Fan Sheng suddenly raised his head, and the group of Martial Artist from the Celebration Hall looked at each other in bewilderment.
No one expected Zhao An to be so easy to talk to.
Deng Qing remained calm and cupped his hands in greeting again, saying, "Brother Zhao is magnanimous and upright; I admire him."
Zhao An said, "Brother Deng, you flatter me."
Deng Qing said, "In that case, I won't bother you any longer today. Farewell."
"Take care, Brother Deng."
Deng Qing turned around, nodded to Fan Sheng, and walked straight out the door.
Fan Sheng hurriedly called for everyone to follow, and even after they left the Shared Joy Hall gate, everyone was still somewhat dazed.
Jiang Jie squeezed next to Deng Qing, " Senior Brother Deng, is that all?"
Yang Tong couldn't help but ask, "Why did they admit defeat just because they wrote a poem?"
Is there some special significance to that stone screen?
" Junior Brother Deng, what methods did you use just now?"
Everyone started asking Deng Qing a barrage of questions.
Deng Qing smiled without saying a word, and continued walking, leading them towards the street corner.
As soon as the people from the Celebration Hall left, the two vermilion doors of the Shared Joy Hall were closed.
The bolt was pulled down, and dissenting opinions arose.
"Senior Brother, why did you stop fighting?"
"We've made such a big fuss, are we going to slink away from Everjoy County without a bloody battle?"
Hao Dadan couldn't hold back any longer, "He only wrote a few words, right? The stone screen is in such a mess, and we haven't even settled accounts with him yet, how come he's already admitting defeat?"
Lei Fen abruptly turned his head, pointed at Hao Dadan, and his voice suddenly rose, "What are you fighting for? All of you piece of junk wouldn't make a difference!"
Hao Dadan shrank back after being drunk, but was still somewhat unconvinced.
Lei Fen strode to the stone screen, raised his hand and patted the surface of the stone, "Do you know what this material is? It's Azure Astral Stone!"
When Lao Tzu erected this stone screen, even the roughing and grinding of the stone required specially made chisels. Ordinary swords and knives would chip the edge, and might not even leave a mark on the stone surface!
As he spoke, he pointed to the words, "Come and see for yourselves how deep these words are carved!"
Several people hesitated before stepping forward.
Hao Dadan also went over, ran his finger along a line of characters, and then pinched hard on an area where there were no characters.
He dug his nails into the stone until they hurt, but there wasn't even a mark on the stone surface.
Lei Fen said coldly, "Gentlemen, we all know that cracking a stone with one palm is the same as writing words on it with two fingers, right?"
He wrote a full twenty-eight characters without a single broken stroke. Do you understand what it means to have plenty of energy?
Hao Dadan and the others dared not speak.
Zhao An stared at the poem and said, "No wonder he was able to achieve such great feats in the Desolate Soil Liangshan."
I had heard that the Imperial Court had erected a monument in his honor, and I thought the rumors were somewhat exaggerated. But seeing it today, I realize I was too naive.
How could a Humble-Born receive such praise simply because of luck?
With him in charge of the Celebration Hall, what are we still fighting for? Everjoy County is nothing to regret; we can simply give it up.
Zhang Guang was silent for a moment, then said, "Senior Brother, I have another idea."
No matter how powerful Deng Qing is, he's only at the Bone-Forging Realm right now. Our Upper Forest Sect the Furnace Realm.
Since we've already created a grudge, why give him another chance to grow?
Zhao An shook his head. "You think he has no one backing him?"
Zhang Guang was taken aback.
Zhao An said, "Before I came here, I inquired about Liangshan. I heard that he had befriended a powerful figure from the Martial Dao Lower Court in the Desolate Soil. That person is not easy to deal with."
Furthermore, if Deng Qing were to actually compete, even if we all went in, he could still sweep us all aside.
Instead, he chose to carve inscriptions and compose poems to flatter our Upper Forest Sect, thus saving us face.
Qingzhou is vast, and my Upper Forest Sect doesn't necessarily need to open a martial arts school in Everjoy County to prove that we've suppressed the True Yang Martial Sect."
Zhang Guang nodded and said, " Senior Brother's insight is brilliant!"
In the morning, the underground practice room of the Celebration Hall was dimly lit.
Deng Qing sat cross-legged on the futon, took out a Azure Fish Pill, and put it in his mouth.
