27: System upgrade

There were only a few intermittent words, but they were enough to shake Lin Mo.

"Does this sword have spirituality? Or is it the residual intent of the creator or the previous owner?"

He personally tried to recognize the master with a drop of blood, but the sword blade did not react at all. It seemed that specific conditions were needed, or perhaps Wu's blood had some kind of specialty?

"Wu, from today onwards, you will drop one drop of your own blood every day on the newly exposed part of the sword blade and observe the changes."

"Yes."

The seventy-fifth day.

The surveillance of that private residence in Yongning Ward yielded results.

Death Warrior Er reported: "The owner of the house is surnamed Hu. On the surface, he is a silk merchant, but in reality, he has a marital connection with Liu Mang, the Deputy Commander of the City Guard.

In the last ten days, a total of four groups of people with different identities have entered and exited at night. Three of them, after comparison, are core members of the Black Wolf Gang.

Last night, a person in gray left from a secret passage in the house. We followed them to a courtyard behind the City Lord's Manor's back street before losing their trail."

The City Lord's Manor!

Lin Mo's eyes narrowed.

Charitable Undertakers, Death Warriors, Black Wolf Gang, City Guard Deputy Commander, City Lord's Manor... this line was becoming clearer and clearer.

"Have there been any abnormalities in the City Lord's Manor recently?"

"The patrol frequency of the Patrol Inspection Department has increased, especially at night. A batch of guards at the City Lord's Manor has been replaced, and the newcomers are more skilled.

Additionally," Er paused for a moment, "three days ago, a convoy of about fifty people entered the city from the North Gate and went directly into the City Lord's Manor. The goods on the carts were covered with oilcloth, but the wheel ruts were very deep, looking like metal or stone."

"Continue monitoring, but do not approach within half a mile of the City Lord's Manor. There may be experts there."

"Yes."

The eightieth day.

Lin Mo finally felt the opportunity for a Breakthrough.

The Inner Breath in the Qi Sea Acupoint had been refined to the extreme, and its rotation speed was getting faster and faster, as if it wanted to break free from some kind of restraint.

He knew he couldn't suppress it any longer.

Tonight, he dismissed everyone and sat alone in the quiet room.

His mind sank into his body, guiding the Inner Breath to circulate along the path of the Aperture Condensation Method. After nine cycles, all the Inner Breath suddenly flowed back and merged into the Qi Sea Acupoint.

The acupoint vibrated violently, and the originally invisible Inner Breath began to undergo a qualitative change.

Wisps of pale white qi glow began to precipitate from the Inner Breath; they were more solid and agile.

internal qi!

"Break!"

Lin Mo shouted low in his heart.

The Qi Sea Acupoint expanded with a boom, and all the Inner Breath was transformed into pale white internal qi in an instant!

The newborn internal qi was like a floodgate opening, rushing into the Twelve Primary Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Wherever it passed, the Meridians were forcibly widened and nourished, bringing bursts of tearing pain and newborn-like itching.

Lin Mo gritted his teeth and persevered.

An hour later, the transformation was complete.

He opened his eyes, and a flash of brilliant light seemed to pass through his pupils for a fleeting moment.

He raised his hand, and with a slight thought, a wisp of pale white internal qi emerged from his fingertip, making a faint "hissing" sound in the air.

"So this is the Muscle Realm... internal qi manifestation."

He felt the changes within his body.

His strength had increased by at least thirty percent, his five senses were sharper, and the internal qi flowed endlessly in his Meridians, ready to be poured into his fists, feet, or weapons at any time, doubling their power.

More importantly—

[Detected host's Realm Breakthrough to 'Muscle (internal qi)', meeting the upgrade conditions. Death Squad System beginning first upgrade...]

[Upgrading... 10%... 50%... 100%]

[Upgrade complete]

[New Functions:]

Summoning Optimization: Death Warriors summoned hereafter will have a fixed initial Realm of 'Muscle (internal qi) Entry Level', basic physical attributes will be correspondingly improved, and random skill quality will be slightly increased.

Feedback Enhancement: Cultivation feedback efficiency increased from 80% to 85%.

