Breakthrough

The group descended the mountain quickly. Yet they had not gone far when Lin Sheng heard a shout rise from the distance.

He looked at Xiao Shi and the others beside him. Their expressions were normal; clearly, they had not heard a thing.

After a moment's thought, Lin Sheng led them a little closer in the direction the voices had come from.

He focused his eyesight, wanting to see what was happening, but the mountain was thick with trees and overgrown with weeds. His view was blocked, and he could see nothing. As they drew nearer, though, the sounds became clearer, and he could barely make out the words being spoken.

He did not approach any further. Instead, he slowed his pace and listened as they continued downhill.

"We're from the Beast Hunter Hall! Have you gone blind, daring to attack us?!"

A rough voice, filled with shock and fury, rang out.

What answered it were cold sneers.

"So what if you're from the Beast Hunter Hall? Brothers, get them! Don't let a single one escape."

Very soon, shouts of battle and the clash of weapons erupted.

Before long, screams sounded, and the forest fell silent again.

"People from the Beast Hunter Hall?"

Hearing the exchange from afar, Lin Sheng's expression changed slightly.

They were probably members of another Beast Hunter Hall team. From the sound of it, they had run into trouble.

He had little interest in going over to help. He had no idea how strong the other side was, and he had no wish to take such a risk.

Besides, even if he had wanted to help, it was already too late. The battle seemed to have ended.

The victors should have been the attackers. If they had not been absolutely certain they could handle the hunters, how could they have dared to strike so brazenly?

Things indeed unfolded as he expected. More voices soon drifted over.

"Venerable Yan, aren't we taking too much of a risk by attacking people from the Beast Hunter Hall? This is Town Mountain Tower's territory, after all. If anyone notices, I'm afraid it could bring trouble."

"Hmph, what's there to fear? So what if it's Town Mountain Tower? A treasure ground like Yangping Mountain is not something an outside force can hold forever. In the past, we might have been somewhat wary, but now Town Mountain Tower won't be able to jump around for much longer..."

The speaker seemed wary at this point and did not continue. Before long, the voices gradually faded into the distance until no sound remained.

Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes and stared in the direction the voices had vanished.

"Captain Lin, what's wrong? Is there something over there?"

Xiao Shi noticed Lin Sheng's gaze and asked.

"Nothing. Let's get down the mountain quickly."

Lin Sheng shook his head slightly and said no more.

Yet his heart was far less calm than his expression suggested.

Yangping Mountain was home to countless exotic beasts, poisonous herbs, and venomous insects. It could be called exceedingly dangerous. But beyond those threats, the other people entering the mountain were just as dangerous—often even more so than the beasts.

Those who entered Yangping Mountain all possessed some skill, and most went in groups. Lone travelers were rare.

After entering the mountain, they either hunted exotic beasts or gathered rare medicinal herbs. Most would come away with some gain.

Thus, there was no shortage of people who murdered for wealth. Some even lay in wait deliberately, using mountain hunting as a pretext while specifically targeting those coming down the mountain.

Though Town Mountain Tower imposed some restrictions on such matters, Yangping Mountain covered a vast area, and the Beast Hunter Hall could not keep watch over everything at all times. Such incidents were therefore far from rare in Yangping Mountain.

Moreover, those entering the mountain generally would not choose Beast Hunter Hall hunters as targets.

For one thing, they were seasoned old hunters with considerable strength. For another, the Beast Hunter Hall's headquarters stood right at the foot of the mountain.

There had once been people who attacked Beast Hunter Hall hunters. After the culprits were uncovered, experts from Town Mountain Tower immediately stepped in and wiped out every attacker. Even the forces behind them suffered a massive bloodletting, shaking the entire county city.

Having lived two lives, Lin Sheng's mind was exceptionally quick.

From the conversation he had just heard, it seemed someone was planning to move against Town Mountain Tower.

As one of Lin'an County City's foremost major powers, Town Mountain Tower would not be easy to touch. Ordinary forces neither would nor dared.

Unless... it was another major power within Lin'an County City.

As Lin Sheng walked, thoughts churned endlessly through his mind. Soon, he shook his head and suppressed them.

"Forget it. Town Mountain Tower has great experts of the Blood Circulation realm stationed there, and it has been entrenched in Lin'an County City for years, its roots deep and branches thick. Even if someone covets Yangping Mountain and wants to make a move, it won't be easy. Besides, these matters aren't something I should worry about now. Raising my strength as quickly as possible is what matters most..."

The sun sank in the west, and the sky gradually darkened. Lin Sheng led the group back to Yangping Town, turned in the Horned Eagle, bought some food, and only then returned to his residence.

With a creak, he opened the courtyard gate.

A yellow-furred stray dog that had been pawing constantly beside the stove sprang up at once. It let out a yelp and hurriedly shrank into a corner of the courtyard, curling into a ball and burying its long face between its legs. Only its two eyes remained visible as it watched the gate with fear.

