Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

Several hours later, Boss Chen was running his hands over himself with disbelief written all over his face.

What strength! Matchless, overwhelming strength!

Three drops of Lu Changsheng's blood had doubled the agony and benefits, but the moment it was over, Boss Chen achieved strength equivalent to the peak of First Growth.

If he trained for a while longer in the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao with potent tonics supplied to him, he would be able to break through into Second Growth before long.

That was the nature of a blood descendant. So long as Lu Changsheng's own strength maintained its pace, he had no cause whatsoever to worry about a shortage of powerful blood descendants. All it took was bestowing a little more blood on them.

Boss Chen was a prime example. Truthfully, Lu Changsheng had given him not only three drops of blood but a small mass of flesh as well, and the results looked rather good so far.

Boss Chen knew exactly how to read a room. He went down on his knees in front of Lu Changsheng at once and kowtowed. "Greetings, Progenitor."

"Very good! Look at this, Kao Ping. The Temple of Flesh and Blood has gained all these brothers and sisters in a single trip. It's cause for celebration. The world is a sea of bitterness and all beings suffer in it.

"Only if you're a brother or sister of the Temple who enters my great Flesh and Blood Martial Dao will you be rid of sickness and pain, and forever roam free in bliss."

The words left Boss Chen deeply moved. He respectfully answered, "Thank you, infinitely merciful and compassionate Flesh and Blood Progenitor. Were it not for your compassion, how could any of us have left the sea of bitterness behind? Having taken refuge in the Temple of Flesh and Blood, we will follow you forever."

The blood descendants who had only just finished the conversion rite went down on their knees as well, one after another.

"Enough. Kao Ping, take them to the Temple of Flesh and Blood and have them registered first."

"Chen Ping, with me."

Boss Chen's given name was Chen Ping.

Lu Changsheng had not gone to that much trouble converting the man without a use for him. Before long, the whole group was back at the Kao Clan's estate outside the city, which had since become the headquarters of the Temple of Flesh and Blood.

With nobody left in the room but the two of them, Chen Ping stood in front of Lu Changsheng.

Lu Changsheng calmly said, "Chen Ping, you should hand that gambling house of yours to somebody else to run. I'm raising you to be the guardian of the Temple of Flesh and Blood. Put your heart into growing it, and you definitely won't be short-changed down the road."

Chen Ping dropped to his knees. "I'm willing to shoulder your burdens."

Then he asked, "How do you wish to grow the temple?"

That was the kind of question that Kao Ping would have never asked. Chen Ping asking it marked him plainly as a man with ideas of his own, and Lu Changsheng did not despise that. What he feared was a man who had no mind of his own.

"The temple has to grow quietly and out of sight. Though I say out of sight, it still has to grow fast. Let's set a modest target for now to convert Drum Mountain City. Work to convert the city from north to south into blood descendants as soon as you can, so that the entire place can become the temple's headquarters."

Lu Changsheng's ambition ran large. Control of Drum Mountain City came first, and in his eyes, that was no more than the first step. However, that first step alone was enough to send a jolt through Chen Ping's chest. He had plainly seen the ambition behind it.

Chen Ping weighed every word as he gravely replied, "I understand. Rest assured, progenitor. Within three months, I will have the Temple of Flesh and Blood in complete control of Drum Mountain City and every soul in it bathed in the temple's light."

Lu Changsheng nodded, well satisfied with the promise. "Good! The world is a sea of bitterness and all beings suffer in it. The sooner the people of Drum Mountain City are converted into blood descendants, the sooner they leave that sea behind and ascend into bliss together."

If the city really became his within three months, he planned to give larger benefits to Chen Ping as a matter of course, and he did not rule out handing over more blood to carry the man into Second Growth. However, if the promise went unfulfilled, there would be punishment instead. Whatever Chen Ping did along the way was of no concern to him. All he needed was the result.

With that, Lu Changsheng went back to the Kao Clan's estate and left the temple's affairs to Chen Ping and Kao Ping. Kao Ping was stationed there permanently as Lu Changsheng's eyes and ears keeping Chen Ping in check.

The real work was all to be done by Chen Ping.

As for Kao Wen's parents, Lu Changsheng was in no hurry to convert them. That could wait until the time was ripe since both of them were in reasonably good health.

With things all set, he threw himself into training the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao, pushing for a breakthrough into Fourth Growth as early as he could. How far the temple could grow ultimately came down to how strong Lu Changsheng was, and he understood that clearly from the very beginning.

The days went by, and Lu Changsheng found time on his hands while the Temple of Flesh and Blood moved into a season of rapid growth. As it turned out, Chen Ping was a really capable man.

He had learned for himself what a blood descendant was worth, and his motivation ran high. The hidden injuries and lingering damage left over from a young man's brawls had all vanished. It was as though he had gone back to being young.

He prized the chance Lu Changsheng had given him, and he wanted more than that. He wanted to be stronger!

Though a blood descendant could grow stronger by training in the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao, Chen Ping showed very little interest in it. Training was slow, and a blood descendant could be raised directly by having blood bestowed on him with no hidden cost attached at all.

He had attached himself to the Flesh and Blood Progenitor, so why would he sweat and grind through his own training? However fast a man trained, could it be faster than the progenitor giving him blood?

Just like that, three months went by in the blink of an eye.

Lu Changsheng glanced at the Status Panel.

[Status Panel]

Host: Lu Changsheng

Title: Flesh and Blood Progenitor

Flesh and Blood Martial Dao: Third Growth (71%)

His Flesh and Blood Martial Dao had climbed past seventy percent of Third Growth. Another three months would bring him to the peak of it, and a breakthrough into Fourth Growth might even follow from there. However, Lu Changsheng still found the pace slow.

He wanted to catch a few true demons and find out whether their flesh could speed up the training, but everything was being kept quiet at present, so true demons were hard to find. All he could do was sit with patience and resist the urge to show off.

That could wait until he achieved Fourth Growth, as he would have enough strength to keep himself safe by then.

Just then, Chen Ping's voice came through the door. "My lord, your subordinate has an important matter to report."

"Come in."

A moment later, Chen Ping was standing before him as respectful as ever.

Over the past few months, Chen Ping had come to understand the truth of what a blood descendant was. Every one of them, no matter who had made them, was suppressed in the presence of Kao Wen, the Flesh and Blood Progenitor. Nobody knew exactly how far that suppression went since nobody had yet dared to test his authority.

"Progenitor, the three months are up. Practically everyone in Drum Mountain City has been converted into a blood descendant. Even the villages and towns around the city are nearly all blood descendants now."

Lu Changsheng's eyes lit up. Chen Ping had indeed done well. He asked for three months, and he had done it in three months.

Growing the temple was not as simple as growing a business. Becoming a blood descendant drove out sickness and pain and left a man so full of energy he might have gone back to being young, but who could say whether any of that was natural?

People were always full of fear in the face of what they did not understand, and a great many of them had certainly resisted. However, thanks to whatever Chen Ping had done, fear had done them no good.

"One place is left, and that's the Drum Mountain City Yamen. The men in it hold their posts from the imperial court and stand for the court's dignity, so the conversion rite for Lord Zhang is something I'm afraid you will have to attend in person.

"Only with the government office under our control can the temple be said to control Drum Mountain City." Chen Ping laid it out plainly.

"The government office..." Lu Changsheng nodded. "Very well, I'll make the trip myself."

"Progenitor, there is a carriage waiting outside."

Chen Ping had already arranged it all properly, so the two left the Kao Clan's estate, settled into the carriage, and set off for the yamen.