Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Fang Yuan nodded. He turned and went into his room.

close the door.

I sat down at the table.

He opened his right hand. A panel appeared.

Talent Multiplication System.

Root bone: 4 times.

Stance training: 8 times.

Comprehension: 2 times.

Soul: 2 times.

Current savings: 4977 taels of silver.

The threshold for the next increase is 10000 taels.

Temporary increase in points: 5.

Fang Yuan's gaze lingered on the panel for a long time.

The light from the panel shone on his face. Partly bright, partly dim.

Qi and Blood Realm.

He is in the late stage of the Bone Refining Realm.

The stages in between are: peak of bone refining, early stage of filth refining, middle stage of filth refining, late stage of filth refining, peak of filth refining, early stage of marrow refining, middle stage of marrow refining, late stage of marrow refining, and peak of marrow refining.

Nine small steps.

The gap of nine minor tiers cannot be bridged by five temporary boost points.

Fang Yuan ran his finger across the panel.

but--

His gaze shifted to the corner of the desk.

A dark golden crystal rested in a white porcelain dish. It was about the size of a thumbnail and translucent. Extremely faint golden filaments flowed within it.

Fragments of the Beast God's essence blood brought back from the Beast Cave Secret Realm.

Fang Yuan picked up the dark gold crystal. He pressed his fingertip against its surface. The temperature remained constant. The golden light threads moved a little faster under the pressure of his fingertip.

He has never used this thing.

It's not that I forgot. It's that I hadn't figured out how to use it.

Fragment of Beast God's Essence Blood—a crystallized remnant of the essence blood from an ancient ferocious beast. It contains energy far exceeding that of an ordinary martial artist's blood and qi. However, Fang Yuan himself wasn't confident that his four times stronger constitution could withstand the violent energy impact of swallowing it.

The assessment given by Double Insight is that there is a high probability that it can withstand the test. However, "high probability" is not "certain".

Fang Yuan dislikes the concept of "high probability".

But if it's not swallowed directly—

What if a highly talented alchemist were to process it into a pill?

Fang Yuan's fingers paused on the crystal for a moment.

Place the dark gold crystal back into the white porcelain dish.

He pulled a piece of cotton paper from the drawer under the table. He took a pen in his right hand and wrote four characters in his left-hand handwriting.

"The Qi and Blood Realm has arrived."

Fold it neatly. Put it in an envelope.

Place it on the corner of the table. Have Fang Ping deliver it to Zuixianlou first thing tomorrow morning.

Fang Yuan closed the panel.

Lying in bed.

He hadn't taken off his clothes. He hadn't taken off his shoes either.

Eyes open.

There was a crack in the ceiling. Moonlight streamed in through the crack, illuminating it.

Qi and Blood Realm.

Fang Yuan mentally recalled the sensory memories from earlier.

The edge of that fluctuation of qi and blood.

Scalding hot. Thick. Sticky.

The other party did not exert any deliberate pressure. They simply "existed" for three breaths.

The mere three breaths of "existence" caused Fang Yuan's sensory network to shrink back as if burned.

If the opponent unleashes their full power of qi and blood pressure—

Fang Yuan's lips curved slightly in the darkness. It wasn't a bitter smile.

It's about settling accounts.

If a malevolent cultivator at the Qi and Blood Realm has a heterogeneous essence blood energy that is more than ten times denser than that of a malevolent cultivator at the early stage of the Bone Refining Realm, how many temporary boost points will the system generate after absorbing it?

Ten? Twenty?

Or is there only one?

The sample size is insufficient. Fang Yuan does not know the answer.

But this question has a prerequisite—you have to kill him first.

Fang Yuan closed his eyes.

The eight-fold standing meditation technique controls the body to enter a shallow state of dormancy. Each cycle consists of six breaths. The heart rate remains stable at forty-two beats per minute.

My mind kept racing.

The simulation continues.

-

The next day. Early morning.

When Fang Yuan arrived at the Fang family's main residence, it was just dawn.

Fang Yuanshan is in his study.

Fang Yuan didn't beat around the bush.

"A heretical cultivator at the Qi and Blood Realm has come to the city."

Fang Yuanshan's hand stopped in mid-air above the teacup.

The teacup hovered for two breaths. When it was put down, it hit the table with a crisp sound. A drop of tea splashed out from the rim of the cup.

Fang Yuanshan didn't wipe it.

