Breakthrough

The Acting County Magistrate pronounced sentence on Steward Liu, but it was Captain Wang Long of the Martial Arts Department who wielded the rod.

The Martial Arts Department represented the government's authority, and the street brawl had caused an extremely vile impact—likely to undermine the Magistrate's hard-won prestige over the past two years. So Wang Long, tasked with the flogging, showed no mercy.

"Thud!"

An arm-thick hardwood club cut through the air and slammed into Shen Zhui's upper backside, producing a dull sound.

With that single blow, Shen Zhui felt his whole body about to fall apart. In an instant, cold sweat poured down his face, which flushed crimson.

Wang Long, usually mild and honest, now wore a cold expression as he swung the second strike without hesitation.

"Thud!"

A faint grunt escaped Shen Zhui's throat involuntarily, but he gritted his teeth and pressed his tongue against them to stifle the sound.

"Thud!"

The third blow landed. His blood and qi surged and scattered wildly. Though the strike hit his backside, pain seemed to wrack every part of him.

"Thud!"

The fourth blow shattered the primal energy he used to resist and heal wounds.

The fifth blow split his flesh open, and traces of blood seeped out.

By the sixth blow, Shen Zhui's eyes were rolling back from the agony.

The seventh, the eighth...

By the time the tenth blow was done, Shen Zhui was barely alive. He felt as if his soul had left his body, his limbs utterly weak, and even breathing brought pain.

This flogging never knocked a man unconscious. Whenever he neared his limit, a gentle surge of spiritual energy would come through the rod, stimulating his soul and keeping his mind sharp instead.

From start to finish, Shen Zhui didn't let out a single scream. But the men of the Martial Arts Department watching the punishment only felt more awed.

If anything, it wasn't that Shen Zhui could endure it—it was that after the later blows, he no longer had the strength to scream.

If ten strikes had left Shen Zhui in such a wretched state, how much worse would the pain be for those after him?

The constables couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. They silently vowed never to break the law, to avoid suffering such flogging.

"Shen Zhui... thanks... Captain..." When someone helped him up, Shen Zhui's lips moved faintly.

Wang Long's ten strikes seemed fierce and merciless.

But in truth, each blow carried a thread of spiritual energy that flowed into Shen Zhui's body, circulating and clearing his meridians, completely eliminating the aftereffects of the spiritual essence he'd absorbed earlier.

Of course, the bone-deep, flesh-tearing pain was real enough.

As for what deeper meaning lay in Wang Long's punishment laced with reward... Shen Zhui had no mind to guess at the moment.

"Take him away! Next!" Wang Long called coldly to his men.

"Yes, sir."

Two men supported Shen Zhui and escorted him to the prison cell.

In a daze, Shen Zhui seemed to hear Yang Wu's screams echoing from behind.

County jail, inside a cell.

"Clink, clink~"

Shen Zhui turned over, listening to the lock being opened outside the cell door.

The heavy iron door swung open, revealing Zhao Hu's dark face.

"Brother Hu, did you bring the stuff?" Shen Zhui asked.

"Brought it. I also grabbed your meal along the way." Zhao Hu handed Shen Zhui two boxes, one large and one small.

"Thanks, Brother Hu."

"Mm. You're healing pretty fast—only the seventh day, and you're already up and moving." Zhao Hu looked Shen Zhui up and down, clicking his tongue in surprise.

Shen Zhui smiled faintly. "Thanks to Brother Hu's care, sending me that fine ointment. Naturally, I recovered quickly."

Truth be told, on the first day in the cell, Shen Zhui couldn't even move. He could only lie on his stomach, needing help to apply medicine, eat, and drink.

If Zhao Hu hadn't visited him day after day, he probably wouldn't have recovered so fast.

"Just a small favor. In the end, it's the Magistrate and Captain Wang who tacitly allowed it. Not like Yang Wu and the others—they don't get such treatment. They're still stuck lying on their stomachs. No one looks after them; they have to handle eating, drinking, and everything else themselves. Miserable. But they deserve it!"

Shen Zhui said seriously, "I won't forget the Magistrate and Captain Wang's kindness. And Brother Hu, your kindness in changing my medicine and bringing water—Shen Zhui won't forget that either!"

"Haha, Brother Shen, no need to be so polite with me!" Zhao Hu laughed heartily, clearly pleased with Shen Zhui's words.

"Alright, rest up and heal well. I won't disturb you. Even though you're locked up as punishment, I've greased the wheels with everyone in this prison. They're all brothers—no one will mistreat you."

"Go slowly, Brother Hu."

Shen Zhui quickly finished the food from the large box, then carefully opened the small one.

"Great Return Pill." Shen Zhui narrowed his eyes and stroked the porcelain bottle.

Ten Great Return Pills. Earlier, when he fought Liu Bin, he had used one to heal his injuries.

Over the past month, to support his cultivation technique, he had gradually consumed four more.

Now, only five Great Return Pills remained—this was his guarantee for breaking through to the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm.

