Chapter One: A Drop of Water Pierces the Stone

  The scorching sun blazed down, baking the entire earth. The sky was cloudless for thousands of miles, and there were hardly any people moving about on the ground. It was high noon, and most people were resting at home.

  However, outside the city of Linjiang on the Zhengyang Avenue, a large white tent was set up, where dozens of people were gathering to drink tea.

  Two young people, an old table, a tattered flag inserted there, blocking the Zhengyang Avenue. The rest of the people are inside the white tent, some chatting, some sitting cross-legged and practicing, some drinking tea, each passing their own time.

  In the last corner of the white tent, a frail young man sat there sipping tea mouthful by mouthful, with several scrolls placed around him, having a somewhat scholarly air. Wearing a white brocade robe, he looked elegant and refined, with a sunny smile that seemed like a young master from a wealthy family who had come out to play.

  Occasionally, some businessmen or merchant groups would pass by and respectfully hand over some silver coins to the two young men on Zhengyang Avenue before bowing their hands and leaving. If someone who didn't know what was going on came forward, they might think there was something extraordinary ahead that required an entrance fee.

  Some pedestrians passing by Zhengyang Avenue saw two young people, also smiling and waving greetings. It seemed that they were already very familiar with each other. Some elderly men and women would even leave two fruits or vegetables when passing by to quench the thirst of the two young people.

  Under the scorching sun in the afternoon, such a scene appears quite peaceful.

  Under the white tent, a thin young man's face was red with suffocation, as if he had endured for a long time and finally couldn't bear it. He said to a middle-aged man in his 40s or 50s beside him: "Brother Ma, aren't we here to rob? I'm ready, I can make my first contribution at any time. When do we start?"

  The middle-aged man known as Ma Ge glanced at him, took a sip of tea, and slowly said: "Little Hei, aren't we just robbing here?"

  "What?" Xiao Hei was stunned, looking at the people around him doing their own things, as well as the two brothers lazily collecting tolls on the main road, and asked vaguely: "When did we rob?"

  "Isn't this always the case?" Ma Ge said slowly: "Otherwise, why do you think they handed over the money."

  "Is this also called robbery?" Little Hei's eyes widened in shock, asking: "So the two brothers were collecting protection money? But, but... why are they willing to pay?"

  "Hey, you didn't know that, did you?" Ma Ge laughed and said to him: "You're new here in the mountain stronghold and don't understand. This is all thanks to our young master of the mountain stronghold. In the past, every time we robbed people, it was extremely dangerous, and from time to time, some brothers would get killed. Later on, the young master came up with something called 'tolls', saying that he wanted to charge reasonable fees, civilized robbery, and maintain a good atmosphere for robbery. As long as you pay part of the tolls, you can pass through safely."

  "As long as you pay the money, not only will they not rob you, but they'll also protect you. From the moment you enter our territory to the moment you leave, it's a one-stop service. In less than a month, Zhengyang Avenue became the area with the lowest losses and highest income for Heifeng Village."

  "Then they are willing to pay?" asked Xiao He with some surprise.

  "What do you think? Robbing is not only risky for us, but also for the merchant group. Every time we fight, we lose a few people, and if we fail, it's a loss of both lives and money. It's better to pay a little protection fee, no risk, with safety guarantee, everyone passes by peacefully." Ma Ge said with a smile.

  "Wow, Big Master is so amazing!" Little He exclaimed in admiration.

  "That's right, since the young master accepted Zhengyang Daodao, our losses have plummeted and our income has increased several times." Ma Ge sighed.

  "En." Xiao Hei nodded, suddenly thought of something: "Right, Ma Ge, I heard that our Black Wind Fortress is going to elect a successor in a few months? And there's the twenty-year once-in-a-lifetime Mountain Fortress Trial, just thinking about it gets me excited. Looking at this situation, the successor of the mountain fortress will definitely be Young Master, right?"

  Ma Ge's excited expression suddenly subsided, and his face had a few shades of gloom.

