Preparation Down

Xiao Ran's expression was calm, a hint of determination on his face.

This severe setback had allowed him to see and understand many things clearly.

"It's good that you're back," Master Zheng said, his expression one of relief and immense satisfaction.

Xiao Ran's gaze swept over his fellow disciples present.

Jiang Su, nearby, looked delighted, genuinely happy for him.

Cheng Shaojiu, who had just entered not far away, wore a bewildered expression, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

Further out, at the edge of the crowd, the senior disciple Zhao Hong's face was placid. Noticing Xiao Ran looking, Zhao Hong gave a slight nod in greeting.

Wei He, on the other side, the one who had broken through after him, also appeared calm, as if his recovery or lack thereof wouldn't stir any reaction from him.

Xiao Ran withdrew his gaze, his eyes settling on Master Zheng.

"Teacher, I'm back!"

"This time, I won't lose again!"

His words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.

"Good, good!!" Master Zheng's voice trembled slightly as he placed a hand on Xiao Ran's shoulder, filled with relief and joy.

Xiao Ran's return revitalized Huishan Fist Academy, or rather, it revitalized the martial artist Old Zheng.

He resumed his regular routine, his demeanor returning to its initial state of lazy hopefulness and composure.

His focus, which had shifted to Wei He, now returned to Xiao Ran.

Fortunately, Master Zheng did not cut off the supply of Red Earth Fish to Wei He due to Xiao Ran's recovery.

Instead, he took on the responsibility of providing Blood Essence nourishment for both of them.

Wei He, for his part, didn't feel any psychological burden from Xiao Ran's resurgence and the shift in attention.

In fact, he felt much more relaxed, no longer under Master Zheng's intense scrutiny, which afforded him more free time.

In the following days, he shuttled back and forth between the forests around Feiye City, familiarizing himself with the terrain and hunting continuously.

Most of the time, he could only catch a small amount of game in a week; if he had to rely solely on hunting for sustenance, he would have starved long ago.

However, Wei He's objective was to hone his strength and wilderness survival skills.

During this period, he encountered mountain bandits multiple times, but he dealt with them all with ease.

The strongest among the mountain bandits was a skilled practitioner of Second Stage Qi and Blood. That fellow seemed to have achieved his breakthrough through some trickery; although his total Blood Essence was at the Second Stage breakthrough level, he was significantly inferior to Wei He. When they clashed, Wei He beat him to death with his fists.

He also faced various ranged attacks, such as thrown stones, arrows, and flying knives, but he evaded them all with his superhuman reaction speed.

Occasionally, he would encounter other hunters while out in the wild. He would offer ordinary game in exchange for their knowledge and experience.

Gradually, Wei He found a secluded small cave in the mountains to serve as his second base of operations.

The cave had originally belonged to a bear, but it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.

After Wei He discovered it, he set it up and used it as a hidden temporary outpost.

He named this small cave Natural Dwelling, after the name of the residential complex he lived in during his previous life.

This was to commemorate his past.

Two more months passed in the blink of an eye.

Wei He's progress on the Boundary-Breaking Pearl had finally surpassed the halfway mark, and his Blood Essence had officially condensed into one-ninth of a Nine-Cloud Flower.

This slow progress was disheartening. Not only did Wei He feel helpless, but Master Zheng also finally shifted his complete attention away from Wei He and back to Xiao Ran.

Having fully recovered from his severe injuries, Xiao Ran had not only repaired all the Blood Essence he had lost but had also returned to the level of eight Nine-Cloud Flowers, his previous standard before being injured.

This time, Xiao Ran would once again attempt to break through to Third Stage Qi and Blood and reach the Iron Hide realm.

On the other hand, perhaps due to his foundational Blood Essence being a Second Stage breakthrough, Wei He's progress in the Five Ridges Palm was remarkably swift. He could naturally break through the stages before Second Stage Qi and Blood without needing to refine them.

In two months, he had reached the third stage of the Five Ridges Palm.

The Five Ridges Palm had a total of five stages: Clear River Cloud White Mist, corresponding to Clear Mountain Ridge, River Mountain Ridge, Cloud Mountain Ridge, White Mountain Ridge, and Mist Mountain Ridge.

Each stage corresponded to one refinement of Blood Essence.

