I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 97 Conspiracy
Wu Village.

In the small courtyard.

Wu Ming held the Crimson Python Spear, struck a practice stance, and casually twirled the spear a few times.

Seven or eight days have passed since the tiger demon was defeated. During these days, most of the group has been patrolling around with the soldiers of the military camp, while those with stronger abilities, such as Wu Ming and Zhou Huai'an, have mostly acted alone.

Aside from his daily patrols of various areas, Wu Ming did not reside permanently in the military camp. Instead, he preferred to live at his home in Wu Village, since it was all very close by. If anything happened, he could simply send a message with a whistle and arrive in an instant.

"I feel that in a few more days, my accumulated blood energy will be enough to attempt three blood clotting attempts."

Wu Ming felt the changes in the blood and qi within his body.

Generally speaking, a martial artist of average to below-average talent like him might be able to complete the second blood coagulation by the age of twenty to twenty-one, but the third blood coagulation is usually still quite far away. Even the process of accumulating blood energy may take several years, and there is often no chance to break through until the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. Once the first breakthrough fails, it may take another two or three years to accumulate blood energy again. Thus, there are usually only two or three opportunities to break through in total.

If it fails in these two or three attempts, there is basically no hope of clotting the blood in three attempts.

In other words, Wu Ming possesses the ability to control the details of his body through the Three Refinements of the Primordial Spirit, maintains a clean and virtuous lifestyle, and cultivates pure Yang blood and qi without any loss. Coupled with the daily supplements he takes, he is comparable to the offspring of truly wealthy and powerful families. This allows him to accumulate blood and qi to this extent at this point in time, approaching the limit of the second coagulation stage.

Wu Ming was pondering a question: should he exchange a Blood Essence Fruit from the Censorate for a breakthrough?

The day before yesterday, the merit audit from the Demon Suppression Division came down. Two tiger demons were killed, totaling eight thousand merits. He alone received six thousand, while the remaining two thousand were divided among Zhou Huai'an, Zhou Ruoyun, and others, with Zhou Ruoyun taking the lion's share of the remaining portion.

In terms of strength, the two tiger demons were no match for He Tian, ​​the Black Cloud Thief, nor were they as threatening. The reason why their merits were counted as more than those for killing He Tian was that killing He Tian had no practical effect other than maintaining order and upholding the prestige of the two departments. However, the demon bodies of the two tiger demons were extremely valuable and were treasures in every way.

Wu Ming's six thousand merits were enough to exchange for a Blood Essence Fruit in the Imperial Penitentiary Treasury.

Wu Ming didn't really want to rely on the help of spiritual objects when he was trying to break through the bottleneck of the third blood coagulation stage. After all, the true explanation of martial arts states that the more external forces one relies on to break through a realm, the more difficult the subsequent breakthroughs will be.

However, if the first attempt fails, all the accumulated blood and energy will be wasted, and you'll have to start all over again.

After much deliberation, Wu Ming decided to rely on his own abilities to break through the bottleneck. On the one hand, he was determined and confident that he could break through the bottleneck. On the other hand, he was still young and had already broken through in his primordial spirit cultivation, so he already had a solid foundation. He did not necessarily need to rely on three breakthroughs in blood condensation to have the confidence to walk outside the city.

"Go and tell Zhou Huai'an."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Wu Ming decided to stay in Wu Village for the next few days to focus on his cultivation and prepare for the third attempt at blood coagulation. He would put everything else aside for the time being, but he needed to report this matter to Zhou Huai'an in advance.

He immediately left Wu Village and went to the city guard's camp, where he found Zhou Huai'an.

"Hmm, his blood and qi are abundant, and his foundation is solid. He is indeed worth a try."

After listening to Wu Ming's report and briefly observing Wu Ming's condition, Zhou Huai'an nodded slightly and said, "I remember your age, you're not even twenty-one yet, are you?"

"Yes."

Wu Ming nodded.

Zhou Huai'an advised, "To have accumulated such abundant blood energy at this age is not only due to your excellent talent, but also to various fortunate encounters. I suggest that when you break through the bottleneck for the first time, you should not rely on external forces. The bottleneck of three blood coagulations is very difficult, and most people cannot succeed on the first try. You can treat this first attempt as a trial. If you succeed, it will naturally be your destiny. If you fail, you can still gain experience."

