Chapter 411: Nightmare

With Zhao Heiniu’s return, the Hall’s forces were stronger than ever.

Wangchuan now not only had ample manpower to keep Sanhe Commandery under control, but also had two Fourth-Rank Martial Artists, disguised under the names Su Yun and Su Qi, serving as his personal guards. So he simply loosened his grip on daily administration, handed Hall affairs over to Chen Ergou and Zhao Heiniu, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating his martial arts.

Su Yun and Su Qi carried out their guard duties with utmost diligence, serving as silent background figures.

Wangchuan used up three Lesser Rejuvenation Pills, raising the proficiency of 《Xuanwu Art》 to 2400/;

he still had two Lesser Rejuvenation Pills left in hand.

After climbing out of the wooden tub, Wangchuan, under the watchful eyes of Su Yun and Su Qi, began cultivating the niche martial art 《Stele-Splitting Hand》.

Chen Ergou had already prepared stacks of blue stone slabs for him.

According to the cultivation experience summarized by some of the Hall brothers, 《Stele-Splitting Hand》 was difficult to train, but if one used the method of smashing stone slabs, its experience could be raised quickly.

Su Yun and Su Qi then found themselves helping with an assembly-line operation.

Su Yun’s job was to hand Wangchuan the stone slabs.

Wangchuan shattered them with a palm strike.

Then Su Qi cleared the broken fragments aside.

After smashing more than a hundred blue stone slabs, Wangchuan barely managed to get the skill started.

Su Yun could not help asking,

“Hall Master, does cultivating it like this really work?”

“Of course.”

Wangchuan’s expression remained blank as he mechanically smashed slab after slab.

“If you do not believe me, you can try it yourselves.”

Niche martial arts always had some use once cultivated.

He did not mind if Su Yun and Su Qi grew stronger as well.

The two men did not take it seriously.

After Wangchuan smashed more than five hundred blue stone slabs in succession—

“Ding!”

The system notification sounded:

“《Stele-Splitting Hand》 has advanced to ‘Minor Mastery.’ Reward: +1 Strength.”

Wangchuan’s smile broadened, and he started smashing even more enthusiastically.

With his subordinates helping him test methods and summarize experience, they had already found a shortcut for training this martial art. This time, the cultivation progressed very quickly.

Other than wasting quite a few stone slabs, the speed was actually impressive.

In one morning, he smashed over two thousand blue stone slabs in total...

By the time he had covered himself in a layer of white dust from head to toe, he finally heard:

“Ding!”

“《Stele-Splitting Hand》 has advanced from ‘Minor Mastery’ to ‘Practice Makes Perfect.’ Reward: +2 Strength.”

Wangchuan could distinctly feel that the force in his palms had grown heavier and fiercer, as though he really had gained the power to punch straight through a stone stele.

Even Su Yun and Su Qi had begun to look at him with uncertainty.

After the yard was cleaned up, Chen Ergou still kept bringing more blue stone slabs over.

Then Su Yun and Su Qi watched as Wangchuan picked one up and weighed it against his own forehead.

Huh?

What was Hall Master planning to do now?

Smack!

Wangchuan activated the First-Rank martial art 《Iron Head Technique》 and smashed the slab against his own forehead.

Su Yun and Su Qi twitched visibly at the sight.

He had hit himself hard.

“Hall Master.”

“You are cultivating 《Iron Head Technique》?”

“There is no need for that, is there?”

“That kind of First-Rank martial art is everywhere.”

Su Qi could not stop himself from blurting it out.

Wangchuan did not stop. Sitting in front of a pile of blue stone slabs, he shattered one, then picked up the next.

“You do not understand...”

Smack!

“Every martial art was created for a reason...”

Smack!

“This one looks rough and crude...”

Smack!

“To be honest, it really is crude.”

Smack!

“But right now I do not have any new Fifth-Rank martial arts anyway, so I might as well use the time...”

Smack!

