Besides training for more than ten hours every day, Lin Fan did not push himself too hard. He would have to keep this up for months, after all. The higher his realm, the longer each breakthrough would take.
On the west side of Sunset Glow Courtyard was an elegant study Su Yuanshan had prepared for the two of them. Its shelves held a collection of books. Having inherited his predecessor's memories, Lin Fan had no trouble reading this world's writing.
The collection included martial arts methods, some roughly ten or twenty percent more efficient than the Azure Cloud Method. But Lin Fan was used to the Azure Cloud Method, and with his thousandfold Cultivation Acceleration, those small gains hardly tempted him. Switching methods would take time, too. He might as well train straight through to the Late Bone Tempering Realm.
There were also books on Artifact Forging and all sorts of other arts, far more than Lin Fan had found in outside bookshops. A martial arts power's collection naturally had more to offer. The shelves held miscellaneous works as well: accounts of mountains and rivers, amusing tales from the martial world, records of former dynasties, and even transcripts of feuds between martial sects. There were a few books unsuitable for children, too. Naturally, Lin Fan would never read those.
Most of the time, he only stopped training to read for half an hour or so when he felt his strength growing too quickly and sensed that he was beginning to lose control of it.
With his thousandfold Cultivation Acceleration, Lin Fan learned from books countless times faster than others. Reading one once was practically the same as someone else reading it a thousand times. Every word stayed firmly in his mind. As for the books on various arts, he could memorize them now and practice them later.
Lin Fan decided to put his cultivation first. Even a fully equipped Bone Tempering Realm warrior could hardly defeat a Bright Force Realm expert with nothing at all. Every breakthrough brought a great leap in a warrior's strength, defense, endurance, explosive power, reflexes, healing, and more. A lower-realm warrior might use an art or treasure to barely close the gap in one area, but closing it in every area was another matter entirely.
Cultivation realms carried real weight in this world. Those arts could only serve as support. Besides, once his realm rose, he would learn them much faster.
Sunlight filtered through the study's carved window lattice and fell across the pages. Lin Fan sat leaning against the wooden desk, a scroll spread open before him, letting the tension of days of training ease from his mind.
Mao Mao often slipped in after him. When Lin Fan did not chase him away, he curled up by Lin Fan's feet, a golden ball of fur. Lin Fan could not help thinking that Mao Mao looked more and more like a puppy.
From beyond the courtyard, he could sometimes hear Lin Ruoruo reciting the basics of her cultivation method, accompanied by Su Qingwei's gentle guidance. Lin Ruoruo and Su Qingwei practiced the same Su Family martial arts method, which was considerably more efficient than Lin Fan's Azure Cloud Method.
His predecessor had never intended to train in martial arts. He had merely happened to memorize the Azure Cloud Method, the most widely circulated method in the Zhao Kingdom. That had saved Lin Fan a few taels of silver back in Small Mountain Village.
Lin Ruoruo's bone aptitude for martial arts was not especially good. Bone aptitude could only be measured after the skeleton had largely finished developing in one's teens. Before then, the bones were still growing rapidly, so any result would be inaccurate.
Still, Lin Fan was confident. Once he cultivated Inner Qi, he could activate Cultivation Acceleration at tens of thousands of times its usual rate if he had to, then pour the vast amount of Inner Qi he produced into Su Qingwei and Lin Ruoruo. Raising them to the Qi Force Realm, or even the Innate Realm, was not impossible. Of course, only he could entertain such an idea. Other martial arts experts struggled desperately to cultivate even a little Inner Qi and had to save it for breakthroughs to higher realms. Who else could afford to be as extravagant as Lin Fan?
Lin Fan stepped out of the study. In the courtyard, Su Qingwei wore a plain-colored dress. Graceful and lovely, her features soft and beautiful, she patiently guided Lin Ruoruo through her exercises. A breeze stirred the hair at her temples, and for a moment, everything seemed peaceful. But Lin Fan knew he could not relax yet. He had to keep training.
Nearly a month passed. Under the thousandfold Cultivation Acceleration he used each day, the Azure Cloud Method tempered and strengthened Lin Fan's sinews and bones without pause. Then, one day, they rang out together, the sound filling the courtyard. It was as though a peerless Ferocious Beast had risen to its feet, its bones grinding against one another.
He had reached the Mid Bone Tempering Realm.
The rumble of his sinews and bones was not confined to Sunset Glow Courtyard. It passed through the courtyard walls before gradually fading away.
As a Late Bone Refinement Realm expert, however, Su Yuanshan had exceptionally keen hearing. He could clearly distinguish sounds others could not hear. He and Madam Su were chatting in the hall when a faint hum of bone joints reached him from the direction of Sunset Glow Courtyard.
Su Yuanshan's brows shot up, and he abruptly sat straight, shock flashing in his eyes. "That sound... It came from Sunset Glow Courtyard! That's the sound of sinews and bones ringing together during a Bone Tempering Realm breakthrough!"
"What? Lin Fan was already at the early Bone Refinement Realm. Has he broken through again in just one month? Is he at the Mid Bone Tempering Realm now?" Madam Su had not heard the sound, but her husband's words told her what it meant.
The couple did not delay. They rose at once and hurried toward Sunset Glow Courtyard with two guards.
Inside the courtyard, Lin Fan stood on the bluestone paving, his aura settling steadily around him. The strange sounds from his sinews and bones had gradually subsided, but when he drew on his cultivation, his body still gave off a palpably stronger pressure.
Su Qingwei stood in the corridor beside the courtyard, gazing at Lin Fan with delight she could not hide. Lin Ruoruo's eyes shone. Though she did not understand what had happened, she looked at her brother with undisguised admiration. Even Mao Mao, the Golden Rat, had his golden fur standing on end as he circled Lin Fan, squeaking without pause.
Su Yuanshan strode into the courtyard and approached Lin Fan. He studied him closely, carefully sensing the martial aura flowing around him. Only after a long moment did he let out a breath. He could not hide the joy in his voice. "It really is the Mid Bone Tempering Realm!!"
He had lived more than half his life, and he knew what it meant to reach the Mid Bone Tempering Realm steadily at Lin Fan's age. That kind of speed was possible only with the legendary First-Grade Bone Aptitude, paired with rare natural treasures and martial arts pills.
But First-Grade Bone Aptitude alone was one thing. Lin Fan either had some martial arts treasure he had brought from his family in Capital City that increased his training speed, or he had some other secret.
The vast world held every kind of wonder. Beyond bone aptitude, some people had a greater affinity for a particular method and could train much faster because of it. Whatever the reason, Lin Fan and Su Qingwei were now husband and wife. His breakthrough was good news for the Su Family.
Su Yuanshan knew, too, that with his own bone aptitude, no treasure could carry him to the heavens in a single step. At most, it might improve his chances of reaching the Bright Force Realm. He had lived more than half his life and had long since stopped dwelling on whether he could reach a higher realm.
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