Nourishing Essence Pill

As dusk approached, Fang Han walked out through the martial arts academy gates.

Standing on the stone steps before the academy, he looked up at the last glimmer of sunset on the horizon.

Instead of heading toward Eight Treasures Ward as usual, Fang Han

turned into a narrow alley beside it.

Over the past few days, he had deliberately kept watch and discovered that the Dragon King Gang still refused to give up.

Especially around Four Waters Ward, several unfamiliar faces could always be seen lurking about in secret.

Those Dragon King Gang members were asking around everywhere. Sooner or later, they would find some trace and eventually track it back to him.

Fang Han hurried along, deliberately choosing remote, dimly lit alleys.

The lanes crisscrossed one another, twisting and winding.

After roughly half an hour, a familiar low courtyard wall finally appeared ahead.

His younger sister, Fang Rui, was squatting beside the chicken coop in the corner of the yard, teasing the hens inside with a twig.

Hearing the gate open, she abruptly looked up.

"Second Brother!"

The little girl's eyes lit up. Tossing aside the twig, she pounced toward Fang Han.

Halfway there,

her gaze suddenly fixed on the string of bright red candied hawthorns in his hand, and she let out a delighted cry.

She bounced excitedly in place, her twin braids flying up and down as she waved her arms, unable to hide the joy on her face.

Fang Han crouched down, handed her the candied hawthorns, and rubbed the top of her fluffy head.

"Second Brother is the best!"

With that, the little girl happily ran back into the house.

Fang Han rose and walked to the kitchen door, just as his mother, Chen Cui, came out carrying bowls and chopsticks.

"So you finally remembered to come home."

She set the dishes on the low table in the courtyard, then grabbed Fang Han's arm and inspected him from head to toe.

Her gaze lingered on his face for a long while, as though confirming whether he had lost weight.

Fang Han let her look him over, his expression calm and a faint smile on his lips.

"Have you been eating well these past few days?"

Chen Cui lowered her voice. Her eyes casually flicked toward the courtyard wall, and she leaned closer to whisper,

"Auntie Zhao next door hasn't seen you come home these past few days. She kept asking me about you, asking where you went and why she hadn't seen you.

"I said you had gone to catch Spirit Fish, and that was enough to fool her."

Fang Han's expression remained unchanged, but his heart stirred slightly.

Being away from home for a day or two was easy enough to explain. At most, the neighbors would assume he was working elsewhere.

But if he vanished for more than three days, suspicion would inevitably arise!

The people living in Mud Bay Alley were all poor folk scraping by. They saw one another every day.

Everyone knew perfectly well what every family's children were like.

Though he usually was not particularly active, he came and went every day... Auntie Zhao and the others had all seen it.

Thinking of this,

Fang Han silently reminded himself that he still had to hurry with his martial arts training.

He needed to condense more Blood Qi as soon as possible, break through to the Body Tempering Third Layer, and become an official Martial Artist.

"Mother, don't worry."

Fang Han spoke reassuringly, his voice steady.

"I know what I'm doing."

Chen Cui nodded and said nothing more before turning back to the kitchen to continue her work.

Fang Han headed toward the inner room.

The room was dimly lit, and a faint herbal scent permeated the air.

His grandfather, Fang Yuanshan, was reclining against the headboard. His complexion was much better than it had been days ago.

Seeing that his grandfather was doing well, Fang Han finally relaxed and quietly withdrew.

As night deepened, his elder brother Fang Ding returned from his work at the docks.

When he entered and saw Fang Han, he merely nodded.

The two brothers needed no words. A single look was enough for them to understand each other.

The family gathered around the low table in the courtyard and ate a simple dinner.

After dinner, Fang Han returned to his room.

He shut the door, took a porcelain bottle from his robe, and poured out a Nourishing Essence Pill.

A faint medicinal fragrance wafted through the air. Just one breath of it made him feel refreshed.

Without further hesitation, he put the Nourishing Essence Pill into his mouth and lay down.

He entered Sage Mode, and his mind gradually settled into calmness.

Tomorrow was the martial arts academy's Ten-Day Minor Examination.

After the Minor Exam, Flood Peak Martial Arts Academy and Thunderclap Martial Arts Academy would jointly hold the Demon-Hunting Trial.

