Breakthrough to Bone Refining

The next day, Fang Han cultivated as calmly and unhurriedly as ever.

After an entire day of cultivation, that bottleneck grew increasingly fragile.

Finally.

Crack—!

An exceedingly faint crisp sound, as though it had burst from the depths of his soul, erupted without warning.

The resilient barrier that had trapped him for an entire day could no longer bear the impact of that power accumulated to its peak, shattering inch by inch.

Rumble—!

With all obstructions gone, the vast blood and qi that had been building up for so long erupted like a primordial flood bursting through a dam. It roared far more grandly than when he had made his Breakthrough to Tendon Refining, instantly coursing through his limbs and bones before madly surging toward all two hundred and six bones in his body!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Explosions denser than popping beans, yet deeper and more earthshaking, rang out continuously from deep within Fang Han's bones.

It was as though every bone had been instantly shattered by an invisible immense force, then reforged and condensed into a stronger form.

An unprecedented sense of strength, solidity, and weight instantly filled every corner of his body.

The strength, density, and load-bearing capacity of the bones throughout his body underwent a heaven-and-earth transformation!

"Bone Refining Early-Stage, achieved!"

A sharp gleam flashed through Fang Han's eyes like lightning. The aura around him suddenly became deep and heavy, as though he were a bronze statue with a Rooted Landing.

He slowly raised an arm and lightly clenched his five fingers.

Bang!

The air in his palm was instantly crushed apart, releasing a deep explosive boom. His strength far surpassed that of the Tendon Refining Late-Stage.

With a thought, he did not exert any force and merely took an ordinary step forward.

Thud!

The sound of his foot hitting the ground was unexpectedly deep and heavy, as though the entire floor of the Martial Dao Room had lightly trembled with it.

A deep footprint had even been stamped into the flagstone floor.

"I've entered the final realm of the Four Basic Realms!"

Feeling the transformative power within his body and his physical strength far beyond what it had once been, a smile slowly appeared on Fang Han's lips.

Of the Four Basic Realms—skin, flesh, tendons, and bones—he had officially entered the final realm.

Once he cultivated to the later stage of this realm, the next step would be for Internal Qi to arise within his body, making him a Ninth Grade Inner Qi Realm martial artist.

If he could reach that step, he would be qualified to become an elder within the Fang Clan.

"After breaking through to the Inner Qi Realm, both my status and position will rise greatly. But breaking through to the Inner Qi Realm won't be easy either!"

As Fang Han knew, the difficulty of breaking through the bottleneck from Bone Refining to the Inner Qi Realm was greater than the combined total of every major and minor bottleneck in the Four Basic Realms.

Being stuck for years was commonplace. Those with poorer aptitude might even have no hope of breaking through for life.

Many martial artists in the Fang Clan, as well as the other four great families of Liangshui City, were stuck at this step.

Even with his Fourfold Root Bone Amplification, breaking through this bottleneck when the time came would likely not be easy.

His failure to make a single leap from Tendon Refining to Bone Refining this time was proof enough.

"Fortunately, I'll soon have enough for a thousand taels of silver and can activate Tier-Three Root Bone Amplification..."

Thinking of the Tier-Three Root Bone Amplification he would soon activate, confidence rose within Fang Han.

If the Tier-Three Root Bone Amplification truly was as he had guessed and could reach eightfold, granting him eight times the Root Bone Talent—

Then he believed that even the bottleneck between Bone Refining and the Inner Qi Realm would surely be easy to break through.

"Even if I don't improve my ranking, I can still gather a thousand taels of silver next month."

"But I'll have plenty of uses for silver in the future. The higher my ranking, the better!"

Fang Han pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the Martial Dao Room and strode toward the Martial Dao Stele Courtyard.

Along the way, some Inner Hall disciples who were cultivating saw Fang Han heading straight toward the Martial Dao Stele.

They were first stunned, then seemed to think of something. Disbelief instantly burst from their eyes.

"Fang Han is going to the Martial Dao Stele again?"

"How long has it been since he broke through to the Tendon Refining Late-Stage? Could he... have broken through again?!"

"Did his sword art break through this time, or his realm?"

"Quick, let's go see!"

Quite a few disciples did not even bother with their cultivation. Filled with shock and curiosity, they followed behind Fang Han.

Before the Martial Dao Stele, many disciples who had rushed over after hearing the news gathered once more.

"Fang Han."

Fang Han extended a finger and steadily carved the two characters "Fang Han" into the cold Jade Stele.

Then his gaze sharpened. The robust blood and qi of his Bone Refining Early-Stage erupted with a roar, pouring into a Refined Iron Sword he had taken from the weapon rack beside him.

The Breeze Sword Art at Greater Accomplishment was unleashed to its utmost. The sword light was no longer a mere streak of lightning, but transformed into an incomparably condensed white streak, like a startled swan that could tear through space!

"Breeze Piercing Sun!"

Hum—!!!

The instant the sword tip struck the Jade Stele, the entire Martial Dao Stele let out an even fiercer tremor and hum than before.

Brilliant light flared up, illuminating the entire Courtyard until it was bright as day!

Everyone's hearts rose to their throats as their eyes locked tightly onto the stele's surface.

"Seven... six... five... four."

At last, beneath countless stunned gazes, the number decisively froze at fourth place!

"F-Fourth?!"

"He shot straight to fourth?!"

"Bone Refining! He definitely broke through to the Bone Refining Realm! How long has it been?! How long did he take to go from Tendon Refining Late-Stage to Bone Refining Early-Stage?!"

The Courtyard fell deathly silent for an instant before erupting in a thunderous uproar.

Every disciple who witnessed the scene, whether newly admitted or from earlier cohorts, wore expressions of utter disbelief.

Fang Han had actually surged forward another three places in one breath, reaching fourth place, second only to Fang Hong, Fang Xue, and Fang Hao.

At the edge of the crowd, Fang Lin's mouth hung open.

He looked at the blinding, eye-catching "Four" on the stele, then sensed the deep and steady aura Fang Han unconsciously radiated, far stronger than before. A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

Beyond his shock was endless relief.

"Luckily... luckily, I eased our relationship before..."

He murmured under his breath, cold sweat actually breaking out across his back.

If he were still standing against Fang Han now, he simply could not imagine what immense pressure that would be.

"Surpassed?!"

Among those ranked in the top ten, the three disciples whom Fang Han had surpassed wore extremely ugly expressions after hearing the news.

The results of their years of bitter cultivation had been overtaken by Fang Han in just half a year.

Such a disparity in talent was enough to drive one to despair.

"He's already fourth!"

Even Fang Xue and Fang Hao, who had always held steady in the top three, had utterly grave expressions at that moment.

A sharp edge flickered in Fang Xue's cool eyes, and the fingers gripping her sword hilt tightened slightly.

Fang Hao, meanwhile, gave a cold snort. The fluctuations in his aura revealed the turmoil in his heart.

They felt unprecedented pressure—a powerful sense of crisis as someone who had come later closed in at a terrifying speed and might soon surpass them!

"Good! Good boy! He broke through to the Bone Refining Realm so quickly! Heaven blesses my Fang Clan—Heaven truly blesses my Fang Clan!"

Elder Fang Yuan, who had been keeping a close watch on Fang Han, quickly received the news of Fang Han's breakthrough to Bone Refining. Uncontainable joy appeared on his face.

Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart any longer, he turned and hurried toward Pine Wave Pavilion, where Clan Head Fang Lingyuan was staying, not even caring about his usual composure.