Shocked

After the episode of Zhou Xuan's disappearance, Emerald Cloud Valley returned to peace once more.

Another month passed in the blink of an eye. During that time, Shen Mu had been busy tempering his body and increasing his blood qi.

Aside from taking leave to leave the valley when his supply of beast meat ran out, he spent all his other time at the Bamboo Shed, tempering his body by practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.

During this time, people from outside the valley had tried to sneak in and pick Origin Mulberry Fruits. Whenever Shen Mu noticed them, he drove them off by firing a signal arrow, never going up to fight them directly.

He had a clear understanding of his duties. For such a small salary, it wasn't worth fighting to the death with thieves sneaking into the valley to pick Origin Mulberry Fruits.

One morning, Shen Mu practiced the Army-Breaking Saber Technique with his upper body bare, Scarlet Mist curling around his skin like sweat.

By the time the morning sun rose, Shen Mu had finished his first round of practice. He lay on the grass, admiring the sunrise.

"Gurgle, gurgle~"

His stomach suddenly growled, making Shen Mu's expression freeze for a moment before turning to delight.

"I've finally digested twenty-six jin of beast meat."

Shen Mu murmured to himself.

Advancing to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood required at least thirty jin of ungraded beast meat.

The four Blood Qi Pills he had previously gotten from Zhou Xuan had also helped him increase his blood qi, saving him the time it would have taken to refine four jin of beast meat.

Otherwise, he would have needed at least another ten days to meet the requirements for advancing to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood.

He had even gone through a minor episode to make sure there was nothing wrong with the Blood Qi Pills.

Shen Mu had specially caught a field mouse to test one. He scraped some powder off a Blood Qi Pill and fed it to the mouse, only daring to take the pills himself after confirming it hadn't died.

"After more than a month, I've finally met the requirements for advancing to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood."

Shen Mu focused his mind and observed the Martial Dao Tree standing in the void of his mind.

At that moment, Scarlet Mist had completely filled the Martial Dao Tree's third root, transforming it from a phantom into something solid.

Meanwhile, on the tree's branch, the Scarlet Mist had already reached halfway to the second leaf.

Judging by this progress, he would probably be able to cultivate the Army-Breaking Saber Technique to minor mastery in about another month!

"Still, now isn't the best time for me to advance to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood."

Shen Mu drew back his thoughts and murmured to himself.

Since he had already met the requirements for advancing to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood, he planned to visit the Firewood Gang headquarters first and register his current cultivation level. This would also send a signal to the outside world that he had advanced to the Second Stage of Boiling Blood.

After completing the registration, Shen Mu could then advance to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood in one go, creating a gap between what the outside world knew and the truth.

If some Third Stage of Boiling Blood fool got careless and tried to harm him, suddenly revealing his Third Stage cultivation would catch them off guard.

Shen Mu returned to the Bamboo Shed, took out two jin of marinated beast meat, washed it clean, and then put it in boiling water to blanch.

Now, eating one jin of ungraded beast meat no longer made him feel overwhelmingly full.

To save time, he now blanched two jin of ungraded beast meat each time he ate.

After finishing the meat, his stomach filled with that strong feeling of fullness once more. Shen Mu stood up and left the Bamboo Shed, heading toward the valley entrance.

"Big Brother Hong."

Shen Mu arrived at Hong Jingcheng's quarters and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

Hong Jingcheng hadn't gotten up yet. Still bleary-eyed, he answered impatiently from inside.

At that moment, a beautiful, curvaceous young woman rested her head on his thick, powerful arm.

If Zhou Xuan had been there, he would have recognized her as Han Yan, the woman he and Yuan Wenxuan had clashed over at Fragrant Shadow Pavilion.

But unfortunately, both men were dead now, and Miss Han Yan had ended up in Hong Jingcheng's bed.

Even Hong Jingcheng couldn't help but marvel. No wonder Zhou Xuan and Yuan Wenxuan had fought over her. Han Yan was truly a delight. He'd slept with every woman at Fragrant Shadow Pavilion, yet had nearly missed such a beauty...

"It's me, Shen Mu."

Shen Mu called out again.

"Oh?"

Hong Jingcheng raised an eyebrow. "What do you need?"

Shen Mu got straight to the point. "Big Brother Hong, I've just advanced to the Second Stage of Boiling Blood, and I'd like to take leave to go to the Firewood Gang headquarters and register."

Second Stage of Boiling Blood?

Hong Jingcheng was suddenly wide awake, his face full of astonishment.

How long had this guy even been here?

He had already advanced to the Second Stage of Boiling Blood?

What he didn't know was that, if Shen Mu wanted to, he could advance to the Third Stage of Boiling Blood right away.

Shen Mu had deliberately held back from advancing because he wanted to avoid any mishap during registration that might reveal he had been hiding his cultivation.

Creak.

Hong Jingcheng opened the door with his upper body bare and looked at Shen Mu standing outside.

"Brother Shen, how long have you been in Emerald Cloud Valley?"

Hong Jingcheng looked at him in astonishment.

"More than two months," Shen Mu replied.

"More than two months?"

Hong Jingcheng was secretly stunned.

He had digested twenty jin of ungraded beast meat in just over two months?

That speed was truly astonishing.

It was true that practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, combined with the physique of the First Stage of Boiling Blood, could speed up the digestion of beast meat.

But advancing to the Second Stage of Boiling Blood in just over two months was still hard for Hong Jingcheng to believe.

Hong Jingcheng gave Shen Mu a long look, then said, "All right, your leave is approved. Go and come back quickly."

"Yes."

Shen Mu answered, then turned and headed toward the gate at the valley entrance.

Only after Shen Mu's figure had disappeared completely did Hong Jingcheng look away. He turned back into the room to wash up, then picked up the clothes from the floor and put them on before heading out to find Wei Bo.

"Big Brother Hong, what brings you here?"

Wei Bo was guarding the gate. When he saw Hong Jingcheng approaching, he hurried over with a mischievous grin. "You look pale, Big Brother Hong. I take it you put in a lot of hard work with Miss Han Yan last night?"

A flicker of awkwardness crossed Hong Jingcheng's face before he said solemnly, "I'm here to talk about something important."

"Oh?"

Wei Bo raised an eyebrow and quickly wiped the expression from his face. "Big Brother Hong, what happened?"

Hong Jingcheng asked, "You saw Shen Mu leave the valley just now, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Wei Bo nodded. "He told me he was heading out."

But Hong Jingcheng's next words made Wei Bo's expression change.

"He advanced to the Second Stage of Boiling Blood?"

Wei Bo's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "How is that possible? How long has it been?"

Hong Jingcheng's gaze turned distant as he slowly asked, "How much do you know about Shen Mu's circumstances before he came to Emerald Cloud Valley?"

Wei Bo thought for a moment, then said, "Last month, I had a drink at Fragrant Shadow Pavilion with his former superior, Wang Jin. He told me a bit about Brother Shen."

"Brother Shen used to be a woodcutter. He spent ten taels of silver to join the Firewood Gang as an outer member. Wang Jin said Brother Shen trained his body at headquarters and advanced to the First Stage of Boiling Blood in just one month. He even invited him out for drinks to thank him for looking after him. You can see Brother Shen is a grateful man..."