Cliffside. Mountain cave.
Chen Sanshi stepped into the lair of a strange white deer beast.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three arrows flew in an instant, striking the deer dead on the ground.
"It's mine now."
Chen Sanshi carried the Mountain-Suppressing Sword, chopped down a pile of wood from outside, then filled the Black-Iron Furnace Cauldron with water from a nearby stream. After that, he stuffed it full of spiritual grain he had gathered from the fields.
Finally, he lit the fire.
He felt a bit nervous.
If this failed again—and even the Black-Iron Furnace Cauldron couldn't handle it—then his only option left would be the incense burner from Ciyun Temple.
"Boom—!"
The moment the flame touched the dried wood coated with lamp oil, it turned into a crimson fire dragon, wrapping the entire cauldron in blazing heat.
"It worked!"
Chen Sanshi let out a sigh of relief.
Though the cauldron twisted and warped visibly under the heat of the strange flame, it was still able to endure it for a short time without breaking apart.
He began adding more wood in large quantities.
Once lit with lamp oil, the fire became a strange flame, but the fuel consumption was staggering. Logs as thick as an arm burned away one after another. If he paused even slightly, the fire would go out and he'd have to waste more lamp oil to relight it.
If this thing truly came from the Immortal Realm, it must have a specific fuel source—it couldn't possibly be this troublesome.
After a while, Chen Sanshi had run back and forth several times. Luckily, there was no shortage of firewood on the mountain, or he'd have run out long ago.
"Buzz—"
The cauldron began to hum under the heat of the strange flame. Soon, faint wisps of green smoke rose from within—the sign that the water had fully evaporated. He stopped feeding the fire and let the flames die naturally.
The whole process lasted about as long as one cup of tea.
Once the temperature cooled, Chen Sanshi lifted the lid and peered inside. The spiritual grain had completely vanished, leaving behind a black, sticky layer at the bottom—like burnt rice crust at the bottom of a pot.
He scraped a bit out with a wooden stick and brought it to his nose. It had a faintly pleasant fragrance.
"What is this… an ointment?"
Chen Sanshi didn't dare taste it outright. Instead, he caught a dozen animals of varying sizes—including one venomous wolf beast—and tested the substance on them one by one. Soon, he figured out a rough pattern.
Starting from rabbits, the larger the animal, the milder the side effects.
By the time he reached the leopard, there was no death at all.
The brown bear remained completely unharmed.
"Eat."
He pried open the venomous wolf's mouth.
This time, not only did the wolf suffer no side effects—it actually grew stronger and more violent!
Chen Sanshi immediately swung the Mountain-Suppressing Sword and cleaved off its head.
"Looks safe enough."
He took a deep breath and put a bit of the ointment into his mouth.
Instantly, a strange sensation spread from his abdomen, flowing through his limbs and bones before filling his meridians with energy.
Chen Sanshi picked up his Five Tiger Soul-Breaking Spear and began cultivating the Dragon Spear of Nation-Suppression – Transforming Strength technique.
Transforming Strength, as the name implied, was the process of turning one's qi and blood into internal force. This required maintaining the Exploding Blood state while continuously pushing one's limits until one comprehended the essence of transformation.
For most martial artists, it was a long and grueling process—they could only last 20 to 30 rounds before exhaustion.
Chen Sanshi was different. He could last at least 200 rounds.
And while he trained, the spiritual grain ointment continually reinforced his body and qi, providing tremendous support—its effects were at least three times stronger than that of plant ash.
The toxin in his meridians still existed.
However, since the ointment was extracted through boiling, its toxicity had greatly diminished, while much of its essence had been preserved.
He trained from midnight until dusk the next day, his mastery improving significantly.
[Technique: Dragon Spear of Nation-Suppression – Transforming Strength (Uninitiated)]
[Progress: 20/100]
By his original plan, Chen Sanshi would need at least two months to reach Transforming Strength.
But now—it would take less than one.
That pace surpassed 99% of even the most gifted cultivators.
As for Cao Fan's quick advancement—it was because his Tempering Organ had reached Perfection months ago, and he had royal resources backing him. If he hadn't broken through, that would've been strange. He probably had hidden trump cards too.
Either way, Chen Sanshi had solved a major problem. Now, he could advance swiftly—Transforming Strength first, then Meridian-Connecting.
But reaching Martial Saint within three years…
There were probably no more than three people in the world who could pull that off.
It was still a near-impossible challenge.
He'd just have to go all out.
'I wonder how my strength compares to a Transforming Strength martial artist now,' he thought. 'I should at least be able to put up a fight.'
With that thought, Chen Sanshi began cleaning up the site.
He fetched a porcelain bottle used for pills and carefully scraped the ointment inside.
He had packed the entire cauldron full of spiritual grain, yet the final result was only a thin layer of this strange paste.
