Chapter Eighteen One Year

  Monday is the key moment, everyone support! Ten steps thank you!)

  Xue Shi tribe is located seventy miles west of here, in a ring-shaped valley.

  Two Bloodstone Clan members stood before a withered Celestial Corpse, their faces revealing a sense of helplessness.

  "It's been almost two months, and we've killed nine celestial soldiers. The strongest one had twenty meridians of the celestial pulse, while the weakest had sixteen. Among them, four were a step behind and had their vital energy refined, including one who died just as he was about to succeed in his cultivation. What kind of refining speed is this? Even a hundred-man commander couldn't achieve such a feat."

  "With each shot, it's getting stronger and I can feel the energy becoming clearer. It won't be long before I can take that step."

  The two of them looked at each other, and both saw deep doubt in the other's eyes. Who was it after all? In these two months, they had also secretly investigated within the clan, but hadn't found anything out of the ordinary. The young generation, including Shi Lei, who practiced the Wind Thunder Gun Technique, were all normal too. This made things even more confusing and mysterious, with such a person existing in the tribe.

  Ten miles away, by a great river, a black spear burst forth like thunder, piercing through a green-armored immortal soldier and pinning him to the shore.

  He pulled out the broken gun, and his eyes sparkled brightly. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, and the spiritual energy of the celestial soldier who had passed through the 19th meridian was swallowed up in an instant. This was the result of his two months of contemplation on the "Wild Elephant Great Power Secret". As he meditated on the Wild Elephant diagram, more and more Wild Elephant spirits merged into his body, giving him a Wild Elephant aura. With this one refining of the celestial soldier's blood energy, it was like a Wild Elephant taking food, its long trunk sweeping in, faster than lightning.

  After absorbing the essence of this fairy soldier's blood, Xiao Yi only felt his whole body's blood and energy shaking, with a feeling of bursting out. At the same time, the fourth heavenly vein in his body was stirring, with signs of unblocking. In these two months, apart from daily necessary blood food hunting, Xiao Yi also hunted and killed a large number of lower-ranking wild beasts, absorbing their blood energy. Adding to that the essence of seven or eight fairy soldiers' blood, after being refined by the stone mirror, what was left finally accumulated enough to unblock the fourth heavenly vein.

  "The fierce elephant tramples, destroying mountains and breaking through peaks!"

  Suddenly he straightened his body, Xiao Yi let out a loud cry, and the blood in his body suddenly burst forth. The vertebrae on his back rose and fell like a giant dragon, his legs stood firmly on the ground, as if they had become incredibly heavy, deeply rooted in the earth. It was as if a gigantic elephant stood towering over the vast wilderness, its weight surpassing that of Mount Tai.

  In an instant, Xiao Yi's blood and energy suddenly converged to the extreme, a passageway was violently broken through, and a thunderous sound like thunder burst out from his body. This is the Heavenly Pulse Thunder Sound, which can only be produced by those with strong physique and abundant energy when they break through. It has extraordinary significance, representing potential.

  The fourth meridian was opened, and Xiao Yi's battle energy surged, his strength suddenly increased from 15 jin to 20 jin. The next moment, Xiao Yi held the Qingyun bow in his hand, and the Qingyun arrow flashed with a cold light. He bent the bow into a full moon shape, the bowstring sparkling brightly, and the arrowhead floated with a faint blue color of fierce battle energy.

  Wow!

  The blue cloud arrow leaves the string, leaving a trail of residual shadows in the air. Three hundred feet away, an ancient pine tree with a trunk as thick as a man's arms is pierced by an arrow and then explodes into fragments.

  "Arrows shot out for three hundred zhang, never missing a target, already at the peak of Breaking Wind Realm. To advance to Shattering Sound Realm, aside from increasing power again, one must also possess their own aura."

  Having one's own power requires understanding the first realm of the Blood Refining Realm, which is also the first threshold for humans to excavate their physical divine storehouse. Otherwise, even if their strength reaches the level of Wu Chang, without a corresponding spiritual will to control it, they will inevitably go mad and lose themselves.

  In another month, in front of the mountain wall of the Bloodstone tribe, Centurion Long Heqin pointed out that the number of immortal soldiers captured and killed was two warriors standing respectfully in front.

  "You're saying there's a tribesman who has never been seen before, and in these three months, he single-handedly killed forty-six Celestial Soldiers?"

  A hundred-year-old river, a prominent figure in the Bloodstone tribe's middle-aged generation. At this time, he was also shocked by the news of two war soldiers. Although the two war soldiers in front of him were not strong in cultivation, they had respectively penetrated 19 and 20 heavenly veins. However, they were over 30 years old and had spent nearly a decade as war masters, able to escape detection in this vast wilderness, ancient forests, and great mountains. It was unlikely that anyone among the younger generation could achieve this, but among the young war soldiers, he couldn't think of anyone who fit the bill. This matter was neither big nor small, yet there wasn't a single clue.

  The most important thing about this person is his rapid progress. Three months ago, he had just barely grasped the concept of effortlessly lifting heavy weights, and could only muster a faint aura, killing a heavenly soldier whose cultivation was only at the level of 18 heavenly veins. However, three months later, with just one shot, he has already begun to develop his own momentum, and is almost at the threshold of a major breakthrough. The heavenly soldier he killed now has a cultivation of 23 heavenly veins.

  After a moment of contemplation, Chang He said: "Since he won't come out, let him show himself. Pass on my orders: this time, the three people who capture and kill the most celestial soldiers during the pursuit will each be rewarded with a Di Jie Blood Dan."

  Ground-level Blood Pill!

