All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 23 Breakthrough! Jiuquan

Zhou Qing brought the meat home.

He opened the earthenware jar, and inside were only four slices of pure white meat, about the same thickness as the slices of meat he used to make braised pork with preserved mustard greens in his previous life.

Even with all four pieces combined, they couldn't cover two palms.

"What kind of meat is this?"

The meat had no smell and looked like the oil on a fish.

"Pfft!" The Green Silk Gu indicated that it contained a special toxin that could greatly replenish qi and blood. It wanted to eat it.

"Will it be harmful to me?" Zhou Qing wondered to himself.

"Pfft~" The Green Silk Gu indicated that with it around, there was nothing to worry about.

"Let me try it first."

He asked the old woman to steam the four pieces of meat, and then ate them in one bite.

A sweet yet strange flavor filled his mouth.

"I don't feel anything." Zhou Qing only felt a little hungry.

"Dinner's ready." The old woman placed the food on the table.

"coming."

Zhou Qing sat down on the small stool, and suddenly her expression changed, her entire face turning red at a visible speed.

He felt a fire burning in his stomach!

"Grandma, I'll eat later!"

Zhou Qing hurriedly went to the courtyard and began practicing the White Cloud Stance.

Half an hour later, he was soaked to the bone, exhausted, but his expression was somewhat excited.

【Technique: White Cloud Stake】

[Progress: Beginner (550/800)]

In just one hour, we've gained another 20 progress points.

The thickness of the blood and qi in my chest is almost two fingers.

A moment later, Zhou Qing felt a tightness in his chest.

"Puff puff." The Green Silk Gu helped to regulate the Qi and blood.

Soon, the feeling of chest tightness gradually subsided.

"Is this the side effect of the toxin? It can't even directly immunize against the toxin resistance of the Green Silk Gu."

Zhou Qing became increasingly curious about the origin of the meat.

It seems that martial artists have many secrets.

"With this meat, breaking through the barrier within ten days is a sure thing."

Zhou Qing's gaze was firm.

As your skills improve, you'll have more ways to make money.

Once he gets through the difficult initial period, his money will snowball, and his progress will actually accelerate.

At least the two stages of skin and flesh refining can be quickly built up with resources.

"This meat is truly amazing."

After eating the meat, Zhou Qing wasn't hungry all night.

Seven days later.

Front yard of Baiyun Martial Arts School.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

"clang!"

As Zhou Qing was frying sand, he suddenly felt a surge of blood and qi in his chest, a warm current spreading throughout his body, and finally all of it converging in his palms, whereupon a powerful force concentrated.

His palm pierced the bottom of the pot, making a sound, but he felt no pain at all.

He pulled out his palm and found that it had swollen up. The skin below the wrist was still normal yellow skin, but the palm had turned grayish-white, like a bluestone slab.

He rubbed the skin of his palms, feeling as if he were wearing a pair of leather gloves.

"so amazing."

Zhou Qing plunged his palm back into the scorching sand. The temperature that had previously caused his palm pain now only felt warm.

The skin on his palms seemed to have become very tough, with obvious textures appearing on his palms and the backs of his hands, as if a rough stratum corneum had grown.

"Gray clouds! It's a gray cloud layer!"

"Aqing has broken through the skin barrier!"

The apprentices resting nearby noticed Zhou Qing's change and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"What Ah Qing! From now on, I have to call him Senior Brother Zhou!"

The apprentices who had not yet passed the test were filled with envy and immediately changed their way of addressing each other.

"I remember that Senior Brother Zhou has only been cultivating for less than two months? He broke through the skin barrier so quickly! That's amazing!"

“I remember! Senior Brother Zhou arrived at the martial arts school ten days later than me, so it took him fifty-one days to break through the skin barrier!”

For most apprentices, breaking through the Skin Refining Realm within three months and becoming a Skin Refining Realm martial artist is quite impressive.

A breakthrough within two months is truly remarkable and can only be described as genius.

After all, not everyone has a good background and can afford to pay eight or even more than ten taels of tuition right away.

Although some of the senior students in the martial arts school broke through earlier, and there were even geniuses like Lin Qiu who broke through the skin barrier in twenty-eight days, they were envious, but deep down they still felt resentful.

Because they felt that under the same conditions, they might not be unable to achieve the same result.

For at least a month, Zhou Qing, like them, did not take the Qi and Blood Soup.

As a result, he broke through the barrier immediately after taking the Qi-Qi-Xu-Shu Tang for only seven days.

Zhou Qing, an orphan who lost both parents, did the physically demanding work of raising silkworms while also caring for a lame woman who had little earning power. The difficulty of this is unimaginable. You have to admire her.

"Senior Brother Zhou is indeed a genius!"

"Indeed, hard work is just as important as talent!"

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Zhou."

The apprentices all stepped forward to offer their congratulations.

Some of the senior disciples who had broken through their cultivation levels came over to offer their congratulations when they heard the commotion in the front yard.

"I was fortunate to break through, thank you very much!" Zhou Qing returned the greetings one by one, without any arrogance.

His own efforts are certainly very important, but without the Green Silk Gu, he wouldn't have been able to break through so quickly.

"Pfft pfft~ Pfft pfft~" Qing Si Gu sensed his thoughts and was very happy, indicating that she was very important.

"Ah Qing, congratulations! I knew you could do it!" Xu Lin stepped forward and patted Zhou Qing on the shoulder.

