Mid-Stage

The night passed without incident. Jiang Chen woke early the next morning.

After breakfast in the dining hall, he went to the Practice Field.

It was just as he had expected.

The Blood Ginseng Powder he had drunk yesterday at noon still held potent medicinal power.

Stimulated by it, the Primordial Energy hidden within him continued to seep out, and his martial Blood Qi was rapidly refined and strengthened.

"With Junior Brother Jiang's comprehension, as long as he doesn't slack off, even with Ordinary Bone Aptitude, he won't achieve little in the future."

When daylight filled the sky, Sun Wu arrived at the Practice Field and immediately looked toward Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen intrigued him.

After all, he had joined the martial arts school several years ago, yet this was the first time he had seen someone grasp the True Meaning of White Ape Stance and retain Stance Sense at all times.

And since Jiang Chen could grasp the True Meaning of White Ape Stance, there was a good chance he could grasp White Ape Fist and even fully comprehend the White Ape Breathing Method.

In other words, once Jiang Chen reached the Second or Third Qi and Blood Gate, his extraordinary comprehension would let him advance quickly.

A martial artist's cultivation speed depended largely on bone aptitude, but comprehension mattered greatly too.

Someone with strong comprehension could grasp techniques faster.

And the more proficient one became in a technique, the faster one could cultivate.

Early in the Si Hour.

"Qingzhu, Jiang Chen really does seem to have changed."

At the edge of the Practice Field, Zhao Xiaoyue arrived with Wang Qingzhu. When she saw Jiang Chen quietly practicing his stance, she could not help looking at him several times.

After what happened in the dining hall yesterday, she had thought Jiang Chen would come after them to apologize.

Instead, until they left the martial arts school, they had not seen so much as his shadow.

From the look of it, Jiang Chen really had given up pursuing Wang Qingzhu.

"Who cares whether he's changed? Don't mention him in front of me again!"

Wang Qingzhu turned away, her face cold.

He had embarrassed her so badly yesterday. Even if Jiang Chen knelt and begged her in the future, she would never give him the slightest warmth.

In the blink of an eye, noon drew near.

"Phew!"

Drenched in sweat from practicing his stance beneath the blazing sun, Jiang Chen withdrew his fists and straightened. He went to the water vat in the shade and drank great gulps of Well Water.

[Cultivation: First Qi and Blood Gate · Early Stage 81%]

On the Myriad Dao Chart, his martial Blood Qi had made gratifying progress. He was less than twenty percent away from the mid-stage of the First Qi and Blood Gate.

A few more hours of stance practice that afternoon would bring a smooth breakthrough.

"There's still medicinal power left?"

Turning his awareness inward, Jiang Chen carefully examined the Blood Ginseng Powder's remaining power.

A full day and night had passed since yesterday noon, yet its medicinal power still had not run out.

That medicine really packed a punch.

No wonder they said people with weak constitutions could not drink Blood Ginseng Powder.

I'll reserve another dose first, then drink it once I've absorbed every last bit of the medicinal power in my body.

Senior Brother Sun had said that if medicinal power was not fully absorbed, it would form Medicine Toxin within the body.

So he had to absorb it completely before drinking more Blood Ginseng Powder.

Other people naturally could not judge precisely how much medicinal power remained.

But Jiang Chen was different.

With the Myriad Dao Chart's help, he could look inward and clearly perceive every detail inside his body.

"Junior Brother Jiang..."

Jiang Chen had barely set down the water ladle when Zheng Hao and the others gathered around again.

With those shifty looks, they clearly wanted to rope him into playing the fool for them again.

This time, Jiang Chen did not even bother greeting them. He simply ignored them and walked away.

"Damn it!"

The smiles vanished from Zheng Hao and the others' faces, one after another.

Though they had noticed a change in Jiang Chen's attitude toward them yesterday, they had never expected him to show them so little regard today that he would ignore them outright.

"Brother Zheng, could he have found out what we're planning?"

One disciple frowned.

They had planned to drag Jiang Chen to a restaurant, pour a few cups of wine into him, then make him lose all the money he carried to cover their shortfall.

Now Jiang Chen would not give them the chance.

"Impossible. No one else at the school knows about our gambling debts. How would he find out?"

Watching Jiang Chen head toward the dining hall, Zheng Hao's gaze darkened.

"What do we do now? The gambling house will come collecting in ten days."

The others grew anxious.

"Find a way to scrape together the money. Pay the interest on the debt first."