  Xiao He was completely unaware, still excitedly saying: "During the Mountain Stronghold trial, isn't it possible to choose a trialer to follow? I want to follow Young Master Da, Ma Ge, you chose Young Master Da, right?"

  Ma Ge said in a low voice: "I choose Second Young Master Xia Cheng."

  "Ah?" Little Hao exclaimed, "How can it be..."

  Ma Ge sighed and said, "It's not just me, I'm afraid that among those present, there are only a few who would choose the young master."

  It seemed that Ma Ge knew Xiao He's doubts, and he said somewhat depressingly: "The young master... can't cultivate ah, his congenital blood vessels are blocked, and he fundamentally can't cultivate!"

  "This..." Xiao Hei suddenly understood when he heard this. Where was this place? The Shen Zhou Continent! A continent where martial power is supreme and strength is revered!

  What can a young master who cannot cultivate do? Even if he is good at making money, he can only be the lowest person.

  "Old Master is kind to us, we all remember that in our hearts. But the mountain stronghold trial is a matter of life and death! We are all family men, can't just die for nothing." Ma Ge said indignantly, seemingly also hating his own incompetence.

  Xiao He fell silent, gazing at the frail young master who couldn't cultivate, still quietly sitting there, occasionally flipping through a book, without any signs of worry. Asking himself, if he knew he couldn't cultivate, he would definitely be extremely cautious, afraid that one misstep would lead to his demise.

  Suddenly, Xiao Hei was stunned. He suddenly wanted to know what kind of persistence would allow this young master to suppress his fear of being unable to cultivate and face everyone with confidence, revealing his unyielding pride!

  The same discussion voices appeared in every corner of Linjiang City.

  The two people who are being talked about, without a doubt, are the Second Young Master of Hei Feng Zhai, Xia Cheng, the son of the Second Master, and the Eldest Young Master of Hei Feng Zhai, Xia Lin, the son of the Master.

  As for Heifeng Village's young master Xia Lin, it can be said that everyone in Linjiang City knows him.

  Why? It's all because he has a stubborn father, Hei Feng, the leader of Xia Man Village.

  This man, known as the Barbarian King, was of a sturdy build and possessed boundless strength. He had monopolized all the businesses in the vicinity of Linjiang City, his name shaking the heavens. Even people from thousands of miles away knew that in Linjiang City, only the Barbarian King reigned supreme.

  As the eldest son of a generation of warlords, Xia Lin was naturally talked about by people with relish.

  Xia Man was born with divine strength, but his son seemed to have not inherited his physique and instead followed in his mother's footsteps. From the moment he was born, he seemed like he was about to die at any moment. Such a strong contrast naturally became a big joke.

  Also made Xia Lin Gang famous as soon as he was born.

  Therefore, Xia Man named his son Xia Lin, meaning to borrow the spirit of Linjiang City to strengthen himself and restore the prestige of the Xia family in the future. However, it turned out that the person who took 1,000 taels of silver from him to predict his son's fortune had actually cheated him.

  After growing up, Xia Lin was also like his mother, weak in temperament, loved to read books, did not practice martial arts, and had a completely sickly appearance, making Xia Man hate him so much that he scratched the wall several times in his dreams, hating himself for knowing that his wife's body was weak, why didn't he make some legendary elixirs during pregnancy.

  On the contrary, Second Young Master Xia Cheng had a sturdy build and boundless strength, perfectly inheriting the Xiangya clan's bloodline. His power progressed rapidly, and at a young age, he reached Body Tempering Seventh Layer, making him the best candidate to inherit the mountain stronghold.

  As the two young masters grew older, the selection of the successor to the village head naturally moved up the agenda, and recently, discussions about this matter have been increasing.

  ……

  At night, the robbers returned.

  On the banks of Linjiang City, a cold moon hangs in the night sky, and the surrounding mountains reflect the clear and cold moonlight. However, on Heifeng Mountain dozens of miles away, there are now sounds of laughter filling the air.

