Dragon Blood Carp

Hong Jingcheng looked surprised. "A month?"

"That's right. Wang Jin told me so."

Wei Bo said with certainty, "I didn't believe it at first, but half a month ago, when I went to Firewood Gang headquarters, I asked around about it. The news had already spread across the Martial Arts Arena. Plenty of people knew."

At that, Wei Bo added, "If he really did reach First Stage Boiling Blood in just a month, then it makes sense that it took him a little over two months to reach the second stage."

Hong Jingcheng's eyes flickered as he muttered, "Unbelievable. If he keeps cultivating at this pace, won't he become a core gang member before long?"

Wei Bo smiled wryly in agreement. "That fellow really is a man who'll work himself to the bone. I've never seen anyone train harder. He practices martial arts all day long, doing nothing but sleeping when he's not training. That's probably why he reached the second stage of Boiling Blood so quickly..."

Seeing Hong Jingcheng's grave expression, Wei Bo asked, "Brother Hong, you asked about him so specifically. Do you think he's hiding some kind of secret?"

"Not really."

Hong Jingcheng shook his head. "I just find his rate of cultivation astonishing."

Hong Jingcheng wouldn't pay any particular attention to someone at the second stage of Boiling Blood.

With his current cultivation at the peak of the seventh stage of Boiling Blood, dealing with Shen Mu, who was at the second stage, would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Even if Shen Mu cultivated twice as fast, so what? In his eyes, he was still just an ant, albeit a slightly stronger one.

Wei Bo couldn't help but remark, "Still, it's rare to find someone as hardworking as Brother Shen. I heard that when he was body-tempering at headquarters, he pushed himself so hard it was practically self-mutilation. A lot of people were impressed..."

Then Wei Bo changed the subject and grinned. "Brother Hong, are you worried he'll catch up to you one day?"

"He can still make rapid progress now because he hasn't spent all the silver he earned catching Origin Cicadas. Once he runs out of money, his cultivation will naturally slow down."

Hong Jingcheng couldn't help but agree.

Just as Wei Bo had said, once Shen Mu spent all the silver he'd earned catching Origin Cicadas, what good would it do to keep body-tempering so hard?

Without beast meat to replenish his vital energy, his cultivation would naturally slow down.

The silver he'd earned catching Origin Cicadas was already enough to carry him to the Ninth Stage Boiling Blood.

He only needed to stay in Emerald Cloud Valley for another year and go through one more season of catching Origin Cicadas. Then he'd have enough resources to attempt the Ninth Grade Tendon-Changing.

By then, what could Shen Mu possibly use to catch up with him?

Hong Jingcheng shook his head. How could he have thought that someone at the second stage of Boiling Blood might threaten him?

He looked at Wei Bo and instructed, "Prepare a carriage and take Miss Han Yan back."

Wei Bo gave a sly grin. "Sure thing."

Shen Mu had no idea that revealing his cultivation at the second stage of Boiling Blood had made Hong Jingcheng wary of him.

He had just left Emerald Cloud Valley and was on his way to Cloud Dragon County when he ran into someone he knew.

"Brother Shen!"

The person recognized him from far away and waved, then hurried over at a run.

"Luo Tao?"

Shen Mu was taken aback. When he saw the Firewood Gang uniform Luo Tao was wearing, he immediately understood.

"I didn't expect you to reach the first stage of Boiling Blood, too."

When Luo Tao came up to him, Shen Mu said with a smile.

"Hehe."

Luo Tao scratched his head with a bashful grin.

After more than three months of body-tempering, he'd finally reached the first stage of Boiling Blood. His once-fat frame had grown muscular through training, towering like a mountain.

"Brother Shen, what are you doing here?"

Luo Tao asked curiously.

"I just reached the second stage of Boiling Blood, so I took leave to register at Firewood Gang headquarters and buy some beast meat while I was there."

Shen Mu smiled.

"The second stage of Boiling Blood?"

Luo Tao's eyes widened in disbelief.