"Just lucky, just lucky," Zhou Qing said with a smile.

At this moment, Wei Hongyu also arrived at the front yard. Seeing that Zhou Qing's palms had turned gray, she smiled and nodded at him.

[Occupation: Martial Artist]

【Technique: White Cloud Stake】

[Progress: Proficient (6/800)]

[Effects: Relieves muscle tension and improves blood circulation; as blood and energy flow through, the skin becomes incredibly resilient, greatly increasing defensive capabilities; the strength of a single arm weighing 200 jin (approximately 100 kg) is easily achieved.]

Zhou Qing clasped his hands in a fist salute to Wei Hongyu, and looking at the professional attributes in his field of vision, he could finally be considered a true martial artist.

"Junior Brother Zhou has broken through the skin barrier so quickly; breaking through the flesh barrier in the future is just around the corner."

At this moment, seeing Wei Hongyu also arrive at the front yard, Lin Qiu, who had been calm, put on a smiling face and walked through the crowd to congratulate Zhou Qing.

"Not at all, not at all. Compared to Senior Brother Lin, I'm nothing," Zhou Qing quickly replied. He had always kept his distance from Lin Qiu.

"Junior Brother Zhou is too modest," Lin Qiu said with a smile, his gaze constantly scanning Zhou Qing.

He investigated everyone in the martial arts school, including Zhou Qing.

He had heard about the dramatic changes in Zhou Qing's family over the past two months. Zhou Xian's changes were consistent with the symptoms of being poisoned by Gu, except that there were no signs of Gu worms on Zhou Qing's body.

Today, he was carrying a Green Silk Gu, but upon close inspection, there was still no reaction, which completely put his suspicions about Zhou Qing to rest.

'It seems the owner of the Wine Worm isn't at the White Cloud Martial Arts School.'

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Qiu made an excuse to leave the martial arts school.

They went to the six martial arts schools in Black Mountain Town to investigate. If even one person could find the wine worm, the mission would be complete.

Otherwise, they would be controlled by the corpse worms and forced to live among the corpses.

The next morning.

Zhou Qing descended the mountain with the well-fed and watered Qing Si Gu, carrying two pheasants in his hand.

After breaking through the barrier, he became much stronger and ran much faster.

If I need to pick mulberry leaves in the future, I'll probably have to go several times a day.

Zhou Qing carried the pheasant to Baiweilou Restaurant in Changle Lane.

"Two wild pheasants, plump and strong, two hundred and thirty coins." Ma Liu took the two pheasants.

"Thank you, Sixth Master." Zhou Qing clasped his hands in thanks. Wild pheasants normally only sell for around eighty coins, so this price was definitely very high.

"Brother Zhou, you're too kind. You're a martial artist who has broken through your cultivation level. I can't accept being called Sixth Master. Just call me Ma Liu or Manager Ma."

Ma Liu took out two coins of silver and thirty copper coins and presented them to the emperor.

"Then thank you very much, Manager Ma." Zhou Qing put away the money and clasped his hands in a fist salute again.

He wouldn't be so naive as to call the other party "Ma Liu," after all, the Ma family behind Baiweilou was a powerful family in the town.

Zhou Qing sat down at the food stall at the entrance and ordered a sweet tofu pudding and a savory tofu pudding.

"So, Brother She, have you thought things through?"

Just as the tofu pudding was served, a man with a long face walked up to the stall and clasped his hands in greeting to a dark-skinned man dressed as a hunter, carrying a bow and arrows on his back.

"It's him?!" Zhou Qing, sitting at the table behind him, had a slight change in expression.

The horse-faced man was Zhang Jian, the elder brother of Zhang Dahai and Zhang Cheng, and the steward of the Zhao family.

Zhang Dahai and Zhang Cheng died one after another at his hands, but Zhang Jian seemed completely unconcerned and hadn't contacted him at all in the past month.

After all, Zhang Cheng had a conflict with him on the street the day before he disappeared, which many people witnessed.

"I need to think about it some more; that place is too dangerous," the man dressed as a hunter said hesitantly.

"The price is negotiable!" Zhang Jian said in a low voice, his eyes filled with anger.

"Give me seven more days, and I'll give you an answer in seven days." The man was silent for a moment before giving his reply.

"You said seven days, then another seven days, almost a month! Do you think I'm easy to fool?! I'll wait three more days, and you must give me an answer by then!"

Zhang Jian gritted his teeth, his expression twisted, and then turned and left.

"Puff puff puff!" At this moment, the Green Silk Gu suddenly indicated that Zhang Jian had the aura of Gu worms on his body.

"What?!" Zhou Qing was shocked.

At this moment, seeing the man's uncertain expression, Zhou Qing brought the tofu pudding to his table.

"Uncle She, has that scoundrel Zhang Jian caused you trouble?"

Over the course of more than a month, Zhou Qing would occasionally bring some mountain products to sell, and he became familiar with these mountain people.

The hunter in front of me was named She Quanyi, and he lived in Caisang Village at the foot of Black Wind Mountain.

He wasn't a martial artist, but he was an excellent archer and could hunt pheasants, badgers, and other mountain prey every few days, making him one of the better-off villagers in the area.

“Hey Zhang Jian asked me to take him to a place called Jiuquan in the mountains.”

She Quanyi sighed.

(End of this chapter)