Qingshan Village had an utterly disadvantageous geographical location for development, but it somehow became one of the few still peaceful places during the last years of the dynasty.
Wang Sheng, too, could cultivate his skills without worries in such an environment.
Had he been in one of those important big cities, his greatest concern every day would probably be whether an army would attack.
He guessed that, in the end, the result would still be to run away, to a village similar to Qingshan Village, to barely scrape by.
Now, to reach this place in one step was quite good.
When there are no reservations in one’s mind, the efficiency in doing things is very high.
The same goes for the progress bar; Wang Sheng devoted most of his energy to enhancing the progress in both the Ba Duan Jin and his Inner Core Skill.
Both were advancing swiftly.
The Inner Core Skill had already reached “Breakthrough+2 (99%)” before, and on the day after learning about the Martial Artist Plague, he successfully achieved the third breakthrough.
Wang Sheng had thought that the Inner Core Skill would acquire new features after the third breakthrough, similar to Medicinal Plant Cultivation, but the ultimate fact turned out to be somewhat disappointing.
After the breakthrough of the Inner Core Skill, the speed at which the Qi Blood Power flowed had indeed increased by a lot, quickening the Qi Rushing to the Disease process, but there were no new features.
He had his own speculations.
“Is the concept of the Inner Core Skill too lofty?”
The essence of the Inner Core Skill is the Immortal Law; its ambition is boundless. Perhaps the three breakthroughs are still not enough to induce a new change like the first breakthrough did.
“Forget it, let’s not worry about it for now. Today, Ba Duan Jin should be breaking through as well, let’s see if any new features will appear in Ba Duan Jin!”
The progress of Ba Duan Jin followed closely behind that of the Inner Core Skill, trailing by just a bit.
After dispelling the disappointment brought by the Inner Core Skill’s lack of new features, Wang Sheng wholeheartedly threw himself into advancing the progress of the Ba Duan Jin.
The day after the breakthrough of the Inner Core Skill, Ba Duan Jin also completed its third breakthrough.
At the moment of the breakthrough, Wang Sheng had some revelations in his mind.
Ba Duan Jin had developed a new ability.
“Indeed, the Inner Core Skill’s concept is too lofty, hence the higher the requirements for acquiring new features, a mere third breakthrough is utterly insufficient.”
The information he acquired after the Ba Duan Jin breakthrough seemed to substantiate this.
However, Wang Sheng did not linger on this for too long.
Now, understanding the effects after Ba Duan Jin’s three breakthroughts was the most important thing.
The method was naturally to experience it personally.
He didn’t hesitate, placed a Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill in his mouth, and began performing the Ba Duan Jin that had achieved three breakthroughs.
Just after completing the first movement, he felt his body voraciously devouring the energy supplied by the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill, a greediness so intense that almost the instant the pill’s essence was swallowed, its energy vanished, replenishing his body.
“Is the Ba Duan Jin, after the third breakthrough, really this terrifyingly consumptive?”
Wang Sheng dared not mess up the breathing rhythm of Ba Duan Jin and could only ponder silently in his heart.
To know, when Ba Duan Jin was at two breakthroughs, the energy supplied by the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill was more than what the body could use up, but after one more breakthrough, it became that the pill could not supply quickly enough.
Just by this alone, he knew the change in Ba Duan Jin was definitely not minor.
As for where the change lay?
Naturally, it was about seeing where all that consumed energy went, and as long as he knew this, he would understand the effects of the new features after Ba Duan Jin’s breakthrough.
More than ten minutes later, Wang Sheng completed a full round of the post-breakthrough Ba Duan Jin, and the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill in his mouth was also entirely consumed.
Previously, one round of Ba Duan Jin only needed half a pill.
“I have to see where all this energy has gone!”
Wang Sheng quickly entered a state of internal observation, the first thing he observed was the strength of his Qi Blood Power, which was still circulating within his meridians, seeking, and bursting through the disease.
He had thought that such a great amount of energy would greatly enhance his Qi Blood Power, but after careful observation, he realized that the strength of his Qi Blood Power hadn’t changed much compared to when he observed it yesterday.
“Where did the Qi-Blood replenished by the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill go?”
Wang Sheng felt puzzled inside.
Energy wouldn’t just vanish without a trace, and if he had used up the Qi-Blood replenished by the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill, it meant that there must be somewhere it had gone.
In the state of internal observation, he searched for several possible destinations for the Qi-Blood, but after a full circle of observation, he found nothing.
However, just as he was about to check again, he finally noticed something abnormal.
“Has the strength of my blood increased?”
The blood in his body was different from the Qi Blood Power.
Wang Sheng wasn’t very clear about what Martial Artists in this world were like, but based on his own cultivation experience, he had his summary of blood and Qi Blood Power.
Although blood and Qi Blood Power complemented each other, they were essentially different.
Qi Blood Power was the power extracted from the blood, an energy that could increase strength, reinforce physical constitution, and was the source of a Martial Artist’s power.
Theoretically, the stronger the blood, the stronger the Qi Blood Power extracted from it, and the stronger the Martial Artist’s own strength would be.
To enhance the strength of his blood, Wang Sheng could only let it increase slowly and naturally before.
But just a moment ago, while in the state of internal observation, he had discovered that the strength of his blood had increased!
Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill energy consumption + blood strength increase + Eight-Section Brocade Breakthrough = ?
Thinking in this way, after breaking through the Eight-Section Brocade three times, the new characteristic became clear — the enhancement of the strength of the blood.
This characteristic seemed to be of little use at present.
But just a bit more of cultivation of the Eight-Section Brocade after the three breakthroughs, and the terror of this characteristic would truly come to light.
To put it simply, the Qi Blood Power from before was the essence, and if his blood strength increased, the Qi Blood Power that would be further enhanced would be the essence extracted from the essence.
The same amount of Qi Blood Power that used to increase strength by 50 pounds could now increase it by 100 pounds, and the effect on the enhancement of the body would be the same, the most important being that this enhancing effect would continue to grow with the increase of blood strength.
The breakthrough in the Eight-Section Brocade gave him a huge surprise.
“It’s a pity that I haven’t encountered a Martial Artist from this world yet, otherwise I could test my current strength.”
Theoretically, he was still a First Grade Martial Artist.
But realm and combat ability are inherently different; whether he was stronger or weaker than an average First Grade Martial Artist could only be determined through actual combat.
Of course, Wang Sheng wouldn’t go seeking trouble with other Martial Artists just to test his strength.
His initial purpose in cultivation was for self-preservation, but an even more important reason was for longevity, otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen the Immortal Law as his Foundation Method.
He definitely wouldn’t seek trouble just to test his strength, the existence of the Martial Artist Plague proved that the Martial Artist World must be troubled, and he wasn’t going to court death.
Without testing, he was quite clear about one thing, the new characteristic of the Eight-Section Brocade would definitely enhance his strength.
This was just one of the advantages, and there was an even greater hidden benefit.
The progress of Qi Rushing to the Disease!
The enhancement of Qi Blood Power, besides improving his strength, also greatly helped in impacting the disease.
After all, the stronger the Qi Blood Power, the easier it was to burst through the disease.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before he could resolve all the diseases within his body, including that accursed Martial Artist Plague!