Breakthrough to Muscle Refining Realm

At the Mad Saber Martial Arts School, training wasn't mandatory—train if you wanted to; if you didn't feel like it or got tired, you could go out and play, but you had to inform the disciples, and the tuition fees had to be paid in full.

To avoid standing out and drawing attention, Zhao Han picked up a wooden saber and began practicing the Mad Saber Nine Forms in a corner, stumbling through the motions.

When morning training ended, many dispersed, heading out in groups of three or five for breakfast.

Zhao Han followed along, found a noodle stall near the martial arts school, and ordered a bowl of Saosao Noodles worth five copper coins, eating them with big mouthfuls.

Plenty of others were eating around him too.

"Did you hear? A Poisonous Snake Gang Poison Dragon Hall head named Wang Bao was killed by his own gang members. Now the Poisonous Snake Gang is putting out a widespread wanted notice."

"They say it was a Skin Refining Warrior who did it. Just provide solid info, and there's a bounty of five taels of silver."

"If you can kill the culprit, you get a bounty of twenty taels of silver."

Zhao Han heard this and slowed down his noodle-eating, pricking up his ears to listen closely.

"That's it? That little money, who the hell would risk their life for it?"

"After all, it's just a minor head. The Poisonous Snake Gang won't go all out. Maybe the money's all coming from Poison Dragon Hall."

Zhao Han ate his noodles in silence, thinking to himself:

"I'm about to be in the Muscle Refining Realm. Bounty hunting a Muscle Refiner with that little cash? Dream on."

After finishing the noodles, Zhao Han bought a bamboo hat from a nearby stall and put it on his head.

Then he headed toward the nearby notice board.

The notice board was a paid service from the Blackwater County Yamen, allowing people to post all kinds of information.

Things like wanted posters, job ads, missing person notices, and so on.

When he arrived at the notice board, it was already crowded with people pointing and commenting.

Though Zhao Han's face was utterly unremarkable, he had height—a full one meter seventy-eight, which was considered tall in this world.

Even standing outside the crowd, he could see the information on the board.

"With that soul-crushing sketch artist, catching anyone would be a miracle."

When he saw the wanted portrait, Zhao Han barely stifled a laugh.

Even someone who'd studied a bit of drawing in modern times couldn't make a portrait look this bad.

The wanted poster on the board showed an incredibly ugly person with a twisted expression, looking like they had kidney failure.

No matter what, there was no way this portrait could implicate him.

No wonder no one had paid him any attention while he was eating noodles earlier—his original face was just too plain and unremarkable, far less recognizable than the one on the wanted poster.

"That ugly bastard is really hideous. Looks like a notorious bandit to me."

"He's just a Poisonous Snake Gang member, not some bandit. But yeah, he's pretty ugly."

"Someone that ugly should be easy to find. Come on, let's look around—maybe we'll spot him."

The crowd buzzed with chatter, but Zhao Han had already taken off his bamboo hat and walked away.

Walking openly down the street, his head-turning rate was zero. No one cared.

A face so plain it was forgotten the moment you saw it.

He made his way safely into an alley near the martial arts school.

Arriving at a deserted, dirty spot with no one around, Zhao Han took a deep breath and began practicing his punches.

After five minutes, his proficiency had reached 990 points.

"Rest a bit more, then keep training."

Zhao Han scanned his surroundings and spotted an abandoned courtyard with fairly high walls. His eyes lit up.

He stepped back a few paces, then dashed forward in quick strides, leaped up, grabbed the crumbling wall, and vaulted over.

His eyes swept across the place. The abandoned house was quite large—it looked like it had once been a wealthy family's compound.

But years of neglect, or maybe some misfortune, had left it completely ruined. The ground was overgrown with weeds.

Only a large locust tree, still barely alive, stood in the yard.

"This could be a good secret training spot." Zhao Han smiled easily.

He found a rock to sit on, took out dried meat and water from his space, and ate and drank to replenish his spent energy.

Time passed. After resting for about an hour, Zhao Han got up and continued practicing his punches.

"Boom!"

With the final move of the last repetition of Black Wolf Fist, an overwhelming aura burst uncontrollably from Zhao Han. The weeds were blown left and right by the force.

One thousand repetitions—finally done!

Black Wolf Fist had reached perfection, its highest level.

Realm: Muscle Refining

Black Wolf Fist [Simplified, Unclassified, Grand Completion]

At the same time, Zhao Han's Martial Way realm broke through to the Muscle Refining Realm. Beyond the imposing aura he now exuded, his raw strength—physique, power, reflexes, and the like—had all increased considerably.

Every move he made carried immense force. If he didn't rein himself in, he could absolutely overwhelm weaker opponents with sheer pressure.

"So this is the Muscle Refining Realm. This strong... I feel like I could take on ten men." Zhao Han stroked his own skin and smiled with confidence.

Skin Refining tempered the skin to be as tough as cowhide.

Muscle Refining forged the flesh itself to be as hard as iron.

The Muscle Refining Realm and the Skin Refining Realm were worlds apart.

"Ahh, that feels good!"

He stretched his limbs, and a series of crackling pops erupted from his joints like beans roasting in a pan.

This was a true rebirth, a shedding of the old self!

"With Black Wolf Fist at Grand Completion, I can now try hunting a python to train Snake-Style Deft Hand to Grand Completion as well."

"Or, I could pay someone else to capture a python for me, and just handle the killing."

"Also, I need to find a stronger Classified martial art to keep improving my strength. Or save up One Hundred Taels of Silver..."

Zhao Han's gaze suddenly fell on the Shanyin Art manual stored in his System Space.

This was a Lower-Tier technique, a full grade above Classified martial arts.

Moreover, it belonged to a different cultivation system—the Ghostly Path—which seemed far more peculiar than ordinary martial arts.

"Too bad simplifying a Lower-Tier technique costs One Hundred Taels of Silver. That much money... I really have no idea where to find it right now."

With a sigh, Zhao Han prepared to leave and head back to the martial arts school for lunch.

"Hm? Someone talking?"

He had only taken two steps toward the wall to climb out when he caught voices in the alley. He stopped at once and pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.

A deep, steady male voice said:

"Junior Sister Yu, didn't you want to see the Mad Saber Three Stacks Wave? I went through a lot of trouble to trade with Senior Brother and paid a heavy price to copy this."

"Tch, a lousy Classified saber technique. You really think my family doesn't have one?" Junior Sister Yu's voice came through, sharp and biting.

"Heh, Junior Sister Yu, let's not play games. You came to the Mad Saber Martial Arts School to train in the Mad Saber Nine Forms, and your ultimate goal is the Mad Saber Three Stacks Wave. The Mad Saber Nine Forms and the Mad Saber Three Stacks Wave are—"

"You'd better shut up. Do you really think I wouldn't kill you?" Junior Sister Yu snapped, as if her tail had been stepped on.

"I'll stop. But this Mad Saber Three Stacks Wave—do you want it or not?"

The man's face was calm, as if he had Junior Sister Yu completely under his thumb.

Junior Sister Yu relented a little and spoke:

"Naturally... I want it. Spit out your conditions. Do you want money, or a Classified martial art from my Yu Family?"

The man curled his lip. "Heh, Junior Sister Yu, talking about money is too vulgar. We Martial Artists are the last people who lack for cash."

From behind the other wall, Zhao Han heard this and silently retorted in his heart: I'm sorely lacking for cash!