Qi Harmony! The Martial Prosperity Alliance Has Arrived!

"Let Huo Yuanhong join..."

The Peak Expert of the Fang Family furrowed his brows slightly, but still shook his head. "Not suitable. Huo Yuanhong is formidable in actual combat, but that was only while he was using top-grade Boiling Blood Powder. It cannot be maintained for long; afterward, he will fall into extreme weakness and need ten days to half a month to recover. And the Autumn Hunt is about to begin. There isn't enough time..."

"Besides, Wu Yankun's son will be going too. If Huo Yuanhong dares participate, Wu Jinghao will definitely beat him to death. If Li Shuxing then thinks our Fang family got his disciple killed, that will be troublesome."

The Peak Expert of the Fang Family directly rejected his great-grandson's proposal.

Whether out of concern that Huo Yuanhong might be beaten to death, or for the Fang family's own results, Huo Yuanhong was not suited to replace any of the originally chosen candidates.

After all, the Fang family's five-man team consisted entirely of peak Strength Harmony experts, all of them peak Strength Harmony experts highly skilled in Combat Methods. After taking Boiling Blood Powder, their strength would rise even further!

Yet Huo Yuanhong had only managed to display the combat strength of late Strength Harmony after using a heavenly treasure similar to top-grade Boiling Blood Powder to greatly increase his strength!

Without medicine, his true combat strength would probably struggle to even reach early Strength Harmony!

Furthermore, heavenly treasures comparable to top-grade Boiling Blood Powder were exceedingly rare—rarer still than top-grade Nourishing Medicine. It was already quite good that Divine Spear Martial Hall had one portion; could they possibly produce a second?

In other words, Huo Yuanhong could no longer reproduce that previous strength comparable to late Strength Harmony. He might not even be able to display early Strength Harmony strength anymore!

If one of the five were replaced by Huo Yuanhong, it would more or less affect their final results.

"Mystic Ancestor is right. I did not think this through."

After pondering for a moment, Fang Shiyu also felt that Huo Yuanhong was unsuitable for the Autumn Hunt.

In an Autumn Hunt involving enormous benefits and even determining the ownership of a great medicine that could extend one's lifespan and preserve one's life, nearly all the participants were peak Strength Harmony experts. There were even people like Wu Jinghao, whose Strength Harmony had nearly reached its utmost limit. If Huo Yuanhong truly got involved, he would find it difficult even to protect himself!

"What a pity..."

Fang Shiyu sighed softly.

If Huo Yuanhong could participate, then with him secretly working things behind the scenes, setting aside that life-extending great medicine, obtaining just one top-grade Nourishing Medicine suitable for the Qi Harmony stage would not be a problem!

"Forget it. Let's not think too much about this for now. Once the people below send over the details of how Huo Yuanhong fought his way out of the encirclement earlier, I'll consider it carefully..."

"If he merely forced his way out with strength that barely approached Strength Harmony, then he'd better stay out of the Autumn Hunt!"

He was not the only one. Mo Wuji, Zhuang Xiuyuan, and the others were likewise waiting in disbelief for the detailed account of this incident...

"Disciple Huo, the secret medicine has finished brewing."

After returning, Huo Yuanhong immediately had someone brew the secret medicine. Using Tiger Blood Grass as the main ingredient and adding suitable supplementary herbs, they brewed a pot of thick liquid, brownish-red with streaks of scarlet.

It tasted terribly bitter, as though several jin of coptis had been tossed into it. The bitterness made his brows knot tightly, and even after eating several pieces of rock sugar, he could not suppress the bitter taste in his mouth.

But its effects were equally astonishing!

After he drank the entire pot, under several hundred times the absorption efficiency, a blazing warm current erupted within his body. With every beat of his heart, it flowed in circles throughout his body.

It was as though he had soaked in a hot spring. Fine beads of sweat emerged, soaking his chest and back until his clothes were drenched through.

