Chapter 3: Divine Ability

The Pharmacist, harboring his own peculiar notions, declared, "Force-feed him the spirit blood, and plenty of it! Make him drink it as if his life depends on it! Each draught of spirit blood can slightly elevate his constitution. Though excessive consumption won't necessarily awaken a spirit body, it will forge a physique far more formidable than any spirit body!"

"A single punch could slay a dragon!"

The Village Chief guffawed, "That's certain to terrify those scoundrels outside the Great Ruins!"

The two exchanged knowing smiles. The Pharmacist exited the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

The following day, the villagers presented several more Iron Bone Tigers, Green Jiao Snakes, Thunder Birds, and Gold Turtles. These elders, both male and female, were brimming with purpose, their spirits soaring. However, this provoked the Pharmacist's ire. "Feeding him so much spirit blood at once will surely kill him!"

The mute blacksmith, hauling two Thunder Birds, grinned toothlessly, letting out a series of guttural sounds.

"Mu'er can handle it!" Granny Si's confidence in Qin Mu was unwavering.

The Pharmacist shot them a withering glare but said no more. He retrieved the insect eggs and continued to refine the blood. Yet, complications arose. This time, the four spirit bloods were particularly potent. After drinking, Qin Mu's body swelled like an inflated balloon, causing the elders to grow extremely anxious, fearing he might explode with a loud *bang*.

The Pharmacist produced several hollow silver needles and inserted them into Qin Mu's back and the crown of his head. From the needle holes, red, blue, and purple streams of gas hissed outwards.

After a moment, the silver needles ceased their exhalation. The Pharmacist removed the needles, giving the elders another stern look. "Step by step, one step at a time! You all want to stuff him into a giant fatty in one go, and that will only kill him! He's still feeling the aftereffects now. You all need to keep him busy. Later, Butcher will spar with him in the ways of the blade, Grandpa Horse will practice fists with him, and Cripple, you accompany him in leg techniques to help him digest."

"Mu'er, come practice the blade!"

Butcher, supporting himself with his hands, sprang onto a solitary wooden post. Lacking a lower body, his torso stood upon the post, bringing him to roughly the same height as Qin Mu. Butcher wielded two pig-slaughtering knives. Unlike ordinary cleavers, which are typically short with round wooden handles and a curved edge resembling a moon with four-tenths removed, Butcher's knives, while similar in appearance, were several times larger. Each blade measured three feet and two inches long, with a thick spine and a thin edge, honed to a dazzling brightness. The two blades, placed together, formed an arched doorway, intimidatingly large.

Qin Mu's cleaver was also of similar size, but he held only one. It was incredibly heavy, weighing over twenty *jin*. Normally, the boy could only lift one such blade, but since consuming the four spirit bloods, his strength had increased significantly, and he could now wield the single blade without feeling its weight.

"Grandpa Tu, be careful!"

Qin Mu, single-handedly holding the blade, charged towards Butcher atop the solitary post. Butcher laughed heartily, his half-body still radiating a heroic spirit that soared to the heavens.

*Night Battle Through Wind and Rain*!

Qin Mu's single blade flew up and down, his footwork fluid as he advanced, chopping towards Butcher. The blade light grew faster and faster, the wind howling around him, a continuous roar.

"Slow, too slow! You're too slow!"

Butcher roared and shouted, his double blades a blur like rain. The clanging sounds of steel against steel were like a violent downpour hitting pear blossoms. He sternly commanded, "Faster! Even faster! Your cleaver can be faster! The move *Night Battle Through Wind and Rain* demands speed! The cleaver must be as fast as the wind and rain in the dark of night, scattering across the entire city! Give me more speed!"

The blade light quickened, resembling three silver dragons weaving up and down around the solitary post. The wind grew louder, a hissing sound accompanying the blade *qi*. Where the blade struck the ground, deep gashes instantly appeared.

Those were blade marks.

"Very good, that's the speed I want! The faster your blade, the stronger the blade *qi*! However, you are still not fast enough. You must be fast enough for your blade intent to be like a fierce fire, burning, burning even more!"

Butcher, appearing almost mad, danced with his knives, dazzling Qin Mu. He cried out, "Burn! Burn! Let your blade burn, let your *qi* burn, let your spirit burn! Only after burning can you achieve divine ability!"

*Hu*——

His blade slashed through the air, and the friction with the wind caused it to ignite with a *hu* sound. His two blades became two fiery dragons, weaving and striking with increasing momentum.

The fiery dragons lunged straight towards Qin Mu. He had no chance to block. Suddenly, the two fiery dragons soared into the sky, tearing through the dark night above the dilapidated old village, an astonishing sight.

Qin Mu was stunned. Butcher's blade was truly terrifying.

