The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 76 Centipede Appearance

The Fu family's backyard.

Under an apple tree whose leaves had almost all fallen, Fu Juemin, shirtless, was stirring a large pot of black sand in front of him with his bare hands.

The sand is not only stone sand, but also medicinal sand, and even more so, poisonous sand.

The sand was mixed with a large amount of venom from snakes, scorpions, toads, spiders, and centipedes. Nearby, a pharmacy worker was baring his teeth and grabbing live snakes and centipedes from jars and cages, pulling out their teeth and extracting the venom on the spot, mixing it into a liquid, and adding it to the pot.

Everyone kept their distance from Fu Juemin, watching their young master practice his skills with horror in their eyes.

Fu Juemin stirred the poisonous sand in the pot tirelessly until a thin layer of sweat covered his entire body. He then pulled his hands out of the sand, revealing that his two delicate, white hands, which had originally resembled white jade, were now completely red.

This is the method of tempering the body with poisonous sand in the "Five Elements Profound Evil Technique". In the initial stage, only the hands need to be tempered. Gradually, other parts of the body are involved. In the end, a large cauldron is prepared. The body is sealed in the cauldron at a specific time each day and soaked in a mixture of medicine and poison. The process is so cruel and bizarre that it is simply horrifying.

To be honest, even for this basic level of Poison Sand Tempering Hand, Fu Juemin had to mentally prepare himself before deciding to start practicing.

Sending someone to collect the poison on-site was also a way to test one's mental resilience.

Normally, even during this refining stage, people would need to use special protective gear to cover their mouth, nose, and other exposed parts of their body to prevent excessive inhalation of toxic fumes.

Fu Juemin has already achieved some success in his pharmacist practice, so he doesn't need to worry about such trivial details.

As soon as Fu Juemin finished practicing, servants, who were completely covered from head to toe, brought over the medicinal soup that had been prepared in advance.

Fu Juemin immersed his bright red hands into the boiling medicinal soup. With a soft "hiss," wisps of strangely colored poisonous smoke immediately rose from the basin, just like a special effect in a movie.

After soaking in the medicinal soup, Fu Juemin washed his hands three times with warm water. His hands were smooth and white again, but upon closer inspection, one could see that a small bluish-black crescent moon had appeared at the very base of his fingernails.

This proves that the body quenching was very effective.

"Only when one has condensed a trace of poisonous energy can one be considered to have successfully entered the path, which is usually when the black lunula on the fingernails is more than halfway through."

Fu Juemin examined his fingernails, thinking to himself, "At this rate, it'll be quick."

His most unique advantage over ordinary martial artists who practice the Five Elements Profound Fiend Technique is that his partially mastered Pharmacist Technique allows him to skip the extensive detoxification and recovery process.

For example, when Fu Juemin's hands were first pulled out of the poisonous sand, both palms were still burning, numb, itchy and painful, which was a sign that the poison in the sand had gradually seeped into his flesh.

But in just a short while, the tingling and itchy sensation subsided significantly, much faster than the recovery time of others who would take at least three days after a single session.

"If the goal is to break through the Tongxuan Qi membrane, then the best method is to quench the centipede phase."

However, I possess the soul of the Black Scale Serpent Demon. I'll practice the Serpent Form first; who knows, it might bring unexpected surprises.”

Fu Juemin dried his hands with a towel, but his eyes were fixed on the cages of live snakes, centipedes, scorpions and the like not far away.

Although the refining formula of "Five Elements Profound Evil Technique" contains all five poisons and requires various other auxiliary poisons, the effect of the poisonous evil energy produced will vary depending on the core poison.

For example, if one mainly refines the centipede poison among the five poisons, the resulting poisonous aura will resemble a centipede, with a powerful and domineering effect.

If the main ingredient is snake venom, the resulting poisonous aura will resemble that of a snake, and its toxicity will be more yin and gentle, primarily penetrating and paralyzing.
Fu Juemin is now the Snake Minister, with the other four Poison Ministers serving as his ministers.

"Young Master Fu."

As Xiao Huaihua helped Fu Juemin get dressed, a middle-aged man wearing a melon-shaped hat walked up with a smile and cupped his hands in greeting: "The shopkeeper specifically instructed us today that it's time to settle the medicine bill."

Fu Juemin tucked his arms into his shirt sleeves and frowned, saying, "Haven't my Fu family and your Xing'an Hall always settled accounts every six months? I remember it's been less than two months since the last settlement."

"It's a new rule in the shop that everything must be settled in one payment from now on. I have no choice but to accept it. I hope Young Master Fu will understand."

The man bowed apologetically.

Fu Juemin looked at him and saw that the other man was standing stiffly with his body bent over, and fine beads of sweat were gradually seeping from his forehead. Finally, he said in a low voice, "Alright, someone take him to the accounting office."