“I’ll practice it first and see.”

Smack!

Even Wangchuan’s speech had fallen into a peculiar rhythm.

Su Yun and Su Qi found their own heads nodding along with each strike, and before long, they started getting headaches just from watching.

Wangchuan had become locked in a contest with the blue stone slabs and smashed them nonstop for an entire day.

Three points of Stamina were added to his stats.

Late that night, after logging off in his room, he made a trip to the seventh floor.

Ye Baiyi had proven himself extremely capable. Together with a few colleagues who had mastered 《Snake Control Art》, he had stuffed more than a thousand additional snakes into the cages...

Wangchuan stepped into one of the cages and began practicing the 《Stele-Splitting Hand》 he had only just learned that day.

This fierce and heavy palm art struck with tremendous force.

With Speed +131, he killed the snakes one after another with palm strikes, smashing their heads apart.

He quickly killed five hundred venomous snakes.

Then he returned to 《spirit realm》.

“Ding!”

The system notification sounded right on cue:

“《Stele-Splitting Hand》 has advanced from ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ to ‘Entry-Level Mastery.’ Reward: +3 Strength.”

Wangchuan logged off again, ran back to the seventh floor, and continued training.

In a single day, four martial arts had broken through to new realms, raising his stats by a total of twelve points.

“At this rate...”

“I will reach the Fifth Rank very soon!”

“Even the boss of Warring States Game Studio is only a Fifth-Rank Martial Artist.”

...

As the thought crossed his mind, Wangchuan gradually fell into contemplation.

“The earliest group of powerful officials, military men, and elites who entered 《spirit realm》... what realm have they actually reached?”

Wangchuan did not believe he alone had discovered this cultivation shortcut.

“Even the boss of Black River Studio knows how to use wild animals for training. The global political elites and magnates only have more resources in their hands, so their cultivation speed should be even faster!”

“So what rank have they actually reached? Seventh Rank? Eighth Rank? Or have they already broken through to the Ninth Rank?”

No matter how much Wangchuan thought about it, he could not make sense of it.

With so many people pouring into 《spirit realm》, it should already have changed the power structure somewhere, perhaps even brought major sects under their control.

And yet until now, he had not seen many truly high-level players at all...

Could they really all be that timid and cautious?

With that question lingering in his mind, he slowly drifted into sleep.

In his dream, he saw the Blood Moon.

Beneath the Blood Moon, the blood mist reappeared!

Long, slender monsters swung their strange tails, carving wound after wound into his body until he was covered in injuries.

He held Autumn Water Sword in his hand, but could not catch his enemies. He could only watch as they tore apart his Thousand-Forged Battle Armor.

The people around him fell one after another, then were wrapped up by the monsters’ tails and dragged into the unfathomable blood mist.

《Dragon-Elephant Body-Protection Technique》 could not protect him.

His health was gradually drained away.

He dreamed that Sanhe Commandery Hall was drenched in blood and piled high with bones...

He dreamed of countless people screaming, running, fleeing, and begging for mercy...

He dreamed of Bai Yuhui and Wang Yuehui dying in battle.

He dreamed of Bai Jingtang being pierced through the chest by one of the monsters and hoisted high into the air.

And finally...

Something pierced through both his chest and back from behind.

When he lowered his head, his field of vision slowly rose upward.

He had been hoisted up just like Bai Jingtang, dangling high in the air as he was slowly drawn toward the monstrous mouth of a creature. He saw two rows of sharp, neatly aligned fangs...

Hah!!

Wangchuan jolted awake from the bed.

His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his chest heaved violently.

He grabbed the silver gaming helmet beside him, put it on, and logged into 《spirit realm》.

Only when he rose intact from the bed inside the game world and found himself standing there whole and unharmed did he finally let out a long breath of relief.

Thank heavens...

It had only been a nightmare.

For one terrifying instant, he had thought Sanhe Commandery Hall had truly been breached and destroyed.

He had thought he was dead.