14: Three lives lost in one night, sword energy begins to take shape
"Transfer!"
With a roar from the depths of Lin Que's heart, the crimson Karma lines on the System panel instantly snapped taut!
Boom!!
At that moment, the Moon Essence Stone in Lin Que's mouth completely exploded.
It wasn't a trickling stream, but a torrent of energy like a collapsing snow mountain!
This power was so massive and pure that Lin Que's body instantly swelled like an overinflated balloon, and a layer of eerie silver light patterns surfaced on his skin.
Immediately after, the Meridian Rushing Secret Art of Reversed Blood began to operate frantically.
The blood and Qi that originally flowed naturally were forcibly reversed, like a backward-flowing river, carrying a violent impact as they slammed into those secret Meridians that were usually blocked and tough!
Pain!
Heart-wrenching pain!
The Meridians were violently forced open, torn, and then reorganized. This kind of agony was enough to drive even the toughest man insane instantly.
But Lin Que's expression was eerily calm.
Because at the very instant that intense pain was about to drown his sanity, the System's transfer mechanism activated.
The "backlash damage" sufficient to destroy human bodily functions, along with the excess violent "waste Qi" that couldn't be absorbed, was precisely stripped away by the System. Following those invisible Karma lines, it was continuously funneled to his "good brothers" far away.
All that remained for Lin Que was the purified, most perfect Body Tempering energy... Meanwhile, at the Su Residence Medical Hall.
Night had fallen deep, and the Medical Hall was dead silent, save for the occasional sound of coughing.
In the intensive care room, Wang Meng lay on the bed, his breathing weak. After two days of torment, he had become emaciated beyond recognition, his eye sockets deeply sunken like a dried corpse. However, after drinking the evening's calming soup, he felt a rare moment of peace; the alternating cycles of cold and heat in his body seemed to have paused temporarily.
"Finally... once I recover this time..."
Wang Meng thought dizzily, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
However, just as he was about to fall into a dreamland.
Snap!
A crisp sound of a bowstring snapping, which only he could hear, exploded within his body.
There was no cold Qi, nor was there fire poison.
This time, it was a chaotic reversal of blood and Qi!
Wang Meng's eyes snapped open, his pupils instantly becoming bloodshot and crimson.
He felt the originally weak blood and Qi in his body suddenly become like a mad dog injected with stimulants, starting to flow backward uncontrollably and frantically!
His heart pounded wildly, the frequency so fast it felt like it would leap out of his throat!
His blood vessels bulged, looking like earthworms writhing frantically under his skin!
"Heh... heh..."
Wang Meng opened his mouth wide, wanting to scream, but found his throat already blocked by back-flowing blood.
Agony!
Every inch of his Meridians throughout his body was fracturing bit by bit!
The sensation was as if countless blunt knives were frantically stirring inside his body!
This was the "Reversed Meridian Pain" from the rapid mastery of the Seven Absolute Saber Technique!
As fast as Lin Que practiced, that was how miserably he would die!
Pfft!
Finally, with a muffled sound, jets of black-red blood sprayed simultaneously from Wang Meng's seven orifices.
His body convulsed violently on the bed, his legs kicked out, and his eyeballs nearly bulged out of their sockets as he stared fixedly at the ceiling.
It was the ultimate pain, and also the ultimate release.
【Target: Wang Meng (Deceased)】
【Karma line severed.】
...In the large communal dormitory next to the Medical Hall.
Lying here were the three "brothers in misfortune" who had been injured by Lin Que's shockwave during the day—Qian the Second, Sun the Third, and Li Si. Because their injuries were relatively light, they weren't qualified for private rooms and could only squeeze together on a large communal bed.
Qian the Second was sleeping soundly. In his dream, he was holding Lin Que's Moon Devouring Art, had mastered a peerless divine technique, and was trampling Lin Que under his feet to humiliate him.
"Hehe... call me Grandpa..."
Qian the Second talked in his sleep, drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.
At the moment Wang Meng breathed his last, the System, in order to balance the damage, instantly diverted the remaining "side effects" to the remaining targets.
Zzzzt!
It was like an electric current passing through his body. The dreaming Qian the Second suddenly stiffened, and then his whole body began to bounce violently on the bed like he was having an epileptic seizure!
"Ahhh!!!"
A shrill scream pierced the silence of the Medical Hall.
Qian the Second sat up abruptly, his hands frantically clawing at his chest and head, large clumps of white foam spewing from his mouth: "Fire! There's fire burning my brain!!"
"Knives! So many knives are hacking me!!"
He had been transferred the "mental backlash" (a precursor to Qi Deviation).
Qian the Second's eyes were crimson, his sanity instantly collapsing. He actually grabbed half a bowl of leftover rice by his pillow and frantically stuffed it into his nose, howling like a wild beast as he did so.
"Qian the Second! What's wrong with you?!"
Sun the Third, who was next to him, was startled awake and was about to reach out to pull him.
Crack!
A crisp snap. Sun the Third's extended arm suddenly twisted eerily. Immediately after, he felt his lower body instantly lose all sensation as an extremely overbearing force destroyed the main pillar of his lumbar spine.
The "paralysis" side effect had taken effect.
"My legs... my legs have no feeling!!" Sun the Third screamed in terror.
As for Li Si, who was sleeping on the innermost side, perhaps because those two had shared the vast majority of the firepower, he only felt a tightness in his chest, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then his eyes rolled back as he fortunately... fainted.
In an instant, the Medical Hall was in utter chaos.
