Chapter 191 - 26: Blood Exchange

Chapter 191: Chapter 26: Blood Exchange

The Disciple’s Quarters, in the courtyard of Lin Yu’s residence.

When Lin Yu brought Lin Yan in, nearly twenty people were already gathered in the courtyard.

Almost all the Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists from the branch families were present.

These Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists had come to Lin Yu’s courtyard, ostensibly to see him off.

According to clan rules, once a martial artist stepped into the Blood Exchange Realm, they could leave the Disciple’s Quarters and move to the main family’s residential area. But most of them were more interested in hearing from Lin Yu about the breakthrough to the Blood Exchange Realm.

"See? I told you everyone would come."

Lin Yu nudged Lin Yan with his shoulder. Lin Yan nodded back and then exchanged a nod with Lin Xiu, a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist from the Third Branch, as a greeting.

"Everyone, the transition from the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing to Blood Exchange is by no means something that happens overnight. I suggest you all start preparing early. And... having your Qi Blood at just over half capacity is enough."

Lin Yu, standing at the front, was already speaking when Lin Yan and Lin Yu came in. He had clearly been sharing his insights for some time. He noticed their arrival but didn’t pause, continuing, "The stronger your Qi Blood, the harder the breakthrough. You all should know this already, but you won’t understand the true difficulty until you’re actually facing it."

"Brother Yu, could you elaborate?"

A man at the front spoke up. He was a year older than Lin Yu, but in the world of Martial Arts, strength earns respect. The stronger one is the ’brother’.

Haven’t you seen how the main family ranks people the same way?

There were many uncles from the Shou Generation in each branch. When addressing an uncle from one’s own branch, you might call them First Uncle, Second Uncle, or Third Uncle based on their seniority relative to your father... But when addressing uncles from other branches, you would add their name first to distinguish them.

However, there were twelve individuals, who, regardless of their branch, were addressed by all members of the Ming generation as if they were from one’s own branch.

First Uncle, Second Uncle, Third Uncle... all the way to Twelfth Uncle.

These twelve represented the twelve strongest members of the Lin Family under the age of fifty.

"Essentially, the process from Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing to Blood Exchange is about re-refining all the Qi Blood in your body. But to do that, you first need to achieve precise control over your Qi Blood. The more Qi Blood you have, the harder it is to control precisely, let alone perform the Refinement."

Lin Yu wasn’t holding anything back. Even if he didn’t say it now, a Powerhouse from the main family would inform them of these things when they were ready to attempt their own breakthrough into the Blood Exchange Realm. By telling them now, he could earn a favor for free.

"To be honest, after I arrived at the main family’s estate, I stopped increasing my Qi Blood once it was past the halfway mark. It then took me three months to achieve precise control over it."

Hearing Lin Yu’s words, thoughtful expressions appeared on everyone’s faces as they evidently began to assess their own situations.

"Brother Yu, if we spend more time on controlling our Qi Blood, would it be possible to have a higher level of it?"

Another person spoke in a low voice, then quickly clarified, "I mean, it took even you several months, Brother Yu. If we were to aim for more Qi Blood, could we still achieve control by just spending more time on it?"

"Difficult."

Lin Yu smiled faintly. He understood the person’s real meaning. The clarification was just a polite addition; the real question was whether one could succeed with Qi Blood at seventy or even eighty percent capacity if they were willing to spend a year on it.

"I know what you’re all thinking. In fact, I thought the same way at first. The stronger your Qi Blood, the stronger you’ll be after entering the Blood Exchange Realm. No one wants to be the weakest among those in the Blood Exchange Realm. Unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately what, Brother Yu?"

"Unfortunately, the difficulty of precise control grows exponentially the more Qi Blood you accumulate. Take me, for example. If I had added just another ten percent to my Qi Blood, it would have taken me at least another six months. Any more than that, and we’d be talking three to five years. And that’s just the time needed for precise control, which is only the prerequisite for breaking through to the Blood Exchange Realm. The Refinement that comes after is even harder."

As soon as Lin Yu said this, a look of disappointment appeared in everyone’s eyes.

Every person here had managed to stay in the Lin Family and reach the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing Realm. Back in their original clans, which one of them wasn’t considered a genius? They all had their pride. Ever since learning that more Qi Blood before the breakthrough meant greater strength in the Blood Exchange Realm, many had imagined they would be the special one who could break through even with an immense amount of Qi Blood.

But now, Lin Yu’s words had shattered that little fantasy.

"Let me offer you all a piece of advice."

Seeing the somber mood, Lin Yu said in a low voice, "If you haven’t cultivated a Cultivation Technique to the level of Power, your Qi Blood must not exceed the halfway mark. If you’ve developed a Mental Realm, you can go up to sixty percent. Anything beyond that depends on how far you’ve cultivated your ’Intent.’ It’s said that those who have achieved Realm Perfection in their Mental Realm can push their Qi Blood to the absolute limit at the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing before attempting the breakthrough to the Blood Exchange Realm."

"Realm Perfection... That’s probably even harder than breaking through to the Blood Exchange Realm."

Someone said with a wry smile. If they were given enough time, they were confident they could achieve it. But wait another ten years to enter the Blood Exchange Realm?

No matter how you calculated it, that trade-off wasn’t worth it.

Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He agreed with what Lin Yu said.

’Ever since I developed my Silk Binding Sword Intent, I’ve noticed a massive improvement in my control over my own Qi Blood.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to begin learning the Smoke-Stepping Technique—which normally requires a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist—while I was still at the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing.’

"Everyone, I’ll be taking this next step first. I’ll be waiting for you all at the main family estate."

Lin Yu said no more. He had said all that needed to be said. If any of these stubborn, hard-headed people insisted on increasing their Qi Blood, and then got stuck, unable to enter the Blood Exchange Realm, they would have only themselves to blame.