Second Stage Boiling Blood

Over the next few days, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox showed up almost every day.

But Shen Mu paid it no mind at all, focusing single-mindedly on practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.

"Let it piss wherever it wants. I'm like the gentle breeze brushing the mountain ridge..."

In the end, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox even strutted right up to Shen Mu's Bamboo Shed while he was practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, took a piss, then lifted its head and left.

Perhaps it had had enough of Shen Mu's utterly indifferent response, letting it piss wherever it pleased. The Three-Tailed Demon Fox no longer got any satisfaction from its revenge and finally turned its attention to the other Guardians who had surrounded it that day, setting off another uproar.

Almost every day, Guardians would scour Emerald Cloud Valley, murderous looks on their faces, searching for traces of the Three-Tailed Demon Fox.

They even pooled their money to buy a longbow, just so they could shoot the Three-Tailed Demon Fox and avenge its wanton peeing.

In his spare time, Shen Mu enjoyed hearing the gossip from Zhang Bohan, but had no intention of joining the hunt.

He had seen just how cunning the Three-Tailed Demon Fox was. It had taken a great deal to get it to shift its attention elsewhere, and he really didn't want it turning its sights on him again...

Meanwhile, three days later, Hong Jingcheng and the others once again launched their cicada-catching operation in the early hours of the morning.

But after their previous lesson, Hong Jingcheng made sure to check whether any Guardians were in their Bamboo Sheds before releasing the knockout smoke.

The operation went off without a hitch. Over the course of two nights, they searched all of Emerald Cloud Valley and captured a total of 1,572 Origin Cicadas.

According to the distribution method Hong Jingcheng had described earlier, Shen Mu would receive another fifty taels of silver.

This extra income finally meant he no longer had to worry about the resources he needed for Fourth Stage Boiling Blood.

Along with the twenty taels of silver he had buried, he now had ninety taels in hand, enough to advance to Fourth Stage Boiling Blood.

Through the Origin Cicada-catching operation, Shen Mu had earned Hong Jingcheng's full trust and become part of the circle of Guardians led by him.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The morning sun rose.

"Gurgle..."

After practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique once more, Shen Mu took a break. Just then, his stomach growled.

"I've finally digested all twenty catties of beast meat."

Shen Mu's eyes lit up. He focused his mind and sank it into his consciousness, observing the changes in the Martial Dao Tree.

By now, Scarlet Mist had filled the Martial Dao Tree's second root, which had also solidified completely from its previously illusory state.

"It's time to break through to Second Stage Boiling Blood."

Shen Mu silently repeated the words in his heart, sat cross-legged, and circulated the Body Forging Art, rousing the surging blood qi within him.

"Gather the essence of heaven, enter Tiantu, pass through Xuanji, hang upside down among the stars, strengthen the blood and qi, open the mysterious gate, charge the Jade Palace..."

"Break!"

Shen Mu growled inwardly. His surging blood qi rushed without pause through his body like a blood dragon.

"Crack..."

A muffled sound came from within him, and Shen Mu successfully stepped into Second Stage Boiling Blood.

His blood qi burst open inside him and surged in all directions. His flesh was like a desert after a long drought, greedily drinking in the blood qi and growing stronger.

"Second Stage Boiling Blood!"

Shen Mu opened his eyes, strength flooding his entire body.

Blood-colored steam, more than twice as dense as when he had been at First Stage Boiling Blood, swirled and rose from his skin.

At the same time, he could clearly feel that advancing to Second Stage Boiling Blood had greatly increased his strength once more.

"According to what Zhang Bohan said, once you reach Second Stage Boiling Blood, you can wield five hundred catties of force..."

"Could I punch a cow to death now?"

Shen Mu clenched his fist, unable to hide his excitement.

A month after advancing to First Stage Boiling Blood, he had successfully reached Second Stage Boiling Blood.

That terrifying cultivation speed was probably unmatched by more than a handful of people in the entire Firewood Gang.

"But isn't my breakthrough a little too easy? It's practically effortless..."

"After Wang Jin reached First Stage Boiling Blood, he was stuck there for years without advancing. He said he'd hit what they call a bottleneck."

"But it seems that as long as I accumulate enough blood qi through the Martial Dao Tree, I can break through to the next stage."

"Could it be that I haven't reached my bottleneck yet?"

"Or have I already transcended bottlenecks thanks to the Martial Dao Tree?"

Shen Mu fell into thought.

Judging from the situation so far, he seemed not to have encountered a bottleneck.

He had no way of knowing whether one would appear later.

He glanced at the Martial Dao Tree. Scarlet Mist had begun spreading through its third root, showing that he had already started advancing toward Third Stage Boiling Blood.

Shen Mu put his thoughts aside and returned to the Bamboo Shed to boil some water. He took out his last catty of beast meat, washed the salt off its surface, then dropped it into the pot to blanch once the water boiled.

After eating the catty of meat and feeling full, Shen Mu stepped outside the Bamboo Shed and began practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique again.

He could clearly feel that after reaching Second Stage Boiling Blood, his body had been strengthened once more by the blood qi coursing through it, making the saber technique less taxing to practice.

It took him only the time it took an incense stick to burn to complete a full set of the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.

Just then, the Scarlet Mist on a branch of the Martial Dao Tree in Shen Mu's consciousness spread to the first leaf and successfully filled it, solidifying it.

A cool sensation welled up from that leaf in Shen Mu's mind, then abruptly dissolved.

It was a memory of how to practice the Army-Breaking Saber Technique. After practicing it day and night, Shen Mu had finally mastered the technique.

"I understand now."

After merging with the memory, Shen Mu's eyes lit up, and excitement showed on his face.

"The branches of the Martial Dao Tree help me practice martial techniques!"

"Once Scarlet Mist fills the first leaf, I gain additional memories related to practicing a martial technique. It's as if the Martial Dao Tree helps me train and lets me master a technique in one fell swoop..."

Shen Mu's heart pounded.

As far as he knew, though the Army-Breaking Saber Technique was unranked, mastering it required at least a year of hard work.

Yet with the Martial Dao Tree's help, he had mastered it in just one month.

"The Martial Dao Tree's branches each have four leaves. They must correspond to the four stages of a martial technique: beginner, minor mastery, major mastery, and perfection."

"Then what does the bud at the end of the branch represent?"

"Could there be room for further improvement even after a martial technique reaches perfection?"

Shen Mu wondered.

But for him, it was too early to think about that. There was still a long way to go before Scarlet Mist spread to the bud.

"Now that I've reached Second Stage Boiling Blood, I could go to the Firewood Gang's headquarters and update my cultivation level to claim a higher stipend..."

"But..."

Shen Mu frowned.

It had taken him just one month to reach First Stage Boiling Blood, which was already enough to shock people.

Now he had reached Second Stage Boiling Blood after another month. His pace was alarmingly fast.

Second Stage Boiling Blood came with a stipend of two taels of silver and five catties of beast meat.

That looked like twice the salary he'd received at First Stage Boiling Blood, but revealing his cultivation speed would draw far too much attention.

He had no shortage of silver to buy beast meat, so he could wait another month before reporting his current cultivation level.

Losing a few taels of silver was better than losing his life, right?

He was still far too weak. There was no need to do something so attention-grabbing.

With that, Shen Mu set aside his wandering thoughts and began practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique once more.