Preparation (2)

Xiao Ran's expression was calm, with a trace of resolve on his face.

This crushing setback had let him see many things clearly, and understand many things as well.

"It's good that you're back." Master Zheng revealed an expression of relief, yet also boundless gratification.

Xiao Ran's gaze swept across the senior and junior disciples present.

Nearby, Jiang Su wore a delighted expression. She was probably sincerely happy for him.

Not far away, Cheng Shaojiu had just entered through the door, his face blank, seemingly still unaware of what had happened.

Farther away, Zhao Hong, the Senior Disciple Brother at the edge of the crowd, looked indifferent. When he noticed Xiao Ran looking over, Zhao Hong gave a slight nod in greeting.

On the other side was Wei He. This fellow who had broken through after him was equally calm, as though Xiao Ran's recovery or lack thereof would not stir him in the slightest.

Xiao Ran withdrew his gaze and looked at Master Zheng.

"Master, I'm back!"

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

He seemed to be implying something.

"Good, good!!" Master Zheng's voice trembled slightly as he pressed Xiao Ran's shoulders, overwhelmed with relief and joy.

Xiao Ran's return restored vitality to Huishan Fist Academy—or rather, it restored vitality to Old Zheng, the martial master.

He resumed his old daily rhythm, and his manner became as it had been at the beginning, carrying hope and composure beneath its laziness.

And the focus of his attention shifted from Wei He back to Xiao Ran.

Fortunately, Master Zheng did not cut off Wei He's supply of Red Earth Fish just because Xiao Ran had recovered.

Instead, he simply took responsibility for supplying both of them with Qi and Blood nourishment.

Wei He also felt no psychological burden from Xiao Ran's resurgence or from losing Master Zheng's attention.

Instead, he felt far more relaxed. Without Master Zheng's eager scrutiny hanging over him, he had even more free time.

Over the following days, he constantly traveled through the mountains and forests around Feiye City, familiarizing himself with the terrain and hunting without pause.

Most of the time, he could only catch a little game in an entire week. If he had relied entirely on hunting to make a living, he would likely have starved to death long ago.

But Wei He's purpose had always been to temper his strength and wilderness survival abilities.

During this time, he encountered mountain bandits many times, but he dealt with all of them with ease.

Among those bandits, the strongest had merely been a Second Stage Qi and Blood fighter. That man seemed to have relied on some shortcut to break through. Although his total Qi and Blood had reached the second breakthrough, it was far inferior to Wei He's. When they exchanged fists, Wei He beat him to death alive.

He also encountered all kinds of ranged attacks, such as flying stones, bows and arrows, and Flying Knives, but his superhuman reaction speed allowed him to evade them all.

Whenever he occasionally encountered hunters out hunting as well, he traded ordinary prey for their advice and learned from their experience.

Gradually, Wei He found a hidden little mountain cave in the forest and made it his second base.

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

After Wei He discovered it, he arranged it into a concealed temporary stronghold.

He named the little cave Natural Dwelling, because the residential complex where he had lived in his previous life had borne the same name.

He used it to commemorate the past.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

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

The pace was so slow it chilled the heart. Not only did Wei He feel helpless, but Master Zheng also finally and completely shifted his attention away from him and onto Xiao Ran.

Because Xiao Ran, whose severe injuries had healed, had restored all the Qi and Blood he had previously lost. He had once again reached the level of eight Nine-Cloud Flowers, the standard he had possessed before being injured.

And this time, Xiao Ran would once more charge toward the Third Stage Qi and Blood, toward the Iron Hide realm.

But on the other hand, perhaps because his Qi and Blood foundation had already undergone the second breakthrough, Wei He's progress in Five Ridges Palm was remarkably swift. He could naturally break through all the realms before Second Stage Qi and Blood without tempering himself.

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

Five Ridges Palm had five realms: Clear, River, Cloud, White, and Mist—namely Clear Mountain Ridge, River Mountain Ridge, Cloud Mountain Ridge, White Mountain Ridge, and Mist Mountain Ridge.

Each realm corresponded to one round of Qi and Blood tempering.

