Martial Saint through Reading

”Qi Blood has been nourishing the Golden Fragment for thirty-seven years, sensing the Primordial Qi?”

Chu Ming’s gaze was sharp as a sword as he looked at the two fragments, lost in thought.

These two fragments seem to be even more mysterious than he imagined.

According to the records, the Teng Sect initially couldn’t sense the Primordial Qi, but through nurturing the Golden Fragments with Qi Blood, they could see the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi by the thirty-sixth year.

Could nurturing the Golden Fragments with Qi Blood enhance Spiritual Power? Or possibly condense Primordial Consciousness?

He extended his left hand, letting two drops of blood drip from his palm, then dropped the blood onto the Golden Fragment.

Jiaang Jing didn’t absorb the Golden Fragment she acquired.

But as for Teng Sect’s fragment, the blood disappeared as soon as it touched it.

Not disappeared, Chu Ming noticed a fleeting golden glimmer, it was the golden glimmer that absorbed his blood.

At the same time, the fragment’s repulsion towards his Primordial Consciousness seemed to slightly weaken.

”It seems more blood is needed.”

He put away Jiaang Jing’s fragment and held Teng Sect’s fragment directly in his palm, letting more blood flow out.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

The more blood the Golden Fragment absorbed, the weaker its repulsion towards his Primordial Consciousness became.

Until a certain moment, Chu Ming’s eyes suddenly focused, a look of surprise flashed across his brow.

”It’s done.”

His Primordial Consciousness enveloped the Golden Fragment like a surging tide.

Hua——

The Golden Fragment soared into the sky, without a trace of resistance.

However, merely controlling the Golden Fragment didn’t surprise him so much.

What he truly didn’t expect was that there was a world inside the Golden Fragment!

”Storage Space Treasure!”

He could clearly sense that within the palm’s Golden Fragment, there was a spatial area about one zhang in width and height, connected with his heart spirit.

Chu Ming calmed his excitement, adjusted his breathing, and began to attempt communicating with the Golden Fragment through his heart spirit.

Buzz——

In an instant, he felt his consciousness being drawn into a pitch-black space, as if in an abyssal cage, yet able to move at will.

At the same time, Chu Ming saw golden light blossoming on the surface of the Golden Fragment.

Compared to the fleeting golden glimmer during blood absorption, this time the golden light illuminated a dark area like a candle flame, the heart spirit remained, and the golden light did not dissipate.

He took out a few trophies he had obtained earlier, placing them within the range illuminated by the golden light, followed by a slight shift of his heart thought.

Swish swish swish——

The golden light flickered, and all the items vanished from sight.

More accurately, they didn’t vanish but were instead enveloped by the golden light controlled by his heart thought, entering the internal space of the Golden Fragment.

”Storage, transportation...”

Chu Ming’s gaze was deep as he waved his hand, and all the items on him were sent into the Golden Fragment by the golden light.

A space of one zhang by one zhang might not be large, but it wasn’t small either, more than enough to store some clothes, food, medicine, weapons, etc.

Besides storing items, the Golden Fragment could also serve as a temporary transportation tool.

Those gold, silver, and treasures in the Blood Vine Castle’s treasure house could be repeatedly transported using the Golden Fragment, hiding them in a safe place.

This was only the significant benefit brought by one Golden Fragment. If the Golden Fragment obtained by Jiaang Jing was also nurtured to the level of heart spirit communication, the World in the Palm could be expanded twice over.

After dealing with the Golden Fragment, Chu Ming paused for a moment. Once he calmed his emotions, he stepped out of the hall, heading towards another peculiar object—the dungeon of Blood Vine Castle.

The deepest part of Blood Vine Castle’s dungeon.

Chu Ming stood before a cold iron wall, his brow slightly furrowed.

[Sword Gourd Spirit] detected, behind the iron wall, there was a very pungent smell of blood, under which he could also sense a form of life.

