Chapter 10

"Whoosh!"

As Wang Yin charged straight at him, a look of rare panic appeared in the Shaman's eyes, and the bone whistle in his hand emitted a shrill sound.

In the air, invisible sound waves condensed, seemingly transforming into poisonous arrows that could take lives!

However, Wang Yin darted forward like a snake, advancing in a curved path, frequently lowering his head and bowing to avoid the invisible poison, suddenly arriving before the Shaman. He thrust his spear, aiming to pierce this barbarian sorcerer with one strike.

Puff!

A flower of blood bloomed on the Shaman's right hand, and the bone whistle fell. It was Wu Ming who had seized the opportunity, firing an arrow that nearly took the man's life.

"You... will all die!!!"

The Shaman glared at Wang Yin and Wu Ming with venomous eyes, cursing in the stiff and rigid language of the Great Xia, ignoring the wound on his right hand. He took off his magic drum and struck it hard.

Boom!

A more terrifying drum sound echoed, and Wu Ming felt his blood congeal instantly. It seemed as if the cries of wronged souls were ringing in his ears, and his eyes were filled with golden stars, almost causing him to faint.

Wang Yin's condition was even worse.

The spear he was about to thrust drooped limply, blood flowing from his nose and mouth, and two streams of blood trickled from his ears!

This single strike had injured two great warriors at once!

However, this did not seem to be a common technique. Wu Ming saw the Shaman stagger after the drum strike, almost falling to the ground.

He sneered and took out a black scorpion from his waist pouch, flicking it towards Wang Yin's face.

"Ah!"

In a scream of agony, Wang Yin failed to dodge in time and was stung by the scorpion on his face, collapsing to the ground instantly, making no further sound.

"What a potent poison!"

Wu Ming felt as if he were carrying a thousand-pound burden, trapped in a nightmare from which he could not wake. He saw the Shaman's sinister eyes staring at him, the fire behind him gradually dying down, and the figures of the barbarian cavalry reappearing with their shouts.

"Move! Move!"

Wu Ming shouted desperately in his mind. His blood and qi surged to their peak, and suddenly, with a crack, it seemed as if something had shattered. A thread of pure true qi emerged in his dantian, rapidly circulating throughout his body.

"True Qi Realm!"

Feeling his ability to move restored, and even a stronger physical body, Wu Ming immediately knew that his martial arts had advanced.

'It seems the Shaman's technique just now was a ranged attack, and the closer the distance, the greater the damage. Although Wang Yin was in the True Qi Realm, he was too close and bled from all seven orifices. I, being at a distance, only experienced a temporary disruption of my blood and qi, which I could suppress after breaking through to the True Qi Realm...'

Wu Ming's thoughts raced. On the surface, he looked at the Shaman, who was slowly approaching with a sinister smile, his face full of panic as the Shaman pulled out a two-tailed centipede.

"Han people... you will die a most miserable death..."

The Shaman, with great pain, put away his magic drum, holding the centipede and sneering, "I will peel your skin off whole to use as material for my magic drum..."

"Or maybe I'll peel yours!"

Wu Ming suddenly looked up, smiled brightly, and drew his bow, firing an arrow. Without hesitation after the first shot, he fired another.

The two arrows almost followed each other, and the Shaman, unable to imagine that Wu Ming could still move, turned and retreated quickly. A layer of blood-red appeared on his body, deflecting the first arrow, but he could not avoid the second!

Puff!

A flower of blood bloomed on his neck, and the Shaman fell to the ground, his mask falling off to reveal a cold and sinister face: "No... impossible..."

"Zhi zhi!"

At that moment, he was overwhelmed with sorrow, and as his breath weakened, the poison on his hand took control. The two-tailed centipede hissed and bit his thumb, killing him instantly.

[Shaman defeated, 300 minor merits obtained!]

"Unfortunately..."

Wu Ming, hearing the notification from the Main Hall, glanced at the approaching cavalry and the Shaman's corpse, from which countless insects were crawling out, and reluctantly retreated, quickly disappearing into the alley.

Although the Shaman's blood drum and whistle looked like good items, and he might have had some secret witchcraft manuals, the layer of fine black insects made Wu Ming shudder.

After all the effort to kill him, if he were to die while searching the body, it would be a great injustice.

Amidst the chaos, Wu Ming moved easily through the manor, suddenly arriving at the back of a luxurious courtyard. He dug through the soil and lifted a stone slab.

"You came!"

In the light, the woman's eyes shone like stars.

"Yep!"

Wu Ming looked around and suddenly pushed the brick wall with both hands, collapsing it and swiftly entering, covering the stone slab.

Rumble!

A loud noise came from the ground, clearly sealing the entrance.

In the darkness, only the scent of Huang Ying, fragrant and sweet, reached Wu Ming, making him exhale a long breath.

"Did the barbarian leader die?"

Huang Ying asked.

"Of course he did... Now, we just wait here until the time limit is up!"

Wu Ming focused on regulating his breathing, recovering the energy he had expended, and his ears were constantly listening to the sounds outside.

Amidst the slight heat, cries of "The barbarians are gone!" "Fire!" "Rescue and extinguish the fire!" and other sounds continued, but Wu Ming remained calm.

