Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

Chapter 172: Chapter 96 Blood Dominance Technique Mastery, Talisman and the List

The following day.

The firmament was dotted with stars, the eastern horizon showing a hint of dawn's first light.

Lying on the flatbed cart, Shen Qing slowly opened his eyes. He sat up, looked around, and, through his initially blurry vision, clarity gradually emerged.

In the distance, the morning fields were delicately shrouded in a thin mist. The rice paddies swayed with the breeze, exuding vitality, while the continuous croaking of frogs and the chirping of cicadas ebbed and flowed.

Shen Qing took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent of earth and vegetation in the air, which relaxed him.

After affirming his belief, the events of the previous night no longer distracted him; his thoughts became lucid.

Knowing is not difficult; doing is what is difficult.

The superior person is deliberate in speech but vigorous in action.

In Shen Qing's view, now that he had made a decision and had an ambition, the only thing left to do was to put it into action.

He quietly alighted from the flatbed cart, careful not to disturb Shen Er and others beside him, and walked over to speak to Tian Xiaohu, who was on guard duty, "I've had enough rest, you go take a break. We will set off after dawn."

The incident from last evening had left Tian Xiaohu and the others worried, and they volunteered to keep watch, ready to respond promptly to any emergency.

After all, Tian Xiaohu was used to practicing martial arts. Even after a sleepless night, he was brimming with energy, not too much affected.

Yet he also knew that along this journey, with mountains high and rivers far, conserving strength was crucial, and he shouldn't flaunt temporary prowess.

Tian Xiaohu nodded and said, "I'll just lie down for a while; call me when you are ready to leave."

He found a corner, laid some straw down, and quickly fell into sleep with his clothes on, soon snoring away.

Shen Qing's aunt and uncle among others had not yet woken up, and Shen Qing had no intention of waking them. He silently walked aside and began to cultivate the Blood Dominance Technique.

Without any medicated diet or elixirs, and no various means of exercise, practicing the Blood Dominance Technique was fitting.

He stood with legs apart, as sturdy as an old pine tree, inhaling and exhaling the morning's rosy clouds.

He cultivated until the east brightened and the sunrise blazed like fire before he finally ceased.

Shen Qing's consciousness stirred, summoning the Water Ink Panel.

[Skill: Blood Dominance Technique (Small Success)]

[Progress: 801/800 points]

[Status: Ready for advancement]

[Note: You have comprehended a new martial art from the Nine Skills, and through continuous practice, aided by demon cores and medicinal recipes, the progress of this technique has been significant. Your strength is gradually increasing, your physique growing stronger and constantly breaking the limitations of your body.]

"Huff... finally, I've reached the full level of practice."

The Blood Dominance Technique, as a Limit Breaking Technique within the Nine Skills Realm, had no one to instruct him and lacked other martial art skills to refer to, relying solely on exploration.

That's why the progress in cultivating this martial art was always slow, much slower than other martial art skills.

Moreover, as a martial art that breaks limits, it required a higher accumulation of progress points. Shen Qing could only incrementally grind it out, slowly advancing.

Fortunately, after prior continuous cultivation, this martial art finally met the conditions for breakthrough.

Shen Qing cast aside all distractions, unified his mind and spirit, and then, with a thought, chose to break through.

At once, the progress information about the Blood Dominance Technique on the Water Ink Panel began to refresh.

[Skill: Blood Dominance Technique (Mastery)]

[Progress: 1/900 points]

As the Panel updated, surges of new Qi-Blood suddenly permeated from the flesh throughout his body.

It was as if a plethora of water was being squeezed out of a sponge, merging together to form streams, flowing into his Qi-Blood.

This not only increased the already vast amount of Qi-Blood Shen Qing possessed, but his muscles also gained resilience, receiving further enhancement.

"With the Mastery level of the Blood Dominance Technique, my physique has become even more robust. Before stepping into the Qi Hai Realm, if the Blood Dominance Technique continues to advance, I fear my Qi-Blood capacity will reach a terrifying level."

"By then, with such a body, breaking through to the Qi Hai will surely be beyond imagination."

Feeling stronger, Shen Qing was very satisfied. He returned to the center of the village, invigorated.

Daylight had come, and the people resting in the village square had woken up one after another.

Upon waking, none of them idled about.

Shen Xiaoshan took a sickle and cut many green plants, carefully mixing them with some dry grass and grains to feed the two horses and the donkey.

The cook, Xiao Zhi, set up the pot, cooking breakfast.

Everyone had their tasks, adding a lively touch to the setting.

After breakfast, Shen Qing led the others in searching each household, taking all the grain, meat, eggs, and salt they could carry.

These supplies had become unclaimed property, and Shen Qing and his group did not feel embarrassed when taking them.

Xiao Zhi even used the firewood from these homes to fry an entire bag of rice for dry provisions.

Once all the chores were handled, Shen Qing skinned the three dog demons, retrieved their demon cores, and then lit the entire village on fire.

The thatched huts and wooden houses were quickly engulfed in flames.

The many villager corpses inside were gradually swallowed by the fire.

"Let's go."

Shen Qing said no more, and the others asked no questions.

Amidst the vehement flames, Shen Qing led the group towards the direction of the rising sun.

...

With the speed of Zhuifeng, the thousand-mile journey from Taiping County to Yongzhou could be covered in about two days.

