Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 283: Chapter 175: Bountiful Harvest

Wan Ze returned to reality.

The moment his consciousness was pulled from Huangliang, he felt a tremendous sense of dislocation, like suddenly surfacing from the deep sea, his eardrums ringing.

The world before him was blurry at first, then slowly came into focus.

The ceiling, the pendant light, the pile of miscellaneous items in the corner.

Everything was exactly as he had left it.

He gasped for the fresh air of the real world, his chest heaving violently as if he had just run a marathon.

His heart was pounding, and a strange, aching weakness filled his limbs. For someone with his current physical constitution to feel this way was simply inconceivable.

But that was the reality of it. At this moment... he felt completely drained.

Wan Ze quickly checked his attribute values.

His gaze swept over the rows of numbers, finally settling on a few key stats...

All Attributes had dropped... by 0.03.

’Damn it!’

For an ordinary person, such a small change would have been unnoticeable. But for someone like him, who planned his Cultivation by tracking his attribute values down to two decimal places, this was a tangible loss. Thankfully, it was just a temporary status effect that a few bites could fix.

’But... that big guy was truly immense.’

Wan Ze took a deep breath, pushed the thought aside, and rolled out of bed. He walked to the kitchen and pulled out the clay pot he used specifically for brewing medicinal soups.

The ingredients for the Blood Replenishing Soup had been prepared in advance: Danggui, Astragalus Root, Goji Berries, Red Dates, Codonopsis, and a piece of He Shouwu.

These things could be bought at any ordinary traditional pharmacy, but the batch Wan Ze was using had been procured by Zhai Jia through a special channel. Its medicinal effects were more than twice as potent as what was available on the market.

He tossed the herbs into the clay pot.

He added water and turned on the stove.

The water quickly came to a boil, and the medicinal aroma rapidly filled the air, carrying a scent that was both bitter and sweet.

Seeing that it was ready, Wan Ze went over, turned off the heat, and poured the soup into a large bowl. Heedless of the heat, he began to gulp it down.

The boiling soup poured down his throat like a line of fire, so hot it made him grimace. But he didn’t stop. It was a good thing his body had been tempered to be far beyond that of an ordinary person; otherwise, a single sip would have been enough to scald his esophagus.

After finishing the first bowl, Wan Ze poured himself another.

Once the second bowl was down, the warmth in his Dantian slowly began to return.

His Qi and blood, as if reawakened, surged up through his meridians, filling the corners that had been emptied.

Wan Ze’s breathing gradually steadied, his heartbeat returned to normal, and the aching weakness in his limbs faded with each passing moment.

He closed his eyes and decisively activated the Thunderbolt Breathing Technique.

That cool, tingling sensation returned.

By the time Wan Ze opened his eyes again, his status had been fully restored.

His stats had returned to their previous levels, and there was even a faint hint of an increase.

”If exploiting a bug like this can give me a 0.01 boost, why not do it a few more times?”

Wan Ze considered it for a moment but restrained himself. He had important things to do later.

He rolled his shoulders, his joints letting out a series of CRACKLES. He felt power coursing through his body once more.

”Still, I’m so envious...”

That thing... or more accurately, that behemoth that emerged from the depths of the mountain forest, was as large as a moving hill. The mere pressure from its appearance at such a great distance was enough to make all his Attributes drop. Its very existence inspired despair.

Wan Ze had seen many powerful beings: Zhai Yu, his master, the Female Sword Immortal... but none of them had ever made him feel this way.

It was a complete and utter suppression on a fundamental level.

Just as a two-dimensional being could never comprehend a three-dimensional world, he couldn’t even begin to comprehend the Deceit Beast King’s power.

’How can I become as powerful as it?’

’All Attribute values over 100? No, even 1000 might not be enough!’

’Huangliang... is truly so much more terrifying than reality!’

He took a deep breath, suppressing the lingering fear.

However...

The Sword Immortal truly was strong.

’I’ll accept her as my senior martial sister!’

As he thought this, the corners of his mouth turned up unconsciously.

But after the excitement passed, the Female Sword Immortal’s words came back to him like a bucket of cold water.

The Taiyin Breathing Technique... This Breathing Technique was definitely not simple.

It could harness a Forbidden Power like the Red Moon, and it allowed a novice like him, who had been on the Martial Dao for less than half a year, to possess the strength to kill a Qi Refiner.

A Technique like this was definitely not something just anyone could create.

Therefore, there had to be more to Tao Zhixi than met the eye.

Wan Ze’s brow furrowed.

The problem was stuck right there.

Tao Zhixi was already dead, and he still had no idea what the situation was with the Sect behind her.

Miss Ling said there were many dead people there... Feng Jiuchen said Huangliang was far more complex than he imagined... and the Female Sword Immortal said this Breathing Technique was ”ingeniously conceived, by no means the work of an ordinary person.”

Every sentence pointed to the same conclusion... the Breathing Technique he was cultivating had a major origin.

But...

It was absolutely impossible for him to stop practicing the Taiyin Breathing Technique.

Wan Ze was very clear on this point.

His current strength in Huangliang was all thanks to this Breathing Technique.

Without it, he couldn’t absorb Moonlight in Huangliang, couldn’t condense Qi, couldn’t use the Heaven and Earth Sword Pulling Slash, and it would have been even more impossible for him to transform from an ordinary student into someone who could slay a Qi Refiner in such a short time.

’My strength is still weak right now, and I can’t protect myself... I have to rely on these Magic Techniques to get stronger!’

’As for the danger...’

Wan Ze paused, his gaze falling on the moon outside the window.

The moon was full and bright, completely different from the Red Moon. It hung quietly in the sky like a spectator, indifferently watching over the mortal world.