Trish Walker shouted excitedly to Jessica Jones, "Jessica, did you see that? That old lady knows qigong, and I'm going to ask her to teach me. I told you martial arts are real."
"You must've misread it. That old lady—you could beat her ten times over."
Jessica, with tired eyes, had no interest at all. She said weakly, "There's a bar ahead. Let's go grab a drink."
"You're drinking before noon?"
Trish asked, confused and annoyed, "Jessica, what's been going on with you lately? You disappeared for a night, and now you're an alcoholic?"
At Trish's words, Jessica suddenly recalled what happened a few days ago. Deep fear flashed in her eyes. Whether it was the Purple Man who could control others or the man in yellow who easily knocked her out and held her captive for over ten hours, it terrified her.
Jessica snapped and walked away. "If you're not coming, I'll go by myself."
"Jessica."
Trish hurried after her. On the way, she glanced back at the café and memorized its name. She'd come back to learn from that old lady when she had time.
She loved martial arts.
Meanwhile, after Mrs. Gao and Nobu Yoshioka forced their way into the café, they saw Mercury waiting with a katana. Mercury said coldly, "The Blood God is waiting for you in the dojo downstairs."
"It seems the Blood God is very interested," Mrs. Gao smiled and led Nobu toward the underground dojo. Mercury stopped Natasha, who wanted to follow, and whispered in her ear, "Natalie, the Blood God said that lawyer Matt is lost in the back alley. Get him away from this street."
Natasha was stunned and wanted to ask more, but Mercury had already followed Mrs. Gao and the others.
"Is he trying to get me out of the way, or is there really something up with lawyer Matt?"
Natasha frowned and turned to look for Matt. She found him listening intently in the back alley. Obviously, he was up to something.
Natasha smiled. "Looks like I'm going to have a date with him."
In the underground dojo, Maverick looked at Mrs. Gao and said coldly, "Mrs. Gao, you hurt one of my people without permission. Are you provoking me?"
"Blood God." Mrs. Gao gave a slight bow and said, "I didn't hurt your person; I just pushed him away."
"Really?"
Maverick snorted and motioned for Shuyin, who was beside him, to close the door. Then he said, "Mrs. Gao, what do you want from me?"
"I'm willing to pay twice the price for the building your Council of Blood bought," Mrs. Gao said. "In addition, we can offer a hundred living humans for your vampires, free of charge."
I have to say, Mrs. Gao was being very sincere. Even Mercury couldn't help but glance at her. What was so special about that building that so many people were fighting over it?
Maverick was noncommittal. He said slowly, "Mrs. Gao, I'm very interested in your qigong. Could you introduce me?"
Mrs. Gao replied, "This is Kunlun qigong, and only people from Kunlun can practice it. Forgive me, I can't say more."
"You, a Kunlun traitor, can practice it. Why can't I?"
Maverick sneered. The Hand's leaders were all traitors from Kunlun. For the sake of immortality, they stole the dragon bones and defected.
"What do you know?"
Mrs. Gao's face darkened, and she snapped. Not many people knew she was a traitor to Kunlun.
"Looks like we'd better fight first."
Maverick shook his head and said, "Mrs. Gao, if you beat me, I'll give you the building. But if you lose, your fate will be miserable."
Mrs. Gao said, "I don't really want to fight you, but if you're interested, I can play along."
"Then let's have some fun. Mercury, say hello to the ninja beside you."
Maverick raised his hand. Mercury nodded, took her katana, and moved to the side with Nobu Yoshioka.
Mercury asked Nobu, "I hear your ninjas are very fast?"
Nobu Yoshioka said proudly, "Faster than your vampires."
"Then let's see."
As she said the first word, Mercury was still over ten meters away. By the last word, she was already in front of Nobu, drawing her sword to slash at his waist with a swift light.
Yes, Mercury had learned Japanese swordsmanship.
Although Nobu was a bit surprised, he reacted quickly. With a nimble move, he appeared behind her, only his coat cut by the sword light.
