A Mayfly Beholding the Azure Sky

A dead end.

The mountains formed a barrier; Skin Grinding Realm martial artists could not get out.

Exotic Beast Meat was monopolized by the County Government and the powerful households, with only a tiny amount released into the Black Market.

Even if a Skin Grinding Realm martial artist reached Bone Forging—

Then what?

On one side, they could be recruited by the great households and spend the rest of their lives in comfort within Pingling County.

On the other, they could leave Pingling County and endure life-and-death trials for only a sliver of hope of reaching the prefectural city.

Between the two, which would one choose?

Jiang Shu said nothing. He had originally thought that once he reached the Skin Grinding Realm, he would no longer encounter any great difficulties in Pingling County.

Now, it seemed he had still been too young.

To be in Pingling County was to be inside an enormous cage!

The wind swept through the courtyard.

Qi Yuan was already somewhat drunk. The slices of meat on the plate had long since been eaten clean. He shook the now-empty wine jug, suddenly rose to his feet, and shouted at Jiang Shu, "Come, fight!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His body spun sharply, and his fists cracked through the air.

Two quarters of an hour later.

Jiang Shu's entire body ached terribly, his arms and legs covered in bruises.

In his drunken state, Qi Yuan had failed several times to pull back his strength in time. His fists were exceedingly heavy, bombarding Jiang Shu's limbs and bones again and again. Of course, Qi Yuan, who had not circulated his force, did not have it easy either. Jiang Shu's Tiger Form Three Styles had already neared perfection.

The force in his punches was also becoming more and more concentrated at a single point.

Actual combat was the fastest way to improve!

If only the Hungry Tiger Sitting Cave Stance and Hungry Tiger Breathing Method could be trained through actual combat like the Tiger Form Three Styles!

The thought flashed through Jiang Shu's mind as he threw a punch.

Bang!

His body staggered back sharply, and his fist had already swollen red.

"Still fighting?"

Qi Yuan stood where he was, swaying but not falling.

"Fight!"

Jiang Shu answered with a long roar. The Fox Bear meat had already begun to take effect within him. Warmth spread throughout his body, as though a current of energy were gathering in every limb and bone.

Tiger Form Three Styles.

Pounce!

Lift!

Shear!

A gentle breeze drifted in.

The moon was bright, the stars few.

Jiang Shu and Qi Yuan were drenched in sweat, their short outfits long soaked through.

"Refreshing!"

After drinking another jug of wine, Qi Yuan looked at Jiang Shu and said, "Junior Brother, you're good in every way except that you don't like drinking! You must change that. Come, drink!"

"Senior Brother Qi, wine is poison that passes through the gut, and women are steel blades that scrape the bones. You and I are at the very time when our Martial Dao is advancing. How can we let wine and women stand in our way?"

Jiang Shu could barely remain standing.

His legs trembled, yet his body remained ramrod straight. He clenched his fists and shouted.

He had always repaid virtue with virtue and grievance with grievance.

Qi Yuan had been willing to share the Fox Bear meat, willing to hold back his force and use only physical strength to exchange punches with him, feeding him moves.

Such friendship was no small thing!

What was there to fear from monopolized resources?

Once he entered the Academy, he would have all the Exotic Beast Meat he could eat!

Skin Grinding Realm! Within easy reach!

Bone Forging! Just around the corner!

The day he escaped this cage—

Why could he not bring Qi Yuan with him?

"Fuck, Jiang Shu, I think you're the one who's drunk! Wine is poison that passes through the gut—that's something Organ Refining Realm powerhouses need to watch out for. What does a Skin Grinding Realm martial artist like me need to care about?"

"It'd already be damn good enough to watch out for women, those bone-scraping steel blades! Reaching Bone Forging in this life is the limit. Jiang Shu, you avoid both wine and women—don't tell me you want to become an Organ Refining Realm powerhouse?"

Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes. Jiang Shu's words had made him laugh, and he could not help firing back.

He had thought Jiang Shu would answer with something like, "I wouldn't dare."

After all, he had shown Jiang Shu far too much today.

The Black Market.

Exotic Beast Meat.

Everything proved that for a Skin Grinding Realm martial artist to go further was no easier than for an ordinary person to practice martial arts and become a martial artist!

