Chapter 53: The Murder

After returning to Chashan Outpost, everyone acted as if nothing had happened and went their separate ways.

Su Hao and Wu Yuntian sat opposite each other at the stone table in the courtyard of their Home, recounting the events of the past year.

Su Hao summarized his experiences in three sentences: the teachers at the warrior academy were great, the classmates were friendly, and he had learned a lot, eventually advancing to the Master level.

Wu Yuntian, on the other hand, said only one sentence: Chashan Outpost was the same as always.

Despite the brief exchange, both father and son were able to glean the stories behind these simple statements, demonstrating a mutual understanding.

After a brief silence, Su Hao began unpacking his giant bundle, introducing each item he had brought for Wu Yuntian.

Wu Yuntian listened attentively without interrupting. Once Su Hao finished, Wu Yuntian didn't even ask where Su Hao had gotten the money for so many things. He simply carried everything into the house.

When Wu Yuntian came back out, Su Hao asked, "Father, any progress on the [Blood Qi Strengthening Wave]?"

Wu Yuntian frowned, nodded, then shook his head. "I've felt something, but I can't control it as effortlessly as you described."

Su Hao understood. Without the guidance of [Cosmic Light], detecting the subtle traces of special frequencies within the body became extremely challenging.

Su Hao had discovered the [Blood Qi Strengthening Wave] thanks to his system, which had processed a vast amount of data and presented him with the results.

Even he wouldn't know how to help Wu Yuntian since he couldn't share [Cosmic Light] from his Marbel Space with others.

Su Hao nodded. "Take your time. Feeling something is a good start."

Suddenly, Su Hao thought of something else and asked, "Father, do you know about 'beast veins'?"

Wu Yuntian nodded and said, "I've heard of them, but all I know is that they're related to advancing to Master level, but that's all."

Su Hao explained, "Beast vieins are indeed the key to advancing to the Master level. As long as a beast vein is successfully engraved into the body, forming a new Blood Qi circulation network, one can advance. So, if you have the right beast vein, you can also become a Master.

"However, I can't give you the beast vein within me because it's too complex, and there are academy rules prohibiting private transmission. I also promised my teacher. But I'll help you find another way in the future—"

Before Su Hao could finish, Wu Yuntian interrupted, "I understand!"

He added, "Even if I had a beast vein now, I wouldn't be able to advance to the Master level."

Su Hao was puzzled. "Why?"

Wu Yuntian sighed. "My Blood Qi is stuck at the final bottleneck, unable to reach my body's limit, which means it's far from meeting the minimum requirement to advance to the Master level."

Su Hao thought deeply. "Is that so?"

Wu Yuntian smiled bitterly. "You've never experienced a so-called Blood Qi bottleneck, so of course, you wouldn't understand. My old teacher once told us that to advance to the Master level, one must refine their Blood Qi to near the body's limit to have a chance at success."

He then looked at Su Hao. "[Blood Qi Strengthening Wave] you mentioned has given me some clues and a slim chance to break through this bottleneck. Without it, I would probably be stuck at this level for the rest of my life."

Su Hao could sense Wu Yuntian's frustration and fell into deep thought.

He didn't consider himself a genius, so if he could grasp the [Blood Qi Strengthening Wave], others could as well.

Su Hao then added a new long-term task to his log: [Simplify the path of warrior advancements].

He added another: [Uncover the secret behind the special properties of beast veins [Runes]].

If he could accomplish these tasks, Su Hao could single-handedly change the world.

Warriors would no longer be a realm closed off to ordinary people. Blood Qi transformation would no longer be an insurmountable hurdle, and the secrets of beast vein engraving would openly shared.

If this world saw a surge of Master-level warriors, the human race would be in a much better position.

He had gained invaluable knowledge from this world, and for that, he was grateful. This was the best way Su Hao could think of to give back.

"I still lack enough knowledge. What I need most now is to learn more about beast veins and Blood Qi theory."

