The Inner Court!

"Intellect," fifteen!

Shen Xiuhan's thoughts stirred slightly, and the numbers on the panel began to jump.

Fourteen...

Eleven...

Until it stopped at one...

In an instant, the chaotic sounds around him were stripped away and faded into the distance, and heaven and earth seemed to have their sound hollowed out.

In Shen Xiuhan's mind, pale-golden points of light intertwined, condensing into an illusory human figure that assumed the starting posture of the Mystic Eagle Stance.

Immediately afterward, the pale-golden human figure used a dazzling speed to deduce, dissect, and reshape this obscure and complicated stance technique over and over again!

Once, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times... ten thousand times!

[You cast aside distracting thoughts, enduring hardships day and night through the Mystic Eagle Stance. In the fourth year, your stance technique broke through to the minor accomplishment realm, and you successfully sensed your vital energy and blood.]
[Unflinching through cold and heat, having undergone nine years of wind and frost tempering, the Mystic Eagle Stance finally reached major accomplishment, comprehending the Great Circulation Breathing Method! At the same time, your vital energy and blood reached major accomplishment, stepping into the Bone Tempering Realm!]
[In the thirteenth spring and autumn, your Mystic Eagle Stance reached perfection! You mastered the intricacies of bone-joint force application, your comprehension of this stance technique reached its peak, and your cultivation attained the Bone Tempering Peak...]
[In the fifteenth year, your understanding of the Mystic Eagle Stance climbed once more, and you comprehended the martial skill Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force. At the same time, you faintly touched upon a deeper martial Dao shackle. Amidst a flash of inspiration, due to your foundation still being too shallow, you failed to completely deduce and undergo qualitative change...]

Consciousness returned to his body.

The bitter training of alternating withered and flourishing fortunes over the past fifteen years, unflinching through cold and heat, poured countless realizations into his mind like an initiation of divine nectar, carving them into his limbs and bones.

The next moment!

Shen Xiuhan's face, and even the flesh beneath his old cotton-padded jacket, suddenly flushed an unnatural crimson, like boiling water.

The vital energy and blood quietly dormant within his body were like a ladle of hot oil poured into a furnace hearth, acting like wild horses breaking their reins as they surged, collided, and roared wildly through the meridians of his entire body.

"Hoo-ch... hoo-ch..."

Shen Xiuhan breathed heavily, the breath he exhaled no longer being cold air, but scorching white smoke.

This is...

Vital energy and blood?

He sensed his vital energy and blood!

Frenzy and joy surged in Shen Xiuhan's heart.

Yet very soon, the vital energy and blood within his body spun out of control, and the feverish sensation escalated several times over!

His skin and flesh felt as though they were placed inside an Eight Trigrams Furnace to be tempered, seeming as though in the next breath they would ignite his five viscera and six bowels entirely to ashes, instantly causing Shen Xiuhan's expression to change drastically.

"Cast off your outer garment! Strip off your clothes to disperse the heat!"

As if in a daze, a fierce shout exploded by his ear.

Shen Xiuhan had no time to think further. With a tug of his hands, his old cotton-padded jacket fell to the ground with a response.

The biting cold wind mixed with snow flurries slapped against his bare upper body, making a soft "chi-chi" sound as it transformed into a hazy white mist that rose upward, also causing his consciousness to grow clear.

Following the sound and looking over, the one who had just shouted fiercely was none other than Second Senior Brother Xu Chuan.

As for the surroundings, the thirty-odd outer courtyard disciples who had originally been burying their heads in bitter toil had all stopped their movements at this moment, pair after pair of eyes staring at him as if seeing a ghost, filled with utter disbelief!

"Do not let your mind wander!"

Xu Chuan shouted sternly once more: "On the stakes, guide your vital energy and blood, starting posture!"

Shen Xiuhan did not hesitate in the least. His feet crushed the residual snow as he leaped onto the wooden stake, his arms thrusting out like iron spears while his ten fingers curved and gathered into claws!

The Mystic Eagle Stance, start!

One form, five forms, eight forms... twenty-eight forms!

The stance frameworks he had practiced countless times carried the surging vital energy and blood. With every single move and posture, the claw winds whistled, tearing through the wind and snow.

Every rise and fall, turning and closing of the stance framework was smooth like flowing water, harmonious and thorough, without the slightest sense of stiffness anymore!

Only until this moment did those outer courtyard disciples standing frozen in place snap out of their stupor, bursting into an uproar!

Luo Qiaoqian's beautiful eyes widened, and she said with a face full of disbelief: "Vital energy and blood boiling like broth, defying the bitter frost of the depths of winter... Junior Brother Shen has knocked open the Blood Gate!"

"His whole body is red as fire, heat vaporizing into mist... It is definitely without a doubt the miraculous phenomenon of breaking through the 'Blood Tempering Realm'!" Another inner city aristocratic clan descendant was similarly terrified and drained of color.

"How can this be?! How many days has he even been admitted, how could it be so swift?!"

"Sixteen days! Counting today, it adds up precisely to sixteen days!"

At the edge of the crowd, Xiao Wen's little face flushed with excitement.

This youth who had always been timid and dared not breathe loudly before the inner city descendants was actually clenching his fists at this moment, pulling at his throat and shouting.

"Knocking open the Blood Gate in sixteen days, breaking through the Blood Tempering Realm... Th-this is too goddamn terrifying!"

