Chapter 101: Chapter 97 Three Conditions_1
Innate Martial Bodies, although they’ve a very low chance of occurrence and are extremely rare.
Liu Xingchao, just an ordinary Innate Martial Body, with twice the Qi-blood of ordinary people, is hailed as having the strongest talent in the Liu Family’s history.
However, the Liu Family is, after all, just a Feudal Lord level martial household. Across the six counties of Lingdong, there are hundreds of Feudal Lord-level martial households and over a dozen of Master-level martial households. With such a large base, there are indeed quite a few Innate Martial Bodies.
Especially if both parents are Innate Martial Bodies, the probability of their offspring being born with an Innate Martial Body is higher.
Although Innate Martial Bodies have thick Qi-blood and are powerful, wanting to cultivate their Qi-blood into their bones, giving birth to Bone Strength, is much harder than ordinary people.
Ordinary Martial Artists reaching the limit breaking stage five times, just need their Qi-blood to be both rigid and soft, and then with Mutated Nine-section Heart Meat, can have a fifty percent chance to break into the realm of Martial Marquis.
But Innate Martial Bodies can’t, even if it’s the simplest kind of Innate Martial Body like that of Liu Xingchao. Even with the Mutated Nine-section Heart Meat, the success rate is at most just thirty percent.
And for those stronger Innate Martial Bodies, such as those with three times, four times, and five times Qi-blood...
Their success rate is even lower.
Therefore, the Beast King Bone-Protecting Soup becomes particularly crucial.
For someone like Liu Xingchao, if he takes the Mutated Nine-section Heart Meat and Beast King Bone-Protecting Soup together, the success rate immediately rises to over seventy percent.
The success rate for those even stronger Innate Martial Bodies can also greatly increase.
Hence, every time Jade Bone Tigers are sold to the public, they attract a large number of martial households.
There are both Martial Marquis-level and Master-level martial households.
Even if the Innate Martial Bodies within those households have not yet reached the time for them to break through, they can buy these creatures first. Even if they don’t know how to properly feed them, they can kill them and store their bones using a special method for future use.
Aside from purchasing from the Gao Family, there are two other ways to acquire a Jade Bone Tiger.
Firstly, you need to be an Innate Martial Body and join the Gao Family through marriage.
In such a case, the Gao Family will offer a Jade Bone Tiger for free.
Secondly, even if you don’t join the family, as long as you mate with a woman chosen by the Gao Family and produce offspring with an Innate Martial Body, the Gao Family will gift a Jade Bone Tiger.
If there is no offspring with an Innate Martial Body, you will have to keep trying.
Lu Yan was speechless for a while.
Both conditions only serve one purpose, to give birth to offspring with an Innate Martial Body for the Gao family, and to strive for the production of high-quality successors for the Gao family.
Isn’t this like treating people as breeding animals?
Lu Yan didn’t want to choose either option.
Can you still have freedom and dignity if you join such a colossal martial household as the Gao Family?
Should you mate with someone, give birth to your own children, and hand them over to others to become their war tools?
Lu Yan was unable to accept this.
While he couldn’t accept it, others may not be able to.
For the first condition, joining the Gao family, a lot of martial households might not be willing to accept it, because sending their excellent younger generation to the Gao family would make the breakthrough to become Martial Marquis meaningless.
But for the second condition, not everyone would refuse.
In this world, some Martial Artists don’t care much about their descendants.
However, the second condition presents an issue as it’s uncertain when one could produce an offspring with an Innate Martial Body. What if it’s not possible to produce one in ten, even twenty years? Or even in one’s lifetime?
That would be a waste of time.
Therefore, most people would first consider buying a Jade Bone Tiger. If they really can’t get one, they would consider the other conditions.
But to buy a Jade Bone Tiger, you must first qualify to purchase.
Like three years ago, the Gao Family only sold two Jade Bone Tigers, and only two individuals could qualify to buy them.
This time, the Gao Family has not yet announced how many they plan to sell nor how to qualify to purchase.
Lu Yan asked Li Quan to closely monitor the situation.
After Li Quan left, Lu Yan picked up a piece of Dried Martial Food to chew and started to train.
His Qi-blood is already at its peak now. Naturally, he does not need to build up more Qi-blood. Training is just for refining Qi-blood.
After all, the more refined Qi-blood is, the less pressure it puts on the bones during the cultivation process. Even if the difference is minuscule, it can make a huge difference when it’s crucial.
The energy from Martial Food is all used to upgrade the Bloodshadow Knife.
As time passed day by day, more and more martial households started to gather in Nanyi City.
Some martial households even traveled thousands of miles to get there.
Li Quan found out that this time there are as many as four Grandmaster-level martial households coming.
The Li Family of Baicao City also showed up.
In Nanyi County, there are three Grandmaster-level martial households.
Baicao City is located in the north of Nanyi County.
The Gao Family of Nanyi City is located at the southernmost part of Nanyi County.
On the east side of Nanyi County, there is another Grandmaster-level martial household, the Tuoba Clan of Beiyue City.
The Gao Family and the Tuoba Clan have been at war with each other and have held a deep grudge for a long time. Naturally, they are not going to send anyone here.
On the contrary, the Li Family of Baicao City has always been neutral. They mainly cultivate Spiritual Medicine and do not participate in the feuds between the two major households. They haven’t formed any animosity with the Gao Family, and both sides engage in business with each other, so their presence here isn’t a surprise.
