One Should Not, at Least Not...

The door opened. Li Qingshan entered the room with a blade in one hand.

"Phew! I'm finally home."

Li Qingshan let out a breath and eagerly looked at the panel.

[Li Qingshan]

[Realm: Body Tempering 20/100]

[Technique:

Thirty-Sixth Broadcast Calisthenics Routine—The Stars Are Calling 1/3000 (Mastered)]

[Martial Skills: Lost-Trace Steps 276/3000 (Mastered), Wind Shadow Blade 5/3000 (Mastered)]

[Function: Martial Arts Space Lv1 (9/100)]

[Available Time: 8 years 150 days]

[Time Flow Rate: 1:10]

"Eight years! This trip to the Silver Radiance Hotel was really worth it."

Joy filled Li Qingshan's heart, like a man who had gone from poverty to sudden wealth.

Before setting out, he had only hoped that, if he was lucky, he would encounter one or two Feral Beasts.

He had even prepared himself for it to be a wild goose chase.

Yet not only had he slain three Feral Beasts, he had also eliminated an Evil God Follower "worth five years."

"For a while, I won't have to worry about available time anymore."

"Oh, right, there's also the tip-off reward that hasn't come through yet!"

Remembering what the Patrol Bureau staff had said, Li Qingshan felt even better.

And that was not all he had gained tonight.

Li Qingshan casually tossed the machete into the corner, carried the Thunder-Pattern Blade to the center of the living room, and stopped.

He drew the blade from its sheath.

Clang!

A flash of lightning vanished in an instant, and the blade-light split into shadows.

A few seconds later, the blade-light abruptly stopped.

Li Qingshan stared at the blade gleaming with violet light and muttered,

"It seems faster."

It was still Blade-Light Illusion, but when he used the Thunder-Pattern Blade, he could clearly feel that every strike flowed more smoothly.

It was as though the Thunder-Pattern Blade and the martial skill Wind Shadow Blade had been naturally made for each other.

Li Qingshan could not help recalling what Cao Ya had said earlier.

'This Thunder-Pattern Blade was carefully chosen by me. It'll be very important for your future martial skill cultivation.'

"I thought he had only said that casually because he was worried I wouldn't accept it. I didn't expect it to be true."

Li Qingshan sheathed the blade and once again felt the value of this "gift of thanks to his teacher."

The value of a gift did not depend solely on its price. It also depended on the giver's intentions.

"Looks like I'll have to take better 'care' of that little fatty from now on."

Li Qingshan smiled freely, set down the Thunder-Pattern Blade, turned, walked to the table, and opened the insulated case.

Cold mist spread out. Ten bottles of shimmering blue liquid were neatly arranged inside.

"Only ten bottles of Nutrient Solution left. Time to bleed money again."

Li Qingshan gritted his teeth, took out a bottle of Nutrient Solution, and drank it in one gulp.

Using up one bottle of Nutrient Solution every day was practically swallowing money.

Half of the 120,000 Star Coins he had earned in tuition had already been spent. There were only 60,000 Star Coins left on his card.

"I wonder how much this tip-off reward will be? If it's too little, I'll have to go back to Yinghai and find a new client."

Muttering to himself, Li Qingshan returned to the center of the living room. After taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind.

The first move of The Stars Are Calling: twisting the hips and swinging the arms.

Li Qingshan curled his toes tight, twisted his waist and hips, and raised his right arm.

Muscles bulged in layers, spreading all the way to his wrist. Veins emerged from the back of his hand and ran to his fingertips.

At the same time, his breathing followed his movements and Force-Exertion Stage, sometimes short and rapid, sometimes long and slow.

His heart naturally beat in rhythm with his breathing. His waist, hips, and arm muscles began trembling at the same time.

This was the Fourth Realm of The Stars Are Calling: Muscle Rhythm Control.

Li Qingshan felt neither surprise nor delight.

The moment the technique had advanced, all of this had already become instinct.

After steadily completing the first movement, Li Qingshan continued on to the next...

An hour later, all 108 movements had been completed.

Li Qingshan's entire body was drenched in sweat, steam rising from him, while an unconscious smile curled his lips.

It was the same Body Tempering session.

But after reaching mastery, he could clearly feel that his body was growing stronger faster.

However, the smile did not last long before a familiar hunger suddenly hit him.

"What's going on? How did the Nutrient Solution digest so quickly?"

Li Qingshan's expression changed, and he had no time to think further.

He hurried to the table in the corner, took out another bottle of Nutrient Solution, and drank it.

A moment later, his hunger eased somewhat, and Li Qingshan's gaze darkened as he figured out the reason.

The good news was that The Stars Are Calling had reached mastery, and its cultivation efficiency had indeed doubled.

The bad news was that one bottle of Nutrient Solution could only support one round of Body Tempering, making the consumption four times greater.

"No, even if I drank four bottles in a row, I probably still couldn't complete four rounds of Body Tempering."

