While the other party was making change.
Su Xinghe swiftly took the wooden box and opened it for inspection.
Inside the large wooden box, ten brand-new little porcelain bottles were neatly arranged in a ring of wheat straw. Their wax seals were intact, and the writing on the labels was tidy.
This was probably the Martial Dao Bureau's standard packaging. He could tell at a glance that they were genuine.
He then took them out one by one, feeling the weight of the pills inside. None were missing. He randomly opened one bottle of "Bone-Forging Pills" as well, and the quantity was correct.
He sniffed them. They smelled icy and cool, pungent and spicy.
He then put on a show of pouring out one pill from each of the two bottles of "Qi-Nourishing Pill" in the small wooden box and sniffing them too.
A rich, sweet fragrance wafted up, carrying a faint scent of Chinese medicine.
Su Xinghe suspected they might be Liuwei Dihuang Pills, but he had no proof.
After checking the goods, the banknotes and the two wooden boxes immediately vanished beneath his cloak.
"Farewell!"
He cupped his fists at the other party and turned to leave.
The moment he stepped outside, several furtive gazes landed on him.
Warning bells blared wildly in Su Xinghe's heart. He pushed the "Listening to the Tides Art" to its limit. Every suspicious person's glances and exchanges within twenty zhang entered his perception.
Fortunately, this was the Black Market. Those people did not know what he had bought.
Beneath his cloak, he held a short sword in one hand and a steel chisel in the other as he hurried toward the exit of the Black Market.
Several groups of tails silently followed him along the way.
They simply did not know that Su Xinghe possessed spiritual perception, with a range of twenty zhang in radius. Forget fluctuations of Qi-Blood—even the number of hairs on their bodies had nearly been probed clean.
A pack of little fools. A few of them had not even condensed the power of Qi-Blood.
But Su Xinghe had no intention of showing off and slapping faces, or playing the pig to eat the tiger. After all, he was only a Ninth Rank who was slightly stronger than average. If he failed to show off, he might end up getting screwed instead.
Once he left the valley, he sprinted madly toward Lin County.
"Boss, that guy stayed in the Mountain-Chasing Gang for a quarter of an hour. He definitely has goods on him!"
Sure enough, the moment he emerged from the Black Market.
The people tailing him inside had companions lying in ambush outside to receive them.
"Damn!"
"Not good, he's running so fast!"
"Don't chase him. At that speed, he's either at the peak of Ninth Rank or an Eighth Rank expert."
Fortunately, this Black Market was not of a high enough level for Grade-Eight Martial Artists to become bandits. With his keen perception and the speed brought by the explosive force of seven or eight thousand jin, he returned to the west side of the city without mishap.
Only the soles of his feet felt chilly. His straw sandals were practically ruined.
And because he had run too fast, his old cloak had been shredded into strips of cloth.
Once he got here, he was basically safe. After all, few people knew Tongzi Ward better than he did.
But he could not discard the caution he should have, so he took a twisting, winding route all the way.
Another half hour later, he finally arrived at Narcissus Street.
Su Xinghe put away his things and quietly sensed the breathing in the rear courtyard. He found that everything upstairs and downstairs was well.
He took out a bottle of "Qi-Replenishing Pill," thought for a moment, then exchanged it for "Bone-Forging Pills."
Body Tempering was already complete. He wanted to see how effective "Bone-Forging Pills" would be for cultivation in the Bone-Forging Realm.
"Time to train!"
For the first round, he did not use any pills.
Ten minutes later.
A large mass of Qi-Blood had already condensed in his chest.
He controlled it and blasted it toward the toe bones of his right foot.
Boom!
"Diligence Makes Up for Dullness, a hundred practices a day."
"'Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art,' experience +2."
A sharp pain shot through his toes, lasting roughly ten breaths. Then came an unbearable numb itch, making him want to dig at them with his hands.
He focused his mind on the Fate Panel.
"Su Xinghe: White Ape Martial Academy (Inner Disciple)" "Martial Arts: Ninth Grade Realm (Bone Forging 1%)" "Fate: Diligence Makes Up for Dullness" "Trait 1: Water-Tight, Unyielding" "Trait 2: Many Grains Make a Tower, Success Follows Naturally" "Dripping Water Sword Art (First Glimpse of the Path) 0/100" "Listening to the Tides Art (Transcendent Mastery) 1582/100000" "Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art (Perfect Mastery) 3272/10000" "Ascending Dragon Stance (Hall-Entering) 566/1000" "Incomplete Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi 0/10000"
The progress was less than one percent.
