Urgent!

"Right now, the safest course was to cultivate Wild Bull Fist to Major Accomplishment in the shortest possible time. Then I'd have a ninety-nine percent chance of killing him in a single blow!"

Zhou Chen murmured to himself.

For others, Minor Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment was a chasm they might never cross in a lifetime. For him, however, he only needed to keep his feet on solid ground and cultivate step by step.

Unfortunately, martial arts cultivation depended entirely on one's own comprehension and could not be aided by medicine. His talent and insight were rather ordinary as well, so the experience he gained each day was noticeably less than from the Stake-Standing Exercise. Back when he had pushed his realm from First Grade Minor Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment, it had taken roughly two months.

Zhou Chen glanced at his panel.

[Martial Art: Wild Bull Fist (Minor Accomplishment) 526/2000]

Even so, he had already accumulated a quarter of the progress.

According to his original plan, he would still focus on the Stake-Standing Exercise while cultivating fist techniques as a supplement, then push his fist technique to Major Accomplishment within the next few months.

But the sense of danger hanging over his heart now forced him to find a way to break through to Major Accomplishment in a short time!

Having his plans disrupted like this was truly irritating.

"Tomorrow, I'll leave the city and take a look. I'll test whether absorbing Black Mist outside can rapidly increase Mist Incense. Perhaps I can shorten the time by quite a bit."

Talking to himself, Zhou Chen left the alley and headed toward the martial arts hall.

Today was the day Third Senior Brother Zhao Tianhong would guide their cultivation. He could not miss it.

In the martial arts hall's inner courtyard, sunlight slanted down from the eaves and spread beneath a tree whose leaves had already turned more than half yellow. The moment Zhou Chen entered, he saw Ye Lingtian standing silently in the shade beneath the tree, utterly unremarkable. Unlike the surrounding senior brothers and sisters gathered in groups of twos and threes, he seemed very much like Zhou Chen himself.

"Senior Brother Ye!"

Zhou Chen walked over and greeted him.

Ye Lingtian blinked, then said in shock, "Junior Brother, you've tempered your Blood Vitality to Major Accomplishment? You've caught up to me already! How long has it even been? Has it been three months since you broke through to First Grade Minor Accomplishment?"

He was starting to wonder whether Master Zheng had measured Zhou Chen's bone structure incorrectly in the first place.

Zhou Chen smiled and explained, "It was thanks to Master Zheng's Qi-Blood Soup. Then, because I did well guarding Warehouse No. 2 last time, the Lian Household gave me quite a bit of reward money. I invested all of it in myself, which is how I made this much progress. But the money's all gone now, and I'm no longer qualified to drink Qi-Blood Soup. My progress will probably slow down a great deal from here on."

Ye Lingtian stared at him for two breaths, then wore an expression that plainly said, As if I'd believe that, and clicked his tongue twice. "You definitely have some other talent that hasn't been discovered. Then again, I've heard that some people have ordinary-looking bone structure, yet they simply cultivate faster than everyone else."

"Perhaps?"

Zhou Chen did not deny it either.

In any case, he had to come up with a reasonable explanation for such rapid progress.

Before long, all the Ordinary Disciples had arrived. Everyone naturally formed several small circles and chatted in low voices. Zhou Chen swept his gaze around.

As Zhou Chen looked over the crowd, he found that most people's cultivation progress had not changed much. Only those who had already reached decent realms had improved considerably. As for disciples from ordinary households...

People Zhou Chen knew, such as Jiang Yan and Wan Yingying, showed almost no changes in their Blood Vitality. A girl named Chu Lin beside them even looked somewhat pale and ashen, as though she had been injured; her Blood Vitality had declined considerably.

That was only normal. To avoid accumulating too much Miasma Poison in their bodies and damaging their martial futures, everyone at minimum chose to buy and eat white meat. But with only the small monthly stipend from their appointments, how many pounds of white meat could they afford each month? At this stage, what truly shackled them was silver.

Zhou Chen was different. Others feared that accumulating too much Miasma Poison would leave them stuck when they tried to break through bottlenecks in the future. He had the Divine Statue, so he could eat Black Meat. It did not matter how much he ate.

Today, he could clearly sense that the atmosphere in the courtyard was far more relaxed than it had been a few months ago.

The sense of crisis brought by the new city lord taking office had gradually faded, as the new official had yet to make any major moves. On top of that, people had heard that he was getting along fairly well with the Four-Family Alliance, so those below also began to relax.

Zhang Shaojiu was absent. No one knew what he had gone off to do.

Zhao Tianhong hurried over before long and apologized, "Sorry for the trouble. I've delayed everyone again."