The severe deficiency he had suffered from forcibly cultivating to the limit of Intent Harmony before obtaining top-grade Nourishing Medicine was also rapidly being replenished by the medicinal power!

In merely two hours, it was completely healed!

Next, it was time to begin Qi Harmony!

"When I was at the limit of Intent Harmony, bursting forth with Tiger in the Cage and Ape in the Mind already allowed me to directly kill two ordinary Strength Harmony experts. My actual combat strength should have been no weaker than late Strength Harmony..."

"If I cross another major stage and cultivate to the limit of Qi Harmony, that would be equivalent to being three minor realms ahead of others. Then, with Tiger in the Cage and Ape in the Mind doubling my qi, strength, and will, I should be able to fight even a Dark Force Martial Master..."

Soon...

Very soon...

Old Six's vengeance would soon be avenged!

Huo Yuanhong silently calculated.

Next, under Old Xu's guidance, he began cultivating Qi Harmony!

Intent Harmony was for mastering Fist Intent and making one's movements more precise, while Qi Harmony trained the circulation of inner qi. Its purpose was to make movements smoother, while also allowing one to master the method of sensing through the pores!

No longer would he rely solely on sight and hearing to grasp his surroundings. He could sense changes in the airflow around his body through his pores, raising his control over the situation in battle to another level!

When training, one had to thoroughly relax the limbs and repeatedly practice a certain movement, following the principle of "relaxed form, taut intent; deep, prolonged breathing," gradually transitioning from "intentional guidance" to "effortless natural formation."

Huo Yuanhong tried adjusting his breathing and relaxing his body. In this state of loosened skin and flesh, he practiced Baji Quan's Erlang Carrying the Mountain stance, extending both arms in a straight line before and behind him, imitating the posture of "carrying a mountain"!

Before long, a faint line of text appeared before his eyes.

Baji Quan (Heart-Intent Harmony (600/600) → Intent-Qi Harmony (1/600)

"I've got it!"

Huo Yuanhong's eyes brightened slightly as he continued practicing with focused attention.

By the time evening approached, he had already crossed the beginner stage and thoroughly stabilized himself at early Qi Harmony, cultivating pore perception.

When he calmed himself and stood still, as his pores opened and closed, he could sense the changes in the breeze and airflow at his side.

Once someone approached and disturbed the surrounding airflow, he would sense it.

This level of mastery already matched one or two years of work for an ordinary Qi Harmony practitioner!

Yet Huo Yuanhong was still far from satisfied.

At this rate, it would take five days to reach the limit! It seemed the Martial Hall's Qi Harmony Training Method was far less perfect than the Buzhou Mountain Diagram from the Intent Harmony stage!

He wondered what the Fang Family's Training Method was like. Would it be faster?

Huo Yuanhong asked Old Xu, and received a reply before long.

"The Martial Hall's Training Method for the Qi Harmony stage is already among the finest in the world, better than those outside by heaven knows how many times. Even aristocratic families would struggle to produce anything superior. Of course, one faction does possess a better Training Method. It is said to have come from the Martial Immortal Inheritance..."

"The Martial Prosperity Alliance!"

Old Xu gave him the answer.

"Then how can I get my hands on their Training Method? Is there a fastest way?"

Huo Yuanhong asked.

If he could obtain a perfect Training Method comparable to the Buzhou Mountain Diagram of the Intent Harmony stage, he could dramatically compress the time needed to reach the pinnacle of Qi Harmony from five days to two!

Others might not care about those three days. Under normal circumstances, taking five or eight years to train Qi Harmony to its peak was the norm! Many more developed problems during training and could not reach the peak even after a lifetime!

But he could not wait. He was burning to reach the pinnacle of Qi Harmony as soon as possible!

"There's no need to seek them out. Before long, people from the Martial Prosperity Alliance will likely come knocking on their own..."

"Cough, cough... The Autumn Hunt is about to begin. It will be held near Jin Gate, and those participating from the Martial Prosperity Alliance should be arriving soon. The one leading them is still one of that Alliance Leader's children. Once they learn there is such a promising seedling as you, one not born into an aristocratic family, they will certainly come to recruit you...

