A Martial God's Bloodline

At the conclusion of the past edition’s Prodigy Summit, only two members of the Li clan entered the top ten. As for the other two major families, five were from the Yuwen clan and three came from the Wu clan.

Li Ye could more or less understand why those senior Li clan members, including the Head Elder, had such unsavory expressions when mentioning the Prodigy Summit. Aside from that, many inner disciples were excited and worried at the same time.

“In order to motivate us to get good results this time around, I heard that anyone who makes it to the top ten of the Prodigy Summit will be given a Yellow Rank alchemical medicine called the Jade Blood Pill. Whoever that wins first prize will even be allowed to enter the third floor of the martial arts pavilion and be acquainted with Black Rank battle techniques!”

Li Yuanjia was rather animated when he spoke about that, but Li Ye was even more exhilarated!

A Yellow Rank alchemical medicine! There were no alchemists in the Wu Prefecture City. The clan would surely have spent a fortune on it!

Under Li Yuanjia’s explanation of it, Li Ye knew that the Jade Blood Pill—despite its relative mediocrity—could elevate the bloodsoul strength within one’s body and speed up cultivation. It may also be used as a supplement for strength during battle. In addition, if a Level Six cultivator takes it, the chances of them having a breakthrough to Level Seven would be increased by fifty percent!

Even if it is taken by a person whose strength was at Level Seven or above, it could easily elevate their strength and push them up a half-state.

All the more unbelievable was the chance to enter the third floor of the martial arts pavilion, and subsequently be acquainted with Blank Rank techniques!

Black Rank battle techniques were rare in the entire Wu Prefecture City! The Li clan’s elders usually used nothing more than Yellow Rank Advanced.

“The clan looks ready to spend big and make up for the earlier shame!”

A Yellow Rank alchemical medicine cost thousands of gold coins, perhaps even reaching tens of thousands. An item like the Jade Blood Pill could easily fetch tens of thousands at an auction!

“If I can get the Jade Blood Pill, I can speed up my ascension in a short amount of time.”

Having too low a state was Li Ye’s biggest weakness.

Martial Spirit Level Five was not considered weak in Wu Prefecture City, especially not when he had combat strength that was near Level Seven. However, paving a path for himself among Wu Prefecture City’s countless prodigies was a gargantuan task!

Li Ye knew that all too well.

After bidding goodbye to Li Yuanjia, he returned to his home and went into his room.

He sat cross-legged and rushed to begin cultivation.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth began surging into his body, transforming into strands of red bloodsoul strength.

“At my current speed, I can reach peak Level five in three days. After the breakthrough, I should have no problems fighting a Level Eight cultivator. Still, an Eminent Master is at least ten times stronger than a Martial Master. I have too little bloodsoul strength in my body, and I won’t be able to sustain my battle techniques when I use them.”

He was desperate to elevate his state.

According to what Li Yuanjia said, the trend in previous years was that the most inferior participants in the Prodigy Summit was Martial Spirit Level Six. Those who entered the top ten were all above the peak Level Seven, or perhaps even a Level Eight Eminent Master!

Li Ye was facing an uphill task to reach the top ten! It was common knowledge that even Li Yuanjia and other Eminent Master disciples did not manage to enter the top ten during the previous year. Li Mo and Li Ji were the only successful ones!

Three days passed by and Li Ye achieved his peak Level Five with success. It was only a step away from entering Level Six.

“To have a breakthrough in such a short amount of time is difficult! Especially when it comes to breaking through Level Seven and becoming a Martial Master.”

Li Ye frowned slightly. Reaching the top thirty at the Prodigy Summit was an easy task with the amount of strength Li Ye had. Pulling off a greater achievement would be much more difficult, though.

Unless he had a breakthrough to Level Six, there was only a twenty to thirty percent chance for him to enter the top ten. If he could reach Level Seven, he felt eighty percent confident of competing with Li Mo, who ranked third in the previous summit!

“Although the cultivation method contained in the Lunar Dream Heart Sutra is fast, it’s still too slow for me at this moment.”

Since conventional methods did not work, Li Ye suddenly began considering other methods.

“It would be nice if I had a Jade Blood Pill now.”

Li Ye was confident that he could break through to Level Six the coming seven days, but he clearly wanted to make another breakthrough.

The Jade Blood Pill was undoubtedly the best choice for him to break through to Level Seven within that short span of time.

“It’s a pity that the Jade Blood Pill is a Yellow Rank alchemical medicine. No one in Wu Prefecture City can create it. I can’t afford it even if I want to buy it.”

Not even the number-one prodigy Li Mo had access to thousands of gold coins, let alone Li Ye.

Li Ye had a headache when he thought about that.

“I guess I’ll look at the Sword Control Technique first then!”

Li Ye scarcely had any time to settle down and cultivate the technique since he first discovered it in the martial arts pavilion.

At that moment, he flipped through the Sword Control Technique. Similar to what happened in the past, he felt a piercing between his eyebrows, followed by a row of densely-packed words being imprinted into the back of his mind.

“I see. The Sword Control Technique requires powerful spiritual strength to control weapons and manipulate them for combat. Without a strong spiritual strength, forcing oneself to use it will damage one’s soul. In the long-term, it may even shorten and endanger one’s life.”

