By the time Lu Chen returned to Heavenly Strategy Academy, he had a stack of gold notes tucked against his chest.
This was his share of the betting proceeds from the Skyreach Sword Arena after defeating Xiao Changhe.
A full thousand taels.
Even for a Bone-Forging Realm martial artist, this was no small sum. Spent carefully, it would support several months of arduous cultivation.
Afterward, Lu Chen entered seclusion to break through to the Bone-Forging Realm.
The fragrance of medicine filled the room.
Lu Chen sat cross-legged on his bed, tipped his head back, and swallowed a Heavenly Fragrance Jade-Bone Pill.
A cool sensation first spread through his stomach. Then the medicinal power abruptly dissolved, surging through his limbs and every bone with his blood and qi like a milky-white blaze.
He immediately activated the Nine-Burial Jade Bone Art.
His blood and qi sank layer by layer, seeping into his bones.
Crack! Crack!
Faint cracks rang out from his bones, one after another in the silence.
It felt as though countless fine needles were piercing his marrow, or tiny hammers were repeatedly striking every bone from within his body.
Veins throbbed on Lu Chen's forehead.
The nine burials meant grinding away the old bones with martial force and nourishing new bones with medicinal power.
Every cycle of the art was like "burying" his original skeleton once. Impurities within his bones were crushed and expelled bit by bit, while the pill's essence seized the opportunity to reshape them, allowing the bone tissue to grow anew and become tougher.
As he swallowed Heavenly Fragrance Jade-Bone Pills one after another, his progress in the art steadily increased.
Gradually, a jade-colored pattern as fine as a strand of hair appeared on the surface of his bones. A second followed, then a third.
These bone