Terrifying Rewards

"Abbot Huizhen, this disciple is ashamed. My martial aptitude is truly abysmal. I have trained for three years, yet only today did I barely reach minor completion in Muscle Tendon Strengthening. At present, I have not even thoroughly tempered a single major tendon!"

As Gu Han spoke, his body suddenly moved like a hidden dragon soaring into the heavens. His muscles and bones shook in unison, producing a series of dull crackling sounds.

Twenty-four sounds!

In the martial path of Muscle Tendon Strengthening, there were many ways to determine exactly how many tendons one had fully tempered. The simplest method was to listen for the sounds!

As the saying went: a single sound was worth a thousand pieces of gold!

Everyone knew that during Muscle Tendon Strengthening, if a martial artist fully tempered one minor tendon, then when his muscles and bones shook together, a dull sound would ring out. If he fully tempered one major tendon, however, a crisp sound would ring out instead.

Now, as Gu Han's muscles and bones moved in unison, only twenty-four dull sounds rang out. This clearly signified that he had only fully tempered twenty-four minor tendons!

"He truly has only reached minor completion in Muscle Tendon Strengthening!"

Upon hearing the sounds coming from Gu Han's body, the various hall chiefs exchanged glances, each seeing the shock in the others' eyes.

"Jingming, since you have only fully tempered twenty-four minor tendons, why is your strength so great? Could it be that, like Wang Lang, you too are blessed with extraordinary talent?"

After several breaths, Abbot Huizhen gently let out a breath and asked in confusion.

"Abbot, your insight is keen. Your guess is correct! Jingming indeed possesses Innate Divine Strength, but unlike Wang Lang, who displayed extraordinary traits from childhood,

this disciple was ordinary as a child. Only after I formally began practicing martial arts three years ago did I gradually begin to change. My body has continued growing stronger ever since. Even now, without cultivating martial arts, my physical strength alone can rival that of an ordinary martial artist at major completion in Muscle Tendon Strengthening!"

Gu Han answered with a smile.

There was truth within falsehood, and falsehood within truth.

In truth, as a transmigrator, if he had arrived in a xianxia world, or even a world of high martial arts or middling martial arts, he could easily have concocted hundreds upon thousands of explanations—accidentally eating some miraculous fruit, receiving an immortal's guidance in a dream, and so on.

But unfortunately, although the Great Yan Kingdom belonged to a corner of the cultivation world known as the Heavenly Azure Realm, it appeared to bear no trace of immortals or high martial arts. It was merely an ordinary ancient world with only the faintest trace of extraordinary power.

Thus, that set of explanations he had prepared naturally would not work. He might as well mix truth and falsehood, using talent as a cover so that others would not grow suspicious.

"So that is how it is! The world truly is vast, and nothing is too strange to exist. This old monk had thought Wang Lang's gifts were already extraordinary, a sight seen only once in a thousand years. Yet Jingming, your talent is even greater than his. This is truly a blessing for Treasure Pearl Temple."

After hearing Gu Han's explanation, although Abbot Huizhen and the other hall chiefs still found it difficult to believe, they reluctantly nodded, accepting Gu Han's words for the time being. Then he turned to Bendeng, chief of the Medicine Master Institute, and said:

"Junior Brother Bendeng, since Jingming has not yet broken through to Blood Tempering, I must trouble your Medicine Master Institute to work a little harder in the future and refine three additional White Tiger Sinew Pills every month. This pill is quite effective for Muscle Tendon Strengthening and will be of great use to Jingming.

"And Junior Brother Benyin, you just said you wished to thank Jingming for saving Jingyuan, a disciple of your Prajna Hall. Once words have left your mouth, you must show some sincerity. I recall that your Prajna Hall still has a few Minor Return Pills. How about giving two of them to Jingming?"

"This..."

Upon hearing the terms Abbot Huizhen had promised, not only was Gu Han stunned and overjoyed, even Benyin, chief of Prajna Hall, and Bendeng, chief of the Medicine Master Institute, were startled. They were shaken by Abbot Huizhen's grand gesture.