"Does this count as an immortal pill? Am I… refining medicine?"
"Probably not."
After swallowing the ointment, Chen Sanshi noticed no effect related to cultivating immortal arts. Instead, a familiar notification appeared before his eyes—not for [Alchemy], but for [Medicine].
[Skill: Medicine (Mortal) – Mastery]
[Progress: 491/1000]
It seemed the "Mortal" label truly hinted at progression. Perhaps someday, he might learn Immortal Medicine.
But if that were the case…
Why did immortals order the Emperor to offer spiritual grain as tribute?
This world had no spiritual qi, and the grain grown here contained no divine essence. Was it merely a base material?
Another issue was the cauldron itself.
The Black-Iron Furnace Cauldron was damaged—usable for maybe one more round before it became useless.
A cauldron of black iron cost over 3,000 taels anywhere, and black iron was an extremely rare resource. Even if he had the silver, buying one every few days would definitely draw unwanted attention.
That was only a temporary fix.
He needed a true cauldron capable of withstanding strange flame temperatures.
"Forget it. I'll buy two from the military supply depot for now. That should last a while."
Chen Sanshi left the Luotian Mountains, dragging the white deer behind him as a cover story. Then he called for Qianxun to meet him.
Suddenly, an idea came to him. He took out the porcelain bottle filled with ointment. "Qianxun, I've got something good here. Want to try it?"
If the venomous wolf had been fine, then Qianxun—a spiritual beast—should be safe as well.
He wouldn't force it. The White Swan horse had intelligence enough to judge for itself.
Qianxun sniffed at the bottle, then nodded eagerly, over and over.
"You're really going to eat it?"
Chen Sanshi didn't hold back—he fed Qianxun two mouthfuls of the ointment.
Unexpectedly, after eating it, the White Swan horse didn't show any abnormal reactions. Instead, it looked pleased, calm, and relaxed, not at all like an animal driven into frenzy. It seemed more like it had just eaten a treat it loved and now rubbed its head against its master, begging for more.
"You little monster, what are you made of?"
Chen Sanshi was stunned.
How could Qianxun's tolerance be this high?
Even he himself needed to cultivate immediately after taking the ointment to digest and absorb its power, yet Qianxun looked completely unaffected. He couldn't imagine where Xiang Tingchun had found such a beast—it made no sense at all.
[Skill: Horsemanship (Mastery)]
[Progress: 459/500]
He hadn't been riding as much lately, so his skill progression was naturally slower than during his escape from Yunzhou.
"If only you could talk."
Chen Sanshi swung himself onto the saddle. "Come on, let's go home. You still want more? Forget it, I barely have enough for myself—none for you!"
Qianxun snorted in protest and refused to move until a few lashes of the whip made it behave.
Even after being tamed, the White Swan horse still had a mind of its own. It grew pickier with food and would throw a fit when dissatisfied.
Still, it knew the difference between play and duty—on the battlefield, it never made a mistake.
That alone proved just how intelligent this creature was.
…
A few days later.
As usual, Chen Sanshi headed into the garrison city to check in.
Deputy General Yu Song had mentioned a lead about the Witch God Sect last time, so he figured there might finally be news in the coming days. The only question was—where would they find them hiding?
"Lord Chen."
At the entrance, he spotted Tang Yingke sitting inside a carriage.
Tang Yingke halted his driver and stepped down with a smile. "General, you don't have to keep avoiding me."
"Mm."
Chen Sanshi nodded. Things had long reached the point of no return—there was no need to keep pretending. "I still have to thank Brother Tang for stepping in twice before."
"Please, don't say that!"
Tang Yingke bowed deeply, almost to the ground. "You avenged me, General, even at the risk of offending the Heir Apparent. I'll never forget that. It's I who should be ashamed—hesitant and cowardly before, I failed to support you when I should have."
"You're too polite. You and I aren't related, yet you still helped me. That alone is rare. How could I hold a grudge over something like that?"
Chen Sanshi glanced at the carriage. "Brother Tang, are you leaving?"
"Yes."
Tang Yingke nodded. "To tell you the truth, I never cared much for martial arts. My father forced me into it. Now that the Selection Competition is over, and with my injuries as an excuse, he has no reason to keep me in Liangzhou.
"The Spring Imperial Examination is coming soon. I plan to return to the capital and pursue an official career as a scholar."
"Oh?"
Chen Sanshi smiled. "Then I'll congratulate you in advance, Brother Tang. May you experience that feeling of 'Spring breeze fills the proud horse's hooves, and in one day, all the flowers of Chang'an are seen.'"
The capital of the Great Sheng Dynasty was indeed called Chang'an—just as in the poem.
"What a fine verse!"
Tang Yingke praised. "I heard that you, Lord Chen, were once a scholar before taking up the spear. I didn't expect you to have such poetic talent. Had you stayed on that path, I doubt I could ever compare."