"How could you say that, Third Senior Brother?" Liu Fei was the first to respond with a smile, her voice crisp and generous. "You're already busy at the Night Patrol Bureau. It's our good fortune that you can spare time to guide us."

The other disciples quickly echoed her, all saying it was nothing.

Zhao Tianhong did not exchange further pleasantries. He nodded. "Then we'll follow the usual rules. Everyone, spar first. I'll point out your shortcomings one by one afterward."

He then walked over to the steps at the side, where he could look down over everyone's practice.

Zhou Chen and Ye Lingtian began sparring. Previously, Zhou Chen had been a full realm behind Ye Lingtian, so Ye Lingtian had always held back. Now, Ye Lingtian could finally use his full strength.

After exchanging several moves, Zhou Chen could not help finding it somewhat strange.

Now, both his realm and his progress in fist techniques were level with Ye Lingtian's. Yet for some reason, whenever they traded blows, he still felt as if Ye Lingtian were holding back.

Elsewhere, Zhao Tianhong began pointing out the disciples' shortcomings. He rebuked one of them, "Legs, legs, legs! How many times have I told you? When throwing a punch, the force from your legs is crucial! I told you last time, and you've forgotten again. In a life-and-death fight, they'll spot your weak lower stance at a glance. Throwing punches like that, how many times do you think they could kill you?"

Zhao Tianhong was a good person, but whenever cultivation was involved, he became exceptionally serious and stubborn, even carrying a fierce edge. He was ruthless toward himself and ruthless toward others as well.

After making the rounds, Zhao Tianhong caught sight of Zhou Chen and suddenly exclaimed in shock, "Junior Brother Zhou, you've broken through to First-Rank Major Accomplishment?!"

Zhao Tianhong kept every person's cultivation progress firmly in mind and was even more meticulous than Master Zheng. Naturally, he saw Zhou Chen's great advancement at once.

His voice was rather loud. The disciples sparring nearby all revealed shocked expressions upon hearing it, and more than a dozen gazes converged on Zhou Chen at once.

Those gazes carried all sorts of meanings.

There was shock, envy, surprise, and jealousy.

Zhou Chen nodded. "Senior Brother has a keen eye. I have indeed broken through, though it was merely luck."

He repeated the excuse he had given Ye Lingtian. The latter's mouth twitched slightly, and he fell silent.

After receiving confirmation, the people around them were shocked once more. Some of them had been stuck at First Grade Minor Accomplishment for who knew how long, unable to advance even an inch. Zhou Chen's bone structure was clearly worse than theirs, yet his breakthroughs seemed as easy as drinking water.

The pockmarked young man named Zhang Han, who had previously followed Ma Pengcheng, was particularly filled with disbelief. He was only at First Grade Minor Accomplishment, while Zhou Chen had already reached First-Rank Major Accomplishment. Thinking of their earlier conflict, and of how Ma Pengcheng had gone missing and he had lost his backer, cold sweat broke out across his back.

Surprise also welled up in Liu Fei's beautiful eyes. She said softly, "It has only been two months since Junior Brother Zhou broke through last time, hasn't it? This rate of progress is truly unbelievably fast!"

First-Rank Major Accomplishment already counted as being a capable fighter.

She somewhat regretted not investing in Zhou Chen that day, choosing instead to invest in that youth named Liang Hu.

Although Liang Hu had received support, he ultimately still failed to break through the barrier and left a few days ago.

Sun Yingying, beside her, said nothing. She looked at Zhou Chen in silence for a while before speaking in an indifferent tone. "The minor thresholds within each realm aren't too difficult. The major barriers between realms are the true tigers blocking the road. Many people are stopped there."

Liu Fei nodded, agreeing with that assessment.

They now found it extremely difficult just to temper their Blood Vitality to Perfection. Even if they spent vast resources and several years tempering their Blood Vitality from Minor Accomplishment to Perfection, they still might not break through to become Second-Rank Martial Artists. What was more, time waited for no one. By then, they would most likely be in their twenties, and their Blood Vitality would begin declining.

Thus, they no longer placed their minds on cultivation.

Rather than staking everything on one throw, it was better to save some money and draw in several promising disciples for their Lineages early on, increasing their own weight within the clan. That way, they could gain more say in the future and have more chances to receive a good position.

After Zhao Tianhong carefully guided them for a while longer, everyone went back to practicing their fists. His fist technique had long since reached Major Accomplishment, and he was now seeking the opportunity to charge toward Perfection.

It had to be said that Major Accomplishment Wild Bull Fist truly was extraordinary. Zhou Chen and the others watched intently.

At that moment, several people suddenly walked toward Zhou Chen and Ye Lingtian. They were Jiang Yan and Wan Yingying, with the pale-faced Chu Lin following behind them.