Chapter 74: Chapter 71: Asura Hand_1
"So powerful. Even my Qi-blood can’t withstand the strong force of bone strength,"
Lu Yan was horrified.
In the clash with his opponent, his rich Qi-blood was easily torn apart, offering no resistance.
Had his body not been strong, embodying the unity of man and martial arts through the Vajra Body, his injuries would not be minor.
To cultivate bone strength, one must practice top-grade martial arts.
The Qi-blood cultivated from top-grade martial arts is superior in quality to that of second-grade ones.
Moreover, this evolves into a more advanced level of bone strength.
Comparing his Qi-blood with his opponent’s bone strength is like comparing dirt with steel.
Although in large quantities, dirt can be overwhelming like a landslide or debris flow. The power of tens or hundreds of tons of dirt falling is akin to the heaven-shaking and totally destructive power of a landslide.
His Qi-blood, five times denser than that of ordinary people, allows him to crush opponents of the same level, even if they practice top-grade martial arts.
However, against a Martial Marquis, it’s not enough.
His Qi-blood’s density doesn’t produce overwhelming power when facing a Martial Marquis. He would need it to be ten or twenty times denser.
The bone strength of a Martial Marquis is like a giant axe that can easily chop through dirt.
This is his first time clashing with a Martial Marquis head-on. He had underestimated them before.
He initially thought that after reaching the fifth limit break, he would be able to measure his strength against a Martial Marquis. Even if he couldn’t beat them, he should be able to hold his own.
Upon reflection, he had been absurdly mistaken.
If not for Shen Yinuo, he would surely die within the first ten moves when facing a Martial Marquis head-on.
"It’s just minor injuries, let’s go again,"
Lu Yan muttered inwardly, suppressing his injuries and charged at Ge’s Martial Marquis once again.
Crash!
After another trade of blows, Lu Yan retreated again, injured once more.
But he immediately rushed up again.
Because he noticed that Shen Yinuo’s palms were starting to turn red. Each time he clashed with Ge’s Martial Marquis, the redness in her palms deepened.
She was charging up.
She was charging up while Ge’s Martial Marquis was distracted by him.
Clearly, having broken through to Martial Marquis, Shen Yinuo’s proficiency in this martial technique had deepened considerably.
The last time she faced the Mutated Blood Armor Lizard, she needed to gather energy on the side alone. But now, she could find gaps to charge up while fighting.
Crash! Crash! ...
Lu Yan charged forward seven times and was knocked back seven times. Although each time he was only lightly injured, their cumulative effect had started to stress his body. His internal organs were slightly aching, and his hands felt as though they had been fractured, causing unbearable pain.
Yet, this sacrifice was not in vain.
Shen Yinuo’s hands turned blood red. She let out a soft yell and struck out fiercely.
Thud!
Ge’s Martial Marquis was unexpectedly unable to fend off her blow. His palm, which he had used to block the strike was instantly cleaved off when it came into contact with Shen Yinuo’s palm, as if it had been chopped by a divine weapon. Half of his palm flew off.
Shen Yinuo’s right hand pierced through Ge’s Martial Marquis’s heart, like a destructive force.
"You....Asura...Hand..."
Blood kept flowing out from Ge’s Martial Marquis’s mouth. His eyes bulged with intense fear.
As Shen Yinuo withdrew her hand, Ge’s Martial Marquis lost his life completely.
"Asura Hand?" Lu Yan pondered. The technique Ge’s Martial Marquis seemed terrified of before he died.
Though it was Shen Yinuo’s secret, Lu Yan didn’t ask any further.
"Congratulations on cultivating Qi-blood into your bones and giving birth to bone strength, from now on, Martial Arts will regard you as Marquis."
Lu Yan gave a salute.
"I just broke through. My bone strength is impure. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been this troublesome to kill such a person."
After Shen Yinuo finished speaking, she wiped off the blood on her hands with some leaves.
Lu Yan believed that Shen Yinuo wasn’t bragging. When she broke the limit for the fifth time, she could easily kill opponents of the same level.
Then, Shen Yinuo curiously looked at Lu Yan and said, "So you look like this. You’re quite young. Judging by your gaze, I thought you would be at least thirty. Seems like I should call you younger brother."
Lu Yan ignored her last comment and asked, "You knew I was disguised as someone else?"
While fighting the Martial Marquis, Lu Yan tried his best, and naturally, he could not maintain the shape-shifting technique, revealing his true face.
"Of course." Shen Yinuo nodded.
"How did you figure it out?"
Lu Yan frowned. His shape-shifting technique was impeccable. He thought it was flawless, yet Shen Yinuo knew he was in disguise. Where did he go wrong?
"You should have practiced a special martial art like the shape-shifting technique, and at a high level too. But you should know, the facial muscles and bones disguised by transformation are different from those naturally born. The difference is very subtle, but it couldn’t escape my eyes."