Dressed in a red ninja outfit, Nobu threw three shurikens at Mercury. When she deflected them, he appeared behind her like a ghost, slashing at her back with a chained kusarigama.
Mercury turned and raised her sword to block Nobu's weapon, then twisted her katana to deflect it, slicing toward his wrist along the shaft.
Nobu blocked her katana with his chain, then quickly retreated to gain distance. Mercury immediately chased after him, her sword flashing as she attacked.
Nobu stepped back while defending. Suddenly, he threw his chained weapon at her. Surprised, Mercury dodged sideways to avoid it.
Both of them stopped and eyed each other warily. It was clear the other was very strong.
After a moment, they rushed at each other again, fighting fiercely.
"Your people are stronger than I thought."
Maverick said frankly to Mrs. Gao, "This ninja is just one of your subordinates, but he's comparable to my captain of the guard. It seems I need to reevaluate your strength."
"Nobu is Murakami's top fighter. Your captain drawing with him is quite good," Mrs. Gao said, obviously considering herself on par with the Blood God, which is why she dared to come alone.
Hearing Maverick and Mrs. Gao's conversation, Mercury and Nobu were annoyed and fought even harder, each wanting to prove they were better.
"Let me see your qigong, Mrs. Gao."
Maverick raised his hand toward her. His five fingers turned into blood and shot out like spears.
Mrs. Gao seemed frail, but her speed was incredible. As soon as Maverick's blood spears were fired, she stepped to the right, easily dodging his attack.
Maverick sneered. The blood spears turned in the air and attacked her from behind. This time, Mrs. Gao didn't dodge. She swung her palm backward, and the tips of the five blood spears exploded simultaneously, turning back into blood and splattering on the ground.
"Not bad—a splitting palm."
Maverick grew more interested. Both his hands turned into blood again, forming numerous blood spears that shot densely at Mrs. Gao.
"You've read too many martial arts novels."
Mrs. Gao sneered as she moved. Her movements looked slow and stiff, like a real old woman, but somehow she precisely dodged every blood spear and even approached Maverick.
Then, Mrs. Gao stomped on the ground, channeling power through her body, and struck her palm toward Maverick's chest.
This palm was as powerful as a landslide, even producing a thunderous sound in the air—completely unexpected from an old lady.
Maverick's expression grew serious. His body suddenly turned into blood and split in two, just avoiding her palm. Then, his body reformed, and the blood moved to erode her arm.
Mrs. Gao was a bit surprised. She shouted, and a powerful qi burst from her arm, sending Maverick's blood flying.
Seeing this, Maverick controlled the blood, turning it into two large hands that wrapped toward Mrs. Gao. She tried to retreat but found her feet bound by blood that had moved under her—blood that had fallen to the ground earlier.
Mrs. Gao released another burst of qi, but the delay prevented her from escaping Maverick's blood hands, and she was enveloped.
Maverick's blood penetrated her limbs and merged with her blood.
Mrs. Gao's expression changed drastically. She quickly tried to use her qi to break free, but was shocked to find her hands and feet wouldn't obey her.
The reason was simple: the muscles in her limbs were being controlled by Maverick's blood.
"It's the blood."
Mrs. Gao immediately tried to use her qi to force the blood out of her body, but it had already fused with her own blood and couldn't be expelled. She could only use her qi to seal it in her limbs to prevent it from spreading further.
"Mrs. Gao, how do you like my Blood Shadow technique?"
Maverick's laughter echoed from within the blood. Mrs. Gao couldn't help but retort, "I told you, stop reading martial arts novels. You're a vampire, not a martial artist."
Maverick said, "If I say it's the Blood Shadow technique, then it is. Surrender—you've lost."
"I did lose, but don't think I'll surrender. If worst comes to worst, we'll die together."
Mrs. Gao knew she had underestimated the Blood God, but she didn't plan to give up. She said, "You should know that even if we die, we can be resurrected."
