Advancement

This pill was clearly the Spirit Qi Pill he had seen countless times in illustrations.

Shi Mu still found it hard to believe. He widened his eyes and examined the pill carefully once more, then suddenly brought it under his nose and sniffed. A pungent, spicy aroma immediately hit him.

It was indeed the Spirit Qi Pill, no mistake!

Although the public market price for a Spirit Qi Pill was ten thousand taels of silver, in black market transactions it was often hyped to twenty or thirty thousand taels, and even then, deals rarely went through.

This Barefoot Girl was truly generous!

Shi Mu was overjoyed, but at the same time, he grew even more astonished at the Barefoot Girl's identity. It seemed that his earlier talk of marrying her was, in her eyes, nothing more than a toad lusting after a swan's flesh.

And the condition she had set—achieving Xiantian before the age of thirty—had become a heavy weight pressing down on his heart.

To be honest, he himself thought it impossible to advance to Xiantian by thirty.

However, giving up on this girl, who had made his heart race for the first time, was something his stubborn nature would never allow.

It seemed he could only take things one step at a time.

For now, his goal was still to comprehend Qi Sense and become a Houtian Martial Artist.

Shi Mu let out a sigh and finally cast aside all those distracting thoughts, refocusing his attention on the Spirit Qi Pill in his hand.

With this pill and the one from the Jin Family, his confidence in comprehending Qi Sense had suddenly soared.

A few days later, from the sealed room at the back courtyard of the Flowing Wind Martial Hall came the sound of pounding rain.

Shi Mu stood in a horse stance, his upper body bare, enduring the strikes of the staff in Li Canghai's hands. His skin no longer showed any redness or swelling; instead, it appeared somewhat pale. When the staff struck him, it made a strange "thump, thump" sound, as if hitting a wooden post.

Shi Mu had no idea how many blows he had taken. His face showed no sign of pain, only a hint of barely contained excitement, and he responded with low growls from time to time.

Li Canghai had also removed his outer robe, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt. His muscular, well-built body was fully revealed as he swung the staff wildly without pause, drenched in sweat, yet refusing to stop and wipe it away even once. His gaze at Shi Mu was equally fervent.

With a "boom,"

when a staff strike landed on a certain acupoint on Shi Mu's chest, it suddenly produced a thunderous roar.

Shi Mu's face flushed bright red as if injected with chicken blood, but it instantly returned to normal, then flushed red again. After repeating this cycle more than ten times, a crisp sound like firecrackers began to ring out from within Shi Mu's body. At the same time, the muscles on his surface started to bulge and shift like scurrying mice.

"Haha, it worked. I never thought anyone could actually endure this iron-forging method for half a year and successfully advance to the 11th Layer of Body Tempering." Seeing this, Li Canghai tossed aside his staff and burst into laughter.

"This is all thanks to Instructor Li's meticulous training over these past six months!" Shi Mu took a deep breath, and the sounds inside his body ceased abruptly. His surface muscles also returned to normal in an instant, and he replied with great joy.

At this moment, he had finally advanced to the 11th Layer of Body Tempering.

"There's nothing to thank. I'm just doing my job for the pay. But aside from a thick-skinned fellow like you, no one else could have lasted." Li Canghai waved his hand and said.

"No matter what, being able to cultivate to the 11th Layer of Body Tempering, I am still deeply grateful." Shi Mu moved his limbs, feeling the changes within him that were different from before, and replied with a smile.

"Hmph, if you want to thank me, then help the Flowing Wind Martial Hall take first place in the competition a few days from now." Li Canghai said bluntly.

"Hehe, no problem. I'll do my best." Shi Mu chuckled.

Seven days later, in front of the gate of Tianlu Martial Hall, the largest martial hall in Feng City.

The bear-like, obese hall master of Tianlu Martial Hall, Feng Lengchan, was accompanied by another instructor, smiling warmly as he welcomed Li Canghai and the other guests from the Flowing Wind Martial Hall.

Shi Mu and two others followed closely behind Li Canghai and a red-faced man.

"Haha, Brother Li, Brother Min, you both look even more spirited after just a few months apart."

"Not at all, not at all. Hall Master Feng, you've grown even more robust since we last met."

"Hehe, Brother Li, are you mocking me for getting fatter?"

"How would I dare? Among the four great martial halls, only you, Brother Feng, truly manage things. Unlike the three of us nominal hall masters, who are all absentee landlords and rarely seen. By the way, has Fox Tian of the Feihong Martial Hall and Old Wang of the Jingang Martial Hall arrived?"

"Haha, if Brother Tian heard you call him that, he'd definitely fall out with you. Don't worry, they arrived early and are already waiting at the competition grounds. These three are the disciples from your hall participating in the competition, right?" Feng Lengchan laughed like a Maitreya Buddha, but his eyes began to appraise Shi Mu and the other two outstanding Martial Disciples from the hall.

"Though these three have some skill, how could they compare to your worthy nephew, Brother Feng? Most likely, either our hall or the Feihong Martial Hall will end up at the bottom this time." Li Canghai said with a low chuckle.

The red-faced man beside him just smiled, seeming rather taciturn.

"Brother Li, I'm afraid you're mistaken. This time, even if the Feihong Martial Hall wanted to be at the bottom, it would be very difficult." Feng Lengchan's smile turned bitter at these words.