Shen Yinuo pointed to her shining eyes.
"But don’t worry, even though I know you’ve disguised yourself, I can’t discern your original appearance. And most people would hardly suspect that you’re in disguise. To spot such things requires specialized training,"
Shen Yinuo added.
Lu Yan nodded, sure of what she’d said.
He’d tested this himself, after all. Even Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui, who knew Lu Yan well, had failed to see through his disguise.
It could only be said that Shen Yinuo was unique. The more he encountered her, the more unfathomable she seemed.
No matter how inscrutable you are, one day I’ll fully understand you.
"You can be assured, I won’t expose your identity. After all, I’m Shen Yinuo, a woman of her word."
Shen Yinuo patted her chest confidently.
"I believe you,"
Lu Yan responded and nodded. This time, he meant it sincerely.
Before, Shen Yinuo had surpassed Martial Marquis, and she had already spent some time researching the Alien Beast’s meat. Thus, the Blood Land Vein was of little use to her now, and she had agreed to gift it all to Lu Yan.
Therefore, when confronting the Ge Family’s Martial Marquis, she could have just fled and avoided the responsibility of preparing martial food for Lu Yan for a year.
However, she didn’t do that. Instead, she risked danger and stalled the Ge Family’s Martial Marquis.
This action greatly diminished Lu Yan’s wariness towards Shen Yinuo.
Next, the two of them went to the Ge’s Martial Marquis and looted him, but only found a few hundred silver tickets. As for first-class martial arts techniques, there were undoubtedly none.
"The entrance has been exposed and the vegetation has been cut down. We have to camouflage it again,"
Lu Yan said.
"Let’s go out and check first,"
Shen Yinuo nodded.
The two of them came to the entrance.
After some discussion, they decided to use a large stone to block the crevice, cover it with dirt, and camouflage it with flowers and plants, leaving only a small entrance.
"You’re injured, you should recover by eating some martial food. I’ll go move the stones,"
Shen Yinuo left after a brief instruction.
Lu Yan didn’t protest. His injuries were indeed quite severe, and if he delayed, he feared there might be after-effects.
He ate a portion of dry martial food and started to exercise, circulating his Qi-blood to nurse his body.
A day later, his injury stabilized and Lu Yan began to help.
It took them two days to cover all the crevices, plant flowers on the top, and only leave one entrance which was also covered by flowers. The concealment was even better than before.
The two of them returned to the Blood Land Vein.
Lu Yan continued to eat dry martial food to recover his body. After several days, his injuries were almost completely healed.
"What to do with the rest of this Mutated Heart Meat?"
Lu Yan asked, pointing to a large piece of Mutated Heart Meat, and was contemplating what to do.
He’d already learned that the three portions of supporting spiritual medicine he’d bought the last time had mainly failed. It was only by chance that Shen Yinuo had successfully cooked the Mutated Nine-section Heart Meat, enabling her to break the Martial Marquis’s barrier.
A total of twenty catties of Mutated Heart Meat was used. Shen Yinuo had used four catties and sixteen catties were left.
"Naturally, we sell it. If left here, the meat will eventually rot and its effect will significantly reduce,"
Shen Yinuo explained.
"That’s a lot of meat, and it won’t be easy to get rid of,"
Lu Yan answered.
Sixteen catties was a lot. Even your average Martial Marquis from a noble family would struggle to absorb that much all at once.
Moreover, it could easily attract the attention of a Martial Marquis.
Not could easily, definitely would.
"Leave it to me. I have a way. But if we sell all sixteen catties in one go, the price won’t be high. It certainly won’t shoot up to fifteen thousand taels of silver per catty like it did in Qingyang City,"
Shen Yinuo answered.
Lu Yan nodded. He clearly understood that under normal circumstances, the market price of Mutated Heart Meat was ten thousand taels per catty.
If slightly more could be sold for eleven or twelve thousand taels, it would already be an excellent price.
"The likely price range is between ten to thirteen thousand taels. However, I have one condition. After we sell these sixteen catties of Mutated Heart Meat, I want half of it,"
Seemingly afraid of damaging her reputation as someone of her word, Shen Yinuo hurriedly added, "I’ll need the silver for my future journeys, in purchasing different ingredients to hone my cooking skills. But rest assured, I won’t take the remaining Alien Beast meat aside from what I need for my own cultivation. It’s all yours."
"It’s settled then, fifty-fifty,"
Lu Yan casually agreed.
In truth, even if Shen Yinuo wanted half of all the Alien Beast meat profits, he wouldn’t have minded.
After all, this place was discovered by both of them together.
And also, it was significantly because of Shen Yinuo’s contribution that they were able to kill the Ge’s Martial Marquis.
Lu Yan was a man who knew when to show gratitude and when to hold grudges.