However, Wei He had already broken through in one go to the third stage, the Cloud Mountain Ridge level.

His palms, building upon the foundation of Huishan Fist, had advanced further, becoming only slightly harder and more solid.

To his disappointment, this improvement was not significant.

Furthermore, this dual cultivation had greatly hampered his progress in condensing Nine-Cloud Flowers for his own Huishan Fist.

It was no wonder few people were heard to cultivate other primary techniques; such dual cultivation offered extremely limited gains and was a waste of Blood Essence, time, and energy, proving to be more trouble than it was worth.

However, this rigorous training allowed him to vaguely grasp a key point.

Wei family courtyard.

In front of a large bluestone, thick enough for several people to encircle, Wei He wore only a gray, form-fitting tank top, which he had asked his Second Sister to help him alter.

It could absorb sweat, was easy to wash, and also covered the Boundary-Breaking Pearl pattern on his chest.

Wei He was now about 1.85 meters tall, having grown even taller since before.

Now nineteen years old, he carried an air of maturity, as well as a touch of composure and grimness, compared to when he first entered Huishan Fist Academy.

Standing before the large bluestone, he held both hands level.

'The movements of Five Ridges Palm have no instructor, so I can only imagine them. They aren't of much use. However, the training method within them has merit.

As long as I can break through the third realm and reach the fourth, I will successfully step into the Third Stage Qi and Blood realm.

At the Third Stage Qi and Blood level, returning to practice Huishan Fist will surely yield twice the results with half the effort!'

The key Wei He discovered was that by practicing Five Ridges Palm with Qi and Blood that was higher than his current realm, his progress was very smooth and he broke through easily.

Therefore, if he could use Five Ridges Palm to break through first, reach the Third Stage Qi and Blood breakthrough, and then return to practice Huishan Fist, he would definitely save a lot of energy.

'This method is an impossible task for others. In fact, it would significantly hinder their cultivation.

But I have the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, and its progress is faster than accumulating Qi and Blood. Most importantly, Five Ridges Palm seems to be a more opportunistic technique compared to Huishan Fist. Each realm breakthrough requires much less Qi and Blood accumulation, though its power might be weaker, it takes less time.

This way, I can fully utilize Five Ridges Palm to quickly reach the bottleneck, break through with the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, and then go back to supplement my Huishan Fist training!'

Wei He calculated this repeatedly in his mind.

This method could only be used by him.

Simply put, Five Ridges Palm had a fast cultivation speed. He would use it to reach Third Stage Qi and Blood first.

Then he would go back and supplement his Huishan Fist training.

If anyone else tried this, they would definitely be delayed in their cultivation and ruin their potential.

After all, concurrently practicing other techniques wasted too much time, and breaking through bottlenecks was just as difficult.

A person's time was limited, and the older they got, the less potential they had. Wasting time in the early stages was not worth the gain.

But he was different.

Perhaps many techniques that didn't have high Qi and Blood requirements had their difficulties concentrated at the bottleneck.

Different techniques had different difficulties.

For example, Huishan Fist's third breakthrough was difficult due to the extremely slow accumulation of Qi and Blood. Therefore, the aptitude for practicing Huishan Fist was mainly reflected in the speed of Qi and Blood accumulation.

As for Five Ridges Palm, the difficulty lay in breaking through the bottleneck.

This was due to the difference in techniques.

However, once the Third Stage Qi and Blood was achieved, the quality of the generated Qi and Blood was the same. Only the quantity might differ depending on the technique.

This was a secret that Master Zheng had explained to Wei He long ago – many techniques were about physical breakthroughs. Nothing more.

Wei He was not afraid of difficult bottlenecks.

He was afraid that Huishan Fist wouldn't even be able to reach the bottleneck. Let alone use the Boundary-Breaking Pearl to break through the bottleneck.

Therefore, how to quickly reach the completion of the technique, the critical point, was the key to his thinking.

Standing before the large bluestone, Wei He slowly raised his palms.

He struck forward like lightning.

His hands moved like raindrops, hitting the surface of the bluestone with a rapid, crackling sound.

Stone powder flew, and the large bluestone remained unmoved, but its surface was covered with many palm prints.

