He Had No Spare Money on Him...

The first step of second-realm Muscle Tendon Training was to first sense the existence of one's flesh and tendons; only then could one begin training them.

In ordinary martial hall training, once practitioners identified the locations of their flesh and tendons, they would generally use medicinal baths, rubbing, patting, and other methods to distinguish them.

Then they would memorize the movements of the flesh and tendons, tempering and experimenting without pause to grasp the techniques of exerting force, until every burst of strength from the body gradually became instinctive.

In the end, they would achieve the effect of tendons snapping like startled thunderbolts.

Yet this method was comparatively mild and consumed no small amount of time.

Duan Hongfei had sensed Shen Xiu's vigorous qi and blood, so he had moved this step forward.

After kneading his right arm came his left arm; after both arms came both legs; after his legs came his waist, back, shoulders, and neck.

At every step, Shen Xiu gritted his teeth.

With every squeeze from Duan Hongfei, Shen Xiu's aura diminished by a fraction, until the fierce aura emanating from him had nearly vanished entirely.

He now looked like an ordinary youth.

It was as though the aura radiating from his body and his flourishing qi and blood had been kneaded into every strand of flesh and tendon with each of Duan Hongfei's motions.

The instruction finally came to an end.

Even Duan Hongfei, who brimmed with physical strength, could not help letting out a breath of relief. As for Shen Xiu, he looked as though he had been hauled from a river, drenched from head to toe, his sweat falling like rain.

Yet in stark contrast, winding veins bulged across the youth's arms and calves. His flesh and tendons were like giant pythons, writhing irregularly beneath his skin.

This sight lasted only a short while before gradually fading away, while Shen Xiu's aura became even more solid and condensed.

The extremely rare sight made Duan Hongfei pause. Sensing the change in Shen Xiu's aura, he could not help laughing soundlessly.

He had already stepped into the second realm of Muscle Tendon Training.

Though Shen Xiu was so exhausted he was nearly ready to collapse, he could not help feeling delighted by the change.

"I was wondering why your cultivation had advanced so quickly. I never expected you to have practiced the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art to this extent, even producing force qi."

Duan Hongfei looked at the youth before him, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

"Thank you for your guidance, Instructor."

Shen Xiu understood that Instructor Duan had likely expended no small amount of effort as well.

After Shen Xiu rested for a while, Duan Hongfei took out an envelope.

"These are the banknotes the hall has given you. They've already been collected from the Chen Family."

Shen Xiu naturally accepted them, asked for guidance on a few matters of cultivation, and then left.

Some time after Shen Xiu departed, Duan Hongfei felt thirsty and picked up the teacup on the stone table, taking a sip.

Only after setting it down did he notice several Great Jing Bank notes lying on the table.

He picked them up and counted them. There were five.

He immediately smiled. "This brat..."

At the Canteen, Shen Xiu downed four bowls of Monster Beast Tonic Soup in succession, then let out a satisfied burp.

Now that his cultivation had improved, his appetite had visibly multiplied. He had once needed only two bowls, but now it took four to fill him.

He had also discovered that as his cultivation and strength increased, the energy contained in Monster Beast Tonic Soup had become negligible to him.

It truly could only serve as food to fill his stomach now.

After eating, Shen Xiu headed straight for the External Affairs Hall.

On the way, he encountered Jian Shuhao and the father who had come with him. They brought him a gift.

The general meaning was that Jian Shuhao's giving him the jade pendant had caused him trouble and nearly placed him in danger.

They felt deeply apologetic about it, even though his son had acted with good intentions.

In his father's eyes, Shen Xiu had remained indoors because of his son's matter, and had inadvertently helped his son avert a calamity.

No matter what, it counted as a life-saving favor to their family.

Being suddenly assassinated for no reason—although Shen Xiu had not thought much about it—would leave anyone at least somewhat displeased.

After all, no matter how one looked at it, this had been an unwarranted disaster.

Yet even that displeasure quietly dissipated in the face of Jian Shuhao's father's arrival and sincere apology.

