Chapter 5: Evil Influence
Chapter 5: Evil Influence
Gu Qingfeng invested two enhancement points into the Iron Body Technique, instantly elevating this low-tier martial art to its perfected state.
The moment the Iron Body Technique reached perfection, a flood of memories from its practice surged through his mind. Gu Qingfeng felt his skin itch, as a layer of dead skin peeled away, revealing a bronzed complexion beneath.
When he found a weapon and slashed it across his skin with full force, he only felt a slight touch; the attack did not even break through his defense.
Then, Gu Qingfeng activated the Iron Body Technique once more and delivered another full-strength strike.
As the blade touched his skin, a metallic clanging sound echoed, and in the next instant, the longsword shattered into pieces.
"Excellent!"
Gu Qingfeng's face lit up with joy as he truly experienced the power of the perfected Iron Body Technique. With just his physical defenses, he could now completely ignore the attacks of a fully refined Skin Tempering martial artist. If he used the Iron Body Technique to its fullest, he might even be able to withstand the attacks of a Blood Tempering martial artist, though this was yet to be tested.
At the very least, the perfection of two martial arts gave Gu Qingfeng the confidence to dominate the Skin Tempering realm.
Next, Gu Qingfeng took out the Blood Tempering Pill.
The pill was a deep crimson, as if made from fresh blood, and emitted a strange aroma. Just a simple sniff made Gu Qingfeng feel his blood simmering with excitement.
Without hesitation, Gu Qingfeng swallowed the Blood Tempering Pill.
As the pill entered his stomach, a force ten times stronger than that of a Blood Essence Pill erupted from within. A torrent of blood energy surged through his body, continuously flushing his flesh and skin.
Under such a powerful influence, Gu Qingfeng's skin turned bright red, like a boiled shrimp. It took a long while for the effects to subside, and his skin finally returned to normal.
"Phew!"
Gu Qingfeng let out a long breath. The effects of the Blood Tempering Pill were more beneficial than a year of arduous cultivation. He now felt the barrier of the Skin Tempering realm.
In general, to break through to the Blood Tempering realm, one needed the appropriate martial techniques.
But nothing was absolute.
The Blood Tempering Pill was a shortcut for Skin Tempering martial artists to break through to the Blood Tempering realm.
However, at Gu Qingfeng's current level, he could only take one pill per day. Taking too many would damage his foundation.
...
The next day, Gu Qingfeng headed to the Golden Bull Martial Hall.
The atmosphere inside the hall was heavy. Before Gu Qingfeng could figure out what was happening, a disciple approached and asked him to go to the main hall, saying that the hall master had important matters to discuss.
Gu Qingfeng didn't think much of it. When he arrived at the main hall, he saw Xu Jun, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Since joining the Golden Bull Martial Hall, Gu Qingfeng had only met Xu Jun a few times. He learned from other instructors that Xu Jun was often in seclusion, striving to break through to the Blood Tempering realm, so he rarely appeared in public.
However, when Gu Qingfeng looked at Xu Jun now, he noticed that while his aura was strong, it didn't exert much pressure on him. This indicated that Xu Jun had not yet succeeded in his breakthrough.
On the other side, Xu Jun also looked at Gu Qingfeng.
When his gaze fell on Gu Qingfeng, his expression changed slightly, and he smiled. "It's been a while, Instructor Gu!"
"Master Xu, it's good to see you!"
Gu Qingfeng bowed in greeting.
Xu Jun immediately stood up and pointed to an empty seat beside him. "Since Instructor Gu is here, please take a seat. We will discuss the matter once the other instructors arrive."
"Of course..."
Gu Qingfeng nodded and sat down next to Xu Jun without hesitation.
The other instructors’ eyes grew strange when they saw this scene.
Among the many senior instructors, Gu Qingfeng was not the most senior. Xu Jun had never been this enthusiastic when facing other senior instructors.
This sudden change made some people have other thoughts.
However,
Before others could speculate for long, Xu Jun said, "I never expected our Golden Bull Martial Hall to produce another expert who has reached the peak of the Skin-Forging stage. How long ago did Instructor Gu break through to this stage?"
"Just a few months ago, by a stroke of luck."
Gu Qingfeng smiled slightly, making up a time frame. Although his own life force was subtle, it couldn’t escape the eyes of an expert like Xu Jun. It was normal for his true strength to be seen through.
"Peak Skin-Forging!"
When they heard Xu Jun’s words, all the instructors looked at Gu Qingfeng differently.
All the suspicion and jealousy they had felt before turned into reverence.
Indeed,
It was reverence.
In the world of martial arts, strength was always respected.
Gu Qingfeng, having reached the peak of the Skin-Forging stage, became one of the two top experts in the Golden Bull Martial Hall. The others naturally dared not look down on him.
"Congratulations, Instructor Gu!"
"Our Golden Bull Martial Hall has produced another peak Skin-Forging expert. This is truly a cause for celebration!"
Everyone offered their congratulations, and Gu Qingfeng responded with smiles.
"You are all too kind."
...
After a while,
The remaining instructors all arrived.
The previously noisy hall suddenly became much quieter.
Xu Jun’s expression turned solemn as he looked at everyone present and said in a serious tone, "I won’t waste words. Today, we received news that a strange blood mist has appeared outside the neighboring county. All those who entered the blood mist have died in bizarre ways.
These victims had their chests torn open, their internal organs completely removed, just like the various tragic incidents that occurred a few months ago.
If I’m not mistaken, the neighboring county has likely been targeted by an evil presence!"
Evil presence!
When these words were spoken, everyone’s faces changed dramatically, as if they had heard something unbelievable.
Gu Qingfeng’s expression also froze, and he immediately asked, "What exactly is this evil presence that you speak of, Hall Master? Why have I never heard of it before?"
Xu Jun replied with a bitter smile, "It’s quite normal that Instructor Gu hasn’t heard of the evil presence. Wherever it appears, there are usually no survivors left.
The only reason I know about the evil presence is from a rare encounter when I was young.
It’s hard to describe the evil presence in a few words. All you need to know is that it is an extremely terrifying existence. When it appears, at best, an entire city is destroyed, and at worst, an entire region can turn into a dead zone."
"For example, the Qingjiang Prefecture and the Xuan Shui City in the past. The outside world believed that a plague caused all the residents to die.
But that’s not the case. It was because the evil presence brought disaster to Qingjiang Prefecture and Xuan Shui City, causing all the residents to die at its hands.
The imperial court merely fabricated the plague rumor to cover up the truth.
Now that the neighboring county is experiencing this, it’s almost certain that an evil presence has targeted this place!"
At this point,
Xu Jun’s face was filled with regret.
If he had known about the evil presence earlier, he would never have stayed in the neighboring county. But now, it was too late to say anything.
(End of Chapter)
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