26: National Martial Arts Competition

Qinglan Martial Academy, Grade A Courtyard.

Lin Mo stood silently in the courtyard, holding the mission token in his hand.

The thirty contribution points from last night's trip to the Charitable Undertakers had been recorded on his identity plaque, but the more important gains were the two grey-clothed corpses and the clues from the underground secret passage.

The corpses had been taken by the academy for examination, and Liu Qingyun had gone to the Mission Hall to provide a detailed report.

According to her, the Deacon Elder's expression turned grave upon hearing about the Death Warriors and poison gas traps; he told her not to involve herself further and that the academy would handle the follow-up.

"It seems the secret beneath that well is more important than expected," Lin Mo thought to himself.

He summoned Death Warrior Two and Three: "The two who were monitoring the perimeter last night, is there any trace of them?"

"Yes," Two replied. "About fifteen minutes after we withdrew, those two entered the Charitable Undertakers. They left hurriedly a moment later and headed toward the south of the city."

"We tracked them to a private residence in Yongning Ward. They haven't come out since entering. Someone has been left to monitor them."

Yongning Ward was a residential area for middle-class wealthy families in Qinglan City, a place where dragons and snakes mingled.

"Keep watching. Find out the owner of that house, the people who frequently come and go, and which factions in the city they have dealings with."

"Yes."

Lin Mo looked at Four again: "Is there any movement within the academy?"

"After we returned to the courtyard last night, three Instructors went to the Deacon Hall overnight and haven't come out since. This morning's regular classes are proceeding as usual, but Instructor Zhao Zhenshan did not appear."

"Additionally," Four added, "among the blue-tier missions in the Service Pavilion, all missions related to investigating and exploring the west of the city were temporarily withdrawn this morning."

They moved fast.

This meant that either the matter beneath the well involved the academy's own interests, or the factions involved were ones that even the academy had to treat with caution.

Lin Mo pondered for a moment and said, "We won't delve deeper into this for now. Over the next three months, focus on three things."

He spread out a simplified topographical map of Qinglan City and its surroundings.

"First, expand the intelligence network.

Using our existing strongholds as a foundation, penetrate the southern and eastern parts of the city.

Target: Within three months, we must have eyes and ears in all six wards and four gates of Qinglan City."

"Second, establish a public presence.

The first batch of ten youths from Qingyuan Town, selected by Shi Liu, has arrived in the city and is settled in a miscellaneous courtyard in the West Market.

Three will be responsible for training them in basic martial arts and intelligence gathering. At the same time, select three Death Warriors to take over a storefront in the city as merchants, starting with medicinal herbs and general goods to build a legal cover."

"Third, accelerate the stockpiling of resources.

On the Qingyuan Town side, have Liu Kui and White Sand Child use all channels to purchase grain, iron, leather, and medicinal herbs.

If there isn't enough money, draw from the Black Fish Gang's accounts. If necessary, you can 'press' down the purchase price, but be mindful of the degree; do not attract large-scale attention."

Lin Mo's finger drew a circle on the map over Qinglan City.

"In three months, there will be the National Martial Arts Competition of the Thirty-six Prefectures. Before then, we must plant our roots deep enough in Qinglan City."

The Death Warriors took their orders and withdrew.

Lin Mo sat alone in the courtyard and began his daily Cultivation.

The Qi Sea Acupoint rotated slowly, and his Inner Breath flowed like a surging river. He could feel the barrier leading to the Muscle Realm becoming thinner and thinner, as if it would break with a single poke.

But he was still suppressing it.

The mystery of the Aperture Condensation Method lay in the fact that the Qi Sea Acupoint could not only store Inner Breath but also continuously temper and compress its quality.

The deeper the accumulation, the purer the internal qi after the Breakthrough, and the greater the potential.

"System," Lin Mo thought silently.

A translucent interface that only he could see appeared before his eyes:

[Death Squad System]

Current Total Summons: 57

Summonable Today: Yes (Automatic at midnight)

Host Physical Fitness Stacking: 57 × 1.5 times a healthy adult

Cultivation Feedback Efficiency: 80%

Special Note: When the host's Realm breaks through to Muscle (internal qi), the System will undergo its first upgrade.

