Father, Don't Worry. I'll Work Hard.

After a while, the ring of Buddha-light around Zhou Cheng finally faded. 🐯☹  🎁♣

He had finally reached the tenth level of Body Refining.

Zhou Cheng rose to his feet, drew a deep breath, then suddenly unleashed a Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist. Dragon roars and tiger growls rang out across the courtyard.

Now, forget one ferocious tiger—even ten of them would be killed with a single punch.

"I wonder what's in this Realm-Breakthrough Gift Pack." Zhou Cheng gazed at the gift pack flashing in his inventory, then opened it with eager anticipation.

"You obtained a Marrow-Cleansing Pill."

"You obtained a Bronze-Armored Guard."

"You obtained a juvenile Qilin Divine Beast."

Zhou Cheng's superior aptitude was now at 75. What he needed most was a Marrow-Cleansing Pill. With just one more, his aptitude would advance to that of a century-old genius.

So, the moment he saw the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, Zhou Cheng swallowed it.

At once, light flowed over Zhou Cheng's body, his skin gleaming as an astonishing transformation took place within him.

Congratulations, host. The Marrow-Cleansing Pill has cleansed your meridians and marrow and improved your constitution. Your superior aptitude has increased by 100, successfully advancing to the level of a century-old genius.

As your aptitude has improved, your cultivation speed for the Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique has greatly increased.

At the same time, under the Marrow-Cleansing Pill's surging medicinal power, his Black Tortoise Divine Technique and Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique advanced astonishingly once more.

The Black Tortoise Divine Technique broke through to the ninth layer.

The Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique reached 15 percent of the tenth layer.

Zhou Cheng released the Bronze-Armored Guard and the Qilin Divine Beast.

The Bronze-Armored Guard was called Mu Ling. Like Meng Siyao before her, she was a woman, and she was also at the Xiantian Seventh Level. Her weapon was a golden wooden staff.

As for the Qilin, it was an Ink Qilin. After shrinking down, it looked a bit like a little black dog, though there was something strange about it.

Its eyes gave people the creeps.

Watching the five divine beasts play in the courtyard, Zhou Cheng wondered if he ought to expand it. At this rate, before long he'd have a small zoo on his hands.

"Second Young Master, Master's asking you to join him in the main hall for dinner." Guard Chang Qing came over and said.

Zhou Cheng answered, waited a moment, then quickly left the courtyard and headed to the main hall.

Zhou Wei, Luo Shui, and Zhou Li were already in the main hall. The table was laden with delicious dishes, along with a jar of fine wine. Of course, the wine was for Zhou Wei.

Zhou Wei never enjoyed a meal without wine, but he wouldn't let his sons Zhou Cheng and Zhou Li drink, saying that alcohol led to trouble.

Seeing Zhou Cheng arrive, Zhou Wei smiled. "You're here, Cheng'er. Sit down."

The Emperor of Great Feng had already reached an agreement with the Sun Moon Sword Sect, Shaolin, and the Ten Thousand Stars Sect to eliminate the Demonic Cult. Zhou Li would be leaving with his master, Chen Genfeng, tomorrow, so this meal was a farewell gathering.

Once Zhou Cheng had sat down, Zhou Wei said, "Drinking leads to trouble, so you two aren't having any." As he spoke, he filled his own bowl to the brim.

The brothers Zhou Cheng and Zhou Li exchanged helpless smiles.

After Zhou Wei had downed three rounds of wine, Zhou Cheng suddenly spoke. "Father, do you have any superior martial arts techniques? I'd like to learn one."

The main hall fell silent.

Zhou Li froze, chopsticks raised, and stared at Zhou Cheng.

Only after breaking through to Body Refining Level Four could one learn martial arts techniques.

Could it be?!

Zhou Wei looked utterly disbelieving, but joy shone in his eyes, and his voice trembled despite his efforts to control it. "Cheng'er, do you mean...?!"

