Clouds of Suspicion (Thanks to the Alliance Leader reward from book friend Zui Xuan Ren Sheng Meng)

Han Zheng chatted with Li Feng for a while about the current situation in Black Stone County before finally asking, "By the way, Li Yaoshi, have you ever heard of a spiritual medicine called the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit?"

"Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit? Young Master Han, what made you think to ask about that?"

Han Zheng took a sip of tea and said casually, "I heard it from some storyteller. Sounded like some kind of legendary top-tier spiritual medicine, the kind that can bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh from bone."

Li Feng snorted with a laugh. "Those storytellers just make things up. They pick up some martial world legend from who knows where, twist it around, and then peddle it to fool people. Young Master Han, just take it as entertainment—no need to take it seriously. Bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh from bone? Why not say it lets you ascend to heaven in broad daylight? Still, the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit is indeed a rare and niche high-grade spiritual medicine. It's quite scarce. It only grows on the Heavenly Demon Treasure Tree, which sprouts when a Demon King—comparable to a Yang God Realm Grandmaster—falls and its demon core sinks into the earth veins. It's extremely potent for boosting blood and qi. I've only heard of this kind of high-grade medicine, never seen it. Even ordinary Xiantian martial artists wouldn't use something at this level for medicinal baths. Medicines like the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit are meant for direct alchemy, not soaking in baths."

"Then it must be very expensive, right?"

Li Feng thought for a moment and said, "The price is manageable—around three thousand taels per fruit. If converted to Origin Crystals, that's about ten. Oh, Young Master Han, have you heard of Origin Crystals?"

Han Zheng shook his head.

Li Feng explained, "Origin Crystals are a high-grade material infused with spiritual energy. They're said to be buried thousands of feet underground, formed from crystallized earth veins. They can be used for cultivation, alchemy, artifact forging, formation setting, and many other purposes. So, high-level martial artists usually don't trade in gold or silver—they use Origin Crystals or barter. But in a small place like Black Stone County, Origin Crystals are rarely seen. Even martial families like the Song Family or the Shen Family mainly deal in gold and silver."

Han Zheng rubbed his chin, puzzled. "Only three thousand taels per fruit? That doesn't seem too expensive for the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit."

To most ordinary people, three thousand taels was a fortune. But for a martial artist whose single medicinal bath cost at least a hundred taels, three thousand really wasn't much.

"It's not too expensive, because this thing has some serious side effects. It contains not only spiritual energy but also violent demonic power. Martial artists can't absorb that demonic power—it needs an alchemist to spend a lot of time refining it out, or to neutralize it with other precious spiritual medicines. So using it for alchemy is actually quite inefficient—troublesome and costly. That's why its price has never been too high. There's also a top-tier spiritual medicine called the Vermilion Fruit, with the same medicinal potency as the Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit, but without any side effects. That one costs over ten thousand taels per fruit, and it's hard to find even at that price. Plus, the Vermilion Fruit Tree only matures once every thousand years, so it's also called the Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit—quite rare. Over at Demon Suppressing Pass, there are frequent large battles, and Demon Kings falling is common. So over the years, many Heavenly Demon Treasure Trees have grown, and the yield of Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruits is actually higher than that of Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruits."

After hearing Li Feng's explanation, a flicker of doubt crossed Han Zheng's eyes.

Something didn't add up.

Gao Kaiyuan had said the Song Family was sending him two men and women with abundant blood and qi every month as blood sacrifices to the Tearwind Great King, all in exchange for one Heavenly Demon Vermillion Fruit. But this fruit wasn't some priceless treasure—it was only three thousand taels. Three thousand was a lot, but the East City Song Family owned dozens of shops in Black Stone County, each turning a profit of more than three thousand taels every month. And if anyone found out the Song Family was colluding with demons, offering blood sacrifices for gain, their reputation in Black Stone County would be utterly ruined. Not only would they be universally reviled, but they might even attract the Demon Extermination Division. Would the Song Family take such a massive risk just for a fruit worth three thousand taels? Only if their brains had been squeezed by a door eight hundred times would they make such a stupid move.

So either Gao Kaiyuan, facing death, was still daring to lie to him, or there was more to this story.

After a few more casual words with Li Feng, Han Zheng took his leave and headed to the martial arts school. He'd already taken many days off from Li Jingzhong—it was time to show up and tell him he'd broken through to the Xiantian realm. He also needed to ask Li Jingzhong about the details of the Four Xiantian Realms. There was no hiding his cultivation level, and there was no need to. He could just blame it on Li Feng's medicinal baths.

At the Zhenwei Martial Arts School, Li Jingzhong was teaching the other disciples the finer points of live combat. Chen Zhao, the strongest among the disciples present, was helping Li Jingzhong correct their flaws in technique. When they saw Han Zheng arrive, the disciples cast curious glances his way. After the final assessment, Lin Qing, Song Tianqing, and Guo Mingyuan had stopped coming, and Han Zheng had been on leave. Only Chen Zhao had kept showing up diligently.

"Master, your disciple has made some breakthroughs in cultivation and would like your guidance on the next steps."

Li Jingzhong nodded lightly. "Good. In just a few days, you've managed to complete Foundation Establishment for the Xiantian realm. When you truly step into Xiantian, it should go smoothly... Wait!" As he spoke, Li Jingzhong suddenly sensed something off about Han Zheng's aura. He took a step forward, lunging to Han Zheng's side, and reached for his arm. Feeling the Bronze Skin Iron Bones, Li Jingzhong exclaimed in disbelief, "You've already broken through to Xiantian!?"

