Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 20: Profound Gate

Luo Qi rolled her eyes as she watched Zhao Changhe finally focus on what he was supposed to do and take the horse stance.

The horse stance, no matter how one looked at it, was not anything eye-catching. However, Zhao Changhe’s strength was impressive. In the horse stance, his lower body was incredibly stable. If Luo Qi were to push him without her internal force, Zhao Changhe would be able to hold his ground with sheer physical strength and not budge an inch.

Demonic arts all had their own techniques to practice, but Luo Qi doubted that the average person learning demonic arts built up their fundamentals with such diligence. So just how many people could properly learn this martial art?

By the side, Zhao Changhe had begun observing the changes inside his body.

This type of internal observation differed greatly from that used in internal arts to observe one’s own flow of qi in their meridians. The Vicious Blood Art looked at one’s flow of blood. It was like performing a dissection during a biology class. Zhao Changhe could see his blood slowly flowing through his blood vessels. In addition, he could clearly feel the power contained within it—his blood qi and vicious qi.

Once these energies fused with his blood, it began to surge, like a long river flowing into the sea.

According to what scientific knowledge Zhao Changhe had, this was not very scientific. Then again, from the moment he saw the Tome of Troubled Times, he no longer intended to bring up any science...

Once this vicious blood qi seeped into his flesh and bones, his strength would increase dramatically. However, at the same time, it would rush to his head and muddle his thoughts. This was why the Vicious Blood Art could cause people to lose their rationality. Of course, it was not a purely bad thing. Entering a berserk state could allow one to fight even fiercer; it was a double-edged sword.

The more one cultivated in the Vicious Blood Art, the more forceful one’s blood would begin to surge. This was only natural. If Zhao Changhe wanted to break through, he needed to channel his energy to the very limit according to the principles of the Vicious Blood Art. How this would play out, he did not know.

For the so-called Profound Gate of the body, there was actually no unified standard. At the very least, people who practiced internal arts had a different definition of the Profound Gate from people who practiced external arts.

Internal arts practitioners were concerned with the body’s acupoints and meridians. It was extremely similar to how people needed to “open up the X meridian” in the wuxia novels Zhao Changhe read. Which meridians and acupoints one opened would determine what sort of effect their cultivation had on them, and corresponded with how many layers of the Profound Gate they could attain.

However, external arts practitioners looked at the body’s flesh and bones. The criteria for what layer of the Profound Gate one had reached was what kind of power they managed to cultivate in their flesh, bones, and even skin, and other factors such as how much strength they possessed and how many bulls they could obliterate with a single fist.

For the Vicious Blood Art, the first bottleneck lay in whether Zhao Changhe could control the vicious blood qi flowing through his blood vessels and direct it into the capillary vessels to strengthen certain parts of his body. In a battle, this would allow him to better reinforce parts of his body as necessary.

This marked the first layer of the Profound Gate—the ability to perfectly control one’s blood vessels, flesh, and bones.

It sounded simple, basic even. But to actually do it was incredibly difficult. After all, one needed to circulate blood qi with all their might to break through. If done improperly, there would not be any way to control the blood qi and vicious qi. As a result, the body could rupture and lead to death, or it was very possible that one could go insane from the blood qi rushing to their head.

Zhao Changhe carefully followed the requirements of the Vicious Blood Art and attempted to gather the surging vicious blood qi in his biceps. His arms enlarged visibly and his thin clothes looked like they were about to rip open.

Standing by the side, Luo Qi could imagine that if he were to take off his clothes, she would be able to see his rippling muscles and the blood-red tint of the skin covering them as they swelled up.

The redness moved down his upper arm to his forearm and then to his fists.

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Indeed, his fists began to appear blood-red.

This type of power was similar to what everyone had seen Branch Master Fang use when he fought with Luo Zhenwu. And Zhao Changhe had obtained it so soon! There was naturally a discrepancy when it came to the level they had reached, but it was clearly the same technique.

Is breaking through to the first layer so simple? Luo Qi carefully looked Zhao Changhe in the eye.

