Blood Coagulation Third Realm?

In the early morning, White Deer Academy was tranquil and serene, far from the city's clamor, like a paradise removed from the world.

In this atmosphere, a figure sat beneath a large tree on the earthen Training Ground, eating.

That person was none other than Shen Zhou.

But today's Shen Zhou was different from usual.

On other days, he would start practicing his fists as soon as he arrived at the Training Ground, striving to condense his blood energy with more effort than anyone else at White Deer Academy.

This had caused his entire aura to be steeped in exhaustion and restlessness.

But today's Shen Zhou was different.

His aura had changed—it had slowed down.

He was calm and steady, at peace with the passage of time, and if one looked closely, they could even see a hint of a smile at the corners of his eyes.

It was as if he had been reborn, quietly sitting beneath the tree eating steamed buns.

The buns were ones he had asked Qin Mingyue to buy early that morning from the city—a great many of them. By now, over a dozen empty bamboo steamers were stacked beside him, yet he still ate unhurriedly, as if he could never get enough, never be full.

Because of this, Qin Mingyue, who had been accompanying him the whole time, looked at him with a strange expression, as if she were watching a monster.

Soon, the dozen or so half-grown boys who studied martial arts under Old Man Ji also arrived at the earthen Training Ground as usual, ready to begin their morning exercises.

Over the past half-month, they had all grown familiar with Shen Zhou.

The main reason was that Shen Zhou had been the slowest among them in cultivation, which had unconsciously made the other youths feel a sense of superiority. They would think to themselves: So I'm not the worst—there's someone even dumber than I was back then.

It was with this mindset that they had become friends.

A youth named Wang Xiaomao came to the grounds and, seeing that Shen Zhou was acting out of character by not practicing his fists but instead eating steamed buns, was surprised. He stepped forward and said, "Hey, Shen Zhou, why aren't you practicing? Weren't you always the first to start?"

The other youths chimed in, "Yeah, if you don't work harder, you'll fall even further behind us."

"Watch out—Old Man Ji will scold you again today, say your talent is as bad as a pig's... hahaha..."

If it had been before, Shen Zhou might have gotten anxious and argued with them.

But today, after hearing this mockery, Shen Zhou merely curled the corner of his mouth. Without another word, he stood up and walked straight to a pile of stones beside the tree. From the heap, he casually picked a stone the same size as the one Tan Tong had used to demonstrate the 'Iron Head Skill' and lifted it.

Then, a faint reddish blood-energy aura gathered like a thin glove around his right fist.

The next moment, he punched.

The stone shattered with a crack, fragments scattering all over the ground.

Seeing this, Tan Tong, Wang Xiaomao, and the others widened their eyes in shock.

What was going on?

Had Shen Zhou condensed his blood energy?

But that didn't make sense either. Even if he had reached Coagulation, he couldn't have become this strong all at once.

To shatter green stone with a bare hand, one needed at least a basic level of body refinement—and Old Man Ji hadn't taught him any body refinement techniques yet.

They looked at Shen Zhou again. He acted as if nothing had happened, brushing the stone dust off his hands before turning back to the group with a faint smile. "You all better work hard from now on. Watch out—I might surpass you before long!"

"..."

The youths' breath caught in their throats.

They didn't know what 'showing off' meant, but at that moment, they all felt Shen Zhou was a bit asking for a beating!

Among the youths training under Old Man Ji, the strongest was Tan Tong, currently at the Coagulation Eighth Realm. He had achieved some success in body refinement, with a body of bronze skin and iron bones, and considerable strength.

His head was a bit lacking, though.

After all, the head was a fragile and dangerous area, one of the hardest parts of the body to train.

As for the other youths, they ranged from the Coagulation Third Realm to the Coagulation Sixth Realm.

Because these youths all came from ordinary families, they had little money to buy medicinal herbs for tempering their bodies. Coupled with their unexceptional talents, compared to those who grew up in families, their progress was already a testament to Old Man Ji's dedication.

But just last night, in a single night, Shen Zhou had jumped from the Coagulation First Realm straight through two levels, stepping into the threshold of the Blood Coagulation Third Realm. Compared to Wang Xiaomao and the others, his progress was astonishing.

The reason he had advanced so quickly was that he had awakened his second Entry yesterday—'Daily Enlightenment'.

'Daily Enlightenment' meant he had one chance at enlightenment each day.

This enlightenment lasted one hour, as Shen Zhou had tested last night.

During that hour, Shen Zhou could transform into a top student, learning at an incredible speed, grasping things by analogy, and mastering almost any technique as soon as he studied it.

Last night, while testing the Entry, he had taken the opportunity to learn the Xu Family's 'Wild Desolate Art'.

As the Xu Family's clan-defining technique, the 'Wild Desolate Art' was undeniably powerful, but it was also genuinely difficult to master.

Before entering 'Enlightenment', he had tried several times but couldn't grasp the method.

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But once he entered 'Enlightenment', he learned it in one go.

What was remarkable was that the 'Wild Desolate Art' not only contained profound energy manipulation techniques and fist techniques but was also an extremely powerful—even heaven-defying—body refinement method.

This technique was an internal practice, focusing on refining essence into qi to nourish the physical body.

In simple terms, Shen Zhou could refine his own blood and qi to nourish his flesh, strengthening his body, then restore his blood and qi through food, forming a cycle.

