Chapter 58: Trade-offs

According to the notes in the [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art], the practitioner’s muscles, bones, and body would be greatly strengthened by the permeation of protective True Qi, and correspondingly, this would gradually manifest in the practitioner’s physical appearance.

In other words, as long as Chen Chong trained persistently, over time, his muscles would become harder and larger, and his entire body frame would start to expand, undergoing significant changes.

“How could becoming stronger and gaining power come without a price?”

Chen Chong clenched his fist, feeling his rapidly recovering stamina and strength, and did not dwell too much on this issue.

For Chen Chong, compared to the formidable power and defense the [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art] would bring, some changes in his body shape were merely trivial matters. The least of his concerns was that—he did not go bald.

Estimating that meal time in the Territory was approaching, Chen Chong stopped his training, sat up, and carefully studied the other auxiliary cultivation methods in the [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art] in his mind.

There were two auxiliary methods in total. One was a body-strengthening medicinal recipe made from various precious herbs, for internal consumption or medicinal bath soaks; the other was striking various parts of the body with special techniques to accelerate the penetration of True Qi and stimulate the strengthening of the body.

With a single glance, Chen Chong could not help but sigh inwardly.

Obviously, unlike the [Electrotherapy], neither of these two methods for accelerating the progress of the [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art] was usable for him.

Now stranded in a wasteland world with scarce resources, gathering various precious herbs was merely wishful thinking. The so-called body-strengthening medicinal recipe was nothing more than a decoration to him. The other striking reinforcement method required another person’s help to temper every part of the body, but the secret of Chen Chong’s cultivation could never be revealed to anyone else, naturally making this method useless as well.

“1250 units of Materialization Power left…”

Scanning his Materialization Power Reserve, Chen Chong thought to himself:

“I could exchange for [Qi Blast Cannon Fist] right away, but now my time and energy are limited. Just the [Ultimate Infinite Qigong] and [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art] are nearly more than I can handle. Adding [Qi Blast Cannon Fist] on top of that…”

Chen Chong was clear-headed. The two cultivation arts he currently practiced, one internal and one external, complemented each other, but they also occupied the vast majority of his time and energy. Although [Qi Blast Cannon Fist] was an offensive fist technique he lacked, joining its practice now would inevitably slow down the progress of the other two arts. Considering the situation Chen Chong faced now, the gains would not make up for the losses.

After all, the [Ultimate Infinite Qigong] was the foundation for strengthening his life essence. Without a strong enough foundation, everything else was empty talk.

“Then…”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chong shifted his mental focus to the list of exchangeable items from the Main God:

[Muscle and Marrow Cleansing Pill]: Rank D+. Originates from various immortal hero dimensions. Its effect is to cleanse muscles and marrow, expel body impurities, change the user’s physique, grant cultivation aptitude, and slightly increase the user’s lifespan. (1250/1500)

Undoubtedly, besides the Senzu Bean, the item currently most useful to Chen Chong was the Muscle and Marrow Cleansing Pill, which could strengthen the user’s physique! According to the Main God’s description, Chen Chong judged that this pill should have a significant effect on both the [Ultimate Infinite Qigong] and the [Vajra Indestructible Divine Art].

However, he was still a bit short of the Materialization Power required for the Muscle and Marrow Cleansing Pill. If he also considered keeping the Senzu Bean as a trump card, he was even further from being able to exchange for it.

Chen Chong’s thoughts flickered. He ultimately decided to take things one step at a time and wait until his Materialization Power met the requirement.

He then looked up at the sky outside the window, seeing teams of underlings pushing carts towards various factories to distribute food to the laborers. Chen Chong also walked out of his dwelling and headed towards the food distribution shed.

…

Meanwhile, inside the Blood General’s manor, in the spacious and splendid dining room.

At the head of a long rectangular table, the Blood General sat imposingly. Under the table, two scantily clad, seductive women were on all fours like dogs, their heads bobbing constantly in his lap.

“Ugh…”

The Blood General let out a low growl, his sinister face looking as if his spirit had wandered away. After a moment, he patted the two heads beneath him with satisfaction:

“Not bad. You may sit down and eat.”

The two kneeling women beneath the table revealed seductive and fawning smiles, then wriggled out from under the table and carefully sat down in the secondary seats.

The Blood General clapped his hands, and immediately, servants wearing aprons filed out one by one carrying trays, quickly filling the entire table. When the lids of the trays were opened, rich aromas wafted everywhere. Grilled meat, vegetables, fruits, bread—various dishes were diverse and extremely sumptuous.

This scene in the Blood General’s manor dining room was the height of luxury, forming a stark contrast with the pig slop eaten by the laborers outside in the Territory. Yet every servant bringing the food in the dining room seemed to treat it as commonplace, completely accustomed to it.

The Blood General whistled, and a wolfhound with a smooth, glossy coat darted out from the side hall, squatting in front of the Blood General and barking.

The Blood General laughed heartily, picked up a palm-sized, thick piece of meat steak from the platter, flicked his wrist, and the steak flew out the dining room window, landing in the courtyard outside.

“Woof!”

The wolfhound barked excitedly and immediately bolted out, following the scent to find the steak the Blood General had thrown, chewing and swallowing it in large bites.

In the courtyard, various guard underlings witnessed this scene and couldn’t help their Adam’s apples bobbing as they swallowed their saliva. Even though they were on duty at the Blood General’s manor, they didn’t get to eat meat every day.

A dog’s life was better than a man’s!

Just as the guard underlings were gulping, Tie Shan’s tall figure appeared in the manor, walking straight through the courtyard into the dining room.

“Tie Shan, you’ve come. Sit down and eat together.”

Seeing the figure walk in, the Blood General leisurely mixed a crimson liquid into the soy milk in his cup.

This was his unique hobby, a drink made by mixing fresh blood and soy milk.

Tie Shan inadvertently swept a glance from the corner of his eye at the two pale-skinned, scantily clad seductive women in the secondary seats. His throat rolled once, and he said without looking sideways, “Thank you, General.”

Although a fire of anger rose in his gut, Tie Shan clearly knew that the reason these two seductive women were dressed so revealingly was just the Blood General’s perverse interest. A manor guard had once failed to control himself and looked at the Blood General’s women a few times too many. After the Blood General discovered it, his eyeballs were gouged out alive!

Tie Shan sat upright, while the Blood General spread jam on his bread and casually asked,

“How is that Chen Chong doing lately?”

Tie Shan said with disdain, “That kid chose to idle away his days under Old Xu. But he’s been fairly obedient.”

“Oh?” The Blood General didn’t think much of it. “Then in the Territory, has anyone secretly approached him?”

“No.”

Tie Shan nodded with certainty:

“Besides Yin Hu’s people, I’ve also assigned men to watch the surroundings around that kid. So far, no one has actively approached him. This suggests there shouldn’t be any spies from other settlements in the Territory, though it’s also possible they’re hiding very deeply.”

“Well done.”

A smile appeared on the Blood General’s sinister face:

“The next part of the plan is very important. To avoid being taken advantage of by other settlements, we must be cautious and cannot afford even the slightest carelessness. Long Ying from Dawn still needs some time before he might make a move. Continue to lie in wait.”

Tie Shan immediately said respectfully, “Rest assured, General!”