Wang Sheng had practiced Inner Core Skill for so long, yet it was the first time he encountered a disease focus that the Qi Blood Power couldn't break through.
At this time, the Qi Blood Power had already bypassed this disease focus and continued forward, waiting to grow stronger before returning to break through it.
But he had become intrigued by this formidable disease focus.
He felt undoubtedly healthy in his own experience, and before he practiced Inner Core Skill, he had not felt any discomfort.
And now, he had encountered a formidable disease focus.
He wanted to see what kind of disease focus it was that even his current Qi Blood Power couldn't break through.
"When the Qi Blood Power struck, there wasn't any other sensation; after trying and failing to break through, it simply detoured. This kind of sensation—
could it be a 'future illness'?"
The disease focuses encountered by Qi Blood were divided into three levels: past, present, and future. When Qi Blood Power struck disease focuses of the past or present, it generally would be accompanied by either pain or symptoms worsening.
If there was no reaction, then it indicated that this was a future illness, simply put, a disease focus still in its latent period or showing no symptoms; imperceptible for now, but one day it would erupt.
Most of these disease focuses were actually not a big deal; kidney deficiency, heart fire, all belonged to this category of disease focus and simply needed early prevention and treatment.
However, the problem was right here; for his Qi Blood Power at Martial Artist Level to not break through the disease focus on his first attempt indicated that the disease focus was not only latent but also might be very powerful—it wouldn't be a minor illness. Once erupted, even a Martial Artist might not be able to withstand it.
"What in the world is this disease focus?"
Wang Sheng frantically searched through his memories in his mind, looking for a clue.
But his memory gave no answers.
He immediately entered a state of internal inspection, searching for the place where the Qi Blood Power had been obstructed just before.
Wang Sheng was frightened; in the state of internal inspection, he saw a mass of black congealed blood which wriggled like a flesh worm, and its surface occasionally rose like ghostly faces, as if it were a malevolent specter from hell.
Seeing this disease focus, Wang Sheng's first impression was terror and disgust, plus a slither of fear.
How could such a thing be lurking inside his body? No matter how one looked at it, this disease focus seemed extremely serious.
He fell into contemplation.
"The state of internal inspection reveals the true nature of the disease focus; what kind of disease focus has a nature ?"
No, that couldn't be it. If it were cellular mutation, it wouldn't look ; Wang Sheng's Qi Blood Power had encountered cellular disease focuses before, and in the state of internal inspection, it didn't reveal scenes .
If he ruled out this possibility—
This was actually the first thing Wang Sheng thought of upon seeing that scene.
That mass of black material looked too much like some kind of terrifying poison.
But thinking this, Wang Sheng became even more confused. He had been poisoned?
When had he been poisoned, who wanted to harm him, and what was the effect of the poison?
Numerous questions whirled through his mind.
Once he entertained this idea—
Wang Sheng felt he couldn't be completely sure yet, but for some reason, he thought he had been poisoned.
Don't think intuition is unreliable. After practicing Inner Core Skill, intuition becomes extremely sharp, akin to a sudden epiphany.
After one more internal inspection of the black congealed blood, Wang Sheng exited the state of internal inspection.
Opening his eyes, his complexion was somewhat gloomy.
Anyone who knew they might be poisoned wouldn't look good.
"This epidemic is still in its incubation period; the disease has yet to manifest, but the person who poisoned me didn't do it for fun. Sooner or later it will erupt, and I must strengthen my Qi-Blood Power before it does, so that it can break through this epidemic."
Now there was no time to waste.
And he planned to dedicate all the time he spent on the Plum Flower Step and the Bajiquan to cultivating the Inner Core Skill and the Eight Section Brocade, to swiftly enhance the strength and circulation speed of his Qi-Blood Power. Only by doing so could he overcome the epidemic the fastest.
Having a "time bomb" inside his body, martial arts techniques could be put aside for now.
As for who had poisoned him, it would have to wait until after dealing with this epidemic; after all, since they had made a move against him, as long as he wasn't killed by the poison, they would inevitably slip up.
He drank a cup of chrysanthemum tea, forcibly calming himself down. He couldn't let this kind of matter disrupt his mental state, otherwise, it would truly be a massive loss if it affected the cultivation of the Eight Section Brocade and the Inner Core Skill.
"Continue cultivating!"
But just as he stood up, intending to continue enhancing his Qi-Blood Power through the Eight Section Brocade.
Li Wenguang suddenly came looking for him, with a look of urgency on his face.
"Uncle Li, calm down, what happened?"
"Come with me first, the village chief has something to say."
Although Wang Sheng didn't know what had happened, observing Li Wenguang's expression, he obediently followed along. Otherwise, how could Li Wenguang possibly have managed to bring a martial artist like himself?
It was on the way to the village chief's house that he finally understood what had occurred.
An elderly man from the village named Zheng Ankang had passed away.
Though it might be somewhat inhumane, Wang Sheng felt that birth, aging, sickness, and death were the normal cycles of life; death was not unusual, and it didn't seem like a big deal.
Besides, Li Wenguang wasn't particularly close to the elderly Zheng Ankang. Logically speaking, he shouldn't be showing such an expression.
What was most crucial was why the reaction was urgency, not sadness.
Wang Sheng remembered the old man named Zheng Ankang; he had seen him a few days before, strong and not looking like someone about to die.
"Uncle Li, is there something unusual about Old Zheng's death?"
That was the only possibility he could think of.
Li Wenguang, whose steps were previously hurried, suddenly stopped and let out a sigh. After glancing around, he said, "No wonder you became a martial artist, your mind is truly sharp. Old Zheng's death is indeed abnormal; he was in good health and his sudden passing is suspicious. The village chief thought there might be hidden concerns, so he had Old Ji examine the body. Do you know what he found?"
Li Wenguang's pupils contracted momentarily before he spoke in a frightened tone, revealing four words: "Died of the pestilence!"
Even though Wang Sheng was a martial artist, his heart couldn't help but shudder at those words.
What did that represent in ancient times?
It was a terrifying disease capable of wiping out the entire population of an area. Its causes varied, but without a cure, the resolution was essentially the same—to wait for everyone infected in the area to die, then incinerate the bodies en masse, eradicating it from the source.
Now that Li Wenguang had told him someone in the village died from the pestilence, no wonder there was such urgency.
Wang Sheng suddenly thought of the epidemic within his own body; could it be that it wasn't poison but the pestilence instead?
Perhaps he had already contracted some contagion; only due to the robust constitution of a martial artist, the epidemic remained in incubation.
If that were the case, then the situation was even more troublesome, but not for him, for the people of the village.
If a recluse martial artist like himself had been infected, it was likely the entire village had already fallen.
Zheng Ankang's death was probably just the prelude, a horrifying prelude.
Yet, outbreaks of pestilence didn't happen without reason. Qingshan Village could be said to be isolated from the world, so how did the pestilence appear?