Thoroughly researching a subject and breaking it down into simple steps that could be compiled into a universally understandable guide was no easy task. Besides creativity and imagination, it required vast amounts of knowledge.

….

After spending three days at Chashan Outpost, Su Hao bid farewell to Wu Yuntian and returned alone to Lingyun Town, settling into the dorms at Lingyun Warrior Academy.

The Academy was almost deserted; all the teachers were on vacation, reportedly it was said they had collectively gone on an expedition into the wilderness. The only people around were a few scattered students who had stayed behind and the old man guarding the Lingyun Library.

In Su Hao's perception, this old man had exceptionally dense and powerful Blood Qi, clearly at the high-tier Master level, if not beyond. Yet, he never seemed to go anywhere else and stayed at the library almost all the time.

"Does he never need to use the restroom?" Su Hao mused briefly before dismissing the thought.

The academy's quiet atmosphere suited Su Hao perfectly. He enjoyed reading and studying in such a peaceful environment.

To his surprise, Su Hao saw Mei in the library—the young girl who had been scared to tears by him before, and who was obsessed with books.

He hadn't expected Mei to stay at the academy as well.

However, they were essentially strangers, at best familiar strangers, so Su Hao didn't intend to interact with her. He preferred focusing on his reading.

....

Time passed quickly.

For the first half of the month, Su Hao concentrated on replenishing his Blood Qi, aiming to fill the blood Qi network in his body, while spending his time reading at the Lingyun Library.

Half a month later, after exhausting the useful resources in the library, Su Hao began exploring other libraries in Lingyun Town. Whenever he found valuable books, he'd buy them, bring them back to the Lingyun Library, and donate them after reading.

If he couldn't afford them, he'd skim through quickly and memorize everything in his Marbel Space, reviewing the content later.

He was even stopped several times by library owners for doing this.

In response, Su Hao came up with a compromise. he would rent the books for ten copper coins for ten minutes, returning them afterward.

For the library owners, it was practically free money, so they agreed to Su Hao's offer.

This way, Su Hao managed to get access to books for ten copper coins, and both parties felt satisfied with the arrangement.

One evening, as Su Hao was leaving the library, he overheard people on the street discussing a troubling matter.

"Better be careful at night. I heard five more people went missing last night!"

"It's terrifying! A few days ago, people were disappearing in the north of the city, and now it's happening in the south. Who knows if it'll happen here next?"

"Watch your mouth! Are you trying to get us killed?"

"People say it's the work of a murderous ghost, but could it be instead be a fierce beast sneaking into the city to eat people?"

"Very likely!"

"People have been disappearing every day for the past week. This definitely isn't a coincidence."

"Don't worry! The Lingyun Town Guard has started investigating. Whoever's behind this, they'll be caught soon enough. Whatever it is, ghost or beast, it doesn't matter!"

….

Su Hao listened to the chatters as he walked and frowned. "A murderous ghost? Could it really be some kind of fierce beast sneaking into the city?"

He pondered briefly but quickly dismissed the thought. Whatever the situation, it wasn't his responsibility—there was the town guard for that.

Though small in number, Lingyun Town's Guard was the most formidable force in town. Ordinary members were high-level elite warriors, squad leaders were at least Master level, and higher positions were held by high-tier Masters. The Guard's captain was a Grandmaster-level warrior.

"Studying is still my top priority."

Recently, Su Hao had read extensively about powerful beasts in the wild and understood that obtaining a complete beast vein wasn't easy.

It wasn't as simple as killing a random fierce beast to get a full vein. Instead, one had to slaughter many of the same kind, gathering incomplete initial veins from each beast, then compare and piece them together to form a complete vein.

Su Hao, holding a copy of [The Warrior A-Qiang's Wilderness Exploration], headed back to the academy. Combined with another book recorded in his Marbel Space, [Exploring the Mysteries of Fierce Beasts], he had enough reading material for the day.