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Brother Feng?" Li Canghai was genuinely surprised, and the red-faced man also showed a hint of astonishment.

"Brother Li, your information is too outdated. Haven't you heard that the Feihong Martial Hall recently accepted a disciple with a Thick Earth Physique?" Feng Lengchan said seriously.

"Thick Earth Physique?" This time, the red-faced man from the Flowing Wind Martial Hall finally spoke up in shock.

"The Feihong Martial Hall has really gone all out to avoid being at the bottom this time. It seems they are determined to take the championship. If that's the case, this is quite troublesome." Li Canghai muttered to himself, already calculating the odds of Shi Mu breaking through the Thick Earth Physique with the Crushing Stone Fist.

Shi Mu, however, stood with the other two Martial Disciples, curiously examining the gate of the Tianlu Martial Hall.

The gate was studded with golden nails, and on either side stood a massive stone lion, far more imposing than the Flowing Wind Martial Hall.

Feng Lengchan had already begun ushering Li Canghai and the others into the hall.

Shi Mu followed the group through the gate of the Tianlu Martial Hall.

Once inside, a massive training ground came into view. In the center of the training ground stood a pre-built arena, constructed entirely from thick logs, about ten feet high and a hundred feet long and wide.

The rest of the training ground was empty, except for a dozen or so Martial Disciples gathered in three groups near the arena, clearly belonging to the other three major martial halls.

"You three, wait over there. Master Tian and I will be out shortly." Li Canghai instructed Shi Mu and the others, then followed Feng Lengchan and the red-faced man toward the side chamber behind the training grounds.

"Shi Mu, Sun Jun, let's head over too. It's a good chance to size up the others' strength."

The oldest of the three Martial Disciples, a sturdy young man, immediately smiled at Shi Mu and a tall, thin youth after the instructors like Li Canghai had left.

"We're already here, so what use is knowing their strength? But this time, Brother Li and I have both trained several Martial Disciple-level techniques to minor completion, so it's only natural we're joining this contest. You, a newcomer to the hall, may have reached the tenth layer of body tempering, but I've never seen you practice any techniques here. What strength can you really show in the competition? I don't know why Instructor Li insisted on including you." The tall, thin youth suddenly spoke to Shi Mu with some displeasure.

"Heh, I don't want to be in this contest either, but Instructor Li named me personally. I can't refuse." Shi Mu replied lazily, not the least bit angry.

"You..."

"Enough, Sun Jun. Do you want to make a spectacle of us in front of the other halls?" The tall youth was about to say more, but the young man surnamed Li frowned and cut him off.

Sun Jun seemed quite wary of Li, and after a couple of grunts, he said nothing more to Shi Mu.

The three then walked toward the arena, observing the other Martial Disciples nearby.

"Oh?"

As Shi Mu's gaze swept over the crowd near the arena, he immediately spotted several familiar faces—all opponents he had faced when disguised as Fierce Fist.

Among them, the ones that truly caught his attention were a tall youth surrounded by several Tianlu Martial Hall disciples, and a white-clad youth sitting alone on the ground, wiping a pitch-black long spear.

"Feng Jun, Wang Tianhao!"

Shi Mu recognized them instantly.

One had taken three of his punches with a defensive hard technique, while the other had impressive spear skills but retreated without a fight—both had left a deep impression on him.

But these two clearly didn't recognize Shi Mu now. When they saw the three approach, they merely glanced over and ignored them.

Shi Mu's eyes swept past Feng Jun and Wang Tianhao before taking in the others.

Every Martial Disciple here was clearly an elite from the four major halls, their bearing and aura distinctly different from ordinary disciples.

As Li led Shi Mu over, a pockmarked youth in Feihong Martial Hall attire greeted them warmly:

"Li Yunfeng, so Flowing Wind Martial Hall has finally arrived. That means the contest should start soon. I can't wait to test your Python Bone Fist again."

"Heh, Gu Zhong, if we meet, I naturally won't hold back. But I heard from the instructors at the gate that your hall has a new disciple with a Thick Earth Physique. Is that true?" Li replied, then turned his gaze to the other two from Feihong Martial Hall.

One was a chubby youth about Gu Zhong's age. The other was a boy of fourteen or fifteen, thin and dark-skinned, with sharp ears and a monkey-like face—utterly unremarkable.

"Ah, Junior Brother Jia needs no introduction—you should have seen him in the last contest. As for this Junior Brother Tie Dong, he only joined our hall a month ago." Gu Zhong was startled for a moment, then quickly introduced them with a smile.

"Brother Li."

The chubby youth immediately clasped his hands.

But the boy named Tie Dong just rolled his eyes, looking indifferent.

Seeing this, Li's expression soured.

"Ah, don't mind him, Brother Li. Junior Brother Tie grew up on some island and isn't much for talking. By the way, you should introduce these two junior brothers behind you." Gu Zhong quickly smoothed things over with a smile, then looked at Shi Mu and Sun Jun.

(Everyone, please help by casting recommendation votes during the new book period. Wang Yu thanks you in advance. Also, during the new book period, this book comes with two innate skills: "Free" and "First-Time Updates." Readers from other sites reading "Gate of the Profound Realm" are welcome to read the book for free and get the first updates at .)