He quickly discovered the hidden mechanism on the iron wall through observation.

With a flick of the mechanism, the heavy iron wall began to sink underground.

Even with just a thin slit open, the blood stench rushed out like a flood breaking a dam.

When the iron wall was completely submerged, the internal scene unfolded.

A giant circular blood pool filled with blood-colored liquid.

Near a hundred corpses floated on the surface of the crimson liquid.

In the center of the blood pool, a blood-colored vine was grotesque and terrifying.

With the flow of blood, corpses revolved around the vine.

The life detected by [Sword Gourd Spirit] was this vine.

Chu Ming approached the blood pool, his expression heavy.

The vine was rooted in the pool, its roots spread out, clutching individual corpses.

It extracted and absorbed.

Blood vessel-like scarlet veins surged, ’nutrients’ were transported from the ground up along the main trunk.

On the main trunk, twenty-seven vines, twenty-six were blood-colored, with only one being withered yellow.

The twenty-six blood-colored vines were as thick as fingers, flushed with crimson veins, and thriving robustly.

Yet, that lone withered yellow vine was as thin as willow wisps, with its life force fading, where it connected to the main trunk was a large blood-colored ball, seemingly long obstructed due to different veins.

Apparently, this branch would rather sever its life force than become like the preceding twenty-six vines.

Chu Ming looked at the corpses in the blood pool and sighed softly.

The hundred corpses soaking in the pool were merely the surface.

At the pool’s bottom, heaps of white bones—countless lives have fed the vine.

He then glanced at the Blood Vine’s twenty-seven vines.

If he’s not mistaken, this vine was the renowned Wind Vine.

Wind Vine, capable of dispersing harsh winds.

In this world, numerous terrible natural disasters exist; harsh winds being one, common over seas and rivers.

The small-sized gales can easily tear apart the bodies of martial artists in the Blood Circulation, Strong Bone, and even Refining Organ Realms.

The large-sized gales can even tear through the Meridian Unlocking Realm, severely injuring those in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm.

The Wind Vine, as such a plant, has a natural ability to disperse gales.

Especially during the maturation phase, with one hundred and eight vines, it can disperse large gales.

Not only disperse them, but mature Wind Vines can face the gales head-on without harm.

The name of Wind Vine County originated because of this peculiar plant.

However, due to the Wind Vine’s resilience and gale dispersing effect, it was completely extinct a hundred years ago, leaving only the name Wind Vine County.

Unexpectedly, one Wind Vine was found hidden deep within the dungeon of Blood Vine Fortress.

”Wind Vine... Blood Vine Fortress...”

Perhaps it’s more fitting to call this Wind Vine a Blood Vine.

Chu Ming sensed that the existence of Blood Vine Fortress might be meant to nourish this Wind Vine with blood.

After pondering for a moment, his thoughts stirred, and a golden fragment buzzed out, cutting off the vine with vitality nearly depleted.

The Wind Vine with twenty-seven vines isn’t as terrifyingly resilient; the sharpness of the golden fragment is sufficient.

The withered yellow vine detached from the main stem and fell into his palm.

It was thin as willow silk, withered yellow like grass, vitality exhausted.

Soon, Chu Ming noticed a subtle change in the vine.

It was a change akin to overcoming hardship, a revival from dying wood.

The vine seemed to have welcomed new life.

Chu Ming tried storing it into the golden fragment, and while it was possible, he soon realized the vine’s vitality was fading quickly.

The storage space generally can only hold dead objects; living things can be stored too, but eventually, they become dead objects.

With no other choice, he took the vine out and kept it close.

Then, Chu Ming gathered some oil, setting a big fire to burn down the dungeon that had devoured countless lives, including that Blood Vine.

Leaving the dungeon, he concealed his presence and moved to the southeast of Blood Vine Fortress.

On the ground, lay many people groaning, some escaping from the dungeon, others were constables from the West Glory County Inspectorate.