The doctor on night duty ran in while throwing on his clothes. Seeing this hellish scene, he was so frightened the lantern in his hand dropped: "Sudden death... madness... paralysis..."
"This... what kind of plague has struck?!"
...In the inner room of the side courtyard wing.
The noise and chaos of the outside world did not affect the peace here in the slightest.
Lin Que sat cross-legged, a faint layer of silver mist swirling around his body.
As his "good brothers" fell one by one, his internal cultivation also reached its most critical moment.
Using the massive and pure energy from the Moon Essence Stone, combined with the reckless and frantic scouring of the Meridian Rushing Secret Art of Reversed Blood, the Impurities in Lin Que's body were expelled bit by bit. His muscle fibers became tighter, and his bones emitted "crackling" explosive sounds.
This was the sign of "Tendon Transformation and Muscle Forging"!
Under the already perfected skin membrane, his muscles began to writhe and reorganize, becoming as tough as steel wire. Every bundle of muscle contained explosive power.
Pop.
It was as if a layer of invisible window paper had been poked through.
Lin Que snapped his eyes open.
In the dark, empty room, it was as if a sharp bolt of lightning had flashed!
He opened his mouth and inhaled, and the surrounding silver mist was swallowed into his stomach like a whale sucking in water.
Inside his Dantian, that originally thread-thin wisp of Moonlight Inner Breath had now grown into a fist-sized cyclone, surging and roaring through his Meridians, endless and unceasing!
【Congratulations to the Host! Seven Absolute Saber Technique mastered rapidly!】
【Realm Breakthrough: Muscle Forging Realm (Middle Stage)!】
【Current Status: Blood and Qi like a Dragon, Saber Qi first formed.】
"Just like that... I'm at the Middle Stage of Muscle Forging?"
Lin Que clenched his fist, feeling the terrifying power within his body that felt like it could shatter rock, a hint of intoxication flashing in his eyes.
An ordinary person going from Skin Tempering to Muscle Forging would have to toil for three to five years even if they were exceptionally gifted. Yet he had used only a single night. Of course, the price was Wang Meng's life and half the lives of Qian the Second and the others.
"This Spirit Stone is indeed a good thing." Lin Que exhaled a breath of turbid air, his gaze falling on the curved refined iron staff beside him. Although he didn't have a saber, this staff... would do for now.
He reached out and gripped the iron staff. With a thought, following the power exertion method of the "Water-Severing Style" from the Seven Absolute Saber Technique, he swung it abruptly.
Vroom!
He didn't use much physical strength; it was merely the infusion of inner breath.
At the tip of the iron staff, a three-inch-long silver sharp edge actually burgeoned out! This sharp edge condensed without dissipating, emitting a chill that made one's skin sting.
Lin Que flicked his wrist, and the iron staff lightly swept across the thick rosewood square table in front of him.
It didn't touch the tabletop; only that silver sharp edge swept past.
Ssh—
A soft sound.
The hard rosewood tabletop, like tofu, had a corner neatly sliced off!
The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and a faint layer of white frost had condensed upon it.
External attack! Saber Qi (pseudo)!
Although it was executed with a staff, this was indeed the hallmark of entering the ranks—external release of energy!
Combined with the monstrous strength of the Middle Stage Muscle Forging Realm, plus this indestructible Saber Qi with its freezing effect... if Lin Que were to encounter a Martial Artist at the Early Stage of the Bone Transformation Realm like Su Lang again, while he wouldn't dare claim certain victory, he definitely had the power to fight!
"Whew..."
Lin Que withdrew his inner breath, and the iron staff in his hand returned to its original state.
He glanced out the window. The wind and snow had stopped, and the horizon was turning the color of a fish's belly.
This night had passed truly quickly.
"Ying..."
From beside the pillow came a tiny cry.
Lin Que turned his head to see the Little Snow Ferret poking its head out, its two front paws gripping the edge of the quilt, its large, dark, watery eyes full of surprise, seemingly frightened by the Aura Lin Que had just emitted.
But soon, it caught the scent of the even denser and purer Moonlight Aura on Lin Que's body.
That was its favorite scent.
The Little Snow Ferret hesitated for a moment, then crawled out from under the covers, seemingly holding something in its mouth.
It climbed onto Lin Que's lap and opened its mouth as if presenting a treasure.
It was a somewhat shriveled stalk of grass, but its roots and stem displayed points of starlight.
"This is... Dragon Blood Grass?"
Lin Que was somewhat surprised. He had seen it recorded in the medicinal books at the Su Family Medical Hall. Although this Dragon Blood Grass wasn't as precious as a Spirit Stone, it had miraculous effects for stabilizing one's Realm and nourishing inner breath.
It seemed this little fellow had quite a few good things hidden away.
"For me?"
Lin Que smiled and reached out to take the herb.
"Since I've accepted your gift, I can't take it for nothing."
Lin Que extended a finger and operated the Moon Devouring Art.
This time, it was no longer the inner breath containing Impurities, but a wisp of Origin Moonlight that had been purified by the System and fused with the energy of that entire Moon Essence Stone.
A soft silver light glowed at his fingertip as he lightly tapped the Little Snow Ferret's forehead.
Buzz... The Little Snow Ferret shuddered comfortably, its eyes instantly narrowing into slits, making a sound similar to a cat's purring.
This wisp of Aura was simply the supreme tonic for it. The last bit of scarring on its back fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the newly grown fur was as white as snow, even shimmering with a faint light.
One person and one beast, in this bloody morning, reached a strange yet warm understanding.
Lin Que withdrew his hand and looked at the rising sun outside the window, his gaze gradually becoming sharp.