it. Even when he was eating or sleeping, his sword never left his side.
Carrying it with him was a passive sword nurturing.
Just like how he had focused and calmed down just now, he had taken the initiative to nurture the sword nurturing.
The effect of actively nurturing the sword was obvious, but the consumption was greater. Therefore, he would only do it after the cultivation method ended. This way, it would not affect his cultivation progress.
Of course, the result was that his appetite had increased greatly. He had to eat four meals a day and had to eat meat every meal.
However, the power of the Sword Drawing Technique did not disappoint him.
His strongest attack now was to use his nourishing true qi to amplify the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique.
The sword qi nurtured in the Afterlife Sword was equivalent to 1.5 times his full-power attack.
He had only been undergoing sword nurturing for three months.
Martial Arts: Life Nurturing Technique (Second Level Perfection 92%, Upgradeable), Mountain Splitting Saber Technique (Second Level Small Mastery 3%, Upgradeable), Bone Shrinking Technique (Perfection 100%, Can Deduce), Sword Drawing Technique (Perfection 100%, Can Deduce; Special Effect: Concentration Level 1)
“Phew~” Looking at the progress of the martial arts column, Han Zhao let out a long sigh.
He had learned a lot about cultivation from Lu Yi.
No matter how good one’s aptitude was, one would still encounter a bottleneck. It was just that it was easier to pass the bottleneck with good aptitude.
If he worked harder, he would be able to complete the Second Level of the Life Nurturing Technique in four months. At that time, he could break through the bottleneck by adding points.
“After I break through the Life Nurturing Technique, I’ll hurry up and earn money.” Han Zhao thought to himself. As his cultivation progress increased, the consumption of money became greater and greater. He had less than 20 taels of silver left from the 100 taels he had saved previously. He still had to use it sparingly in the next few months.
“The Frost Saber should be reforged. I can go take a look.”
Han Zhao returned to his room and put his saber into the secret compartment under the floor tiles under the bed.
This saber was also forged by Zhu Kangsheng. He named it Extraction to deal with ordinary enemies.
However, this saber was the exclusive saber he had prepared for Song Que. He still had to use the Frost Saber usually.
After Zhu Kangsheng finished forging the new saber and sword, he had already sent the chipped Frost Saber to be reforged. Now that a month had passed, it should be about time.
It was all thanks to Zhu Kangsheng. Otherwise, he would have spent at least a hundred taels of silver to buy these two sabers and one sword, not to mention the cost of reforging them in the future.
When the time was right, he would avenge Zhu Kangsheng as soon as possible.
“My thirty catties of black gold is more than six thousand taels of silver!”
Looking at the saber and sword on his waist, Han Zhao sighed and left the house.
Why didn’t any rich woman see through his disguise?