We're practicing all martial arts, so why did you switch to easy mode?

Chapter 139 Comparable to Five Bone Forging Techniques
After exchanging a few words with Su Chen, Qiao Qiliang left the villa.

The main reason they came to see Su Chen this time was to deliver pills and secret manuals to him; the news was just a side thing.

Before leaving, Qiao Qiliang inquired about the progress of the Qi and Blood Pill's refining. He learned that Su Chen had not yet refined it, but he didn't mind.

Soon, Su Chen focused his attention on the secret manuals and pills that Qiao Qiliang had brought.

"Seventy pills, plus the pills I've collected myself over this period, make a total of one hundred and twenty, which is enough for me to upgrade my cultivation technique, not to mention a new sword technique."

"Let's first master the 'White Rainbow Blade Technique' to its limit, and then we can combine it with the sword-drawing technique."

Without hesitation, Su Chen quickly began to invest money in practicing the White Rainbow Blade Technique.

Similar to practicing the Blood Shadow Blade Technique, one swings the blade fifty, one hundred, two hundred, and five hundred times respectively, eventually reaching its limit.

The White Rainbow Blade Technique, honed to its limit, was instantly integrated into the Drawing Sword Technique. Su Chen, having spent money to activate the easy mode, began practicing the Drawing Sword Technique.

After the sword swing ended, the sword-drawing technique on the panel suddenly changed, officially advancing from the third level to the fourth level.

Apart from that, there were no obvious changes, but only Su Chen knew that the changes in the sword-drawing technique were far more complex than they appeared.

He arrived at the open space, drew his sword out of thin air and swung it. Immediately, a whooshing sound was heard, accompanied by a flash of white light that disappeared like a rainbow.

"Whether it's the speed of drawing the sword, the speed of slashing, or the power of the sword technique, there has been an improvement. The most important thing is the change in the sword shadow. The triple sword shadow has become a quadruple sword shadow, and one slash is equivalent to four overlapping swords!"

After a simple test of the sword-drawing technique's power, Su Chen was quite satisfied.

At this moment, even without resorting to sneak attacks, the sword-drawing technique can catch a Blood Refining Realm martial artist off guard, and in a head-on confrontation, it can even hold its own.

Of course, it's a pipe dream to think that you can kill a Blood Refining Realm warrior with this technique, but it's still possible to kill a Bone Forging Perfection warrior. Even if the opponent is a warrior who has condensed five sections of jade bone, they may not be able to withstand the attack of the sword-drawing technique.

Immediately, Su Chen turned his gaze to the panel.

Next, we need to consider upgrading our cultivation techniques. One hundred and twenty pills, if used properly, can at least raise two techniques by one level, so we naturally need to plan carefully.

"Of the five internal organ tempering techniques I am currently practicing, Iron Shirt, Profound Origin Technique, and Fiery Cloud Transformation have all been cultivated to the bone forging level, Thick Earth Gate is at the organ tempering level, and only the Unfixed Technique is still at the strength tempering level."

Therefore, we can consider upgrading Wudinggong and Houtuque. If both are upgraded to the Bone Forging level, which is the fourth level, then 130 Qi and Blood Pills will be needed.

I only have 120 Qi and Blood Pills, and I'm short 10. I'll make up for the missing 10 with other medicines that enhance Qi and Blood, such as Boiling Blood Powder.

Of course, if I make new progress in refining Qi and Blood Pills during this time, I can also take the Qi and Blood Pills I refine myself. Hmm... though that's unlikely.

With each failure, Su Chen accumulated a wealth of experience. Although he hadn't succeeded yet, he believed that given time, he would eventually succeed.

In the following days, Su Chen spent most of his time refining Qi and Blood Pills, and a small portion of his time using the Thick Earth Gate to cultivate quickly. He could basically consume twenty-five Qi and Blood Pills a day.

Because Su Chen prioritized upgrading the Thick Earth Tower, he gathered all the necessary Qi and Blood Pills for it on the second day and upgraded it to the fourth level, reaching the Bone Forging level.

The fourth level, Thick Earth Gate, has a speed at which the spleen is tempered, which is already at the speed of the other three cultivation methods. If it continues to temper at this speed, the spleen will be tempered in no time.

In addition, there are some changes in the force. The fourth layer of thick earth force becomes increasingly thick and heavy, as if it has become as virtuous and tolerant as the earth. However, in the process of this virtuous and tolerant force, it will silently and continuously strengthen itself.

