Breakthrough to Tendon Refining

The agreed sixty taels of silver were delivered into Fang Han's hands by Fang Lin the very next day, and the expression on his face was clearly one of considerable pain.

Fang Han had originally thought Fang Lin would renege on the debt. He had not expected him to be so straightforward, and so Fang Han's opinion of him rose somewhat.

As far as Fang Han was concerned, his conflict with Fang Lin had merely been a childish "contest of spirit," and he had not taken it to heart.

However, Fang Lin had clearly been intimidated by him. Whenever they met, he was like a mouse encountering a cat, avoiding him from far away.

Half a month slipped by in the blink of an eye as Fang Han devoted himself wholeheartedly to training.

The terrifying efficiency brought by his fourfold Root Bone Talent enhancement made every day of Fang Han's Stance Training remarkably effective. Under the repeated scouring of the Blood-Qi River, his flesh and skin continuously grew denser and transformed.

After training these past days, he could feel himself drawing ever closer to the Tendon Refining level. He could touch that threshold at any moment.

At dusk, Fang Han returned home after finishing his daytime training.

"Brother."

Seeing Fang Han return, his little sister Fang Ying ran up happily, spreading her arms and looking up at him with wide eyes.

Smiling, Fang Han bent down and picked up his little sister.

Because of the family planning policy in his previous life, he had been an only child. Having a little sister in this life was an exceptionally novel and interesting experience.

Especially since this little sister was so attached to him.

"Xiao Ying is always clinging to you, her brother. It's making even me, her father, a little jealous!"

His father, Fang Zheng, said jokingly, his gaze toward Fang Han filled with satisfaction and pride.

Not long ago, he had been promoted from an accountant to the manager of a restaurant. His monthly wages had doubled from ten taels to twenty.

It was obvious that he had not received such treatment because he was diligent and conscientious in his work. After all, he had already been an accountant for several years. If the Lineage had intended to promote him, they would have done so long ago.

Considering that Fang Han had successfully entered the Inner Hall and had performed better and better within it, the answer was already obvious. It was special consideration granted because of Fang Han's outstanding performance.

"You're back. You must be hungry, right? Dinner will be ready soon!"

His mother, Lin Wan, said with a gentle smile.

"Mm."

Fang Han answered.

Moonlight flowed like water, spilling into the Courtyard of Fang Han's home.

His parents and little sister had already fallen asleep. Standing in the Courtyard, Fang Han carefully poured out a Blood Vitality Pill from the White-Bottom Blue-and-White Porcelain Bottle. It was the size of a longan and black throughout.

A rich medicinal fragrance spread through the air. Unlike the traditional medicine pills of his previous life, the pills in this life truly possessed miraculous effects.

The instant the pill entered his mouth, it turned into a scorching torrent that plunged straight into his dantian before erupting with a boom.

Energy ten times more tyrannical and pure than Blood-Qi Soup instantly swept through his limbs and bones. A faint dark-red sheen even emerged across the surface of his skin.

He did not dare delay in the slightest. Instantly, he assumed the stance of Crane Stance, focused his mind, and guided the vast Blood-Qi boiling within him like magma to surge and scour along the profound circulation route of Crane Stance.

"Rumble..."

The sound of Blood-Qi rushing through him rolled like muffled thunder.

Under the terrifying boost of his fourfold Root Bone Talent, this power was efficiently converted into nourishment that tempered his tendons, bones, flesh, and skin.

He could clearly sense the strength of his flesh and skin rising at a visible pace under this frenzied scouring, drawing ever closer to the limit of the Flesh Refining Realm.

An hour later.

"Buzz!"

An invisible yet tough sense of obstruction suddenly appeared!

It was like a surging river crashing into an invisible dam blocking its channel. The smooth sensation of progress came to an abrupt halt.

"I've encountered the bottleneck between Flesh Refining Late-Stage and the Tendon Refining Realm!"

Fang Han immediately understood. He had run into a bottleneck.

He had expected this long ago.

In martial cultivation, one encountered bottlenecks in both major realm breakthroughs and minor realm breakthroughs.

And the farther one progressed, the harder it became to break through them.

In the later stages of martial cultivation, it was common for someone to be trapped by a bottleneck for years, or even more than a decade.

Of course, the bottleneck from Flesh Refining to Tendon Refining was nowhere near that difficult. Still, it was enough to leave many talented Inner Hall disciples stuck for several months.

Even with the fourfold Root Bone enhancement, grinding through this bottleneck will probably take half a month of slow, painstaking effort!

Fang Han assessed the situation calmly, without the slightest impatience.

He was no longer the anxious youth who had wasted two years in the Outer Hall, unable to see the road ahead.

With the system in hand and a bright future before him, he had more than enough patience.

He calmed his mind and stopped obsessing over forcing a breakthrough. Instead, he used Crane Stance to guide his Blood-Qi, like the finest carving knife, repeatedly and tirelessly scouring and polishing the minute weak points in that invisible barrier.

Another hour silently passed. Just as Fang Han was preparing to end tonight's training—

A sudden change occurred!

"Crack...!"

An incredibly faint yet incomparably clear sound of breaking, as though it had come from the depths of his soul, rang out within him without warning.

That sturdy bottleneck barrier, which should have required more than ten days of bitter effort to wear through, unexpectedly became like a dam crushed by the last straw—without warning, it shattered inch by inch.

Boom—!

The instant the obstruction vanished, the vast Blood-Qi that had accumulated for so long became a primordial flood bursting through a dam. With a deafening roar, it instantly coursed through his limbs and bones, spreading to every last extremity of his tendons and flesh.

"Crackle! Crackle!"

The tendons and flesh throughout Fang Han's body seemed to be instantly twisted tight, stretched, and hammered by invisible giant hands. Dense explosions rang continuously within him, like beans popping or bowstrings sounding in unison.

An unprecedented sense of power, lightness, and control instantly filled every corner of his body.

He had reached the Tendon Refining Realm!

Fang Han abruptly opened his eyes. Brilliant light shot from them like two bolts of lightning tearing through a dark room.

He subconsciously clenched his fist lightly.

"Buzz!"

The air in his palm was instantly crushed apart, releasing a low, muffled burst. The airflow spilling from between his fingers even stirred up a faint whirlwind.

At a thought, his body seemed to lose all weight. He merely tapped the ground lightly with the tips of his toes.

"Whoosh!"

His figure flashed out like a ghost, dragging a blurry afterimage behind it, and appeared in another corner of the Courtyard in an instant.

The speed was so fast that even he was slightly startled!

The speed he had previously needed to erupt with all his strength to achieve at Flesh Refining Late-Stage was now as effortless and casual as strolling through a quiet courtyard.

"Sssht—"

He slowly raised a hand and spread his fingers, making a grasping motion at the air. His fingertips tore through the air, producing a clear, sharp sound like ripping silk.

His body's reaction speed, the instantaneous explosive force of his tendons and flesh, and his overall coordination had all undergone changes as profound as shedding a mortal body and exchanging bones.

"Now, I could probably defeat three to five of my former selves with ease!"

Fang Han slowly withdrew his stance. Feeling the body that had transformed as though he had shed a mortal body and exchanged bones upon advancing to the Tendon Refining Realm, the corners of his mouth curved upward despite himself.