One Month, Second Grade

Qinghe Mine.

Blazing Firelight imbued a crimson fist, smashing violently against the uneven stone wall, leaving a fist print several inches deep.

The falling crushed stone, under the high temperature, had already turned into sparks when it landed on the ground.

Mu Ye spread his palm and, with a gentle reach, extracted a piece of Red Flame Stone with his Ruthless Iron Hands.

"My Crimson Flame Fist feels different in power from those of the senior brothers at the martial arts hall."

Mu Ye weighed the Red Flame Stone.

The efficiency of mining now was comparable to when he used Golden Blade Art with a pickaxe.

Mu Ye carefully examined the countless fist prints densely covering the surroundings.

These fist prints were traces of his recent practice of Crimson Flame Fist. Deep within the fist prints, there was a faint crimson firelight, a consequence of the overflowing punch force, which could continuously inflict damage at extremely high temperatures.

"Palm, forearm, upper arm, after today, it should be fifty Divine Apertures..."

"In Sword and Blade Demon Sealing, opening fifty Divine Apertures is considered a second-grade Martial Warrior."

Not to mention, Mu Ye felt that his Kirin Arm indeed possessed great strength now.

This was evident from his ability to mine Red Flame Stone with his bare hands.

Although the time and efficiency were not faster than using Golden Blade Art attached to a pickaxe, Golden Blade Art was a spell after all, and Red Flame Stone was not something a mortal could mine.

Being able to mine it with bare hands indicated that he had already embarked on the path of a Body Cultivator.

Storing the Red Flame Stone back into his storage bag, Mu Ye left the mine. He hadn't earned a single Spirit Stone in this month; his only gain was the rapidly improving Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art.

"It feels like Crimson Flame Fist has a miraculous effect when used for mining?"

"If I can secretly mine out that Red Flame Crystal, without taking it out, and just use it for cultivation, perhaps in another month or two, Crimson Flame Fist will reach the peak, opening a hundred Divine Apertures. Then I'll be a genuine third-grade Martial Warrior. And Master Yan is only second-grade with eighty Divine Apertures..."

Mu Ye pondered, this was the result of his experiments for over a month.

When Crimson Flame Fist reached the second level, Mu Ye began trying to mine with it. Although it had no effect at first, it became effective after reaching the third level.

The main reason was that the stone wall surrounding the Red Flame Stone was extremely hard and hot. Pickaxes were easily damaged, while his fists suffered little harm.

Moreover, he could cultivate while mining...

"Calculating from a seventh-grade perspective, as long as I possess more powerful Divine Aperture True Martial Arts, while using the resources of the Cultivation World to cultivate, and grinding in the game, continuously opening Divine Apertures within my body, perhaps I can reach seventh-grade in one or two years..."

Mu Ye thought gleefully.

Reaching the highest level of strength in a game world, that would still be somewhat useful, right?

Putting aside other things, with the current power of the Crimson Flame Fist, if cultivators at the Qi Condensation first or second layer dared to get close, one move would likely be enough to deal with them.

Of course, that was assuming he could get close.

The awkwardness of a Body Cultivator was that they were often instantly killed by a spell before they could even get close.

After leaving the mine, as usual, Mu Ye went to the market to look for any steward disciples who were renting out Spirit Fields.

He searched for a month, and perhaps luck was on his side, he finally found a Spirit Field that Mu Ye could accept.

"My mu of Spirit Field is located at the foot of Qinghe Mountain Ridge. The land has been abandoned for several months, with many weeds. Because it hasn't been managed for a long time, it's being sublet at a low price. Thirty Spirit Stones will do. The remaining month of the lease term is on me, consider it a gift. Once you pay the deposit, I'll give you the deed."

Transactions in the market were rough and simple.

The man selling the Spirit Field was also a steward disciple, but at the Qi Condensation third layer. He appeared upright and was tall. He explained both the pros and cons of the Spirit Field.

Mu Ye saw that the Spirit Field was close to the mine. It would take one to two months to properly manage it before actual planting could begin, but the free month of lease was a good deal.

After carefully reviewing the deed, Mu Ye paid the Spirit Stones and left the market, returning to his stone house.