This was a new prompt that appeared on the System interface when he achieved Major Achievement in Bone Forging a few days ago.

The content of the upgrade was unknown, but the word "first" implied there would be more to follow.

"Muscle Realm... almost there." Lin Mo closed his eyes and concentrated.

In the following days, the rhythm of Lin Mo's life became even more compact.

During the day, he attended his academy classes as usual.

He could already perfectly simulate a beginner's progress with the Qinglan Breathing Technique, and the Comprehension Ability he occasionally displayed even made Instructor Zhao Zhenshan take notice.

In the Martial Skill class, he practiced Bedrock Fist and Willow Catkin Following the Wind Step to proficiency and even began attempting Fusion.

By combining the heavy and fierce force of the Bedrock Fist with the agility of the Willow Catkin Step, he created a combat style more suited to himself.

As expected, Lei Meng posted a sparring mission in the Service Pavilion, and Lin Mo accepted it.

On the martial arts field, the two exchanged over thirty moves.

Lin Mo did not use his full strength, using only a Minor Achievement level of Inner Breath in Bone Forging combined with exquisite fist techniques to repeatedly restrain Lei Meng, who was at Major Achievement in Bone Forging. Finally, he used a move of Willow Catkin Silk Entwining to use his opponent's force against him and threw him out of the ring.

Lei Meng was thoroughly defeated and clamored to treat Lin Mo to a drink. Liu Qingyun watched from the side, the surprise in her eyes deepening.

In his literary classes, Lin Mo focused on geography, military strategy, and medicine.

This knowledge was crucial for managing his faction in the future.

Fang Han sat in on the classes and progressed rapidly; especially in medicine and clerical work, he was already able to assist the Death Warriors with simple tasks.

Nighttime was for practicing the Aperture Condensation Method and listening to reports from the Death Warriors.

The intelligence network expansion was proceeding smoothly.

Under the tireless penetration of the Death Warriors, two inns in the south of the city and a carriage company in the eastern city had been secretly brought under control.

The medicinal herb shop in the West Market named "Hundred Herbs Hall" also opened quietly. The shopkeeper was death warrior [Nineteen] (Basic Clerical Processing), the accountant was [Twenty] (Basic Shorthand), and the shop assistants were three youths from Qingyuan Town.

The storefront was not large and business was average, but it was sufficient as a legal information relay point and a channel for capital flow.

The stockpiling of materials in Qingyuan Town was also accelerating.

Liu Kui sent news that the volume of grain circulation in the market had significantly decreased recently, and prices had risen by ten percent.

He used his Gang's influence to "persuade" several rural landlords to sell some of their grain reserves, and had now stockpiled enough grain to feed five hundred people for three months.

The purchase of iron and medicinal herbs encountered resistance.

Several large trading firms began limiting sales, and prices skyrocketed. White Sand Child used his old connections in the White Sand Gang to obtain two batches from the black market.

"Young Master, something is not right," Liu Kui wrote in a secret letter.

"Usually, this is when new grain hits the market, and prices should be falling. Moreover, the City Guard has been purchasing large quantities of ironware and wound medicine recently, as if preparing for war."

Lin Mo burned the letter.

Going to war? Against whom? The Grassland Tribes of the Northern Border? Or... he recalled the defense tax increase and the unrest in the Northern Border mentioned by Steward Wu.

Day sixty-three.

The total number of Death Warriors reached sixty-three. The newly summoned [Sixty-Three]'s skill was [Basic Forging].

Lin Mo sent him to Qingyuan Town to assist the Black Fish Gang with iron stockpiling and simple weapon modification.

Day seventy.

Research on the rusted sword had a Breakthrough.

After nearly a month of continuous nourishment with the Inner Breath of the Aperture Condensation Method, the second patch of rust on the blade finally fell off naturally, revealing more of that strange metal that was dark as the night sky and scattered with silver stars.

More importantly, while Five was cleaning the rust layer, he accidentally dripped a drop of blood onto the newly exposed blade—he had inadvertently cut his finger while handling tools.

The blood was instantly absorbed by the blade. Immediately after, the seven stars of the mountain peak mark on the crossguard lit up slightly, transmitting a very blurred fragment of intent:

"...Seal... Seven Peaks... Suppress..."