Qin Fang immediately began to practice the Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist.

...Although his Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist had reached Minor Achievement, he had never actually used it against an enemy. The only time he’d fought with it was against his senior brother.

Still, he practiced diligently every day without fail. At this point, his Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist was only just over six hundred proficiency points away from Great Success.

...After all, this Fist Technique couldn’t be accelerated with Qi Blood Pills or any other elixirs; he could only rely on his own painstaking training.

At this moment, his form flowed as his whole body moved like a great serpent. With every punch, his spine engaged simultaneously, creating an exceptionally smooth motion.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK...

With every movement, the Skin Membrane Drum Sound and Muscle-Bone Thunder Sound echoed from within his body.

This was a sign that his strength flowed unimpeded, that he had mobilized the full power of his body.

The power of every inch of muscle was perfectly unleashed in the process.

The feeling was absolutely sublime.

Never before had he felt such perfect control over his own body!

This was the effect of ’Vitality’.

He was faintly beginning to understand what he needed to do next...

He had to integrate the entirety of his body’s strength, to achieve a state where it could be wielded freely, to gather power from every part of him.

’If that’s the case, then the power of the punch I just threw was nowhere near my limit... Given that I can squat at least eight hundred jin, my maximum strength might even be a ton or more... A punch with that much force should have been more than enough to shatter the training pile!’

Qin Fang mused.

If the full force of his body were focused on a single point, the result would be nothing like the punch he’d just thrown!

’I’m starting to understand why I have to train... The Training Method is what truly tempers the Physique. It makes the body sturdier... That way, when I truly unleash my full-body strength, my body will be able to withstand it. Otherwise...’

The alternative went without saying.

Before he could harm his enemy, he would likely harm himself first.

If he had truly gathered all his strength and struck the training pile with that last punch...

It was uncertain whether the pile would have broken.

But his fist would have definitely fractured!

...Because it wasn’t strong enough!

’My bones must be stronger, harder!’

’My muscles must be stronger, tougher!’

’The same goes for my skin and membranes!’

It was like wrapping a hammer in paper and then striking the ground with it. What would happen?

Setting aside whether the ground or the hammer would break...the paper wrapped around the hammer would undoubtedly be torn to shreds.

That ’paper’ was the skin and membranes.

The ’hammer’ was the muscles and bones.

As for the muscles... they determined the force of the ’strike’...

At this point, Qin Fang completely understood what the First Realm of Martial Cultivation was all about.

’Or rather... it’s not just this one realm. The entirety of Martial Cultivation is this same process.’

’Not a single part can be missing.’

In his moment of Epiphany, Qin Fang gained a comprehensive, fundamental understanding of Martial Cultivation.

Skin and membranes, bones, muscles...

Only when all of these grew strong...

...could he unleash his full power.

His eyes shone brightly as he comprehended the various new discoveries within his body...things he had never felt before.

...

He had broken through to the Mid-Mingjin Stage, and the excitement lasted for a day.

By the second day, Qin Fang had thrown himself back into his training.

It was only the Mid-Mingjin Stage; half a day of celebration was plenty.

His goals were far greater than that.

「In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed since his return.」

An awkward situation arose once more...

Because he had been taking two Qi Blood Pills every day, the thirty pills he had bought in Pingze were nearly gone. He only had four or five left, enough for another two days.

On his last trip to Pingze, he had done a final tally and found he had obtained a total of over two thousand eight hundred taels of silver.

That was enough for over two hundred and eighty Qi Blood Pills!

It was, without a doubt, a massive haul.

But he had the money and nowhere to spend it...

There was no Huichun Hall in Fisherman City.

Silver wouldn’t automatically turn into Qi Blood Pills.

And he couldn’t just send Monkey to do it alone...

It was too much money.

Although Monkey seemed trustworthy...

...Qin Fang had no intention of testing human nature.

...What if he got his hands on such a large sum of silver and simply never came back?

Even if he could likely find Monkey later by asking his senior brother for help... it was best to avoid such troubles if possible.

However, he did trust his senior brother and master...

But that was also a hassle.

He would have to contact them first and then get the money to them.

This problem had been driving Qin Fang crazy for the past two days.

Besides, using over two thousand eight hundred taels of silver to buy Qi Blood Pills all at once would be considered a major transaction.

But the risk was also great.

...In a World that seemed to have no laws once you stepped outside the county seat, he didn’t dare gamble on the character of others.

After thinking it over and over, he let out a soft sigh.

Doing it all in one go was definitely not an option.

He would just have to buy them in batches.

It would just be a little more tedious...

With that thought, Qin Fang stood up and went out.

First, he went to the market to look for the Hunter who had sold him the Pig King Meat the other day...

But once again, he couldn’t find him.

Qin Fang felt a little helpless...

But on second thought, the man had earned thirty taels of silver last time. Even after paying the twenty percent stall fee, he still had twenty-four taels...

For a Martial Cultivator, such a sum was only worth two Qi Blood Pills.

But for the family of an ordinary Hunter, it was likely enough to live on for a very long time.

If the Hunter had bought a large supply of goods right after getting paid and gone home, it was indeed possible he wouldn’t be back for a long while.

...After all, traveling in this World was dangerous in itself.

And it was uncomfortable, too... Naturally, he would avoid it if he could.

Having failed to find the man, he went straight to Xu Meng’s place.

As soon as he reached the entrance, several members of the Fish Dragon Gang spotted him.

They hurried to greet him.

"Master Qin."

"Master Qin."

Qin Fang nodded. "Is Brother Xu in?"

"The boss is inside."

they said quickly.

Qin Fang nodded and walked over, and a gang member quickly opened the door for him.

He then saw Xu Meng in the courtyard talking to a few gang members. Hearing the commotion, Xu Meng looked up and saw Qin Fang.

He immediately stopped speaking to greet Qin Fang. "Brother Qin."

Qin Fang nodded, then asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"

Hearing this, Xu Meng let out a soft breath and said with a mysterious expression, "Brother Qin, Huichun Hall is in big trouble this time!"

Qin Fang froze at his words.

Huichun Hall?

In big trouble?

He keenly sensed that this might be the aftermath of the incident in Pingze.

"What happened?"

he asked, walking over curiously.

"I just got word. In the last two days, in the larger markets like Cuishui, Hongquan, and Anbo... a total of seven markets with Huichun Hall branches... all their branches have been completely wiped out! We don’t even know how many people died!"

"Even more, three Anjin masters were assassinated inside the county seat three days ago. Two of them are dead!"

The explosive news that came from Xu Meng’s mouth was enough to make Qin Fang’s pupils shrink in shock!

(First day on the shelves, here’s a 20,000-word update! Not a single word saved in backlog, I feel completely drained... Hope everyone enjoys the read. I’ll continue tomorrow.)