Chapter Twenty-Six: Father, Don't Worry, I Will Work Hard

After a while, the Buddhist aura surrounding Zhou Cheng finally dissipated.

Finally, the tenth stage of Body Tempering.

Zhou Cheng stood up, took a deep breath, and suddenly unleashed a Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist. Instantly, the roars of dragons and tigers echoed throughout the courtyard.

Now, let alone one fierce tiger, he could kill ten with a single punch.

"I wonder what's in this breakthrough gift package." Zhou Cheng looked at the flashing package in his inventory and opened it with great anticipation.

"You have obtained one Marrow-Cleansing Pill."

"You have obtained one Bronze-Armored Guard."

"You have obtained one infant Qilin divine beast."

Zhou Cheng's superior aptitude was already at 75, and what he lacked most was the Marrow-Cleansing Pill. With just one more, his aptitude would evolve into that of a centennial genius.

Therefore, upon seeing the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, Zhou Cheng swallowed it immediately.

Suddenly, radiance flowed over Zhou Cheng's entire body, his skin glowed, and an astonishing transformation occurred within him.

"Congratulations to the host. Through the Marrow-Cleansing Pill's purification of meridians and marrow, your root bone has been improved. Superior aptitude increased by 100, successfully evolving into a centennial genius."

"Due to the host's aptitude evolution, the cultivation speed of the Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique has greatly increased."

At the same time, under the impact of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill's surging medicinal power, his Black Tortoise Divine Technique and Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique improved significantly once again.

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 named Mu Ling. Like Meng Siyao before her, she was female and also at the seventh stage of Innate, wielding a golden wooden staff as her weapon.

As for the Qilin, it was an Ink Qilin. After shrinking, how should one put it? It looked a bit like a small black puppy, though it always gave off a strange vibe.

Those eyes made one's heart creep.

Zhou Cheng looked at the five divine beasts frolicking in the courtyard, wondering if he should expand his yard. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he could open a small zoo.

"Second Young Master, the Master asks you to come to the main hall for a meal." At this moment, the guard Chang Qing approached and said.

Zhou Cheng acknowledged him, took a moment to compose himself, and walked quickly out of the courtyard to the main hall.

Inside the main hall, Zhou Wei, Luo Shui, and Zhou Li were already present. The table was filled with delicious dishes, along with a jar of fine wine—though, of course, the wine was for Zhou Wei.

Zhou Wei never enjoyed a meal without wine, but he forbade his sons, Zhou Cheng and Zhou Li, from drinking, claiming that alcohol hindered one's affairs.

Seeing Zhou Cheng arrive, Zhou Wei smiled and said, "Cheng'er is here. Sit down."

Since the Emperor of Great Feng had already agreed with the Sun Moon Sword Sect, Shaolin, and the Ten Thousand Stars Sect to eradicate the Demonic Cult, Zhou Li would be leaving tomorrow with his master, Chen Genfeng. This meal was, in effect, a farewell.

After Zhou Cheng sat down, Zhou Wei said, "Alcohol hinders affairs; you two shouldn't drink." With that, he poured himself a full bowl.

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Li shared a helpless smile.

After Zhou Wei had finished three rounds of drinks, Zhou Cheng suddenly spoke up: "Father, do you have any superior martial techniques? I wish to practice one."

The hall fell silent instantly.

Zhou Li, chopsticks in hand, stared at Zhou Cheng in astonishment.

Only by breaking through to the fourth stage of Body Tempering could one practice martial techniques.

Could it be?!

Zhou Wei looked disbelieving, his eyes shining with joy, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Cheng'er, are you saying...?!"

Zhou Cheng nodded with a smile: "I have been practicing the Golden Body Method these past few days, and combined with the Buddhist insights from Abbot Huineng, I have broken through to the fourth stage of Body Tempering."

The fourth stage of Body Tempering!

Upon receiving confirmation, both Zhou Wei and Luo Shui were filled with excitement.

Zhou Cheng went outside the hall, channeled the fourth layer of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique, and pressed a palm against a stone pedestal. Even though he held back most of his strength, the impact still sent the pedestal rolling repeatedly.

Seeing this, a smile bloomed on Zhou Wei's face, and he laughed: "Indeed, the fourth stage of Body Tempering! Good! Cheng'er, you truly have not disappointed your father!"

Luo Shui's face also beamed with joy.

Zhou Li stood up and said happily, "Congratulations to my second brother for breaking through to the fourth stage of Body Tempering."

Zhou Wei laughed: "Chang Qing, go get more wine."

Outside the hall, Chang Qing happily agreed and went to fetch the wine.

After Zhou Cheng sat back down, Zhou Wei said with a solemn expression: "Cheng'er, although you have broken through to the fourth stage of Body Tempering, you must not be complacent. You understand? You must continue to work hard and strive to reach the fifth stage of Body Tempering by the end of the year."

Zhou Cheng said earnestly: "Don't worry, Father. I will work hard and not let you and Mother down. I will strive to reach the seventh stage of Body Tempering by the end of the year."

Zhou Wei spat out the wine in his mouth and stared wide-eyed: "You brat, do you think the seventh stage of Body Tempering is that easy to reach?"

Zhou Cheng chuckled and said nothing more.

In the future, Zhou Wei would see the strength he slowly revealed.

The meal lasted for over an hour.

During the feast, Zhou Wei, Luo Shui, and Zhou Li took turns pointing out the issues Zhou Cheng needed to pay attention to in his future martial arts training.

Zhou Cheng could only bury his head and focus on the rice in his bowl.

After the meal, Zhou Cheng did not return to his courtyard, instead taking Qin Meng and the others to check on his smithy.

When they arrived, business at the smithy was even better than Zhou Cheng had imagined; although the lanterns were already lit, there was still an endless stream of people buying steel sabers and sharp swords.

It seems I need to expand the shop, Zhou Cheng thought to himself.

After all, his Earth Cauldron could continuously synthesize high-quality steel sabers and swords.

Through several days of non-stop synthesis, his Earth Cauldron had not only upgraded to a mid-grade spirit tool but had reached the level of a high-grade spirit tool as of yesterday.

However, once it reached the high-grade spirit tool level, refining mortal weapons no longer provided any improvement to the Earth Cauldron; he had to refine low-grade spirit tools instead.

Zhou Cheng planned to expand the shop, not only to sell weapons but also to purchase materials for refining low-grade spirit tools.

Upon returning to the manor, Zhou Cheng soaked in a medicinal bath before taking Qin Meng and the others to the Green Demon Mountain Range to continue hunting demonic beasts.

As Zhou Cheng's strength increased, the demonic beasts he hunted became increasingly powerful.

Originally, after his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique broke through to the entry-level stage, it took killing ten Body Tempering realm beasts to gain 1 point of progress, but Zhou Cheng had discovered over the past two days that killing a single Qi Refining realm beast increased his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique by 1 point.

The same held true for his Demon God Garment and God-Slaying Saber.

Therefore, the demonic beasts Zhou Cheng killed now were almost all at the first or second level of the Qi Refining realm.

"Congratulations to the host, your Demon-Subduing Saber Technique progress has reached 100%, breaking through to the mastery stage."

After Zhou Cheng killed a second-level Qi Refining realm demonic beast, his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique finally broke through to the mastery stage.

Following the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique, it wasn't long before both his Demon God Garment and God-Slaying Saber also broke through to become high-grade spirit tools.

Just as Zhou Cheng intended to head to a cave to push his Wind-Facing Willow Steps to the mastery stage in one go, he faintly heard cries for help.

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