His eyes were indeed a little red and there was a wild malice in them... After all, when circulating vicious blood qi with all of one’s strength, it was impossible to control it precisely. There was bound to be some vicious blood qi that would rush to the head. This was why Zhao Changhe needed someone to watch over him.

But, how should I say this... Everything still seems fine? Even though his eyes are a bit red and he looks violent, it seems his mind is still intact.

As she thought this, Zhao Changhe’s expression became more and more distorted and his breathing became heavier. He looked at Luo Qi as if he wanted to eat her up.

Luo Qi retreated a few steps. Fuck you. And you say that this isn’t like taking an aphrodisiac?! Then what the hell is it?! Are you going to pounce on me just like that and tear off my...

As Luo Qi retreated, she asked with a blank expression, “Are you okay? Do you need me to kick you into the pool?”

“There’s no need.” Zhao Changhe spoke with great difficulty. His voice was hoarse. “I can still control myself, but I’m in unbearable pain. My blood vessels are in a mess. It feels like there are countless ants drilling into them...”

Luo Qi’s unease suddenly spiked to the clouds. She was terrified. “Are you going to explode?”

“I don’t think... that’ll happen. There isn’t any of that feeling of swelling up to the point of being about to burst... It’s just—it’s just incredibly unbearable. It’s way worse than a high fever. There are so many ants biting me. They’re about to drill into my bones...” It was clearly a cold and windy day, but there were large beads of sweat dripping off Zhao Changhe’s forehead like rainwater. It looked exceedingly painful.

Luo Qi was rendered speechless.

Both of them thought of what Fang Buping said about demonic arts when they joined the cult: “they may be extremely painful to practice.”

They did not feel anything of that sort before, and they had even thought that Fang Buping was just saying that to scare Zhao Changhe away.

Today, Zhao Changhe had begun to break through a Profound Gate and reach a higher level. It seemed that the time had come for him to suffer.

What were demonic arts? That which harmed the self before harming others. With vicious blood qi racing through one’s body, how could it be painless? Zhao Changhe knew from the start that there would be some side effects to cultivating demonic arts. While enjoying such speedy progress, these side effects were bound to catch up to him sooner or later. And today, he was finally experiencing them firsthand.

Luo Qi hesitated.

He says he can control himself and won’t do anything. But what if he happens to suddenly lose control the moment I get closer?

What’s more... Deep within Luo Qi’s heart, she still faintly felt that it would not be bad if Zhao Changhe died... He treated her very well. Since she was unable to kill him herself, would it not be a good thing if he happened to have an accident while training?

Why do I need to help him? Why do I need to brave the danger that he might lose control?

But...

As the thought surfaced in her head, though, she could not help but slowly move forward. She gently put her hands on Zhao Changhe’s back.

Only after her hands were placed on his back did Luo Qi realize what she was doing and secretly sighed.

If Zhao Changhe... did not want to give up his kindness, how could she?

Enough.

Zhao Changhe felt a gentle qi permeate his meridians. It soothed over the chaos in his body. He could feel that Luo Qi’s internal force was not of a gentle or nourishing type; it was a sharp and harmful qi. She was currently making a great effort to suppress the sharpness of her internal force to clumsily help him take care of the chaos inside him and suppress the hostility in his blood.

That unbearable pain lessened somewhat. Zhao Changhe knew that Luo Qi was making great efforts to assist him. He said softly, “Thanks...”

“Isn’t this what I’m supposed to do? There’s nothing to thank me for.” Luo Qi bitterly said, “But this will only help you relax a bit. It won’t solve the problem at its root. You came here to attempt a breakthrough... Can you succeed if you’re in this much pain? Maybe you should stop?”

Zhao Changhe gasped for air. “Just now it was unbearable and I forgot something... It just occurred to me that Instructor Sun gave me a medicinal pill. Perhaps it’s for this occasion... A painkiller?”

