Night had fallen. Inside Clinic No. 13...
"Doctor Shen, is there something you wanted to tell me?"
After taking the Blood-Activating Powder, Zhan Chaoyang asked. Under Shen Han's treatment, feeling was gradually returning to his arm.
Shen Han nodded. "Guard Zhan, you really do have a keen eye. There are indeed a few things I'm unsure about."
"Ask away, Doctor Shen. I'll tell you everything I know."
"Our clinic is basically defenseless against forces like the Black Dragon Gang," Shen Han said. "If that's the case, why doesn't Master Han spend a little more to hire people with higher cultivation to guard the clinic? The clinic isn't short on money."
"It's not a matter of silver."
Zhan Chaoyang smiled bitterly. "Truth is, the really formidable fighters would never choose to work as guards."
"Why not?"
"Wherever you work as a guard, most of your energy has to go toward keeping watch. It does more harm than good to your progress in martial arts, so any fighter with ambition won't take the job."
As he spoke, Zhan Chaoyang pointed at himself. "Only someone like me, with no hope of reaching Flesh Refining, would come here."
Shen Han understood.
Practicing martial arts took a great deal of time. If you spent too much of your mind on other things, your training would inevitably suffer, making it hard to advance further.
Fortunately, I practiced through my mirror double.
The double trained in the mirror nonstop for twelve hours a day. I didn't need to supervise him at all, so I could do whatever I wanted outside the Bronze Mirror. I had no problem of that kind.
"Doctor Shen, I suspect the Black Dragon Gang will only get worse."
"Three thousand six hundred taels a year isn't enough?" Shen Han asked, puzzled.
"Hard to say..."
Zhan Chaoyang sighed. "You can't feed a dog till it's full. Think about it: they're fighting the Green Garment Gang while also trying to sink their claws into the county seat. How can they do that without enough powerful fighters?
"And there's no way to recruit formidable fighters without money."
"So they'll demand more and more, and might even bring disaster down on our clinic?"
Shen Han asked slowly.
Zhan Chaoyang said, "It's hard to predict what the world will bring. If that day really comes, I hope Master Han can find a way to deal with it."
At his words, Shen Han pondered silently.
No matter what, the clinic was the closest thing he had to a family since crossing into this world. It had also given him an excellent platform. He absolutely couldn't stand by and watch it fall.
Of course, that all depended on whether he had the strength to step in.
Strength. It always came down to strength!
He had to find some way to grow stronger as quickly as possible!
"Guard Zhan, try not to move your arm tonight. I'll change your dressing again first thing tomorrow morning, and then you'll be able to move it."
"Thank you, Doctor Shen."
"Guard Zhan, you're too kind. I'll walk you back to the guards' quarters."
That night.
Shen Han returned to his little courtyard. As usual, he boiled the Qi Condensing Powder and had his double take it, then directed him to practice the Ancient Sun Technique.
"Wait, why does it suddenly feel so warm?"
Half an hour later, a blazing current of warmth surged up from his dantian.
"Could it be... time for a breakthrough?"
Having already experienced a breakthrough into the Skin Refining Realm, he was instantly delighted.
"No time to waste!"
He immediately set the Bronze Mirror in front of him, copied the training posture of his reflection, and sat cross-legged beside the old well in the courtyard.
Steam rose from the double's body as a faint white haze appeared around him. It was clear that under the effects of the Qi Condensing Powder, the Ancient Yang True Qi inside him was circulating too fiercely, forcing sweat to mist off his skin.
The double remained perfectly still in the mirror, continuing to circulate the Greater Celestial Circuit.
Whoosh!
Outside the mirror, Shen Han let out a satisfied breath. The warm current seemed to be guiding the scattered qi in his body, sending a wisp of incredibly pure qi coursing wildly along the blood vessels in his limbs.
In an instant, his Ren and Du meridians widened by several more fractions.
His bones gave off a series of faint crackles, as if they were being tempered anew. At the same time, a full, surging power gushed out from deep within his marrow like a rising tide.