Its assimilation speed of other forces also became faster and faster. However, Su Chen mainly used it to accelerate the consumption of Qi and Blood Pills, and rarely used it for cultivation. After all, it was all the force in his own body. Borrowing it back and forth, it would still be his own.

He also wanted to rely on the strength of others, but that would be too troublesome, so he simply gave up.

Of course, there is another reason: since he started cultivating the Thick Earth Gate, he has basically never encountered a martial artist who could cause his cultivation technique to tremble. Otherwise, he would also like to try the feeling of getting something for nothing.

On the fourth day, Wudinggong met the conditions for advancement, and Su Chen did not hesitate to advance it to the third level.

The healing and damage effects of the non-fixed force are significantly improved, and the force also begins to temper the liver.

It wasn't until the seventh day that Su Chen managed to piece together the requirements for the fourth level of the Unfixed Power panel.

He switched to easy mode without hesitation.

[Easy Mode Activated: Enter a meditative state for fifty minutes to reach the fourth level of the Wuding Gong (无定功).]

Fifty minutes later, Su Chen opened his eyes, a hint of surprise appearing in them.

It's not entirely due to the improvement of the Unfixed Skill. The fourth level of the Unfixed Skill simply speeds up the tempering of the liver and increases the healing and damage effects.

What truly surprised Su Chen was that, as the Wuding Gong advanced to the fourth level, all five of the internal organ tempering techniques he cultivated entered the bone forging level, resulting in an explosive increase in his strength.

"Five cultivation techniques cultivated to the Bone Forging level are equivalent to the combined strength of five Bone Forging Realm martial artists. I'm afraid I could kill a Bone Forging Perfection martial artist with a single strike now."

Su Chen thought to himself.

By this analogy, his mind became active, and he had a faint urge to rush to the Xuan Shui Sect and wreak havoc.

Fortunately, he quickly suppressed the impulse. Rushing forward now would be tantamount to courting death, so he decided to wait.

Stepping out of the room, I immediately saw Qiao Qiliang sitting in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Su Chen, Qiao Qiliang stood up and said, "I really envy you. You can cultivate anytime, anywhere. No wonder you are so strong!"

Su Chen smiled faintly, stepped forward, and asked, "Has anything major happened recently?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Qiliang's smile vanished as he nodded and said, "Yes, it's still related to the Rebirth Cult we talked about last time. The matter has been settled; the government and the Xuan Shui Gang will join forces to wipe out the Rebirth Cult. I'm also part of the team for this operation!"

"You?" Su Chen was taken aback.

"Yes, it was the Hong family's request. I suspect they deliberately wanted to get rid of me so they could make their move against you," Qiao Qiliang said solemnly.

Given his status, he had no need to participate in such actions. However, the Hong family had asked him to join, which made him suspect that the Hong family intended to take action against Su Chen. After all, with him absent, the Hong family would have fewer scruples if they wanted to deal with Su Chen.

Seeing that Su Chen didn't speak, Qiao Qiliang tentatively asked, "Why don't you come with me? If you change your identity, I don't think the Hong family will find out. Besides, if you stay by my side, they won't dare to do anything to you."

Hearing this, Su Chen glanced at Qiao Qiliang in surprise, but after thinking about it, he realized that what Qiao Qiliang said made sense, so he asked, "Who is leading the Hong family this time?"

"It's Hong Ke, the vice leader of the Xuan Shui Gang."

Upon hearing this, information about Hong Ke surfaced in Su Chen's mind.

Hong Ke, the vice leader of the Xuan Shui Gang, is always mysterious and rarely shows his face. He is stronger than Hong Qi and claims to have condensed five sections of jade bone, but his specific strength is unknown because almost no one has ever seen him make a move.

"Okay." After considering for a moment, Su Chen nodded in agreement.

Qiao Qiliang's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Alright, I'll come find you tomorrow."

"So fast?"

"It's not fast. They've already found traces of the Rebirth Cult, so it's better to act as soon as possible."

Qiao Qiliang replied with a sentence, and then got up and left.

The next day.

Qiao Qiliang found Su Chen, and the two headed to the government office to meet with the others.

"This is the military officer leading the delegation for this mission. His name is Zhou Qing, and he is a centurion in the city guards. He is highly regarded by the governor."

At this time, more than a hundred people had gathered in front of the government office. They were all fully armed, and from a distance, one could feel a sense of impending doom.

Qiao Qiliang pointed to the man in silver armor in front of him and introduced him to Su Chen. Zhou Qing was not tall, but he exuded an aura that could not be underestimated.