The moment the Medicinal Pills entered his stomach, it transformed into a torrent of heat that spread outwards.
He manipulated the Devour Heaven Scripture, guiding the medicinal power into his Qi-Blood, and sending it throughout his body and bones.
Before long, a fine layer of sweat appeared on his back.
After Grand Mastery Devour Heaven Scripture, the speed at which one can refine medicinal power is simply astonishing.
In less than a hundred breaths, the medicinal power of one Azure Fish Pill was completely neutralized.
Deng Qing popped one into his mouth and continued refining it.
With each breath he took, a deep rumbling sound came from his chest and abdomen, and even the muscles in his body vibrated in sync with the rhythm of his breathing.
These days, he has devoted almost all his attention to cultivation.
He finally pushed the progress of the Bone Tempering Third Layer to ninety-nine percent.
It was just one last push.
Once the medicinal effects in his stomach had worn off, Deng Qing estimated that the time was about right. He took the Medicine Box, poured out three Azure Fish Pill, and swallowed them all.
The effects of the medicine, activated by the Devour Heaven Scripture, came on quickly and intensely.
Instantly, the muscles in his shoulders and back began to swell, stretching his clothes taut.
The medicinal effects in his abdomen continued to dissipate, and surging Qi-Blood and qi rose up his spine, causing the veins on the back of his neck to bulge.
Gradually, that familiar tingling sensation returned.
First the spine, then the sternum, limbs, and finally down to the skull and hyoid bone.
Deng Qing gritted his teeth and continued to practice his internal energy.
Suddenly, his entire body trembled.
The previously stagnant heat suddenly surged upwards, passing over the neck and rushing into the skull.
Deng Qing's mind went blank for a moment, and even his teeth started to itch.
With his eyes closed, he could feel constant sounds coming from deep within his skull, his ears sometimes muffled and sometimes clear, and a warm current flowing back and forth deep in his throat.
Skull, auditory ossicles, hyoid bone...
The Qi-Blood finally entered the areas that were previously difficult to temper.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but the buzzing in his ears gradually subsided.
Deng Qing exhaled a breath of stale air, his Internal Breath energy surging like rivers converging into the sea.
The Clear Radiance, No Thought, and lines of text appeared before my eyes.
[Realm: Bone Tempering Fourth Layer (1%)]
[ Tiger-Subduing Fist: Perfected Mastery (93%)]
[ The Devour Heaven Scripture: Grand Mastery (71%)]
[ Elephant-Throwing Method: Perfected Mastery (82%)]
[ Collapse Step: Grand Mastery (69%)]
[ Mystic Wasteland Baleful Blood: Baleful Intent Condensation (22%)]
Deng Qing stared at the words " Bone Tempering Fourth Layer " for a long time, his heart surging with emotion.
He remained holed up in the Celebration Hall, determined not to move forward.
Rather, he was unwilling to venture out and wander before he could transform his existing resources into strength.
Now, I have finally passed the Bone Tempering Fourth Layer.
Similar to the Skin Tempering Fourth Layer, once you reach the Bone Tempering Fourth Layer, you have the potential to refine your Baleful Veins and break through to the Great Furnace.
It could be said that he was only one step away from reaching the Furnace Realm.
Suppressing his joy, Deng Qing circulated his qi several more Heavenly Cycle until his Qi-Blood returned to normal before standing up.
He stretched out his arms, and a series of popping sounds immediately rang out from his shoulders and back.
Deng Qing moved around for a moment, then suddenly stopped, looked at his hands, and then focused his mind to circulate his Qi-Blood, sending it towards his brow.
Just as his Qi-Blood rushed to his forehead and his brow felt hot, the next moment, the seam of his shirt on his shoulder suddenly tore.
With a tearing sound, the crack extended further.
The lights behind him cast his shadow on the wall.
The dark figure grew larger and larger, its shoulders and back bulging, its thick arms hanging at its sides, and its bulging muscles layered upon each other, filling almost half of the wall.
Deng Qing raised his hand, and the monster on the wall also raised a hand as big as a palm-leaf fan.
Deng Qing stared intently for a moment, then silently circulated the Devour Heaven Scripture, causing the surging Qi-Blood within his body to quickly converge, and the terrifying shadow on the wall also shrank accordingly.
In the blink of an eye, Deng Qing returned to her original appearance.
He clenched his fists, touched his face, and finally looked at his clothes, which were stretched to shreds, and was momentarily at a loss for words.
