Tendon Tremor

Chen Chong began refining pills in vast quantities. He sent True Martial Pills to the storeroom as though they cost nothing.

At the least, he refined five or six furnaces a day; at the most, seven or eight. Each furnace yielded three to five pills, amounting to twenty or thirty True Martial Pills in a single day.

The storeroom steward went from initial astonishment to eventual numbness, even clearing out an entire shelf solely for the True Martial Pills Chen Chong refined.

Large sums of silver were delivered to Chen Chong's room. The accounting office settled the accounts every day, placing broken silver and copper coins into small cloth bags and setting them heavily upon the desk.

Chen Chong did not hide it from anyone. Once he received the silver, he locked it in an iron chest. When the chest filled up, he exchanged it for silver ingots, then exchanged those for gold leaves. He made no attempt to conceal any of it.

This utter lack of concealment stirred up quite a commotion within World-Aiding Hall.

Many people discussed it after meals and over tea.

First, the amount of money was already eye-catching; second, with Chen Chong refining such a massive quantity of True Martial Pills, people could not help but wonder about his Alchemy. So young, yet already possessing such brilliant skill—just how had he cultivated it?

Within the circle of alchemists, Chen Chong had thoroughly made a name for himself.

But for World-Aiding Hall's pill masters, this was hardly a good thing.

Within World-Aiding Hall, the True Martial Pill was a high-end medicinal pill, and the profits it brought were considerable.

The medicinal ingredients for one furnace of True Martial Pills cost around two taels of silver. A furnace produced three to five pills, while each pill sold for two to three taels on the market. The profit from a single furnace multiplied severalfold.

In the past, those profits had been divided among World-Aiding Hall's several pill masters. Each refined a few furnaces every month, each with his own source of income.

But once Chen Chong arrived, he monopolized the entire share of True Martial Pills by himself, even producing a slight surplus.

Moreover, the True Martial Pills Chen Chong refined were of superior quality. Their color was dark gold, their gleaming patterns flowed across their surfaces, and their medicinal potency was thirty percent richer than that of ordinary True Martial Pills.

As a result, the incomes of World-Aiding Hall's pill masters shrank considerably.

At first, it was tolerable. Chen Chong was, after all, the newly arrived deputy chief steward. Everyone thought that since he had just arrived, he had to put on a show; once the initial enthusiasm faded, he would naturally stop.

But more than ten days had passed, and Chen Chong showed no sign of stopping. The stock of True Martial Pills in the storeroom continued to pile up. This was after many people had heard that World-Aiding Hall's True Martial Pills were of better quality and had come to buy them. Otherwise, there would have been even more pills in the storeroom.

Before Chen Chong arrived, Li Lang had been World-Aiding Hall's chief pill master.

He was over forty and possessed Skin Tempering Realm cultivation. He was somewhat arrogant, held considerable seniority among pill masters, and in previous years took the largest share of World-Aiding Hall's True Martial Pill allotment. He had lived quite comfortably.

After Chen Chong arrived, many people who should have been bringing Li Lang gifts instead turned to Chen Chong. This deputy chief steward was also a pill master, and one better than Li Lang.

Now, Li Lang already held no small grudge against Chen Chong. In Chief Steward Wang Zheng's room, he said with some anger:

"Chen Chong never intended to leave even a sip of soup for me. Chief Steward, shouldn't you intervene?"

Chief Steward Wang took a sip of tea. His honest-looking face still bore a genial smile as he said to Li Lang:

"Chief Steward Chen's Alchemy is exceptional, and he works wholeheartedly for World-Aiding Hall. What is there to intervene in?"

Li Lang stared at Wang Zheng's face. Seeing that he appeared unmoved, Li Lang's lips twitched, but in the end he said nothing more. He turned and left.

Only after walking some distance away did Li Lang curse Wang Zheng under his breath. "Whoever refines more pills is your father. You insatiable dog—ptui! Who doesn't know you secretly sell pills?"

Meanwhile, inside Chen Chong's room.

He swallowed a True Martial Pill. As the pill entered his stomach, a torrent of heat exploded.

This time differed from before. His flesh and blood seemed to come alive, throbbing. Every strand of flesh beneath his skin trembled, contracted, and stretched, as though countless invisible threads were tugging within his body.

