Chapter 030: Blood Salt, Vital Energy and Blood Like Quicksilver, Traces of the Barbarians!

For several days, Xia He followed Uncle Zhou and hundreds of local military households in a relentless search through the mountains. Surprisingly, the group of brutal barbarians seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind no traces whatsoever. They even revisited the site of the slaughtered village, yet they still saw no suspicious shadows. This led everyone to suspect that the barbarians might have fled immediately after their killing spree. Even Xia He, who had initially been convinced that the barbarians had ulterior motives, began to waver in his belief.

After a few days, even an iron man would have reached his limit. Starting on the third day, the military households were divided into two rotating shifts, with the military slaves under their command joining in; one group searched the mountains while the other rested. By the dawn of the fourth day, the previously clear sky was suddenly blanketed by dark clouds, followed by a torrential downpour. In an instant, the entire mountain range was shrouded in a misty curtain of rain. The mountain paths became muddy and slippery, making every step an arduous struggle.

Having searched for days with hearts full of rage, everyone’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point, and their bodies were utterly exhausted. Xia He and Uncle Zhou found a dilapidated cowshed in the mountains to take shelter from the rain. The shed was filled with the pungent, lingering stench of cow dung and the heavy scent of damp earth. They quickly lit a campfire to dry their soaked clothes and drive away the lingering chill. The warm firelight flickered, illuminating their haggard faces. As the warmth enveloped them, a sense of drowsiness began to take hold.

Before the fire, Xia He warmed his hands. Suddenly, he took a bottle from his robes, handed it to Uncle Zhou, and asked humbly, "Uncle Zhou, you are knowledgeable; could you help me see what this is?"

Seeing the blood-colored granules poured from the bottle, Uncle Zhou’s expression shifted in surprise. "Blood Salt? Little He, where did you get this?"

"Oh, I found it on the side of the road and kept it because it looked novel."

"What is 'Blood Salt'?" Xia He asked, looking up.

"It is a very precious substance that can assist you in tempering your blood! After 'Skin Tempering' comes 'Blood Tempering'."

Blood Tempering refers to the use of martial arts to refine one's blood, bringing it to a state like mercury. This cultivation process not only enhances the quality of the blood but also improves a martial artist's overall physical fitness and combat power. This stage is crucial; only by breaking through to Blood Tempering can one be considered a true martial artist.

"For instance, if you swallow two grains of Blood Salt and combine it with the corresponding Blood Tempering martial arts, your speed will increase several times over, and you won't risk the danger of blood energy depletion. Without such an auxiliary, it is very easy to ruin your cultivation, so it is an essential item."

Xia He was stunned upon hearing this.

So that was the name of these blood-colored granules. No wonder he had sensed a strong, bloody scent the first time he saw them. There were at least a dozen grains in the bottle; this Kong Hu was truly wealthy. It seemed he had also been preparing for Blood Tempering.

"Little He, you must hide this well and don't let others see it." Uncle Zhou gave Xia He a meaningful look but did not ask further, instead whispering a few words of caution. "Blood Salt is of great value. A single grain costs twenty taels of silver. If you want to break through to Blood Tempering, the more of this stuff, the better."

"Twenty taels of silver for one grain!?" Xia He had counted earlier; there were twelve grains in the bottle, which meant two hundred and forty taels. He quickly tucked the small bottle away.

"With this, if I can find a suitable martial arts manual, I can attempt to temper my blood..." However, the only martial arts he currently practiced were the basic soldier's manual that everyone possessed and the "Mad Bull Strength" given to him by Battalion Commander Fan. Neither was suitable for Blood Tempering, which made things difficult.

Just as Xia He was lost in thought, Wang Erpang suddenly leaned in. "Brother He, we've been searching for days. Do you think those barbarians have already run away?"

"That is not an impossibility."

"Our Great Qin will eventually wipe these barbarians out completely!" Wang Erpang gritted his teeth, his face full of indignation.

The struggle between the Great Qin and the Southern Barbarians had lasted for decades. The barbarians had their own religion and culture, relied primarily on cavalry, were skilled in mounted archery, and possessed immense combat power. They could rapidly assemble large numbers of cavalry for battle, displaying high mobility. Furthermore, the barbarian martial arts system differed from that of the Great Qin; their martial arts progressed extremely quickly, being brutal and ruthless. To achieve strength, barbarians would even consume poisonous insects, damaging their bodies, causing premature aging, and sometimes even death.

"Is it true that there are sorcerers among the barbarians? That they are impervious to blades and spears... I find it hard to believe."

However, once a martial artist reached Skin Tempering, a layer of keratin would grow on their body for defense. A Blood Tempering martial artist’s blood would be like mercury, with an explosive surge in power. As for Bone Tempering martial artists, who knows? Perhaps they truly could be impervious to blades and spears?

Xia He was half-skeptical. Uncle Zhou, standing to the side, suddenly interjected, "The Southern Barbarians are nomadic and do not build cities. There are at least dozens of tribes, large and small, that fight among themselves. They are a loose sand, not worth worrying about. It is only in recent years that a man named Wanyan Bei has appeared, gradually integrating the tribes. Over these years, his ambition has expanded, and they have grown stronger, even wishing to annex the territory of our Great Qin!"

"It is rumored that Wanyan Bei’s personal strength is immensely formidable, having transcended Bone Tempering to reach the Organ Tempering realm."

"Organ Tempering..." Xia He was mesmerized.

He would likely need only one finger to crush someone like him right now, wouldn't he?

"Enough. Once the rain stops, we will search again. As long as this group of barbarians is still in this area, they will surely leave a trail."

However, the rain lasted longer than anyone had anticipated, growing heavier and continuing until dusk.

"Are we just going to go back like this?" Xia He frowned. Having wasted these few days, it would be a great loss if they truly found nothing.

"Whoosh!"

At that moment, a harsh and urgent sound of a whistling arrow suddenly cut through the curtain of rain outside the cowshed, like a clap of thunder tearing through the sky! Everyone in the shed stood up as if electrified.

"The barbarians are here!"

Uncle Zhou rushed out immediately, his aged face creased in concern. Judging by the sound, the location of the whistling arrow was less than two hundred paces away. The torrential rain showed no signs of stopping, with bean-sized raindrops slamming into the ground, splashing mud and water in every direction.

"Let's go!"

Braving the downpour, they rushed out of the crude cowshed in a panic, striding wildly toward the direction of the whistling arrow. When they finally arrived, breathless, the sight before them made everyone gasp.

Two soldiers lay sprawled in the muddy pool of blood, their chests deeply collapsed as if they had been struck by a thousand-pound hammer. One man's skull had been crushed, his brains and blood flowing together in a sight too gruesome to behold. Seeing this, they stepped forward to carefully examine the victims.

"It really was the work of those barbarian martial artists; their methods are so sinister!" Both men had been killed by the intrusion of a powerful, bloody aura into their bodies—a true hallmark of the martial arts practiced by the Southern Barbarians. The killers had already fled, vanishing without a trace.

"Alert!"

No sooner had Uncle Zhou finished speaking than several more whistling arrows rang out in the distance, from multiple directions, leaving everyone stunned.

Xia He was startled as well.

"How can there be so many!"