Chapter 78: Picking a Big One

At this point, he sighed.

"The First to Third Transformation of Qi and Blood, to put it bluntly, is just a process of accumulation.

As long as you’re not too old and your Qi and Blood haven’t started to decline,

and you’re willing to put in the time to cultivate it,

you’ll eventually be able to generate Qi Blood Power. It’s just a matter of time.

But a Martial Arts Family is different. That’s a Realm you simply can’t reach just by grinding away over time."

A thought flashed through Hu Qi’s mind, and he let a perfectly timed look of curiosity appear on his face.

"If you don’t mind, could you tell me more about what kind of Realm a Martial Arts Family is?"

Perhaps finding it a bit boring for the two of them to just sit there, Xie Fei didn’t refuse. He pushed up his glasses.

"There’s nothing I can’t talk about.

But I don’t know much. Beings like that are not someone we can come into contact with.

Most of what I know is just hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt."

At this, he took a deep breath, his tone growing solemn.

"If you say a Secret Martial Artist in the Qi Blood Realm has merely broken through the limits of the human body, then a Secret Martial Artist at the level of a Martial Arts Family can already be considered a true monster, something non-human..."

As Xie Fei continued, Hu Qi gained a clearer understanding of the Martial Arts Family Realm.

A Martial Arts Family is a powerful existence that has opened their Essence Element Divine Treasure, completed a leap in their own Life Level, and undergone a metamorphosis.

As for the specific method of opening it, or what a Divine Treasure actually was, Xie Fei had no idea.

He only knew that Secret Martial Artists at the Martial Arts Family level were complete and utter monsters.

Their speed alone could rival a speeding car, and their strength was enough to shatter a rock two or three stories high with a single punch.

More importantly, a Secret Martial Artist in this Realm undergoes some kind of unknown change.

Their Lifespan far exceeds that of a normal person. As for how long they could live, Xie Fei admitted he didn’t know, but it was definitely much longer than an ordinary person’s.

Furthermore, the requirements for Qi and Blood to achieve this breakthrough are extremely high, as difficult as ascending to heaven.

The Shexin Sect was founded over a hundred years ago.

As far as he knew, there were only eleven experts at the Martial Arts Family level, and that number even included several of the Sect Leader’s Direct Disciples.

"Breaking through to the Martial Arts Family is my life’s goal."

Xie Fei’s words were filled with longing for the Martial Arts Family level.

Hu Qi couldn’t help but fall silent.

After Xie Fei’s explanation, he had a much deeper understanding of the Martial Arts Family Realm.

In this recruitment round alone, there were at least three to four hundred trainees.

They recruited once a year. Over more than a hundred years, that added up to at least sixty or seventy thousand trainees.

And mind you, these were all physically fit, powerful combat experts—the elite of the elite.

Even so, after the first round of selection, only eleven had emerged from such a massive number of people. The odds were incredibly small.

If you lowered the recruitment standard to that of an ordinary person, it would be no exaggeration to say the chances of becoming a Martial Arts Family were less than one in a hundred thousand.

Afterward, Hu Qi asked a few more questions about how to break through to the Martial Arts Family level, but Xie Fei didn’t know.

He only said that after reaching Qi Blood Three Transformations Perfection, if one wanted to break through, they needed to report their status up the chain of command.

Only after receiving the Sect Leader’s permission would they be taught the true Secret Martial Arts inheritance of the Shexin Sect to help them break through.

"Then, what happens if the breakthrough fails?"

Hu Qi’s eyes shifted slightly as he asked the most critical question.

"Failure means death. In a slightly better case, you become a cripple."

Xie Fei’s tone grew heavy as he said this.

Hu Qi frowned. He hadn’t expected the consequences to be so severe.

At the same time, he also understood why there were only eleven.

The others had either not dared to attempt the breakthrough or had failed in the attempt.

Just then.

"We’ve got a situation!"

Xie Fei said suddenly, pointing to a corner of the monitor.

That camera feed was one Hu Qi had previously instructed him to watch closely.

On the screen,

two black figures suddenly flashed past.

...

Under the dim curtain of night,

two figures moved with extreme speed.

They leaped directly over the two-meter-high fence, their bodies landing lightly on the ground without a sound, and sprinted straight into the cemetery.

"Ah Ling, my grandpa told me two new bodies were buried today. Both died by accident, no sickness or disease. We’re in for a real treat this time."

By the bright moonlight spilling from the sky, one could vaguely make out that the two figures were a man and a woman.

The one who spoke was the man in front.

"They’re still just corpses, no matter how healthy they were. Chen Fan, when are we going to eat a live one? Why don’t we just eat your grandpa? He’s a little old, sure, but he’s better than a corpse,"

the woman beside him complained.

The woman’s voice was pleasant, like one of those cutesy, high-pitched "loli" voices.

But the words she spoke were enough to make one’s blood run cold.

"Ah Ling, what are you saying? He’s the grandfather who raised me."

Chen Fan stopped running and turned to look at the woman.

His face was pale—not just his face, but the skin all over his body was pale, too, lacking any color, as if he hadn’t seen the sun in a very long time.

At this moment, his gaze was fixed intently on the woman opposite him.

A red light seemed to glow in the depths of his eyes.

The woman opposite him wore heavy, smoky eye makeup and had her hair in twin ponytails, a style that should have been cute.

However, paired with her earlier words,

the twin ponytails looked more like a Demon’s tentacles, swaying gently in the night wind.

Sensing the man’s mood, the greedy look on the woman’s face receded.

The corners of her lips turned up, forming an alluring smile.

"I was just joking, don’t be so tense."

Saying this, she lowered her head, rubbed her stomach, and put on a pitiful expression.

"But I really don’t want to eat those smelly corpses. My stomach feels awful after eating them."

Seeing her act this way,

the red light in Chen Fan’s eyes flickered twice before slowly fading back to normal.

"Then what do you want to do? You know that even though we’ve gained immense power, our bodies will grow weak if we go too long without eating blood food."

Hearing this, the woman named Ah Ling broke into a smile, her deathly-white teeth glinting in the darkness.

"I heard from Grandpa that two new guards started today. I was thinking..."

"No way. Once a life is taken, things will get complicated. Didn’t we agree not to attack the living and only eat corpses?"

Chen Fan cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"But eating corpses doesn’t really benefit us much. Only eating the living can increase our power."

At this, the woman shook the man’s arm.

"I know you’re the best. Besides, we’re already planning to leave Anshan City, so why can’t we have one good meal before we go?"

Looking at the pitiful expression on the woman’s face,

Chen Fan’s expression showed hesitation and wavering resolve.

Just as he was about to say something,

he abruptly looked up and to the side.

There, two figures slowly emerged from the darkness.

The two were wearing grayish-white work uniforms.

Their identities were self-evident.

"Well, well. You shunned the open road to heaven and came knocking on Hell’s door instead. Brother Fan, what are you waiting for? Let’s eat them!"

Ah Ling’s eyes lit up. Her gaze fell upon Hu Qi and Xie Fei as if she were looking at a delicious meal, and she couldn’t stop her tongue from darting out to lick her Crimson lips.

The moment she finished speaking,

her figure blurred, and she shot directly toward Hu Qi.

After all,

judging by physique,

Hu Qi was clearly bigger, with more meat on his bones.

Given first choice, she would definitely pick the bigger one.