Half a Month of Secluded Cultivation

Once the Wolf King died, the wolf pack immediately retreated.

The three Martial Academy disciples, covered in wounds and having narrowly escaped death, watched as the limping Gu Yang approached.

But after only getting halfway there, the three stopped again. They cautiously glanced at Gu Yang, and the leading youth said, "Senior Brother, thank you for saving our lives. Great kindness needs no words of thanks. From now on, if Senior Brother ever has need of anything, just send word. Liu Zhuang will be at your disposal."

"Lv Liang as well."

"Hua Yuanqi as well."

The other two quickly echoed him.

Only after Brother Zhuang had spoken did the two of them dare make a sound.

It was not that they were introverted. The killing aura leaking from Gu Yang was simply too terrifying.

Hua Yuanqi also cultivated the Killing Blade Technique, so he could more directly feel the sheer weight of Gu Yang's killing aura.

Either his talent was extraordinarily high, allowing him to condense killing aura with half the effort and twice the result, or he had slaughtered so much that quantitative change had led to qualitative change.

There was another possibility—that he possessed both.

"It's nothing."

Gu Yang turned his head and swept the three with a glance, then shook his head. The killing intent surrounding him immediately receded.

He had no intention of demanding repayment for saving them. As for forming a team, slaughtering Ferocious Beasts, and harvesting points, he had even less interest in that.

He did not lack points at all now. He only needed to devote himself to cultivation and wait until midsummer to pass the Life and Death Trials. Then he could head to Canglong Island, without needing to fuss over such matters.

Gu Yang no longer even wanted to participate in the later training expeditions.

After all, such expeditions had already become far less effective for his growth.

Even a Wolf King powerful enough to easily massacre three Martial Academy disciples had only contributed 2 points of Azure Dragon Dance proficiency and 7 points of Killing Blade Technique proficiency.

The level of strength one possessed determined the opponents one needed to face. Only then would skill proficiency increase quickly.

If he merely slaughtered the weak, the advancement speed of both skills would plummet.

Rather than waste time on that, he might as well devote all his energy to Stance Training.

At the very least, as long as he worked hard at it, his Stance Training proficiency would steadily increase.

Swish, swish!

After replying to the three, Gu Yang began collecting beast ears from the wolf corpses.

Though he did not lack points, each beast ear was worth one or two taels of silver. How was that any different from picking up money for free? He would have to be a fool not to take them.

Not far away, the three saw what Gu Yang was doing and bent down to collect beast ears as well. Whenever they saw a Black Wolf that had not yet breathed its last, they gave it another strike and sent it on its final journey.

A short while later, Gu Yang had cut off the left ears of every Black Wolf he had killed. Carrying the Wolf King's corpse, he turned to leave.

But just then, Liu Zhuang's voice rang out again.

"Senior Brother, we have already gathered these wolf ears for you. Please accept them."

"Those are your spoils of war. There is no need to give them to me." Gu Yang refused without even turning his head.

Yet Liu Zhuang persisted. "If not for you, the lives of the three of us brothers would have been hard to preserve, let alone gaining any spoils. How could we have the face to accept them?"

"Fine." The three had only killed around ten Black Wolves in total. Gu Yang did not care about such a small gain, but since Liu Zhuang insisted, he could not be bothered to refuse again.

Taking the leather bag Liu Zhuang handed over, Gu Yang poured the wolf ears inside into his own bag and immediately turned away.

Behind him, only after watching him gradually disappear into the distance did the other two, aside from Liu Zhuang, dare breathe loudly again.

"Look at the little backbone you two have." Liu Zhuang could not help teasing them as he watched their reactions.

"His aura was simply too frightening." Hua Yuanqi immediately retorted.

"Yeah." Lv Liang nodded beside him.

"Enough. It's already dark. Let's hurry back."

Gu Yang brought the Wolf King's corpse back to the military camp, immediately causing another wave of shock.

The Wolf King itself was not particularly strong, but with a wolf pack surrounding it, it was even harder to kill than a Black-Striped Leopard.

In fact, unless one was a martial artist who had already condensed Blood Qi, an ordinary Blood Condensation martial artist could only flee upon encountering a Wolf King patrolling the mountain. Yet now, Gu Yang had actually killed one. How could the soldiers not be astonished?

When he arrived at the Quartermaster Office, the Wolf King's corpse was worth only thirty points based on its value. But when the Black-Faced Clerk saw Gu Yang's bag containing more than fifty Black Wolf ears, he counted the wolf ears and the Wolf King's corpse together as a full one hundred points.

After receiving the points, the first thing Gu Yang did was go to the pavilion behind and exchange them for ten portions of Qi and Blood Powder.

He had already decided that he would not go out on training expeditions for a while. Every day, he would remain in the main camp and cultivate Stance Training.

Just as he returned to the barracks with the Qi and Blood Powder, Liu Zhuang and the other two also came back.

The three did not know what they had discussed on the road, but after returning to the main camp, they went to visit Gu Yang's barracks.

At the same time, the three jointly presented him with another banknote worth one hundred points.

Gu Yang did not refuse benefits delivered right to his door, and accepted it immediately.

A moment later, the three took their leave. Gu Yang also walked out of the barracks and began practicing Stance Training.

Perhaps because of Gu Yang's influence, the cultivation atmosphere in this camp had been excellent recently.

The soldiers in particular cultivated with great diligence.

Gu Yang did not know that the military camp had long been buzzing with talk about him.

Look at that Martial Academy disciple. He was already so strong, yet he still worked that hard. What right did you have to be so lazy? Did none of you have the ambition to condense Blood Qi?

Thus, everyone was swept up in Gu Yang's feverish race to improve...

The night passed, and a pale glow appeared in the east.

Gu Yang walked out of the barracks once more and continued cultivating.

At the hour of the Rabbit...

At the hour of the Dragon...

At the hour of the Snake...

When a patrol of soldiers saw that noon was approaching and Gu Yang was still cultivating in the camp, the captain leading them could not help stepping forward and asking curiously, "Why are you still here so late today? You haven't gone out?"

"I've been hunting Ferocious Beasts every day recently, so I'm a little tired. I plan to rest in the camp for a while." Gu Yang's movements did not stop as he replied.

"..."

So for a Genius Disciple of the Martial Academy, practicing Stance Training counted as resting, did it?

Of course, he did not ask that aloud. He was afraid Gu Yang's answer would shatter his martial heart.

The patrol left in silence. But Gu Yang later heard that a squad of soldiers in the camp, for some unknown reason, had begun training desperately every day...

Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

At dusk, outside the barracks, Gu Yang closed his eyes and focused his mind as he practiced the Blood Nourishing Stance Art.

As one fist technique after another unfolded, every bone in Gu Yang's body was driven to crackle.

After a long while, he finished a complete set of Stance Training. A line of small text immediately appeared before his eyes.

Skill 'Blood Nourishing Stance' proficiency +1

Gu Yang took a deep breath and gently closed his eyes.

Starlight glittered brightly, and two lines of text appeared.

Skill: Blood Nourishing Stance Accomplishment (324/400); Azure Dragon Dance Accomplishment (468/1000), Life-Slaying Saber Accomplishment (65/400)

Talent: Vitality Surge, Power Surge, Mighty Ox Strength, Killing Intent Perception, Killing Instinct.