With still ten days until the sale, the Gao family held a banquet. Whoever has the intention to buy the Jade Bone Tiger could attend. At the banquet, the Gao Family would announce the number of Jade Bone Tigers to be sold and the conditions to qualify for purchase.
Lu Yan naturally had to attend.
The banquet was held at a particularly large manor.
Lu Yan disguised himself as a man in his fifties and slipped in with the crowd. He took a seat at a table on the edge.
Gradually, more and more people arrived, filling up the several dozen tables.
Of course, not everyone wanted to buy a Jade Bone Tiger. Some people were there just to watch the excitement. But the Gao Family didn’t mind; they weren’t short on money.
This was because they were serving ordinary food, not Martial Food.
A moment later, the Gao Family’s party arrived.
An old man took his seat in the main position.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the Elder went straight to the point: "The Jade Bone Tigers we are selling this time are the same as the ones three years ago, still only two of them."
"Only two?"
Many people heart sank.
This time, there were four Grandmaster level Feudal Lords, and at least a dozen Martial Marquis level Families. With so many competing for just two Jade Bone Tigers, the difficulty of securing one was self-evident.
"How do we qualify to buy?"
Someone asked.
"Five hundred miles south of Nanyi City, you will reach the seaside. There, a perilous cliff called Linchuan Cliff exists. In there, a relic from the Great Ancient times houses a strange creature known as a bivalve. This time, you are to enter the relic and find these bivalves. Once you have gathered 100 catties or more, you can qualify initially."
"Of course, if there are more than two people who have gathered 100 catties or more, we only take the top two."
Elder Gao explained.
"May I ask, what is this bivalve and what does it look like?"
Someone else asked.
"Not a problem."
The Gao Family was obviously prepared. Elder Gao took out a small plate and picked up a sample.
Lu Yan looked at it.
"It really does look like an Abalone, but much smaller."
Lu Yan muttered to himself.
The so-called bivalve was very similar to abalone, but it was about the same size as a clam.
The difference was, the flesh of the Bivalve was crimson.
"To tell you the truth, our Gao family has a type of Grade 2 Martial Food that uses these bivalves as a critical ingredient. If what you seek does not meet the standards to buy the Jade Bone Tiger, our Gao family will not let you leave empty-handed. We will buy your bivalves for 100 taels of silver per catty."
Elder Gao said.
"A hundred taels per catty—this price is many times higher than that of alien beast meat."
Lu Yan couldn’t help but be astonished.
It was not only more expensive than alien beast meat, but it was also more expensive than Grade 2 Martial Food itself. Presumably, when cooking, instead of adding large quantities, it was used sparingly.
"The relic you are speaking of, wouldn’t it be the one at Linchuan Cliff? I’ve heard that the place is filled with danger. There are Will Power Patterns left from the Great Ancients. Even Martial Marquises could die if they are unlucky."
Someone in the crowd said.
The faces of the crowd changed.
Martial Marquises could die?
So those below a Martial Marquis were doomed to die?
"What this fellow said is correct, it is indeed Linchuan Cliff, but it is not as dangerous as he suggests. Yes, there are Will Power Patterns there, but over the years, many have been eroded away by the wind and time, leaving only a few. As long as you bring some living things or shed a small amount of blood, it would be easy to find where the Will Power Patterns are and avoid them."
Elder Gao explained.
"It can’t be that easy, can it? To my knowledge, Linchuan Cliff is occupied by the Gao family. Since your family needs these bivalves, and the place isn’t that dangerous, why don’t you send people in to find them? Why do you need our help and why are you willing to pay a hundred taels per catty for them?"
The person who just asked raised a question again.
This person might be instigated by one of the Master-level Families.
A common person who needs the Gao family’s help would not dare to question them persistently.
The others, including Lu Yan, had the same doubt.
If the locations with the Will Power Patterns could be marked, wouldn’t it make the journey in and out easy?
The situation couldn’t be as simple as Elder Gao made it seem.
As if he knew this would happen, Elder Gao remained calm and didn’t hide anything. "The Will Power Patterns inside do change their position. They could be at one place this year, and another the next. They might even change in the blink of an eye. Our family has suffered because of this. A good number of Limit-breaking Warriors, and even a Martial Marquis, have lost their lives while searching for the bivalves."
"Of course, the chances of the patterns changing in such a short duration are not high. They usually move at least once every few months."
"But on such a journey, the danger isn’t exactly nonexistent. If it were safe, the Gao Family would not need to borrow the hands of others to complete the task. It’s up to you whether to go or not. Those who wish to can depart tomorrow."
After saying that, the Elder swiftly became silent.
He was confident.
If you want to buy Jade Bone Tigers, you have to go.
If you won’t, you have to stay behind and breed your Tigers for the Gao Family.
Lu Yan pondered.
A relic from the Great Ancients? Is it similar to the one found in Changfeng Mountain?
Is there Dao Food inside?
Can the Dao Book give an early warning?
Lu Yan decided to go there first and see how it goes. If the Dao Book can give advanced warnings, then he would dare to enter.
If the Dao Book couldn’t provide an early warning, he would abandon the plan.
It was not worth risking his life over a Jade Bone Tiger.
He would rather think of other ways.
The crowd was not in the mood for eating or drinking. After a few perfunctory drinks, they took their leave.
Lu Yan returned to the inn. After asking Li Quan to find the specific location of Linchuan Cliff, he set out again the next day, alone.
He painted the blade of his Red Blood Blade black, making it look like any typical black iron blade.
The reason was that its features were too distinctive, which was not conducive to him concealing his identity.
After all, black iron blades were everywhere.