When it saw Lin Sheng carrying a good deal of food, the fear in its eyes faded somewhat.

Lin Sheng had already grown used to how timid the yellow-furred stray dog was.

He had originally caught the stray dog on a whim to test the Blood Cultivating Pill, intending to throw it back out afterward. But upon thinking it over, the courtyard was indeed rather lonely with only him in it. Having another living creature around was not necessarily a bad thing.

Besides, his courtyard lacked something to guard the house and watch the gate, so Lin Sheng temporarily kept it. Still, this stray dog's courage was a little too small.

Seeing the stove in the courtyard thrown into disorder, Lin Sheng frowned, wondering whether he should throw the mutt out right now.

Too lazy to bother with it, Lin Sheng set down the food in his hands and carefully sensed his surroundings. No one had followed him.

Only then did he take the Blood Cultivating Pill from its hidden place in the room. He had been wary because of Tian Hu and Wang Sanyang, so he had not had the chance to use it. Now, however, that concern was gone.

With his current perception, he was unquestionably above Tian Hu—and far beyond him at that. He no longer needed to worry about anyone secretly spying on him.

The sky became fully dark, and Lin Sheng sat cross-legged in the courtyard.

With a flick of his wrist, the Blood Cultivating Pill, scarlet as blood, flew into his mouth. The pill was saturated with a bloody stench, as though it magnified the original smell of blood severalfold. Lin Sheng frowned slightly and swallowed it in one gulp.

He mobilized the blood and qi in his body and began refining it.

In only a dozen or so breaths, Lin Sheng felt a surging heat current gathering in his dantian like a rising tide.

He had long anticipated this. He began using his mind to guide the heat current toward every limb and bone in his body.

Like lines of fire, the moment Lin Sheng guided it, the heat current flowed into his body and his blood and qi immediately became fervent, far more active than before. The heat current was slowly absorbed by his body, merging with his own blood and qi.

The area below his waist in particular absorbed most of the heat current. Lin Sheng immediately rose to his feet, bent his legs, and assumed a strange stance.

Half an hour passed. Suddenly, his legs swelled by a full circle, and a string of crisp bone-cracking sounds, like firecrackers, rang continuously from his body.

Lin Sheng only felt as if something had filled the muscles in his legs, stretching his flesh until a faint pain spread from within outward.

Then, in an instant, the explosive crackling of his bones came to an abrupt halt. Lin Sheng felt his blood and qi suddenly pause. The next moment, his body became much lighter, as though he had shed heavy shackles.

"I broke through!!"

His body was already soaked in sweat. Wiping the sweat from his brow at random, Lin Sheng broke into a relieved smile.

With one step forward, he had finally cultivated the White Ape Leg Technique to mastery. That also meant he had officially entered the Muscle Forging realm.

He clenched his fist and felt the tremendous changes in his body. At this moment, he felt as though he had merged with a Tusk Mountain Boar. Yet his current fusion was still with the Horned Eagle, and aside from perception, it gave him no other enhancement.

But the feedback of strength from his body was utterly real.

"The most obvious change is that my strength has more than doubled. My speed has also improved enormously."

Lin Sheng darted and shifted through the courtyard. His body was exceptionally light now, and the sensation was even more tangible than the White Ape's Agility Boost.

"It seems my earlier judgment was correct. After merging with the Tusk Mountain Boar, I can already contend with an ordinary early Muscle Forging martial artist."

After sensing the changes in his body, Lin Sheng stopped moving, but the smile on his face did not fade.

"Now that I've broken through to early Muscle Forging, and with the effects of merging with the Tusk Mountain Boar, my strength will surge again, and my physique will also become much tougher. With both added together, I wonder if I can match someone at late Muscle Forging."

He quietly weighed the matter in his heart.

He did not dare to be certain. After all, he had never seen a late Muscle Forging martial artist fight. In Lin'an County City, late Muscle Forging martial artists were already genuine high-level combatants.

No matter which force they belonged to, they would be honored guests. Someone like Tian Hu held a high position in Town Mountain Tower.

As long as Blood Circulation Practitioners did not appear, martial artists of this level were already enough to dominate.

But one thing was certain: his strength was now enough to crush ordinary early Muscle Forging martial artists, people like Wang Sanyang.

There was still some residual heat current in Lin Sheng's body. This was the medicinal effect of the Blood Cultivating Pill.

The Blood Cultivating Pill was said to improve one's tendons and bones, yet he felt nothing after taking one.

On closer thought, if it could truly produce a noticeable improvement in one's tendons and bones, it would probably not cost merely two or three hundred taels of silver.

Its effect on the tendons and bones was only a tiny trace, and it worked slowly over time.

Though there was no obvious change to his tendons and bones, the Blood Cultivating Pill had played no small role in this breakthrough.

