Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Fang Yuan didn't wait for him to finish speaking before turning and walking towards the valley entrance.

The burly man paused for a moment. He jogged a couple of steps to catch up, the wound on his right shoulder bleeding again from the exertion.

"Hey bro!"

Fang Yuan didn't stop.

"My name is Tie Meng. I'm from Tie Family Fortress in Youzhou. I don't associate with anyone; I came here on my own." The burly man had a naturally loud voice, and even when he lowered his voice, it sounded like a roar. "About that earlier—"

"Take care of your wound first." Fang Yuan's steps remained unchanged.

Tie Meng glanced down at his right shoulder. Blood-soaked sleeves were already trickling down to his elbow. He tore off a piece of his shirt and quickly wrapped it around the wound, his movements as rough as if he were bundling firewood.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Tie Meng finished bandaging him and rushed to Fang Yuan's side. This man was twice the size of Fang Yuan, and walking beside him was like a moving wall of flesh. "Brother, what's your name? Which city are you from?"

Fang Yuan glanced at him.

The double comprehension completed the initial assessment of this person in a very short time.

A mercenary by origin. A lone wolf. His cultivation is at the late Bone Refining Realm, but his physical foundation is extremely solid, with muscle density and bone strength showing signs of approaching the threshold of the Bone Refining Realm. His fighting spirit is exceptional—he didn't break down even when surrounded and attacked by four people; this resilience isn't something that can be trained, but rather something forged in battle.

Can use.

But there's no rush.

"Fang Yuan. Liangshui City."

Three words: Clean and efficient.

Tie Meng raised an eyebrow. "Liangshui City? The Fang family's?"

Fang Yuan didn't take it. He walked to the valley entrance, where Fang Qi and Fang Zheng emerged from their hiding places on either side. As usual, Fang Qi remained silent. Fang Zheng's gaze lingered on the sealed leather pouch on Fang Yuan's chest for a moment, his lips moved slightly, but he said nothing.

When Tie Meng saw the two extra people, he slowed down a beat. But he caught up quickly.

This person is very adaptable.

After exiting the valley, Fang Yuan stopped on a relatively open area of ​​gravel. The cold light from the dome shone on the gravel, making it appear eerily white.

"Sit down." Fang Yuan raised his chin at Tie Meng.

Tie Meng didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down on the nearest rock. The rock creaked under his weight.

Fang Yuan took a tin can from his backpack. He unscrewed the lid, poured out a Qi and Blood Pill, and threw it over.

Tie Meng caught it with one hand and glanced down at it. It was a dark red pill, about the size of a fingernail, with a faint smell of blood mixed with herbs.

"What is this?"

"Qi and Blood Pill. Taking it can accelerate the recovery of blood."

Tie Meng tossed it in his palm, then tilted his head back and tossed it into his mouth without a word. He chewed it twice and swallowed.

Fang Yuan looked at him.

This guy is incredibly bold. He put medicine in his mouth without even looking at it carefully, given by a stranger. He's either stupid or—he has absolute confidence in his late-stage Bone Refinement Realm physique, believing he can withstand even poison.

It's most likely the latter.

After swallowing the medicine, Tie Meng's expression changed a few breaths later.

A warm, crawling sensation came from the wound on my right shoulder. That was the medicinal power of the Qi and Blood Pill stimulating blood circulation around the wound. The speed wasn't explosively fast, but it was extremely gentle, without any sense of rejection.

Tie Meng looked down at his right shoulder. The blood under the cloth strip had stopped seeping out.

"Good stuff." Tie Meng's tone was different from before. It was more serious now.

Fang Yuan put the tin can back into his backpack. He didn't give him a second one.

"Those four people who surrounded you just now," Fang Yuan said.

Tie Meng's face darkened.

"The man who breaks through the sky."