  Two soldiers were shocked, looking at each other in dismay, never expecting that Long River would have such great audacity. What is a Ground Level Blood Dan? Besides the ordinary medicinal pills refined by the tribe's medicine masters using stone cauldrons, there was another type of pill that only the tribe leader could refine, called Ground Level Blood Dan. One Ground Level Blood Dan, once refined, could steadily increase a common soldier's cultivation by one Heavenly Pulse, and even help them comprehend the realm of martial law. In the Blood Stone Tribe, only those who reached the rank of Wuzhang had the qualifications to receive an allocation, and there was only one pill per year. Baifu Zhang had two pills, and Qianfu Zhang had three pills. However, in the tribe, Ground Level Blood Dan had never been used as a reward. How many Wuzhang, how many Baifu Zhang, and how many Qianfu Zhang were there? Every year, Tribe Leader Shi Zhenxuan would take out that many Ground Level Blood Dan. From this, it can be seen where the three Ground Level Blood Dan that Long River spoke of came from.

  The next day, a stone monument was erected in front of the Bloodstone Clan's mountain wall. The monument had ten lines of text engraved on it. The first line read "Unknown Name", followed by 46 marks. The second line read "Warrior Shi Li", followed by 30 marks. The third line read "Warrior Hu Ya", followed by 26 marks. By the fourth line, the number of marks decreased to 16, and by the tenth line, there were only 10 marks left. Many warriors and Bloodstone Clan members gathered around to observe.

  "It's said that there isn't any, but Chang He Bai Fu Long took out three Earth Stage Blood Dans and gave them to the top three people who participated in this capture."

  "Wu Chang level is not willing to take action, but it's rumored that some soldiers who have cultivated more than 30 heavenly veins are preparing to take action. Whether young or middle-aged, they can help them break through the Blood Refining Small Success realm and become Wu Chang."

  "The young generation is not simple, that Shi Lei, although he didn't enter the top ten, but caught and killed five immortal soldiers, and those Shi Qian, Yu Tianye, Yun Shao Yan also killed three people, stronger than some of the soldiers at the end of the list."

  As the sun sets over the western mountains, figure after figure begins to return to the tribe. They are all members of the Bloodstone Clan who have been hunting and killing beasts in the desolate ancient forest, as well as soldiers who have been pursuing and killing the Xian Clan. Some of them return with a full load, while others have little to show for their efforts. However, without exception, they all bear the heavy scent of blood on their bodies, clearly having gone through fierce battles.

  In the desolate ancient forest, crises lurk everywhere, and every step is a distance between heaven and hell.

  "Earth Rank Blood Pill."

  As he dragged the three-headed long-snouted pig into the tribe, Xiao Yi slowed down his pace, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He took a distant glance at the stone stele and understood their intention. To be honest, one Earth Stage Blood Dan was indeed a considerable temptation for Xiao Yi, but it might not be enough to make him reveal himself. Rather than exposing himself for this, he'd rather continue hiding. His current goal was to quietly improve his cultivation and increase his strength without drawing unnecessary attention. Besides, with the Stone Mirror, he could temper his will, refine his battle techniques, and unless they offered a large quantity of five or more Earth Stage Blood Dans, it wouldn't be enough to move Xiao Yi's heart.

  …………

  It's been half a year in the blink of an eye.

  To the east of the Bloodstone Tribe, in a mountain stream named Blackstone Waterfall, a hundred-foot silver waterfall cascaded down, splashing up water flowers several feet high. Under the waterfall, a figure nearly seven feet tall stood still, unmoving despite the powerful impact. His right hand grasped a black broken spear, its body dark and gleaming with an icy metallic luster.

  At this moment, all that can be seen is Xiao Yi breathing quietly, his chest rising and falling as if following a mysterious rhythm. As time passes, the sound of his breathing grows louder, starting from barely audible to thunder-like rumblings. His posture also undergoes a subtle change, his footsteps slightly offbeat. In this instant, it's as if an ancient giant beast has awakened, and the thunder-like sound of his breathing suddenly transforms into a majestic elephant's trumpet call.

  At this moment, the hundred-foot waterfall was like a giant elephant, absorbing water and then spraying it out. The power of its inhalation and exhalation was enormous. In Xiao Yi's mind, at that instant, the green-scaled elephant seemed to break free from some kind of shackles. The originally illusory shadow slowly solidified, as if it had condensed from mist into droplets. Although the quantity hadn't changed, the essence had undergone a heaven-reversing and earth-shaking transformation.

  In an instant, Xiao Yi seemed to grasp something, his whole body shook, and his blood and energy surged like a stormy wave. At this moment, he was like a wild elephant standing on the vast wilderness, with a long nose that could sweep away the stars and moon. His spirit and will suddenly broke free from their shackles, leaving his body and no longer limited to it, dispersing into the surrounding air. This was a transformation of his will, Xiao Yi's will, which had risen from the ordinary initial stage to the intermediate level.

  In an instant, the water within a radius of several meters around Xiao Yi suddenly froze, and the splashing water droplets seemed to slow down thousands of times. The air became incredibly viscous.

  His eyes burst out with a brilliant light, Xiao Yi let out a loud shout, the water surface of about four feet in diameter suddenly sank down by an inch, his whole body's blood and energy erupted, as if a fierce fire was burning, rushing towards a certain pass.

  "Fierce Elephant's momentum! Sixth Heavenly Pulse, break for me!"

  Rumble!

  A massive thunderclap sounded again, Xiao Yi's whole body shook, and the battle energy burst out of his body. On the gun tip, a two-foot-five-inch-long gun energy was generated, and then it violently surged again until it reached three feet before stopping. Monday is the key moment, everyone support! Ten steps thank you!