"You flatter me, Brother Tang."
Chen Sanshi smiled lightly.
Before leaving, Tang Yingke lowered his voice. "There's something I must warn you about, General."
He leaned closer. "You killed Wen Qiushi and took first place, earning the title of True Disciple. Neither the Heir Apparent nor Yin Hanwen will let that go. They'll come after you again—sooner or later.
"Especially Cao Fan. His cultivation has been advancing at an alarming rate lately. I've heard he paid a terrible price for that, though no one knows what it was."
Chen Sanshi's eyes narrowed slightly.
So it was true—Cao Fan's rapid progress came with a cost. The question was, what kind?
Tang Yingke continued, "And one more thing—be careful inside the army as well."
Drawing from the networks and insight he'd gained since childhood, Tang Yingke explained, "The Reserve Camp's soldiers come from various garrisons across three prefectures. Many of them have ties to the court.
"The commanding officer hasn't been appointed yet, but the Deputy General, Sha Wenlong, has strong connections with the Yin family and the Gao faction. There are others too—I didn't have time to dig deeper, but many are similarly linked.
"With the Grand Commander away, you must stay vigilant, General Chen.
"If I ever earn a voice in the imperial court, I'll do everything I can to help you from there."
With that, he bowed deeply once more.
His experience in Liangzhou—and witnessing Chen Sanshi killing Wen Qiushi on the arena—had taught him something.
If one always hesitated and feared consequences, one would never accomplish anything.
There was only one true path forward in this world: the path of pressing ever onward.
"Farewell, Brother Tang."
"Farewell."
They parted ways.
"Deputy General Sha…"
Chen Sanshi murmured. He hadn't met the man yet, but as acting overseer of the Reserve Camp, Sha Wenlong had to be at least at Meridian-Connecting Perfection, if not Profound Manifestation Realm.
And not just the Reserve Camp—even among the Eight Garrisons, at least two or three were directly under imperial control.
After Ning Changqun's death, replacements would certainly be sent to take command. And once the army expanded again—four new battalions would require four new Profound Manifestation-realm generals. His master simply didn't have that many people. The court would inevitably step in.
'Soldiers come, I'll block them. Water floods, I'll dam it.'
That was all he could do—take it one step at a time.
Yu Song was already at Meridian-Connecting Realm.
Thinking back to Amugu, Chen Sanshi still felt a chill.
If someone like that made a move against him, he could kill them with the Immortal Treasure Strange Flame—but that would risk exposure. Every time he used it, the danger of being discovered increased. Worse, it required setup beforehand—if ambushed suddenly, he might not have time to ignite it.
The Sword Qi Technique—the immortal art his master had passed down—was the true key to survival.
Unfortunately, he still lacked Azure Profound Qi.
After today's patrol, he planned to visit other temples and Daoist monasteries to test them out.
If that still failed, he'd have no choice but to seek out the people from the Seeking Immortals Tower at the Red Sleeve Pavilion. His master and Fourth Senior Brother had said they might still possess some Azure Profound Qi, though whether they'd part with it was another matter.
"Lord Chen."
Medical Officer Jiang approached. "The two Black-Iron Furnace Cauldrons you requested are ready. Physician Qian is also waiting—he wants to teach you the technique of tempering medicine with internal force."
Passing by the martial training grounds, Chen Sanshi saw Cao Fan practicing with his blade. He had indeed reached Transforming Strength. With his internal force fully unleashed and the top-grade mystic weapon—the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade—in hand, he shattered a massive boulder before him effortlessly, drawing loud cheers from the onlookers.
Beside him stood two old attendants.
The one serving the Heir Apparent radiated qi at the level of Meridian-Connecting Perfection, while the one attending Yin Hanwen was clearly weaker—likely below Minor Achievement of the same realm.
That made sense. Yin Hanwen came from a civil official's family; if every noble household secretly kept a Profound Manifestation Realm general-level expert, the world would've fallen into chaos long ago.
Ignoring them, Chen Sanshi went straight to the apothecary.
…
"Hu…"
Cao Fan finished his training, pale as death and utterly exhausted. He staggered to a seat and stuffed two red pills into his mouth. It took a long while before he finally recovered some color.
"Your Highness, you can't keep training like this."
Yin Hanwen pointed disdainfully toward the direction where Chen Sanshi had passed earlier. "That Chen fellow is only at Tempering Organ Perfection. Normally, even the fastest cultivator would take three months to reach Transforming Strength. Even if you stop practicing the Golden Crow Blood-Flame Blade and go back to your old technique, you'll still crush him easily.
"Besides, lately he's been wasting time—hunting in the mountains, visiting temples, and now I hear he's learning medicine too. With such a scattered mind, he won't need Your Highness to defeat him. He'll soon fall far behind people like Lu Shuhua!"
