Harvest!

"Ha..."

The black shadow seemed to have anticipated it. Tilting slightly to the side, it dodged the flash of the blade.

At the same time, it swept out its wide sleeve and flung it forward with a fierce jerk.

"Whoosh!"

A cloud of lime blasted into his face, scattering with a roar in the night wind!

"Ah! My eyes!"

Caught completely off guard, Tian Erhu was smeared from head to toe by the despicable trick.

A searing pain stabbed into his eyes. He let out a howl, instinctively lowering his head and flailing his arms to block.

Shen Xiuhan's right hand was like a venomous snake. Slipping past Tian Erhu's wildly flailing arms, his five fingers turned into iron hooks and clamped precisely around his throat.

His qi and blood surged. He squeezed hard!

Crack-crack-crack...

A string of bone-breaking sounds made one's teeth ache.

The next moment, Tian Erhu's iron-tower-like body toppled straight to the ground, like a baby that had fallen asleep.

The disturbance from their brief clash had been considerable, and in the silent night, it was especially clear.

Worried that something might change, Shen Xiuhan immediately crouched down and searched the corpse.

But after a thorough search, Tian Erhu had nothing on him.

Shen Xiuhan furrowed his brow and instantly darted into the house.

The room was dim. Borrowing the faint light filtering in through the window, he searched swiftly.

A moment later, several things had already found their way into Shen Xiuhan's arms...

Four taels of loose silver.

A handwritten Body-Tempering Technique with a worn cover, titled Iron Bone Technique.

Shen Xiuhan did not examine it closely. He stuffed everything into his clothes in one go.

Back in the courtyard, his gaze swept over the five bloody finger holes atop Tian Erhu's head, each deep enough to expose bone, and his brow furrowed slightly.

Such a gruesome fatal wound was far too distinctive. If he threw the body at the Golden Dragon Gang's branch, it would only make the attempt to cover things up all the more obvious.

"Forget it. Early spring is almost here. Those starving wolves and tigers in Great Mount Li, hungry after an entire winter, should be coming out of their dens to hunt."

Shen Xiuhan snorted coldly.

The qi and blood within his body surged. With a single-arm jerk, he hoisted the iron-tower-like corpse, weighing more than two hundred pounds, onto his shoulder.

Though such violent expenditure of qi and blood could not last long, it was enough for him to sprint through the night to the foot of Great Mount Li.

After throwing the corpse far into a hidden thorny thicket, he immediately greased his feet and fled into the darkness.

By moonlight, Shen Xiuhan hurried back along a remote path.

On the way, Shen Xiuhan pulled out the Iron Bone Technique and began flipping through it.

"No wonder Tian Erhu hadn't entered the qi-and-blood realm yet, but could take one of my attacks head-on. So he had been cultivating this hard technique."

He turned the pages one by one. The astonishment in his eyes grew increasingly intense as he silently pondered.

If I can wait a little longer and save up enough intelligence points to deduce this Iron Bone Technique to mastery, or even perfection...

Then I'll have the Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force for offense and the Iron Bone Technique for defense. That will give me another trump card to save my life!

"Not bad. A life-preserving method like this truly is fated to be mine!"

He put the old booklet away close to his body.

With a slight stir of thought, Shen Xiuhan recalled the other pieces of intelligence the system had refreshed today.

[Information ③: Two li north, deep within a den in the outer reaches of Great Mount Li, there is a heaven-and-earth-nurtured 'treasure beast—Azure Awl Chicken,' along with three unhatched 'treasure beast spirit eggs' in its nest!]

Great Mount Li!

A treasure beast!

Shen Xiuhan's gaze tightened slightly, and he subconsciously turned his head to glance north.

The reason he had thrown Tian Erhu's corpse at the foot of Great Mount Li was that he had heard the mountain teemed with wild beasts and was fraught with unfathomable danger.

The hunters from the outer city did not dare venture deep inside unless they went in groups.

Although the 'Azure Awl Chicken' mentioned in the information was in the outer reaches, he still could not afford to be careless!

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.

At the request of our many readers, we have now launched an ad-free feature for VIP members.

Click to view.

I heard that Uncle Chen next door used to go into the mountains to hunt when he was young and knows the terrain quite well. I can ask him for advice when I have some free time, then make plans.

Even if the treasure is good, I'll still need to be alive to claim it.

Shen Xiuhan was a cautious man. He felt no impulse to rush into the mountains in search of treasure.

He set the matter aside for the time being.

He continued reading. The remaining pieces of intelligence were still the same as before.

The original Through-Back Stance manual;

As well as the inheritance left behind by a true disciple of Sea-Fishing Tower deep within Cloudwater Lake...

Shen Xiuhan shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and quickened his steps toward home.

