Chapter 11

"Crunch, crack~"

A series of bone-grinding sounds came from Jiang Pingan's body.

In the water, Jiang Pingan's body was moving strangely, as if there were worms crawling inside him.

His body emitted a temperature higher than normal, causing mist to rise from the water surface.

"Ha!"

Jiang Pingan leaped high out of the water, raised his fist, and smashed it into a large tree on the shore.

A loud thud echoed, and the tree trunk cracked.

Looking at the flying wood chips, Jiang Pingan's still somewhat immature face showed a hint of surprise.

In just one day, he had actually learned the first level of the *Blood Qi Technique*!

Although he had taken three Blood Qi Pills, which enhanced his cultivation.

But was it really that fast?

Could the *Blood Qi Technique* be so easy to learn?

No, according to the information he had gathered in the city, out of five hundred soldiers, only one could master the first level of the *Blood Qi Technique*.

If the *Blood Qi Technique* were easy to learn, there wouldn't be so few squad leaders in the army.

But if it wasn't easy to learn, how did he master it in just one day?

Could it be related to him being a cultivator?

Or perhaps he was a genius in physical cultivation?

Jiang Pingan didn't know his own situation. He had no teacher, no friends, no guide, and no one to tell him why.

However, Jiang Pingan was very happy.

Mastering the first level of the *Blood Qi Technique* meant that he could now face an ordinary squad leader without using spiritual qi.

He hadn't forgotten the terrifying power that had severed his muscles with a single slash from that man outside the Eagle Sigh Mountains.

Jiang Pingan touched his head, feeling that this breakthrough had made him taller, and his slender body had gained some muscle.

"If Father and Mother saw how tall I am now, they would be very happy, right?"

Thinking of this, the smile on Jiang Pingan's face suddenly disappeared, and he clenched his fists tightly.

He slowly exhaled, "Not strong enough, not strong enough to take revenge."

Those soldiers would never let him go, and he would never let those soldiers who forced his parents to their deaths go either.

"Rumble~"

His stomach growled with hunger.

He had just eaten, but he was already hungry again.

It was said that martial artists had a large appetite, probably because they increased their blood qi through food.

Jiang Pingan walked to the horse meat being roasted over charcoal, tore off a piece, and began to eat.

The stars filled the sky, the night was dark blue, and in the deep, dark forest, the young man sat alone by the fire, accompanied only by his flickering shadow.

"Swish~"

A black leopard suddenly emerged from the darkness, lunging at Jiang Pingan's neck.

Jiang Pingan was already prepared, raising the knife beside him to slash at the black leopard.

"Clang~"

The blade collided with the leopard's claws, producing a metallic sound.

The leopard quickly landed on the ground, kicked its hind legs, and continued to lunge at Jiang Pingan's neck at high speed.

Jiang Pingan's heart tightened; the leopard's claws could actually block his knife!

He was a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Cultivation!

Could this be a demonic beast?

His father had once said that in addition to ordinary wild animals, there were also some particularly powerful demonic beasts on the mountain.

These demonic beasts were smarter than ordinary wild animals and had far greater strength and speed.

If he were bitten by this leopard, it would be over!

Jiang Pingan didn't dare to be careless, quickly leaping back and swinging his knife.

Illusory Blade!!

The blade left a trail, slashing at the black leopard.

Although he hadn't fully mastered the first level of the Illusory Blade, it was enough to deal with this intelligent but not overly smart demonic beast.

Sure enough, the leopard raised its paw to block the illusory blade, but failed to block the real blade.

"Pu~"

The blade heavily cut into the leopard's thigh.

With such strength, he couldn't even sever the leg!

"Roar~"

The leopard let out a painful roar.

Landing on the ground, it didn't dare to attack again and turned to run away.

How could Jiang Pingan let it go?

He infused spiritual qi and blood qi into his arm and threw the knife with all his might.

The long knife whistled through the air, piercing the black leopard's belly.

Jiang Pingan pounced, using the method his father had taught him, riding on the leopard's back and tightly choking its neck with his arm.

The leopard struggled violently, and as blood flowed, it stopped moving after about half a cup of tea time.

"Phew~"

Jiang Pingan exhaled a long breath.

"It seems the Eagle Sigh Mountains are not as safe as I imagined; I need to be wary of demonic beasts."

"I wonder what this demonic beast tastes like."

Jiang Pingan dragged the leopard's body to the fire and began to clean it.

He had only eaten ordinary wild animals before and had never tasted these stronger demonic beasts.

While busy, Jiang Pingan infused spiritual qi into his ears, constantly observing the surroundings to prevent another demonic beast from sneaking up on him.

After a few hours, he took his first bite of the meat.

At that moment, his eyes suddenly widened.

The meat had the chewy texture of the beef jerky he had eaten as a child, and saliva flowed involuntarily.

Swallowing it, a warm sensation spread from his stomach throughout his body.

It felt a bit like taking a Blood Qi Pill!

No, it wasn't just like it; it was blood qi!

Jiang Pingan was overjoyed.

He had been considering whether to spend a few days using the Treasure Basin to replicate Blood Qi Pills to cultivate the *Blood Qi Technique*.

This discovery made him abandon that idea.

This demonic beast's body contained blood qi!

Although one bite didn't provide much blood qi, the leopard was large enough.

One leg of this leopard was equivalent to one Blood Qi Pill!

After eating his fill, Jiang Pingan skewered the remaining leopard meat on a stick and roasted it, then returned to the crevice in the rocks to practice his breathing and meditation technique.

Fortunately, after learning the breathing and meditation technique, he didn't need to sleep, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep in the wild.

In the following days, Jiang Pingan practiced the breathing and meditation technique at night, ate meat and trained his body during the day, and cultivated the *Blood Qi Technique*.

To train the Illusory Blade and to obtain demonic beast meat, he often went out.

He didn't need to actively seek out demonic beasts; they would come to him when they smelled his scent.

Fortunately, these demonic beasts weren't too strong; the black leopard he encountered that day was one of the more powerful ones.

With these demonic beasts, his physical cultivation progressed at a steady pace.

"Please, let us go, please let my daughter go, she's just a child, please!"

Jiang Pingan was searching for strange beasts when he heard commotion nearby and quickly jumped onto a tree.

Soon, a group of people passed under the tree.

Several men, armed and looking fierce, were driving a group of women.

These women, of various ages, were crying and looked terrified and panicked.

The armed men had evil smiles on their faces and occasionally took advantage of the women.

"Please, let my daughter go, I'll go with you, she's just a child!"

A woman in rough clothing, holding a seven or eight-year-old girl, kept begging the man beside her.

"Damn it! You've been nagging all the way! Are you annoying or what!"

A man with several scars on his head was very impatient and pulled the nagging woman out.

He said to the other men, "You go ahead, I need to vent my anger."

"Mom! Mom! Let go of my mom!"

The daughter, seeing her mother being dragged away, cried out in a hoarse voice, quickly ran over, and bit the man's hand with her small mouth.

"Ahh!"

The man let out a piercing scream and slapped the little girl to the ground.

"You little bitch! I'll kill you!"

The man's face was twisted with malice as he pinned the girl to the ground.