His tendons pulled along with the throbbing flesh, from fingers to toes, from neck to waist and back. Thick tendons tightened and loosened, loosened and tightened, making faint sounds like bowstrings being plucked.

His fascia was growing, thickening, becoming springy and resilient.

Chen Chong closed his eyes and sensed the surging power within him.

Tendon-Tremor Realm—fascia like bowstrings, trembling and snapping forth with power. Strength traveled from the soles of the feet to the face of the fist with minimal loss along the way. When exerting force, it was like shooting an arrow from a bow; when withdrawing force, it was like a bowstring returning to position. This was Tendon Tremor.

He opened his eyes and brought up the panel.

[Name: Chen Chong]

[Techniques: True Tiger-Subduing Art (Great Perfection), Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique (Great Perfection)]

[Realm: Tendon-Tremor Realm (1/10000)]

The Tendon-Tremor Realm required ten thousand experience points, just like the Skin Tempering Realm. It was preparation for the final stage, the Bone Tempering Realm.

During the Bone-Forging Stage, one's bones became like iron and one's blood and qi like mercury. Upon reaching that realm, one would possess at least some ability to protect oneself. In a place like Dingshan County, the Bone Tempering Realm already counted as an expert.

During this period, he had fused every technique into them. Four Directions Fist, Clear Spirit Sword, Falling Cloud Art, Azure Sun Breathing Art... an entire chest of techniques had all been integrated into Tiger Roars Through the Mountains and Forests and the Five Tigers Severing the Mountain Blade, ultimately transforming into the True Tiger-Subduing Art and Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique.

Both techniques had reached Great Perfection. The fusion had reached its limit.

To advance further, he needed to deduce those two incomplete manuals—the Tyrant Blade and that nameless technique. Techniques of that level should be able to continue fusing.

He could no longer continue fusing those common low-level techniques.

Furthermore, the True Tiger-Subduing Art had undergone what seemed like a qualitative transformation. Chen Chong clenched his fist, sensing the power within him, so abundant it nearly overflowed.

With every breath, his blood and qi circulated on their own. Skin, flesh, and fascia linked together layer upon layer like a precisely coordinated machine.

In the past, when he threw a punch, the power had to travel from the soles of his feet to his fist through several nodes, losing a portion at each one. Now, his fascia was like bowstrings, and the transmission of power was almost lossless. When he punched, the strength of his entire body condensed into one force—heavy, fierce, and whole.

He tried throwing a punch inside the room. He had not used his full strength, merely struck casually. Yet the wind from his fist howled out, jolting the teacup on the table into hopping and splashing tea.

Chen Chong nodded. The True Tiger-Subduing Art truly lived up to its name.

The scene shifted to the Dark Market.

Li Lang, wrapped in a dark gray cloak, threaded through the crowd. The Dark Market's lights were brighter than usual. Vendors' cries and buyers' haggling mingled together, as noisy as a pot of boiling water. He walked to an inconspicuous corner in the deepest part of the market.

A man stood in the corner.

His face was scarred. A saber scar slashed diagonally across his entire face, from his left brow to his right cheek.

Lean and wiry, he wore faded black clothes. A short blade hung at his waist, its sheath wrapped with hemp rope. He leaned against the wall with a dry blade of grass between his lips, his lazy gaze sweeping over Li Lang.

"Pill Master Li." The scar-faced man recognized him. The corner of his mouth tugged upward, twisting the scar with it. "A rare visitor."

Li Lang lowered his voice. "Help me kill someone."

The scar-faced man spat out the dry grass, straightened up, and looked Li Lang over. "Who?"

"World-Aiding Hall's deputy chief steward, Chen Chong."

The scar-faced man fell silent for a moment, as if weighing that name. Then he spoke. "A pill master?"

The scar-faced man raised an eyebrow.

"What's the price?"

Li Lang took a cloth bag from his sleeve and tossed it over. The scar-faced man caught it, weighed it in his hand, then loosened the opening and glanced inside. Golden leaves, a full ten taels' worth.

"The deposit," Li Lang said. "Another ten taels when it's done."

The scar-faced man tucked the cloth bag into his robes and nodded. "Within three days."

Li Lang said nothing further, turning to vanish into the stream of people in the Dark Market.

The scar-faced man leaned back against the wall again, put another dry blade of grass between his lips, and closed his eyes.

The Dark Market's lights cast flickering shadows across his face. That scar looked especially vicious in the darkness.