By his original estimate, the White Ape Leg Technique would have needed around another five days to reach mastery. This one Blood Cultivating Pill had saved him five days, and it appeared that the medicinal power within his body had not yet been fully spent.

He had no intention of wasting it; after all, it was worth several hundred taels of silver.

Lin Sheng immediately switched his fusion to the Iron Yak and began practicing the Raging Bull Fist.

He intended to use the remaining medicinal power to push the Raging Bull Fist to mastery as well.

Unfortunately, after half an hour, the medicinal power in his body was completely exhausted. In the end, he still failed to break through with the Raging Bull Fist.

He had only obtained the follow-up cultivation method for the Raging Bull Fist two or three days ago. He was still some distance from mastery, and even with the Blood Cultivating Pill's effects, forcing it to mastery in one go was still too much.

"Though I'm still a little short, it'll be soon. I should be able to break through successfully in another two or three days."

With the White Ape Leg Technique at mastery supporting him, cultivating the Raging Bull Fist in turn gave him quite a bit of help.

He stopped cultivating, washed himself in the courtyard, and began lighting the stove to cook.

By then, the sky had turned completely dark. It was already deep into the night, and the heavens were a sheet of gray-black, with only pale moonlight and a few scattered stars.

Because of his breakthrough, Lin Sheng did not feel the slightest bit sleepy. Instead, he was brimming with energy.

As he tended the fire, he held a black round jar filled with yellow wine. He had never been particularly interested in alcohol, especially the hard liquor from his previous life. Apart from necessary social obligations, he hardly ever drank.

But after coming to this world, he found its distinctive yellow wine quite pleasant, so he would buy some from time to time for leisure.

Before long, waves of meat fragrance wafted from the stove. Lin Sheng began feasting heartily alongside the yellow wine. This time, he had bought mid-grade ordinary Iron Yak beef.

In both flavor and nourishment, it was much better than ordinary rock goat meat. Naturally, it was also much more expensive.

With his current wealth, there was naturally no need for him to economize in such matters.

Moreover, as his cultivation advanced, his appetite had clearly grown much greater than before. He nearly polished off the entire pot of Iron Yak beef, all seven or eight jin of it.

Rubbing his round, bulging stomach, Lin Sheng casually tossed the last piece of beef in the pot into the courtyard.

At some point, the yellow-furred stray dog had already stood up. Its big eyes stared eagerly at Lin Sheng, but it still did not dare approach. The saliva pouring from its mouth had nearly formed a line, soaking a small patch of ground. Clearly, the Iron Yak beef had tempted it beyond endurance.

When it saw the beef tossed over, it was no longer timid. It dashed forward two steps, leaped into the air, and nimbly caught the still-falling piece of beef in its mouth.

Then came a burst of loud chewing.

"At times like this, you're not fucking scared."

Lin Sheng laughed and cursed. Still not sleepy in the least, he simply assumed his stance and continued practicing the Raging Bull Fist.

After finishing a jar of yellow wine, he felt a faint buzz despite its low strength. Yet this only made his spirits rise further.

Huff... huff... huff...

His fists swung through the air, slicing it apart with low hums. Their speed shifted from fast to slow, each blow heavy and powerful, carrying considerable force.

In one corner of the courtyard, the yellow-furred stray dog gnawed greedily on the Iron Yak beef while inching farther back, afraid it might be caught in the other party's range.

Once he began practicing, he lost all sense of time. One hour, two hours, three hours...

The shouts from the courtyard never stopped. He had no idea how many times he ran through the Raging Bull Fist forms, and Lin Sheng himself seemed to enter a state of utter absorption...

Cock-a-doodle-doo...

Only when the eastern sky turned the pale white of a fish's belly and a loud rooster crow sounded did Lin Sheng abruptly wake. The muscles in both his arms rippled swiftly like rushing rivers. Starting from his shoulders, the muscles surged forward, gathering entirely in his fists.

Both fists shot out together, and with a boom, an explosion rang out.

The bluestone that had originally been carried into the courtyard for resting shattered in response.

"I broke through!!"

Lin Sheng looked at his arms, now visibly a full circle thicker than before, his eyes filled with surprise.

He had truly never expected the Raging Bull Fist to break through after only one night.

His arms now appeared somewhat grayish-white, their pores large and skin rough. To the touch, they no longer felt like human skin, but more like a coarse stone wall.

He had examined Wang Sanyang's arms up close before. They were not much different from how his looked now.

"I thought the Raging Bull Fist would need a few more days to break through. Heh... my luck isn't bad."

A smile spread across his face. He had now cultivated both the Raging Bull Fist and the White Ape Leg Technique to mastery.

His overall strength was absolutely not weak among early Muscle Forging martial artists. Combined with the enhancements from fusion, there were likely few in this realm who could be his match.