Upon seeing Qiao Qiliang, he merely nodded slightly in acknowledgment before beginning to muster his troops and attend to his own affairs.

Qiao Qiliang didn't care about this and stood aside with Su Chen.

Looking around, Su Chen didn't see any members of the Xuan Shui Gang, so he asked, "Where are the Xuan Shui Gang members?"

"We'll meet in Xiahe Town. That's where we'll discuss our plans once we get there," Qiao Qiliang replied.

"Going so openly, aren't you afraid of being discovered by the Rebirth Sect?" Su Chen asked again.

"In the past, there might have been some, but since the Rebirth Sect was besieged and suppressed by Hong Yue several times, there have been far fewer spies of the Rebirth Sect in the city."

Qiao Qiliang glanced at Su Chen and chuckled, "Besides, they have spies, but don't we?" While the two chatted, Zhou Qing finished mustering his troops and shouted, "Let's go!"

The earth emitted a dull thud, as if it were about to pierce the clouds.

Unlike Hong Yue's armored army, the city guards were covered in silver armor, which gleamed in the sunlight, and their imposing presence drew the attention of passersby.

Qiao Qiliang and Su Chen followed at the back of the group, and the group soon left the city.

After traveling for half an hour, the group arrived at Xiahe Town, where members of the Xuanshui Gang were already stationed. There were not many of them, about fifty or sixty people, but without exception, they were all skilled fighters with extraordinary strength.

The leader was an elderly man with graying temples, sunken eyes, and a pair of bright, piercing eyes. He was 1.7 meters tall and slightly hunched over.

Upon seeing Zhou Qing, Hong Ke smiled and walked towards him, the wrinkles on his face immediately smoothing out as he greeted him, "Commander Zhou."

"Vice Chief Hong!" One shouldn't hit a smiling face, so Zhou Qing responded with a smile as well, and the two exchanged pleasantries.

Not far away, Qiao Qiliang lowered his voice and said, "Do you think this guy is very kind? But let me tell you, this old guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing and is far from being as simple as he seems."

"How so?" Su Chen asked without changing his expression.

There are too many examples to list them all, but in short, many people call him a "smiling tiger".

When he was young, this guy did all sorts of bad things because he had the Hong family's backing. It only got a little better after my father became the city lord, but not by much. He just changed his methods from overt to covert.

After a pause, Qiao Qiliang suddenly said, "Oh, right, there's another piece of news I overheard. Apparently, this guy has an ambiguous relationship with Hong Qi."

"Oh?" Su Chen turned to look at Qiao Qiliang.

Qiao Qiliang chuckled: "To be precise, it's about Hong Qi's mother, but I feel the news is untrue, like it's a deliberate smear. Back when Hong Qi was the deputy gang leader, he openly opposed it, and the two almost got into a fight over it, which caused quite a stir at the time."

Not much is known about Hong Ke and Qiao Qiliang; most of it is hearsay, especially about his absurd early deeds, which are still talked about today.

Before long, Zhou Qing and Hong Ke had discussed the specific actions and divided into four teams, with two teams each from the government and the Xuan Shui Gang.

The government side was led by Zhou Qing and Qiao Qiliang.

After the tasks and locations were assigned, everyone wasted no time and dispersed to prepare to take immediate action and finish the job quickly, so as not to alert the enemy.

Qiao Qiliang led more than fifty people to the north of Shanghe Town, which was their destination, as the remnants of the Wangsheng Sect were hiding there.

"We can lie in ambush here. If any remnants of the Rebirth Cult come this way, we can take care of them!"

After arranging things for everyone, Qiao Qiliang and Su Chen went to a clump of low bushes to lie in ambush and wait quietly.

Half an hour later, faint sounds of fighting could be heard from the town, presumably indicating that a battle had begun with the Rebirth Sect.

Shanghe Town.

The sounds of slaughter rose into the sky.

Unexpectedly, just when they were about to wipe out the entire Rebirth Sect, they were discovered in advance.

Left with no other choice, Zhou Qing, Hong Ke, and the others had to take action ahead of schedule and fight against the remnants of the Rebirth Cult.

"Brothers, follow me and fight your way out!" Vice Leader Ding Yi shouted, boosting morale, and led his men in a retreat while fighting their way out.

Not far away, Hong Ke looked at Zhou Qing and said, "Commander Zhou, I will deal with this man, and you can take care of the rest."

