Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Azure Ancient Juice! Returning with the Yan Hanling!

At this moment, Yan Huan found it increasingly hard to endure. He had managed to last until now by overdrawing the recently recovered foundation.

Yet, Yan Huan keenly noticed that the speed of those pursuing him had slowed a bit.

"You finally can’t keep up!"

Yan Huan was overjoyed and continued to overdraw his vitality.

Chu Ming watched the gradually widening distance, his brows tightly furrowed.

By accumulating various techniques, he indeed possessed strength equivalent to the Meridian Unlocking Realm.

But if one in the Meridian Unlocking Realm was fully focused on escaping, he could only maintain the chase by continuously burning Qi and Blood Power.

When most of the Qi and Blood Power was burned up, it meant this chase might very well fail.

"There are still seven Qi Blood Powers left in my body... I have to fight one more time."

The amplification effect from the previous burns was still present, and he channeled five Qi Blood to burn.

Buzz—

Suddenly, his strength and speed skyrocketed.

The distance visibly shortened.

In the previous moment, Yan Huan was immersed in finally shaking off the pursuit, but his heart suddenly raced.

How could it accelerate further?!

Amidst brief panic, his eyes turned ruthless.

"You forced me to this!"

With a furious shout, Yan Huan abruptly halted, clenched his fists, and unleashed the Blood Wind with a roar.

Chu Ming transformed his fists into palms, merging the remaining two Qi Blood Powers with martial skills.

Blood Wind Palm!

Bang—

An invisible wave of air violently swept out, shaking the forest and scattering debris.

Both were knocked back several dozen meters by the explosive force.

Chu Ming felt a bit stifled in his chest, suffering rather serious injuries.

But he simply steadied himself, and his eyes suddenly sharpened.

The aura locked by the Sword Gourd Spirit was escaping at a remarkable speed.

That attack wasn’t the initiation of a battle but Yan Huan’s ploy, trading damage for life.

At this moment, Yan Huan’s arms were empty, his abdomen seeped with red fluid, looking utterly miserable.

Despite such severe injuries, he dared not stop even for a moment.

His arms were deliberately abandoned, using their explosion as a cost for this sole chance at survival.

Not just his arms, but his abdomen suffered heavy injuries as well.

Abdomen...

Not good!

Yan Huan suddenly grew sorrowful.

With the abdomen heavily wounded, all the treasures hidden within were lost, including that Yan Hanling!

At the rear.

Chu Ming, relying on the aura locked by the Sword Gourd Spirit, pursued for a while.

However, the remaining Qi and Blood Power was already scarce, and the recent confrontation drained a lot.

He wanted to chase, but his speed couldn’t keep up.

Before long, the aura escaped the locking range.

Chu Ming sat on a giant rock, cross-legged and adjusted his breath.

He couldn’t keep pursuing, for although his injuries weren’t too severe, the Qi and Blood Power was exhausted, severely diminishing his strength. He needed to recover first.

Moreover, during the previous impact, he saw several dropped items, which should be extraordinary.

In a moment, he returned to the site of the explosion.

Sword Gourd Spirit scanned and found things in two spots.

Firstly, two white porcelain bottles, one already damaged, its liquid spilling, the other still intact.

"This is..."

Chu Ming looked at the spilled liquid, a tinge of regret flashing in his eyes.

"The rumored Azure Ancient Juice for Cleansing Bone Marrow and Cutting Veins!"

"A drop of Azure Ancient Juice is hard to exchange even for ten thousand gold!"

The liquid within the porcelain bottles was precisely Azure Ancient Juice.

Azure Ancient Juice is a super treasure medicine capable of improving human aptitude and enhancing martial training speed.

Compared to Centennial Black Ginseng, the value of a drop of Azure Ancient Juice matches that of a hundred Black Ginsengs.

In addition, Azure Ancient Juice has a crazy effect that all martial artists covet—enhancing the success rate of breaking through Martial Arts bottlenecks.

Since Chu Ming had inferred his own cultivation technique, owning the Reading effects, he basically didn’t face Martial Arts bottlenecks. But that doesn’t mean others are the same.

Azure Ancient Juice is extremely hard to come by for martial artists!

Chu Ming kept the Azure Ancient Juice and moved to another location.

Underneath withered branches and leaves, a cold light appeared.

Flipping them away, an ice-colored token lay there.