Above the village, darkness surged, swallowing the fiery dragons, the blade light, and the blade *qi*. This darkness seemed alive, and it appeared angered by Butcher's act of raising his blade towards it. An incredibly oppressive blackness pressed down upon the village, as if intending to devour it whole.

However, the stone statues at the four corners of the village suddenly brightened, pushing the darkness back.

"Thief Old Heaven!"

Butcher, holding his blades in both hands, stood on the solitary post and roared upwards, sounding somewhat crazed. "This old man will cleave this blackness sooner or later! I will kill my way back sooner or later! My waist was severed, my legs were lost, but not my brain! This old man wants to kill..."

"Grandpa Tu is crazy again. But Grandpa Tu's blade is truly too fast. He has refined his blade technique into a divine ability. When will I be able to practice until I am as fast as him?"

Qin Mu gazed admiringly at the crazed Butcher, then put down his cleaver and went to find the one-armed Grandpa Horse.

"Butcher's blade needs to cut out flames to be considered a divine ability, while my fist needs to strike out thunderous sounds to be a divine ability!"

Grandpa Horse had a serious expression. He clenched his one fist, and his bones crackled with a series of popping sounds. He said indifferently, "Mu'er, when you can grasp thunder and lightning in your hand, your fist can be considered to have achieved a small measure of success. Butcher's blade is very fast, while my fist breaks through the speed of sound, breaking the restraint of the air and exploding with incomparable power! Even with one hand, you can practice fist techniques. One hand is also a thousand hands! One hand can also send out thunder and lightning!"

*Hong long*——

A muffled thunderclap sounded. That was the fist Grandpa Horse unleashed, like a peal of thunder exploding.

*Hong hong hong*!

A series of thunderous sounds echoed. Qin Mu's naked eyes could barely catch the speed of Grandpa Horse's fists. The afterimages of his fists made him see the one-armed Grandpa Horse as no longer having one arm, but rather a thousand hundred arms.

Grandpa Horse's fists grew faster and faster. Those thousand hundred arms actually held thunder and lightning in their palms, with *zi zi la la* electric light. Every strike was accompanied by rolling thunder and scattering electric light!

"This is the Thousand Hands Buddha within the Thunder Sound Eight Styles! As long as your fist is faster than sound, you can control thunder! Every fist and every palm can destroy the opponent's soul and body, leaving them to suffer ten thousand tribulations and never reincarnate!"

Grandpa Horse retracted his fist and said in a deep voice, "Use the Thunder Sound Eight Styles I taught you to attack me! Strike out thunderous sounds, grasp thunder and lightning in your hand, and control thunder!"

Qin Mu composed himself. The skills Grandpa Horse and Grandpa Tu had imparted today were different from before. Before, they had taught him to practice blade techniques and fist methods. This time, however, they both mentioned a single word.

Divine ability!

This word was somewhat strange; it was the first time he had heard it.

Qin Mu unleashed the Thunder Sound Eight Styles and attacked Grandpa Horse. Although Grandpa Horse had only one arm, he effortlessly blocked all of Qin Mu's attacks.

Unlike Butcher, who seemed crazed but was always measured in his blade clashes with Qin Mu, never injuring him, Grandpa Horse showed no mercy in his moves. As soon as Qin Mu's move had a flaw, he would deliver a punch. Though the punches weren't heavy, Qin Mu was soon beaten until his nose was blue and his face swollen.

Only when Qin Mu could no longer continue did Grandpa Horse allow him to rest.

"Legs are wind, they are earth, they are the root of strength."

Cripple propped himself up with his crutch. He had only one leg remaining, yet he was the one teaching Qin Mu leg techniques. Before, Qin Mu thought the most normal person in the village was Grandpa Cripple, who always smiled simply and honestly, giving a feeling of extreme reliability.

However, ever since Cripple had smiled simply and honestly by the riverside and stabbed to death the woman who had crawled out from within the cowhide, Qin Mu was no longer so sure. Cripple's smile was a smile that concealed a knife; no one knew if his smile was real or fake.

He said to Qin Mu with a smile, "Mu'er, Butcher boasts about his blade, Grandpa Horse boasts about his fist, while the true divine ability lies in the legs. If you can't chop the opponent to death, and you can't overpower them with your fists, what should you do? Of course, you run! Life is the most important thing! Life isn't just about poetry and distant places; it's also about getting by! So, being alive is victory! As long as you run fast enough, you can run on walls, on water surfaces, even in the sky! Run fast enough, and everything becomes flat ground! Flames and air are all flat ground! When you can run so fast that even sound cannot catch up to you in your ears, then you can be considered to have initially cultivated the divine ability of leg techniques. Mu'er, come, onto the iron ingot."