Chapter 38

(Time is gradually returning to normal, it's the second day of the New Year, are you all happy? Ten Steps still seeks your recommendations and favorites.)

A cold wind rises in the Free and Easy Valley, as the Winter Solstice approaches, the wind carries ice chips.

The owners of the seven thatched cottages by the water, each with a sharp gaze, have all reached the fifth level of perfection or higher in the *Turtle Snake Technique*. As they surround, Su Qignian feels the seven furnaces burning with varying intensity outside his ancestral acupoint, which is the manifestation of their blood and qi.

However, having completed the first level of the *Mind Control Great Technique* and activated the first star position, he is not at all concerned about this amount of blood and qi. His mental energy surges out, enveloping a ten-zhang radius, perceiving every movement of the wind and grass, and even the slightest changes in the muscles of the seven people, all of which are clear to him.

After witnessing the top-tier Immortal Spirit figures in action, where the sun and moon lost their light and the mountains and rivers changed color, these seven people seem like a light drizzle in comparison. During the battle above the Green Sheep Palace, although Su Qignian did not gain any insights, he did not dare to let his mental energy leave his body, fearing it would be overwhelmed by the vast, scorching blood and qi, burning him to ashes.

But such an expansion of his horizons allowed him to capture the essence, permeating his own body with mental energy, constantly adjusting, solidifying his bone-strengthening technique to complete perfection, and beginning to delve into the seventh level of the marrow-washing technique.

When the seven people remained still, it was fine, but as soon as they moved, he captured their blood and qi changes, revealing their cultivation levels without a doubt.

The one with the highest cultivation is the owner of the third thatched cottage by the water, a young man with a horse-like face and short beard. Observing his surging blood and qi, his cultivation is approximately at the sixth level of the *Turtle Snake Technique*, nearing perfection.

Among the seven, except for the owner of the tenth thatched cottage, who is still at the fifth level of perfection, the rest are all on the path of the sixth level technique, though their cultivation depths vary.

"Su Qignian! What are you? Just because you've had a stroke of luck, you think you've turned things around? You're just a petty person reveling in your newfound success!"

"Indeed, why didn't you have any blood and qi earlier? Now that you've gained power, you strut around, thinking you're someone important? Truly the mentality of an ant. Before we were sentenced, we were noble families spanning three hundred miles of Chang'an, with official backgrounds, and we've even seen some top-tier figures in the Mixed Yuan Realm. Do you think you can intimidate us?"

The seven exchanged glances and, in an instant, attacked together. They also noticed something strange. If they let Su Qignian leave the Free and Easy Valley today, they would lose their chance, so they now have fewer reservations and want to capture him first. The seven have long established their authority among the suspended death row inmates in the Free and Easy Valley, and they are not afraid of anyone speaking out.

*Boom!*

At this moment, seven punches sounded simultaneously, like a war drum being struck, deafening the ears.

The air distorted, and seven fiery red horses descended, some even growing long, fiery manes, taking on the majestic appearance of blood-sweating steeds.

Seven fists, seven fiery horses, seven streams of blood and qi merging into a scorching furnace, swallowing Su Qignian.

Putting down the package, Su Qignian focused, taking a deep breath, and a small patch of air in front of him was drawn in, the mist and ice chips forming a white ribbon, which he absorbed into his abdomen.

"A golden pill swallowed, the immortal asks me for eternal life!"

Su Qignian chanted, a line from a Daoist scripture. The seven were puzzled, and in a moment, all seven fists struck him, none missing.

He didn't dodge!

Not only the other suspended death row inmates watching, but even the owners of the seven thatched cottages by the water felt an intense anger. This was a sign of disrespect, as if he thought their punches were just tickling him.

*Thud!*

The seven streams of punch force hit Su Qignian, and he felt a shock as the fiery blood and qi from the punches penetrated his body, with some hidden forces like undercurrents, unpredictable.

The wind started!

Suddenly, without any warning, the seven who had struck Su Qignian were taken aback. This gentle breeze seemed to arise out of nowhere, without any direction, as if it were a perfectly round sphere, rotating according to a set pattern, accompanied by a familiar sensation.

It's sticky again!

Then, the seven simultaneously changed color. The seven streams of punch force met no resistance, penetrating Su Qignian's body, but their fists were stuck by a powerful suction, unable to move.

