Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting from Immortal Martial Arts

Late at night, Ningguo Mansion.

The treasury, located behind Ruihu Courtyard, was now heavily guarded, with only newly registered personal guards in full armor and wielding sharp weapons.

Jia Tang is now a Earl, and his household has a quota of two hundred personal guards. After returning to the capital this time, Jia Tang first transferred the Blood Refining Warriors to replenish the Tiger Guard to a full strength of eighty. Then he transferred one hundred warriors to become personal guards, fully equipped and stationed in the mansion. The vacancies of warriors were filled by strong soldiers.

Inside the treasury, Jia Tang slowly rose to a height of about ten feet off the ground. He reached out and pressed his hand on the wall brick in the upper left corner. With a click, the floor in the lower left corner contracted inward, revealing a tunnel that resembled a gaping abyss.

Jia Tang took the lead, guiding his four generals into the area and quickly making their way down.

Half a moment later, what came into view was a square space that was five zhang long, three zhang wide, and three zhang high. The space was filled with primordial energy, like a misty haze. Around the four sides, twenty or thirty black-clad assassins stood on the left and right, each holding a sharp blade.

A five-colored flag is planted in the center of the ground. The flagpole is engraved with talisman patterns and is made of a material that is neither gold, wood, nor stone. Five flags are hung high on the top of the pole, each corresponding to one of the five white tiger flags on the ground.

The Five Directions and Five Elements White Tiger Garrison Array is divided into one main flag and five auxiliary flags. The five main flags are the White Tiger flags of the five directions, the grade of which is unknown. They are inserted into the ground to connect with the earth veins and differentiate the five elements of primordial energy.

The Five Elements White Tiger Flag serves as a secondary element, embedded in the ground to absorb corresponding primordial energy, making it both offensive and defensive.

If there is a crisis of annihilation, the earth veins can be detonated directly, and the entire city will perish.

Within the capital city, only the royal family and the Jia family are qualified to install formations in the earth's veins; even the four princes of different surnames do not have such qualifications.

This is also the source of Jia Tang's suspicion that the Jia family has been constantly targeted.

There are also some secret rooms and several tunnels around the underground chamber. One of them is symmetrical to the tunnel that Jia Tang and others came through, and it is connected to the Pear Fragrance Courtyard in the West Mansion.

The secret chamber was where the two officials were in seclusion. At this moment, four old men came out one by one after hearing the noise. They were Wang Heyuan, the Grand Master with his hair and beard that were half black and half white; Li Jia, the Second Grand Master who was short and had white hair; and the other two were the twin brothers Zhao Daniu and Zhao Ergou, one fat and one thin.

Including Cui Shulin, who followed Jia Min south, all five of the two prefectures were first-level cultivators. They were the last trump cards that Jia Daihua and Jia Daishan entrusted to him, and five skilled intelligence operatives.

Over the years, we have established the renowned Qingyun Chamber of Commerce, and this place is the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce.

The Qingyun Chamber of Commerce is divided into several groups: caravans for delivering secret messages, restaurants for collecting information, and auction houses for trading intelligence. It also trains assassins and plants spies, each with its own specific role.

The five retainers were all people with tragic fates. After being subdued by the two founding ancestors of the Jia family, they served the Jia family with their lives. They never married and are now over sixty years old. Due to the depletion of their essence and blood in their early years, they do not have many years left to live.

Among them, the Grand Master is at the late stage of the first rank, eighth tempering; the Zhao brothers are both at the middle stage of the first rank, sixth tempering; the three belong to the East Palace; the Second Master, Li Jia, is at the late stage of the first rank, seventh tempering; and Cui Shulin, at the early stage of the first rank, third tempering, belongs to the West Palace.

Several of the enshrined ones had all cultivated golden bodies, but unfortunately, they had not yet cultivated golden blood at the fifth level and broke through at the sixth level.

Adding the four generals who are now at the mid-stage of Tier 1, this constitutes all the Tier 1 combat power under Jia Tang's command.

There are fewer of them than outsiders imagine, but their combat strength is quite high.

The four men hurriedly stepped forward to greet Jia Tang, addressing him as "Young Master," because the masters of the temple were always Jia Yan and his brother.

Jia Tang first sat cross-legged in front of the Five Directions Flag and instructed the group, "I am about to break through to the second level. No one is allowed to disturb me under any circumstances."

"only!"

Amidst the joyful and expectant gazes of the crowd, Jia Tang activated the formation. With a thought, the tiger tally appeared in the world, and after pointing it at himself, he slowly closed his eyes.

Twenty-four red rays appeared on the tiger tally's original golden and jade-colored body. These were the energy that Jia Tang had absorbed from the alien races and primordial beasts in Liaodong, and the remaining reserves he had stored up before reaching the peak of the first tier.

Based on the energy level within the body at the mid-stage of Blood Refinement, each step is calculated as one hundredth of the total energy level.

Fortunately, after many days of fierce fighting, the elite local troops of the alien race finally took to the field, allowing them to kill many alien warriors.