Synergy Command: The host can issue a concise command of no more than thirty words to all Death Warriors simultaneously through the System. Death Warriors will prioritize executing this command.

Ability Library Opened: The host can select unlocked Death Warrior skills and temporarily grant them to a designated Death Warrior for one hour.

[Special Note: The Realm of already summoned Death Warriors will not automatically increase; they must Cultivate and Breakthrough on their own.]

Lin Mo read through them one by one, the light in his eyes growing intense.

Summoned Death Warriors will directly be in the Muscle Realm!

This meant that starting tomorrow, he could obtain one Muscle Entry Level Death Warrior every day. The starting point for physical attribute stacking and cultivation feedback would be greatly improved!

The feedback efficiency increased to 85%, and the Synergy Command and Ability Library were strategic-level functions.

Lin Mo calmed his emotions and walked out of the quiet room.

In the courtyard, core Death Warriors like Si, Er, and San immediately noticed the change in his aura.

"Young Master has broken through?"

"Yes." Lin Mo nodded. "From tomorrow onwards, the newly summoned companions will be very strong. You must step up your Cultivation and Breakthrough as soon as possible."

He looked toward the whitening sky in the east.

The eighty-first day, midnight.

The new Death Warrior arrived as scheduled—[81].

And at the moment the summoning was complete, Lin Mo clearly felt that the physical attributes stacked this time far exceeded any previous time!

That was the basic physique of a Muscle Realm Martial Artist, which, after being strengthened 1.5 times, was perfectly fused into his body.

"Good!"

Lin Mo clenched his fist, and his knuckles made a slight popping sound.

He could feel that his Physical Body's strength had officially broken through a certain threshold. His raw physical power alone was probably over ten thousand catties! Combined with internal qi, his combat power would undergo a qualitative change.

"Issue orders to all Death Warriors. From today onwards, the focus of Cultivation will shift to Martial Skill combat and internal qi application. Within three months, I want at least twenty people to Breakthrough to the Muscle Realm."

"Yes!"

In the dim morning light, Lin Mo looked deep into the Martial Academy.

Today was the day of the monthly assessment.

It was also his first public appearance after his Breakthrough.

Martial Arts Training Hall.

Thirty-eight Grade A students gathered. Instructor Zhao Zhenshan stood at the front, with three Deacon Elders beside him.

"The monthly assessment is divided into three parts," Zhao Zhenshan's voice was serious.

"First part: Inner Breath (Qi) quality testing. It will be tested with the Qi Testing Stone."

"Second part: Martial Skill combat. Duel by drawing lots, winners get points."

"Third part: Theory assessment. Written exams on humanities, military strategy, and basic medicine."

"Comprehensive scoring. Now, begin the first part!"

The students stepped forward one by one, pressing their hands on a half-person-high cyan stone tablet and injecting their Inner Breath.

The stone tablet would light up with light patterns according to the quality of the Inner Breath. One pattern represented passing, two good, three excellent, and four outstanding.

Most students had one or two patterns. When Lei Meng injected his internal qi, the stone tablet lit up with three patterns, drawing a burst of low exclamations.

Liu Qingyun also had three, but the light was more solid.

It was Lin Mo's turn.

He stepped forward, pressed his hand on the stone tablet, and controlled himself to only inject internal qi at about the Muscle Entry Level.

However—

Buzz!

The stone tablet vibrated violently, and four thick light patterns lit up instantly. The light was so bright it was almost blinding!

Then, above the four patterns, a fifth phantom pattern actually faintly appeared!

The entire field fell silent.

Zhao Zhenshan and the three Elders stood up abruptly!

"Five patterns... the purity of the internal qi is already close to the Marrow Cleansing threshold?!" an Elder exclaimed.

Lin Mo revealed a "surprised" expression at the right time and withdrew his hand. The light of the stone tablet gradually faded.

"Lin Mo, you... when did you Breakthrough to Muscle?" Zhao Zhenshan stared at him.

"I felt an inspiration last night and luckily broke through," Lin Mo said respectfully.