Before long, another month had passed. Li Yuan continued his usual routine: ranging through the mountains, eating, and tempering his qi and blood.
Of course, he hadn't neglected his message-delivery duties either. The weather had also begun to warm up.
His Literacy and Bear Form Fist had both successfully advanced to minor mastery.
[Skill: Literacy (Minor Mastery)]
[Progress: 20/1000 points]
[Effect: Your comprehension has increased slightly]
[Skill: Five Animals Bear Form Fist (Minor Mastery)]
[Progress: 10/1000 points]
[Effect: Steady as a mountain, with a solid foundation]
Li Yuan had nearly finished eating all the bear meat he'd gotten from hunting.
His Five Animals Stance Technique was also on the verge of a breakthrough.
[Skill: Five Animals Stance Technique (Minor Mastery)]
[Progress: 980/1000 points]
[Effect: Refines qi and blood, gathers strength at the fingertips]
Chen Xiao's death had also sparked a discussion. After all, a scion of the Inner City had died outside it.
But word was that Chen Xiao hadn't been particularly close to anyone. Few of his fellow disciples sincerely wanted revenge for him. They made a cursory investigation of the surrounding area, then eventually let the matter drop.
That day, Li Yuan arrived at the Five Animals Academy as usual.
The courtyard was far quieter than usual, with only a handful of apprentices practicing on their own.
Only then did he remember that today was the Inner City's biannual martial artist tournament. Yang Chong had taken all the disciples who had reached the Stone Skin Realm to compete in the Inner City.
The academy had simply given everyone the day off. Li Yuan was glad for the peace and quiet, and this was the perfect chance to break through.
He went to a corner of the courtyard, lowered his center of gravity, and settled into the Five Animals Stance Technique.
His breathing gradually grew long and rhythmic. The qi and blood in his body began to flow faster, following a set path.
He focused, feeling the warmth and swelling sensation brought by his surging qi and blood.
Before long, time slipped by.
[Skill: Five Animals Stance Technique (Minor Mastery)]
[Progress: 998/1000 points]
[Progress: 999/1000 points]
Buzz!
Li Yuan felt something inside his body tremble faintly. Then his flowing qi and blood seemed to break through some kind of barrier.
A surge of heat, stronger than any he had felt before, welled up from deep within his dantian and swept rapidly through his limbs.
His body swelled and flushed with blood. Grayish-white specks appeared across his skin again, like flecks of stone.
In no time, Li Yuan's physique had grown noticeably sturdier.
[Skill: Five Animals Stance Technique (Major Mastery)]
[Progress: 1/2000 points]
[Effect: Qi and blood abundant, stone skin beginning to form]
He'd broken through! The Stone Skin Realm!
Li Yuan let out a long breath of stale air.
He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists, feeling the strength they held—far beyond what he'd had before.
It wasn't just his strength. His body's toughness and the volume and vigor of his qi and blood had all undergone a qualitative leap.
Even his clothes felt much tighter. His whole frame seemed to have grown a size.
Li Yuan swung his arms, sensing the changes in his stone skin.
Every muscle seemed to brim with strength as qi and blood coursed through his body.
So this is stone skin... Li Yuan was astonished. No wonder martial artists held such high status.
Once Master Yang Chong gets back tonight, I'll tell him, then ask him how to proceed with the next stage of skin tempering.
The training methods from here on out, especially how to further refine qi and blood, were different from those of the Ox Skin Realm.
He tamped down his excitement at having just broken through and continued tempering his Five Animals Fist.
His body felt different as he practiced the fist forms after the breakthrough.
The Bear Form's steadiness had gained even more weight, while the Tiger Form had grown more forceful.
Li Yuan immersed himself in the fist forms' underlying intent, carefully sensing the subtle changes in his body with every move.
He practiced until evening.
The setting sun stretched Li Yuan's shadow across the ground.
Just then, noisy footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.
Li Yuan stopped and turned to look.
Yang Chong came in, his usually calm expression gone, his face dark.
Second Senior Sister Liu Yan and Huang Ren followed behind him.
Further back, Zhao Qin and Lin Mingsheng carried someone on a stretcher.
Li Yuan looked over, his pupils contracting. The person on the stretcher was unconscious, wrapped in thick bandages with blood seeping through them.
It was none other than Senior Brother Cao Chuan. In the two months since Li Yuan had joined the academy, he'd only seen him once or twice.
Cao Chuan was Yang Chong's personal disciple. He had the best talent and was the only one among the disciples to reach the Iron Skin Realm.
His strength was unfathomable. It was said that even Yang Chong might not be his match anymore.
So he'd thought tempering his skin in the courtyard was too slow and had stayed away. Li Yuan didn't know what he had been doing outside.
Yang Chong's gaze swept across the courtyard and paused briefly on Li Yuan.
But he said nothing. His eyes only darkened further before he turned without a word and headed straight for the rear courtyard.
Senior Sister Liu Yan's face was pale. She gave Li Yuan a slight shake of her head, then hurried after Yang Chong.
Huang Ren sighed and walked away with his head lowered.
Zhao Qin and Lin Mingsheng carefully carried Senior Brother Cao Chuan toward the rear courtyard.
A heavy, oppressive atmosphere settled over the entire courtyard.
Li Yuan stood where he was, his thoughts racing.
He had planned to find a chance today to tell Yang Chong he'd broken through to the Stone Skin Realm.
But given the situation, this clearly wasn't the right time.
Senior Brother had been badly injured, and Master was bound to be in a foul mood. Bringing it up now would be terribly tactless.
He sighed softly, calmed himself, and quietly left the courtyard as well.
It seemed he'd have to find another chance to talk about his breakthrough.
The next day, Li Yuan went to the Five Animals Academy as usual.
The apprentices were sweating through their practice under their instructors' guidance, just like any other day, as if nothing had happened yesterday.
Yet Li Yuan could still feel that the atmosphere was different from usual.
There was much more talking than usual, and all the talk revolved around Senior Brother's serious injuries.
"Have you heard? Senior Brother was badly hurt. His internal organs were shaken. It's hard to say whether he'll recover completely."
"Who did it? Senior Brother's in the Iron Skin Realm! There can't be many people in this tournament who could hurt him that badly, right?"
"Heh, you don't know the half of it." An apprentice who seemed better informed lowered his voice.
His face showed a touch of indignation. "I heard from a servant who came back from the Inner City that Senior Brother was ambushed!"
His words immediately drew plenty of attention. Even Li Yuan, quietly practicing nearby, took notice.
Seeing everyone looking at him, the apprentice grew even more animated.
He glanced toward the senior disciples in the Stone Skin Realm and saw that none of them were around.
"I heard Senior Brother faced the young master of the Zhao Family in the Inner City tournament.
"That young master had only just entered the Stone Skin Realm. Usually, when someone faced a formidable opponent in a tournament like this, the major families would privately approach the other contestant and offer some money, expecting them to know what was best and concede."
Someone nearby nodded. "That's true. Scions of prestigious families care about face. It's not unusual to spend a little silver to ensure an easy advance."
Naturally, a higher ranking meant a richer reward, especially since the prizes were put up jointly by several major families and the authorities.
The apprentice's voice held a hint of admiration. "I heard the Zhao Family sent someone to offer him three hundred taels of silver to concede, but Senior Brother flat-out refused."
Three hundred taels of silver would've been a decent sum to exchange for other things—not a bad deal.
"Senior Brother said he could accept being beaten fair and square, but he'd never just throw in the towel."
Before you continue