In addition to Miaohua, two mid-stage Tier 1 beasts, six early-stage Tier 1 beasts, and the Tier 2 Earth-Splitting Bear and three late-stage Tier 1 Earth-Wild Bears killed during the final rest period, as well as eight mid-stage Tier 1 beasts such as minks, deer, and snakes, the Tiger Talisman absorbed so much blood and qi.

The rules of the Tiger Tally are quite peculiar. Starting from Blood Refining, each stage is divided into three phases: early, middle, and late. To help someone who has been inscribed on the Jade Register break through their cultivation, the Tiger Tally requires the blood and qi of ten people of the same stage and period. The amount decreases by one-third for each stage ahead, and doubles for each stage behind. It has no effect beyond two major stages. As a general, Jia Tang's breakthrough required twice the amount of blood and qi of others.

A red light merged into the tiger tally, and the golden tiger's mouth was aimed at Jia Tang. Strands of pure, thick, and righteous blood energy continuously flowed into his body and were absorbed by Jia Tang.

Jia Tang carefully controlled his own internal energy, intertwined with the power of blood and qi, and slowly spread it to the Niwan Palace, where the Yintang and Baihui acupoints meet on his head. As if extending tentacles, the tip of the internal energy gently opened the Niwan Palace.

The Niwan Palace is the abode of the supreme deity, the spirit of the entire body, the life cave of all gods, the source of bodily fluids, the jade chamber of the soul essence, and is also known as the Yellow Court.

As if an ancient bronze palace appeared in Jia Tang's eyes, his inner energy and blood energy involuntarily spread forward until they enveloped the palace, and then slowly washed away the blue rust on the palace's exterior.

Before long, as the protective aura thinned, the exterior of the palace was cleaned and revealed to be as smooth as glass, displaying a dazzling light.

Just as he was about to unleash the power of the tiger tally once more, the palace door opened slightly, revealing a vast interior space. Nine towering jade pillars supported the top of the palace, and inside was a golden jade futon upon which sat two illusory figures. One had short hair, a flat top, and a square face, and was tall and robust; the other had broad shoulders and a strong build, with sharp features, and was dressed in magnificent robes and wore a magnificent crown.

Upon seeing this, Jia Tang's heart trembled, and even the internal energy within his Huangting (a point on his forehead) began to shake.

"Isn't this what I looked like in my past life? My soul from my past life is here."

"A giant pillar? The Tiger Tally space I thought I possessed was actually my own Yellow Court?"

Just then, the tiger tally outside transformed into a golden ray of light and disappeared into the two figures inside the hall. The illusory figures immediately began to slowly dissipate, and specks of light emerged and intertwined, beginning to condense a new divine soul—Jia Tang, with a robust physique, fierce tiger eyes, and wearing a bullfighting outfit, appeared here.

With his spirit manifesting, Jia Tang in the underground chamber also felt his martial body become clear and relaxed, with waves of comfort washing over him.

"It turns out that only now have the souls of the two lifetimes fully merged, officially entering the second stage and increasing lifespan by four Jiazi (60 years)."

"Thanks to the tiger tally protecting my soul from my past life, the merging of my two souls has now created a complete divine soul."

A first-tier cultivator needs to open their Niwan Palace to break through to the second tier, which only requires a wisp of divine soul power. Moreover, the second tier does not require the cultivation of the divine soul.

Now that a complete divine soul has been constructed, Jia Tang has greatly reduced the time he needs to cultivate his divine soul for subsequent realms.

Outside, Jia Tang's martial body was absorbing a massive amount of vital energy from the underground chamber, forming vortexes of vital energy. Through continuous absorption by his martial body, it combined with his blood to transform into martial blood. The martial blood surged within his body, like thunder exploding, with continuous booming sounds. Continuous blood energy began to emerge, and drops of essence blood began to condense.

Blood and Qi are transformed into Qi through the internal organs. This Qi is stored in the Dantian and, through continuous purification and compression, is absorbed by the soul to form divine consciousness. The more divine consciousness one has, the more vital energy one can control the body to absorb, creating a continuous cycle.

This is also a process of tempering the martial body once again, with the soul and body rising together.

The four guards and retainers around Jia Tang felt the increasingly heavy invisible pressure, and their excitement was palpable, their faces flushed.

More than a decade has passed since the deaths of Jia Daihua and his companion, and the Jia family has finally undertaken a second major overhaul.

With Jia Tang's innate golden body and the foundation of all nine levels of refinement, he would be invincible among his peers once he entered the second tier. With the help of Yuan soldiers and the great formation, he would not be afraid of attacks from the third tier.

One hour...

Two hours...

Three hours...

Jia Tang stopped absorbing the vital energy and slowly released his divine sense. Although his eyes were closed, every detail that his divine sense touched was clearly visible in his mind.

His divine sense continued to emanate outwards, penetrating the earth and spreading throughout the east and west mansions. He discovered that dawn had broken and the servants had begun cleaning the mansions.

It continued to spread, covering an area of ​​one li, three li, five li... nine li.

When the divine sense covered a distance of nine miles, it was as if it had touched an invisible barrier, which blocked the spread of the divine sense.

"This is consistent with what was said in the manuscript left in the manor; at the Blood Refining Realm, the divine sense of a cultivator at several refinements of martial blood can only cover a range of several miles."