’Profound Nether Realm-Breaking Awl (Spirit) (Contemplation) (entry-level): 237/500’

Staring at the text on the panel, Qin Fang let out a long breath.

’Just over two hundred points after a whole month... This Spirit Contemplation Method is even harder than I imagined.’

’It’s a good thing I didn’t impulsively try Breaking Realm.’

’Otherwise... I would have failed, ten times out of ten!’

Shaking his head, he looked up at the sky.

The sky was a bit hazy, but the snow had stopped. It was now March, and all things were reviving. Even on the mountainside, where the vegetation had been almost completely torn away by that cataclysmic gale, stubborn patches of green were reappearing...

Perhaps before long, this place would be teeming with life once more.

’At this rate, it will take at least another month to break through to Minor Achievement... Forget it. It’s time to head to the Prefecture City.’

The Martial Arts Examination would begin in three months. Although the journey to the Prefecture City only took about half a month, Qin Fang knew nothing about the city and didn’t know what obstacles he might encounter. He needed to leave some buffer time.

With this in mind, Qin Fang got up and started packing.

He definitely needed to prepare some Bee Meat, but not too much... He could feel that although his body had continued to grow stronger over the past month, and his Inner Refining was ongoing, the improvements were limited. In a month, his strength had only increased by about a thousand jin, and the effects were diminishing.

His maximum strength was now around thirteen thousand jin.

It sounded terrifying.

But Qin Fang wasn’t sure what level this kind of Physique ranked among Huajin Martial Artists.

...Of course, he was definitely much stronger than Chen Shanhe.

Chen Shanhe’s strength had been eight to nine thousand jin at most. The only reason Qin Fang had been beaten by him before was that he couldn’t land a hit.

But after creating the Mortal Martial Canon, hadn’t he completely dominated the fight? His opponent didn’t even have a chance to fight back before being easily suppressed and killed.

However, through Chen Shanhe, Qin Fang had gained a deeper understanding of the distinction between the Root and Leaf that his master had mentioned...

After killing about ten bees and harvesting around thirty jin of Bee Meat, Qin Fang stopped.

Once the Bee Meat was packed, Qin Fang went to the cave entrance, took a look around, and headed down the mountain.

Not long after, a series of RUMBLING sounds could be heard as Qin Fang appeared, carrying a massive boulder over a meter in diameter and two meters tall all the way up the mountain!

The boulder weighed over ten thousand jin. As he carried it on his shoulder, Qin Fang’s muscles bulged, unleashing terrifying power and leaving deep footprints on the steep mountainside.

Even for Qin Fang, carrying such an extreme weight was an immense pressure.

It took him a full hour to reach the front of the cave. THUD. The massive boulder slammed down at the entrance.

Qin Fang panted lightly.

’It seems what the Wild Bull Hundred Forgings says about not needing Outer Refining after mastering Inner Refining isn’t entirely correct... It’s been too long since I’ve done this kind of extreme weight-bearing. I feel a bit rusty,’ Qin Fang thought.

’Back when I was frequently doing weighted squats, even at my limit, my body’s response and recovery seemed better than it is now when pushed to the same extreme.’

’It’s clear that while Outer Refining might not necessarily make the body stronger, it does help it adapt better to its limits...’

’...And that is undoubtedly very important.’

After mulling it over, he rested for a short while before walking into the cave.

He returned to the spot with the mysterious liquid and checked the Porcelain Bottle he had left there. It had collected another three or four drops.

He put it away safely and went back outside. Qin Fang then used the huge boulder to block the cave entrance.

It wasn’t a perfect seal, but after a careful look, Qin Fang nodded...

...From the foot of the mountain, the cave was no longer visible. Only the boulder could be seen.

Anyone who didn’t know there was a cave here would be very unlikely to notice anything unusual.

To make it even more hidden, Qin Fang dug up a good amount of mud from behind the boulder and used it to mostly fill in the remaining gaps.

...After a while, once the vegetation here grew a bit denser, the remaining cracks would be covered by weeds...

Then, even if someone walked right up to it, they wouldn’t notice anything was amiss.

Having done all this, he dusted the dirt from his hands and headed down the mountain with the Bee Meat.

First, he took a bath in the waterfall...

It was early spring, and the air was freezing.

But such a chill was nothing to Qin Fang, of course.

A Huajin Martial Artist, unless faced with extreme weather, could practically be described as "impervious to heat and cold."

He then returned to his shelter and sorted his belongings: the Poisonous Thorns, Bee Meat, Poison Glands, Silver Notes, and other things.

He stuffed the Silver Notes into a pouch he had made from bee hide.

...With his current strength, Qin Fang could easily cut the bee hide. This hide was impervious to water and fire and had an excellent seal. He had cut up some of it and stitched the pieces together with thread to make the pouch.

It didn’t look very good... but it would keep the Silver Notes safe.

...Silver Notes couldn’t get wet. If they were damaged by water, they couldn’t be exchanged.

These were the Silver Notes he had gotten from Chen Shanhe. They would be his funds for the Prefecture City, so they naturally had to be well-protected.

After a round of meticulous preparations, he thought for a moment to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, then looked up at the sky.

It was already getting dark.

’I’ll set out tomorrow,’ he thought.

「The next day」

Qin Fang set out, riding Xile.

He hadn’t planned on taking Xile with him, but riding her for a short distance nearby was fine.

The Prefecture City was upstream on the Chujiang River, to the northwest. Traveling by water would be much faster.