  This is a rather large stronghold, with the three big words "Black Wind Stronghold" written crookedly on the mountain gate. The terrain of the stronghold seems to be even larger than that of an ordinary town. Countless sturdy men are drinking and eating meat in loud voices, while servant girls sing and dance, filling the air with a joyful atmosphere, as if celebrating their victory from daytime.

  However, in a quiet courtyard on the west side of Heifengzhai, it was still as cold and clear as before, which was quite out of tune with the festive atmosphere at present.

  A girl in green clothes is laboriously drawing water from a well and carrying it up with difficulty.

  The girl's skin was as white and delicate as ivory, like a small, exquisite jade carving. She was very young, but extremely beautiful. However, at this moment, she was dirty all over, and her green dress was also stained with mud and water.

  Some of the maids around her secretly sighed: "Alas, Green is fetching water again, it's too hard for her."

  "Yes, yes, not only did I follow the most hopeless young master, but also had to wash bath water for this clean-freak young master every day, and didn't even know how many times he took a bath in one day."

  "The big young master is actually not bad, at least he made a lot of money for Shan Zhai."

  "What's the point of making money? Every time a crisis battle comes, he can only watch and wait. Later on, others' strength will become higher and higher, and by then, he won't even be able to protect himself?"

  "That's right, but he doesn't have many days left either. In three months, it will be the trial of the village master, and if Second Master wins, he will become the successor to the village master. At that time, we can bring Green Sister over."

  "Alright, I'll plead for mercy on your behalf when the time comes."

  A group of maids were chattering away, while Lü'er silently carried a bucket of water to the door of a room.

  "Knock knock knock——"

  "Who is it." A cold and clear voice came from inside the house.

  "It's me, Green Girl."

  "Come in."

  Green pushed open the door and walked in, then gently closed it again.

  Inside the room, a screen was erected to block out the outside gaze. Greenery surrounded the screen. At this moment, a pale-faced young man was leaning against a steaming wooden bucket, bathing in it with his eyes tightly closed, seemingly savoring the experience.

  This man is Hei Feng Zhai's young master, Xia Lin.

  Hearing Green come in, Xia Lin's eyes opened and she smiled slightly: "Green, you're here."

  "En." Lü'er softly responded, carrying a bucket of water forward, "Young master, should I pour the water?"

  Xia nodded: "Pour it then."

  Whoosh!

  The cold water that had just been lifted from the well poured into the wooden bucket, and the cold water splashed onto Xia Lin's body, seeming to have a gloomy chill, causing Xia Lin's eyebrows to furrow slightly.

  This kind of cold water torture, ordinary people can't stand it, let alone Xia Lin who is physically weak?

  However, both Lü Er and Xia Lin seem to have gotten used to it long ago.

  "Green, you've worked hard." Xia Lin sighed.

  "It's nothing." A flush of red color flashed across Lu'er's small face, "Serving young master is what I'm supposed to do."

  Soon, seemingly adapted to the cold water temperature, Xia Lin smiled and said: "Lu'er, that's enough for today, you should get some rest early."

  "Yes, young master."

  Lü'er handed a wooden box to Xia Lin from one side, then quietly retreated.

  Watching Lu'er leave, the door closed, Xia Lin sighed: "It's been sixteen years."

  As a medical student, Xia Lin naturally didn't believe in gods and ghosts, but he never thought that after his death, he would end up in this world.

  When he knew that martial arts were supreme here, and that legendary greats could even overturn the sky and jump over the sea, he was excited beyond self-control.

  His own body, of course, was clear from the moment he was born and his mother left, his body had been weak and frail, and he had originally hoped that practicing martial arts could change it a bit.

  I didn't expect my body to be so weak that I couldn't even practice martial arts!

  In a world that values martial arts, he can't even practice it. Is this the rhythm of courting death? No wonder many people in the mountains and villages look down on this young master with disdain.

  His father had found many wonderful elixirs or spiritual herbs for him, but they were of no use at all.

  Gradually, Father gave up, and more people in the mountain stronghold gave up. Until today, except for the title of a young master of Heifeng Stronghold, it seems that he has no status at all.

