Body Tempering Ninth Level

It was winter. Despite the bitter cold, these mountains remained lush and verdant, the trees vibrant and dripping with green, seemingly unaffected by the season.

Under the starlight, they shimmered with tiny, crystalline glints.

In a remote courtyard halfway up the mountainside, a bright yellow light stood out conspicuously in the area.

"Are you two planning to join that Mutual Aid Society or the Sword Technique Hall?" Xin Shuming asked.

"Me? I'll see how things go over the next few days," Zhong Qing said, sounding somewhat uncertain.

"What about you, Qinglin?" Xin Shuming looked toward Chen Qinglin.

"Me? I'm not considering joining any of them for now. I barely have enough time to practice martial arts as it is."

"I see." Xin Shuming looked at Qi Hanwen, who hadn't spoken, and dropped the subject.

This small, temporary group from Dingyuan County was already harboring different intentions before even a single day had passed.

"I'm going to practice my sword." With that, Chen Qinglin walked out of the small courtyard.

It seems we are destined to walk different paths, Chen Qinglin thought as his longsword danced faster and faster.

Under the bright moon, streaks of white sword shadows sliced through the air, swirling around him like a swimming dragon. The sharp whistling of the blade cutting through the air shook the mountain forest.

Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!

With a dull sound of the sword being sheathed, Chen Qinglin lay back on a rock, staring fixedly at the bright moon in the night sky.

What night is without a moon? What place is without friends? It is just that there are few who can accompany one on the journey ahead.

Have I not experienced enough partings? Even if I am alone, I will use the sword in my hand to hack through the thorns and climb ever forward.

Late at night, Chen Qinglin sat cross-legged on his bed. Qi and blood erupted from his flesh, circulating throughout his entire body; far from being depleted, they grew even stronger.

The surge of blood energy showed no signs of running wild; it simply washed over his body again and again.

Finally, as if breaking through some critical threshold, the qi and blood increased abruptly, continuing to surge in a wild, galloping fashion.

The sudden increase in qi and blood made Chen Qinglin's control over his own energy less effortless than it had been before.

From the outside, his entire body turned crimson, and steam rose continuously from his skin.

Immediately after, he felt a massive improvement in his sinews, bones, skin, flesh, internal organs, and physical strength.

He felt the qi and blood coursing through his entire body, giving him the urge to punch through a mountain.

However, he knew this was an illusion and began to steady his mindset.

He slowly exhaled and sat in meditation to regulate his breathing.

He opened his panel to check his status.

[Chen Qinglin]

Lifespan: 14/99

Realm: Body Tempering Ninth Level

Skills: Archery (Perfected 10000/10000), Iron Wire Fist (Perfected 3033/10000), Iron Sword Art (Perfected 6585/10000)

He had finally broken through to the Body Tempering Ninth Level. The next step was to master his entire body's blood and Qi, then break through to the Inner Qi Realm.

Under normal circumstances, martial artists in the Body Tempering Realm possess vast amounts of blood and Qi, and many spend their entire lives unable to fully control it.

Breaking through to the Inner Qi Realm requires one to condense their blood and Qi into a single strand, from which True Qi is born.

The effect of a Qi Gathering Pill is to assist in the condensation of blood and Qi, helping martial artists advance to the Inner Qi Realm.

Although Chen Qinglin's natural talent was only above average, he benefited from the effects of his talent panel, which allowed him to perfectly execute the martial arts he used and master his own strength.

As long as he managed to unleash a greater power even for a single moment, he would remember that state and make it a permanent fixture of his capabilities.

Now that he had just broken through to the Body Tempering Ninth Level, he still needed some time to adapt.

Once he fully adapted and mastered the newly increased blood and Qi, that would be the moment he broke through to the Inner Qi Realm.

Furthermore, the improvement of his martial path caused the proficiency he gained from daily practice to increase as well, forming a positive cycle.

When he first started practicing martial arts, being able to practice a fist technique twenty times a day was considered decent.

But now, in addition to practicing his fist techniques, he also had to practice sword techniques. Every day, he could gain over two hundred points of proficiency in both Iron Wire Fist and Iron Sword Art.

And that was even with some delays during this period.

According to Chen Qinglin's hypothesis, his current proficiency gains relied on quantity, but a person's intelligence and comprehension were not immutable.

As he practiced more martial arts in the future, broadened his knowledge, and broke through to higher Martial Dao Realms, his own comprehension and intelligence would rise accordingly.

