Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

The stench of blood still lingered on the deck of the Zhenyuan.

Xu Hao kicked aside a broken piece of wood at his feet and gestured with his chin towards the still-stunned sailors: "What are you standing there for? Waiting for me to treat you to a meal? Go and bring all the fresh water, food, and arrows from Wang Mazi's ship over. Don't leave a single thing behind."

The sailors snapped out of their daze and hurriedly got to work.

The move was only halfway done when a bizarre scene unfolded.

The bodies of the Blood Flag Alliance pirates floating on the sea, along with the shattered planks of the speedboat, did not drift with the current.

Countless tiny, dark red tendrils peeked out from the gaps in the black hull below the waterline of the Zhenyuan.

These fleshy tendrils, like living creatures attracted by the stench, clung tightly to the floating flesh and wood, dragging them little by little into the hull.

Accompanied by a tooth-grinding crunching sound, the corpse visibly shriveled up and eventually blended into the hull.

The deck was deathly silent.

"Thud." A sailor's wooden bucket fell onto the deck, spilling fresh water all over the floor.

His legs went weak, his crotch was soaked, and his teeth chattered: "Demon...demon ship! This ship eats people!"

Fear spread like a plague among the crowd. Several timid people were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, and some even scrambled to the stern of the boat, fearing that the wooden planks beneath their feet would suddenly open their jaws and swallow them whole.

Xu Hao stood atop the menacing black iron beast head at the bow of the ship, looking down at the group of trembling men.

"Look at your pathetic self," Xu Hao sneered, his voice exceptionally clear in the sea breeze. "This is called a demon ship? Open your dog eyes and see clearly! This is a divine object bestowed by the Sea God! Only the truly strong are worthy to pilot it. This ship doesn't eat its own people; it only eats enemies and traitors. If you think being the Sea God's food is a blessing, then you can jump overboard right now."

No one dared to jump.

Xu Hao ignored them and focused his mind.

The scroll trembled slightly. After Zhenyuan absorbed this batch of blood essence, the blessed land's level remained unchanged, but a new function was added.

[Blessed Land Feedback: "Flesh and Blood Warehouse" activated.]

In a hidden spot at the very bottom of the ship's cabin, a space resembling a stomach sac has been created, continuously purifying the chaotic blood and qi that it had just devoured.

Xu Hao tried to manipulate it, and in no time, three dark red beads, each the size of a longan, appeared in his hand.

Unlike the nauseatingly violent resentment of Blood Fiend Crystal, this thing is as pure as a pool of blood.

【Essence Blood Beads: Made from purified blood essence, with no side effects, they can strengthen blood and qi.】

Xu Hao held the beads in his hand, his gaze sweeping across the deck. "Luo Meng, get over here."

Luo Meng was directing people to tie the sails when he heard the noise and quickly ran over. Although he tried his best to hide it, his eyes still revealed fear when he looked at the bottom of the boat.

"The boss."

Xu Hao casually tossed a bead of essence blood over.

Luo Meng caught it hastily, feeling a burning sensation in his palm as a surge of energy penetrated through his skin.

"I ate it." Xu Hao's tone left no room for argument.

Luo Meng gritted his teeth, tilted his head back, and swallowed it.

As soon as it entered his stomach, his muscles swelled up, and the raging bull tattoo on his back turned a fiery red.

He felt the bottleneck that had been stagnating within his body suddenly shatter, and his bones made a cracking sound.

"Mid-stage Bone Forging Realm?" Luo Meng stared at his hands in disbelief, then abruptly knelt on one knee. "Thank you for the reward, Chief!"

Xu Hao then pointed out the two sailors who had fought the fiercest earlier. "You two, bring me a bowl."

A bead of essence blood was thrown into a bowl of water and instantly dissolved, turning the water into a viscous, crimson liquid.

The two drank it together, and their faces immediately turned red, and their strength increased greatly.

The fear on the deck vanished instantly, replaced by a wolf-like greed.

The sailors, who had just wet their pants in fear, now stared at the floating corpses on the sea, feeling a pang of regret that some bodies had drifted away and hadn't been absorbed by the ship.

They were already hoping that some foolish ship would come and deliver their heads.

"You saw it?" Xu Hao toyed with the last bead in his hand. "On the Zhenyuan, the rules are simple. Kill enemies and steal things to earn merit. Once you have enough merit, there are plenty of these miraculous drugs. You can choose to be a traitor to feed the ship, or you can take the drugs to become stronger."

"We are willing to die for the leader!" The shouts were deafening.

In the corner, Chen Yuanzhi was using a calligraphy brush to register the supplies that had been moved over.

Looking at the blood and bits of flesh scattered on the ground, his stomach churned, but he gritted his teeth and didn't vomit.

The pen tip drew a heavy ink mark on the ledger.

He understood what Xu Hao meant.

On this cannibalistic sea, a conscience alone is not enough to survive; one must be more wicked than the wicked to live and return home to seek revenge.

"Second Master, are you done counting?" Xu Hao walked over.

Chen Yuanzhi closed the ledger: "Fresh water is enough for half a month, dried meat can last for ten days. Three hundred arrows."

Xu Hao nodded, but his brows furrowed slightly.

While inspecting the ship, he noticed that after the Zhenyuan absorbed the wreckage of the fast ship, the ship emitted a very faint, unusual fragrance.

A notification popped up in my mind: [Tracking-type scent detected, now integrated into the ship's hull.]

"Boss, what's wrong?" Luo Meng came over.

"Wang Mazi coated the bottom of his boat with spices, and now the smell has seeped onto our ship." Xu Hao didn't panic at all; instead, he laughed out loud. "He left a navigational marker so we wouldn't get lost at sea."

Chen Yuanzhi's expression changed: "The Blood Bone Alliance's tracking methods? We need to get rid of the smell quickly!"

"Wash? Why should we wash?" Xu Hao patted the gunwale, feeling the hunger emanating from the deck beneath his feet. "We're all still hungry. Since someone's offering us food, it would be impolite not to accept it."

He turned to Luo Meng and asked, "Are there any good places around here to entertain guests?"

Luo Meng pondered for a moment, then pointed to a patch of dark water on the nautical chart: "Thirty miles to the east is the 'Iron Reef Maze.' It's full of hidden reefs, and the magnetic field is very chaotic; compasses will malfunction if you go in. Large ships can't get in, and even fast ships have to slow down. It's a good place for an ambush."

"That's it." Xu Hao waved his hand. "Turn the rudder, let's go to the Iron Reef Maze."

The Zhenyuan turned its bow around and, like a well-fed and savage beast, silently slipped into the night.

……

Two days later, the wind and rain started again, on the sea dozens of miles away.

Three enormous black dorsal fins sliced ​​through the waves like sharp blades, moving at an astonishing speed.

This is a "Blood Shark" specially tamed by the Blood Corpse Alliance, which is extremely sensitive to the scent of Soul-Chasing Incense.

Behind the Blood Shark, a specially modified black warship was cutting through the waves at full speed.

On the deck, Sun Niqiu leaned on his iron crutch, letting the sea rain lash his face.

He stared intently at the direction the Blood Shark was swimming, a twisted fanaticism appearing on his pale face.

"Xu Hao... I can smell your scent from thirty miles away." Sun Niqiu gripped the iron crutch tightly, his knuckles turning white. "Wash your neck clean and wait, Grandpa's coming to get something from you."