Lin Guanhuo walked out of the alley without even looking back.
To the Lin Guanhuo of today, those people weren't even ants.
Since they hadn't chased after him, Lin Guanhuo couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
Still...
Lin Guanhuo couldn't help but marvel.
"My saber art keeps getting sharper..."
By now, he had mastered all eight basic forms of the Precept Breaking Saber Art.
He had also grasped a brand-new killing move, River Breaking Style.
Against ordinary martial artists, he could injure them from a distance with nothing but his Blade Wind, without even drawing his saber.
That evening, he returned to the dormitory and shut the door.
Lin Guanhuo sat cross-legged on his bed.
With a wave of his hand, he took a small porcelain bottle from his Brocade Bag.
He pulled out the stopper.
A medicinal fragrance wafted out, and faintly, he could even smell a trace of vital energy.
This was Qi Boosting Powder, a First Rank medicinal pill.
A tiny pill like this cost forty taels of silver.
Converted into the wages from the Miscellaneous Room Courtyard, it was a fortune that an ordinary White Servant couldn't save up in a lifetime, even if he worked without eating or drinking...
"I wonder how effective a pill that costs forty taels of silver is..."
Lin Guanhuo murmured. This was his first time taking a medicinal pill.
The next moment.
"Gulp."
Lin Guanhuo tipped his head back and swallowed the Qi Boosting Powder.
The pill had barely been in his stomach for two breaths when—
A searing wave of heat exploded inside him.
Scorching hot!
It felt as if he had swallowed a piece of red-hot charcoal.
Lin Guanhuo's normally healthy complexion instantly turned crimson.
And concealed beneath his skin was the surging vital energy supplied by that single pill of Qi Boosting Powder!!
Daring not to slack off, he began to refine its pure medicinal power bit by bit, making it his own.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next morning.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang~~"
The summonsing drums sounded across the Martial Arts Arena.
Only then did Lin Guanhuo slowly open his eyes and let out a soft breath.
Hoo...
He clenched his fist.
Crack!!
A sharp sound rang through the air.
The feeling of power coursing through him was far stronger than it had been after eating dozens of pounds of beef.
"What overbearing medicinal power."
Feeling the heat still not fully digested inside him, Lin Guanhuo was secretly astonished.
The effects of this one Qi Augmenting Pill had far exceeded his expectations!!
Even at his current rate of absorption, one pill could sustain three to five days of full-power cultivation.
"Ten bottles of pills..."
"That should be enough to push me straight to Body Tempering fifth-grade."
After a night of cultivation, Lin Guanhuo went to the Martial Arts Arena.
At that moment, the apprentices had gathered there. Among them were the standouts of this year's class, including Shen Yifan, Zhao Ming, and Li Miaomiao.
Instructor Zhou Cang stood on the Stone Platform with his hands behind his back, looking down at the crowd. "Those of you who've made it this far must have some talent."
"There's nothing new left for me to teach you. From now on, you need to keep studying and mastering the basic moves I've taught you, along with the Demon Suppressing Breathing Technique!"
"Don't think it's dull. The Martial Path is dull by nature."
"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.
After they were dismissed—
Calls and shouts rang out across the training ground once more.
Shen Yifan, a prodigy among this year's apprentices, was practicing in one corner of the Martial Arts Arena. His white clothes were soaked through with sweat.
He was training desperately.
It was clear that Lin Guanhuo's display of talent had spurred him on.
The Shen Family was a prominent local merchant lineage, yet it had never produced a powerful martial artist.
As the Shen Family's third young master, Shen Yifan carried the hopes of his lineage on his shoulders.
His cultivation was currently stuck at the peak of Body Tempering second-grade, just a hair's breadth from Third Rank.
"Before the end of the month, I'll break through to Third Rank!"
Shen Yifan gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with fervor. "By then, I'll be this year's undisputed Number One Person! I'll show everyone who the real genius is!"
Not far away.
In a corner.
Lin Guanhuo was, as always, drawing his saber again and again!
Draw Sword!!
But no one knew that with every draw—
The lingering medicinal power was spurring his vital energy through a tiny transformation.
The days that followed were calm and regular.
Cultivate, eat, cultivate.
One day after another passed.
Five days.
Ten days.
Half a month.
The Monthly Exam—
Was only a week away.
Late that night, in Lin Guanhuo's room at the apprentice dormitory—
He sat cross-legged on his bed, heat steaming from his body.
Even a visible white mist rose from the top of his head.
It looked a little ridiculous, but it was a sign that his vital energy was circulating at full force.
After half a month of hard cultivation, he had swallowed four Qi Augmenting Pills.
Refining them again and again.
Then, at a certain moment...
When the vital energy gathered inside Lin Guanhuo reached its peak—
"Break!"
With a low cry in his heart, Lin Guanhuo's entire aura underwent a transformation!
He had broken through to Body Tempering fourth-grade!
"Finally."
Only then did Lin Guanhuo slowly open his eyes.
He clenched his fist, feeling the surging vital energy within him...
Yet his expression remained perfectly calm, as if everything had simply fallen into place.
With a thought, he opened the System interface, and a translucent information panel appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Lin Guanhuo] [Current lifespan: 82 years] [Martial arts: Precept Breaking Saber Art, Killing Move (7%)] [Draw Sword count: 800]
"Eighty-two years..."
Lin Guanhuo murmured as he looked at the number.
From having only two years of life left after being tainted by Demonic energy to now having a lifespan of over eighty years—it had taken no more than two or three months.
It seemed the end of the Martial Dao was immortality.
"Eight thousand Draw Sword repetitions might be enough to advance the Precept Breaking Saber Art to the second level of Killing Move..."
"But..."
Lin Guanhuo pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No rush."
His saber art had already reached the level of a killing move. It was powerful and sweeping, with deadly force, but he had no defensive techniques.
If he were ambushed by a martial artist or demon of the same level, he could be killed in an instant.
"Attacking without defending is like walking a tightrope."
Lin Guanhuo rubbed his Brocade Bag, lost in thought. "I need to buy a health-preserving martial art for self-defense and shore up this weakness."
With that, Lin Guanhuo pushed open the door and left.
As soon as he reached the street outside Apprentice Plaza, he ran into a group of people coming toward him.
At their head was Chen Jianxing, a Bronze Badge Walker of the Demon Suppressing Division.
He wore black and carried a sword.
As a Badge Walker of the Demon Suppressing Division, he had an imposing air about him.
Several Ordinary Servants followed behind him.
"Lord Chen." Lin Guanhuo stopped and cupped his fists.
Chen Jianxing looked up at the sound of his voice. When he saw Lin Guanhuo, he waved for his subordinates to fall back.
Then he said, "Brother Lin, it's been a while. Have you settled in at the Apprentice Camp?"
"I have," Lin Guanhuo replied.
Chen Jianxing nodded, unaware that Lin Guanhuo was doing more than just settling in...
Instructor Zhou Cang was practically treating him like an ancestor.
Chen Jianxing was about to say something when his gaze suddenly sharpened.
As a seasoned martial artist, he was exceptionally sensitive to vital energy.
He could sense that Lin Guanhuo's aura had grown much stronger since they last met!
"Brother Lin, have you... broken through?"
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