One month

"Thud!"

Li Hu's body crumpled to the ground, and Xu Yang began gasping for breath.

He had killed three men in succession. Though it had taken less than half a minute, this was his first time killing anyone-and vicious men like Li Hu at that. How could he not have been nervous?

He had been holding his breath the whole time, too. Now that he finally let it out, his limbs felt weak, and his heart pounded like a drum. He could even hear it thumping, as though it were about to leap out of his chest.

"So bloody!"

Looking at the blood and pale brain matter strewn across the ground, he could not help feeling nauseated.

A great experience, extra thoughtful.

He had not wanted to make such a bloody mess, both to keep anyone from discovering the murder scene and to make disposing of the bodies easier. But with all three appearing together, he could not afford to worry about that if he wanted to kill them all.

Fortunately, it was nighttime, and he was outside the village. There was almost no chance of anyone stumbling upon him, so he could take his time cleaning up.

He dragged Li Liang and Li Jian onto a nearby field ridge to drain their blood, searching their bodies while he was at it.

After searching for a while, Xu Yang discovered that the money on all three men did not even add up to two taels. They had only one tael and a few dozen copper coins between them-less than he had.

There was also a dagger, but it was not worth much.

A little while later, he had mostly recovered, and Li Jian and Li Liang's bodies had nearly finished draining.

He immediately hid Li Hu's body in the nearby woods, then picked up Li Liang and Li Jian's bodies and headed into the mountains.

Over the past few days, he had done more than lie in ambush here. He had also dug a place to bury the bodies in advance.

Each of the two bodies weighed around 130 jin and was rather heavy to carry. After spending an hour altogether, he finally buried all three bodies in the mountains several kilometers away.

He returned to the scene, swept away the blood with branches, and covered it with some dirt.

He knew he had not done a very good job, but he only needed to conceal enough that nobody could tell who had died here.

Even if someone from Big Tree Village passed by tomorrow and realized someone might have been killed here last night, nobody would bother doing anything about it.

He Shicai had been driven to his death, and even his own family had not reported it to the authorities. All the more so for a scene where nobody knew who had died. Anyone who saw it would simply keep their distance, afraid of bringing trouble upon themselves.

When he returned home, Xu Qing had not noticed he had gone out. He washed the blood off his hands, then went to bed.

The next morning, the first thing Xu Yang did upon opening his eyes was look at the panel:

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 43]

I even get rewards for killing people?

Lately, aside from adding one point to Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist every day, he had left all his points untouched.

Reaching Entry in Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist had earned him ten points. He remembered having thirty-three points yesterday, which meant the panel had credited him with ten points last night.

Right. Li Hu and the other two wanted to kill me. Killing them was also something that helped my martial dao longevity.

Xu Yang quickly figured it out, then invested all his points in Bone Root, raising it to "34."

That day, nobody realized Li Hu and the other two were dead-not their families, nor the Three Harmonies Gang.

They thought the three were still hiding, and that they were doing an excellent job of it. They could really weather trouble.

That day, the Outer Court disciples of the Mighty Far Hall noticed that Xu Yang had stopped slacking off and sleeping. He was working hard again.

The next day, Li Hu and the other two still did not appear. Both the Three Harmonies Gang and their families thought it was time they came out.

After all, five days had passed since the incident, and He Shicai's family had still not reported it to the authorities. It was safe to come out now.

"When did Li Hu become such a coward? He still hasn't come out!"

On the sixth day, Li Hu and the other two still had not appeared, and some members of the Three Harmonies Gang began mocking them.

"Something must have happened to Li Hu!"

On the seventh day, someone in the Three Harmonies Gang finally realized that something might have happened to the three men. They sent people searching everywhere, and soon everyone knew about their disappearance.

"Good riddance! Heaven finally claimed those three beasts."

He Shicai's family clapped and cheered. The people of White Stone Ward also found it immensely satisfying, though they dared not show it openly.

A few more days passed, and the three men still did not appear. The Three Harmonies Gang sent someone else to take over Li Hu's affairs, and nobody cared whether the three were alive or dead anymore.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Xu Yang and the others entered the Mighty Far Hall.

Standing atop the Plum Blossom Stance posts, Xu Yang slowly came out of the Turtle-Snake Great Stance as his qi and blood settled.

[Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Entry (30/100)]

[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Entry (61/150)]

Xu Yang exhaled a stale breath. His progress in Turtle-Snake Great Stance was now only half that of Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

He was confident that his current progress in Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist was no lower than Lu Ren's, and might even have surpassed it.

It had only been half a month since he reached Entry in Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. Aside from the one point of progress he added through the panel each day, everything had come from his own training. In other words, he gained an average of three points of progress a day.

At this rate, even if he stopped using the panel to add progress, he would be able to cultivate Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist to the threshold of the First Martial Dao Gate by next month at the latest.

"Xu Yang, come down and trade a few moves with me!" Zhang Hong called.

By now, everyone in their group had reached Entry in Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

The Mighty Far Hall required disciples practicing Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist to spar often. Though he lost every time, Zhang Hong still frequently trained with Xu Yang.

"Sure!"

Xu Yang leaped down from the Plum Blossom Stance posts and threw a punch while still airborne, sending Zhang Hong staggering backward.

"Your strength is downright terrifying."

Shaking out his numb arm, Zhang Hong charged with a bear pounce, and the two quickly became locked in combat.

"No more, no more! I give up."

After twenty exchanges, Zhang Hong shouted his surrender and lay on the ground, panting.

"Haha... Senior Brother Zhang Hong, you're sparring with Senior Brother Xu Yang again?" A voice rang out as a youth in blue-green training clothes approached with a smile.

His name was Qiu Wenjie, and he was a new disciple of the Mighty Far Hall.

After a month, Xu Yang and the others had already become veteran disciples of the Outer Court.

When Qiu Wenjie first arrived, Xu Yang had been sleeping every day. Seeing that Xu Yang seemed to have plenty of free time, he had approached him for advice on Turtle-Snake Great Stance. After several such visits, he had become familiar with both Xu Yang and Zhang Hong.

The three chatted for a while before Zhang Hong got up to practice his fist technique. Xu Yang also stood, but Qiu Wenjie caught hold of him.

"Something wrong?" Xu Yang asked, puzzled.

Qiu Wenjie nodded. "My father knows you've been looking after me lately, Senior Brother Xu. He's planning to host a banquet tonight to thank you. Please do us the honor of attending."

Xu Yang frowned slightly. He had indeed

given Qiu Wenjie a few pointers, but hardly enough to warrant his father hosting a banquet to thank him.

A banquet like that would cost at least one or two taels of silver. He did not think those few pointers he had given Qiu Wenjie were worth that much.

What do I have that they could be after?

The only thing Xu Yang could think of was the Three Harmonies Gang. After all, he had killed some of their men. But when he thought it over carefully, none of the gang's higher-ups had the surname Qiu. Besides, the Three Harmonies Gang would not need to go to such trouble to deal with him.

"Speak plainly!" Unable to figure it out, Xu Yang simply asked outright.

Qiu Wenjie answered honestly, "All right. After my father heard about you, he wanted to discuss something with you. I think he wants to help you train in martial arts."

Afternoon soon arrived. Xu Yang had not wanted to let anything go to waste and planned to eat his bowl of meat before attending the banquet. But Qiu Wenjie said his father had already prepared wine and meat, then pulled Xu Yang away.