One Month

"Bang!"

Li Hu's body went limp as he hit the ground, and Xu Yang began to gasp for air.

He had killed three men in less than half a minute, but this was his first time taking a life, and a vicious man like Li Hu at that; how could he not be nervous?

With his breath held tight the entire time, now that the tension had drained away, his limbs felt weak and his heart hammered against his ribs like a war drum. He could even hear the "thump-thump-thump" of his own pulse, as if his heart were trying to burst out of his chest.

"Too bloody!"

Looking at the blood covering the ground and the white, pulpy brains, he couldn't help but feel nauseous.

He hadn't intended to make such a mess, hoping to avoid leaving a crime scene and to make disposing of the bodies easier, but when all three appeared at once, he couldn't afford to be picky if he wanted them all dead.

Fortunately, it was night and they were outside the village; the chances of being discovered were slim, so he could take his time.

He dragged Li Liang and Li Jian to a nearby ridge to drain their blood and, while he was at it, searched their corpses.

After rummaging through their pockets, Xu Yang discovered that the three men had less than two taels of silver between them—only one tael and a few dozen copper coins—making them even poorer than he was.

There was also a dagger, though it wasn't worth much.

After a while, he had recovered enough, and the bleeding of Li Liang and Li Jian had slowed.

He immediately hid Li Hu's body in the nearby thicket, then hoisted the corpses of Li Liang and Li Jian and headed toward the mountains.

Over the past few days, he hadn't just been lying in wait; he had also dug a burial site in advance.

Each body weighed about 130 pounds, making them quite heavy to carry. It took him half an hour, but he finally buried all three in the mountains several kilometers away.

He returned to the scene to sweep away the blood with tree branches and covered the area with dirt.

He knew the cleanup wasn't perfect, but as long as he covered enough of it, no one would be able to tell who had died there.

Even if the people of Big Tree Village passed by tomorrow and suspected a murder had occurred, no one would bother to investigate.

When He Shicai was driven to his death, his own family hadn't even reported it to the authorities; they certainly wouldn't care about a scene where the victim was unknown. Anyone who saw it would simply stay away, fearing they might invite trouble upon themselves.

When he returned home, Xu Qing hadn't noticed he had been out. He washed the blood from his hands and went to bed.

The next day, the first thing Xu Yang did upon opening his eyes was check his panel:

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 43]

"Killing people actually gives rewards?"

He hadn't touched his points for some time, other than adding one to Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist every day.

When Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist reached the entry level, he had been rewarded with ten points. He remembered having thirty-three points yesterday, which meant the panel had settled ten points for him last night.

"That's right. Li Hu and his men wanted me dead, so killing them is also a matter conducive to Martial Dao Longevity."

Xu Yang quickly grasped this logic and poured all his points into his Root Bone, raising it to "34."

That day, no one realized that Li Hu and his two companions were dead; neither their families nor the Tri-Union Gang suspected a thing.

They assumed the three were still in hiding, thinking they were doing a good job of laying low and could handle the pressure.

That day, the outer-hall disciples of Wei Yuan Hall noticed that Xu Yang was no longer slacking off or sleeping, but had returned to his diligent training.

The next day, Li Hu and his men still hadn't appeared, and both the Tri-Union Gang and their families assumed they should be coming out soon.

After all, five days had passed, and since He Shicai's family hadn't reported anything to the officials, it was safe to emerge.

"How did Li Hu become such a coward? Why hasn't he come out yet!"

On the sixth day, the three still hadn't appeared, and some in the Tri-Union Gang began to mock them.

"I'm afraid something has happened to Li Hu!"

On the seventh day, someone in the Tri-Union Gang finally realized that Li Hu and his men might have met with misfortune. They sent people to search everywhere, and soon everyone knew that the three had vanished.

"Good riddance. Heaven has finally reaped these three beasts."

He Shicai's family clapped in joy, and the folks in White Stone Ward whispered that it was a relief, though they dared not show it openly.

A few days later, with the three still missing, the Tri-Union Gang sent new people to take over Li Hu's affairs, and no one cared about their fate anymore.

In the blink of an eye, it had been a month since Xu Yang and the others entered Wei Yuan Hall.

On the Plum Blossom Stakes, his internal energy settled, and Xu Yang slowly withdrew from the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

<strong>[Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Entry (30/100)]</strong>

<strong>[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (61/150)]</strong>

Xu Yang exhaled a breath of stale air; the progress of his Turtle-Snake Great Stance was now only half that of his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

He was confident that his progress in the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist was now no lower than Lu Ren's, perhaps even surpassing him.

It had only been half a month since he reached the entry level of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. Aside from the one point of progress he added via the panel daily, the rest was all his own hard work, meaning he was improving by three points of progress every day on average.

At this rate, even if he stopped using the panel to add points, he would be able to bring the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist to the threshold of the first stage of Martial Dao by next month at the latest.

"Xu Yang, come down and spar with me!" Zhang Hong shouted.

By this day, everyone in their batch had already mastered the basics of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

For the training of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, Wei Yuan Hall required disciples to engage in frequent sparring; despite losing every time, Zhang Hong still practiced with Xu Yang often.

"Good!"

Xu Yang leaped down from the Plum Blossom Stakes and threw a punch mid-air, sending Zhang Hong stumbling back repeatedly.

"Your strength is truly terrifying, man."

Shaking his numb arm, Zhang Hong lunged forward with a Bear Pounce, and the two quickly became locked in a fierce struggle.

"I'm done, I'm done, I concede."

After twenty moves, Zhang Hong shouted his surrender and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

"Haha... Senior Brother Zhang Hong, sparring with Senior Brother Xu Yang again, I see." A voice rang out as a youth dressed in a cyan training uniform walked over with a smile.

His name was Qiu Wenjie, a new disciple of Wei Yuan Hall.

In the span of a month, Xu Yang and the others had already become veteran disciples of the outer courtyard.

When Qiu Wenjie first arrived, it was exactly when Xu Yang was sleeping every day. Seeing that Xu Yang was relatively idle, he came to ask for guidance on the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, and through this back-and-forth, he became well-acquainted with Xu Yang and Zhang Hong.

After the three chatted for a while, Zhang Hong stood up to practice his punches. Xu Yang also rose to his feet, only to be grabbed by Qiu Wenjie.

"Something up?" Xu Yang asked, puzzled.

Qiu Wenjie nodded: "My father knows that you've been looking after me lately, Senior Brother Xu, so he intends to host a banquet tonight to thank you. I hope you'll do us the honor."

Xu Yang frowned slightly. He had indeed offered Qiu Wenjie a few pointers, but it hardly warranted a banquet from the boy's father.

To host a banquet of thanks, the cost would be at least one or two taels of silver; he didn't feel that his few words of advice were worth that much money.

What could he possibly have that the other party would be after?

The only thing Xu Yang could think of was the Tri-Union Gang, especially since he had killed some of their men previously. But after careful consideration, he realized the Tri-Union Gang had no high-ranking members surnamed Qiu, and if they wanted to deal with him, they wouldn't need to go through such trouble.

"Speak plainly!" Unable to figure it out, Xu Yang asked directly.

Qiu Wenjie answered honestly: "Alright, it's because my father heard about your situation and has something he wants to discuss with you. He likely wants to assist you in your martial arts training."

Time quickly passed to the afternoon. Xu Yang hadn't wanted to waste time and had planned to eat his bowl of meat before heading to the banquet, but Qiu Wenjie insisted that his father had already prepared wine and food, pulling Xu Yang away.