Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 181: Soldiers Approach the City

Tang Wanzhuang went straight to Jinling that day. Zhao Changhe, who should have felt that staying at the Tang Clan was completely meaningless, did not rush to leave as he did before.

Instead, he stayed quietly in the guest house and wrote another set of sword manuals, intending to give them to Tang Buqi once he finished writing them.

It was as if the storms outside did not exist at all for him.

Surprisingly, writing another set of sword manuals did not feel bothersome at all to him. On the contrary, he even found it somewhat amusing.

Just like Tang Buqi, he had thought that Tang Wanzhuang’s mind was set on serving the public, which made her seem less like a real person and more like an ideal. But in the end, he discovered that she had also made some small plans for her clan. The saintly image of her that existed in his mind suddenly collapsed, but rather than feeling despondent for having his image of her shattered, he simply felt that this was how people should be. This side of her was much more realistic.

Just like when their arms intertwined in the night, real and gentle, emerging from the illusion that the Heavenly Tome depicted and materializing before him.

And so, First Seat Tang became Tang Wanzhuang.

Writing the sword manuals was no different from familiarizing himself with the sword arts once again, and it also helped calm his mind.

During the day, he wrote the sword manuals, and at night, with the help of the Heavenly Tome, he learned the Moonglade Sutra and the Water Treading Art that had been given to him by Tang Wanzhuang.

This sutra was not a method for cultivating internal energy. It was an auxiliary technique. It was similar to the Ice Heart Sutra of many other stories—a sutra that kept one’s mind clear and calm even in the face of calamity.

The Moonglade Sutra was not just about calming the mind and removing distractions. It was like an upgraded version of what Yue Hongling had taught him before. It also taught him how to use his five senses to better observe and perceive his surroundings. It allowed him to dispel illusions and reflect the essence.

This was extremely helpful in combat. With this, he could be less afraid of illusions and calmly look for the best way to achieve victory.

The prerequisite to practicing it was naturally to calm down, slow down, and observe everything around oneself. A restless mind, one that was obsessed only with fighting and killing, would not be able to approach it correctly.

Why did the Water Treading Art have comprehending this sutra as a prerequisite?

Well, the reason for that was that grasping this sutra would allow the user to better grasp the flow of air and the weight of water at a glance, and then make use of them to transport their body.

This actually involved some understanding of heaven and earth and how to utilize one’s surroundings rather than just one’s self. Compared to the Traceless Soaring Blood of the Blood God Cult, this movement art was simply leagues above.

Perhaps all paths in the world led to the same destination, and Yue Hongling also had something similar. It was just that, at the time, his level was low and even his senses were not sensitive enough. So how could he bypass the senses and directly tackle the soul?

In fact, even now, he felt that he was still lacking. Zhao Changhe strongly suspected that this was a technique best suited to be used after unlocking the Profound Mysteries. After all, it approached concepts such as spiritual awareness and divine sense. This gift from the person ranked third on the Ranking of Earth truly was no joke.

For now, the best thing he could do was still to concentrate his mind and stabilize his spiritual platform, preventing it from being invaded by inner demons.

Once he achieved a high enough mastery, he could finally make use of the currently useless bloodthirsty bead.

After another three days of mooching off of the Tang Clan, he had thoroughly understood the Moonglade Sutra, and he finally took out the bloodthirsty bead that had been lying around ignored. Thus began once more the long-delayed practice of the Vicious Blood Art.

*

The most significant difference between practicing the Vicious Blood Art and other martial arts was that it not only required energy, but also vicious qi. Without vicious blood qi, the Vicious Blood Art would lose the superiority it held over other martial arts.

When it came down to sheer energy, everyone was more or less the same at this level. Eating well, drinking well, and using some auxiliary medicine or pills was enough. Unless people were lucky enough to stumble upon some exceptional treasures, it was difficult for them to gain any special advantages in this area.

After all, what most people saw was essentially mundane. At best, the medicine that someone else was using would be slightly better, but not by that much. Right now, Zhao Changhe was already using some of the best—this was also why he never firmly denied his identity as a prince, and why Chichi initially believed that taking on the identity would be useful for him. After all, without sufficient resources, it was really difficult to achieve anything remarkable.

Now that he had sufficient energy and resources, his focus could shift somewhere else.

It was not difficult to find things that nurtured vicious qi. Bluntly speaking, even killing a lot of people could nurture vicious qi. Ferocious objects were not uncommon—an example were weapons that had slain many people, like Dragon Bird. Unfortunately, if he dared to absorb the vicious qi of Dragon Bird, he would probably end up getting smacked to death.