By the water's edge.

Jing Du Daoist's eyes suddenly sparkled, muttering, "Wind and water sit, spirit penetrates the marrow, what great audacity, how much confidence does he have, truly reckless..."

...

"Can't believe he can really block it, he must be at the end of his strength, struggling at every step!"

The seven gritted their teeth and again stimulated their blood and qi, their tendons pulling like a string of strong bows, their bones cracking, and streams of blood and qi punch force surged again, all pouring into Su Qignian's body.

After several streams of punch force disappeared like stones into the sea, the seven sensed something was wrong, as even the surrounding air seemed to stagnate, exerting an invisible restraining force on them.

"Could it be..."

The owner of the third thatched cottage, the young man, seemed to realize something, his horse-like face instantly changing, shouting, "Wind and water sit, spirit penetrates the marrow! This is the Yin-Yang field of the Tai Chi rotation! Borrowing force to strike back, the flow of wind and water, the sea embracing all rivers!"

"What! Impossible!"

The other six were immediately shocked, as the fourth form of the *Turtle Snake Technique* is the most difficult to comprehend and delve into before the seventh level. This form of boxing incorporates wind and water, numerology, and Yin-Yang, closely resembling the principles of the Tai Chi rotation of Wudang. There has always been a saying that if one can comprehend the fourth form of the *Turtle Snake Technique* to the point of spirit penetrating the marrow, the seventh level of the *Turtle Snake Technique* can be expected to reach perfection.

"Bad! Everyone, stop using force, calm your blood and qi, prepare to borrow force to strike back!" The young man with the horse-like face shouted, trying to control the punch force and blood and qi.

"Can't stop!"

"Blood and qi are out of control! Damn!"

By the time the seven reacted, the punch force and blood and qi flowed continuously, like an open floodgate, unable to be restrained.

"What's happening?"

At this moment, the many suspended death row inmates around also sensed something was wrong. The situation before their eyes had already exceeded their imagination. The owners of the seven thatched cottages by the water, who had attacked, seemed to have not gained any advantage, and now appeared to be in considerable trouble.

*Buzz!*

At this moment, Su Qignian's bones and tendons resonated, not violently, but like the chirping of autumn cicadas, with a divine and rhythmic quality.

"Tendons and bones like autumn cicadas, marrow and blood like fine wine!"

By the shore, where the ice was thickening, Jing Du Daoist couldn't help but take a deep breath, his eyes revealing a hint of disbelief.

"His flesh and blood are becoming transparent, you can see the bones!"

At this moment, some of the suspended death row inmates exclaimed, as Su Qignian's skin and flesh slowly became transparent, his limbs and bones faintly visible, and even the flow of blood and qi, and the organs, became apparent.

The 206 bones seemed like hot irons. The suspended death row inmates saw that from the fists of the seven thatched cottage owners striking Su Qignian, streams of blood and qi punch force, like seven fiery flames, flowed through Su Qignian's skin and flesh, ultimately converging into a large fire, enveloping all the bones.

"Refining the marrow! This is the technique of refining the marrow!"

Someone who understood the situation shouted in shock, and the suspended death row inmates immediately became agitated.

Skin, tendons, bones, and marrow, the four steps of the foundation-building techniques progress layer by layer, starting with the skin, then the tendons, followed by the bones, and finally the marrow, impossible to skip. Now, with Su Qignian's tendons and bones resonating, the sound of cicadas refining the marrow, this clearly indicates that his cultivation of the *Turtle Snake Technique* has reached the final seventh level.

The seventh level of the *Turtle Snake Technique*!

Even if it hasn't reached perfection, it still made countless suspended death row inmates widen their eyes, feeling a sense of unreality. In just one month, Su Qignian, who was escorted from Chang'an to the Wudang Free and Easy Valley, has only been here for a month. In a month, even the only son of Mingyang Marquis, Liu Ziming, with a deep family background, started practicing martial arts at the age of fifteen and took four years to reach the seventh level of the *Turtle Snake Technique*. It took him three years to reach the seventh level from the sixth level of perfection.

In just one month, reaching the seventh level of the *Turtle Snake Technique* and beginning to refine the marrow, in the memory of many suspended death row inmates, there are only some records in history books of people who, by chance, consumed precious medicines, practicing the skin in one day, the tendons in three days