He'd only just reached the first stage. He couldn't believe Shen Mu had already reached the second.

"Brother Shen, you're cultivating way too fast."

Luo Tao said, his eyes tinged with envy.

He'd thought he'd finally begun to catch up with Shen Mu, but now the gap between them was only growing wider.

If you knew that once I finished registering, I could take the opportunity to reach the third stage of Boiling Blood, wouldn't that make you want to give up on life?

Shen Mu chuckled inwardly, then said, "By the way, what are you doing here..."

But before he could finish, he realized. "Did you also choose to go to Emerald Cloud Valley as a Guardian?"

"Hehe, I saw that you chose Yuan Mulberry Hall, Brother Shen, so I chose Yuan Mulberry Hall too..."

Luo Tao grinned and pulled a wooden token from his clothes. "Here, this is my Guardian's token."

Shen Mu took the token and looked at it. His expression immediately grew complicated.

The token in Luo Tao's hand was C-9.

In other words, Luo Tao had taken over Yuan Wenxuan's old position and was under Hong Jingcheng's command too.

If he could help it, Shen Mu would've much rather had Luo Tao join Firewood Hall. The pay was lower, but it was safer.

Hong Jingcheng might seem amiable on the surface, but if anyone touched his interests, he wouldn't hesitate to kill.

It had taken Luo Tao three months to reach the first stage of Boiling Blood, and his family didn't have much silver to provide him with cultivation resources. Without a stroke of luck, it was easy to see he had little chance of becoming a ranked martial artist.

But it was too late to change anything now. Luo Tao had already accepted the post of Guardian.

Besides, with the income from Origin Cicadas in the future, perhaps Luo Tao really did have a chance to become a ranked martial artist.

"Brother Shen, now we'll get to see each other all the time again."

Luo Tao tucked away his token with an excited grin.

Ever since Shen Mu had left, Luo Tao had trained even harder at body-tempering, all so that one day he could take the same post as Shen Mu.

Now his wish had finally come true.

Looking at Luo Tao's innocent expression, Shen Mu shook his head to himself.

Emerald Cloud Valley wasn't as simple as he imagined.

Besides, Shen Mu was about to reach the third stage of Boiling Blood. He'd probably be able to leave Emerald Cloud Valley in about half a year.

"Now that you've reached the first stage of Boiling Blood, you'll need to practice the Army-Breaking Saber Technique for body-tempering. You can't slack off even a little."

Shen Mu said seriously.

If Zhou Xuan hadn't entered the picture and shown Shen Mu Hong Jingcheng's true face, becoming a Guardian might not have been a bad thing for Luo Tao.

The fellow had no sense of guile. Someone could sell him off, and he'd probably still help them count the money...

But Shen Mu couldn't talk to him about this sort of thing. A few words from someone else might make Luo Tao spill everything he knew.

"Don't worry, Brother Shen. I'll work even harder and do my best to catch up with you as soon as I can!"

Luo Tao said earnestly.

Catch up with me?

Shen Mu couldn't help laughing.

At your current pace, in a few years you probably won't even be able to see my heels. How are you supposed to catch up?

Shen Mu laughed. "All right, head to Emerald Cloud Valley. I have things to take care of in the county town."

"Sure thing."

Luo Tao nodded with a grin. "Then I'll see you in Emerald Cloud Valley!"

After bidding Luo Tao farewell, Shen Mu continued toward Cloud Dragon County.

Before he even reached the city gate, Shen Mu saw a crowd gathered beneath the city wall, with even more people streaming over.

His curiosity piqued, Shen Mu quickened his pace and went to take a look.

Unfortunately, there were simply too many people gathered there, and Shen Mu couldn't squeeze his way in.

"Sir, what happened? Why are so many people gathered here?"

Shen Mu asked an old man beside him.

"What else? Someone caught a Dragon Blood Carp in Dark Night Lake. Everyone wants to see what one looks like."

The old man craned his neck to peer into the crowd as he spoke to Shen Mu.

Dragon Blood Carp?

Shen Mu was taken aback.