Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

In his early forties, Li Zhihe, robed in a light green official garment embroidered with a tiger’s head in golden thread, had a glint in his eyes; he knew things would not be so simple.

"Please speak, County Magistrate Tao."

Across the tea table, Tao Xingzheng, whose features were handsome and appeared much younger than Li Zhihe—perhaps just past thirty—wore the same light green official robe, but his was embroidered with mandarin duck patterns. He sipped his tea lightly before setting down his cup.

"If Qingyun County truly has such an outstanding talent, I would like to meet him personally... If this person is indeed as Director Li describes, a few Five Elements Pills would not be anything I’d begrudge."

This county parent official of Qingyun, born of the great Tao Clan of Qingzhou, wished to meet the so-called Li Feiyu himself; his words carried the intent to put him to the test.

"Just want to meet... Planning to draw him in?"

Hearing such a simple request, Li Zhihe was briefly taken aback. As things stood, the matter of Li Feiyu had yet to fully spread; the news shouldn’t have reached Tao Xingzheng’s ears. And given Tao Xingzheng’s noble Qingzhou background, this matter most likely held no hidden agenda.

"If that is so, I will certainly pass the word to Li Feiyu and let him pay his respects to Lord County Magistrate on another day."

Soon after, Li Zhihe left the study.

As he stepped out, he glanced at two guards—a man and a woman—standing outside, but could not see through their martial cultivation.

...

Time passed; in the blink of an eye, two days had gone by.

At the little courtyard on Spring Breeze Street, no one noticed the return of the small courtyard’s nameless master.

A dense flow of attribute power surged through the tendons of the figure in the wheelchair beneath the locust tree, finally converging into the spleen.

Earth Element Divine Skill (Entry-level 1%)

Comprehension: 124 (Dragon-and-Phoenix Level)

At that very moment, Su Mu’s liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were each awash in distinct, gentle glows; the attribute powers of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth mingled together in dazzling brilliance.

Just then, Su Mu felt a wave of tingling sweep over his entire body, as if currents of electricity raged within. A moment of clarity overtook him—within his state of introspection, he saw all five viscera resonating together.

With Heart Fire as a furnace, refining the qi blood.

With Kidney Essence as the guide, cleansing impurities.

With Spleen Earth as the foundation, stabilizing the new birth.

With Liver Wood as nourishment, generating new blood.

With Lung Metal as a blade, expelling tainted blood.

As the five viscera cycled, the flow of the five elements completed, and the old blood, after burning and purification, underwent transformation. From beneath his heart, a newly formed drop of fresh blood emerged.

This fresh blood was an even brighter crimson and scorching to the touch, containing a force of qi and blood far stronger than before.

The power of qi and blood could nourish the flesh, and when activated could directly bolster the body, allowing a martial artist to erupt with a purer and more formidable physical strength, further augmenting their qi power.

When the qi and blood power grew strong enough, a martial artist could, without even employing their power, throw a punch or kick radiating force worth ten thousand pounds; a Middle Third Grade martial artist need not deliberately train in Cross-Training Martial Arts—their qi and blood alone made their bodies incomparably tough.

In terms of pure physical strength, they could rival, if not surpass, Lower Three Grades martial artists who specialized in Cross-Training Martial Arts!

This is one of the ways in which a Middle Third Grade martial artist is far superior to one of the Lower Three Grades.

Ssssss!

As the five viscera resonated, new blood emerged, while the burnt-out impurities in the old blood turned into wisps of black smoke and drifted out through Su Mu’s skin.

Five Elements Technique (Entry-level 1%)

Comprehension: 125 (Dragon-and-Phoenix Level)

"The Five Elements Technique is entry-level now!"

The man in the wheelchair opened his bright, profound eyes; with a breath, he exhaled a jet of white mist over a zhang long, firm and unwavering, sending dry leaves whirling throughout the yard.

Su Mu stood up from his wheelchair, casually stowing it away in his Sumeru Ring. That custom wheelchair had been quite comfortable; now that he’d healed, Su Mu treated it as nothing more than an ordinary chair.

As for the gaze of ordinary people, Su Mu cared very little about such things.

"Each entry-level Chapter of the Five Elements Technique adds two points of comprehension. After all five, one more point is added; entry-level for the full Five Elements Technique means eleven points of comprehension. Truly worthy of a Middle Third Grade cultivation art!"

Su Mu felt satisfied with this. Immediately, he tried throwing a punch out of thin air.

Boom boom!

This strike made use of neither force nor any tendon power from Yijin. It was a purer, more straightforward punch; yet, as his fist flew, afterimages trailed behind, and the air in front of his fist suddenly compressed in layers.

After the first crisp sound split the air, a second crack rang out as well.

Finally, the compressed air in front of his fist burst open, transforming into a condensed gust that howled forward—a heavy thud, and the earthen wall suddenly caved in, with dust billowing everywhere.

"Just entry-level, and my qi power has increased by nearly ten percent already—this is just the beginning!"

Sharp light flickered in Su Mu’s eyes.

One must know, an ordinary person might spend a dozen years, or even more, training in a single Cross-Training Martial Art, while Su Mu had cultivated seven at once—and even fused and created his own Molten Fire Golden Body.

His physique was far beyond that of those in his realm, even above Sixth-Grade martial artists, powerful enough to stand against a Sixth-Grade Daoist cultivator like Gongsun Xin commanding the Wraith General of the Thousand-Person Banner.

He could even take the sword of a Sixth-Grade martial artist in Purple Shirt, who could lift light as if heavy. For a physique so mighty to grow even a little stronger now, the difficulty was easy to imagine.