He had always thought Han Zheng had taken leave to build a foundation for breaking through to the Innate Realm. Who would have guessed that in just a few days, the guy had even finished building his house!

The many disciples present, including Chen Zhao, all looked at Han Zheng with envious eyes.

Over the years, quite a few disciples who had left the Zhenwei Martial Arts School had stepped into the Innate Realm.

But those people had all left the school for a long time before reaching Innate—none of them were as fast as Han Zheng.

Once you entered the Innate Realm, you were already considered an expert in Black Stone County, an existence on a completely different level from them, Postnatal Martial Artists.

"Let's talk inside. Chen Zhao, take your junior brothers and continue training."

Once inside the school's inner hall, Han Zheng said, "This time, I also have to thank Li Yaoshi for sending the medicinal bath. Because we have a good relationship, he specially added some extra potency to it.

And also, it's because of your excellent teaching, Master. You explained the barriers from Postnatal to Innate in such meticulous detail that anyone who wasn't an idiot could understand.

If you ask me, your skill in teaching disciples is far better than those Transmission Elders from the major sects."

Han Zheng's words weren't just flattery for Li Jingzhong.

At least below the Innate Realm, Li Jingzhong's teaching ability was absolutely top-notch.

Most martial artists only knew how to cultivate, without delving deeply into the realms themselves.

The top major sects had it even simpler: find disciples with good Talent and Aptitude, then pile on Spiritual Medicine and resources, start them off with Innate cultivation techniques, and their training speed naturally wouldn't be slow.

But Li Jingzhong had thoroughly studied both the Postnatal and Innate realms.

He could even turn ordinary disciples with average talent and no external resources into Innate martial artists—that was true skill.

Although Li Jingzhong was surprised that Han Zheng had broken through so quickly, he didn't suspect anything.

After all, there were martial artists who broke through even faster than Han Zheng; they just had better talent.

Han Zheng's Talent and Aptitude might be average, but maybe a sudden flash of insight had led to an epiphany, causing his cultivation to skyrocket—that was also possible.

Hearing Han Zheng praise him now, Li Jingzhong shook his head with slight pride. "In terms of cultivation, I'm certainly no match for those martial artists from the major sects. But when it comes to teaching disciples, well, after so many years, practice makes perfect.

However, I can't take the credit for you breaking through to the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm so quickly.

Over the years, I've taught many disciples here in Black Stone County, using the same teaching methods for all of them. You didn't really get any special treatment.

But you're the only one who managed to step into the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm before even finishing your training. That's enough to prove your comprehension.

Talent and Aptitude aren't the only measure of a martial artist's future achievements.

Mindset, perseverance, opportunity, luck—all are indispensable.

Take Zhang Tianyang, for example. Back when he was learning martial arts at the school, his Talent and Aptitude were even more average. I even predicted he'd never reach the Innate Realm in his lifetime.

And yet now he's at the peak of the Innate Realm, with cultivation even stronger than mine. Yesterday, he single-handedly forced back the three gang leaders.

So the road ahead is still long. Your achievements will definitely surpass mine."

"Thank you, Master. I'd also like to ask you about the key techniques and secrets for breaking through the other three Innate realms."

Li Jingzhong sighed. "The Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm—only by forging the Water-Fire Immortal Robe can one be considered truly complete, truly succeeding in the mortal transformation.

You've already forged Bronze Skin Iron Bones, which is still relatively simple. But the next three realms get harder with each step. The difficulty of breaking through each minor realm is more than ten times that of the previous one.

Golden Muscles Jade Meridians mainly involves tempering the muscles and Meridians. Meridians aren't as sturdy as bones and muscles, so they require careful, gentle tempering. Progress is extremely slow. This step can't be forced; it's a matter of patient, gradual work.

Once you succeed, your control and mobilization of power will be more than ten times stronger than before.

Mercury Blood Silver Marrow represents a qualitative change in your blood and qi. After forging it, your blood and qi will also be more than ten times stronger than before.

This step is extremely energy-consuming. You either accumulate power bit by bit, or rely on external resources like medicinal baths.

If you try to break through this realm through gradual, patient work alone, you might not even turn your blood and qi into lead and mercury in ten years. So it's best to supplement with medicinal baths.

Back in the day, I used the money I earned running the martial arts school to become a major customer of Chen Baiqing's. I used over a hundred medicinal baths before finally forging the Mercury Blood Silver Marrow.

As for the final realm, the Water-Fire Immortal Robe, it's the complete success of the mortal transformation, achieving the Innate body.

I can't give you any useful advice on this realm, since I haven't reached it myself.

I've been stuck at this realm for nearly ten years now.

To forge the Water-Fire Immortal Robe, you need to fully integrate your bones, Meridians, and blood and qi into one, undergo Marrow Washing and Hair Replacement, and make a single, decisive transformation.

I can manage to fully integrate all these forces within my body. Over the years, I've saved up enough money to even afford pills.

But that final step of transformation—I've never been able to take it.

Alas, I'm still lacking some opportunity, some epiphany."

Congratulations to reader Most Brilliant Life Dream for becoming the book's third Alliance Leader (^ω^)