Zhou Qing nodded solemnly: "Okay!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hong Ke darted out with lightning speed, instantly catching up with Ding Yi, who was fleeing. His gaze was fixed on Ding Yi.

"You old bastard, get out of my way!"

Upon seeing Hong Ke, Ding Yi's pupils contracted, and anger surged in his eyes. He then unleashed a palm strike, which immediately generated gusts of wind.

"Humph!"

Seeing this, Hong Ke simply snorted and struck out with a palm. The palm strike was light and simple, without any fancy moves, but it possessed terrifying power.

The moment their palms touched, a dull sound, like waves crashing against rocks, resounded, and invisible waves of air surged and rippled, making the eardrums of everyone around vibrate.

After a brief collision, the two retreated one after the other, and Ding Yi's expression suddenly turned ugly.

He looked at his palm, where there was a conspicuous small blood hole that pierced through the skin and flesh, reaching the back of his hand. Fresh blood was oozing from the hole, and the surrounding skin quickly became red and swollen.

"Bastard!"

The underhanded tactics and poisoning made Ding Yi curse angrily. Although he didn't know what kind of poison it was, it was very potent. Only a few breaths had passed when Ding Yi felt his energy flow being blocked.

"hehe."

Hong Ke sneered, not intending to give Ding Yi a chance to catch his breath, and attacked again. However, this time, Ding Yi did not intend to confront her head-on, but instead dodged to the side.

A moment later, Ding Yi's face darkened: "This guy has no intention of confronting me head-on. He's deliberately stalling for time, trying to make me suffer from the poison so he can finish me off effortlessly."

As Ding Yi continued to dodge, the rate at which the poison spread accelerated. If this continued, he might die from the poison without Hong Ke even needing to intervene.

"Old man, I'll fight you to the death!" Ding Yi suddenly gritted his teeth, his face hardening, with a resolute determination to die together with his opponent.

Upon seeing this, Hong Ke shuddered and felt a sense of retreat, unwilling to confront Ding Yi directly.

But just as he was retreating, a cunning glint suddenly appeared in Ding Yi's eyes. Then, he leaped away, his feet barely touching the ground as he swept past Hong Ke, and quickly fled.

"Damn it!"

Hong Ke cursed under his breath, realizing he had been tricked, but he didn't regret it. With a sway of his body, he chased after them.

Once poisoned, the poison will spread rapidly if the user continues to use their strength. Once it reaches the heart and brain, there will be no hope of recovery. There is no need to foolishly fight Ding Yi; just wait for time to pass before the other party dies.

"Run! The faster you run, the faster you'll die!"

Hong Ke smiled coldly, watching Ding Yi's fleeing figure, and pursued him at a leisurely pace.

"somebody is coming!"

Qiao Qiliang murmured, and the group of people who had been lying in wait instantly perked up, staring intently at the figure rushing towards them.

"They are members of the Rebirth Sect."

The group quickly discovered Ding Yi's identity and watched as he rapidly approached the ambush site.

As he ran, Ding Yi suddenly slowed down, took out a pill from his pocket, and swallowed it with a hesitant expression.

He knew the consequences of swallowing the pill, but if he didn't, he might not be able to hold out until he could escape. So he decided to take a gamble.

After swallowing the pill, Ding Yi's control over his internal energy deepened, and the discomfort caused by the poison lessened considerably. His strength recovered by more than half, but he knew this was only temporary.

Looking back, Ding Yi breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see Hong Ke. Without wasting any time, he hurried out of town.

"Do it!"

The moment Ding Yi approached the ambush site, Qiao Qiliang waved his hand and gave an order. All the silver-armored soldiers who were lying in ambush stood up and gathered into a silver sea. They rushed towards Ding Yi with long spears in their hands.

Upon seeing this, Ding Yi's face contorted with rage: "Damn it, they're like ghosts that won't go away! In that case, they'd all die!"

He lunged forward, his figure flashing out in the blink of an eye. Then he drew his Crescent Blade, and with each stroke, a flurry of blade light appeared.

Click.

The sturdy silver armor blocked Ding Yi's ferocious first strike, but it couldn't stop his second. As the two strikes landed, the chest of a silver-armored soldier exploded instantly, revealing his internal organs.

Everyone was stunned for a moment by the brutal scene before them, but then they swarmed forward again and surrounded Ding Yi.

Ding Yi licked the blood from the blade, a bloodthirsty look on his face, then grinned and charged into the silver sea with a ferocious expression.

(End of this chapter)