"My True Qi is becoming purer, and my senses sharper."
Shen Han felt it clearly. The path of the falling leaves as they swirled through the courtyard, the faint rustle of insects and ants crawling—all of it came into sharp focus before his eyes and ears.
"It's time to break through!"
The mirror double pressed on without pause, circulating the Ancient Sun Technique at full power.
Every sensation was shared with Shen Han.
In an instant, the sea of qi in Shen Han's dantian churned like boiling water. Pure Yang True Qi surged through his skin like a flood, tightening it, then relaxing it, while every inch of his flesh and muscle trembled faintly.
Boom!
He could no longer hold back. He slapped both palms against the ground.
In the Bronze Mirror, the final wisp of qi broke through the double's fleshly barrier. A dazzling, crimson-gold light suddenly burst from the back of his head—the unique Yang Flame of the Ancient Sun Technique.
"My strength is over a thousand jin!"
Shen Han was drenched in sweat, his muscles knotted and veins coiling beneath his skin like swimming dragons. A surging force far beyond the Skin Refining Realm burst forth. Even the dust had been shaken into the air by his palm strike.
He hurriedly opened the status panel to check.
Mirror Master: Shen Han Cultivation: Flesh Refining Techniques: Ancient Sun Technique (Great Accomplishment) Martial Arts: Angry Dragon Divine Fist (Perfected), Sky-Splitting Blade Technique (Great Accomplishment) Skills: Medicine (Perfected)
His cultivation had indeed changed from the Skin Refining Realm to the Flesh Refining Realm. He had advanced by a whole level!
And the Ancient Sun Technique was still at Great Accomplishment.
That meant he hadn't yet mastered the technique completely and could continue practicing it. At the very least, it could support him all the way to Tendon Refining!
"Let's test it!"
Shen Han stood and picked up the Heavy Iron Curved Blade.
Just lifting it, he could tell the blade felt lighter. That was the effect of his increased strength!
He slid his toes beneath a stone lion.
The stone lion weighed more than a thousand jin. He had brought it back three days ago to use in his training.
"Up!"
The next moment, he lifted his foot.
The thousand-jin stone lion soared into the air.
Clang!
Without hesitation, he gripped the Heavy Iron Curved Blade in both hands and slashed at the stone lion.
Crack!
The blade flashed with fierce, crushing force, splitting the stone lion in two.
Shen Han didn't stop. He gathered his True Qi and threw another hard punch at one half of the stone lion.
Angry Dragon Divine Fist: Boundless Eternal Night!
Crash!
The Angry Dragon Divine Fist, empowered by the Flesh Refining Realm, was even more terrifying. Fragments of stone flew everywhere.
"Now I finally have the strength to protect myself."
Shen Han slowly lowered his hands and muttered to himself, "At least in Three Rivers County, there can't be many people above the Flesh Refining Realm.
"If I fought Kong Xuan, the hall master of the Long Blade Sect, again now, I should be able to take him on!
"Of course, I'm still nowhere near strong enough to deal with Cai Long, the Black Dragon Gang's Right Protector.
"My double can't stop taking medicinal meals, and he can't stop training!"
Thud!
Just then, an extremely faint sound came from the direction of the house, utterly different from the sound of falling stone fragments.
If his cultivation hadn't improved, he wouldn't have been able to make out such a subtle difference.
He looked up.
A black object had fallen from a roof tile above the door to Lu Yunyi's room.
"The flying stone fragments must have loosened the tile..."
Shen Han walked over.
It was a small brocade pouch!
Yun Yi hadn't taken it with her when she left, which meant she didn't know it was there. Could her brother, Doctor Lu, have hidden it?
The Iron Fist Martial Hall had captured Doctor Lu and interrogated him, while Yun Yi had been pressed by the Qiankun Two Rats. They had all been after some kind of brick. Could the secret of the brick be hidden in this little pouch right in front of him?
Shen Han's heart stirred.
He carried the pouch into his room and opened it at once.
Before you continue