Martial Hall Tournament

The next day, at dawn.

In the courtyard, Zhou Muyun slowly finished his stance training. He picked up the towel beside him and wiped away his sweat, a hint of delight on his face.

After a night of grueling practice, both his Willow Stake and Seven-Colored Glazed Body had gained a substantial amount of proficiency.

[Willow Stake, Mastery (30/2400)]

[Seven-Colored Glazed Body, Bronze Skin (200/600)]

All four bottles of Body-Tempering Liquid had been used up, bringing his progress to one-third. He was quite satisfied.

The Willow Stake's progress, even counting the added points, was advancing steadily as well.

During the day at the martial hall, he could continue practicing his stance training and Flurry Fist.

As for his fatigue, one packet of Qi-Blood Powder wiped it away completely, restoring his vigor.

"Training through the night really is effective with the aid of medicine, but..."

Zhou Muyun did the math. Four bottles of Body-Tempering Liquid and three packets of Qi-Blood Powder per night came to five taels of silver at current prices.

He only had around one hundred and fifty taels of silver left. If he trained like this every day, he would run out within a month.

The thirty taels provided by the Leng Household had all been handed to Xu Rou for daily expenses, and at most, half of it could be used.

For a moment, Zhou Muyun found himself torn between rapidly improving his strength and conserving his money.

"Right, the jade pendant!"

He entered his room, pulled a bundle from beneath the bed, and opened it. From within, he took out a jade pendant—the one he had obtained from Wu Biao, the Wild Bull Gang leader, that night. He had never found the time to sell it.

"I'll see how much this jade pendant can fetch before making any plans."

Gazing at the exquisitely patterned jade pendant in his hand, Zhou Muyun made up his mind.

After washing up and tidying himself, he tucked the jade pendant away and stepped out, heading toward the martial hall.

When he arrived at Greenwood Martial Hall, the vast training ground was empty.

Zhou Muyun had long since grown used to this and was not surprised in the least. He went straight onto the training ground and began practicing.

His fists sliced through the air as sweat flew. Every move of Flurry Fist appeared incomparably practiced in his hands.

The drifting, elusive quality of willow catkins between each move was displayed to the fullest.

While Zhou Muyun was immersed in his training, the other martial hall disciples gradually began to arrive.

Seeing Zhou Muyun already drenched in sweat, they were used to it as well.

No one was surprised. Zhou Muyun was always the first to arrive, and this had become common knowledge among them.

The effects of the Cloud Forest Tournament continued to spread, and everyone was training far harder than before.

They also arrived much earlier. In the past, Zhou Muyun would have trained for an hour before anyone else showed up.

Now, in less than half an hour, more than half of the martial hall disciples had arrived.

For a time, the sounds of training echoed throughout the grounds, and the martial hall brimmed with vitality.

Just then, Li Qingliang sent someone to the front courtyard and summoned all the personal disciples, Zhou Muyun included, to the rear courtyard.

Everyone took their places in the rear courtyard and waited for Li Qingliang to arrive.

At that moment, Li Buhui spotted Zhou Muyun standing at the far left and asked with some skepticism, "Master summoned the personal disciples. Junior Brother Zhou, why did you follow us in?"

No one had noticed before, but upon hearing this, they all turned their gazes toward Zhou Muyun.

Senior Brother Yan Qing glanced over as though he had noticed something, then withdrew his gaze.

Bai Yu and Liu Yan wore expressions of anticipation for a good show, while Leng Ni and Mo Qi looked puzzled.

"I entered the Organ Refinement Realm two days ago. Naturally, I count as a personal disciple as well. Why can't I come in?"

Zhou Muyun looked calmly at Li Buhui, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Oh? If I remember correctly, Junior Brother Zhou, you've been at the martial hall for less than four months, and you've already broken through to Organ Refinement?"

"Just the result of hard training. It's not worth mentioning."

"Words alone prove nothing. Since you say you've reached Organ Refinement, why not take one of my punches?" Li Buhui said lightly, mockery written across his face.

"Senior Brother Li, we're all disciples of the same martial hall. It wouldn't be good to start fighting." Mo Qi stepped forward at that moment to mediate.