Without the support of a great household—

So what if Jiang Shu had the profits of the Zhou Family Restaurant?

For his entire life, he would still be like Qi Yuan, essentially trapped in the Skin Grinding Realm!

Qi Yuan sighed inwardly. Yet at that moment, Jiang Shu's voice drifted over with the wind, calm and faint. "Why not?"

"Fuck. What dream are you having?"

Qi Yuan answered instinctively, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he abruptly shut it. The next moment, he fell silent.

It seemed that before he had become a martial artist, he too had imagined that one day he might become an Organ Refining Realm powerhouse.

The Skin Grinding Realm merely trained the skin membrane.

Bone Forging merely trained the bone membrane.

At their core, they were still the same as ordinary people: they would be born, grow old, fall ill, and die.

Before a hundred years had passed, they would become a pile of dust.

But Organ Refining Realm martial artists lived beyond two sixty-year cycles!

That was what truly counted as achieving success in martial arts!

His thoughts drifted far away, and Qi Yuan remained silent. Only after a long while did he say, "Such good wine, left undrunk... what a pity."

"What fucking pity!" Jiang Shu spat. "If we can't get out, then for the rest of our lives we can only drink Pingling County's wine and fuck Pingling County's women. Don't you want to go out and see the world?"

Pointing toward the distant mountain range, Jiang Shu's voice grew louder and louder. "Cross it! Go drink the wine of Yongning Prefecture's city! Go fuck the women of Yongning Prefecture's city!"

Qi Yuan followed the direction of Jiang Shu's finger and looked over. The mountain range he had once considered impossible to cross now seemed several degrees lower.

"Is the wine in Yongning Prefecture's city really better?"

He could not help murmuring, though his words revealed that he had already begun doubting himself.

Doubting whether he truly ought to spend every day wallowing in fine wine.

"If it isn't good, then go to the provincial capital! If Bone Forging can't get there, then Organ Refining will. If Organ Refining can't, then go beyond Organ Refining. Martial arts is practiced to make one's thoughts flow freely. Senior Brother Qi, I think you don't like wine at all."

"A true lover of wine, upon realizing that he could not drink every fine wine under heaven in this lifetime, shouldn't he weep bitter tears?"

"Bullshit!"

"Is Pingling County's wine good?"

"Horse piss!"

"Is the wine I brought good?"

"Excellent!"

"There's better wine in Yongning Prefecture's city. Are you going?"

"I'm going!"

Qi Yuan directly tossed aside the wine jug. "See? When I say I won't drink, I won't drink! Until I reach the Organ Refining Realm, I won't touch a single drop! What about you? Junior Brother, when will you reach the Skin Grinding Realm?"

"It's been more than half a month since Master taught you the Hungry Tiger Howling Mountain Force, and you still haven't comprehended it? Do you know how long your senior brother took? It took me a little over twenty days! Your senior brother made it in a little over twenty days!"

"Made what? Made yourself into a drunkard?"

Jiang Shu curled his lip. "Watch carefully. If you don't improve, then one day you'll call me Senior Brother, and I'll be the one feeding you moves."

???

Looking at his increasingly arrogant junior brother, Qi Yuan no longer indulged him. He punched into the air, and his force exploded with a crack. His expression turned cold as he raised his chin slightly, just as he had on the day they first met.

"You have only seen me holding back my force. If I were to strike with all my strength, when you see me, it would be like a frog at the bottom of a well beholding the bright moon."

He withdrew his fist and stood still. For a moment, he actually looked damn impressive.

"Senior Brother Qi."

"Hmm?"

Qi Yuan answered coolly, maintaining his image.

Right now, he only wanted to hear Jiang Shu praise him.

Only then could the gloom in his heart be dispelled.

Yet Jiang Shu, now familiar with Qi Yuan's character, did not indulge him either. He said directly, "The Fox Bear meat you made tastes awful."

"I have a method called Barbecue. I'll make it tomorrow."

"I admit that, for now, in Martial Dao, you surpass me by more than a level."

"But when it comes to culinary attainment..." Jiang Shu shot Qi Yuan a sideways glance. "When you see me, it will be like a mayfly beholding the azure sky."