I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 8 Blood Clotting
Compared to the commotion in Wu Village, Xu Village was much more lively. There was a huge crowd gathered at the village entrance, and the atmosphere was festive. When they arrived at Xu Tong's family's courtyard, it was packed with people, three layers deep.

Wu Ming and several distant relatives from Wu Village were also welcomed into the Xu family.

Can see,
The entire Xu family compound had been renovated, with the central house being newly built, presenting a distinctly different atmosphere.

Wu Ming toured the Xu family's residence and got to know most of the members. The Xu family members were quite friendly and did not have any arrogant attitude. However, Xu Tong's elder brother, Xu Hao, still had not shown up.

When it was lunchtime, Xu Hao finally appeared.

Wu Ming had heard this name many times before. At this moment, he saw a burly and powerful man step into the courtyard from outside. His body was strong and he looked completely different from the sallow and emaciated poor people.

"This is Brother Hao. He's really strong. He looks even stronger than our clan leader."

"I heard that Brother Hao is about to undergo a second blood clotting process."

"Wouldn't that mean he'd catch up to our clan leader?"

"Brother Hao was going to take over as the clan chief of Xu Village anyway. Look at all these people, inside and out, they're all taking advantage of this happy occasion to curry favor."

When Wu Ming's relatives from Wu Village saw Xu Hao appear, they were all surprised.

"Secondary blood clotting..."

Wu Ming was also observing Xu Hao, muttering to himself.

Blood condenses through nine transformations, yet pure Yang remains indestructible!
The so-called martial arts cultivation is the process of condensing pure yang blood energy. Each time blood energy is condensed, it is like a rebirth. For example, Wu Qu, the clan chief of Wu Village, is a master who has condensed blood energy twice. Therefore, he can become the clan chief of more than 100 households in Wu Village. He even occupies a piece of land and garden outside the village, and has a steady harvest every year.

In comparison, because the land tax was too heavy, ordinary people could not be exempted from taxation and rarely owned their own land. Most of them were tenants of landlords and gentry in the city. After layers of exploitation, there was very little left from farming and grain production, and they could barely make ends meet.

According to Wu Ming's understanding, two blood clottings are enough to be considered a good one, and three blood clottings mean that even in the city, one has a certain status and will basically move into the city to settle down. As for four or more times, he is not qualified to know.

Just thinking about it.

But then Xu Hao suddenly walked over.

"Wu Ming?"

Xu Hao said something to the crowd, and the people around him immediately made way, revealing Wu Ming behind him.

Xu Hao looked Wu Ming up and down, nodded slightly, and said, "I've heard about what happened to you. It's already good that you survived encountering evil spirits before you became a martial artist. Now that our families are related by marriage, I will take care of you. Once you've recovered, learn some skills from your uncle. When you come to me, I will arrange a place for you."

Xu Hao had heard some things about the Wu family's situation, but he was too lazy to bother with the trivial matters of the village.

Nowadays, he is focused on martial arts training. He is not far from achieving the second stage of blood coagulation, and he is now worlds apart from the ordinary villagers in the surrounding area. He plans to settle down and build a career in Jingye City in the future.

Currently, it's only because of Xu Tong that I'm taking care of the Wu family as a side benefit.

After exchanging a few words, Xu Hao didn't say much more to Wu Ming and turned to leave.

As Xu Hao left, many eyes fell on Wu Ming, both inside and outside the courtyard. Whispers quickly spread, and news of Wu Ming's situation soon reached the Xu family's courtyard. The gazes directed at Wu Ming carried a strange tone; some marveled that he had survived being haunted by evil spirits, attributing it to ancestral blessings, while others lamented that Wu Ming's hard work in martial arts had been in vain. However, this was the norm for most families.

After all, in the surrounding villages and towns, not everyone can cultivate their blood and qi and become a martial artist.

Wu Ming remained calm. Although he could clearly hear the whispers in the courtyard, his senses were sharp, he felt no unease. After all, family knows family. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he condensed his blood energy and became a martial artist, but he naturally wouldn't say anything about it.

The main purpose of accompanying the wedding procession was to check on the Xu family's situation and see where Wu Yu would live in the future. After looking around, Wu Ming had no complaints. Even Xu Hao, a martial artist with an arrogant and self-important attitude, was relatively lenient towards his younger brother Xu Tong and sister-in-law Wu Yu, rather than indifferent.

Seeing this, Wu Ming felt relieved.

Weddings in the village don't involve many formalities; everything is kept simple. After having a meal at Wu Ming's place and exchanging a few more words with Wu Yu, Wu Ming returned to Wu Village with the other villagers.

……

After Wu Yu got married, life quickly returned to normal.

Wu family.

In the old, low-ceilinged houses, everything remained the same except for one person being missing.

Wu Qizhao went out to work as usual. Although Wu Yu's marriage brought back a lot of betrothal gifts, including ten catties of dried meat and thirty catties of fine grains, firstly, these grains had to be used to nourish Wu Ming's body, and secondly, after the spring, it would be time for the court to collect the poll tax. Therefore, he still had to work hard, live frugally, and not slack off.

Time flies,
Nearly a month has passed.

