Beef

Five Tigers Gang.

Many people had gathered in the main hall.

"Gang Leader, we searched everywhere, but found no trace of Hall Master Zhu Liang or the others."

"Hall Master Zhu Liang's family is still at home. No one knows where Hall Master Zhu Liang went!"

"The last information we found was that Hall Master Zhu Liang and his two underlings left Yihongyuan last night. After entering the street, they vanished together!"

The Five Tigers Gang disciples reported the results of their investigation in the main hall.

Within the Five Tigers Gang, hall masters were high-ranking figures directly beneath the Gang Leader. When someone of that rank vanished for a day, the gang naturally sent people to search.

The major gangs in Anyuan Town fought over shop protection fees, street territory, and the like, frequently coming to blows and even striking viciously in the shadows.

Most of those who died in town each day were gang members.

Recently, the Five Tigers Gang, Jinyang Gang, and Blood Sword Hall had all been fighting over the right to protect the crossroads of the Anyuan Town official road branches, so clashes had become even more frequent!

"Gang Leader, I think another gang made a move against Brother Zhu Liang."

"Brother Zhu Liang is a Wood Skin Martial Student. He is no weakling. To take him away without a sound, the culprit had to be at least a Bronze Skin Martial Student, perhaps even an expert at the Flesh Warrior level."

"Both the Jinyang Gang and Blood Sword Hall could have done it."

A middle-aged man in blue stepped forward and spoke slowly.

An expert at the hall master level had vanished without a sound, drawing the attention of everyone in the Five Tigers Gang.

"Gang Leader, let's just go to war!"

"Make them hand over Brother Zhu Liang."

A brawny bald man stepped forward and roared.

He felt it was too troublesome to investigate who had acted. It would be simpler to strike directly and let their fists do the talking.

"Big Ox, stop shouting. Listen to the Gang Leader's arrangements."

The middle-aged man in blue tugged at the bald man.

He knew the man was simple-minded and had no intention of forcing the Gang Leader into war. But if he kept roaring at a time like this, that was exactly what it would seem like.

"First, have the brothers continue searching for Hall Master Zhu's whereabouts. If Hall Master Zhu was captured, we must arrange people to rescue him first. Otherwise, if we go straight to war, Hall Master Zhu will have little chance of surviving!"

"Once we find Hall Master Zhu's trail, no matter which force laid hands on him, our Five Tigers Gang will repay them double—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

The Gang Leader of the Five Tigers Gang finally spoke, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

They had yet to confirm who had acted. Declaring war on two gangs outright would be exceedingly unwise.

But doing nothing would only chill the hearts of the gang brothers. Besides, he himself was a man who repaid every grievance tenfold.

He sensed something suspicious about Zhu Liang's disappearance. Someone was targeting the Five Tigers Gang, but he could not yet confirm which force it was.

With the Gang Leader having spoken, the Five Tigers Gang members naturally had no objections.

Anyang Martial Arts School.

"After eating beef, practicing the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Strength Training Fist really is more effective!"

After finishing his beef that morning, Shi Yi went to Anyang Martial Arts School to train.

As he practiced the moves of the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Strength Training Fist, he could feel the blood essence within his body becoming more active. He absorbed the red aura in the air more efficiently, and his cultivation progress rose along with it.

This effect was even better than taking Blood Nourishing Powder.

No wonder Zhao Cheng had deliberately placed beef at the very top when discussing meat. This beef seemed like a special catalyst: it could assist the growth of blood essence while also accelerating cultivation progress.

"At this rate, counting today, I can break through to the Blood Essence Realm in as little as three days."

"Even without pushing the pace, I can break through within four days."

That morning was Shi Yi's third day practicing the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Strength Training Fist. He had not been cultivating for long, yet his progress was frighteningly fast.

In five or six days, he could go from an ordinary person to a Martial Disciple in the Blood Essence Realm.

Previously, someone in Anyuan Town had broken through to the Blood Essence Realm in nine days, already considered an extraordinary genius. Yet Shi Yi's cultivation speed was twice that genius's.

Shi Yi did not know exactly what such progress meant, but he knew no one could learn of it—not even Lu Feng, his nominal master at Anyang Martial Arts School.

Since entering Anyang Martial Arts School, other than when Lu Feng had felt his bones and accepted him into the school, Shi Yi had never seen him again.

Ordinary fee-paying disciples basically never met Lu Feng. Instructors were assigned to teach them instead. Shi Yi had seen those instructors; their blood essence was not even stronger than Zhu Liang's had been before Shi Yi killed him. They were all Martial Disciples in the Blood Essence Realm.

Those people were not Lu Feng's disciples either. According to Zhao Cheng, only instructors with outstanding performance had even the slightest chance of being accepted as Lu Feng's disciples.

Martial Disciples in the Blood Essence Realm could choose to remain at Anyang Martial Arts School to cultivate without paying additional fees, but they had to work for the school or complete some martial school missions.

At the same time, they could attach themselves to shops and taverns for additional income. Anyang Martial Arts School did not interfere with this.

Martial Artists all needed cultivation resources, and such resources naturally had to be bought with money.

If the martial school interfered with these people earning money while refusing to provide cultivation resources, it would merely drive them away—or even force them to stand against the school.

Naturally, the way one treated ordinary people differed from the way one treated Martial Disciples.

Only by holding power in one's hands could one avoid being treated as an ant, crushed to death at another's whim.

The Blood Essence Realm was not powerful, but it far surpassed ordinary people.

Lifting three hundred jin with one hand and drawing a three-hundred-jin bow was no empty boast.

More than a dozen Martial Disciples of this level, armed with weapons and bows, could join forces to surround and kill a Martial Scholar expert at the Flesh Warrior level.

If their numbers grew large enough, they could threaten even warriors at the Muscle and Tendon level. With an ambush prepared in advance, they might even be able to kill a warrior at the Muscle and Tendon level.

The methods armies used to encircle and slaughter foes in battle formations were fine proof of that.

"By my calculations, I should be able to break through to the Blood Essence Realm before the final exams of Blue Star's second semester of sophomore year."

Shi Yi roughly calculated the timing.

He needed to return for the two days of final exams, so he would have to tell Zhao Cheng and the others when the time came.

As for an excuse, he could say he was returning to Dan River, where his travel permit was registered.

If Shi Yi were merely someone who had paid ten taels of silver to learn martial arts, Anyang Martial Arts School might not care. The school assumed that those who left early or disappeared had given up martial arts training and did not concern itself with anything else.

But Shi Yi was different. Breaking through to the Blood Essence Realm would be no problem for him, and his future potential was immense. Anyang Martial Arts School would naturally value him, so he needed to explain the situation.

"Once I reach senior year, I should start considering which university to attend!"

Shi Yi pondered inwardly.

Unless Shi Yi abandoned his identity on Blue Star, this was something he had to consider.

Blue Star might not allow martial cultivation, but it held no shortage of resources.

Technology, food, medicine, and the like were all things Shi Yi could use.

Naturally, obtaining those resources required a suitable identity.

Taking the college entrance examination and attending university would provide an excellent foundation.

If Shi Yi had not practiced martial arts and had not wanted to achieve great things, he could have lived however he pleased. Given his family's circumstances, living as an idle dependent for the rest of his life would not have been a problem.

But that was not the life Shi Yi wanted.

Having witnessed the extraordinary path of the Central Great World, he naturally wanted to press onward upon that path.

Even if he died and his Dao vanished, he would have no regrets.