  But even if everyone else gives up on him, he won't give up on himself!

  Even something like time travel has happened, what's impossible? The madness of researching medical experiments from the past is replayed again as Xia Lin starts to research his own body.

  He thought it was simple, since his body was inexplicably weak, so finding the cause and fixing it would be fine.

  After years of research, he finally had an outcome.

  The fresh blood in his body seemed to have a mysterious power, not just him, but many people in Heifengzhai also had it, and it was only then that he came to understand that Heifengzhai was a mountain stronghold with quite a history.

  The mainland of China, the number of sects and aristocratic families is countless, and there are even more people who do not have the qualifications to open a sect or establish a school, living in the gaps between these families and sects.

  Xia's family is one of them.

  According to the older generation of Heifeng Village, the Xia family was originally an ancient barbarian tribe, born with infinite strength, capable of overthrowing heaven and earth, and was one of the five major families at that time. However, for some reason, they gradually declined, and by now, only a thin bloodline remains.

  The name Hei Feng Zhai is a disguise and also a self-mockery, perhaps only when the Xia family regains its former glory can it be called a noble family.

  The history of the Xia family made Xia Lin's eyes shine, and after several verifications, he was very certain and affirmative that the mysterious power in his body was the blood power of the ancient barbarian tribe.

  All Xia family members have it in their bodies.

  A thin thread of Bloodline Power can make a person's strength boundless, his father Xia Man was able to cultivate rapidly because the bloodline in his body was active, and became the previous leader.

  Since everyone has the power of blood vessels in their body, why is his body so weak?

  To study this mysterious power, Xia Lin read countless books and used the blood concentration detection technology of his previous life to achieve it in this world, which he called Bloodline Concentration Detection.

  This technique, which could have been easily completed with a medical tool in the past, took him three whole years here!

  After that, Xia Lin conducted blood tests on his father, himself and many others in the Xia family, even a fake Xia soldier from the mountain village couldn't escape his grasp.

  After finishing all the blood concentration statistics, Xia Lin discovered a shocking result.

  His body was so weak, not because he didn't inherit the power of the ancient barbarian bloodline, nor because the power of the bloodline was too weak, but because it was too strong!

  He was so strong that his body couldn't take it anymore.

  According to his calculations, the concentration of barbarian blood in Father's body should be about one ten-thousandth of the total blood volume. The ordinary Xia family disciples have a concentration of one hundred-thousandth, but his own blood concentration is as high as 10%!

  When he realized the truth, Xia Lin suddenly understood, it was because of thick blood.

  This mysterious bloodline power was so densely accumulated in his body that it caused his own blood vessels to be unsmooth, making his body seem rather weak.

  But that terrifying power of bloodline he was unable to summon, several times cultivating, as long as one moved his energy, would be blocked by the bloodline in his body.

  The blood stasis in his body was like an insurmountable barrier that firmly blocked his way.

  That's why he ended up like this, completely unable to cultivate martial arts now.

  This is a dead knot.

  However, Xia Lin became excited after understanding, because he had already determined that he was not without cultivation qualifications, and his talent was far superior to others. As long as the power of the ancient barbarian's bloodline was activated in his body, all problems would be solved effortlessly.

  For Xia Lin, there is no unsolvable problem. The reason why problems exist is that they are meant to be solved.

  As a medical student, Xia Lin was very familiar with the human body's internal structure. Although his barbarian bloodline made him somewhat different from ordinary people, this did not prevent him from finding common ground between the two.

  At least in terms of improving blood circulation, he can definitely achieve it.

  So from that day on, Xia Lin began his long career of living by selling blood.

  "It's been five years since then."

  Xia's lips curled up into a faint smile, "The outcome of five years' hard work will be decided today!"

  For five years, he painstakingly guided a fine, thread-like blood vessel onto the unyielding pulse with a silver needle, and now it was just a little bit away from success.

  Open the wooden box gently, a row of silver needles are placed inside, very neatly.