The so-called Sword Control Technique used powerful spiritual strength as a kind of traction to control the long-range attack of flying swords and other weapons.

Simple though it might be, successful execution was not as easy as it seemed.

Li Ye’s spiritual strength was different from ordinary people. Evidence of that fact could be seen in his ability to weave illusions that could affect a Level Seven Martial Master.

Despite that, it took him a whole day just to be able to successfully move a small porcelain bowl through the air.

“Looks like I visualized it too simplistically earlier. It really is equivalent to the mythological Art of Sword Manipulation. Although this Sword Control Technique has been simplified a lot, it still takes a long time for one to cultivate it to the point where it could be manipulated to attack people through the air.”

Be that as it may, Li Ye was quite happy. It was as though he could already see a spectacle of flying words in the near future.

Unfortunately for him, he could only barely move the small porcelain bowl in the air that day. It would be of no help at all not in the Prodigy Summit a few days later.

Just as he was secretly rueing his lamentable scenario, his eyes stared unwittingly at the small porcelain bowl on the bed. It had been telepathically moved there from the table.

Then, there was a subconscious ray of bloody radiance in his eyes.

Whoosh!

The sound of something cutting through air was followed by a crisp shattering sound!

“This is!”

Li Ye was startled. On closer inspection, the small porcelain bowl had hit against the wall of the room and shattered into pieces.

What happened earlier? Li Ye’s eyes gradually lit up as he recalled everything.

“Could it be that my bloodpupils are able to enhance spiritual strength?!”

The thought of that made Li Ye overjoyed. He began trying it out at once. Sure enough, by employing his bloodpupils, smaller objects were easily controlled, and with extremely fast speed too. It was almost impossible for him to grasp the item’s trajectory clearly, even though he had a dynamic vision that far surpassed ordinary people!

“I can now control objects weighing up to twenty catties. If I exceed this weight, speed will be greatly reduced!”

Li Ye was elated when he realized that. An ordinary three-foot sword weighed only a few kilograms in weight, and even if it was made of refined steel, it would never exceed twenty kilograms! It was perfect for his purposes then!

“Well, I need to find a way to obtain a good flying sword!”

Within the clan were weapons that were specifically for clan members to use. However, they were all ordinary blades which Li Ye did not think highly of.

He left the Li clan compound because he knew there was a well-known blacksmith in Wu Prefecture City. Many mercenaries and adventurers would buy weapons and protective gear from the blacksmith.

Based on what Li Ye remembered, the blacksmith was soon found. After entering it, he saw that the business was deserted and few people were there.

He glanced across the room and saw many weapons hanging on the wall.

Swords, short sabers, iron staffs, short axes and many more. All of them were common weapons.

“Has the Young Master found anything to his fancy? Our blacksmith shop is the best weapon shop in Wu Prefecture City. Satisfaction is guaranteed with our quality and price.”

An old man in the store saw Li Ye coming in and immediately greeted him. Those who were in that business had to have a sharp eye. When he looked at Li Ye, he knew that Li Ye was not a mercenary adventurer from the way Li Ye dressed. He therefore changed the topic and said, “But of course, everything out here are just ordinary weapons. They’re not that appropriate for a young master. We have a few premium ones inside our shop. ”

Li Ye nodded. Although the weapons on display outside were of rather good quality. Li Ye did not think highly of any of those.

Walking deeper into the shop, Li Ye discovered that the environment there was much better. There were only a few weapons on display, numbering about twenty or thirty.

One of their swords, with a length of just under three feet, attracted his attention.

“Young Master, you have a good eye. This sword was created by our store’s master blacksmith. It uses hundredfold-refined steel and incorporates a little black carbon. This ensures that the blade has the strength of ordinary hundredfold-refined steel, without being too hard and easy to break. At the same time, it can merge with a cultivator’s bloodsoul strength, making it extremely sharp!”

Seeing Li Ye’s interested gaze, the old man did not hesitate to make a pitch.

“The master blacksmith made this himself?”

Li Ye was somewhat surprised. That master blacksmith spoken of was very famous in Wu Prefecture City. Not only did he have a Grandmaster’s level of cultivation; he also made a living by making weapons and protective gear.

“Yes! It is the work of the master blacksmith himself. You must surely know that there’s only one master blacksmith in the entire city who is also a weapons master himself. This Pure Wind Sword used to belong to the master blacksmith until recently. It has reached Standard-Grade Yellow Rank.”

Standard-Grade Yellow Rank! Li Ye was surprised!

As with alchemists, weapons masters were a rarity in Cloudveil Continent. Any one of them occupied a distinguished position. He had also heard that the Three Great Clans were, to some extent, courteous with that particular master blacksmith!

Weapons could also be classified as ordinary. Generally speaking, premium weapons made of hundredfold-refined steel would have the four ranks of Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow. Each rank was divided into three grades, similar to that of elixirs and alchemical medicine.

Ordinary weapons can usually be bought using one or two gold coins, while premium weapons cost hundreds of gold coins! Uber premium items could only be crafted by master blacksmiths, as general blacksmiths had no such ability!