When those three words were squeezed out of Tie Meng's mouth, there was a simmering hatred between his teeth, a hatred that had been suppressed for who knows how long. It wasn't the kind of superficial gritted teeth; it was something cold and hard, deep in his bones.

Fang Yuan didn't press further. He waited.

Tie Meng clenched his fist. The dents on the iron arm guards gleamed darkly in the cold light.

"I didn't enter the Beast Cave for any medicinal herbs or ores. I'm looking for someone."

Fang Yuan's gaze shifted slightly.

"Shi Potian killed my junior brother half a month ago. It happened on a trade route outside Blackrock City. My junior brother had taken on an escort mission, and Shi Potian's men had a grudge against the buyer of that shipment. They didn't kill the buyer, but they killed the mercenaries escorting the goods. Three of them. My junior brother was last in line, and he didn't even have time to run away."

Tie Meng's voice was very low. For someone with his natural vocal range, this volume was almost equivalent to a whisper.

"Is Shi Potian the same as Zhou Tieshan?" Fang Yuan asked.

"Zhou Tieshan is the name he uses in the Three Cities Alliance. The people in the Black Stone City underground arena call him Shi Potian (Stone Breaker). He can shatter stone with a single blow, never missing." Tie Meng clenched his fists even tighter. "Peak late-stage Bone Refining Realm. His hammer technique is a family heirloom, incredibly powerful. I don't know what good stuff he's after in the Hundred Beast Cave. But since he's inside, I have a chance."

Fang Yuan wasn't interested in these grudges. His mind was processing another layer of information—

Shi Potian. Peak late stage of Bone Refining Realm.

They were accompanied by at least four bodyguards at the Bone Refining Realm level. Adding to the other Blackrock City disciples seen at the entrance, they totaled twelve people.

The short guy who was knocked down by his punch just now had Shi Potian's personal guard token hanging from his waist.

Tie Meng seemed to have thought of this as well. He shifted his gaze from his fist to Fang Yuan's face, and lowered his voice even further.

"Brother, did you see the token on the belt of the guy you just knocked down?"

Fang Yuan gently rubbed his fingers against the black iron token at his waist.

"I saw it."

A complex emotion flickered in Tie Meng's eyes.

"Black background with gold patterns. That's the insignia of Shi Potian's personal guards. You helped me, but you also got into trouble with the number one person in Blackrock City."

Fang Yuan tightened the straps of his backpack.

He didn't look at Tie Meng, but instead gazed into the depths of the forest.

"If I don't help him, he won't kill me?"

Tie Meng was taken aback.

"In the Beast Cave, resources belong to individuals. He brought twelve people in; they'll rob anyone they encounter. Does it make a difference whether they provoke him or not?"

Fang Yuan stepped over a thick tree root and strode forward.

Tie Meng stood there pondering for a couple of breaths. Then he strode off and followed.

Fang Yuan needed a human shield. Tie Meng needed a brain. The two understood each other without saying a word.

The light in the forest grew increasingly dim. The cold light overhead was mostly blocked by the massive, interlocking canopies of trees.

Fang Yuan walked ahead. The doubled divine soul perception network was fully deployed.

Thirty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Information about the surrounding environment flooded my brain like a tidal wave: the moisture of the soil, the subtle shifts in airflow, the crawling trails of unknown insects beneath the fallen leaves.

They walked for about half an hour.

Fang Yuan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Tie Meng was striding forward. His right foot was already halfway in the air.

Fang Yuan reached out from the side and grabbed Tie Meng's shoulder.

The fourfold force of the stance training directly dug into Tie Meng's collarbone.

Tie Meng let out a muffled groan and abruptly stopped.

He turned around, looking puzzled. He was about to speak.

Fang Yuan didn't speak. He picked up a fist-sized piece of gravel from the ground with his left hand.

With a flick of his wrist.

The gravel, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, hurtled upwards at an angle towards a dense canopy of trees twenty feet ahead.

"Bang!"

What hard object did the stone smash?