"Thank you, Young Master Fu."

The man felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly left.

Fu Juemin stared quietly at the man's departing figure for a while, then looked away and walked towards the mansion.

He hadn't walked far when he saw Cao Tian coming up to him and speaking to him in a low voice.

"The Black Shark Gang's top members have all found a reason not to come back for the next month."

Cao Tian paused for a moment, then added, "I inquired and found out it was at the behest of the advisor."

Fu Juemin couldn't help but chuckle, glancing at Cao Tian, ​​and said, "Then why did you come over?"

Cao Tian replied expressionlessly, "Young Master said that I am first and foremost your man, and only then a Red Stick of the Black Shark Gang."

Fu Juemin paused, turned and looked Cao Tian straight in the eye. After a moment, Fu Juemin continued walking forward, and without turning his head, he casually instructed, "Remember to bring your sister and mother home tomorrow. Rooms have already been reserved for you."

Cao Tian was slightly taken aback, then nodded and replied, "Yes."

Fu Juemin returned to his room, opened the character panel, and glanced at it. Sure enough, the blue energy bar at the bottom had filled up again.

Behind the three items in the basic attributes bar, the familiar blue "+" has reappeared.

As usual, I added it to the [Life] attribute. With a light tap, the blue "+" disappeared, and the "9" behind [Life] naturally became "10".

Compared to skill point allocation, attribute point allocation has always seemed to have a subtle and gradual effect.

However, this time, Fu Juemin sensed something different.

First, as usual, his five internal organs were strengthened. Then, perhaps after his [Life] attribute reached 10 points, some kind of qualitative change occurred, and Fu Juemin discovered a ball of "qi" within his body.

It is formless and intangible, and can roam freely throughout the body according to his thoughts, but it cannot leave the body surface and has no effect or enhancement on the strength of his attacks.

"What is this? It doesn't seem like the powerful energy that arises from the blood and qi after breaking through the blood barrier."

Although Fu Juemin is currently full of energy and blood, he is still quite a distance from the Blood Gate, so he shouldn't be generating internal energy at this time.

If it's not internal energy, then what is it?
Just as Fu Juemin was pondering this, there was a knock on the door, and Xiao Huaihua's voice came from outside.

"Young master, the master is back and wants you to go there immediately."

"Okay, I see."

Fu Juemin temporarily set aside his research on this strange aura, straightened his clothes, and went out.

"Looks like Dad got the things?"

Five minutes later, in the study, Fu Juemin looked at Fu Guosheng, who had a relaxed expression, and asked with a smile.

Fu Guosheng casually pointed to the table without saying a word.

Fu Juemin picked up a document stamped with the provincial government's official seal from the table, and couldn't help but laugh when he saw a certain number written on it.

"This Song Lin, he really dares to ask for it."

“What is there for him to be afraid of? He has Song Zhenyuan standing behind him.”

As Fu Guosheng spoke, he took out another document and handed it to Fu Juemin, saying, "The Xu family sent it over this morning. Take a look."

Fu Juemin took it, glanced at it, and was shocked to find that it was a marriage certificate, which belonged to him and Xu Leyi.

Without even glancing at it, he calmly tossed it aside and said, "Father, now that we have the donation order, we should hurry up and make arrangements for the follow-up matters."

"Several shops are already in negotiations, but I'm afraid that once the news of the donation order spreads, they'll be subjected to even more malicious price-cutting."

Fu Juemin, however, didn't seem to care. "Everyone's trying to take advantage of this opportunity, which just makes it easier for us to make our move faster..."

Fu Guosheng nodded, then added, "These days, just behave yourself and don't cause any trouble that might make Song Lin change his mind again..."

Upon hearing Fu Guosheng's words, Fu Juemin smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, "Father is wrong."

The more restless I am at this juncture, the more at ease Song Lin will be.

Fu Guosheng was taken aback upon hearing this, then nodded thoughtfully.

Seven days later, at Qunyu Garden.

It should have been a time for singing and listening to opera, but the area under the stage in Qunyu Garden was much more lively than the stage itself.

The crowd below the stage had completely surrounded an open space in the middle, and inside, several people were exchanging blows, fighting vigorously.

Whispers rippled through the crowd of onlookers.

"Why did Young Master Fu suddenly start fighting with Master Huang?"

"I heard that Master Huang's applause and reward made Young Master Fu unhappy."

"(Surprised) What does it have to do with Young Master Fu if others applaud him?"

"You don't know, do you? Tonight, the play being performed on stage is the last act of 'The Peach Blossom Fan'—'The Li Mansion collapses, and Li Xiangjun, holding her fan, dies on the Snow Bridge!'"

"No wonder. No wonder."

(End of this chapter)