If I say I haven't Mutation, even ghosts probably won't believe me.
However, if it is said that he has already Mutation, he is still conscious, his body can grow larger, and he can also return to normal at will. He is not as terrifying as Li Dashan at all, but rather like the path that Huang Changhe has taken.
But Deng Qing also felt that he was definitely more skillful than Huang Changhe, at least he had not been corrupted by any Mutation, neither in body nor in mind.
There was another point that Deng Qing was very clear about.
After this Mutation, my physical body has become far more powerful.
Even without deliberately initiating the Mutation, his muscles, bones, and flesh already far surpassed those of the Bone-Forging Realm Martial Artist.
Otherwise, he could never have casually written a poem on the Azure Astral Stone in the Shared Joy Hall to repel the enemy.
"Never mind, I'll keep it as a trump card for now."
Once Deng Qing had made up his mind, he tore off his tattered clothes, put on clean clothes from the side, stuffed a box of Medicinal Pills from the stone platform into his Waist Pouch, and then pushed open the stone door and walked out.
As soon as he emerged from underground, bright sunlight shone down on him, and Deng Qing couldn't help but squint.
The sky was clear and blue, and the old tree in the courtyard had lush and verdant branches and leaves. A gust of wind carried Deng Qing back to the days when she spent summer vacations at her maternal grandmother's house when she was a child.
Deng Qing stretched comfortably and strode towards the front yard.
If you think about it carefully, it's been more than three months since the challenge to the Shared Joy Hall.
A lot has happened in the past three months.
The first issue is the restoration of his household registration.
Previously, Fan Sheng had run himself ragged and talked himself hoarse, almost ruining his health, borrowing money from loan sharks and treating people to meals, but the procedures he couldn't get done suddenly went smoothly after Deng Qing wrote a poem on the stone slab.
I heard that it was County Magistrate Gong who personally gave the order.
The County Magistrate Gong, Gong Jun, had a son named Gong Songyang, who was Li Dashan's eldest disciple.
In terms of their relationship, County Magistrate Gong and Celebration Hall should have been extremely close.
However, after the Celebration Hall declined, this spirit of pilgrimage seemed to fade as well.
Fan Sheng had previously visited the Gong family's home specifically to discuss household registration matters, but he hadn't even managed to see Gong Jun.
After Deng Qing Shared Joy Hall, the entire process was instantly simplified.
The household registration documents arrived that afternoon, and Gong Jun also sent a congratulatory gift.
As soon as he got the household registration, Deng Qing rushed to Yanshan Prefecture.
There were no further complications at the Honored Soldiers Hall in Yanshan Prefecture.
He presented his household registration documents and the captain's seal, and verified the Blood Token, thus successfully retrieving the items he had previously deposited at the Front Line.
Upon returning to the Celebration Hall, Deng Qing sold off most of the inventory and gave the proceeds to Fan Sheng, instructing him to manage the finances.
With the Shared Joy Hall's withdrawal, Celebration Hall regained its dominant position in Everjoy County.
He gradually brought back the staff who had to be laid off because the hall couldn't sustain itself.
Among them were Chef Zhao from the kitchen and Elder Wu from the Medicine Hall.
The day Chef Zhao returned, Deng Qing made a special trip to the stove and had a long chat with Chef Zhao.
The Big Yellow also returned, but its eyes were filled with fear as it looked at Deng Qing.
Deng Qing naturally wouldn't stoop to its level. Remembering how she had often snatched food from Big Yellow's mouth when she first arrived, she instructed Chef Zhao to buy more pork bones for Big Yellow to nourish it.
The return of Elder Wu greatly helped Deng Qing's cultivation.
By the time he reached the latter half of the Bone Tempering Third Layer, the rate at which he consumed Medicinal Pills was already quite alarming.
The Medicinal Pills he had originally stored away wouldn't last long, so he had to keep exchanging them for Qi Petal.
Although Qi Petal are valuable, they can't just be taken out and sold for a good price.
Elder Wu knew the intricacies of this much better than he did.
Deng Qing then entrusted the matter of selling the Qi Petal to Elder Wu.
The old man took over the Medicine Hall again, but before he could even settle in, he was already out and about again, traveling to every county and city in Yanshan Prefecture. Wherever there was a suitable market, he went there to help Deng Qing acquire many resources at a high cost-performance ratio.