Pushing open the wooden door of the thatched hut, he found the interior as tranquil as ever. Madam Zheng and Shen Momo were still deep in their dreams.

Shen Xiuhan carefully removed his outer robe and lay down on the bed. Gazing at the pitch-black rafters, he let out a long breath.

Then, he closed his eyes.

The second day after killing Yu Zhe and Tian Erhu.

The eastern sky had only begun to pale when Shen Xiuhan, as usual, stepped through the gates of Mei Martial Hall.

As soon as he entered the front courtyard, he saw several outer-court disciples who had arrived early. Taking advantage of the morning practice not having begun, they had gathered beside the weapon rack, whispering among themselves, their excitement impossible to conceal.

"Have you heard? The Golden Dragon Gang went completely berserk first thing this morning!"

"What happened?"

"I heard one of the Golden Dragon Gang's members was butchered last night. He died horribly, and the body was left right outside their own branch!"

"Whoa, then it definitely had to be the Turbulent Wave Gang!"

"The Turbulent Wave Gang? The territory of that 'Peerless Fist-and-Blade Zheng Dadao'?"

"Exactly! Zheng Dadao was a hardened soldier who retired from the army. Among the Bright Force martial artists in Longcloud County, he was said to have few equals!"

"Could the Golden Dragon Gang swallow that grudge?"

"Swallow my ass! The Golden Dragon Gang's leader, Gao Fu, had gathered his men before dawn and charged into Xuanhua Ward, shouting that Zheng Dadao would pay for the blood debt! But the problem was..."

"What?"

"The Turbulent Wave Gang's reaction was strange. They seemed terribly aggrieved. One of their hall masters even swore that the matter absolutely had nothing to do with the Turbulent Wave Gang, or else Heaven would strike them with five thunderbolts!"

"Huh? You mean someone secretly framed them?"

"Exactly! Quite a few people guessed that someone had deliberately redirected the disaster toward them, but so what? These two sides were already irreconcilable over the profits from West Market. The Golden Dragon Gang didn't care whether it was a frame-up. As long as someone had died, the entire blood debt would be charged to the Turbulent Wave Gang!"

"Good heavens... Doesn't that mean Zheng Dadao was taking the blame for someone else for no reason? Would he be willing to accept that?"

"He was more than willing! Not only did Zheng Dadao not shrink from the fight, he even mocked Gao Fu in the street, saying that Longcloud County had suffered under the Golden Dragon Gang for far too long, and that this corpse was proof that Heaven had finally opened its eyes! He even took the opportunity to raise a great banner and call on everyone who had been bullied by the Golden Dragon Gang to charge in together and completely tear down their branch!"

"Hiss... What deep scheming! What happened after that?"

"After that? Naturally, blades and weapons met! The two great gangs fought in the streets, battling until Heaven and Earth were overturned. They say even the main road was ground away..."

"Give it a rest! You're talking nonsense. The more you boast, the farther from the truth you get!"

Several outer-court disciples spat as they spoke, gesticulating grandly while boasting about all kinds of rumors.

Suddenly, the disciple who had been speaking so enthusiastically cut off mid-sentence. His expression changed slightly. He hurriedly straightened and stammered,

"Senior Brother Shen..."

The others froze upon hearing this and subconsciously turned their heads.

They saw Shen Xiuhan standing in the courtyard's wind and snow with his hands behind his back. No one knew when he had arrived.

His figure was tall and straight. Beneath his slightly open collar, the outlines of muscles hard as iron could be faintly seen. His deep, cold eyes were quietly watching them.

The few of them jumped and hurriedly stood at attention, bowing together with their fists clasped.

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

Within Mei Martial Hall, the status of inner-court and outer-court disciples was worlds apart.

When new disciples entered the hall, aside from receiving a few days of personal instruction in the stances from Hall Master Mei Shuangfeng, they spent the remaining half a year or so being supervised and guided on their master's behalf by the senior brothers and sisters of the inner court.

Thus, Shen Xiuhan, who had eaten and trained alongside them just yesterday, had entered the inner court today. To these outer-court disciples, his status had undergone a world-shaking transformation.

It was the instinctive awe of those at the bottom toward a martial artist in a position of power.

Shen Xiuhan listened secretly for a while. Seeing that his eavesdropping had been discovered, he waved casually without saying a word and walked straight into the inner court.

Watching his retreating back, the expressions of the outer-court disciples grew indescribably complicated.

Yesterday, he had still been Junior Brother Shen, who had entered the hall only half a month ago. Today, he had opened the Blood Gate and become an exalted direct disciple of the inner court.

He had ascended to Heaven in a single step!

When you encounter advertisements like "Are you a True Person?", there is no need to pay attention. Simply close them. Never scan the code or send a text message!