A Meteoric Rise!

Baji Quan (Heart-Intent Harmony (89/600)

"Good! The effects of this Buzhou Mountain Fundamental Diagram are incredible! As expected of the fundamental diagram Master specifically chose for me—it's amazing!"

In just three hours, the progress had risen by more than eighty. If he trained for ten hours a day, he could gain nearly three hundred! It was far, far faster than the other six fundamental diagrams—simply not on the same level at all!

In just two days, he could train Heart-Mind Unity to its ultimate limit!

Of course, this so-called short time was actually equivalent to five, or even ten, years of effort for an ordinary person! Back when he was at Manifest Strength, even training ten hours a day only gave him a little over a hundred experience. If he had used any of the other six fundamental diagrams, this would have been about the fastest speed possible!

But now it had suddenly tripled to three hundred, all because this fundamental diagram was just that effective!

"My Martial Path to Divinity talent will always advance in the most correct direction. In other words, no matter what inheritance I train in, I'll naturally train it to perfection! If the inheritance is poor, I have to rely on my own deductions to make up for its flaws, so naturally the speed is limited! But powerful inheritances are different..."

"The more powerful the inheritance, the closer it is to perfection. There's practically no need for me to deduce and refine it myself—I only need to start training and push the progress forward. Naturally, the speed becomes absurdly fast!"

"Even at the very least, one day of training is worth three years or more for an ordinary person!"

Besides, most martial people would get completely stuck midway through training due to all sorts of reasons, such as insufficient comprehension or resources.

Take the Carriage Shop Owner, Old Six, and Old Ghost Luo. They had stepped into Heart-Mind Unity many years ago, yet either their comprehension was lacking, or they did not have enough Spirit Nourishing Secret Medicine. Every step they took in the Heart-Mind Unity stage was arduous.

Nourishing secret medicines for the Heart-Mind Unity stage were already controlled goods outside. Even the most ordinary kind could not be bought with money. For those gang experts and wandering martial experts, Heart-Mind Unity was generally their limit!

Fortunately, he had neither of those problems. In terms of comprehension, even his baseline improvement far surpassed those so-called prodigies and freaks.

As for secret medicines, top-grade Great Medicine for Heart-Mind Unity was difficult to find, but ordinary Heart-Mind Unity secret medicine could still be "borrowed" from the Fang Family with his status and strength.

For ordinary Heart-Mind Unity experts, as long as they did not pursue the ultimate limit, ordinary secret medicine was enough to nourish and supplement them all the way to the peak of Heart-Mind Unity, allowing them to enter a higher stage.

For him, it would be enough for the time being.

As for the top-grade Great Medicine needed to replenish his deficits when advancing to the ultimate limit, he had opportunities to obtain it from both the Red Robe Society and the Martial Prosperity Alliance, so there was no need to worry.

"The Spirit Nourishing Great Medicine needed for Heart-Mind Unity is best obtained from the Red Robe Society. I should save the Martial Prosperity Alliance's chance to exchange for one top-grade Great Medicine for a Qi Nourishment or Essence Nourishment Great Medicine..."

Huo Yuanhong knew very well that time waited for no one. He had to grow stronger as quickly as possible and win the Jinmen Grand Competition!

Otherwise, if he lost the competition and had his martial arts crippled—or if someone reported him for secretly practicing martial arts and he was taken away for investigation and had his limbs ruined—even the most fucking incredible talent would be useless.

Just like becoming Li Shuxing's disciple and fighting for the Crimson Refining Paste.

If he had not come to the Divine Spear Martial Hall, then relying on himself to slowly deduce martial arts and find ways to buy or steal ordinary medicines outside for nourishment and replenishment would not only put him at risk of being caught, but his strength would have risen far more slowly. He would most likely still be hovering at mid-stage Manifest Strength! He would have had almost no hope of winning the Jinmen Grand Competition, which was only around twenty days away!

Unlike now—he could reach the ultimate limit of Heart-Mind Unity in only two days!

Besides, even if he had not become Li Shuxing's disciple or stepped onto the arena, buying nourishing medicinal ingredients for Manifest Strength would still have let others know that he had achieved Manifest Strength. Without the identity of Li Shuxing's disciple, once the Gentleman Sword learned of it, his first reaction would definitely be to have someone kill him first, lest he be branded blind and unable to recognize talent.

But with Li Shuxing there, those Dark Force experts with status and standing would not dare lay hands on him. He no longer needed to worry about Dark Force experts bullying the young with their seniority!

"One must fight for the martial path!"

Huo Yuanhong said.

Even with the risks, it was still far better than sitting at home waiting for martial arts to be completely banned, accomplishing nothing in the end and leaving behind nothing but regrets.

The Martial Path to Divinity talent had given him the chance to fight for it, but what he made of it still depended on himself!

If it had been anyone else, even with such astonishing talent, if they cowered in fear, they would not have enough time to gain sufficient strength within a single month. And if they failed to overcome the trial of the Jinmen Grand Competition, they could only spend the rest of their lives crippled in bed, wasting such powerful talent for nothing!

Then...

Next, he needed to consider the upcoming wager match between the carriage shop and the Red Robe Society!

The Red Robe Society had at least three Heart-Mind Unity experts, and all of them were capable fighters.

The carriage shop could likely handle Old Ghost Luo and that vice president, but the Red Robe Society's strongest member—their president—would not be easy to deal with.

After breakfast that morning, he had deliberately looked through the intelligence within the martial hall. He learned that the Red Robe Society's president hid himself deeply and had reached the peak of Heart-Mind Unity long ago!