Gradually, as the palm prints deepened, sweat began to seep from Wei He's entire body, and heat began to rise from his hair.

His entire body's Qi and Blood circulated at high speed, gathering entirely on the surface of his palms according to the Five Ridges Palm technique.

Under the scouring of a large amount of Qi and Blood, along with the recoil force from striking the bluestone, his palms' skin, muscles, and bones were tempered time and time again.

Unknowingly, his palms slowly turned black and red, and his skin became increasingly tough as it filled with Qi and Blood.

After about an hour

Wei He's movements slowed, and he gradually reduced his speed, retracting his hands gently.

Then he stood still.

The sweat on his head evaporated, forming a faint white mist that was almost visible to the naked eye.

After standing still for a moment, he suddenly opened his eyes.

"It worked!"

Ever since Wei He discovered that his progress in Huishan Fist was incredibly slow, he knew it was because his aptitude was insufficient to support the progress. Out of necessity, he had to place his hopes elsewhere.

And now, he intended to truly test whether it was feasible to break through Qi and Blood using other techniques and then return to supplement his training.

If it was feasible, perhaps he would embark on a path of collecting unorthodox and demonic techniques in the future.

This was because such techniques had extremely fast progress, but their breakthroughs were extremely dangerous and caused great damage to the body.

But using the Boundary-Breaking Pearl...

Wei He suddenly sighed in his heart.

It seemed his most suitable path wasn't proper martial arts, but rather the unorthodox and demonic arts.

Master Zheng had told him about many such unorthodox techniques. They all progressed incredibly fast, but each breakthrough became more perilous than the last.

The further one went, the harder it was to break through.

Wasn't this exactly what the Boundary-Breaking Pearl was for?

Wei He shook his head, dispelling the thought, and focused on sensing the Five Ridges Palm, his palms having reached the critical point of Blood Essence.

The Blood Essence requirement for the Five Ridges Palm was much lower than for the Huishan Fist. The Blood Essence he had accumulated was far from enough to meet the perfect completion requirement for the Huishan Fist, but it was sufficient for the perfect completion of the Five Ridges Palm.

Therefore...

'Just waiting for the Boundary-Breaking Pearl here.'

Wei He touched his chest, pulled open his collar, and took a look.

More than half of the Boundary-Breaking Pearl had been consumed.

"Almost there, almost there. If I completely stopped practicing the Huishan Fist, and didn't use my Blood Essence to condense the Nine-Cloud Flower, but instead saved it all for the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, it would definitely be much faster."

Wei He estimated in his mind.

He acted as soon as he thought of it.

He returned to the inner room, drew a basin of water with a wooden basin, and began to wash himself.

The sun was setting.

At the east gate of Feiye City.

A team of blood-stained caravan guards, with their damaged escort carts and two limping, worn-out horses, slowly entered the outer city and headed towards Shiqiao Town.

The caravan guards looked dazed, their bodies wrapped in bandages, and some had even lost limbs.

The leader, Caravan Guard Wang, had a haggard expression, his lips pale and devoid of any color.

He had practically forced himself to return.

Seeing that they had finally entered the city, Caravan Guard Wang couldn't hold on any longer. His knees buckled, and with a thud, he collapsed to the ground.

"Caravan Guard Wang!"

"Boss! What's wrong!?"

"Quick, get some water!"

The surrounding caravan guards were suddenly shocked and rushed forward.

Not long after, the chief caravan guard of the Yonghe Escort Agency, Cheng Zhengxing, rushed over after receiving the news, bringing a group of caravan guards to quickly take away the injured from the convoy.

But no matter what, there were quite a few onlookers.

Although the outer city was dilapidated, many poor people still struggled to survive here.

Many of them made a living through craftsmanship, odd jobs, and farming outside the city.

After paying the mandatory head tax from the grain they earned, only a meager portion was left for survival.

Now, seeing that the renowned Yonghe Escort Agency had encountered trouble in several districts, many people thought of selling information for rewards.

The Yonghe Escort Agency had many rivals watching them. If this firsthand information could be delivered to them in time, they would surely get some reward.

It was said that the escort mission this time for the Yonghe Escort Agency was not a small matter. The escorted goods were extremely precious. With the loss of the escort this time, the escort agency, which was already in a state of turmoil, was likely in danger.