Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 47: Mountain Bandit and Nobility

Zhao Changhe had long since wanted to leave this small pool, but he was constantly unsure of when he should leave. He stayed here because he wanted to cultivate, but he had no way of predicting how his cultivation would develop.

That was, until now.

When he just transmigrated to this world, with no way of acquiring martial arts, Zhao Changhe absolutely had no idea that he would leisurely reach the point of breaking through to the third layer of the Profound Gate in just a few short months. It had only been half a month since he reached the second layer of the Profound Gate and he already had grand plans to reach the third!

Instructor Sun and Fang Buping were both at the fourth layer of the Profound Gate. They were already thirty and had trained for over twenty years. People like them were considered elites of the vast jianghu. Fang Buping could take on the role of branch master, and Instructor Sun’s position as right-hand man was not much lower than Fang Buping’s. Lin Feihu, who was also at the fourth layer, could become a gang leader.

One layer of the Profound Gate was one layer of heaven. Many in this world could squander their entire life away and never see the end of it.

Of course, all this depended on one’s aptitude and access to martial arts. Not everyone needed to train for one to two decades. Yue Hongling was twenty and had already reached the eighth layer. Zhao Changhe did not know what kind of fortunate encounter she had in the jianghu and could not compare himself to her.

People in general were mediocre, but even the mediocre experienced their own highs and lows.

Xia Chichi was also naturally gifted and intelligent. From a young age, her mother had taught her a first-rate internal art. At sixteen, she was already at the fifth layer. After being purified by the Azure Dragon Seal and with the full support of the Four Idols Cult, it was completely possible for her to reach the same level as Yue Hongling by the age of eighteen or nineteen or even surpass her.

However, Zhao Changhe had nothing going for him from the start. A large number of people had seen him, including Venerable Vermillion Bird, who was at the level of a master, and their first judgement of Zhao Changhe’s future was that he had none. He was too old, having only begun his training at the age of nineteen. His foundation was nonexistent, and he needed at least a decade to reach the third layer of the Profound Gate, if he could even reach it at all.

The Vicious Blood Art was the only way he could bypass the problem of his age and utilize the advantage brought about by his superior physique. That was why, no matter how bad the side effects got, Zhao Changhe could not abandon this martial art.

If he wanted to cultivate both internal and external arts at the start, there was no way he could get around the problem of his age for internal arts. In the end, though, he managed to obtain Xia Longyuan’s inheritance and skipped the introductory phase for learning internal arts. Moreover, this internal art was highly compatible with other martial arts.

Zhao Changhe was still not guaranteed to overcome the disadvantages brought about by his age, even with this art, but at least he did not need to work on it as his main cultivation art and have to slowly and painfully knock on the Profound Gate. He could use it to support the Vicious Blood Art, together with additional items, during breakthroughs. And this method could be considered a shortcut among shortcuts.

With such an advantage, why could he not attempt to break through to the third layer of the Profound Gate? Maybe my cultivation speed will decrease in the future, but I don’t care.

*

The bandits in the stronghold found out that the stronghold mistress had left. For the past few days, the stronghold master had a gloomy face and the entire stronghold was filled with a tense atmosphere. Even those who tended to speak loudly did not dare to do so.

Oh well, we all knew how disobedient Boss Zhao’s wife was. There was no way he could control her.

In the future, you shouldn’t find a wife that pretty. She looked like Yue Hongling, but what was the point? It’s not the real Yue Hongling. After the boss experienced this painful event, no one will dare to want Yue Hongling even if she stands in front of us. All of us know that our future at the stronghold will be tragic. When the time comes, will we be able to run?

Their boss hadn’t spoken much these past few days. His sadness appeared to have transformed into pure, unadulterated appetite, and boy...was he able to eat. Every meal, he ate three jin of meat and three big bowls of rice. His underlings could not understand how his stomach was able to support that much food. The stronghold was wealthy now, but if he had eaten like this back when they had little, he would have run the stronghold stores dry all by himself.

After he ate, he practiced barehanded techniques, then saber and archery, and finished everything up with some horse stance while holding boulders wearing hundreds of jin. Then, he went back to his hut to soak in a medicinal bath. Everyone could hear him trying to suppress his pained wailing all through the night. It seemed that his bath was even more concentrated—he’d been doing the same thing before as well, but in the last few days, he had clearly upped the intensity.

After all, his wife ran away. He now has one less source to release his vital essence. He won’t be sucked dry and overexert himself anymore.

Nobody had any idea that Zhao Changhe was frantically trying to take in nutrients to develop the flesh, qi, and blood needed to bring the Vicious Blood Art to the third layer. But Zhao Changhe himself dared to have such ideas, and he had only been cultivating for a few months!

Zhao Changhe felt that he had not done enough. Even though he knew that breaking through the bottleneck to the third layer would be difficult, he had indeed underestimated how big the gap between the second and third layers was in terms of how strong his qi and blood needed to be. He had already obtained half the amount of strength needed through eating and medicinal baths. But this method required him to persist for a long period to see any notable effects. It was simply not feasible for him to reach the required amount of strength in so short a time.

All this was really just bodybuilding, and there were no overnight results when it came to bodybuilding.