Yet Wei He had broken through to the third realm in one breath, reaching the level of Cloud Mountain Ridge.

On top of the foundation of Huishan Fist, his palms had merely become somewhat tougher and sturdier.

To his disappointment, the improvement was not great.

Moreover, this dual cultivation had greatly slowed the rate at which he condensed Nine-Cloud Flowers for his own Huishan Fist.

No wonder people were rarely heard of cultivating another primary martial art alongside their own. This kind of dual cultivation offered extremely limited gains while wasting enormous amounts of Qi and Blood, time, and energy. The candle was not worth the game.

Yet this tempering allowed him to faintly grasp a crucial point.

The Wei family courtyard.

Before a massive bluestone as thick as several people embracing it.

Wei He wore only a gray fitted sleeveless shirt. After he had mentioned it to Second Sister, she had helped him alter it.

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

Wei He had now grown to around one meter eighty-five, another stretch taller than before.

At nineteen, compared to when he had just entered Huishan Fist Academy, he now possessed an added trace of maturity, as well as more steadiness and killing intent.

Standing before the huge bluestone, he held his hands out flat.

No one teaches the moves of Five Ridges Palm. I can only imagine them, so they are of little use. But its training methods do have merits.

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.

If I return to practice Huishan Fist with Third Stage Qi and Blood, I will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort!

The key Wei He had discovered was that, by practicing Five Ridges Palm with Qi and Blood above the realm required, his progress broke through with ease.

Therefore, if he could use Five Ridges Palm to break through first, reach the Third Stage Qi and Blood, and then return to practice Huishan Fist, he would certainly save a great deal of effort.

For others, this method would be an impossible task. It might even drag their cultivation down drastically.

But I have the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, and its progress is faster than the accumulation of Qi and Blood. Most importantly, Five Ridges Palm seems to use more shortcuts than Huishan Fist. The accumulation requirements for each breakthrough are far lower. Its power may be weaker, but it takes less time.

That way, I can use Five Ridges Palm to quickly reach the threshold. After breaking through with the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, I can turn back and make up for Huishan Fist!

Wei He had calculated this possibility over and over in his heart.

This method could only be used by him.

Simply put, Five Ridges Palm cultivated quickly, so he would use it to reach Third Stage Qi and Blood first.

Then he would turn back and make up for Huishan Fist.

If anyone else tried this, their cultivation would definitely be delayed and their potential ruined.

After all, cultivating another martial art wasted far too much time, and breaking through bottlenecks was just as difficult.

A person's time was limited, and the older one grew, the less potential one had. Wasting time for nothing in the early stages was not worth the loss.

But he was different.

Perhaps many martial arts with low Qi and Blood requirements piled all their difficulty at the bottlenecks.

Different martial arts had different difficult points.

For example, Huishan Fist's third breakthrough was difficult because of the accumulation of Qi and Blood, which was absurdly slow. Thus, aptitude for Huishan Fist was primarily reflected in the speed at which one accumulated Qi and Blood.

Five Ridges Palm, however, was difficult because of breaking through its bottlenecks.

That was the difference between martial arts.

But once one broke through to Third Stage Qi and Blood, the quality of the Qi and Blood produced was the same. Only the quantity might differ depending on the martial art.

This was a secret Master Zheng had explained to Wei He long ago—countless martial arts trained nothing more than breakthroughs of the physical body. That was all.

Wei He was not afraid of difficult bottlenecks.

What he feared was Huishan Fist not even allowing him to reach a bottleneck, let alone letting him use the Boundary-Breaking Pearl to break through one.

Therefore, how to quickly reach the completion point, the critical threshold of a martial art, was the key issue he had been considering.

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

Then he struck forward like lightning.

His hands fell like raindrops, slapping the surface of the bluestone in an unending barrage.

Stone dust scattered. The enormous bluestone did not move an inch, but its surface was covered in countless palm prints.

Gradually, as the palm prints deepened, sweat began seeping from Wei He's entire body, and heat slowly steamed from his hair.

His Qi and Blood circulated through his body at high speed, gathering entirely on the surfaces of his palms according to the Five Ridges Palm method.

