The martial hall disciples watched in horror as their Fifth Master was run through before their eyes. Their swords slipped from trembling hands, clattering across the blood-soaked ground.
Whether it was the villagers of Swallow-Edge Village or the soldiers from the garrison, all turned to look at the young man on horseback. Their gazes were a mix of awe, shock, and a faint trace of fear.
"Don't worry, young man."
Only Xu Wencai stepped forward, stroking his beard as he spoke calmly. "Let's head straight back. Thousand-Household Xiang won't punish you. At worst, he'll just put you down as 'serving under a crime to atone by merit.'"
"You do see things clearly."
That was exactly what Chen Sanshi had been thinking.
Not to mention, with the military's supply situation already so strained, no commander would dare cripple his own morale just for the sake of an outsider.
What he was really concerned about was that the chaos hadn't grown large enough—he hadn't managed to drag that old Song bastard into the grave yet.
Still, he was confident that before spring came, he'd reach the tempering bones stage. Whatever the outcome of today's events, he'd be ready for what came next.
He was just about to tell the others to return to camp when the sound of galloping hooves echoed from afar.
"Hyah—!"
"Song Wu! I'll have your damn head!"
A heavyset figure thundered into view, his enormous frame mounted on a brown warhorse. In his hand gleamed a long, curved saber—the unfamiliar dao—its edge flashing coldly under the sunlight.
Behind him followed more than a hundred soldiers, their formation rumbling like an oncoming storm.
"Shitou?"
Hundred-Household Officer Wang Zhi yanked his reins hard and stopped when he saw them. "You're alive? Where's Song Wu?"
"Dead."
Chen Sanshi answered flatly. "Please take me to see Thousand-Household Xiang so I can report the situation."
"You killed him?"
Wang Zhi stared, disbelieving. Only when his eyes fell upon the corpse lying nearby, chest torn open with a massive hole, did he burst out laughing. "Good! Damn good! And here I was worried for nothing!"
He had been dispatched earlier to secretly deliver armor and weapons into the martial hall's storage, framing them for rebellion.
After finishing the task, he stayed near the county seat waiting for orders.
When news broke from the Eight Treasures Restaurant, he rushed straight here, afraid Chen Sanshi might have fallen to Song Wu.
'This kid… crossing realms to kill? He's a real monster.'
'But that's a good thing!'
Hundred-Household Wang said nothing more. He raised his unfamiliar dao high, his voice booming like thunder across the village.
"Tailei Martial Hall has committed treason! All disciples are to be executed—leave not a single one alive!"
For a brief moment, the soldiers hesitated.
Then, following the command, they surged forward, cutting down the martial hall disciples in a storm of steel and screams.
The villagers of Swallow-Edge Village were stunned at first.
Then, as they realized that the ones dying were the same martial artists who had long bullied and extorted them, disbelief slowly turned to elation.
"Ha! I told you they deserved it!"
Zhu Tong swung his massive hammer, bellowing as he brought it down again and again without hesitation.
"Rebellion? Extermination?"
Chen Sanshi hadn't expected this sudden twist. When he asked what was going on, the answer made everything clear.
Thousand-Household Xiang Tingchun—what a ruthless bastard.
All for the sake of ambition, the man had lost his mind. He was actually using this massacre to force the other martial halls into submission.
Not even fearing mutual destruction.
Of course, this turn of events saved Chen Sanshi a great deal of trouble.
He stood silently, spear in hand, watching as Swallow-Edge Village was drowned in blood.
He understood perfectly well that after today, no one in all of Poyang County would ever dare to oppose Xiang Tingchun again.
This—this was what it meant to truly rule by power.
When your strength was real, when you commanded men and soldiers—
You didn't need to beg or explain.
You could flip the entire table anytime you wanted.
In one night, the Tailei Martial Hall—an institution with nearly one hundred years of heritage—collapsed into ruin.
From the Song family elders to their disciples, everyone was executed without exception. Every estate, business, and coin they owned was confiscated by the authorities.
Yet Poyang County remained eerily calm.
There was no unrest, no rebellion—only harmony and submission.
Especially within the garrison.
For several days straight, from dawn onward, martial hall disciples lined up in droves to "donate" supplies to the army.
Cart after cart rolled in, stacked high with food, weapons, and armor. The flow was endless—so much that even the officers began to look embarrassed at their own abundance.
Chen Sanshi could only shake his head.
The martial halls had renewed their alliance with Xiang Tingchun, and because of that, the matter of the medicine valley couldn't be exposed now.
Times had changed.
If he brought it up at this moment, Xiang Tingchun would almost certainly cover for them. After all, the army still needed the martial halls; he couldn't slaughter them all.
Still, Chen Sanshi's goal had been met—the Tailei Hall was gone.
As for the medicine valley, he could investigate it himself when the time came.