Without these Great Return Pills, relying solely on bitter cultivation, Shen Zhui estimated that even this final barrier alone would take him two or three years.

"I wonder if these Great Return Pills can help me open the ninth acupoint and complete the meridian cycle."

Shen Zhui had no confidence. According to common logic, Great Return Pills... were effective even for Xiantian Martial Artists.

Five Great Return Pills should be more than enough to break through the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm.

But the technique he cultivated was "Bloodburn." Every time he broke through a minor realm, he gained two additional Essences of Vital Energy, requiring greater accumulation. Moreover, the closer he got to the Xiantian Realm, the harder it was to break through.

In the past month, he had consumed five Great Return Pills without fully shaking the bottleneck.

It was only this time, turning misfortune into fortune, that he had received the help of four Essences of Xiantian Spiritual Energy from Elder Cang, which had cracked the ninth barrier by a sliver, giving him some confidence to break through.

"Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm—even with my body movement and Ruler Technique at their peak, I'm still no match for a Xiantian Martial Artist."

Shen Zhui recalled the scene of facing Elder Cang earlier. With just one move, his Ruler Technique was broken.

From start to finish, the opponent had displayed no exquisite techniques. He simply charged over with raw speed and punched his Iron Ruler away.

The gap in strength, defense, speed, and everything else was too vast. There was no room for Shen Zhui to execute his skills—this was absolute power.

"Let's begin."

Stretching his body, Shen Zhui sat cross-legged, poured out a Great Return Pill, and swallowed it.

The vital energy from his limbs and gradually gathered, surging mightily toward the ninth acupoint.

This ninth acupoint was the Lingtai Acupoint! It was also the most difficult hurdle for any Houtian Martial Artist!

"If vital energy is the ramrod, the meridians are the channels, and the acupoints are the stubborn stones blocking them—the key nodes."

"At the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm, each stage corresponds to one acupoint. Advancing a stage means breaking through the stubborn stone and opening the channel."

"But no matter how perfect the technique, it cannot completely expel the stubborn stones and silt from the channels. A small portion always accumulates gradually, making each subsequent stage harder."

"Until the final acupoint, the accumulated meridian 'silt' turns into a boulder. Breaking through it is several times harder than before! This is also why the older one gets, the harder it is to break through—because over time, the body absorbs more external Impurities, forming meridian silt."

Shen Zhui recalled the description of the "Bloodburn" technique and began his first assault.

"Boom~"

A faint roar echoed in his mind, like waves crashing against a boulder. He felt his internal organs and bones tremble with the impact.

The assault failed. Vital energy receded.

But Shen Zhui was not discouraged. This was expected.

The "Bloodburn" technique was harder to break through than ordinary techniques—he had long been mentally prepared.

Regrouping, he gathered his vital energy once more and charged at the boulder blocking the meridian channel.

"Boom, boom, boom~"

Time and again, he lost count of how long it had been. When Shen Zhui noticed his vital energy weakening, he paused briefly.

"Second Great Return Pill!"

He swallowed another pill. His vital energy gradually replenished, and Shen Zhui resumed his assault.

"Third!"

Failure!

"Again!"

Failure!

After consuming four Great Return Pills in a row, the ninth acupoint still showed no sign of loosening. Shen Zhui felt a bit deflated.

"So hard? In the past month, I've already taken five Great Return Pills. Adding these four, and having been infused with Xiantian Spiritual Energy once, the stubborn stone should have been worn down significantly. Why can't I still break through?"

"I don't believe it! Fifth!"

Shen Zhui swallowed the last Great Return Pill. At the same time, he used sixteen Essences of Vital Energy as the vanguard, sending a torrent of vital energy crashing toward the stubborn stone!

A faint swelling pain spread through his body. Shen Zhui felt this was his most confident attempt yet. If it still failed, he would truly have to find another way!

"Boom, boom, boom—crack~"

Finally—

The barrier of the stubborn stone, already worn down to its limit, had a gap opened!

The ninth acupoint was finally broken! The torrent of vital energy flowed through slowly, expanding the meridian and nourishing his body.

"I finally made it!" Shen Zhui broke into a smile.

It was like a riverbank—once a breach was opened, everything else followed naturally.

Of course, if that breach couldn't be opened, the earlier feeling would be one of unyielding despair.

Now that he had broken through, the experience was entirely different.

"Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm, one step closer to the Xiantian Realm." Shen Zhui felt his strength slowly growing, his body becoming more robust, and couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

"With a breakthrough in realm, next I need to focus on body movement and ruler technique. Let me first check how many Merit Points I've saved."

With a thought, data appeared before Shen Zhui's eyes:

Shen Zhui: Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm

Technique: Bloodburn (Third Layer)

Ruler Technique: Nine Layers of Iron Ruler (Grandmaster)

Body Movement: Flowing Cloud Steps (Grandmaster)

Merit Points: 38500

"Oh? Nearly forty thousand already? Doesn't that mean I can exchange for almost forty seconds of Awakening Time?"

New book seeking recommendations, seeking collections!