Zheng Hao's expression turned colder still.

Since Jiang Chen had refused the easy way, he could not blame Zheng Hao for getting ruthless.

Jiang Chen reached the dining hall.

He piled his plate high with food and wolfed it down.

After eating, he reserved a bowl of Blood Ginseng Powder.

Judging by the medicinal power in his body, it would probably last only another two or three hours.

Once it ran out, he could drink the next dose.

After the meal, he went to the Stone Lock area as usual to practice the Stone Moving Method.

With his martial Blood Qi at eighty-one percent, his strength had risen sharply. Even a Stone Lock weighing more than two hundred jin felt easy in his hands.

He practiced for half an hour and stopped only when fatigue began to set in.

Once his strength returned, he went back under the blazing sun, entered a meditative state, and practiced his stance.

"The medicinal power's run out."

After practicing his stance for more than two hours, Jiang Chen emerged from his meditative state. It was nearly the You Hour.

[Cultivation: First Qi and Blood Gate · Early Stage 89%]

Two hours of stance practice had raised his cultivation by four percent, finally exhausting every trace of Blood Ginseng Powder left in his body.

Jiang Chen hurried to the dining hall and drank the dose he had reserved.

At once, potent medicinal power surged through him. His whole body flushed red again, faint steam rising from his skin.

Those five taels of silver were well spent. The powder could speed up his cultivation severalfold.

Once its effects took hold, he wasted no time and plunged back into rigorous training.

In the blink of an eye, dusk drew near.

The sun slanted westward, and the air turned cool.

Boom!

Inside Jiang Chen, who stood quietly practicing his stance, martial Blood Qi suddenly surged. It became a fierce current of heat that spread through every limb and bone.

Wherever it passed, strength welled up.

"I broke through!"

Jiang Chen drew his awareness back into his body, his eyes bright as stars.

[Cultivation: First Qi and Blood Gate · Mid-Stage 0%]

Sure enough, the cultivation entry on the Myriad Dao Chart had changed.

He had reached the mid-stage of the First Qi and Blood Gate.

Moving from early to mid-stage was only a minor breakthrough within a minor realm, but his combat strength had undergone a considerable transformation.

For one thing, his strength had reached two hundred jin. His speed, reflexes, and defense had improved as well.

Now he could easily bring down several strong adult men.

Such was the power of martial Blood Qi.

Even a small breakthrough brought an enormous transformation.

"At this rate, I'll reach the peak of the First Qi and Blood Gate in two or three days!"

Feeling his martial Blood Qi surge, Jiang Chen was in high spirits.

He had only condensed his Blood Qi the day before yesterday, yet in three more days he could reach the peak of the First Qi and Blood Gate.

That cultivation speed was worthy of the name "martial arts genius."

And the greatest reason for it was the boost to his comprehension from the Myriad Dao Chart.

Eternal Realm!

That ability was incredibly useful.

Without permanent Stance Sense, no amount of effort or cultivation resources could have given him such rapid progress.

"Phew!"

After a while, Jiang Chen took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and focused on training again.

As he had told himself before, the Blood Qi Realm was nowhere near enough for him.

Never mind the First Qi and Blood Gate—even the Third Qi and Blood Gate was merely the threshold of martial arts. What he wanted was to reach the pinnacle, like those immortals walking the earth.

The sun sank westward, and night fell.

[Cultivation: First Qi and Blood Gate · Mid-Stage 4%]

Jiang Chen finished training.

Though he had broken through, his cultivation speed had not slowed.

That was because cultivating the First Qi and Blood Gate was not difficult to begin with. He only needed to keep drawing out the Primordial Energy within him.

Once he had drawn out all his Primordial Energy, he would reach the peak of the First Qi and Blood Gate.

Bang, bang, bang!

Jiang Chen went to a wooden post and unleashed a familiar flurry of punches.

Before long, rows of fist prints covered the post.

Compared with yesterday's, these prints were noticeably deeper.

"Blood Qi..."

Looking at his hands, only slightly red, Jiang Chen marveled inwardly.

Martial Blood Qi truly was remarkable.

It gave him both explosive power and formidable defense.

He wondered what transformation awaited him when he passed the Three Qi and Blood Gates and entered the True Martial Realm.

That night, he practiced the Stone Moving Method for a while as usual, then returned to meditating in his stance.

Only at midnight, during the Zi Hour, did he end his day of grueling cultivation.

[Cultivation: First Qi and Blood Gate · Mid-Stage 20%]