"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
The howling of fierce winds continued to ring out in Lin Fan's room. With a life-or-death crisis looming, he could not sleep at all, so he simply continued practicing Gale Leg.
No amount of worrying would help. Only by growing stronger could he find a sliver of hope for survival.
His progress in Gale Leg began climbing rapidly again.
Gale Leg (Intent Realm 130/1000)...160...230...330...550...750...990...
Lin Fan took another step, and this time, something changed. A current of blood Qi enveloped his legs, remaining condensed without dispersing and giving off a tough yet sharp presence. This was Gang Qi.
Lin Fan's speed surged again, and the wall rapidly grew larger in his pupils. He was about to crash into it.
But Lin Fan had already cultivated Gale Leg to a realm of sublime mastery. He turned in time, dissipating his momentum and coming to a stop.
He looked at the panel. Sure enough, Gale Leg had reached the Intent Realm.
Gale Leg (Intent Realm 1000/1000).
At my current speed, even Senior Brother Yang Kuan can't match me. But it's not enough. I need to be faster. Only by reaching a speed that even an Eighth Grade Greater Accomplishment martial artist can't catch can I have a sliver of hope for survival, Lin Fan mused silently.
Now that there was no further progress he could make with Gale Leg, Lin Fan was at a loss.
His shoulder bone was already cracked, so he could no longer practice Gang-Breaking Fist or the Body Tempering Art. Having time to grow stronger yet being unable to do so left Lin Fan feeling suffocated.
The threat of the bandits was imminent, yet he could only sit here waiting to die. The feeling filled him with utter despair and fury.
"Fuck! Damn you, Tan Lin! Those bandits should have killed you last night!"
Lin Fan cursed. If Tan Lin had not sent outer courtyard disciples like them out as bait, how would his shoulder bone have cracked?
Tan Lin was Senior Brother Tan's name. Lin Fan had learned it from Yang Kuan.
The more Lin Fan thought about it, the angrier he became. He could not calm down for a long time, and only when intense exhaustion washed over him did he collapse onto his bed to rest.
After lunch, Lin Fan leaned back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling. Before, he had wished he could split every minute into two to make use of it, but now that he had idle time, he did not know what to do.
"Tan Lin, fuck your uncle!"
Irritated, Lin Fan cursed and kicked out. A streak of Gang Qi whistled from the tip of his foot, reaching the wall in the blink of an eye.
Only then did Lin Fan abruptly realize he was about to cause trouble, and he hastily dispersed the Gang Qi.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."
The dispersed Gang Qi scraped across the stone wall as easily as blades slicing through soil, leaving crisscrossing marks, the deepest over ten centimeters deep.
Had Lin Fan not dispersed the Gang Qi, the fate of that wall was easy to imagine.
"Phew..." Lin Fan let out a heavy breath. "I almost exposed myself."
As he felt his blood Qi settling down, a flash of inspiration crossed Lin Fan's mind.
"Wait, the Body Tempering Art's purpose is to guide blood Qi to scour the body. With my current control over blood Qi, I don't need the Body Tempering Art's help at all!" Lin Fan slapped his forehead, feeling as though a path had opened beyond the dark willows and bright flowers.
He hurriedly immersed his mind in his blood Qi. What he had once found difficult to control now obeyed as naturally as his own limbs. He directed his blood Qi along his meridians, then through tiny meridians into his flesh, tempering it.
"Just as I thought. My Gale Leg has already reached the Intent Realm, and I can condense Gang Qi however I please. Directing blood Qi is naturally no problem."
Understanding dawned on Lin Fan. Gang Qi was itself the result of condensing blood Qi to its utmost limit. Being able to condense Gang Qi naturally meant his control over blood Qi had reached the point where it obeyed his every wish.
He continued directing his blood Qi to flow rapidly through his meridians, far faster than passively drawing it along by performing the Body Tempering Art. There was a fundamental difference between active and passive control.