However, there was also a clear difference between this and bodybuilding: with good medicines, one could immediately make up for the discrepancy in qi and blood. It was much more effective than gulping down egg whites.

“Tiezhu, any news about the medicines I asked you to get from the city?”

“Boss, the Qi and Blood Powder you asked me to get isn’t sold in the city...”

“It’s normal for them not to have it. It’s auxiliary medicine recorded in the fucking manual for the Vicious Blood Art. How could other people sell it? Are you a dumb pig?” Zhao Changhe was displeased. “What about the medicinal ingredients I asked you to get? We can make our own medicines. We’re just brewing a medicinal stew with powders and not making pills. How difficult can it be?”

“They had the medicinal ingredients but I couldn’t get much.” Tiezhu took out a bag. “This is all I got...”

Seeing that there were some medicines, Zhao Changhe’s expression lightened up, but it was still a bit strange. “Why is there so little?”

“Eh, Branch Master Fang frequently buys these same medicines. They use it in large quantities.”

Zhao Changhe was stumped and scratched his head.

This might not be Fang Buping targeting me. If he really was targeting me, then I wouldn’t even be able to get a single bag. It’s because the people at the branch cultivate similar martial arts, so everyone needs the same type of medicines. It’s natural they have to consume a lot of it. It’s normal for this backcountry city to have so few resources.

Stocking up on these medicines was something Zhao Changhe did not account for. But he had never thought he would be able to attempt to break through to the third layer of the Profound Gate so soon, and neither did Fang Buping. Otherwise, the latter would have long since bought everything.

“This is enough. It’ll last a few days. I’ll use it first. You guys go to some cities further away to look for more medicines. It won’t matter if you guys come back a few days late.” Zhao Changhe sighed. “She told me once that one could not rush when it came to martial arts, and I’ve been really anxious these past few days.”

The bandits had strange expressions as they snuck looks at the stronghold master. Having one’s wife run away from them was truly pitiable. It had already been a few days and Zhao Changhe still only talked about his training.

Zhao Changhe knew what everyone was thinking but could not be bothered to argue with them. There was no way he could tell them that the stronghold mistress was actually Yue Hongling. She finished what she set out to do and just up and left? No one’s gonna believe that.

He took the medicines and quietly returned to his hut, letting the rest of them speak whatever they wanted.

He felt that he grew considerably with each farewell.

It was the new year. He could be considered one year older—he was now twenty.

It had only been a few months in this world, but he kept feeling that he had grown up quicker during these few months than in all the years of his life prior. Is this what they mean by the saying “the jianghu makes one grow older?”

Zhao Changhe looked at the steam rising from the medicine pot and could not help but laugh.

*

“Your cultivation these few days can be considered quite focused. You’re not jumping around like a rabbit like how you used to.” Cui Yuanyong heaved a heavy sigh as he looked at his little sister. “If you could settle your mind and focus like this before, how could you still be at the trifling second layer of the Profound Gate? Among everyone from our family, you have the greatest natural aptitude. It’s a pity you waste your talents like this.”

“Alright, alright. People have told me that ever since I started training as a young girl. I’m sick of it. It’s enough for you guys to train well, why do I have to train? It’s tough, it’s tiring, and I have no interest in it.”

“If you were like ladies from other houses, content with poetry and needlework, and married into a good family in the future, there would be no problem. But you want to capture wanted criminals and think being a bounty hunter is very interesting. Yet, you also don’t put in the work. Are you trying to court death?”

“Who in this world dares to touch the people of the Cui Clan?”

“Troubled times are upon us. When they arrive, there’s no guarantee the name of the Cui Clan will be of use everywhere. And it goes without saying that the Four Idols Cult is eager to slaughter our Cui Clan’s people and use us in their sacrificial rituals. Do you think that Father and our brothers can protect you your whole life?” Cui Yuanyong sighed once more. “You’re already nineteen. It’s time for you to grow up.”

“My birthday is at the end of the year! It’s still early!”

“Alright, alright.” Cui Yuanyong had no way of convincing his little sister, so he just shook his head. He handed her a single medicinal pill. “Your progress these past few days is acceptable. If you keep this up, you’ll be ready to break through in ten days. We won’t need the two months I said earlier. This is a Mystery Clearing Pill. It’ll allow you to smoothly break through your bottleneck when the time comes.”

“How stingy. Only one pill?”

“Okay, okay, okay. I’ll give you three pills.” Cui Yuanyong sighed again. “If you really think you don’t have enough... Zhao Changhe has been sending people to the city to buy medicines. He’s pitifully scrounging up low-grade medicinal ingredients. You’re able to use high-grade medicinal pills and you still complain that it’s not enough?”

“What’s he buying medicine for? Is he sick?”

“If I’m not wrong, he’s probably planning to break through to the third heavenly layer as well.” Cui Yuanyong looked at his little sister with a telling expression. “He’s only been cultivating for three months and he has reached where he is only by relying on the resources in his mountain stronghold. He’s so poor that he literally needs to take food from others to feed himself.”

The young lady’s eyes went wide. “That’s impossible! I’ll definitely beat him to it!”