As he spoke, he kept signaling Zhou Muyun with his eyes.

In his view, unless someone possessed extraordinary talent like Bai Yu, how could an ordinary person reach Organ Refinement in under four months?

If Zhou Muyun truly had such talent, there would probably have been no place for Bai Yu long ago, much less any need for him to teach Zhou Muyun.

"Mo Qi, put away that holier-than-thou act. I've been sick of the sight of him for a long time. Training hard every day—who is he trying to impress?

He doesn't have to fight me. He can apologize to me, then get the hell out of the rear courtyard."

As Li Buhui spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, clearly unwilling to let the matter rest.

Mo Qi was about to speak when Zhou Muyun's light voice rang out. "Senior Brother Li, please enlighten me."

Hearing this, Li Buhui looked at the utterly composed Zhou Muyun, and a burst of inexplicable anger rose in his chest.

"You said it yourself." Then, amid everyone's astonished stares, he lunged forward and threw a heavy punch at Zhou Muyun with a howl.

Zhou Muyun remained where he was without panicking. He also wanted to see just how strong he had become.

Watching the fist draw closer and closer, he did not dodge. Instead, he silently activated the Seven-Colored Glazed Body.

A faint bronze sheen appeared on his right fist. Then he threw a punch of his own, intending to meet it head-on.

Seeing Zhou Muyun's movements, Li Buhui sneered inwardly. He's not even defending himself. What an idiot.

Bai Yu and Liu Yan, even Leng Ni, shook their heads. Mo Qi cried out in alarm, "Absolutely not, Junior Brother Zhou!"

Amid his shout, the two fists collided.

Bang!

There was no spray of blood and flesh, nor was there any sound of bones breaking. Zhou Muyun staggered back three steps before steadying himself.

The entire courtyard erupted. Yan Qing's gaze flickered, while the others wore stunned expressions.

Li Buhui himself looked utterly incredulous.

How is that possible? Even if he broke through to the Organ Refinement Realm, I'm at the peak of Organ Refinement. He took my punch head-on without a scratch—what kind of monster is he?

Just then, Li Qingliang emerged from the room. His gaze swept over everyone as he said calmly, "I only learned yesterday that Zhou Muyun had broken through. I was in too much of a hurry today to announce it. Since you already know, he will be a personal disciple of the martial hall from now on."

Li Qingliang could have come out earlier, but he had been curious himself and wanted to see Zhou Muyun's strength.

The result had greatly exceeded his expectations, and he could not help but regard Zhou Muyun even more highly.

Hearing Li Qingliang's words and recalling Zhou Muyun's performance just now, everyone understood and accepted the fact.

Seeing that Li Qingliang had come out, Li Buhui naturally could not continue making a scene. With an ugly expression, he returned to his place.

Zhou Muyun gave Li Qingliang a slight bow before returning to his own place as well.

As expected, body-tempering techniques greatly enhanced one's strength!

After exchanging punches with Li Buhui just now, his right arm had only gone slightly numb under the enhancement of Bronze Skin.

Zhou Muyun was already looking forward to seeing what it would be like once Bronze Skin reached completion.

Once all the disciples had returned to their places, Li Qingliang slowly said in an even tone, "Yesterday, I visited several friends. After discussing it, we decided to move the Martial Hall Tournament forward. It will be held three months from now."

At these words, everyone but the senior brother revealed looks of surprise.

The Martial Hall Tournament was an opportunity for the ten martial halls within the city to exchange pointers and compete with one another.

The tournament used a king-of-the-hill format. Whichever martial hall remained standing in the end would become that year's champion martial hall, holding the title until the next tournament began.

Li Qingliang continued, "Because the Cloud Forest Tournament will be held during the New Year, the Martial Hall Tournament has naturally been moved forward. Moreover, the first-place winner of this tournament will receive a five-year treasure herb."

When they heard that the reward was actually a five-year treasure herb, everyone present, Zhou Muyun included, revealed longing in their eyes.

A treasure herb was what people called a heavenly treasure. Unlike ordinary medicinal herbs, treasure herbs provided enormous benefits to a martial artist's strength.

An ordinary one-year treasure herb usually cost a full hundred taels of silver. A five-year one could likely only be bought with gold.