But after his excitement passed, he grew apprehensive. Although this method worked, he worried that the Fate Panel would not recognize it.
He stared fixedly at the Body Tempering Art's progress on the Fate Panel. A few short breaths felt as long as a century.
Body Tempering Art (Lesser Accomplishment 40/1200)...41/1200.
Lin Fan's heart finally settled. His frustration was swept away, and intense joy surged through him.
"Hahaha..." He laughed aloud. "Heaven never bars every road! I, Lin Fan, am not fated to die yet!"
It took Lin Fan quite a while to suppress his excitement. He directed his blood Qi to continue tempering his body, and his progress in the Body Tempering Art rose rapidly, far faster than before. Lin Fan estimated that he was progressing about four times as fast as with normal cultivation.
Previously, he could gain roughly 80 progress points in an hour. Now, he could gain over 300 in an hour.
Reaching lesser accomplishment in the Body Tempering Art required 1,200 progress points, meaning he could reach it in less than two double-hours-four hours.
Cultivating at this speed was no different from riding a rocket.
"Fortune and misfortune lean on each other. This is what it means!" The excitement Lin Fan had just suppressed surged up even more fiercely, becoming difficult to contain. "You bandit, I'll offer you a piss in tribute tonight. If you hadn't cracked my shoulder, how could I have discovered a shortcut like this?"
"Out... in... out... in..." Lin Fan took several deep breaths in succession, once again suppressing his excitement. "I just hope the big battle doesn't come too soon," he muttered, then immersed himself in cultivation again.
His Body Tempering Art improved at tremendous speed.
Body Tempering Art (Lesser Accomplishment 45/1200)...80...180...380...680...
As the sun descended from its zenith toward the west, Lin Fan's Body Tempering Art drew steadily closer to lesser accomplishment.
"Crackle, crackle..."
As Lin Fan's sinews and bones gave off crisp cracks like firecrackers, his Body Tempering Art formally entered lesser accomplishment, reaching the realm of Sinews and Bones Ringing in Unison.
The blood Qi inside his body surged and roiled. Wisps of blood Qi formed and merged with his existing blood Qi, which continued to grow stronger. Lin Fan clenched his fist, feeling as though he could blast apart a small mountain with a single punch.
Of course, this was an illusion caused by the sudden surge in strength. Lesser Body Tempering only increased his strength by three thousand jin.
Lin Fan suppressed his excitement. Lesser Body Tempering alone could not resolve his current predicament. He needed to reach Ninth Grade Perfection at the very least. Combined with Intent Realm Gale Leg, only then would he feel confident of seizing that sliver of hope for survival.
"Ninth Grade Perfection, Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl, a hundred thousand jin of strength. Soon, I'll catch a glimpse of this realm that only martial prodigies can reach." Filled with anticipation, Lin Fan threw himself into another round of cultivation.
Body Tempering Art (Greater Accomplishment 1/2400).
The required progress had doubled again, but at his current pace, he would only need four double-hours-eight hours.
The sun sank toward the horizon. When his progress reached 600, it was time for dinner.
The atmosphere in the dining hall was extremely heavy. Four inner courtyard disciples had died the previous night, so there was no more laughter and chatter among the inner courtyard disciples either. Every one of them wore a dark expression and a furrowed brow.
No outer courtyard disciples had died last night, because the bandits had deliberately spared them to carry back the inner courtyard disciples' bodies and deliver the news. It was naked contempt and provocation.
After dinner, Senior Brother Tan once again ordered outer courtyard disciples like Lin Fan to patrol the medicinal fields, provoking intense discontent among them.
"Senior Brother Tan, the bandits have already sent out martial artists. Wouldn't going out again be sending ourselves to our deaths?"
"Exactly! Even you aren't their match. What good would it do for us to patrol? It's a trap!"
"If you let the bandits lead you around by the nose like this, there's only a dead end ahead!"
"..."