Li Qingshan frowned as he remembered the Nutrient Solution instructions.

If multiple bottles were consumed within a short period, the body would develop resistance and be unable to absorb them completely.

Still, the solution was simple. It was written in the instructions as well.

"Intermediate Nutrient Solution, 8,000 per bottle."

"Martial arts really are a bottomless pit! I hope the Patrol Bureau reward arrives soon." Li Qingshan sighed helplessly.

But when he thought that switching to Intermediate Nutrient Solution might support four, perhaps even five cultivation sessions, he felt somewhat comforted.

After glancing at the remaining bottles of Nutrient Solution, Li Qingshan shook his head and gave up on continuing his Body Tempering.

After washing up briefly, he went straight back to bed.

"Wait, I almost forgot!"

Li Qingshan suddenly rolled over and sat up. He went to the living room, picked up the Thunder-Pattern Blade, and returned to the bedroom.

Gripping the hilt tightly, he drew the long blade, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the familiar circular platform came into view.

Li Qingshan turned with his blade in hand and looked at the one person and three beasts a hundred meters away, unsurprised.

"Just as I thought!"

Like Wolf Venom back then, monsters were directly placed into the Martial Arts Space the first time their projections were recorded.

But this time, Li Qingshan had not taken any shortcuts. He had killed all four monsters head-on.

"If I can kill you once, I can kill you countless times!"

Li Qingshan raised his blade high and charged forward.

The three Feral Beasts on the other side howled and roared as they sprang into a charge.

The figure followed close behind, not much slower than them.

The hundred-meter distance vanished in the blink of an eye. Li Qingshan clashed with the one person and three beasts.

All four monsters possessed physical abilities comparable to the Body Tempering Fifth Stage. Li Qingshan did not dare relax in the slightest, constantly shifting his footwork and pushing his mastered Lost-Trace Steps almost to its limit.

Even so, danger surrounded him at every turn, and several times he nearly died beneath beast fangs.

"No. Even if my stamina is unlimited, if this drags on, something will happen sooner or later."

After dodging a beast's jaws once more, Li Qingshan frowned.

Under the combined assault of the four monsters, he could only keep evading. The long blade in his hand had no room to show its power.

"I'll risk it."

A ruthless light flashed in Li Qingshan's eyes. He stepped forward and circled behind one of the Feral Beasts.

Another Feral Beast on his left immediately reacted, its claws sweeping toward him.

Li Qingshan neither dodged nor retreated. He gripped the long blade in reverse and slashed upward.

Rip!

With a single strike, the Feral Beast's waist and abdomen split open, and its organs spilled out.

"So sharp?"

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the claw from his left slammed into his arm, sending Li Qingshan flying.

"Cough, cough!"

Blood stained the corner of Li Qingshan's mouth. He quickly scrambled to his feet and used Lost-Trace Steps to evade the attacks that followed.

Agonizing pain surged through his left arm as it dangled loosely at his side. The bones inside had been shattered.

Yet Li Qingshan's lips curled into a vicious grin.

"Worth it!"

Compared to the tens of thousands of times he had "died in a wolf's jaws" before, this pain was nothing.

Thanks to the sharpness of the Thunder-Pattern Blade, trading one arm for one Feral Beast had already exceeded his expectations.

With one Feral Beast gone, many openings appeared in the joint attacks of the remaining three monsters.

As Li Qingshan dodged, he also found chances to counterattack with his blade.

Before long, the other two Feral Beasts were beheaded one after another.

Only then did Li Qingshan finally have the chance to carefully examine the figure before him.

You Qingya still wore the clothes from when she died, but her golden hair had turned black, and her appearance had reverted to how she had looked when they first met in the bar.

"So this is what you really looked like?"

Li Qingshan did not rush to attack. As he moved and dodged, he carefully observed You Qingya's expression.

Wolf Venom had only been a low-level Feral Beast, knowing only slaughter and possessing no intelligence, so there had been no way to judge.

Now, he wanted to see whether the Martial Arts Space retained the consciousness of the monsters it recorded.

But clearly, he had overthought it.

You Qingya's expression did not change in the slightest.

Or rather, no expression had ever appeared on her blank face.

Like a puppet, she possessed only the instinct to kill.

"What a pity."

Li Qingshan shook his head in disappointment and dodged another attack.

The You Qingya before him had no consciousness, but she was actually stronger than the real her.

Although she knew no martial skills, she fully displayed the speed and strength of the Body Tempering Fifth Stage.

After her attacks were evaded repeatedly, You Qingya's movements became increasingly fierce.

As she attacked with wide, sweeping motions, her clothes trembled.

Li Qingshan's gaze instinctively swept over her for "mine-clearing." A bold thought had just surfaced before he cut it off.

"One should not, at least not like this!"

Li Qingshan's expression turned cold. He stopped holding back, and Blade-Light Illusion erupted.

In an instant, chunks of flesh flew through the air, and blood splattered across the ground.