Chapter 22: The Warrior King

In the telling of death, she was calm. Qian Ye had never imagined that this little woman, wild and sometimes surviving by her body, would have such a strong side.

Qian Ye broke the chains, laid her flat on the ground, then fetched several buckets of water to pour over her, washing away the filth and pus. Finally, he found a blanket in an adjacent room, wiped her clean, wrapped her in it, and held her in his arms.

Min’er sighed lightly, saying, “Qian Ye, there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Why have you never touched me? Not even when I didn’t want your money?”

“Because… I fear I wouldn’t be able to control myself and would drain your blood, turning you into a blood slave.”

“Are you a blood race?!”

“Not… entirely.”

“I don’t understand. But at least now I know the reason! As long as you don’t dislike me, I feel much better. Is this our secret…?” Min’er was delighted, but her voice grew fainter.

“Yes, it’s a secret only the two of us know,” Qian Ye said.

But Min’er could no longer hear his answer.

A moment later, in a deserted area behind the factory, Qian Ye placed the bodies of Zhao Gongzi and Min’er side by side on a pile of black stones. He lit the stones, watching the flames slowly consume their bodies. As for Zhao Gongzi’s other subordinates, their bodies were nowhere to be found.

In the firelight, Qian Ye turned and left, disappearing into the completely bright wilderness.

From that moment on, he had no friends in Lighthouse Town.

A day later, Qian Ye arrived outside Blackflow City.

He did not rush into the city but instead settled in the airship graveyard outside. Blackflow City was unlike Lighthouse Town; it had expeditionary forces stationed there year-round, and Qi Yue himself was a Second-Rank warrior with even a Fourth-Rank guard. To assassinate such a person was not simple.

Qian Ye needed to wait patiently, waiting for his opponent to show a weakness from carelessness. He believed that when Qi Yue learned of the deaths of Yan Laohu and Mr. Wang, he might be tense at first, but would relax after a few days. Qian Ye hadn’t left many traces, and in Qi Yue’s eyes, he was still just a First-Rank warrior. No matter how strong a First-Rank warrior was, there was a limit.

The airship graveyard was a good hiding place. These ancient wrecks were worthless, and only scavengers would come here to try their luck.

After setting up his hiding spot, Qian Ye began to meditate silently, practicing the Art of War.

The third origin node was about to activate, and once he became a Third-Rank warrior, his strength would surge. With his experience from the Yellow Spring Training Camp and the Red Scorpion Legion, as long as he didn’t encounter the Sixth-Rank colonel guarding Blackflow City, he could escape even if he couldn’t defeat others.

The tides of origin power created by the Art of War began to repeatedly assault the barrier at the node, but Qian Ye found that the pain caused by the tides passing through his chest area was much less than before. This was clearly the result of his blood race constitution. With this ability, the blood qi continuously transformed his body, strengthening his physical condition, and his endurance against the tides of origin power also increased.

Now, the pain brought by each tide was only slightly higher than that of a normal person, so Qian Ye easily endured twenty tides and continued to reach new heights.

Twenty-one, twenty-two…

Each subsequent tide of origin power became more intense. Qian Ye’s origin power was more substantial and concentrated than that of a normal person, and the force of the tides was also stronger. After stacking more than twenty times, the impact was like a storm at sea!

The barrier of the third origin node began to flash, teetering on the brink. However, more tides did not necessarily mean better. If it were someone else, the backlash from the tides would have already shattered their internal organs. But Qian Ye’s enhanced body could still bear it.

When he reached twenty-six tides, minor injuries began to appear in his internal organs. But the healing ability from his blood race constitution allowed him to feel that he could endure one more tide.

The twenty-seventh time!

Cracks began to appear in the barrier of the origin node!

At this point, Qian Ye’s internal organs were starting to bleed. He gritted his teeth, carefully adjusting his state.

“One more wave should be manageable,” he thought, guarding his vital organs and letting the Art of War continue.

Inside Qian Ye, waves of origin power surged, rushing through the meridians of his right arm towards the origin node in his palm. The origin power crashed against the barrier, rebounded, and vibrated the meridians and internal organs. Then, it was carried by the origin power surging from the dantian nodes in his lower abdomen and chest, smashing against the barrier again!