Luo Qi remained silent for a while before slowly saying, “Maybe it is. But have you considered that if you have to rely on this type of medicine to get by that this is perhaps how the cult controls its members? It’s no wonder that Instructor Sun is so dedicated to teaching you. He’s not at all afraid that you’ll rebel against him... Did he tell you anything like this?”

Zhao Changhe also remained silent. There were indeed a few times when Instructor Sun looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself, leaving whatever he wanted to say unsaid. From his perspective, was this sort of control employed by demonic cults a matter of course?

Luo Qi’s words that day repeated over and over in his head. Don’t be so easy to trust others, including me and Instructor Sun.

Zhao Changhe had already taken out the medicine, but he grit his teeth and put it back in his pocket.

Only relying on Luo Qi’s inexperienced assistance, without the effects of the medicine, was not enough. Zhao Changhe could no longer hold the horse stance and slowly fell to the ground, curling up in pain.

Seeing him, who could have said that just moments prior, he had been amidst the flowers and under the moonlight, peeping at Luo Qi bathing? Within a few breaths of time, everything had changed.

Cold frost. The Winter Solstice.

Luo Qi panicked, “If you can’t take it, then stop. Don’t tell me you can’t even stop.”

Zhao Changhe grit his teeth. “What then... Do I just stop training? Do I just waste away all the progress I’ve made in the Vicious Blood Art and cultivate something else?”

Luo Qi was silent.

Destroying one’s cultivation was equal to crippling oneself. Never would they be able to cultivate again.

“Might as well endure...and see if this road...is a dead end!” Zhao Changhe forcefully grabbed the stones by the water. Blood dripped from his fingers into the pool. It was a ghastly sight.

Luo Qi looked on worriedly, “Why didn’t you eat the medicine?”

“Since it might be something used to control people, why would I eat it?” Zhao Changhe quietly gasped for air. “I don’t believe that I can’t get past this by only relying on myself!”

Luo Qi said no more and looked fixedly at Zhao Changhe’s crazed eyes.

They said that Boss Zhao was a great man.

Luo Qi had always been haughty. How could she call any man she met a great man, like other women did? How could she make herself blush and avert her gaze as she bowed in front of them?

But at this moment, she truly felt that Zhao Changhe was indeed a great man.

Zhao Changhe flicked away a stone and suddenly laughed. “Is it normal for Instructor Sun to do something like that? Anyway... At least I didn’t make a mistake trusting you.”

Anger suddenly swelled up in Luo Qi. “You’re an idiot!”

Zhao Changhe said quietly, “At least this time I don’t need to rely on their medicine... I can rely on you.”

Luo Qi was at a loss. She suddenly felt that the chaotic vicious blood qi in Zhao Changhe’s body was gradually settling down. His swollen muscles also slowly returned to normal. There only remained a faint blood-red flowing through his fists. Under the moonlight, it looked indescribably sinister.

“Did you break through?” She asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Zhao Changhe lightly closed and opened his fists. He felt a slight change in his strength and said in a hoarse voice, “Thank you.”

Luo Qi shook her head. All she had done was alleviate some of the pain Zhao Changhe helped. It was absolutely not enough to allow him to endure all of that. He was still in tremendous pain. One only needed to hear his hoarse, trembling voice to see this. Subjected to such intense pain, most people would not have been able to even muster up their spirit to fight. Unless they were truly men of iron, how could anyone grind their teeth and weather such pain to break through the Profound Gate?

The one he had relied on was not Luo Qi, but himself.

However, if he was to continue cultivating the Vicious Blood Art, he would have to meet with similar obstacles in the future. Furthermore, they would be even more tortuous than this breakthrough. Would Zhao Changhe be able to endure?

“Another thing...” Zhao Changhe weakly gasped for air, but there was an incredibly happy smile plastered on his face. “This was a blessing in disguise... I’ve found something... Look.”

Luo Qi looked down in amazement.

She hadn’t noticed it, but the blood in the middle of the pool had at some point formed into the shape of a dragon.

It appeared to have a life of its own and endlessly circled the reflection of the half-moon in the pool.