Zhou Cheng nodded with a smile. "I've been practicing the Golden Body Method these past few days, and with Abbot Huineng's Buddhist insights, I've broken through to Body Refining Level Four."

Body Refining Level Four!

With Zhou Cheng's confirmation, Zhou Wei and Luo Shui were both overcome with excitement.

Zhou Cheng stepped outside the main hall, circulated the fourth layer of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique, and struck a stone post with his palm. Even though he held back most of his strength, the stone post still shook and rolled again and again.

Seeing this, Zhou Wei's smile spread across his face. He roared with laughter. "It really is Body Refining Level Four! Good! Cheng'er, you haven't disappointed your father!"

Luo Shui's face lit up with joy as well.

Zhou Li stood up and smiled happily. "Congratulations, Second Brother, on breaking through to Body Refining Level Four."

Zhou Wei laughed. "Chang Qing, go bring more wine."

Outside the main hall, Chang Qing happily answered, then went to fetch the wine.

After Zhou Cheng sat down again, Zhou Wei said solemnly, "Cheng'er, even though you've broken through to Body Refining Level Four, you can't get complacent. You understand? Keep working hard, and strive to reach Body Refining Level Five before the end of the year."

"Don't worry, Father. I'll work hard and won't let you and Mother down. I'll strive to reach Body Refining Level Seven before the end of the year," Zhou Cheng said earnestly.

Zhou Wei spat out the wine in his mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. "You brat, do you think breaking through to Body Refining Level Seven is that easy?"

Zhou Cheng gave a cheeky grin and said nothing.

His father would see his strength gradually emerge in time.

The meal lasted well over an hour.

Throughout dinner, Zhou Wei, Luo Shui, and Zhou Li took turns advising Zhou Cheng on what to watch out for when practicing martial arts techniques.

Zhou Cheng could only keep his head down and shovel rice into his bowl.

After the meal, Zhou Cheng didn't return to the courtyard. Instead, he took Qin Meng and the others to check on his weapon-forging shop.

When he arrived, business was even better than he'd imagined. Night had fallen, but there was still a steady stream of people buying steel sabers and sharp swords.

Looks like I'll have to expand the shop.

After all, his Earth Cauldron could endlessly combine steel sabers and sharp swords of superior quality.

After combining weapons nonstop for the past few days, his Earth Cauldron had not only reached the middle-grade Spirit Artifact level, but had advanced to the high-grade Spirit Artifact level yesterday.

However, after reaching the high-grade Spirit Artifact level, forging mundane weapons no longer improved the Earth Cauldron at all. He had to forge Low-Grade Spirit Artifacts instead.

Zhou Cheng planned to expand the shop, selling weapons while also purchasing materials for forging Low-Grade Spirit Artifacts.

After returning to the estate and soaking in a medicinal bath, Zhou Cheng took Qin Meng and the others to the Green Demon Mountain Range to keep hunting monsters.

As Zhou Cheng's strength improved, the monsters he killed grew stronger as well.

At first, after his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique reached the proficient stage, killing ten Body Refining Realm monsters raised its progress by just 1 percent. But over the past two days, Zhou Cheng had discovered that each Qi Refining Realm monster he killed raised his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique's progress by 1 percent.

The Demon God Garment and God-Slaying Saber worked the same way.

So now, Zhou Cheng hunted almost exclusively Qi Refining First Layer and Qi Refining Second Layer monsters.

Congratulations, host. Your Demon-Subduing Saber Technique has reached 100 percent progress and broken through to the masterful stage.

After Zhou Cheng killed a Qi Refining Second Layer monster, his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique finally broke through to the masterful stage.

Not long after the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique, both his Demon God Garment and God-Slaying Saber advanced to high-grade Spirit Artifacts.

Just as Zhou Cheng was about to head to a cave and push the Wind-Facing Willow Steps all the way to the masterful stage, he faintly heard someone calling for help.

Curious, Zhou Cheng followed the sound, leading Qin Meng and the others toward it.