Progress

"Peng'er, it's time to take your medicine."

Inside a bedroom at the Li Estate, a middle-aged woman was tending to a frail young man wrapped in numerous bandages.

"I'm not drinking it. It's too bitter."

The youth complained.

This person was none other than Li Peng.

"You have to drink it even if it's bitter. Only by taking your medicine on time can you recover faster."

The woman abandoned her gentle manner and spoke sternly.

Li Peng shrank back, able only to grit his teeth and drink the bowl of dark, bitter medicine.

"That's my good son."

The woman was Li Peng's mother. Seeing her son obediently finish the medicine, she left behind a plate of preserved fruit and departed in satisfaction.

After she left, Li Peng ate the preserved fruit while staring blankly into space. Suddenly, his expression twisted viciously.

"Damn it! Why was I seriously injured while that Chen Xun got away without a scratch and was even rewarded by the estate?"

"Unfair. This is far too unfair."

"Why wasn't I the one who stayed behind? If I'd stayed, perhaps I could have rendered merit too. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so badly injured."

Li Peng immediately began to hate Luo Shan as well.

In truth, if Luo Shan had not looked after him, then as someone who had only just become a Martial Artist, it would already have been incredibly fortunate for him to emerge merely seriously injured from such a fierce battle.

But Li Peng did not see it that way. He saw only the benefits Chen Xun had gained. He did not believe himself inferior to Chen Xun, so since Chen Xun could receive rewards, then if it had been him, he naturally should have been able to do the same.

Following that logic, Li Peng naturally came to hate Luo Shan in his heart.

Luo Shan probably still did not know that the person he had painstakingly saved had actually come to hate him.

At this time, Luo Shan was recovering from his injuries as well.

In that battle, the bandits had dispatched one Blood-Qi Third Transformation Martial Artist and several Qi-Blood Second Transformation Martial Artists.

He had also needed to divide his attention to protect the others, so he could only passively endure their blows. Naturally, his injuries were not light.

Even Captain Luo Shan had been injured, so the Third Medicinal Escort Squad naturally came to a temporary standstill. There would be no missions in the short term.

And this suited Chen Xun's wishes perfectly.

Nearly half a month had passed since the battle at A Thread of Sky.

Over the past half month, Chen Xun had been diligently cultivating, raising his cultivation and improving his martial arts.

[Name: Chen Xun]

[Constitution: 4 points (Grade C, Lower Tier)]

[Comprehension: 5 points (Grade C, Middle Tier)]

[Cultivation: First Blood-Qi Transformation (72%)]

[Martial Arts: Primordial Unity Stance (Minor Accomplishment 88/300), Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique (Minor Accomplishment 10/500), Charging Bull Step (Minor Accomplishment 20/500), Iron Garment Art (Major Accomplishment 101/2000), Cloud-Walking Qi Archery (Proficient 150/500)]

[Universal Points: 0 points]

These were Chen Xun's current attributes. His cultivation had reached the later stage of the First Blood-Qi Transformation, and his physical strength had been further enhanced.

Chen Xun tested himself and found that he could now lift a five-hundred-jin weight.

Then there were the five martial arts he had mastered. The Primordial Unity Stance was a foundational cultivation method; even though Chen Xun practiced it every day, his progress was slow.

Both the [Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique] and [Charging Bull Step] had reached Minor Accomplishment. The boosts from item traits no longer had much effect, and further improvement would require more effort.

The [Iron Garment Art] was Chen Xun's only martial art currently at Major Accomplishment, and it would most likely be the first one he brought to Perfection.

Therefore, aside from advancing his cultivation, Chen Xun devoted most of his energy to it, striving to reach Perfection as soon as possible.

There was also the [Cloud-Walking Qi Archery] that Chen Xun had newly learned. Since he had spent little time on it, even with Major Accomplishment-level experience bonuses, he had only cultivated it to the Proficient realm over the past half month.

Of course, Chen Xun was not in a hurry to improve this archery technique.

That was because only after Chen Xun reached the Blood-Qi Third Transformation and could channel Blood Qi into his arrows would he be able to fully unleash its power.

"Chen Xun, good news."

While Chen Xun was cultivating in the Martial Artist Courtyard, he suddenly heard someone calling him and looked over.

"It's Zhang Shitou."

Zhang Shitou was someone with a low threshold for laughter and a big mouth.

Previously, he had laughed during Instructor Jia's self-introduction and had been severely punished for it.