But Shen Qing, bringing his family along and bearing in mind the lessons learned, no longer approached villages to accept the goodwill of villagers, opting to rest in the mountains and forests, which slowed their journey considerably.

In the blink of an eye, after seven days of travel, they finally reached the borders of Yongzhou in safety.

As the signs of human activity gradually increased, Shen Qing and his companions let out a sigh of relief.

They continued to walk forward and, by the afternoon, they arrived at a dilapidated temple.

The temple had only a few decayed planks hanging askew from the doorframe, and the threshold was covered with moss and weeds, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.

Fortunately, the temple's overall structure remained intact enough to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

Shen Qing went in for a look and noticed several piles of extinguished bonfires and a few pieces of charred food residue.

The ashes of these fires varied in age.

It was clear that people often used this temple as a temporary refuge.

Having been on the run and resting outdoors, they all smelled foul, although the men did not care much about it; but Auntie and older sister Shen Fang were becoming intolerable.

Even when they lived in Hongshan Village, they never reached such a squalid state.

After Shen Qing confirmed there was no danger using his Eagle Eye ability, he decided to stop here for rest.

This decision immediately brightened the spirits of Auntie and Shen Fang. Women always have those few inconvenient days, and traveling during such times is simply torture.

There was a well in the temple, perfect for drawing water to freshen up.

It was still early in the day.

Shen Qing, who stood guard outside the temple for his older sister and others, took out a thin booklet and started to flip through it.

It was something he had taken from the body of a Huang Tian Sect General.

He had only glanced at it briefly before, but now he had some free time and decided to inspect it carefully to see if there was any valuable information.

The booklet appeared to be a roster, with no text on the outside cover.

Shen Qing turned to the first page.

"Yun Yinfeng, male, aged thirty-two, from Yanyu Town; orphaned at a young age, adopted by a martial master who taught him Martial Arts. In the third year of Tian Guang, joined our Holy Sect and served as a messenger. Skilled at hiding amongst the common folk, often using the identities of merchants, scholars, and beggars for cover..."

This entire page was densely filled with the life story of Yun Yinfeng.

Shen Qing had no recollection of this person, so he turned to the next page.

"Qiao Lan, female, nineteen years old, from Taifeng County; born into a Martial Arts family, but the family was implicated in a sudden coup and subsequently joined the Holy Sect. Beautiful, highly skilled in Martial Arts, dependable."

"Zhang Biao, male, twenty years old..."

Shen Qing read through the entire booklet, which contained significant figures within the Huang Tian Sect with either detailed or rough descriptions of their abilities.

There was also an open letter tucked inside the booklet.

Shen Qing took out the paper and unfolded it, feeling somewhat surprised.

It was a letter sent from the Yongzhou Government Office, noting the departure date, route, and personnel configuration of the Yongzhou Guard Martial Arts Bureau.

There were people from the Huang Tian Sect inside the Yongzhou Government Office who were secretly revealing the movements of the government office's military department to the sect.

No wonder the Huang Tian Sect could successfully set up an ambush and completely wipe out the Yongzhou Guard Martial Arts Bureau en route; it seems this was due to having an informant within.

The waters of Yongzhou's government office are probably very deep.

Shen Qing's expression immediately turned serious, and he discreetly put away the booklet and papers.

These materials could prove very useful to him in the future.

After putting away the roster, he pulled out a stack of yellow talismans and a triangular Array Flag.

This too was pilfered from the body of the Huang Tian Sect General.

Shen Qing remembered clearly how exceptional these talismans had been in the General's hands, being able to add numerous effects and comparable to the versatile Nine Revolutions Mysterious Skill.

Additionally, these talismans seemed incredibly convenient to use.

It seemed they did not require arduous cultivation; they only needed to be activated.

Shen Qing looked down and inspected them closely.

The talismans were about ten inches long and three fingers wide, edged with red lines.

The surface of the talismans had black ink of varied shades, outlining complex and intricate patterns.

Within those were images of dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing, as well as clouds rolling and unfurling, diverse in representation but overall categorizable into three styles.

These seven or eight yellowing talismans likely represented three types of talismans.

However, Shen Qing was not versed in the art of talismans and did not understand their specific meanings.

Shen Qing pinched one of the talismans in his hand and tried to shake it as he had seen done.

After several attempts, the talismans showed no sign of activation, so he temporarily gave up and turned his attention to the triangular Array Flag.

Given Shen Qing's limited knowledge in this area, he was even less able to discern its mysteries.

Just then, Shen Qing heard the sound of carriage wheels from a distance outside the temple, and he quickly stored the talismans and Array Flag, looking into the distance.

He saw a group of people carrying a large flag embroidered with a "Wu" character, slowly approaching the broken temple, numbering around ten.

Shen Qing shouted back to the people inside, "Auntie, sister, hurry up, there are people coming to the temple."

"Ah..."

A flurry of panicked noise came from inside the dilapidated temple.

Shen Qing did not wait for them and signaled to Tian Xiaohu and Xiao Zhi.

The two men smoothly pulled out their crossbows, sat atop their carriage, and vigilantly watched the approaching group.

The foremost man of the escort agency rode a tall horse and seemed somewhat surprised to see Shen Qing and the others by the temple gate.

"Whoa!"

He stopped his horse, considered momentarily before sliding off its back, instructed the others to halt, and then made his way step by step toward the entrance of the dilapidated temple.