And not long ago, with the backing of some force, he was suspected of having entered a higher stage! He had likely seized that top-grade Spirit Nourishing Great Medicine from the carriage shop not for his own use, but to exchange it for secret medicine of the higher stage!

If that was truly the case, then in three days, on June twelfth, the carriage shop would suffer a crushing defeat in the wager match—a defeat without the slightest suspense!

"Compared to the Red Robe Society's president, my greatest advantage is that I trained Manifest Strength to its ultimate limit. That's equivalent to having one more minor realm than someone who only trained it to the peak!"

"If I also train Heart-Mind Unity to its ultimate limit, then I'll have two more minor realms than the Red Robe Society's president!"

"With the advantage of two extra minor realms, even if the Red Robe Society's president surpassed Heart-Mind Unity not long ago, his raw strength won't be much greater than mine!"

"As for practical combat methods, the practical combat methods of the Divine Spear Martial Hall's two Peak Experts will absolutely crush a jianghu fighter like the Red Robe Society's president!"

Therefore...

His next small goal was: reach the ultimate limit of Heart-Mind Unity before the wager match began!

"Thinking about it this way, my talent really is freakish. Even without top-grade Great Medicine to nourish and replenish me, I can force myself through the deficits first, train one more minor realm, and forcibly reach the ultimate limit! It's like getting on the train first and buying the ticket afterward!"

"Even the most depleted ultimate limit is still the ultimate limit! It won't affect a short burst of strength!"

Seeing that it was getting late, Huo Yuanhong put away the fundamental diagram and strode out of the study.

This time, Old Xu accompanied him home, lest anyone covet the fundamental diagram.

That night at home, he trained madly for another three hours, pushing his progress from Baji Quan (Heart-Intent Harmony (89/600) to Baji Quan (Heart-Intent Harmony (180/600). Only after entering the middle stage did he hug the fundamental diagram and fall asleep, utterly satisfied.

Early the next morning, Huo Yuanhong rose early as usual. After washing up, he trained for a while longer until he reached 196/600. Only after using up the Spirit Nourishing Secret Medicine his master had given him did he head for the martial hall.

The Buzhou Mountain Fundamental Diagram was too ferocious in cultivation. He had only just entered the middle stage, yet he already possessed the means of inner vision, able to see the state of his body's interior as clearly as a fire burning before his eyes! By rights, this was a miraculous ability only available in the later stage, yet it had appeared so early!

This meant that the strength of his Mental Strength and will at this moment was already comparable to the later-stage results of other Fundamental Diagrams!

"Disciple Huo!"

Unlike before, when no one paid him any attention, the moment Huo Yuanhong entered the dining hall this time, the dozen or so disciples inside, along with several stewards, all rose to their feet.

Those with thicker skins came forward smiling, helping him fetch food and serving up fine dishes.

Those with thinner skins, too embarrassed to suddenly fawn over him after having been haughty before, waited until Huo Yuanhong had taken his seat before daring to sit back down and continue eating, thereby showing their respect.

Before him were stir-fried dishes personally made by the head chef, premium rice shipped from the Central Plains—things that only Wang Tianlong had once been entitled to enjoy, now proactively delivered before him. There was even an extra jug of medicinal wine that soothed the sinews and invigorated the blood!

Some of the more simple-hearted ones had even tucked Silver Dollar Vouchers beneath the bottoms of his bowls...

The sight before him left Huo Yuanhong feeling faintly moved.

Sure enough...

Once a person became powerful, the world they encountered became friendlier!

Before he had displayed his strength, in this vast Martial Arts Hall, who had truly treated him as a true disciple? He had not even had anyone to share a meal with!

Yet after displaying strength sufficient to convince everyone, he was still sitting in the same corner, eating by himself—but one senior disciple and steward after another came over to curry favor with him.

"Disciple Huo is here too. Were this morning's steamed dumplings and pan-fried buns to your liking? If not, I'll have them replace the head chef."

At that moment, someone approached with a smile and sat down across from him.

Huo Yuanhong looked up and found that it was the middle-aged man from the Fang Family earlier, the great figure who controlled the Fang Family's resource allocation authority—Fang Pingsheng!

This time, Fang Pingsheng had not gone to Wang Tianlong's table first, nor to the tables of the other two prodigies. Instead, he came straight to Huo Yuanhong and even sat down, speaking with him eye to eye.

This move made Wang Tianlong, who was secretly watching from afar, look rather displeased. Fortunately, his Heart-Mind Unity was progressing exceptionally smoothly. It would take only a dozen or so days to stabilize, and he was confident that he could still suppress Huo Yuanhong.

"Not bad. No need to replace anyone."

Huo Yuanhong took a bite of a pan-fried bun still glistening with oil and replied.

"That's good."

Fang Pingsheng smiled, then reached into his robes to take out the two portions of secret medicine within.

He had come precisely to deliver medicine, shifting half of the secret medicine originally prepared for Wang Tianlong over to Huo Yuanhong.

In his view, two portions of earth-grade Spirit Nourishing Secret Medicine were already more than enough. Even among earth-grade treatment, they were ceiling-level, second only to the heaven-grade medicine reserved for monstrous freaks.

"With Disciple Huo's talent, I imagine it won't be long before you achieve Heart-Mind Unity. I happen to have two portions here... Hm?!"

Halfway through his words, Fang Pingsheng's voice abruptly stopped. He suddenly straightened up and stared fixedly at Huo Yuanhong. After staring for quite some time, he finally spoke in an utterly incredulous voice.

"Your Heart-Mind Unity... has already stabilized?!"