"In this way, when you have accumulated enough blood and qi next time, and have more experience and confidence, you can consider using some external forces to make a big push and greatly increase your chances of entering the third stage of blood clotting."

Zhou Huai'an's guidance to Wu Ming was also based on his own experience.

It's extremely difficult to succeed on the first attempt at breaking through the bottleneck of three blood clotting stages. If you go all out on the first attempt and try to maintain your momentum, it's easy to weaken on the second attempt and exhaust yourself on the third.

On the contrary, it is more appropriate for a young martial artist like Wu Ming not to have too much psychological pressure the first time, but to approach it with the most relaxed state and save the better opportunity for the next time.

When Wu Ming is twenty-three or twenty-four years old, he will once again break through the bottleneck. If he can overcome it in one leap, it won't delay anything.

"Thank you for your guidance, sir."

After hearing Zhou Huai'an's words, Wu Ming immediately thanked him.

He actually thought the same way, but he didn't intend to treat his first attempt at breaking through the bottleneck as a training exercise, nor did he think he would fail in his attempt to break through the martial arts bottleneck. After all, he had already overcome the more difficult three refinements of the primordial spirit compared to martial arts cultivation.

"Okay, then you should prepare well in the next few days."

Zhou Huai'an nodded.

He watched Wu Ming leave, his eyes filled with admiration. After all, Wu Ming was able to accumulate enough blood energy to break through to the third stage of blood coagulation at such a young age, which showed that Wu Ming practiced diligently and did not indulge in wine and women. In addition, he had extremely high talent and a calm temperament. If he could accumulate and mature for a few more years, the possibility of him reaching the third stage of blood coagulation would be quite high.

……

Here

Wu Ming asked Zhou Huai'an for leave to prepare for seclusion and cultivation in order to break through his bottleneck.

Meanwhile, on the other side, in the Shachuan Gang's encampment near the river outside the city, a figure sat behind a square table in a clean and tidy house, holding the Shachuan Gang's account book and carefully examining it.

Beside him stood Sha Hongsheng, the leader of the Sand Boat Gang. His face was as white as paper, and he looked like a water ghost that had crawled out of the river. His aura was sinister and terrifying, but his eyes were respectful and he dared not be negligent in the slightest.

The person reviewing the accounts is Guo Xiang, a true disciple of the Black Fiend Sect!

The Sand Boat Gang is an industry controlled behind the scenes by the Black Fiend Sect. After Guo Xiang entered the third stage of Blood Condensation and was promoted to a true disciple, the Sand Boat Gang was assigned to him and placed under his management.

Guo Xiang wasn't particularly interested in the Sand Boat Gang's businesses. His trip to the Sand Boat Gang wasn't to audit the accounts; he was mainly waiting for Xu Mo, who was also a disciple of the True Disciple, so they could do something together.

However, after waiting for several days, Xu Mo did not arrive, and it was unclear what had held him back.

"It's alright, the profits are 10% higher than last year."

After Guo Xiang finished looking through the account books, he gently tossed them onto the table.

"It's all thanks to the influence of our superiors; we dare not take credit for it."

The leader of the Sand Boat Gang spoke in a hoarse voice.

Guo Xiang glanced at Sha Hongsheng and said, "You've been keeping that thing around all this time. By now, it's probably already poisoned by the water and it's hard to get rid of. If the Censorate finds out, they probably won't let you live."

Sha Hongsheng grinned and said, "I was just a boatman by birth. I was fortunate enough to enter the martial arts world. Reaching this point is already my limit. If I hadn't relied on this skill, I wouldn't have been able to keep in charge of the Shachuan Gang. Don't worry, Master Guo, even if the Shenxing Division finds out, I won't implicate the Shachuan Gang."

Upon seeing this, Guo Xiang shook his head slightly and said nothing more.