The Sword Emperor’s tomb was also filled with vicious qi, but it was difficult to extract it for personal use.

In any case, vicious qi really was not that difficult to find. One of Zhao Changhe’s goals when coming to Jiangnan was to find something of the sort. It’s just that it was only now that he had gotten around to actually using it.

Zhao Changhe carefully sent a strand of his true qi to probe the space inside the bead.

As soon as his true qi touched the bead, he immediately felt the negative emotions that filled it.

It did not have any pure energy to speak of. It had vicious qi, but it was tainted to an extreme degree, and it was practically useless. It gave off an uncomfortable feeling, making one want to throw it away immediately.

And, well, that was exactly what Maitreya had done.

Normally, Zhao Changhe would have thrown it away as well, but now he had the sutra.

He allowed these negative emotions to attack his soul. With his mental state that imitated the reflection of a moon in water, he could almost feel a group of little demons incessantly clawing and pounding at a tightly shut door. However, with a stable spiritual platform and a guarded heart, these little demons’ attempts were rendered futile.

These will probably become inner demons if they manage to materialize.

This bead was just a minor component of the array that the Blood God had created. After the long passage of time, it had lost its original glory. What if it were something more sinister? Zhao Changhe was not sure if his rudimentary attainment of the sutra would still allow him to protect his spirit.

But for now, it was enough, so why worry about the distant future?

With a composed mind, Zhao Changhe did not hesitate and sent his vicious qi in to make contact with the vicious qi within the bead.

A thunderous boom echoed—only in Zhao Changhe’s ears, however—as the bead trembled and the vicious qi within it began to surge violently. The vicious qi fiercely rushed at Zhao Changhe’s flesh and blood as if to tear them apart.

The backlash of cultivating vicious qi, which he had not experienced for quite some time, reappeared once more. Ignoring the throbbing pain, Zhao Changhe grit his teeth, allowing the vicious qi to wash over him and integrate into his blood, and slowly transforming it into his own.

This was the process of nurturing vicious qi, feeding it with one’s body.

When nurtured to a certain extent, the vicious qi would roar wildly, and bloodlust would pervade the sky, its power infinite. Even gods and buddhas would dissipate into smoke, what more ordinary enemies? They would tremble in fear in the midst of such violent malevolence.

It was a very typical evil martial art, but regardless of whether it was the righteous Yue Hongling or the pure Tang Wanzhuang, neither of them objected to his practice of such a martial art.

There were no evil martial arts, only evil people.

As long as he was upright and used it for an upright purpose, what difference was there between this “evil” martial art and a divine one?

*

Zhao Changhe did not know how many days he had been practicing. In any case, at the start, he had been writing the sword manuals during the day and practicing the sutra at night. Later, he practiced the sutra and the movement art during the day and nurtured vicious qi at night.

After a few days, he still felt he did not have enough to break through to the sixth layer of the Vicious Blood Art, but he no longer felt as impatient or anxious as he had in the past.

He took his time. This was not like eating or drinking. Many heroes had been training for many years to reach the same level. On the other hand, he had only been at it for half a year.

As long as he could feel that he was making progress, then that was enough. He knew that one day, he would break through naturally.

Knock, knock, knock~

Tang Buqi’s voice sounded from outside his door. “Brother Zhao, I’m sorry to bother you, but are the sword manuals done?”

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes, and the blood-red tint in his eyes disappeared. “I finished them a few days ago, it’s just that I was busy and did not have the time to go out to look for you. Since you’re here now, you can get them yourself.They’re on the table by the window.”

Tang Buqi opened the door, carrying a flagon of wine as he walked in, “As soon as my aunt left, Maitreya raised his troops. Within a few days, various places in Jiangnan responded to his call, and his forces seem to have engulfed the entire region. Just today, Hangzhou’s Wuxing fell.”

“Wasn’t that expected?”

“Yeah, but what we didn’t expect was the slow reaction from the imperial court. The imperial soldiers still haven’t arrived.”

Zhao Changhe laughed and said, “You seem to be pretty relaxed though?”

Tang Buqi sighed. “Relaxed? Gusu is really on the front line now. Do you know why I haven’t come to pick up the manuals for so many days? It’s because I’ve been too damn busy. Maitreya won’t stop until he takes Gusu. His vanguard general, Ten Abodes Bodhisattva Fa Sheng, has probably already set out from Wuxing and has already reached Taihu Lake. If you’re going to leave, then you better leave soon. Once the city is under siege, there will be no getting out.”

Zhao Changhe was startled.

He knew that Maitreya’s forces would rise quickly, but he did not expect it to be so fast.

It had only been a few days, yet the enemy was already approaching the city.