With each rise and fall, countless tiny wounds appeared in Qian Ye’s body.

Halfway through the twenty-eighth tide, Qian Ye suddenly jolted. A small crack appeared on his heart!

In the cultivation of origin power, the heart is the most important organ for humans. The Art of War especially protects the heart; any damage to that area means overdoing it, and one must immediately stop to rest.

Qian Ye sighed, preparing to give up, but suddenly, the blood qi in his body began to boil. The three-colored black blood, which had been quietly resting, rushed to his heart, quickly forming a thin membrane!

Just as a new wave of origin power was about to crash back, the blood membrane blocked all the surges toward the heart. The membrane twisted and snapped back into place, appearing extremely resilient.

Qian Ye was first stunned, then elated. Now, he could endure more tides of origin power, significantly improving his progress in the Art of War!

He calmed down, trying to guide the blood qi as smoothly as he controlled his origin power. Soon, a layer of membranes covered his heart and other vital organs. Though Qian Ye’s blood qi was still weak, the protection for other parts was much thinner compared to the heart.

The twenty-ninth tide passed smoothly, and the origin power briefly rested before beginning to surge again, preparing for the next assault.

Qian Ye felt a chill; he realized the thirtieth tide was fundamentally different from the previous ones. When the first wave of origin power surged, Qian Ye knew it was bad!

Just the first wave was stronger than the ninth wave of the previous tide! He now understood why the title of Warrior King for thirty tides was so difficult to achieve.

But Qian Ye couldn’t think about that now. The origin power surged again and again, crashing against the barrier, and he struggled like a small boat in a storm, fighting to survive.

By the third wave, the blood membrane protecting the organs began to crack. By the sixth wave, all membranes except the heart’s were broken. On the seventh wave, the heart’s membrane became unstable! By the eighth wave, the membrane finally shattered, leaving Qian Ye’s organs exposed to the waves of origin power!

Qian Ye’s ruthless nature flared, and he gritted his teeth, striking his chest hard. This was a secret method to stimulate potential, greatly boosting stamina temporarily, but at the cost of shortening one’s life.

To complete the thirtieth tide, Qian Ye had no choice. He was ruthless to others, but even more so to himself. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have survived this far.

The temporary surge of power barely resisted the final wave. Qian Ye spat out a mouthful of blood, but his heart was filled with joy. He had finally crossed the threshold of thirty tides, officially entering the rank of Warrior King!

Among the millions of warriors in the Empire, he was now among the elite.

Though Qian Ye’s current strength was still low, crossing the threshold to Warrior King opened up endless possibilities. His rate of origin power improvement would be unmatched.

The barrier at the right-hand node shattered in the last wave, and origin power flooded in, slowly filling it. In the following period, Qian Ye needed to continuously nurture the origin node, letting it grow until it was complete, then he could target the fourth node.

Activating the origin node in his right hand, Qian Ye could now infuse origin power into solid projectiles.

He had prepared the materials: a blank origination bullet made of alloy with a crystal head, containing a small amount of silver, mainly for use against dark races other than the blood race. This bullet was valuable, but its power and cost were not in the same league as a demon-busting mithril bullet.

This was the only blank origination bullet Qian Ye had managed to save, hidden outside Lighthouse Town to avoid confiscation.

After a night’s rest and a day of slowly restoring his origin power, Qian Ye began infusing the blank bullet. It was like a bottomless pit, draining half of his origin power before the head flashed, indicating completion.

Infused with origin power, the bullet’s previously transparent head now contained a misty fog. The origin power formed by the Art of War should be light yellow, but within the bullet, a dark red blood line moved back and forth, as if alive.

That blood line was actually Qian Ye’s blood qi, somehow seeping into the bullet during the infusion.

Looking at the bullet, Qian Ye hesitated. He wasn’t sure what the special effects of a bullet infused with blood qi would be, but he’d have to find out by using it. Still, its base power was significant, and it wouldn’t be too bad.

Solid-infused bullets were stronger than pure origin power bullets, equivalent to heavy projectiles, and they used half the origin power, making each one a powerful addition in battle.

This bullet was Qian Ye’s deadly move for Qi Yue.

After infusing the bullet, dawn broke. Qian Ye lay down to rest, waiting for the night to fall again.