Breakthrough!!

Fang Chen looked around the martial arts hall and found that only he, Yang Hua, and Zhou Hai were left.

Helplessly, Fang Chen could only suppress the excitement in his heart.

There were too many spectators now, and breaking through wouldn't feel satisfying; it was better to wait until tomorrow morning to break through!

"Senior Disciple Fang, are you really coming tomorrow... If you really come, wouldn't it..."

Yang Hua suddenly walked over to speak, his tone tinged with worry.

Fang Chen gave Yang Hua a somewhat surprised look.

He hadn't expected that besides Zhou Hai, someone would actually worry about him.

Fang Chen didn't have much of an impression of Yang Hua.

He only remembered that the other party also seemed to come from a poor family, but was rather lucky with upper-middle natural bones and was currently receiving sponsorship from a merchant.

Fang Chen didn't know what the other party was thinking.

However, since the other party was asking out of kind intentions, Fang Chen smiled and responded, "Of course, Junior Brother needn't worry about me."

Yang Hua didn't understand why Fang Chen could still smile.

He had originally wanted to suggest running away with his family instead.

Seeing that Fang Chen had already made up his mind, it wasn't appropriate for him to urge any further.

In the end, he could only offer a blessing: "I hope Senior Disciple can truly break through tomorrow!"

Fang Chen nodded, "I accept your auspicious words, Junior Brother."

With that, Yang Hua left the martial arts hall.

After finishing his Qi Supplementing Powder, Fang Chen bade farewell to Zhou Hai and returned home.

The autumn night was cool as water, the waning moon like a hook.

In the dilapidated small courtyard,

Fang Chen's figure flashed and shifted under the sparse moonlight.

He gripped a light long saber tightly in his hand, the blade piercing the air and emitting a "woo-woo" hiss.

Five more practices, and he could bring the Whirlwind Blade Technique to minor accomplishment!

Fang Chen rehearsed the Whirlwind Blade Technique over and over again.

Whirlwind Blade Technique proficiency +1!

Whirlwind Blade Technique proficiency +1!

Whirlwind Blade Technique proficiency +1!

Sweat gradually soaked his coarse cloth tunic, clinging tightly to his body.

Yet at this moment, the more he practiced, the more excited Fang Chen became, his gaze locked onto the proficiency panel before him.

Whirlwind Blade Technique (Initiation 148/150)

The blade technique was just one final step away from minor accomplishment!

Excitement churned in Fang Chen's heart; those two words—"minor accomplishment"—represented the very first threshold of truly stepping into martial arts: the Skin and Muscle Realm!

Breaking through the Whirlwind Blade Technique tonight and the Tiger Subduing Fist tomorrow morning,

with two minor-accomplishment martial arts at his side, Fang Chen felt his combat strength would definitely be stronger than ordinary practitioners of the Skin and Muscle Realm!

Thinking of this, Fang Chen continued to practice the Whirlwind Blade Technique.

At that moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew past! A few leaves drifted down leisurely, fluttering everywhere with the wind, their trajectory seeming elusive!

Fang Chen carefully felt the changes as the wind swept by.

Suddenly, the Qi and blood within his body surged violently. Following the momentum, Fang Chen stepped forward and swung his saber!

Under the moonlight, the blade light was cold and clear.

The youth held the saber, as if moving with the wind.

His blade techniques were smooth and flowing, as though linked together by an invisible wind.

As his wrist turned, the speed at which the long saber pierced the air suddenly increased by nearly thirty percent!

The "woo-woo" saber hum grew sharper and more hurried,

as if a gale were truly beginning to brew and howl within the narrow courtyard!

Epiphanies kept welling up in Fang Chen's heart! He gained a deeper understanding of the essence of the Whirlwind Blade Technique!

Fast! Coherent!

The pursuit of ultimate speed and continuous, unceasing offense!

"Slash!"

Fang Chen roared, pouring his all into swinging that final blade!

The panel in his mind suddenly refreshed:

Gale Saber Technique proficiency +2!