  Xia Lin's slender hands moved swiftly, pulling out one silver needle after another and inserting them into his own body with utmost familiarity, without a single drop of blood flowing out.

  Swish! Swish! Swish!

  Soon, Xia Lin's body was covered with silver needles, like a hedgehog.

  "Huff... huff..."

  Xia Lin let out a faint breath, and he could feel that each silver needle seemed to be inserted into the barbarian's bloodline power, as if it was enduring a difficult rejection force.

  Xia took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and suddenly clenched his fists, his body tensing up.

  The cold water in the wooden bucket slowly began to warm up, and the long silver needles inserted all over Xia's body actually started to be slowly pushed out.

  Whoosh!

  Whoosh!

  Innumerable silver needles suddenly burst out and shot into various parts of the house, piercing inches deep.

  At this time, the silver needles on Xia Lin's body began to fall off one by one, and fresh blood gushed out from those places, flowing into the wooden bucket and dyeing the bath water red. Soon, Xia Lin seemed to have turned into a bloody person.

  The water in the wooden bucket became extremely hot after being stained with blood, and the entire surface of the water began to evaporate.

  Sweat as big as beans rolled down his forehead, he seemed to feel nothing at all, and only occasionally did his trembling body reveal that he was enduring extreme pain.

  Blood and water churned, the temperature getting higher and higher, and a lot of blood and water were actually evaporated.

  Summer is approaching, and the whole person's spirit is dizzy, as if he has forgotten everything, completely immersed in it. Now there is only one thought in his mind, hold on!

  Five years of persistence, today is the last time, persisting is victory!

  As the blood flowed out more and more, Xia Lin's body seemed to have reached a certain balance, and the stubbornly dormant blood vein power for sixteen years actually began to flow slowly.

  In the depths of her mind, Xia Lin felt as if something strange had appeared in her brain.

  A mysterious route appeared in his mind, and Xia Lin subconsciously started to follow it.

  The power of the blood vessels in the body moves slowly along a mysterious route, bit by bit, moving forward, although very slow, but seems to be opening up something.

  Collapse!

  As a faint sound came, Xia Lin's whole body shook.

  Although his body's blood vessels were clogged to an appalling degree, there is a saying that goes: constant dripping wears away the stone!

  He finally managed to open a small passage on the barrier of blood vessels, although it was only one percent, but for him, it was enough.

  Very soon, the extremely thin blood vessels' movement speed became faster and faster, rapidly completing the final operation.

  Bang!

  The power of blood successfully completed the operation of the mysterious route, a light sound came, and a mysterious and vast power suddenly surged out from Xia Lin's body.

  A deafening crash resounded in his mind, echoing throughout his spiritual sea. Xia Lin's originally ordinary spiritual sea was completely transformed, as if a space had been opened up within it. A vast and boundless aura emanated from it, and at the same time, a memory he had never seen before was instilled into his mind.

  Ancient Barbarian Tribe... Land of Inheritance... Merit Method... First Layer...

  Unfamiliar vocabulary intertwined, summer headache is about to crack, feeling a strong discomfort, gritting teeth and persevering.

  Boom!

  The wooden barrel under him burst with a loud noise, blood and water splashing everywhere, filling the room, and soon sank to the ground.

  Xia Lin stood upright, her body had just been pierced by silver needles due to the inverted practice, but the holes on her body were completely invisible. Her slender body looked very plump at this moment, and she was radiant with energy.

  His eyes snapped open, and two sharp glints flashed in his eyes, exceptionally bright.

  Lowering his head to look at his own body that was still not very robust but full of power, Xia Lin's right fist clenched, feeling an endless amount of power.

  His right foot exerted force on the ground and a footprint was indented into the hard bluestone, with countless cracks spreading out in all directions.

  The power of one kick is actually so formidable!

  "This power, I've finally entered the martial way!" Xia Lin's heart surged as he lifted his head.

  After sixteen years of physical weakness, he finally took this step.

  He knew that his martial arts journey had begun!