"No. He's not as simple as you think."
Cao Fan's gaze turned deep and steady. "You might not understand what it means for him to have come this far from a backwater like Poyang County. In a place that small, when he first began cultivating, he probably had to fight just to get a single bowl of low-grade Blood-Replenishing Soup.
"Yet despite that, he reached Tempering Organ Perfection within a single year. Now that he's in Liangzhou and has access to precious medicines, his progress will only accelerate.
"Don't be fooled by how he seems to waste time every day. He might be training harder than anyone when no one's looking.
"If I don't push myself harder, it's only a matter of time before he surpasses me."
"Your Highness…"
"You don't need to say more. My mind is made up!"
Cao Fan stood again, his tone resolute. "I've always believed in the saying—'Heaven rewards diligence.' Until I win the next duel, I will not stop!"
"…!"
Yin Hanwen knew he couldn't dissuade him. Instead, he turned to the old eunuch standing nearby. "Eunuch Zheng, won't you try to talk him out of it? The Golden Crow Blood-Flame Blade shortens one's lifespan! His Highness is still so young!"
"Master Yin," Eunuch Zheng said softly, "when His Highness sets his mind on something, no one can stop him. Besides… he's under tremendous pressure.
"He failed to claim first place this time. His Highness the Crown Prince is already displeased with him. And with the Little Prince so favored by His Majesty… unless that Chen fellow dies, His Highness will have no choice but to fight on."
"Then we'll make sure Chen dies!"
"Master Yin, don't act rashly."
Eunuch Zheng's face darkened. "Even though Grand Commander Sun isn't here, any assassination attempt will be investigated thoroughly later. If it's traced back, His Highness will be implicated!"
"Don't worry, Eunuch Zheng," Yin Hanwen said confidently. "I have a plan. His Highness's life and future are far too precious to be wasted on a filthy commoner like Chen!"
…
The apothecaries of the Eight Garrisons were no longer shabby huts—they were proper courtyards, with thick medicinal fragrance drifting through the air from afar. The medical officers were no longer low-ranking clerks either; they now held fourth-rank positions, titled Supervising Physician, and enjoyed generous benefits.
"Greetings, Supervising Physician Jiang."
"Ah, Lord Chen, you're quite the unusual one."
Jiang chuckled. "All the new disciples focus on improving their cultivation, while you—already a Thousand-Commander—still take the time to learn how to temper medicine with internal force. Aren't you afraid of wasting precious training hours? Still, since you wish to learn, I'll teach you everything I know."
Tempering medicine with internal force required mastery of a Transforming Strength technique.
But Chen Sanshi's goal today wasn't to learn—it was to collect his two Black-Iron Furnace Cauldrons.
After joining the army, he had one mystic weapon quota that he hadn't used. He had it exchanged for one cauldron. The other, he bought outright for 3,000 taels of silver—a painful expense.
Even a rich man wouldn't usually spend so much. But for cultivation, there was no other choice.
Once he handled those errands, Chen Sanshi left the garrison city and spent the day touring the temples and Daoist monasteries of Liangzhou.
The incense fire existed everywhere.
But compared to Ciyun Temple, it was pitifully weak—and every site was watched by attendants, leaving him no chance to experiment.
By dusk, he finally found a decrepit mountain shrine, its incense smoke so faint it was nearly invisible. No worshippers came by, and after dark, the place was completely empty.
"Old Mountain God, I'll borrow a bit of your incense fire."
Chen Sanshi sat cross-legged and began cultivating the Sword Qi Technique.
"The incense fire really works!"
"But… I can't win the tug-of-war!"
He could clearly feel it—the roots of his meridians connecting to the faint purple qi of the idol, trying to draw it into his body.
But he failed.
The old mountain god's statue clung tightly to its meager wisp of purple incense qi, unwilling to share even a trace.
"So stingy."
"If you'd just lend me some, I'd bring all my brothers here to pay tribute. That's over a thousand worshippers, you know!"
Still no response.
"Stubborn old rock. You'll never amount to much like this."
Chen Sanshi sighed helplessly.
At least he'd confirmed one thing: incense fire could replace spiritual qi for cultivation—but he needed a proper tool to draw it in. Something like the incense burner at Ciyun Temple.
Unfortunately, he had neither the reason nor the strength to get near that one.
"Looks like I'll really have to visit the Seeking Immortals Tower tomorrow."
With that thought, Chen Sanshi packed his things and started home.
But as he neared his house, he saw a group of armored soldiers on horseback waiting out front, torches blazing. Siqin and Mohua were at the door, trying to explain something.
"What's going on?"
"Lord Chen!"
Leading the group was Zhao Kang, who quickly dismounted and bowed. "Deputy General Yu has issued an order—General, you are to lead us immediately to the east of the city to join the operation to exterminate Yuyang Sect!"