The next day, at the training grounds.
Fang Han felt that his efficiency in practicing his fists was clearly far worse than before.
Mainly because he had run out of Solomon's Seal and Blood-Qi Pills.
"To maintain the intensity of practicing at least eighty sets of punches every day, Blood-Qi Pills are indispensable.
"Fortunately, after dealing with Zhou Dabao, I had thirty-three taels of loose silver come in. After deducting the scattered expenses of these past days, I was quite flush.
"Buying more Blood-Qi Pills won't be a problem at all."
Having made up his mind, Fang Han no longer hesitated.
After lunch.
His gaze swept through the crowd, and he soon spotted Wei Zixiong standing beneath an old locust tree, talking to someone.
"Senior Brother Wei, may I have a word?"
Wei Zixiong turned around. Upon seeing Fang Han, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
"Is something the matter, Junior Brother Fang?"
"Yes. I want to buy a few more Blood-Qi Pills."
Wei Zixiong's eyes brightened slightly. He hurriedly pulled Fang Han a few steps aside and asked with a smile, "How many?"
"Three."
As he spoke, Fang Han took out a tael of loose silver from his robes and handed it over.
Wei Zixiong accepted the silver, his face immediately breaking into a broad smile. "Junior Brother Fang, you're straightforward! Same old rules—I'll make sure they're in your hands before the hall closes this afternoon."
"Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother Wei." Fang Han nodded slightly and turned to leave.
The moment he returned to the training grounds, he ran into Lin Rou head-on.
Lin Rou wore a plain white training outfit today. Her black hair was tied high, revealing a face of clear and unworldly beauty.
"Fang Han," Lin Rou called to him, her voice cool.
Fang Han stopped and cupped his fists in salute. "Senior Sister Lin."
Lin Rou walked up to him, her gaze sharp as a torch as she looked him up and down, her tone grave.
"I just heard that you wanted to buy Blood-Qi Pills from Wei Zixiong?"
Fang Han was slightly taken aback. "Yes."
Disappointment filled Lin Rou's eyes. She drew a deep breath, her tone stern. "Before you have tempered Blood Qi, it is best to use things like Blood-Qi Pills sparingly."
"Do you know that while such medicines can bolster Blood Qi in a short time, they can also easily pull up seedlings to help them grow, prematurely exhausting your own potential?
"Once your foundation is unstable, trying to gather Blood Qi and break through realms in the future will be harder than scaling the heavens.
"How many people have coveted a momentary shortcut, only to end with their Blood Qi exhausted and their path of Martial Dao severed? Do you understand?"
Fang Han opened his mouth, wanting to explain.
He bought Blood-Qi Pills only because his body consumed too much and needed external replenishment. That was all.
But when he saw the disappointment in Lin Rou's eyes, the words at his lips were swallowed back down.
What was there to explain?
He and Lin Rou were neither kin nor friends. They were merely an ordinary senior sister and a newly enrolled apprentice at the martial hall.
As for how she viewed him, he would not take it to heart.
Fang Han lowered his eyes and said blandly, "Thank you, Senior Sister Lin. Fang Han will remember that."
Seeing his neither salty nor bland manner, Lin Rou felt even more disappointed, and even a trace of disgust rose within her.
She had originally thought that although Fang Han's natural endowment was poor, his comprehension was at least exceptional. If he worked hard, perhaps he might still accomplish something.
But now it seemed that he was nothing more than someone greedy for shortcuts, unable to tell the weight of things.
"Take care of yourself."
Lin Rou coldly tossed out those words, then turned and left.
Fang Han watched her depart, his expression calm.
That afternoon, at the front of the training grounds.
"Today, we will not discuss fist techniques or moves."
Huo Zheng's gaze swept over the gathered crowd, his voice low and powerful. "I will speak to you about the realms of Martial Dao."
At those words, the apprentices all pricked up their ears and instinctively focused.
The realms of Martial Dao were a subject no one who stepped onto the path of Martial Dao could avoid, and the foundation that determined how far they could go in the future.
Huo Zheng stood with his hands behind his back and slowly began.
"The path of Martial Dao goes from shallow to deep, from low to high. The three layers of Body Tempering are the foundation. These three layers are Skin Tempering, Bone Tempering, and Sinew Tempering."