Under the wash of abundant Qi and Blood, the recoil from striking the bluestone repeatedly tempered the skin, muscles, and bones of his palms.

Without realizing it, his palms slowly turned blackish-red, while their skin grew ever tougher under the fullness of Qi and Blood.

About an hour later.

Wei He's movements slowed. He gradually reduced his speed, then gently drew his hands back.

Then he stood motionless.

The sweat on his head evaporated, visibly forming a faint white mist.

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

"It's done!"

Ever since Wei He had discovered that his Huishan Fist progress was incomparably slow, he had known that his aptitude could not support its advancement. Left with no other choice, he could only place his hopes elsewhere.

And now, he intended to truly test whether it was feasible to use other martial arts to break through in Qi and Blood, then return and make up for his original cultivation.

If it worked, perhaps in the future, he would have to embark on a path of gathering evil arts and Demonic Path techniques everywhere.

Because such martial arts progressed extremely quickly, but their breakthroughs were exceptionally dangerous and inflicted great damage on the body.

But with the Boundary-Breaking Pearl—

Wei He suddenly sighed inwardly.

Looking at it this way, what suited him best was not orthodox martial arts at all, but evil arts and the Demonic Path.

Master Zheng had told him about quite a few unorthodox techniques. All progressed extremely fast, but every breakthrough was more dangerous than the last.

The farther one went, the harder it became to break through.

Wasn't that precisely what suited his Boundary-Breaking Pearl?

Wei He shook his head, casting the thought aside, and carefully sensed the Five Ridges Palm in his palms, which had reached the critical point of Qi and Blood.

Five Ridges Palm required far less Qi and Blood than Huishan Fist. The Qi and Blood he had accumulated was nowhere near enough to fulfill Huishan Fist's requirements, but it had fulfilled Five Ridges Palm's requirements.

Therefore.

Now I only need to wait for the Boundary-Breaking Pearl here.

Wei He touched his chest, pulled open his collar, and glanced inside.

The Boundary-Breaking Pearl was already more than halfway complete.

"Soon, soon. If I completely stopped practicing Huishan Fist, stopped consuming Qi and Blood to condense Nine-Cloud Flowers, and used it all to accumulate the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, it would definitely be much faster."

Wei He estimated it in his heart.

He acted as soon as the thought came to him.

He returned to the inner room, filled a wooden basin with water, and began washing himself.

The sun set in the west.

At the eastern city gate of Feiye City.

A bloodstained group of escort guards slowly entered the Outer City with a battered escort cart and two lame, worn-out horses, heading toward Shiqiao Town.

The guards all looked dazed. Bandages covered their bodies, and some had even lost arms.

Chief Escort Wang, who led them, looked utterly worn down. His lips were white, without the slightest trace of color.

He had practically forced himself to make it back.

Now that he finally saw they had entered the city, Chief Escort Wang could no longer hold himself up. His knees buckled, and with a thud, he collapsed to the ground.

"Chief Escort Wang!"

"Chief Escort! What's wrong!?"

"Quick, bring water!"

The surrounding escort guards were instantly alarmed and rushed forward.

Before long, Cheng Zhengxing, the chief escort of Yonghe Escort Agency, hurried over after receiving the news. He brought a group of guards and quickly took away the wounded members of the convoy.

But regardless, quite a few people had witnessed the scene.

Though the Outer City was dilapidated, many impoverished people still struggled to survive there.

Many of them barely scraped by through crafts, odd jobs, farming outside the city, and other means of livelihood.

After deducting the mandatory head tax from the grain they earned, only enough remained for them to barely stay alive.

Now that they saw Yonghe Escort Agency, renowned across several towns, had suffered an incident, many people thought of selling the news for a reward.

Yonghe Escort Agency had quite a few rivals watching it. If this firsthand news could be delivered to them in time, they would surely receive some reward grain.

It was said that the escort shipment Yonghe Escort Agency had been transporting this time was no small matter, and the goods were exceedingly valuable. Having lost the shipment, this already turbulent escort agency was likely in danger.