Hard Training

The hour of the Dog.

After dinner, Li Yun went to the back kitchen and found the woman who cooked for the Martial Hall.

"Ma'am, could you do me a favor?"

As he spoke, Li Yun handed her several dozen copper coins, pressing them into her hand.

"It's like this..."

Once she agreed, Li Yun pretended to take the venison from his Dormitory and hand it to her.

The Dormitory had four beds, but Li Yun was the only one there for now, so he didn't have to worry about anyone finding out.

Those without money weren't willing to spend ten taels of silver.

Those who could afford it didn't need to live here.

[Tiger-Subduing Stance (Not Yet Initiated): 8/1000]

He had trained all afternoon, but even with the help of Muscle and Bone Soup, his progress had only increased by eight points.

Li Yun estimated that without Muscle and Bone Soup, his stamina would let him gain about that much in a day.

His constitution would surely grow stronger over time.

In other words, he would probably need three or four months to initiate Tiger Subduing Fist and reach the Body Tempering Realm.

According to Xiao Shun, that was an average pace.

Of course, the faster he could manage it, the better.

That was why Li Yun had gone to the cook, asking her to prepare the venison for him.

Only by eating well and eating his fill could he have more strength to train.

At the foot of Crow Mountain, in Mountain-Back Village.

He Xiuyong walked out of the Qian Family's house with a frown.

Yesterday, he had sent the Qian Brothers to cause trouble for Li Yun.

But the whole day had passed, and there had been no word from them.

He had come by specifically to ask, only for his father-in-law and mother-in-law to tell him that the three brothers had gone out early that morning.

He Xiuyong knew they must have gone to teach Li Yun a lesson, just as he had instructed.

Three burly men had set out to teach an ordinary hunter a lesson, with a plan in place. How could anything have gone wrong?

He had also stopped by Li Yun's house. It was empty, and the stove was cold.

He Xiuyong's heart sank, and a bad feeling crept over him.

Three strong men had gone to teach an ordinary hunter a lesson, with a plan in place. How could anything have gone wrong?

Remembering that Li Yun had taken his game to the county to sell, a thought suddenly occurred to him:

Had his three brothers-in-law been silenced by Li Yun?

Whatever the case, once he found them, the truth would come out.

If his suspicion proved correct, he would never let Li Yun get away with it.

He Xiuyong had connections of his own, so he decided to call in a favor and look for them the next day.

The following day.

As dawn broke, Li Yun began practicing Tiger-Subduing Stance in the Outer Courtyard.

His muscles felt as though they were being pulled, squeezed, and tightened in turn. A dense tingling surged through his limbs and bones, spreading along the lines of his muscles. Even his fingertips and toes prickled with a sore, numb ache.

Xiao Shun had told him:

"Aching and tingling are good signs. They mean you're training the right way. Every inch of muscle is being activated, and your qi and blood are pounding against your sinews and bones.

"Channel your strength through your whole body, and your sinews and bones will grow ever sturdier, your qi and blood ever fuller. Then you'll reach the Body Tempering Realm naturally."

[Tiger-Subduing Stance: +1]

[Tiger-Subduing Stance (Not Yet Initiated): 9/1000]

The other disciples arrived at the Martial Hall one after another, looking a little surprised.

"That guy got here pretty early."

"Hmph, he was putting on a show yesterday, and now he's back again. We'll see how long he keeps it up."

A few people muttered among themselves.

Li Yun paid them no heed and kept his head down, training hard.

He drew plenty of sidelong glances.

Some were envious, some jealous, and some indifferent...

As time passed, the murmurs naturally died away.

Anyone could put on a show for a day or two.

But if he kept it up for a whole month, those people would slowly shut their mouths.

A month later, in the morning light of the Martial Hall's Outer Courtyard, Li Yun's training posture had changed completely.

He stood straighter and looked more solid than when he had first entered the hall. His muscles were clearly defined, and his movements were no longer stiff. Instead, they carried a taut, tempered strength.

