Monster Beast Tonic Soup

In a corner of the training grounds, a skinny youth practiced the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Thirteen Stances. His movements stirred the wind like a tiger's roar, looking every bit the part.

After finishing one round, Jian Shuhao looked hopefully at Shen Xiu, who had been watching from the side, and asked with a smile, "Young Brother Shen, how did I do this time?"

"Practice it a few more times, and there shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Alright, then I'll come again tomorrow."

"You're not afraid your father will come catch you tomorrow?"

Shen Xiu said with a smile. Counting the days, tomorrow was about the time his father would come drag him back to his studies again.

"It's fine. I'll be back again in a couple of days." Jian Shuhao shook his head, utterly unconcerned.

Shen Xiu merely smiled without saying anything.

Shen Xiu had met Jian Shuhao's father a few times. He knew that the portly middle-aged man, who carried the scent of copper coins about him, was also mild-tempered.

Whenever he came to take his son home, he never gave Shen Xiu, who had been teaching and guiding his son, a cold look or a word of reproach. Instead, he apologized every time for troubling Shen Xiu.

For a merchant who owned several rice shops and had a modest fortune, to show such bearing and cultivation toward a Labor Disciple was truly rare.

"Young Brother Shen, this is one qian of silver." Jian Shuhao took out a piece of broken silver from his money pouch and handed it to Shen Xiu.

As Shen Xiu reached out to accept the silver, he immediately felt several gazes shooting toward him.

Most of those gazes belonged to Labor Disciples, their faces full of envy. After all, who would not want to earn one qian of silver every two days just by moving their hands a little?

But when they thought of the progress of their own training, their extravagant hopes were quickly snuffed out.

After guiding Jian Shuhao, Shen Xiu headed straight for the Canteen inside the martial hall.

By the time he arrived at the Canteen, it was nearly packed to bursting. He waited for half a quarter-hour before finally reaching the front of the line.

"Mm... black steamed buns or cauliflower rice?"

The old man serving food instinctively reached for the buns. Then he happened to glance up and realized that it was Shen Xiu. He immediately grinned. "How about a bowl of hearty meat soup?"

The meals of ordinary Labor Disciples were quite plain, no more than the black steamed buns and pickled vegetables distributed by the martial hall. As for feasting on fish and meat every day, that was something they could forget about; such treatment belonged to Formal Disciples.

Labor Disciples were not forbidden from eating it, but they had to pay extra. One meal cost dozens of copper coins. What Labor Disciple could afford that?

Shen Xiu, on the other hand, did not begrudge spending money. Now that he was practicing martial arts and his consumption had increased, he had no choice but to stop being frugal. Every few days, he would take out the silver he had saved and treat himself to a few meals.

With another source of income these past few days, he had been eating such meals even more often.

After coming so many times, even the old man serving food recognized this regular customer hidden among the Labor Disciples.

Yet Shen Xiu smiled and shook his head at those words. "I'll have something different today. Sir, bring me a bowl of Monster Beast Tonic Soup!"

The meals of Labor Disciples were ordinary because of their financial limits, but among Registered Disciples, there were naturally those from well-off families. Their food was naturally not so simple.

And thus, Monster Beast Tonic Soup came into being.

Though it was called monster beast soup, it was actually made from ordinary wild wolves and other beasts, simmered with a few medicinal herbs.

It was quite effective at replenishing strength and vitality, better than ordinary meat, and was very popular among Registered Disciples and some Formal Disciples.

But it was truly expensive, costing one qian of silver per serving. Ordinary Labor Disciples rarely even got to eat meat, much less Monster Beast Tonic Soup, which cost half a month's wages for a single bowl.

They simply could not afford it.

Now that Shen Xiu had a little money, he planned to try a bowl as well.

"Well, well, Little Shen has become quite lavish!"

The old man serving food teased him, but his hands were quick and sure. He took the one qian of silver Shen Xiu handed over and casually tossed it into a drawer, then soon brought out an earthenware bowl brimming with meat from the back.

A rich aroma of meat rushed over him. Merely smelling it made something within his body stir faintly.

Carrying it to an empty seat, Shen Xiu soon began to eat with great relish.

A quarter-hour later, the huge earthenware bowl was quickly scraped clean. He even drank every last drop of broth from the bottom.

After eating it, he found that it truly differed from ordinary meat. His entire body seemed to steam with heat, as though he had taken a blissful hot bath inside and out.

The old man serving food had once reminded him that the hour after drinking tonic soup was the best time for training and exercise.

Shen Xiu knew this was the effect of the medicine within it, so he hurried back to the courtyard to cultivate while the opportunity lasted. Supported by the medicinal power, the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Thirteen Stances he performed were more forceful and more refined than before.

The entire sequence flowed through in one breath, with almost no pauses.

The proficiency of the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art on the panel screen also rose at a rate visible to the naked eye.

As he performed the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Thirteen Stances over and over, his body grew increasingly practiced. His qi and blood boiled along with the circulation of the art, coursing throughout his entire body.

Before long, Shen Xiu was drenched in sweat.

Though he was somewhat tired, he felt incomparably invigorated. The medicinal power had yet to fade, so he continued to throw his punches as usual. Then, in the next instant, the qi and blood within his body suddenly churned violently.

Shen Xiu immediately understood that it was a sign of breakthrough.

So he continued without stopping.

His qi and blood surged like turbulent river waters toward his limbs and bones, spreading through the muscles of his body and racing madly about.

At the same time, he felt intense pain erupt from every muscle in his body.

It was as though countless iron hammers surrounded him, treating every muscle in his body like an iron ingot and hammering them madly—striking without cease, swelling and contracting over and over, squeezing out every shred of strength hidden within them.

The process lasted for half the time it took an incense stick to burn before gradually easing.

Once he recovered, Shen Xiu discovered that he was drenched in sweat and on the verge of collapse. Yet when he examined his body's outward appearance, he found that subtle changes had already taken place.

Before this, after nearly a year of Golden Cicada feeding him medicinal dregs in return, he had already cast off his frailty. After several months of tempering his physique through the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art, he could only be considered sturdy.

But now, the muscles throughout his limbs and torso had clearly become fuller, tighter, and smoother. His entire body exuded a faint aura of lean sharpness.

There was no doubt about it.

This was the first realm of martial cultivation: Body Tempering.

First Realm Body Tempering.

As the name implied, it was the initial tempering of skin and flesh. By tempering the body three times, one could make the physique strong and the qi and blood abundant, reaching the limits of an ordinary person.

Judging from how he felt at the initial stage of Body Tempering, his strength had at least doubled, if not more.

At that moment, he found it hard to imagine that a mere initial realm could bring such tremendous change. What kind of sight would Muscle Tendon Training, Bone Tempering, and the Gui Cang Realm beyond them present?

But after analyzing it carefully,

with his current strength, he still could not do what Senior Brother Lin Yuan had done—send a large buffalo flying with one punch, then kill it from the shock.

But beating up a few adult men who did not know martial arts should not be a problem.

At that moment, he desperately wanted to find a place to test it out.

So Shen Xiu opened the back door, left the martial hall, and came to the riverbank only a few dozen meters away.

As he passed the riverbank, he stopped in his tracks.

The river was around two zhang wide. Since it was not the high-water season, the flow was sparse. Only a thin ribbon of water ran through the middle of the broad riverbed, exposing the flat riverbank.

At the edge of the riverbank, a yellow ox was taking leisurely little steps. Its eyes were half-closed as it grazed contentedly.

Above it stretched a scene of endless blue sky, tranquil and carefree.