Fang Han planned to see whether he could, before the trial between the two academies,

use the Nourishing Essence Pill's medicinal effects to push his Martial Soul Avatar through the Nine Flood Dragon Palms in one go, reaching Major Accomplishment and then Perfection.

If this Mortal Grade palm technique could be trained to Perfection, it would allow him to condense five strands of Blood Qi.

Added to what he had already condensed, that would make a total of ten strands of Blood Qi!

Then he could use that as his foundation to break through to the Body Tempering First Layer.

The medicinal power of the Nourishing Essence Pill slowly spread through his body.

Fang Han felt clear-headed and full of energy, with an indescribable comfort coursing through his entire body.

His consciousness sank into his mind, where the Martial Soul Avatar still stood silently.

With a thought, the Martial Soul Avatar began practicing the Nine Flood Dragon Palms.

Palm after palm followed, fist winds howling as palm shadows danced.

After watching it an unknown number of times, Fang Han suddenly noticed something unusual.

The Martial Soul Avatar seemed to be practicing the palm technique much faster than before!

If he had to describe the feeling...

it was as if the Martial Soul Avatar had suddenly gained some kind of acceleration effect!

Its speed had shot straight from one-times speed to two-times speed!

Fang Han was somewhat astonished. This Nourishing Essence Pill could not only restore energy, but even stimulate the Martial Soul Avatar to practice faster!

At this rate, the time needed for a breakthrough could be cut by at least half.

He did not sleep all night.

The Martial Soul Avatar tirelessly practiced in his mind throughout the entire night.

Again and again, over and over, without pausing in the slightest.

As dawn faintly broke, morning light filtered through the paper window into the room.

Fang Han, lying on the bed, abruptly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed in them, filled with irrepressible delight.

The Panel appeared before him, and the Nine Flood Dragon Palms' proficiency was displayed clearly as [2512/5000]!

Good heavens!

In one night, the Martial Soul Avatar had tirelessly practiced the Nine Flood Dragon Palms more than five hundred times!

How was that merely twice as fast?

It was clearly more than twice as fast!

At this rate, training day and night,

the Nine Flood Dragon Palms' proficiency would break through the five-thousand mark in at most four or five days and reach Perfection!

Fang Han took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and got up to wash.

After breakfast, he bid farewell to his family and pushed open the door.

Today was the Minor Exam.

Although Fang Han had no intention of revealing his true strength during this Minor Exam, much less deliberately competing for any ranking,

there was no harm in going to take a look. It would also give him an idea of his fellow disciples' martial arts progress.

For example, Zhao Jing, the number one in the Outer Court, or Cao Xuan and the others.

He needed at least some sense of how far their strength had progressed.

The morning breeze was slightly cool.

Fang Han walked briskly toward the martial arts academy.

But what he did not know was

that a malicious scheme against him had already quietly begun to unfold in the shadows...

At the same time, at Four Waters Hall.

Hall Master Jiang Chong was practicing martial arts in the courtyard.

As hall master, he rarely involved himself in the open and covert struggles between gangs.

But since the day he began practicing martial arts, he had never once abandoned his morning training.

After completing a set of punches, Jiang Chong drew to a stop, breathing slightly heavily.

He took the towel handed over by a servant beside him, wiped the sweat from his face, then sat down and lifted a bowl of tea for a sip.

At that moment,

Skinny Monkey hurried in through the courtyard gate. He stopped beside Jiang Chong, bowed slightly, and said in a low voice,

"Hall Master, someone has arrived outside. He claims to be a disciple of Thunderclap Martial Arts Academy and says he wishes to meet you to discuss some business."

Jiang Chong raised an eyebrow and set his tea bowl on the stone table, a glint of interest flashing through his eyes.

Thunderclap Martial Arts Academy?

That was a martial arts academy in Eight Treasures Ward. It had always kept to its own affairs with Four Waters Ward, and they had nothing to do with each other.

Why would a disciple of Thunderclap Martial Arts Academy come to Four Waters Hall instead of properly training in Eight Treasures Ward, and what business did he want to discuss?

Jiang Chong pondered for a moment, casually draped the towel over the back of his chair, and said flatly, "Let him in."