Outsiders didn't know and only thought that Sha Hongsheng had practiced some kind of sinister and evil technique, but he knew very well that Sha Hongsheng had used a secret method from a heterodox sect to raise a water ghost in his body!
With this water ghost, Sha Hongsheng roamed the area near the river, killing countless skilled boatmen. Almost no one except a master of three-stage blood coagulation could deal with him. It can be said that he was nearly invincible in the water after three-stage blood coagulation!

However, raising water ghosts is ultimately a heretical practice. Although it is possible to use the blood essence of other martial artists to raise them, over time, the water poison will still erode the body, eventually turning the person into something that is neither human nor ghost.

According to Guo Xiang's understanding,

Many young martial artists with no background or connections were tricked into joining the Sand Boat Gang and died at the hands of Sha Hongsheng, who extracted their life essence to feed water ghosts. This was a major taboo of the Shenxing Division. Once the Shenxing Division discovered this, even if they were outside the city, the Shenxing Division would send people to hunt them down and suppress them.

In his early years, Sha Hongsheng was not severely affected by corruption and would occasionally enter the city. Now, however, he never goes near Jingye City, nor does he even leave the riverbank. He rarely goes to the docks of the Shachuan Gang, for fear of being discovered.

This matter is neither trivial nor major, and it doesn't affect the Black Fiend Sect. Therefore, even if the Black Fiend Sect knows about it, they turn a blind eye. After all, Sha Hongsheng's strength in the water is indeed formidable. He can even contend with ordinary people who have reached the third stage of blood coagulation. With his back to the river, he can move freely in and out of the water. He is a force to be reckoned with.

"Senior Brother Xu asked me to meet him here, but he hasn't shown up since, and we don't know where he went."

Guo Xiang got up and went to the window, looking at the sky outside, a thoughtful expression on his face.

suddenly.

A figure entered the courtyard, came to the outside of the house, bowed towards the inside, and said in a deep voice:

"Reporting to the chief, Guo Zhenchu, I have just received some news."

"what news?"

Guo Xiang glanced at him sideways.

The man stood outside the window and reported in a low voice, "Wu Ming, the deputy inspector of the Censorate, has been staying in Wu Village for the past few days and has not gone out. According to the intelligence, he has been alone."

"I see."

Guo Xiang responded calmly and waved the man away.

He turned to Sha Hongsheng and said, "Wu Ming killed my brother. I do want to get rid of him, but as far as I know, he has a deep grudge against the Wang family in the inner city. The fact that this kind of news came at this time makes me think that the Wang family is reluctant to take action and deliberately leaked the news to me. They are quite adept at using this method of killing with a borrowed knife."

"Inner city battles have always been like this. Since we are both under the jurisdiction of the Censorate, it is inconvenient for us to take action."

Sha Hongsheng's voice was hoarse, and he was already used to such things. He said, "Now that you know there's something fishy about this, what are Guo Zhenchuan's plans? Wu Ming is said to have mastered the art of spear fighting, and he's no pushover now."

Guo Xiang's expression remained calm as he said, "Wu Ming is quite a threat. I really don't want him to continue to grow stronger. If he were to break through to the third level of blood condensation in the future, it would be very difficult to deal with him. I have no choice but to agree to this plan of using someone else to kill me."

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He was naturally very unhappy to be used as a borrowed knife, but Wu Ming was outside the city and alone, which was indeed an opportunity to seek revenge on Wu Ming. If he missed this opportunity, it would be more troublesome to find another one later. In any case, he remembered this matter and would inevitably have to deal with the Wang family in the future to get back at them for what happened today.

"Yes, now is indeed the right time for Guo Zhenchuan to make his move. Your younger brother suffered a misfortune while I was with you, and I bear some responsibility for that. If Guo Zhenchuan doesn't mind, I'll accompany you on this trip to prevent any unforeseen events from causing this person to escape."

Sha Hongsheng said.

"Alright."

Guo Xiang nodded.

Sha Hongsheng was weaker on land, but with the help of the 'water ghost,' he still had his own methods.

Although he was confident he could deal with Wu Ming, Wu Ming lived in a village, so it would be a little difficult to deal with him quickly without making too much of a commotion or revealing his identity. With Sha Hongsheng's help, it would be much easier.

(End of this chapter)