Picking it up, icy to the touch, it had the words ’Yan Han’ engraved on the front, with complex patterns on the back.

"Yan Han..."

Chu Ming recalled the earlier mention of Yan Hanling.

"Could this be the Yan Hanling?"

The material was special, and at least he couldn’t discern what it was made of.

"This item should be quite valuable, it’s a pity I don’t know its use..."

After a thorough examination without discovering how to use it, Chu Ming stored the ’Yan Hanling’.

Then he returned to the Black Wind Stronghold, long consumed by fire.

After a night of great battle, his Qi and Blood depleted, he needed to recover quickly.

He arrived at a house surrounded by flames, a place originally storing food for the stronghold.

Due to the intense heat, most of the food was charred, with only a few edible portions.

But it was sufficient for Chu Ming alone.

He selected the roasted beef and ate without concern for appearance.

As the food entered his stomach, the Qi Blood seeds retained within his veins started re-condensing into Qi and Blood Power.

When more than ten Qi Blood Powers condensed within his bloodline, Chu Ming grabbed a sizzling, juicy roast beef leg and set out for the depths of the stronghold.

He needed to check a place, originally where the person claiming to be Yan Huan had appeared.

Moments later, Chu Ming was in the cell originally holding Yan Huan.

The stench of blood was overwhelming, broken chains littered the ground, and a dried corpse lay in the empty cell with nothing else present.

Sword Gourd Spirit swept through, something was on the dried corpse.

Chu Ming approached the corpse, searching.

A few gold bricks and a cultivation technique.

"Yanhan Body Refining Skill·Meridian Passage!"

"A Meridian Unlocking Realm cultivation technique!"

Chu Ming was instantly delighted.

Though he didn’t know the purpose of Yan Hanling and the Azure Ancient Juice was valuable, it wasn’t of much use to him.

But this book "Yanhan Body Refining Skill·Meridian Passage" was different!

If the cultivation technique was genuine, he could infer the Meridian Unlocking Realm technique in advance. Once he finished nurturing his five major organs, he wouldn’t need a mentor to explore the intricacies of this realm.

He kept the items and exited the cell.

Now wasn’t the time to observe and comprehend the cultivation technique; dawn had arrived, and he needed to hurry back to Baiyuan County, or Brother Shen would be anxious.

Before leaving, Chu Ming scoured the stronghold for gold and treasures, especially in a secret chamber where he found a whole box of gold bricks.

The gold bricks looked identical to the ones found on the corpse, presumably originating from the same source.

Chu Ming eyed the box of gold bricks, a troubled expression flashing across his brow.

Taking them would certainly slow him down, but leaving them felt wasteful.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to take the gold bricks and other treasures, departing the stronghold.

In a discreet cave thirty miles from the stronghold, he hid most of the gold and treasure, keeping a small portion with him.

As he hurried along, Chu Ming didn’t return directly to Baiyuan County but first visited Dahe Village, which suffered due to his involvement.

He shattered the gold and silver into small pieces, quietly placing them at every doorstep.

...

By late morning, Chu Ming, dragging a weary body, returned to the Chu Mansion in Baiyuan County.

"You’re back."

Inside the house, Shen Yu’s voice echoed.

The voice was slightly trembling, yet also showed a worried attempt to sound calm.

Chu Ming nodded, noticing Shen Yu’s bloodshot eyes, clearly having stayed up all night without sleep.

"Are you hurt?"

Shen Yu leaned close to Chu Ming, inspecting him eagerly.

"Just a minor injury," Chu Ming replied.

"Where? I’ll find medicine right away."

"No need, just some rest will suffice."

Chu Ming touched his stomach, chuckling softly, "Brother Shen, I’m hungry, is there anything to eat?"

With a significant lack of Qi and Blood, all food in the stronghold was converted to Qi and Blood, and after such a journey, he was hungry again.

"Yes, I’ll get it right away."

Shen Yu hastily moved, but suddenly halted at the doorway.

Without turning back, he asked, "The Black Wind Stronghold...?"

"It’s all settled," Chu Ming replied calmly.

All settled?

Shen Yu’s heart trembled.

The notorious Black Wind Stronghold in Xirong County had been repeatedly besieged by the Commandery Mansion to no avail, and it’s settled?

How was it resolved? To what extent?

Were all the bandits eliminated?!

He had many doubts but didn’t ask further, seeing that Chu Ming was very tired at the moment.

...