parentshiftbook Chapter 65: Untitled on a Rainy Night
Chapter 65: Untitled on a Rainy Night
Night, light rain.
The drizzling raindrops dampened the blue brick streets at the foot of Lanjiang City.
The sudden chill in the wind carried the chill of yesteryear. The night market was deserted. Vendors hurried home, covering their bamboo baskets with leaves to shield them from the rain.
Passing by the brightly lit mansions, I glanced at them briefly, my eyes filled with undisguised envy.
In this world, enjoyment is reserved for the upper class.
At the martial arts school's premises, Zhang Ping stood under the eaves of the corridor, watching the rain. The rainy night was moonless, and the lanterns hanging at the corner cast a dim light, only revealing his silhouette.
"It's raining, so you can see everything clearly." He uttered a sentence, his gaze falling on a corner in the darkness, a slight smile playing on his lips.
It seems that Nangong Feiyan is quite interested in his secret.
He turned and went into the main room. Fu Huiying had already washed up and was leaning against the headboard, reading by candlelight. When she saw him return, a charming smile appeared on her face.
Zhang Ping walked over, bent down and kissed her forehead, then whispered in her ear, "Madam, I have something to do tonight, I'll keep you company tomorrow."
This sudden action made Fu Huiying roll her eyes, and she picked up the book again: "Go wherever you want."
Zhang Ping smiled, left the room, and walked towards a small courtyard at the end of the martial arts school's premises.
In the darkness, a gaze fixed on him moved with him.
As Zhang Ping swaggered into the secret room in the courtyard, a dark figure drifted into the courtyard like a falling leaf and disappeared into the darkness.
Inside the secret room, Zhang Ping glanced back at the entrance.
"It's just routine surveillance, nothing malicious."
The chamber was small, with walls made of bluestone slabs. A huge unicorn horn lay on the empty floor, along with several boxes containing materials. One of the glass bottles contained blue blood.
Besides dealing with miscellaneous tasks these past few days, he also asked the Lu family to gather all the materials Jing Shui had ordered. It was quite expensive, but fortunately, the materials were easy to buy.
After putting away all the materials, Zhang Ping pushed aside the largest bluestone slab on the wall, revealing a secret passage behind it. He followed the passage and eventually arrived at a low house outside the camp.
"Thank goodness for this secret chamber left by Chongxin. Branding animal patterns in the secret chamber of the camp would have been disastrous if the commotion had been too great."
The Black Dragon bloodline leans towards body refinement, which could very well trigger a breakthrough in cultivation. During such a breakthrough, his blood and qi would inevitably surge violently. With his current ability to conceal himself as a spirit fox, it's insufficient to completely suppress his movements and deceive the Refining Realm scouts just a wall away.
Leaving the city on a rainy night.
Zhang Ping didn't go anywhere else; he ventured deep into the Lanjiang River.
For him, there was no safer place.
Using the power of the water god, a space was created at the bottom of the river, with soft mud and sand beneath one's feet.
He placed the unicorn with the other materials and gently pressed his palm onto it.
"Branding", "Black Dragon Bloodline".
[Unicorn Arowana] [Black Dragon Bloodline (Rare)]
The next moment, the dragon bloodstone and other materials slammed into the unicorn horn, instantly compressing and melting to form a black pill. On the pill's surface, white patterns outlined a lifelike dragon silhouette.
Without a word, Zhang Ping opened his mouth and swallowed the pill. The pill dissolved instantly in his stomach, turning into a scalding hot current that rushed straight to his heart.
Boom!
Boom!Boom!
His heart pounded violently, and a surge of dark blood rushed to his limbs and bones. His skin turned black as a result.
A large amount of blood and qi rose up, turning an eerie black color, unlike the black qi produced by the Ghost Blade, and exuding the aura of a savage beast.
heat!
Zhang Ping had only one thought in his mind. His body felt like it was on fire, his blood and muscles were being tempered in the heat, and his strength was increasing steadily.
This torment lasted for an hour. The surrounding river water was steaming hot, and bubbling bubbles rose to the surface.
As my skin color returned to normal, the burning sensation subsided. A surge of immense power welled up within me!
"Late stage of meat refining!"
Zhang Ping, who was sitting cross-legged on the mud and sand, opened his eyes, his pupils slowly returning to normal from vertical. On his smooth back, a black dragon pattern was faintly visible.
"And, there's been a qualitative leap in physical strength?" He raised an eyebrow, confirming after careful perception.
His cultivation of Qi and Blood has jumped from the early stage of Flesh Refining to the late stage; however, his physical strength has actually entered the Refining of the Dirty Realm!
He jumped directly to a whole new realm.
"Perfect, this solves the weakness of my physical body." Zhang Ping looked satisfied and muttered to himself.
Previously, relying on the power of the Water God and the Ghost Blade, his strength far exceeded his apparent martial arts cultivation, but his physique couldn't keep up, which inevitably hampered his movements in battle.
Just like in the battle against Anqing, after his water god power was restricted, he was no match for him. If his martial arts cultivation had reached the flesh-refining level at that time, the outcome would have been uncertain.
"Divine power!"
Activating his divine power, Zhang Ping's body began to expand. However, this time he did not grow to the size of a three-meter giant, but instead stabilized at just over two meters before stopping.
"My physical strength has increased, allowing me to better adapt to the divine power state! It will be much more convenient to use it in the future!"
He clenched his fist, and the sound of the explosion rang in his ears.
In the past, every time he activated his divine power, he was mistaken for a demon, which frustrated him greatly and made it extremely inconvenient for him to fight in front of others.
It's better now. Although it will still grow to two meters tall, at least it won't be seen as a monster, making things much easier.
"Moreover..." Zhang Ping closed his eyes, gripped the long sword he had brought with him, and black qi began to emanate from his body, a terrifying sword aura condensing in the long sword.
Its power has truly reached the level of bone forging!
Now that he's encountered that Turtle Prime Minister, he's confident he can split open the other's turtle head!
"Next, brand the still waters."
After testing his newly acquired power in turn, he began to imprint it with the still water meditation technique.
Compared to the Black Dragon bloodline, Jing Shui Ding, although from a demon in the Bone Forging Realm, is not its core talent; it mainly serves as a support effect.
[Still Water Stillness: A natural ability of the Still Water Turtle; remaining in water increases certain attributes and improves cultivation speed. It also slightly slows down the loss of life force.]
Combined with Zhang Ping's water god power, it's perfect.
If an ordinary person had this kind of talent, they would probably worry about whether their body could adapt to staying in the water for extended periods during cultivation, but he was like a fish in water.
......
In the latter half of the night, the rain stopped. The dark clouds in the night sky dispersed, revealing a pale, yellowish crescent moon.
Inside the courtyard, a dark figure stood before the entrance to the secret room, looking hesitant.
"That kid's been inside for so long, and there hasn't been a single sound?"
With his cultivation level, although he couldn't hear the voices clearly through the secret room, as long as Zhang Ping was cultivating, he would definitely be able to detect the movement.
However, more than two hours had passed since the other party took the Dragon Blood Stone inside.
His face clouded with even more suspicion: "Could this kid have fallen asleep in there?"
This idea is truly absurd.
The city of Lanjiang was unusually quiet in the latter half of the night. A few occasional barks of dogs could be heard from the streets outside, accompanied by low growls and panting.
That's the rhythm unique to spring.
The courtyard, long uninhabited, was overgrown with weeds, and among the dense blades of grass, several beetles were carrying away debris.
The shadowy figure hesitated, wondering whether he should disguise himself and force his way into the secret room to take a look—
A hand silently landed on his shoulder.