"He's even two days faster than Eldest Senior Sister, and Eldest Senior Sister used eighteen days!"

"This person's natural talent is actually terrifying to this degree..."

"..."

The clamor exploded in the courtyard.

Deep within the back courtyard, a dark-colored figure swooped out abruptly.

Mei Shuangfeng's toes lightly touched a rockery, and amid fluttering garments, she had already landed at the edge of the outer courtyard martial arts arena.

"Master!"

The surrounding disciples hurriedly cupped their fists and bowed.

Yet Mei Shuangfeng ignored them, her habitually stern phoenix eyes staring fixedly at that figure moving with ease and mastery, a trace of astonishment flashing within her pupils.

"Form follows intent, intent precedes the claw, resembling a mystic eagle holding its head high..."

She said practically word for word: "The Mystic Eagle Stance, minor accomplishment!"

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding disciples drew in a sharp breath even more, their scalps tingling.

"What!"

"Breaking through Blood Tempering in sixteen days was already startling enough, but he has actually practiced the Mystic Eagle Stance to minor accomplishment as well!"

"Th-this... is this goddamn still human?!"

Within the crowd, Luo Qiaoqian bit down on a pearl of an incisor, her fingernails nearly pinching into her flesh.

That delicate and pretty face was filled with undisguised regret and vexation.

Had she known this Shen Xiuhan possessed such high natural talent, after the trial a few days ago, even if she had to drag and pull him or pester him to death, she would have dragged him to her own side!

However... as long as he had not yet been formally recruited, remedial action was still not too late.

What no one knew was...

At the very instant his consciousness returned to his body, Shen Xiuhan's Mystic Eagle Stance had already surpassed minor accomplishment and major accomplishment, stepping into the realm of perfection!

Yet a tall tree in the forest takes the brunt of the wind, and a tree that stands out from the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

Hiding in troubled times, trump cards must never be fully exposed for others to see.

Therefore, he deliberately held back a bit of force, leaving some flaws at several force-application transitions and connections, disguising it as the illusion of having barely stepped into "minor accomplishment."

Even so, it was still enough to leave everyone present too startled to speak.

"Hoo..."

Finishing the stance framework five times in a row, the surging and churning vital energy and blood within his body finally slowly settled along his meridians, completely mastered by him.

Shen Xiuhan took a deep breath, leaped down from the wooden stake in a bound, and cupped his fists, saying in a deep voice:

"Master, this disciple has not failed my mission. I have already knocked open the Blood Gate and stepped into Bright Force."

"Not bad, very not bad!"

Brilliant colors flashed continuously in the depths of Mei Shuangfeng's eyes. She had always acted decisively and without any dragging of feet, and she made a prompt judgment:

"Starting today, you are exempt from the outer gate trials and shall enter the inner courtyard for cultivation directly!"

Hearing this, Shen Xiuhan's eyes suddenly brightened.

During these days he had spent entering the martial hall, he was long no longer the ignorant youth of his initial arrival.

Outer courtyard disciples practiced stance techniques through grueling toil, with sensing vital energy and blood as the main priority.

Once they knocked open the Blood Tempering barrier and entered the inner courtyard, would they then be qualified to study true martial skills and combat methods.

Stance techniques were the martial Dao foundation, strengthening the body and nurturing blood.

Combat methods were truly lethal skills!

Only when paired with matching martial skills could the dormant goshawk that was the "Mystic Eagle Stance" be considered to have grown claws capable of tearing enemies to shreds!

"This disciple obeys!"

Shen Xiuhan cupped his fists heavily.

"Follow me to the inner courtyard. Xu Chuan, you come along as well."

"Yes, Master!"

Dropping these words, Mei Shuangfeng turned around and strode toward the inner courtyard.

Shen Xiuhan picked up the old cotton-padded jacket from the snow, wrapped himself in it, and followed closely behind Xu Chuan.

Behind them, the martial arts arena plunged into utter silence.

The gazes of all the outer courtyard disciples trailed after that receding figure, complicated beyond description.

Envy, jealousy, unwillingness...

And a few traces of an unspeakable bitterness.

Some clenched their fists, some lowered their heads, some moved their lips, but ultimately said nothing.

The Mei Martial Hall had strict rules.

Outer courtyard disciples paid expensive tuition fees, yet only obtained a half-year time limit.

Within this half year, if one could sense vital energy and blood and knock open the Bright Force mystic barrier, one could leap over the dragon gate to enter the inner courtyard, formally becoming a personal disciple who would bring honor to their ancestors.

If unable to sense it... wanting to continue practicing meant paying another eight taels for tuition.

Yet most people would recognize their own incompatibility with the martial Dao and choose to leave.

Among the thirty-odd people in the outer courtyard, the one with the longest tenure had been practicing for nearly five months, yet still had not touched the threshold of Blood Tempering.

Originally, nobody was in a rush.

After all, for so long, not a single person across the entire outer courtyard had ever practiced vital energy and blood; at worst, everyone would just get kicked out together.

Yet precisely...

An outer city fisherman's son who had only entered the gates a mere sixteen days ago had vividly knocked open Blood Tempering right before their eyes, stepped into the Bright Force stage, and been promoted on the spot by Master into the inner courtyard's gates!

For a time, the entire outer courtyard grew so quiet that only the sound of the wind remained.

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