Shocked

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

In the blink of an eye, another month passed, during which Shen Mu remained busy tempering his body and increasing his blood qi.

Aside from taking leave to exit the valley whenever his supply of beast meat was exhausted, he spent all his time in the Bamboo Shed, tempering his body through the practice of the Army-Breaking Saber Technique.

During this period, he had encountered people from outside the valley coming to steal Origin Mulberry Fruit, but whenever Shen Mu discovered them, he would simply fire a Signal Arrow to drive them away, never engaging them in direct combat.

He had a clear understanding of his position; for such a meager salary, there was no need to fight to the death with thieves sneaking in to steal Origin Mulberry Fruit.

One morning, Shen Mu was practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique shirtless, his body wreathed in a scarlet mist of sweat.

As the morning sun rose, Shen Mu finished his first round of training and lay on the grass to admire the sunrise.

"Gurgle, gurgle~"

A sudden rumble from his stomach caught Shen Mu off guard, though it quickly turned into delight.

Finally, I've digested twenty-six catties of beast meat.

Shen Mu muttered to himself.

Advancing to the third level of Boiling Blood required a minimum of thirty catties of unranked beast meat.

The four Blood Qi Pills he had obtained from Zhou Xuan earlier had also become a means to boost his blood qi, saving him the time it would have taken to refine four catties of meat.

Otherwise, he would have needed at least another ten days to meet the standard for advancing to the third level of Boiling Blood.

There had even been a small episode to ensure the Blood Qi Pills weren't problematic.

Shen Mu had specifically caught a field mouse to test the medicine, scraping off powder from the pills to feed it, and only dared to consume them himself after confirming the mouse hadn't died.

After more than a month, I've finally reached the standard for advancing to the third level of Boiling Blood.

Shen Mu immersed his consciousness into his mind, observing the Martial Dao Tree standing in the void.

At this moment, the third root of the Martial Dao Tree was completely saturated with scarlet mist, having transformed from a phantom state into something solid.

At the same time, on the branch of the Martial Dao Tree, the scarlet mist was only halfway away from the second leaf.

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

However, now is not the best time for me to advance to the third level of Boiling Blood.

Shen Mu withdrew his thoughts and muttered to himself.

Since he had already reached the standard to break through to the third level of Boiling Blood, he planned to head to the Firewood Gang headquarters first to register his current cultivation level, which would also serve as a signal to the outside world that he had advanced to the second level.

Once the registration was complete, Shen Mu could then advance to the third level of Boiling Blood in one go, creating an information gap for the outside world.

If some fellow at the third level of Boiling Blood were blind enough to harbor ill intentions toward him, his sudden display of third-level cultivation would undoubtedly yield the result of catching them off guard.

Shen Mu returned to the Bamboo Shed, took out two catties of cured beast meat to wash, and then placed them in boiling water to blanch.

Now that he was at this stage, eating one catty of unranked beast meat no longer gave him that intense feeling of fullness.

To save time, he now blanched two catties of unranked beast meat for every meal.

After finishing the meat and feeling the familiar, intense fullness in his stomach, Shen Mu stood up, left the Bamboo Shed, and headed toward the valley entrance.

"Brother Hong."

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

"Who is it?"

Hong Jingcheng, still in bed, asked with sleepy, impatient eyes.

At this moment, his sturdy, powerful arm was pillowing a woman with a bewitching face and a curvaceous figure.

If Zhou Xuan were here, he would recognize this woman as Han Yan, the one with whom he and Yuan Wenxuan had clashed at the Fragrant Shadow Pavilion.

Unfortunately, both of them were dead now, and Miss Han Yan had ended up in Hong Jingcheng's bed.

Even Hong Jingcheng couldn't help but sigh; no wonder she could make Zhou Xuan and the other fight over her—this Miss Han Yan was truly succulent. Having slept with every girl in the Fragrant Shadow Pavilion, he had almost missed out on such a stunner...

"It's me, Shen Mu."

Shen Mu said loudly again.

"Oh?"

Hong Jingcheng raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is it?"

Shen Mu went straight to the point: "Brother Hong, it's like this: I've just advanced to the second level of Boiling Blood, and I'm planning to take leave to go to the Firewood Gang headquarters for registration."

Second level of Boiling Blood?

Hong Jingcheng became completely awake, his face filled with shock.

How long had this guy been here?

He had actually advanced to the second level of Boiling Blood already?

What he didn't know was that if Shen Mu wanted to, he could advance to the third level immediately.

It was only to avoid any accidents during registration, where someone might discover he had been hiding his cultivation, that Shen Mu had deliberately refrained from completing the breakthrough.

"Creak."

Hong Jingcheng pushed open the door, 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 with a face full of suspicion.

Shen Mu replied, "Over two months."

"Over two months?"

Hong Jingcheng was secretly shocked in his heart.

In just over two months, he had digested twenty catties of unranked beast meat?

This speed truly made him feel astonished.

Although practicing the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, combined with a physique at the first level of Boiling Blood, could accelerate the digestion of beast meat.

But to advance to the second level of Boiling Blood in just over two months—this speed was still hard for Hong Jingcheng to believe.

Hong Jingcheng took a deep look at Shen Mu and then said, "Very well, your leave is approved. Go early and return early."

"Yes."

Shen Mu acknowledged, then turned and walked toward the main gate of the valley.

Not until Shen Mu's back had completely disappeared did Hong Jingcheng withdraw his gaze. He turned back into his room to wash up, then picked up the clothes from the floor to drape over his shoulders before heading out to find Wei Bo.

"Brother Hong, what brings you here?"

Wei Bo, who was guarding the gate, saw Hong Jingcheng approaching and hurried to meet him with a mischievous grin, saying, "Looking at Brother Hong's pale complexion, I assume you put in quite a lot of hard work on Miss Han Yan last night, didn't you?"

A trace of awkwardness flashed across Hong Jingcheng's face, but he then said sternly, "I've come to see you about a serious matter."

"Oh?"

Wei Bo raised an eyebrow and quickly composed his expression. "Brother Hong, what happened?"

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

"Yes."

Wei Bo nodded and said, "He greeted me."

However, Hong Jingcheng's next sentence caused Wei Bo's expression to change involuntarily.

"He has advanced to the second level of Boiling Blood."

Upon hearing this, Wei Bo widened his eyes and blurted out, "How is that possible? How much time has even passed?"

Hong Jingcheng's gaze was profound as he said slowly, "Regarding Shen Mu, how much do you know about his situation before he came to Emerald Cloud Valley?"

Wei Bo pondered for a moment and said, "Last month, I happened to be drinking at Fragrant Shadow Pavilion with his former superior, Wang Jin, and heard him mention a few things 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. According to Wang Jin, Brother Shen spent only one month tempering his body at the headquarters before successfully advancing to the first level of Boiling Blood. He even specifically invited him for a drink to thank him for his care, which shows that Brother Shen is a grateful person..."