He could now hold Tiger-Subduing Stance for half an hour.

Most of his time was spent practicing the fist and leg techniques that would help him get started.

The wind from his arms was several times sharper than before. His shoulder and back muscles rolled with every movement, without a trace of wasted motion, and his strength flowed precisely to his fingertips.

His back twisted with effortless precision. When he drove his shoulder forward, he stood as firm as a boulder, never staggering. Only the hem of his clothes snapped in the fierce wind.

He repeated the whole sequence over and over, breathing steadily and evenly. He was no longer the way he had been at first, panting heavily after each session.

[Tiger-Subduing Stance: +1]

[Tiger-Subduing Stance (Not Yet Initiated): 401/1000]

At this rate, he estimated it would take a little more than a month to reach the Body Tempering Realm.

Unfortunately, he had already finished the Red Deer, which had weighed over four hundred jin.

After getting used to his rapid progress, Li Yun found it hard to adjust to the sudden slowdown.

He wanted to return to Crow Mountain to hunt and speed up his training, but the Qian Brothers were still lying in his storage space.

The Body Tempering Realm martial artist from the Mountain Gang, He Xiuyong, weighed heavily on his mind.

Li Yun shook off his distracting thoughts and resumed training.

Wang Xiaofei had just finished lifting the Stone Lock and was resting nearby. Seeing how Li Yun had opened up such a wide gap between them in barely a month, he felt a surge of frustration.

He worked hard too. Why hadn't he even reached half of Li Yun's level?

He gritted his teeth and got back to training.

After lunch.

"The senior brothers and sisters from the Inner Courtyard who went to escort the caravan are back!"

"Senior Sister Liu is back?"

"..."

A commotion broke out at the Martial Hall entrance, catching Li Yun's attention.

The apprentices in the Outer Courtyard all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the entrance.

A group filed in, with a woman in their midst who stood out from the rest.

She was tall, dressed in white martial clothes, and possessed cool, striking features.

There was a faint aloofness between her brows. Her gaze passed over the watching apprentices in the Outer Courtyard, calm and unruffled, yet it made them instinctively hold their breath. Even the noise died down.

"It really is Senior Sister Liu. I heard the caravan faced danger all along the way."

"Senior Sister Liu is the most powerful female disciple in our Martial Hall. She's been in the Dark Force stage for a while now!"

After all the Inner Courtyard disciples had left, Li Yun didn't join in the discussion. Instead, he continued practicing Tiger-Subduing Stance.

A female disciple that dazzling was always a "troublemaker."

The men around her, eager to defend her, would treat every other man as an enemy.

That was not in keeping with Li Yun's philosophy of keeping a low profile.

[Tiger-Subduing Stance (Not Yet Initiated): 800/1000]

Li Yun glanced at the progress on his panel, then threw himself into practicing his fist techniques.

As he held his stance, the apprentices' chatter in the courtyard drifted over to him.

"Impressive. He entered the Body Tempering Realm in just a month."

"Who?"

"You don't know? The Hall Master's new direct disciple. His name is Zhu Daqi."

"Tsk, what talent. I'm so jealous."

Zhu Daqi?

It seemed that one's innate bone structure really did have a significant impact on a martial artist's cultivation.

Li Yun trained day and night without stopping, yet his progress was only forty percent of Zhu Daqi's.

But Li Yun quickly cast the thought aside.

However talented someone else was, it had nothing to do with him.

Time to train.

The days passed, one after another.

Li Yun was immersed in Tiger Subduing Fist. The visible progress was utterly addictive.

He was hooked.

People came and went through the Martial Hall.

Some apprentices were new arrivals; others had tempered their qi and blood, opened the channels beneath their skin, and entered the Body Tempering Realm, moving on to the Inner Courtyard.

Of course, most had failed to open those channels.

Those with the means stayed to continue training. Those without packed up and left.

One generation replaced the next.

The one thing that never changed was Li Yun, training alone in the corner.