His voice was calm, each word entering everyone's ears with perfect clarity.
"Skin Tempering is the tempering of the skin and membranes across the body, making them tough as leather, difficult for blades and swords to wound.
"Upon reaching Major Accomplishment, Blood Qi beneath the skin and membranes becomes abundant. When ordinary fists and kicks land upon it,
"it is like striking oxhide. The force is dispersed layer upon layer, making it difficult to injure what lies within."
"Bone Tempering is the tempering of the bones throughout the body, making them hard as iron, unyielding even after a hundred bends.
"The human skeleton supports the entire body. If one's bones are not strong, it is like a house without beams or pillars—no matter how great one's strength, it cannot be brought forth.
"When Bone Tempering achieves success, a single punch causes the joints to ring like metal and stone striking together, the sound clear and resonant."
"Sinew Tempering is the tempering of the sinews throughout the body, making them supple as bowstrings, able to stretch and contract freely.
"Sinews are the root of strength. Long sinews bring great power; resilient sinews bring enduring force.
"When Sinew Tempering achieves success, with every movement of the hands and feet, the sinews tighten like a fully drawn bowstring.
"Once released, the force can shove mountains and overturn seas, unstoppable in its momentum."
Huo Zheng paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone.
"These three layers have no fixed order. You may proceed step by step, or cultivate them simultaneously.
"Yet in the end, only when all three become one can Perfection be achieved.
"Only when skin, bones, and sinews merge as one have you truly crossed the threshold of Martial Dao. Before that, you are all outsiders standing beyond the gate."
One apprentice could not help raising his hand to ask, "Senior Brother Huo, how can one temper the sinews, bones, and skin?"
Huo Zheng's expression remained calm as he answered indifferently:
"When the Gale-Breaking Fist reaches Major Accomplishment, you may attempt to gather Blood Qi.
"Blood Qi is the source power of a martial artist, like oil in a lamp and charcoal in a furnace.
"When you gather your first Blood Qi, your force will increase tremendously.
"As you gather more and more Blood Qi, the growth in your force will rise along with the tide.
"The more vigorous one's Blood Qi, the stronger the martial artist."
Standing amid the crowd, Fang Han listened with rapt attention, and enlightenment suddenly dawned on him.
According to Senior Brother Huo, after the Gale-Breaking Fist reached Major Accomplishment, one could attempt to gather Blood Qi.
He could now throw punches with over six hundred catties of force precisely because those two strands of Blood Qi had been secretly enhancing him.
If he trained the Gale-Breaking Fist to Major Accomplishment, then gathered even more Blood Qi...
Another apprentice asked, "Senior Brother Huo, may I ask how one can gather Blood Qi?"
Huo Zheng glanced at the apprentice, his tone still even:
"The better your natural endowment, the easier it is to gather Blood Qi. Beyond that, taking various nourishing medicinal ingredients every day also gives you a ten or twenty percent chance of gathering Blood Qi. However..."
His tone shifted, gaining a touch of chill. "Medicinal ingredients are external aids after all. Their effects vary from person to person and depend entirely on luck. Some people gain nothing from taking them, so you must not force the matter."
At those words, the question that had lingered in Fang Han's heart for so long immediately vanished like smoke.
After gathering two strands of Blood Qi, he had seen no further progress.
So gathering Blood Qi depended entirely on luck...
"For every ten strands of Blood Qi you gather, you may attempt to temper any one of the three layers.
"In other words, to achieve Perfected Third Layer of Body Tempering, you must gather at least thirty strands of Blood Qi.
"This is the foundation of foundations. If the foundation is not firm, you will find it difficult to take even a single step in the future."
His gaze turned distant, as though he were looking toward realms even higher and farther away.
"After Perfected Third Layer of Body Tempering comes Manifest Force.
"At that time,
"the power of Blood Qi within the body can be converted into Internal Force and released outward. Force can penetrate the body, and taking a life becomes effortless.
"Only upon reaching this step can you be considered to have truly entered the ranks of martial artists and cast off the body of a mortal."
The apprentices listened with surging excitement, their eyes filled with longing.
Standing amid the crowd, Fang Han's expression remained calm, without the slightest ripple in his heart.
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