After clearing the battlefield, they packed up the goods belonging to the Fang Family’s caravan, along with the gold and silver treasures plundered from the stronghold. Then, Fang Han’s party escorted the spoils of war and set off for Liangshui City.

There was no need to rush or hide their tracks. The journey back was much more relaxed than the trip out.

"You all performed quite well!"

As they traveled, the elders looked at Fang Han and the other Inner Hall Descendants with approval in their eyes.

With descendants like these, the future of the Fang Family was secure. They didn’t have to worry that the younger generation would be unable to support the family after their own generation had passed.

It was even possible that the family might become more prosperous than ever, reaching new heights.

They arrived in Liangshui City at dusk.

Outside the main gate of the Fang Mansion, torches burned brightly. To their surprise, Patriarch Fang Lingyuan himself was leading several high-ranking family members to greet them.

"You have all worked hard. This battle has showcased the might of our Fang Family and deterred the wicked. You are all heroes of the family!"

Fang Lingyuan’s voice was resonant, and a gratified smile graced his face.

His gaze swept over the party, lingering on the younger descendants like Fang Han as he gave a slight nod. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Annihilating the Black Snake Thieves was of great significance. Not only had they recovered their losses and restored the family’s honor, but they had also delivered a powerful warning to the malevolent forces within and outside Liangshui City.

"We were only doing our duty!"

Fang Han and the others bowed in unison.

After a few brief words of commendation, everyone dispersed to rest.

Even for Martial Artists, the constant travel and fierce battles had left them feeling somewhat fatigued.

Fang Han returned to his small courtyard and gave his parents a brief account of what had happened. He omitted the perilous details, mentioning only the decisive victory to keep them from worrying.

The next day, Fang Han threw himself back into his daily Cultivation.

In the Class A-10 Martial Arts Room, he cleared his mind of all distractions and once again immersed himself in cultivating the Crane Form.

With his four-fold Root Bone Talent Amplification, his qi and blood surged like a dragon, repeatedly washing over and tempering the tendons throughout his body, pushing him toward a deeper level of the Muscle Refining Realm.

During a break from his Cultivation, he went to visit his uncle, Fang Ye.

His uncle’s injuries were healing well, and his complexion had improved greatly. When he learned that the Black Snake Thieves had been annihilated, he was so thrilled he couldn’t stop cheering, the pent-up frustration in his heart finally dissipating completely.

Several days passed peacefully.

One day, just as Fang Han finished his Cultivation, there was a soft knock on the door of the Martial Arts Room.

He opened the door to find a family servant holding a heavy wooden box.

"Young Master Han, this is your share of the wealth from annihilating the Black Snake Thieves. The Patriarch ordered me to deliver it to you."

The servant respectfully presented the wooden box.

Fang Han took it. The weight was substantial, and he estimated it was about a hundred taels.

After closing the door, Fang Han opened the wooden box. Inside were ten ten-tael ingots of fine silver—exactly one hundred taels.

’A hundred taels...’

Fang Han was quite satisfied with the reward of a hundred taels.

For this operation, the family had dispatched dozens of Martial Artists, including five Elders at the Inner Qi Realm.

They were the main force behind the annihilation of the Black Snake Thieves. Elder Fang Tu, in particular, had broken through the stronghold gate and single-handedly fought their strongest leader, a Late Ninth Grade Internal Qi Realm master. He deserved the most credit, so his share of the spoils would naturally be the largest.

The captured wealth probably wasn’t enough to cover all the rewards; the family might have even had to add some of its own funds.

For him to receive a hundred taels was already an excellent reward.

’Only 53 more taels to reach a thousand!’

Fang Han couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Including his previous earnings and the hundred taels from this reward, he was now only 53 taels short of his thousand-tael goal.

Based on his monthly income of twenty taels, it would only take him three months to save up the rest.

In reality, it would probably be even sooner.

His rank had risen to seventh on the Martial Arts Stele, so his monthly reward of silver coins should increase as well.

「 」

At the end of the month, Fang Han received the monthly resources for his seventh-place rank on the Martial Arts Stele.

A servant respectfully delivered two wooden boxes to the Class A-10 Martial Arts Room.