However, Mu Ye felt that this Spirit Field might have other problems, otherwise, it wouldn't be sublet so cheaply. It might be a bit of a scam.

But the price was acceptable, and even if it was a bit of a scam, it wasn't unacceptable.

He estimated it would at most take some time to manage.

The steward disciple watched Mu Ye's retreating figure and smiled without saying a word.

After returning to the stone house, Mu Ye didn't enter the game immediately. Instead, he circulated the Peiyuan Manual and cultivated for several cycles.

"I don't know if it's my imagination..."

"I feel like the efficiency of Spiritual Energy absorption seems to have increased slightly... and the bottleneck has loosened a bit..."

This slight change was very subtle, and it took Mu Ye a month to slowly notice it.

Normally, such a situation would either mean that the overall Spiritual Energy in the world had become abundant, unrelated to him personally.

But the Spiritual Energy around Qinghe Mine had not changed at all.

As for Spiritual Root Aptitude, it was even harder to improve.

"Could opening these Divine Apertures also help with cultivation?"

Mu Ye was unsure. At this rate of improvement, even after opening over a thousand Divine Apertures, the extent of improvement might not be significant.

Entering the game again, Mu Ye controlled his character and arrived at the Divine Fist Martial Hall.

Seeing Mu Ye arrive at the Martial Hall, many Martial Hall Disciples looked at him with admiration.

"Junior Brother Mu is the most self-disciplined disciple I've ever seen. He comes to the martial hall every day and never rests while practicing his punches, only leaving when the sun sets. Regardless of the wind and rain, even during the heavy downpour a few days ago, he never slacked off or retreated. It truly makes us ashamed..."

"..." Mu Ye.

If this were reality, he definitely wouldn't be able to persist.

Even when mining, he'd slack off for a few days each month. When he got tired of practicing punches, he'd chat with other stewards about recent interesting events.

A person's willpower is different from a game character's.

Controlling a character to practice punches was easily done with just a thought, and he could clearly see the proficiency increase.

But practicing it himself was bitter and tiring. The improvement was even greater than in the game, but that bitterness was truly hard to swallow.

Arriving at the martial hall's Martial Arts Arena, Mu Ye was about to spar with Senior Brother Qin.

Sparring increased proficiency much more than direct practice.

Senior Brother Qin was an excellent sparring partner. Practicing with him caused Crimson Flame Fist proficiency to increase extremely rapidly.

Especially in the beginning, the proficiency increase was even higher than cultivating in the mine, though it gradually decreased.

But this time...

"Junior Brother, your Crimson Flame Fist might already be at the Fourth Layer... I'm afraid I can't spar with you anymore."

Senior Brother Qin sighed, "To cultivate Crimson Flame Fist to this level in a month... perhaps only the Divine Fist Master who founded our martial hall could achieve it. Oh right, Master is in the Inner Hall. He seems to have something to see you about. You should go see Master first."

Mu Ye thought to himself, Damn, the tool isn't available for sparring anymore.

The other two senior brothers in the Divine Fist Martial Hall were injured due to a previous conflict with the Iron Leg Sect and were still recovering from their injuries.

The only one left to spar with was Master.

Master Yan had been away and only returned today. He didn't know what business he had.

Walking into the Inner Hall, Yan Zhennan was practicing Crimson Flame Fist.

"Huh..."

Why is Master's aura so much weaker than when I first met him?

He didn't know what the old man had been doing this past month.

"Ah, it's Little Mu? You're here?"

Yan Zhennan retracted his fist and stood straight, his complexion slightly pale, but his smile was still kind. "I've heard from many disciples about you this past month. Such high talent, and so diligent... I feel you're a bit underqualified for my Divine Fist Martial Hall."

"..." Mu Ye.

"Your Senior Brother Qin said your Crimson Flame Fist is almost at the Fourth Layer... I've decided to reward you."

Yan Zhennan fumbled in his embrace for a moment and took out a pair of gauntlets. "These are Special Gauntlets I had someone forge, the Flowing Flame Gauntlets, compatible with Crimson Flame Fist."