Gale Saber Technique (Minor Accomplishment 0/400)!

It had finally reached minor accomplishment!

Fang Chen carefully observed the changes in his body.

By the dim moonlight, he could see a very faint, almost imperceptible reddish luster rising on the surface of his skin,

as if covered by a layer of invisible grease; even the sweat droplets rolling down it seemed to move slower.

Fang Chen gently drew the long saber across his arm and actually felt a tough sense of resistance!

In the end, the sharp long saber left only a faint white mark on his arm.

If this were before breaking through, such a treasured blade would definitely have caused his arm to bleed.

Of course, this didn't mean the long saber could no longer harm Fang Chen in the future.

If he drove the Whirlwind Blade Technique and slashed hard across his arm, a large amount of blood would still flow!

Aside from the changes to his skin and membranes, Fang Chen felt his physical strength had also grown substantially!

If he encountered Zhao San now, Fang Chen was confident he could smash the man's skull to pieces with a single punch! The other party would fundamentally have zero chance of any counterattack!

Regardless, he had finally stepped into the first realm of martial arts!

Fang Chen's heart was filled with anticipation for tomorrow's breakthrough as well.

Logically speaking, after the Tiger Subduing Fist broke through, his skin and muscles should strengthen further!

Having two martial arts at minor accomplishment was equivalent to strengthening himself twice!

Naturally, he would be stronger than the average person!

Fang Chen pondered continuously in his heart, harboring some immature conjectures.

Could studying more martial arts allow one to continuously strengthen their skin and muscles?!

If so, wouldn't that make one many times stronger than people at the same realm?!

But wouldn't this method have a certain upper limit?

Fang Chen realized his understanding of martial arts was still far too shallow; he needed to find an opportunity to catch up on his studies.

On the final day after the wager was established,

Fang Chen arrived at the martial arts hall early as usual. He had already prepared the unknown wild fern, which he would use in place of the Hibernating Dragon Fern when he broke through later.

To his surprise, however,

today many people arrived even earlier than he did.

Wang Yanshan, Song Ming, Jiang Qiutong, Qin Yun, and others had all arrived very early.

Glancing around, Fang Chen found that Yang Hua had come too.

What Fang Chen found strange was that the merchant sponsoring Yang Hua had also arrived at the martial arts hall early.

Whether he was looking for Yang Hua or specifically came to watch the commotion was unclear.

At that moment, Wang Yanshan and Song Ming walked over.

Wang Yanshan took the lead and said, "Junior Brother, are you ready to get beaten up by me?"

Song Ming followed up, "Junior Brother Fang, didn't you say that if you lose, you'll let me do whatever I want?"

"I've already figured out what to make you do!"

"You're going to kneel down and..."

Fang Chen interrupted,

"What is wrong with the two of you? Why do you automatically assume I've lost?"

Song Ming and Wang Yanshan frowned, looking closer.

Only then did they notice Fang Chen was holding a stalk of major medicine in his hand.

The two looked at each other and fell speechless for a moment, an expression of amusement mixed with ridicule appearing on their faces.

In the end, Song Ming still smiled and said, "Junior Brother, hasn't anyone told you something?"

"Swallowing an entire stalk of major medicine whole is something that can only be done when making a breakthrough at the absolute limit."

"I see you haven't reached your critical limit yet either. If you rashly swallow a whole stalk, you'll likely fail to control the surging Qi and blood, ultimately bleeding from the seven orifices and dying miserably."

Wang Yanshan also sneered,

"Could it be you actually want to die right here? Let me tell you, I won't let you off that easily—getting beaten up by me is mandatory."

Fang Chen cursed outright, "Clearly the two of you are just blind and can't tell I've already reached the critical threshold!"

Song Ming and Wang Yanshan were just about to curse back,

when they saw Zhou Hai suddenly walking over with Hong Decheng.

Hong Decheng approached and said to the onlookers, "Stop the teasing; Fang Chen has indeed reached the time for a breakthrough."

As soon as these words fell, the crowd's reactions instantly exploded!