It was completely like stepping on his left foot with his right.

Of course, this training method couldn't be cycled indefinitely, because restoring blood and qi through food wasn't that fast either.

So after Shen Zhou used 'Insight' to learn the Wild Desolate Art, he reached the Blood Coagulation Third Realm in a single night, which also explained why he was here eating steamed buns early in the morning.

All of this was because he needed to recover his blood!

"This Xu Family technique really isn't bad. If I get the chance later, I'd better get the complete version!"

Shen Zhou mused to himself.

The only thing that disappointed him was that this time when he broke through to the Blood Coagulation Third Realm, he didn't gain a new Entry. Maybe he'd have to wait until he broke through to the Transformation Yuan Realm to check again.

While everyone was still stunned by Shen Zhou's progress, Old Man Ji strolled leisurely into the Training Ground.

Old Man Ji's exact cultivation wasn't clear, but as soon as he arrived, he noticed something unusual about Shen Zhou. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Kid, you've reached Blood Coagulation?"

Before Shen Zhou could speak, Wang Xiaomao shouted first, "Not just Blood Coagulation, Shen Zhou reached the Blood Coagulation Third Realm in just one night!"

Wang Xiaomao's tone was full of envy as he spoke.

Shen Zhou said nothing, just instinctively puffed out his chest, looking smug.

Old Man Ji raised an eyebrow, then walked over to Shen Zhou and reached out to check his physical condition.

"Sure enough, Blood Coagulation Third Realm!"

But one thing surprised him. "'Wild Desolate Art'? Kid, how do you know the Xu Family technique?"

Now it was Shen Zhou's turn to be shocked. "Not bad, old man. You even know the 'Wild Desolate Art'? So, you're not calling me a blockhead anymore, are you?"

Seeing Shen Zhou's smug expression, Ji Honggang snorted coldly and withdrew his hand. "It's just the Blood Coagulation Third Realm. What's there to be proud of? And you're relying on the advantage of the technique. Besides, don't say I didn't warn you, kid. The 'Wild Desolate Art' is good, but training it consumes a martial artist's blood and qi extremely heavily. If you over-consume or can't replenish it, it can damage your very foundation.

I advise you, if you have money, buy more blood-nourishing medicine to take. Also, eat more demon beast meat to make up for your own consumption."

After hearing Old Man Ji's words, Shen Zhou didn't dare take it lightly and quickly made a mental note.

Old Man Ji then said seriously, "Since you've reached Blood Coagulation, start body training from today. Tan Tong, you're in charge of training this kid from now on. Later, take him to the city to buy the medicinal herbs needed for the medicinal bath, and on the way, go to your senior brother's place to pick up next month's academy living expenses."

Tan Tong, always honest and simple, immediately agreed.

Before leaving, Shen Zhou packed the entire steamer of buns into the Taixuan Sword, then glanced at Qin Mingyue by the tree and asked, "We're going to the city. You coming?"

Qin Mingyue thought for a moment, then replied, "Coming."

Having not been there for half a month, Flying Bird City was still bustling and lively.

Looking at the dazzling array of street food, Shen Zhou couldn't help but sigh, "If only Xi Mei and the others were here."

Since becoming a disciple at White Deer Academy, Shen Zhou had rarely seen the Three Little Ones.

Because whether learning the sword or the saber, the foundation was equally important. Before laying a solid foundation, neither Li Taohua nor Ouyang Zhen would let Xi Mei and A Dai go out casually.

As for San Mazi, studying medicine was quite free. He often went to the city with Bai Feizhan to be an itinerant doctor, earning some living expenses for the academy by treating people. It was a case of the capable doing more work.

Once in the city, Tan Tong took Shen Zhou to the pharmacy first.

According to Tan Tong, the body training technique Old Man Ji taught was called the 'Golden Body Art', a type of external hardening skill.

As the saying goes, internally train a single breath, externally train sinews, bones, and skin.

To train sinews, bones, and skin well without harming oneself, the medicinal bath was the key.

Tan Tong frequently went to the pharmacy to buy medicine, so the owner knew what he was there for as soon as he saw him and skillfully went to fetch the herbs, saving a lot of trouble.

However, the price of the medicine shocked Shen Zhou. One packet cost a hundred taels, and he got ten packets in total.

He also bought many blood-nourishing medicines in the shop, things like ginseng, polygonatum, fleeceflower root, lingzhi... and so on. All the odds and ends added up to over four thousand taels of silver.

The three thousand taels he'd robbed from that Xu Family fool earlier weren't even enough to pay for one round of medicine.

Tan Tong said, "This is still manageable. Body training is easier at the beginning, and the herbs are common. Later, when you achieve minor success in body training and want to break through further, the required herbs get much more expensive. Teacher said that to achieve anything in body training, talent and bone structure aren't important; resources are the top priority."

Having seen the price of the herbs, Shen Zhou deeply agreed.

Fortunately, when it came time to pay, Qin Mingyue stepped forward and settled the bill. She said to Shen Zhou, "The Qin Family's medicine storehouse also has many blood-nourishing medicines. My grandaunt said that whenever you need them, I can help you get them anytime."

Hearing this, Tan Tong looked at Shen Zhou with envy dripping from his eyes.

Shen Zhou's face darkened.

This was a roundabout way of trying to tie him to their ship.

But he felt he probably wouldn't hold out long, because he... was short on money!

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