The White Tiger Sinew Pill was the most effective medicinal pill for Muscle Tendon Strengthening in Treasure Pearl Temple of Great Yan, and even throughout the entire martial world of Great Yan.

As long as one swallowed a single pill, it could help a martial artist fully temper roughly one-fifth of a minor tendon, or one-thirtieth of a major tendon. Its effects were terrifyingly powerful!

Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Behind such powerful effects naturally lay an enormous price.

The price of the White Tiger Sinew Pill was its costly ingredients and extreme difficulty of refinement. Even if the entire Medicine Master Institute worked themselves to the bone, they could produce no more than a dozen or so each month.

In the past, the entire Arhat Hall could receive only two pills a month. The lion's share went to the Dharma Institute and Prajna Hall.

Even with the full support of Benguan, chief of Arhat Hall, Gu Han had consumed only around a dozen White Tiger Sinew Pills in total over the course of a year—roughly one pill per month.

But now, with a single word, Huizhen had granted Gu Han an allowance of three pills every month. The resources Gu Han alone would enjoy were nearly equal to those of one and a half Arhat Halls. What immense support was this?

And even that was not the most precious part. More precious still were those two Minor Return Pills from the Dharma Institute.

The Minor Return Pill had been simplified from Treasure Pearl Temple's supreme treasure, the Great Return Pill, by the ninth chief of the Medicine Master Institute at Treasure Pearl Temple, the sacred land of Great Yan's martial world.

Everyone knew that Treasure Pearl Temple of Great Yan possessed a heaven-defying medicinal pill known as the Great Return Pill! Within Great Yan's martial world, it bore many titles: divine pill, immortal pill, sacred pill, and more. Its power was said to be beyond measure.

It was said that with one pill in hand, one could cure all internal injuries beneath heaven. Moreover, it could greatly increase a martial artist's chances of breaking through to Inner Qi and reaching major completion in Inner Qi, allowing him to advance toward even higher realms.

Naturally, the medicinal effect of the Minor Return Pill was far inferior to that of the Great Return Pill. Yet in the world, it was still a treasure among treasures. Not only could it treat many injuries, it could also accelerate a martial artist's breakthrough from major completion in Muscle Tendon Strengthening into the Blood Tempering realm. It had many functions, and its effects were terrifying.

Thinking of those precious pills with their astonishing effects soon falling into his hands, and of the three White Tiger Sinew Pills that would be added to his account each month thereafter, even Gu Han could not suppress his wild joy. He hurriedly thanked Huizhen and promised:

"Jingming thanks Abbot for bestowing these medicines. From this day forth, this disciple will certainly train diligently and never disappoint Abbot's painstaking cultivation!"

"Hehe! Good!"

Huizhen gave a faint smile upon hearing this, then said kindly:

"Jingming, there is no need for such courtesy. You rendered great merit to Treasure Pearl Temple this time, so you should naturally be rewarded. These things are merely what you deserve.

"Moreover, this old monk is not without selfish motives. Your talent is unheard of and rare in the world. I too cannot wait to see whether, after reaching the Blood Tempering realm, a genius blessed with extraordinary talent like you can continue growing as you did before. If you can, that would truly be the fortune of Treasure Pearl Temple!"

Looking at this disciple with terrifying talent before him, Huizhen seemed as though he could already see a legend slowly rising before his very eyes.

After all, Jingming's martial cultivation was only at minor completion in Muscle Tendon Strengthening, yet his strength was already enough to rival a Blood Tempering martial artist.

If in the future he could cultivate to major completion in Inner Qi, as Huizhen himself had done, how formidable would he become? Even if he could not compare to Patriarch Bodhidharma, he should be able to rival, or perhaps even surpass, the two patriarchs Jue Ming and Liao Kong!

Huizhen's heart brimmed with anticipation.