"In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Maverick snorted and released the Purple Man virus (Kilgrave's virus) to erode Mrs. Gao. She sensed something was wrong and hurriedly used her qi to protect and strengthen her brain. Her intuition told her the attack was targeting her mind.
Maverick's Purple Man virus was blocked; he couldn't control her. Although he was a bit disappointed, he could accept it.
Jessica could block the Purple Man virus later on, so others could too.
If Kilgrave met Mrs. Gao, he'd be dead. But Maverick wasn't Kilgrave. His Purple Man virus was controllable and far stronger. He kept producing more viruses to erode her, and Mrs. Gao's qi was being consumed rapidly.
Panicking, Mrs. Gao shouted, "Blood God, let me go, or we'll both perish."
"Then let's perish together."
Maverick wasn't afraid. He had thousands of lives; dying once or twice didn't matter. Besides, Mrs. Gao might not be able to kill him—he wasn't that easy to kill.
Mrs. Gao was only bluffing. She couldn't afford mutual destruction now; all her qi was used to resist the virus. After a while, her qi was completely exhausted, and the Purple Man virus took the opportunity to invade her brain, controlling her.
"Mrs. Gao, stand still, don't move or resist."
Maverick laughed. Blood gathered beside him, reforming into his human shape—clothes included. When he turned into blood, his clothes were hidden within.
Mrs. Gao wanted to run, but her body wouldn't obey. She could only stand there, awaiting Maverick's judgment.
"Blood God. I'll be back."
After Maverick returned to human form, the battered Mercury, covered in blood, threw the unconscious Nobu at his feet. She had won the fight. The reason was simple: she could heal herself, but Nobu couldn't.
Besides, Nobu's weapon wasn't silver.
"Mercury, your performance is a bit disappointing," Maverick glanced at her and said. "You're my top lieutenant."
Blade was stronger than Mercury, but he wasn't Maverick's subordinate; he was his friend.
Mercury was a bit embarrassed. For a vampire to improve their strength, they had to drink human blood.
If he didn't set a good example, how could he manage the vampires?
As a result, Mercury hadn't drunk human blood in a long time, causing her strength not only to stagnate but to decline slightly. Otherwise, she wouldn't have struggled so much in this battle.
Maverick knew what she was thinking and said, "In this world, drinking blood isn't the only way to get stronger."
Mercury said, "For us vampires, it's the only way, and it has to be human blood."
"I'll change all that, and there's a good opportunity right in front of us."
Maverick looked at Mrs. Gao and asked directly, "Mrs. Gao, how do you cultivate your Kunlun qigong?"
Mrs. Gao didn't want to speak, but she couldn't help but explain, "To cultivate Kunlun qigong, you must first hone your body and spirit. When you meet the conditions, the elders perform a ceremony to let practitioners fuse with dragon bone fragments.
With the dragon bone fragments, you can convert your energy into qi and store it in your body. Initially, qi can only strengthen yourself. Only when you reach a high level can you release it to attack others."
After a pause, Mrs. Gao said proudly, "I don't know Kunlun's current situation, but I'm the only one who can project qi."
"Do you need to fuse dragon bone fragments to cultivate qi?" Maverick frowned. This was a bit different from what he thought.
"Yes, it's all because of the dragon bones." Mrs. Gao nodded. "The more fragments you fuse, the more energy you can store. However, you don't reach the limit immediately after fusing; you need to cultivate slowly so your body gradually absorbs the fragments. At first, it took me several years to fully fuse the first fragment.
According to Kunlun's rules, after fully absorbing one, you can apply to fuse a second, and so on.
There's a limit to how many fragments a human can fuse—about five to nine. However, most people simply don't have enough time to cultivate to their maximum capacity.
Time is always humanity's greatest enemy. And those Kunlun elders are stubbornly against warriors using the dragon bones to extend their lives. That's why I defected from Kunlun."