Over the past few nights, he and Huang Ying had not been indulging in debauchery as Qin Hu imagined, but rather surveying the terrain and digging a cellar.

As for the fire, he had set it himself.

The outer area of the Daqing Manor was like a slum, with houses made of grass and wood, which would ignite easily. The area where Wu Ming had chosen to be, however, was the wealthy district of the manor, located in the center, with brick and tile buildings that were less likely to catch fire. The villagers also gathered here to save their lives, naturally working hard to extinguish the fire, thus minimizing the impact.

Huang Ying remained silent, not asking why they needed to hide.

After all, with Qin Hu's betrayal and Wu Ming's arson, even if it was for the good of the Daqing Manor villagers, the news would surely cause a public uproar, and they might be beaten to death.

But not setting the fire was even worse.

If the barbarians won, they would kill even more brutally.

Wu Ming was also very clear that if it were as simple as hiding to avoid trouble, he could have been a coward from the start.

Therefore, the Shaman of the barbarians must have had the ability to search for living beings, and he had to be eliminated, or it would be like catching fish in a barrel.

In the chaos, whether the barbarians or the villagers won, they could not harm him.

The turmoil lasted all night.

The next day, through the ventilation, Wu Ming heard a lot of crying mixed with shouts like "Catch that pair of dogs!" and "Burn the outsiders!" Clearly, Qin Hu and his actions had been exposed, making him the target of the villagers' anger.

"Aren't you angry?"

Huang Ying's voice came, soft and gentle, with a tremor, carrying an indescribable flavor.

"Already expected this, why waste more energy?"

Wu Ming closed his eyes. "Miss Huang Ying, if you still have strength, you might as well rest more. After all, we still have some time to endure."

In the cellar, they had prepared some dry food and water, enough to get through the remaining time without any problem. However, Wu Ming still preferred to conserve his energy in case of any sudden changes.

At this moment, he focused his mind and could feel the threads of true qi forming in his dantian, circulating through his limbs and body.

"Truly a blessing in disguise... I never thought that even after giving the Shaman a high evaluation, his strength would still exceed my imagination..."

Wu Ming thought to himself.

He had almost considered everything this time, but the only thing he had miscalculated was the Shaman's astonishing strength, even including a ranged area attack!

If not for Wang Yin taking the brunt and Wu Ming breaking through at the critical moment, he would have been in mortal danger.

"But... finally reached the True Qi Realm!"

Wu Ming sank his qi into his dantian, feeling the strength several times greater than before, and felt some relief.

In this world, the martial arts path began with the Body Realm, which had nine levels: Calm Mind, Skin and Flesh, Tendons and Bones, Internal Strength, True Qi, Innate, External Gang, Internal Gang, and Ultimate Change.

Calm Mind was the beginning of the path, and the subsequent levels of Skin and Flesh, Tendons and Bones, and Internal Strength were all about refining the body, cultivating blood and qi, tendons and bones, muscles, and internal organs.

The previous rich young man had abundant resources, and his foundation was already complete. He was just lacking in experience and mental fortitude, which is why he was stuck at the Internal Strength level, unable to generate true qi.

Now, with Wu Ming, breaking through in a bloody battle was a natural progression, a matter of course.

In the darkness, time seemed to pass slowly.

Wu Ming found solace in his suffering, studying his martial arts progress:

"After generating true qi, a martial artist's every move has superhuman power. The next step is to continuously cultivate and strengthen the true qi, filling the dantian, acupoints, and meridians, refining the entire body, which is called returning to the innate state from the postnatal state."

"However... must I follow the martial path? A tank warrior has no future. Should I go back and explore the ways of the Taoist and the Qi Cultivator... No! With the Main Hall here, isn't any path I want available? As long as I have enough reward points! No, merits!"

"Master Nameless?!"

Just as Wu Ming was deep in thought, Huang Ying's soft voice came from beside him, gentle and trembling, with an indescribable flavor.

"What's wrong?"

Wu Ming was slightly startled and then felt a fiery, fragrant body fall into his arms, hearing her soft words: "For saving my life... I have no way to repay you, so I can only..."

Having lived two lives, Wu Ming was no longer a man of strict propriety, especially in the face of life and death, which easily aroused a man's desires.

He did not refuse, and his hands began to explore her body...

Just as Huang Ying yielded and they were about to take it further, a grand and majestic voice rang out inappropriately:

[Main mission completed! Return to the cycle!]

Instantly, a dizzying sensation came over Wu Ming. He could only silently give the Main Hall the middle finger in his mind, and then everything went black.

"Where... am I?"

Wu Ming stood in the void, looking at the scene around him, which seemed to be in the beginning of the universe, before the chaos had opened. He thought to himself: "Without Huang Ying, it seems we have returned to our respective personal spaces?"

[Task completed! Starting settlement!]

A voice that shook the soul came, and a light screen appeared before Wu Ming.

Suddenly, he looked up and saw, above the primordial chaos, a magnificent and grand palace, radiating a brilliant light, standing tall and proud, seemingly eternal and transcending the universe!