Shen Xiu refused the gift, but Jian Shuhao's father was much like Jian Shuhao himself. He simply left the item in Shen Xiu's courtyard and departed.

After Jian Shuhao and his father left, Shen Xiu opened the long wooden box. A gleam as bright as a mirror met his eyes—it was clearly a shining three-foot-long saber.

The blade was somewhat thick and looked quite sturdy.

Judging from the forging patterns on it and the mark left on the hilt, it was unmistakably the Hundred Refinements Hall's signature Hundred-Refined Saber.

Shen Xiu picked up the Hundred-Refined Saber at once. The moment it entered his hand, he felt that it was considerably heavier than the large saber he had bought before.

Shing—

With a thought, Shen Xiu slashed out. In his field of vision, only an arc of light flashed past.

But there was none of the trembling hum produced by his ordinary saber before.

That hum had been a sign that the former saber's material was too poor and had exceeded its limit of endurance.

Shen Xiu tested the long saber and found it exceptionally handy, leaving him quite satisfied.

He immediately began practicing a set of saber techniques, slashing out in rapid succession. His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, and in the blink of an eye, he cut out a string of saber-light afterimages, their chill rushing head-on.

Delighted by his new saber, Shen Xiu swung it with even greater vigor. He practiced the Blood Battle Saber Technique for a full quarter of an hour before stopping.

Over the next few days, Shen Xiu searched the market district for places that sold monster beast corpses.

Golden Cicada liked monster beasts.

He also wanted to see what exactly its second talent was.

After spending more than two hundred taels, Shen Xiu acquired four genuine monster beast corpses from the market district. Golden Cicada ate for several days, and its satiety increased by more than ten points.

Seeing the obvious results, Shen Xiu spent another two hundred-odd taels and bought four more. In the end, Golden Cicada's satiety rose to 67.6%.

It was getting closer and closer to one hundred percent satiety, but the five hundred taels Shen Xiu had just received had once again been spent clean.

He still had to earn money.

Shen Xiu let out a helpless sigh.

"An Azure Fox Demon has appeared outside Yunxi Town. Its strength is suspected to be that of a first-rank monster beast. It has already bewitched several men in town to their deaths. Those willing may eliminate it as soon as possible. Mission reward: twenty taels of silver."

"Young Master Li of Taixi City requires someone to spar with him for five hours. Martial Artists who have entered the realm are recommended. Mission reward: one tael of silver."

"The Wu Family Herb Garden in Taixi City has ripened. Wild beasts have been lurking nearby, and someone is needed to harvest it. Mission reward: one tael of silver."

At the External Affairs Hall, the mission plaques on the wall were constantly updated, and countless available missions were hung up again. Shen Xiu, standing below, watched with shining eyes.

After he had mentioned Taixi City's most expensive Yunji Osmanthus Cake, the missions at the External Affairs Hall had, with remarkable flexibility, become much simpler.

Now, aside from completing the assigned missions required of Formal Disciples, he would come to the External Affairs Hall in his spare time to accept and complete additional missions.

"Looking for a sparring partner, harvesting herbs, and the three after those—I'll take them all..."

Shen Xiu took out his disciple token and accepted five missions in one go, leaving the crowd behind him dumbfounded.

Ordinary disciples took on two or three extra missions beyond their mandatory ones and that was already considered a lot. Five at once? They were all Formal Disciples—there was no need to go this hard, was there?

"Stop staring. That guy's a bottomless pit. I saw him at the Canteen—four bowls of Monster Beast Tonic Soup in one meal, and he still said he was hungry..."

"Has he reached Muscle Tendon Training? Why does he need so much nourishment?"

After entering the second realm of Muscle Tendon Training, the meat and nutrients one needed to consume and replenish were several times those of the first realm.

"Muscle Tendon Training, my ass. That guy was only in the first realm before! How could he advance that quickly?"

"He does so many missions every day? Doesn't that mean he must be rich..."

"Uh, probably. Why do you ask? Are you thinking..."

"Haha, no, no..."

"Even if you are, I'd advise you not to waste your time. A bottomless pit who eats that much every day doesn't have any spare money on him..."