For now, he shut himself away and threw himself into cultivation, striving to reach the tempering bones realm as soon as possible.
Compared to Basic Spearsmanship for Infantry, the Undying Golden Serpent Spear was twice as demanding.
The number of foundational stances had doubled, and there were forty-nine intricate spear forms in total. Many required extremely complex and precise movements, making practice grueling and exhausting.
The tempering bones stage was divided into four distinct levels: tempering sinews, strengthening bones, tempering skin, and refining marrow.
Tempering sinews—just as the name implied—used qi and blood to nourish and strengthen the tendons throughout the body.
This process also began hardening the bones.
That was why the tempering blood stage was considered the foundation of all martial cultivation.
Only by forging qi and blood of the highest quality could one nourish a truly powerful physique. Otherwise, every future step would fall short, widening the gap until it became an uncrossable chasm.
The Dragon Elephant Blood was, naturally, an exceptional foundation.
Practicing his spear technique alongside the complex stances, Chen Sanshi used the Haoran Breathing Method to channel his energy. The Dragon Elephant Blood circulated in steady rhythm, continuously nourishing and strengthening his sinews.
After just a few days, he could already feel the tendons in his limbs toughening.
Movements that had once been difficult now came more naturally. Complex spear techniques began to flow more smoothly, turning into deadly and precise forms.
Whenever exhaustion set in, he'd bite into a piece of crimson ginseng—Blood Ginseng.
It was the same one Xiang Tingchun had given him earlier.
This herb greatly reduced the pain of training, purified his qi and blood, and improved his cultivation speed immensely.
[Skill: Undying Golden Serpent Spear (Upper Scroll) (Uninitiated)]
[Progress: 15/100]
[Effect: Dragon Elephant Blood]
Like the tempering blood stage, the tempering bones stage was divided into four phases—beginner, minor achievement, major achievement, and perfection—each harder than the last.
While the beginner stage was relatively easier, reaching major achievement was a true bottleneck that tested every ounce of willpower and talent.
And of course, entering the tempering bones stage itself was much harder than tempering blood.
Moreover, his technique was incomplete.
The Undying Golden Serpent Spear came in two volumes—upper and lower—and could theoretically be cultivated all the way to the tempering organs realm.
But the lower volume wasn't available in Poyang County.
Once an officer reached major achievement in tempering bones, they had to formally report upward for approval. Only then would an authorized instructor teach them the tempering organs method. Any unauthorized transmission was considered treason and punished by death.
This was how the Great Sheng court maintained control.
No local martial force was ever allowed to surpass the power of the army's commanding officers.
When his strength ran dry, Chen Sanshi finally stopped to rest.
He pocketed some silver and made his way to the blacksmith's forge.
From his previous battle with Song Wu, he had realized something important—his current Two-Stone Bow could no longer kill a tempering bones fighter in one strike.
And that was only against someone in the tempering sinews stage. Against stronger cultivators, his arrows would barely scratch them.
Getting a heavier bow was now absolutely necessary.
"Finished it two days ago," blacksmith Niu Gai said, grinning as he wiped his sooty hands. "I was just thinking you'd forgotten about it."
He turned to retrieve something massive from a wooden rack. "Here—fifteen-stone draw weight. Can punch through solid rock."
Chen Sanshi took the bow and examined it closely.
Its bow body was made from fifty-year-old mutated purple-gold bamboo. The limbs were crafted from premium mulberry wood, and the belly of the bow was reinforced with the skull bone of a fierce tiger.
The string was spun from the tendons of a rare beast, worth over a hundred taels of silver.
Held upright, the bow was taller than half a man, radiating a faint, murderous pressure.
"I've also made you some matching arrows."
Niu Gai handed him a quiver filled with freshly crafted shafts—
Long, sharp tri-edged armor-piercing arrows, flat-bladed qi-pi arrows shaped like tiny shovels, whistling metal arrows forged to scream through the air, and even incendiary iron arrows with hollow cores.
"Fire arrows?"
Chen Sanshi was intrigued and drew one out for inspection.
The incendiary arrow looked like a regular shaft except for the iron cage at its tip.
The cage could be stuffed with oil-soaked cloth and ignited before firing, perfect for burning enemy camps or supply depots. Its direct lethality was low, but its tactical use was immense.
Carrying the tiger-bone bow outside, Chen Sanshi nocked a tri-edged arrow and aimed at a boulder a hundred paces away.
He drew back the bowstring—its two-thousand-catty tension groaning in protest.
When he released, the string snapped forward with a thunderous twang.
The arrow shot out like a streak of silver lightning, slamming into the boulder with a deafening crack.
The shaft buried itself deep in the stone. Cracks spread outward from the point of impact until, moments later, the half-man-high rock split apart completely, shattered into fragments across the ground.
[Skill: Archery (Minor Achievement)]
[Progress: 150/1000]