Are you sure?

"Last night. The second alley in the north of the city. Twenty zhang away from me. I stopped for three breaths."

Fang Yuanshan's fingers gripped the teacup tightly. His knuckles were white.

He was at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, just one step away from the Dirty Refining Realm. Within the Fang family's martial arts hierarchy in Liangshui City, he stood at the very top.

Qi and Blood Realm.

Five major steps were separated.

A vein was throbbing on Fang Yuanshan's temple.

"Does Xiao Zhennan know?"

I won't tell him.

Fang Yuanshan lifted his gaze from his teacup.

Fang Yuan stood opposite him, his back straight and his hands hanging at his sides. His expression was so calm that it didn't seem like that of a young man who had just been "knocked on the door" by a Qi and Blood Realm expert the night before.

Fang Yuanshan had met many young martial artists. Some were highly talented, some were shrewd, and some were bold. But this calmness was not feigned.

Fang Yuanshan could tell the difference between pretending and not pretending.

Fang Yuan wasn't just calm. He was calculating. Countless lines of thought were swirling in his mind. Each line led to a possibility, and each possibility connected to a solution.

Telling someone like that "you can't beat them" is useless. They know better than you that they can't beat them. But "can't beat them" doesn't mean "don't fight" in their dictionary.

It's equivalent to "changing the playing style".

Fang Yuanshan loosened his fingers from the teacup.

What do you want?

Fang Ying and Fang Lin moved into the inner courtyard. Two guards at the late stage of the Bone Refining Realm were assigned to protect them. They stayed by their side 24 hours a day.

"Granted."

"There's one more thing."

Fang Yuan walked to the desk in the study. He tapped his fingers twice on the surface.

"The old case files from the City Lord's Mansion. Records of the Blood Demon Cult's activities in Liangshui City thirty years ago. I want to see them."

Fang Yuanshan's brow twitched.

"Xiao Zhennan will not approve it."

"That's why I'm looking for you. Not through the City Lord's Mansion, but through the Fang family."

Fang Yuanshan remained silent for three breaths.

Thirty years ago, there were old case files. Fang Yuanshan knew of their existence—in the city lord's mansion archives, in the lowest-level iron cabinet. They were locked with three locks. The key was in Xiao Zhennan's hands.

But with locks—having a key is the right way, but not having a key doesn't mean there aren't other doors.

Fang Yuanshan drew a circle on the table with his finger.

Give me two days.

Fang Yuan did not thank him.

He turned and walked to the door.

"Instructor Fang Yuanshan."

Fang Yuanshan looked up.

Fang Yuan's body was turned away from him. Only his head was turned to one side.

"That evil cultivator at the Qi and Blood Realm paused for three breaths last night. He wasn't observing me."

Fang Yuanshan's finger stopped on the table.

"He was observing the entire town of Liangshui. I was just passing by."

Fang Yuan stepped across the threshold.

Fang Yuanshan sat in his study. The tea had gone cold. The tea stain that had splashed onto the table had stained into a small, dark circle.

He stared at that circle for a long time.

-

Noon.

Baicaotang. Backyard.

When Fang Yuan pushed open the pharmacy door, Liu Ruyan was sleeping on the table.

His face was buried in the crook of his arm. His right hand was still clutching a medicine grinder. On the table were three stacks of medicinal powder—yellow, white, and dark brown—sorted into three porcelain dishes.

Fang Yuan walked to the table.

He took the white porcelain dish out of his pocket. The dark gold crystals in the dish gleamed faintly in the dim light of the pharmacy.

He placed the plate next to Liu Ruyan's elbow.

The sound of the plate hitting the table was very soft. But Liu Ruyan woke up.

Her awakening was unlike that of a normal person. A normal person wakes from sleep with a hazy state of consciousness, then gradually becomes fully alert. Liu Ruyan, however, woke up instantly—one moment she was asleep, the next her eyes were open. Her pupils focused faster than most martial artists Fang Yuan had ever seen.

An occupational hazard of drug addicts. The slightest movement of the medicine on the stove will wake them up. Over the years, their sleep has been trained to be as thin as a sheet of paper.

Liu Ruyan's gaze first fell on the extra white porcelain plate on the table.

Then her body stiffened.

Fang Yuan could tell why she was stiff—it wasn't because she was frightened. It was because her nose caught the aura emanating from the dark gold crystal before her eyes could.