"They might even invite you to join their team for the Autumn Hunt..."

Old Xu said.

"The Autumn Hunt? What is that?"

Huo Yuanhong was somewhat puzzled.

"It is a competition between the younger generation of the aristocratic families and the Martial Prosperity Alliance, meant to determine the ownership of certain medicinal herbs. If you are interested, you can give it a try. If not, just focus on your training."

As he spoke, Old Xu coughed again, and his complexion worsened by several degrees.

Huo Yuanhong's heart sank slightly.

With Old Xu's abilities, he could no longer even conceal his weakness. His condition must have deteriorated beyond imagination. Perhaps he was already nearing the end of his life.

He had to think of something. Whether out of gratitude for the protection Old Xu had always given him, or for his own safety, he could not simply watch Old Xu die.

He knew full well that no one above Dark Force had made a move against him so far, and that even few at Strength Harmony dared truly show themselves, all because this Peak Expert, Old Xu, was shielding him!

Without this Peak Expert to hold the field, forget training in peace—even his life would be difficult to preserve!

"This is the Divine Spear Martial Hall? It looks pretty grand..."

As the sun sank in the west, a young man, led by a middle-aged man, arrived soundlessly at the Divine Spear Martial Hall.

"Young Alliance Leader, I heard the Divine Spear Martial Hall has someone named Huo Yuanhong. He is quite formidable. At only nineteen, he charged out of the encirclement of a group of Inner Three Harmonies martial artists and even killed two Strength Harmonies in return. He is a promising seedling!"

The middle-aged man said with a smile.

He was one of the Martial Prosperity Alliance's vice alliance leaders for the North China region. Together with Vice Alliance Leader Wei, codenamed Ghostface, he was competing for the top position in North China! They had also each thrown their support behind one of the two Young Alliance Leaders!

"Oh? He killed two Strength Harmonies in return? Then is he also at Strength Harmony?"

The Young Alliance Leader beside him asked.

"No. It is said he is only at Intent Harmony. But what is strange is that the recommendation materials sent up by the people below a few days ago clearly stated that he was only at Manifest Strength Great Accomplishment. How had he become Intent Harmony now?"

Vice Alliance Leader Ji shook his head. He felt the people in Jin Gate were simply too unreliable in their work. To mistake Intent Harmony for Manifest Strength Great Accomplishment was utterly absurd.

"Intent Harmony?!"

The Young Alliance Leader looked doubtful. Clearly, he did not believe that someone at Intent Harmony could survive an encirclement by a group of Inner Three Harmonies, much less kill two Strength Harmonies in return.

Even if those two had only barely entered Strength Harmony, it was still not very likely.

"How about we first probe him a little?"

The Young Alliance Leader looked eager to give it a try.

"Hm? How does the Young Alliance Leader intend to probe him?"

"What else could it be? Naturally, we sneak up on him and see how many moves he can withstand from me when struck by a sudden attack before I beat him flat..."

A smile appeared in the Young Alliance Leader's eyes.

"This..."

Vice Alliance Leader Ji could neither laugh nor cry, utterly helpless before his Young Alliance Leader's childish temperament.

He was already in the middle stage of Strength Harmony, and had even trained some aspect to near its limit at a certain stage. A straightforward spar would have been one thing, but he actually wanted to sneak-attack an Intent Harmony like a child?

The other man had not even developed pore perception yet. How could he guard against a surprise attack from behind by someone at such a high stage!

"Young Alliance Leader, please show some restraint when you make your move. Do not truly injure him..."

"Don't worry. I'll hold back. I'll test him with half my strength first!"

The two then knocked out several servants, changed into their clothes, and crouched in wait nearby.

When mealtime arrived, they saw a young man who closely resembled the portrait walking over.

"He's here!"

The Young Alliance Leader of the Martial Prosperity Alliance smiled and silently crept toward Huo Yuanhong's back.