For a time, this had made him somewhat silent, but after becoming a Martial Artist, he gradually returned to his old nature.

Whenever he heard any news, he loved spreading it everywhere.

Since Zhang Shitou lived next door to Chen Xun, he often came over to find someone to talk to.

"What good news?"

Chen Xun continued cultivating as he asked casually.

"Didn't your Third Medicinal Escort Squad get attacked by those mountain bandits last time? The estate sent out experts to avenge you."

"More than half of that bandit gang was killed by the estate's experts."

Chen Xun stopped cultivating in surprise upon hearing this.

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you?"

Faced with Chen Xun's doubt, Zhang Shitou patted his chest, looking utterly confident.

Very soon, Ke Jun from the Third Medicinal Escort Squad came to find Chen Xun and told him the same news. Only then did Chen Xun fully believe it.

"After the estate's experts killed those mountain bandits, they occupied A Thread of Sky. In the future, when we pass through A Thread of Sky, we won't have to worry about being extorted or surrounded by mountain bandits anymore."

Ke Jun's tone was excited as he spoke.

A smile could not help appearing on Chen Xun's face as well.

But very soon, he sensed that something was wrong.

After pondering for a while, he could not help asking, "Right, then why didn't the estate directly send people to occupy A Thread of Sky before?"

"Well, I heard it was because there's an extremely formidable mountain bandit stronghold nearby called Blackwind Stronghold."

"The bandits occupying A Thread of Sky had nominally submitted to Blackwind Stronghold. The estate had not dared to seize it by force before, fearing Blackwind Stronghold would interfere."

"Now, those bandits took the initiative to provoke our Li Family and even killed members of our Li Family. Naturally, the estate had a reason to act. That way, Blackwind Stronghold had no reason to interfere."

"Oh, so that's how it is. Vice Captain Ke, you really know a lot."

"Haha, you flatter me."

Afterward, Ke Jun chatted with Chen Xun for a while longer before taking his leave.

The moment Ke Jun left, the smile on Chen Xun's face slowly vanished, replaced by a shadowy look.

"What a Li Family. What a scheme."

Chen Xun understood now.

Their Third Medicinal Escort Squad had been bait, luring the mountain bandits occupying A Thread of Sky into taking the bait.

Once they did, the Li Family would have a reason to drive them away and occupy A Thread of Sky.

A Thread of Sky was not only used by the Li Family; other lineages traveled through it as well.

After driving away the bandits and moving in, the tolls collected each year alone would amount to no small sum of silver.

"I just wonder whether Captain Luo Shan was involved as well."

Chen Xun secretly pondered this.

Whether Luo Shan knew the inside story or had participated in it, Chen Xun would be on guard against him from now on.

As for the Li Family, Chen Xun became even more wary.

Who knew whether similar things would happen again in the future.

Just as Chen Xun was deep in thought, someone called him again. "Chen Xun."

Chen Xun looked over and saw Liu Feng.

Liu Feng was somewhat darker than before and more robust as well, with a faintly lean and capable air about him.

Clearly, he had gained quite a bit these past days.

"What is it?"

"I heard the estate rewarded you with twenty taels of silver. Can you lend me some money?"

Liu Feng shamelessly asked.

Chen Xun looked at Liu Feng in surprise, his voice involuntarily rising. "What relationship do we have that you've come to borrow money from me?"

"I won't lend you any."

"No, why are you so stingy? We became Martial Artists in the same batch, after all. Shouldn't we look out for each other?"

Liu Feng spoke with righteous conviction.

"Is that so? But I still won't lend it to you."

With that, Chen Xun turned and left.

"You!" Liu Feng glared furiously at Chen Xun and ground his teeth. "Remember your choice today. One day, I'll make you regret it."

"I'm a Grade B genius."

After that, Liu Feng stormed away in a rage.

"Idiot," Chen Xun could not help muttering.

So what if he was a Grade B genius? It was not as though the Li Family had given him any special treatment.

Clearly, his talent was still not enough.

Otherwise, the Li Family would have long since devoted great effort to cultivating him.

Chen Xun had heard that among the servants of the Li Estate in the past, there had appeared someone with Grade B, Upper Tier talent. The Li Family had directly recruited him as a live-in son-in-law and nurtured him with all their strength.

Later, he had indeed lived up to expectations, representing the Li Family and entering Qingyun Martial Academy.

"I just wonder why he needs to borrow money. Didn't they just get paid not long ago?"

Chen Xun was somewhat puzzled.