Fang Han opened one of them. Inside were the familiar two white-and-blue Porcelain Bottles, containing twenty fragrant, longan-sized Qi Blood Pills.

This was the same as the reward for tenth place.

In the other wooden box, however, the amount of silver had changed. It was no longer twenty taels, but a full thirty-five taels of fine silver!

’Thirty-five taels!’

A look of satisfaction appeared in Fang Han’s eyes. As expected, a higher rank meant a better reward.

With his monthly income of silver coins increasing from twenty to thirty-five taels, the time required to save a thousand taels would be shortened even further.

’Deposit.’

After confirming the door to the Martial Arts Room was bolted, Fang Han immediately chose to make the deposit.

The thirty-five taels of silver vanished, and in their place, the system panel updated.

[Host: Fang Han]

[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 4x (Level 3 Amplification requires 1000 silver)]

[Swordsmanship Talent Amplification: 4x (Level 3 Amplification requires 1000 silver)]

[Wealth: 982 silver]

’I have 982 silver!’

Fang Han’s gaze burned as he stared at his total wealth. A profound sense of anticipation filled his heart.

He was so close to reaching a thousand taels that, fearing some accident, he had deposited every last bit of silver he owned into the system panel.

That 982 silver was everything he had.

He was only eighteen taels short of a thousand. He would definitely be able to make it next month and unlock the Level 3 Amplification.

He never considered asking his parents. Since he lived with them, they were well aware of his income and expenses. It would be impossible to explain how he had already spent nearly a thousand taels of silver and now needed to ask them for more.

Borrowing from the other Inner Hall Descendants was also out of the question. He had already received over eight hundred taels in family rewards; no one would believe he had spent that much silver in such a short time.

Anyone else might be short on cash, but he was the last person anyone would expect to be.

’Time to keep cultivating!’

Taking a deep breath, Fang Han suppressed his surging emotions and threw himself back into his Cultivation.

Talent Amplification was important, but effort was just as indispensable.

Talent without hard work would inevitably lead to limited achievements.

Time slipped by while Fang Han was focused. In the blink of an eye, another half a month had passed.

One day, as Fang Han was practicing the Crane Form as usual, his boundless qi and blood surged under the four-fold Root Bone Amplification. It washed over the tendons throughout his body again and again, continuously strengthening his physique.

HUM!

An invisible yet incredibly tough barrier suddenly materialized.

With the appearance of this barrier, the continuous improvement of his physical condition came to a screeching halt, making any further progress impossible.

’I’ve hit the bottleneck between Refining Tendons and Bone Refining!’

Fang Han understood instantly. The reason his physique could no longer improve was that he had hit the bottleneck between the Muscle Refining and Bone Refining stages.

Only by breaking through this bottleneck to reach the Bone Refining stage could he cast off these shackles and continue to strengthen his body.

He continued his Cultivation, but by the time he finished for the day, the bottleneck remained unbroken.

’The bottleneck to the Bone Refining stage is so much harder to break than the one for the Muscle Refining stage!’

Fang Han raised an eyebrow slightly.

With his continuous Cultivation, the Muscle Refining bottleneck had barely been an obstacle; he had broken through it quickly.

Yet, he had been cultivating for an entire day and still hadn’t broken through the Bone Refining bottleneck.

This proved that the Bone Refining bottleneck was far more difficult than the one for Muscle Refining.

This was to be expected.

Skin, Flesh, Tendon, Bone—these are the Basic Four Realms of the Martial Dao. Bone Refining is the final one, the very beginning of a complete transformation. The difficulty of its bottleneck was far beyond what the previous three realms could compare to.

Even with his astonishing four-fold Root Bone Talent Amplification, he couldn’t break through this barrier in a single attempt.

’No need to rush. With my four-fold Root Bone Talent Amplification, breaking this bottleneck definitely won’t take too long!’

Although he was somewhat surprised, Fang Han wasn’t panicked. His eyes remained calm and profound.

The bottleneck was solid, but he had complete faith in his four-fold Root Bone Talent Amplification.

Even the bottleneck to the Bone Refining stage wouldn’t be able to hold him back for long.