And now, with just entry-level in the Five Elements Technique, he achieved a full ten percent increase.

Tempering all five viscera and undergoing a complete exchange of blood opened a brand new path for Su Mu.

"Martial Dao is endless. It is a path of endlessly excavating the treasures within the human body, of the blood and flesh evolving without cease. Middle Third Grade martial artists have clearly gone beyond!"

"Middle Third Grade, the First Realm—Five Extremes Realm—is really just a further refinement of the body. It could well be called Blood Refining."

Su Mu mused, flashes of enlightenment surfacing in his mind.

Enlightened to this point, a stray spiritual light shot through his mind.

Blessed by inspiration, Su Mu’s thoughts became alarmingly clear, his terrifying comprehension throwing him into a brief state of sudden enlightenment. All the martial arts he’d mastered yielded new insights—though many had long since reached perfection, and thus could not easily breakthrough again.

But those with lesser proficiency suddenly broke through in an instant.

Bang!

Iron Head Skill (Great Success 1%)

Comprehension: 126 (Dragon-and-Phoenix Level)

Previously, to fulfill his promise with Yan Xiaolan, Su Mu had trained Iron Head Skill during the trip to the Taiping Dao Manor. Now, it broke through first, instantly ascending from Small Success to the Great Success Realm.

But as an Eighth-Grade Martial Art now at Great Success, for Su Mu it added little—just one point of comprehension.

At this moment, Su Mu clearly sensed that, in his head, a condensed and entirely new strand of power slowly formed, then sank down from between his brows to join the Strength Pill in his lower abdomen—the Dantian.

With this, Su Mu’s Pill Force gained a new strand, now totaling twenty-one.

Next to follow.

Eight-Step Chasing Cicada, Feixu Skill, Thunder Shock Fist, Blood Transformation Technique—his incomplete martial arts all improved as well. In just over ten breaths, their proficiency soared by roughly a fifth; most were now not far from perfection.

It is foreseeable that, in the days ahead, aside from Su Mu’s self-created arts and the Five Elements Technique, all the remaining martial arts will shortly reach perfection.

Sudden enlightenment arrived without warning, and vanished just as tracelessly as a fleeting antelope—a slight smile crept along Su Mu’s lips as it ended.

While inferring the path toward Fifth Refining Force’s Gang Force, Su Mu gathered an idea through the process: the threshold for mastering Gang Force isn’t twenty-one strands of power after all—

but just eighteen strands. Now, he has already surpassed the threshold by far.

He began to look forward to setting all else aside soon, amassing all his strength for the breakthrough to Gang Force.

"I wonder if there’s news of the Five Elements Pill; time to visit Qingyun City."

...

Leaving the little courtyard on Spring Breeze Street, Su Mu noticed—whether it was his imagination or not—that more soldiers seemed to be patrolling the town these days.

Below Qingyun City, squads of Cyan Cloud Army, donned in armor, were stationed everywhere. On the walls, patrolling guards stood on high alert; several crossbow carriages gleamed in the sun, their numbers greatly increased.

"Remove your conical hat."

The city guards interrogated every person entering the city, far more strictly than before.

"So it wasn’t just my imagination."

Su Mu furrowed his brow, suspicion stirring in his chest. Could something have happened in the Qingyun Three Counties during the days he was immersed in comprehending the Five Elements Technique?

Could the Black Mountain Rebel Army have made a move?

Looking for revenge for Purple Shirt?

Or was it Zhao Pingyuan making trouble from his side, coming for me instead?

Thoughts raced—yet these were all that came to mind. Hence, Su Mu didn’t reveal his Silver Order to skip the crowd; a little caution was wise for now.

"I was just here in Qingyun City a few days ago, and the checks weren’t nearly this strict, were they?"

A man leading an ox cart muttered softly, a note of puzzlement in his voice.

"Shh, keep your voice down... I’ve heard that in the past few days, another bloodthirsty murderer appeared, so the city defenses have been tightened."

A bloodthirsty murderer?

Su Mu’s eyes flickered. As he tried to listen on, the speaker stammered and got no further—whether out of caution or ignorance, it was hard to say. Perhaps it was just a rumor picked up in passing.

Once within Qingyun City, he saw far more Cyan Cloud Army patrolling the Cyan Cloud Avenue as he made his way along.

At the Demon Slayer Bureau, Su Mu displayed his Demon-Catching Copper Order at the entrance.

"I request to see the Director."

Upon seeing the Copper Order, the older of the two constables outside the office was unmoved; the younger snuck a look at Su Mu, then said indifferently, "Alright, wait here. I’ll go announce you."

Before long, the young constable betrayed some inner doubt, but his tone grew more polite.

"Come with me. The Director will see you."

Inside a study farther within, Li Zhihe poured Su Mu a cup of tea. Removing his conical hat, Su Mu asked, "Director Li, I see the city under tight alert—has something happened in Qingyun City these days?"

But Li Zhihe did not answer Su Mu’s question directly; instead, his gaze, sharp as an eagle’s, stared straight at Su Mu.

"Mr. Li, have you been to Black Forest Mountain these past days?"

It’s connected to Black Forest Mountain?

Looks like the Black Mountain Army has made a move.

"I’ve been devoted to my cultivation these last days—haven’t been to Black Forest Mountain... but had considered checking it out in a few days."

Su Mu’s expression didn’t shift as he shook his head; with that, he raised the teacup and took a sip.

"It’s good you haven’t gone. There’s no need to visit Black Forest Mountain anymore." At these words, Li Zhihe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Something did indeed happen recently—and it was no small matter... As a result, Zhao Pingyuan has already fled in fear of punishment as of yesterday."