He sensed the toe bones of his right foot. Only the frontmost segment had changed.
The ratio was probably around one thousandth.
Again!
After completing the art three times, he could no longer condense any Qi-Blood in his chest.
He looked at the data on the panel. It still read "Bone Forging 1%."
But he had already tested the progress of Bone Forging. Each round of the fist art increased it by roughly one thousandth.
That was also because he had activated Dual Engines in the Consciousness Space. Otherwise, each set of fist art would have only produced a five-ten-thousandths effect.
Su Xinghe took out a Bone-Forging Pill and swallowed it with water.
Three breaths later.
The power of Qi-Blood inside his body suddenly churned violently.
"Holy shit!"
This pill really hit hard.
It felt several times stronger than the spoils from Fierce Tiger Martial Hall last time.
I bought premium Bone-Forging Pills!
Su Xinghe thought to himself as he hastily circulated the power of Qi-Blood.
This time.
Inside the Consciousness Space, he used Dual Engines to perform the Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art three times in succession, until he was utterly exhausted.
The panel data remained completely still.
Thinking about it, something felt off.
With no other choice, he could only swallow another Bone-Forging Pill.
After another three rounds of fist art.
The Fate Panel finally changed. The number rose from 1% to 2%.
This time, the effect of the Bone-Forging Pills had finally been tested.
In the Bone-Forging Realm of the Upper Ninth Rank, one Bone-Forging Pill could sustain three rounds of fist art with Dual Engines in the Consciousness Space, with three times the effect of training without pills.
The conclusion was,
He needed to practice the fist art nine hundred times in the Consciousness Space to break through to Eighth Rank. Without pills, even training three times a day would take a hundred days.
Without activating Dual Engines, it would take two hundred days.
And that was with his once-in-a-century talent. Ordinary people might not even break through to Eighth Rank in ten years.
And these premium pills bought from the Black Market—could anyone else withstand them? If not for the restorative effects of his Fate traits, he would probably have needed to rest for a long time.
Thinking of that, Su Xinghe no longer felt that this pace was slow.
The sky had not yet brightened. He continued swallowing pills.
With the Listening to the Tides Art at the level of Transcendent Mastery, his mind was now extraordinarily vigorous.
After cultivating through the night, the progress bar rose by another large stretch.
Just as daylight broke.
Across from the White Ape Martial Academy on Narcissus Street.
Su Xinghe was replenishing himself at a wonton stall. As his martial arts improved, the breakfast at home was no longer enough to sustain his morning consumption.
The family's days had only just begun to improve, and he was too embarrassed to make his mother toil from dawn.
A thin, small figure limped over.
He looked up and saw that it was his little lackey.
"Boss, those two skinny monkeys are trying to run!"
Little Beggar's voice no longer had its usual crispness. It even sounded somewhat weak.
Su Xinghe hurriedly rose and strode over.
"What happened?"
The other's hair was disheveled, with several bruises on his face. His left shoulder hung limply, while the knee of his right leg seemed unable to bend.
"Boss, hurry to Tofu Alley!"
As he spoke, his body was already swaying on the verge of collapse.
Su Xinghe quickly caught him, rolled up his sleeves, and swiftly examined him.
His knee was swollen, his shoulder might be dislocated, but the rest was fine.
He hoisted Little Beggar onto his shoulder, then turned and placed a large coin on the wonton stall.
"Uncle, keep the change."
"Hey, young man, I'll save the extra for you..."
Warmth rose in Su Xinghe's heart as he listened.
Tofu Alley was on the upper street of Tongzi Ward, even closer to the White Ape Martial Academy than Oil Seller Alley on the middle street. In just two short minutes, they arrived in the alley.
The sky was only beginning to lighten. Although the sounds of washing and cooking came from the alley, there were few pedestrians on the road.
At the deepest end of the alley stood a small courtyard with its gate half-open.
The moment Su Xinghe pushed open the gate, he saw a man staggering as he tried to climb to his feet in the corner of the courtyard.
Beside him lay a filthy figure, motionless.
Seeing the two of them barge in, the man was greatly alarmed and collapsed weakly to the ground.
"Spare my life, sir..."
"You're actually not dead!"
The two voices rang out in the small courtyard at the same time.
Su Xinghe stepped forward with his left leg. Before it even touched the ground, his right leg had already kicked the other man in the lower abdomen.
Splat~
Before you continue