Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Blood Burning

Dawn broke.

Immortal Forest Town was eerily quiet.

Every household had their windows and doors tightly shut, and the shops along the street remained closed.

Only a few yamen officers and soldiers in armor were resting on the street.

Inside a house.

Over a dozen Inner Sect Disciples of the Divine Sword Sect were gathered.

Almost everyone was injured, clearly having gone through a fierce battle.

“Sigh, we miscalculated this time. We didn’t expect that old geezer to become Half-Step Innate and even practice a secret technique to stimulate his potential, allowing him to escape.”

Pang Bai’s shaved head still had traces of blood that he hadn’t had time to clean.

Although the Fire Ritual Temple’s followers had been eliminated.

Their main target, the temple master, Daoist Yehuo, had escaped.

Their mission was essentially a failure.

At this moment, a person rushed in, “Senior Martial Brothers, the Mysterious Monitoring Division found a corpse near Five Ponds Village, suspected to be Daoist Yehuo.”

“What?”

The three of them looked surprised.

Immediately, they led the other Inner Sect Disciples out of Immortal Forest Town, riding their horses straight towards Five Ponds Village.

By the time they arrived at Five Ponds Village, the Mysterious Monitoring Division had already cordoned off the scene.

“Good heavens, was Daoist Yehuo cleaved in two by a single blade?”

Pang Bai’s face was full of astonishment as he looked at the scene.

He turned to a Commander Liu from the Mysterious Monitoring Division, “Commander Liu, have you found any clues?”

“Hero Pang, we’ve questioned the villagers of Five Ponds Village. They said that last night, there were carriages stationed outside the village, and then they left. They didn’t dare to come out and look, so they don’t know who it was. We’ve examined the scene, and there are indeed traces of two carriages having stopped here. There must have been at least nine people, both adults and children.”

Commander Liu of the Mysterious Monitoring Division quickly explained.

“I suspect that Daoist Yehuo fled all the way here, and due to using the secret technique, his condition wasn’t good. He wanted to take blood from the people camping here to recover, but he ran into a tough opponent.”

Chu Yuan, the young man in white standing beside them, suddenly spoke, “Do you think it could be that Li Qian?”

“Li Qian?”

Pang Bai and Yuan Mingzhu were taken aback when they heard this.

“It’s possible. When I saw Li Qian, there were indeed two carriages. And the direction they left in was also this way.”

Yuan Mingzhu said after thinking for a moment.

“Judging from their strengths, Daoist Yehuo was injured by us and had used a secret technique, weakening him considerably. Even if Li Qian’s strength is lacking, the possibility of him killing Daoist Yehuo is still very high.”

Chu Yuan continued.

Half-Step Innate cultivators like Daoist Yehuo reach the Postnatal Ninth Level and then rely on Innate Pills to luckily break through. Since they haven’t grasped Secret Techniques or Martial Intent, they aren’t considered true Innate Martial Artists.

Within the Divine Sword Sect, they are only considered Half-Step Innate.

“Hmm, that possibility is indeed very high. Well, since Daoist Yehuo is dead, our mission can be considered successfully completed.”

Pang Bai nodded, his mood brightening.

Although there had been a slight mishap, they had ultimately completed their mission.

A few days later.

The caravan slowly arrived outside Sword’s Edge City.

“Madam Lin, my task is complete, having escorted you here.”

Li Qian rode his horse to the carriage and said.

“Young Hero Li, you’ve worked hard on this journey.”

Lin Yun stepped out of the carriage.

Even sitting in the carriage had been tiring for her throughout the journey, let alone for Li Qian who had to escort them, constantly vigilant of their surroundings.

“Farewell.”

Li Qian cupped his hands, then pulled on the reins. His horse turned and galloped towards the Divine Sword Sect.

Time Bell Pavilion.

This time, he had been away for quite a while, over twenty days.

The bell tower was covered in dust.

He had even seen a pheasant fly away when he first arrived.

Li Qian didn’t rush to clean up. Instead, he first calculated the approximate time and began adjusting the long-idle hourglass.

Only after finishing this did he start cleaning the dust in the room.

When the Hai Hour arrived, Li Qian went up to the bell platform.

Touching the striker, now polished to a smooth patina, Li Qian’s heart suddenly became incredibly calm.

He hadn’t felt any unfamiliarity despite not striking the bell for over twenty days.

The connection between him and the Time Bell remained, regardless of the distance.

Standing beside the Time Bell at this moment, he felt a special sense of closeness, as if he and the bell were connected by flesh and blood.

When the time arrived, he took a deep breath, pushed the striker, and struck the Time Bell forcefully.

As the clear and resonant bell sound rang out.

The sound of the Time Bell, absent for over twenty days, once again echoed through the peaks and valleys of the Divine Sword Sect.

Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong.

Six consecutive rings, the bell sound lingering in the air.

Li Qian felt as if the Internal Qi and spirit that had been sealed within him for over twenty days had suddenly awakened, becoming incredibly lively and invigorated.

Thus, he began practicing the Immaculate Sword Body beside the Time Bell.