That morning, Wu Ming, who had cooked porridge and served Liu, came to the courtyard.

Nearly a month later, his physique had changed considerably. The previous weakness had vanished, and his previously thin body was now visibly fuller. "The effects of eating meat are truly remarkable."

As Wu Ming sensed the changes in his body and felt the abundant blood energy around him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

In this world, poor families, if they don't produce warriors, will remain mediocre generation after generation, while wealthy families can prosper for generations. The reason for this is that resources are closely related to their wealth.

These fine grains and meats are consumed daily by wealthy families from childhood, making it incredibly easy for them to cultivate their blood and qi.

To avoid waste, Wu Ming carefully considered the options and decided to consume only two ounces of the ten pounds of dried meat each day. This was the most appropriate amount for his body's digestive and absorption capacity, maximizing utilization and minimizing waste.

With the addition of these two ounces of meat, his recovery and accumulation were much faster. Two days ago, he was already confident that he could condense his blood energy. However, since becoming a martial artist was inevitable, he was not in a hurry. Instead, he rested for two more days to completely restore his body to its previous peak condition.

"it's time."

Feeling the surge of blood energy within his body, Wu Ming took a deep breath.

Now, his internal energy and blood have long since recovered to their previous peak state. With the replenishment of meat, he can even accumulate more energy and blood. Even before, he would have had a chance to condense blood energy, but now it is even more certain.

As Wu Ming's thoughts shifted, all was silent in an instant, and all distracting thoughts vanished, leaving only a sense of tranquility.

"Pure Yang draws blood."

He faced the rising sun and slowly assumed the most basic martial arts stance: the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance.

A ray of golden sunlight shone on him, illuminating a vibrant young man with a youthful yet handsome face. He stood firmly on one foot, his body as stable as an old tree, his internal energy flowing like a raging fire.

Thump, thump, thump.

With each powerful heartbeat, blood flowed through his body. Under Wu Ming's guidance, wisps of invisible and intangible blood energy gathered from all parts of his body, rising along the meridians either from his legs or sinking from his head, all the way to his dantian.

The surging blood and qi gathered and converged in the lower dantian below the navel, giving Wu Ming a burning sensation. He felt as if he had swallowed a sun in his lower abdomen, which was scorching hot.

"Condensing blood and gathering qi, embracing and returning to oneness."

At this moment, Wu Ming slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and then suddenly inhaled, a surge of new life energy entering his body. At the same time, the gushing blood and qi brewing in his dantian suddenly contracted again under his guidance, as if he had finally broken through something.

In that instant, everything changed abruptly. The surging blood and qi that had been forcibly gathered and condensed by standing meditation and mental focus suddenly began to roll on their own. No longer needing deliberate guidance and control, they gathered in the lower abdomen of the dantian.

This pure blood energy continuously receded and contracted, becoming increasingly hot until suddenly it broke through a certain limit. In an instant, Wu Ming no longer felt the scalding heat, but could only feel an extremely pure and righteous sensation.

Pure Yang Qi!
Condensing one's blood and qi into pure yang is the mark of a martial artist!
"It's done."

At this moment, Wu Ming felt neither sorrow nor joy, nor did any emotions surge within him. He simply observed the changes within himself. He could sense that wisp of pure yang blood energy, after being condensed, quietly gathered into a ball and remained in his lower abdomen.

Although it had quieted down, this wisp of pure yang blood energy was still undergoing a barely perceptible tremor. This 'tremor' centered on the dantian, permeated through the meridians to the limbs and bones, gradually tempering the body with a small amplitude.

"When blood and qi condense, it is like an infant, moving naturally and nourishing all the meridians in the body."

Wu Ming's eyes were clear.

Why are true blood-coagulation martial artists so different from ordinary people? Why can't an ordinary person, no matter how strong their muscles are, compare to the strength of a blood-coagulation martial artist? Because once blood is coagulated, pure yang blood energy resides in the dantian, and based on this, it permeates all the meridians of the body, causing the entire body to continuously transform day and night.

At this moment, he has just begun to condense his blood energy, and he is not much different from ordinary people. However, as long as he undergoes a period of tempering with pure yang blood energy, his body will completely transform and he will become completely different.

With a mere gesture, he could easily overturn a millstone weighing two or three hundred pounds!
In addition,

All demons, evil spirits, and ghosts in the world often have various strange methods, such as bewitching people's minds or being invisible and shapeless... Only pure yang blood energy can restrain them.

Like ghosts and evil spirits, ordinary people can't harm them even if they slash a thousand or ten thousand times. But if pure yang blood energy is drawn in and used to dispel evil with blood, it can immediately cause damage. The difference between the two is qualitative.

Therefore,

By condensing one's blood and qi to become a martial artist, one will instantly undergo a transformation, like a fish entering the sea, no longer confined to the muddy pond.

Wu Ming slowly withdrew his stance training, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and suddenly looked at the fence outside the courtyard. He saw a drop of dew gently roll down the fence and land on a small, pale yellow wildflower below the fence, causing the flower and leaves to tremble slightly.

Beyond the fence, the silvery white has faded.

Not far from the village, a patch of greenery quietly appeared on the nearby mountains.

Spring has begun.

(End of this chapter)