In the center lay three corpses, all at the Refining Organ Realm, one of them being Zhou Xi, the Inspector General of the West Glory County Inspectorate.

Zhou Xi fought with two Refining Organ Realm martial artists, ending in mutual destruction.

He moved, hidden in shadow, beside the arresting captains who didn’t have the scent or Qi of Blood Evil, sprinkling antidotes.

Having finished with this matter, he returned to the Blood Vine Fortress treasure house.

At the treasure house entrance, apart from the box of treasures initially selected by him, The Medicine Maniac had packed two more boxes, one with gold and silver jewels, the other with medicinal materials.

”That’s enough, Yao Qi, let’s go.”

The horizon burst with red light, dawn was approaching.

Chu Ming carried a box, while The Medicine Maniac carried two, as they left the treasure house.

Reaching the entrance of Blood Vine Fortress, two graceful figures appeared before them.

”Elder...” Jiaang Jing and Jiaang Yan quickly greeted.

Putting down the box, Chu Ming looked at the two women, and asked plainly, ”Do you truly wish to follow me?”

Jiaang Jing nodded solemnly, Jiaang Yan hesitated for a moment before following suit.

”Good,” Chu Ming nodded slightly, then looked at The Medicine Maniac by his side, ”Yao Qi, there is something I need you to do.”

”Benefactor, please tell,” The Medicine Maniac replied respectfully.

”Become their master.”

”Ah?” Jiaang Jing and Jiaang Yan exclaimed in surprise.

The Medicine Maniac paused for a moment, then bowed, ”Rest assured, benefactor, I, Yao Qi, will definitely nurture them to become your right-hand aides.”

”Elder...” Jiaang Jing started to speak.

”Alright, it’s settled.”

With a wave of his hand, Chu Ming opened a box, taking out a good amount of gold and silver, then opened another box, extracting many treasure medicines.

”Yao Qi, take these, and escort them to the county city of West Glory County, I will come to find you when necessary.”

”Yes.”

The Medicine Maniac bowed respectfully again, then regarded the two women, ”Young ladies, although I, The Medicine Maniac, have aged, I still possess considerable skills, you won’t suffer as my disciples.”

”Elder Yao, I...” Jiaang Jing was indecisive.

”Haha, little girl, my benefactor is a hero among men. If you wish to repay him, you must demonstrate your worth, sufficiently valuable to warrant his attention.”

These words had the desired effect; Jiaang Jing’s expression changed several times, then she bowed solemnly to Chu Ming, ”Elder, I will surely train diligently under Elder Yao.”

”Hmm, go ahead.” Chu Ming rarely showed a smile.

”Yes.”

The Medicine Maniac led the two women away first.

Chu Ming watched as the three departed, his eyes profound as an abyss.

What he did this time was both to send The Medicine Maniac away and to test him.

Sending The Medicine Maniac away allowed him to use the golden fragment freely to transport treasures from Blood Vine Fortress.

As for testing The Medicine Maniac...

He took out the golden fragment, thoughts stirring, the golden light radiated, promptly storing all three large boxes on the ground.

Simultaneously, the Sword Gourd Spirit spread out, locking onto the distant departing trio.

He wanted to see if The Medicine Maniac would strictly follow his orders.

He concealed himself in shadows, keeping a distance to follow.

After tracking them for almost ten miles, The Medicine Maniac showed no signs of deviation, instead genuinely instructing the two women along the way.

After ten miles, Chu Ming did not continue following but instead returned to Blood Vine Fortress to start transporting treasures.

He wasn’t worried that The Medicine Maniac would disappear completely; the Life-locking Elixir was enough to intimidate, and he had Tracking at hand—the Maniac couldn’t escape.

Approaching around 9 a.m., he had already hidden most treasures of Blood Vine Fortress in the mountain ridge ten miles away, with the most precious ones stored in the golden fragment.

Then, without lingering further, he headed towards the direction of West Glory County’s county city.