The proficiency gained from each practice session would only continue to increase.

By then, he suspected that foundation-building martial arts like Iron Wire Fist could be brought to Great Accomplishment with a single glance and a single practice, and perfected in just two.

Thinking of this, the slight melancholy he felt earlier was swept away, replaced by a sense of excitement.

(＞ｙ＜)

Suppressing his joy, he pulled up his small quilt and fell fast asleep. zzz!!

On the other side of things, while he was fast asleep, Xin Shuming and Zhong Qing were suffering from insomnia.

They were all martial artists, after all; going a few days without sleep was no big deal.

As for Qi Hanwen, sorry, he didn't care about this matter at all. He went to sleep right on time, maintaining a very regular schedule.

Ten days passed, and the new disciples of Yunqing Courtyard had initially formed the Cloud Dragon Society, composed of disciples from Yunzhou; the Mutual Aid Society, composed of disciples from Cangzhou; and the Youqi Society, composed of disciples from Youzhou.

There were also some smaller guilds and lone-wolf disciples.

Most of these lone-wolf disciples were people focused solely on martial arts.

Or they were people confident in their own cultivation who didn't want to get involved in such matters.

There were also those who looked down on such petty squabbles and couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind.

Life takes many forms, and Chen Qinglin and Qi Hanwen naturally belonged to the latter category.

Over these past few days, the life trajectories of Chen Qinglin and Qi Hanwen had been very consistent.

Practicing martial arts in their small courtyard—going to the cafeteria to replenish energy when hungry—and then returning to practice martial arts again.

They were immersed in their own worlds.

As for Zhong Qing and Xin Shuming, perhaps feeling that their own aptitude wasn't very good, after a few days of observation and inquiry, they finally joined the Mutual Aid Society.

They wanted to obtain more resource support from within, hoping that once someone in the alliance broke through to the Inner Qi Realm and became an Inner Disciple, they would pull them up.

Over these ten days, the two of them spent less and less time practicing martial arts.

Instead, they followed the people from the Mutual Aid Society, running around everywhere to recruit those who hadn't yet joined a guild.

Even Chen Qinglin and Qi Hanwen were frequently persuaded by the two to join the Mutual Aid Society.

The two of them naturally did not respond.

However, recently, the Mutual Aid Society, the Youqi Society, the Cloud Dragon Society, and others perhaps felt that their wings had grown full, and they began to take action.

First, they made every member of their societies hand over one Body Tempering Pill, claiming it was to concentrate resources to provide for those with good talent, allowing them to break through to the Inner Qi Realm first, and then use the additional resources they obtained to help the others break through.

Then, they began to collect a monthly "support fee" of two Body Tempering Pills from the lone-wolf disciples. Those who dared not to pay were beaten up, and then all their Body Tempering Pills were snatched away.

An Outer Disciple of Qingfeng Mountain received one bottle of Body Tempering Pills a month, and a bottle only contained three pills. If they handed over three, how were they supposed to cultivate?

Consequently, these disciples also joined guilds and began to collect Body Tempering Pills from those who hadn't joined with even greater intensity.

Initially, the few guilds were still wary of Qingfeng Mountain, but later they discovered that Qingfeng Mountain made no moves and allowed them to develop as they pleased.

Thus, the situation intensified further...

"Brother Zhong, I heard there are still two disciples in your small courtyard who haven't joined any guild?"

"Brother Wu, those two brothers of mine are solely focused on martial arts, which is why they haven't joined a guild."

"That is where you are in the wrong. How could you not think of your brothers when there is a good opportunity? What do you say, Shuming?"

"I..." Xin Shuming stammered, unable to get the words out, his expression appearing somewhat unnatural.

"Alright, no need to say more. Follow us and go take a look. I want to see just how important these two brothers of yours really are," said Wu Cheng, who was leading the group.

There were thirteen people in total. Three were at the Body Tempering Eighth Level, Wu Cheng himself was at the Body Tempering Ninth Level, and the remaining nine were all Body Tempering Seventh Level martial artists.

At the small courtyard belonging to Chen Qinglin and the others, a group of people was marching aggressively toward the entrance. A closer look revealed that Zhong Qing and Xin Shuming were among them.

Chen Qinglin and Qi Hanwen had yet to notice, as the two were currently practicing martial arts in front of the courtyard.

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