◈◈◈

During the twenty-plus days he was on the escort mission, he still practiced the Immaculate Sword Body once a day.

With the influence of the bell sound, it still had some effect.

But compared to cultivating beside the Time Bell after striking it, the difference was immense.

In any case, after over twenty days of cultivation, his Immaculate Sword Body had only progressed slightly.

After completing a round of Immaculate Sword Body practice, Li Qian felt a sense of invigoration despite the intangible soreness in his meridians.

Not long after, Chen Yong’s voice rang out from below.

“Brother Qian.”

Chen Yong was overjoyed.

As soon as he heard the bell sound, he knew Li Qian was back.

“You sure got here quickly?”

Li Qian saw Chen Yong running, panting, and asked with a smile.

“Brother Qian, I heard that the Inner Sect suffered quite a few casualties among the Inner Sect Disciples during some kind of suppression mission.”

Chen Yong quickly said.

Although he was an Odd-Job Disciple, after reaching the bottom of the Combat Power Rankings, his network within the Odd-Job Hall gradually expanded, allowing him to obtain some information about the Inner Sect.

Li Qian must have been on an Inner Sect mission during his time away from Time Bell Pavilion.

So he was a bit worried about Li Qian.

“I’m fine.”

Li Qian jumped down from the bell platform, “I see your Yang Qi is abundant, and your temples are bulging. You must have cultivated to the Du Meridian, right?”

The Du Meridian runs along the back of the body, and the back is considered Yang. When Internal Strength circulates, it drives the Yang Qi within the body, manifesting in various signs on the body’s surface.

Bulging temples are one such characteristic.

It often indicates that one’s Internal Strength cultivation has reached a certain level.

“I only cultivated it half a month ago, but the Du Meridian is really difficult to cultivate.”

Although Chen Yong said this, his face was full of joy.

At his age, with extremely limited resources, reaching this level was already quite remarkable.

This was all thanks to his diligent practice and the guidance of Li Qian, an Inner Sect Disciple.

The biggest problem for Odd-Job Disciples, aside from lacking cultivation resources, was the lack of guidance. They relied entirely on self-exploration and had to take many detours, wasting a lot of time.

There were specialized instructors in the Odd-Job Hall who had already Entered the Ranks, but their fees were often high, unaffordable for ordinary Odd-Job Disciples.

Moreover, these instructors were themselves Odd-Job Disciples, their cultivation mostly self-taught. One could imagine the level of their guidance.

Why were the odd jobs at the Seven Main Peaks so sought after?

Wasn’t it because it gave them a chance to interact with Inner Sect Disciples?

With luck, they might even receive guidance from an Inner Sect Disciple or even an Elder on a whim.

“Hmm, it is indeed much harder to cultivate than the other six meridians.”

Li Qian nodded.

He had a deep understanding of this.

If not for the Time Bell assisting his cultivation, with his root bone aptitude, he would probably be in a similar situation to Chen Yong, no, perhaps even worse.

He had transmigrated from Earth and didn’t possess Chen Yong’s hardworking and resilient personality.

Li Qian then gave Chen Yong some pointers on the Sword-Piercing Fist.

Finally, Chen Yong, having benefited greatly, happily went down the mountain.

Peace returned to Time Bell Pavilion.

Li Qian went back to the bell tower and took out the two halves of a cowhide booklet wrapped in silk from his bag.

There was still a faint smell of blood on it.

Li Qian carefully pieced the cowhide booklet together.

This Blood Transformation and Star Absorption Method was divided into two parts.

The first part explained how to absorb the blood of living creatures and refine Qi from blood.

The second part contained two Secret Techniques, the Blood Burning Technique and the Spirit Severing Finger.

The Blood Burning Technique involved burning one’s own blood essence to unleash power beyond one’s limits for a short period, but it had severe side effects.

The Spirit Severing Finger was an offensive Secret Technique. It involved breaking off a segment of a finger bone and shooting it out as a hidden weapon, possessing considerable power.

“Although it’s an evil martial art, its concepts do have merit.”

After reading and memorizing the contents, Li Qian silently used his Internal Qi to shatter the Blood Transformation and Star Absorption Method, tossing all the fragments into the furnace.

Techniques like the Blood Burning Technique had significant side effects after use.

However, his Time Bell had the effect of restoring the body. Even with side effects, he could slowly eliminate them with the bell sound.

What he valued most was the Blood Burning Technique’s ability to unleash power beyond one’s limits, which might allow him to turn the tables in a desperate situation.

Although he was cultivating in the Divine Sword Sect and the likelihood of facing life-or-death danger was low.

But it was better to be safe than sorry.

The only problem now was that both the Blood Burning Technique and the Spirit Severing Finger relied on the Blood Transformation and Star Absorption Method to be cultivated.

He couldn’t possibly cultivate such a vicious and sinister evil art as the Blood Transformation and Star Absorption Method.

If anyone found out, it would be very troublesome.

So he wondered if he could use the principles of the Blood Burning Technique to develop a burst Secret Technique suitable for his cultivation?

Even if he encountered some problems with his body while developing the technique, he could rely on the Time Bell to recover.