Realm-Hopping Martial Master

PHEW...

The battle in the cave had lasted a mere quarter of an hour, yet it had been Jiang Shu's ultimate outburst. His spirit had been taut, his vitality drained. Only now did he let out a sigh of relief.

He slowly pulled out the heavy sword still embedded in the mouth of the leopard-shaped Mutant Beast. Channeling his strength, he sliced the beast's flesh piece by piece, roasted each one, and ate it. The flesh rejuvenated the vitality within his body.

Indeed, the meat of a third-order Mutant Beast is fundamentally different from that of the second order. I could feel changes within my body when I consumed the python meat before. This leopard meat seems to have boosted my strength.

Just an hour passed, and Jiang Shu's strength completely recovered.

He cut open the female beast's belly and removed a small leopard cub, dead for some unknown time. He felt not a shred of pity for Mutant Beasts.

Nowadays on Xuanxing, with the military suppressing the areas outside the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, any Mutant Beasts that ventured out would be promptly eradicated by firearms. Even so, soldiers still sacrificed their lives from time to time.

Reflecting on his various battles within the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, Jiang Shu gripped his heavy sword, his killing intent sharpening with every practice swing.

In just three to five short days, he had completely consumed the third-order leopard-shaped Mutant Beast. His strength underwent another great transformation. The bones of his upper and lower limbs were now fully tempered, and he had begun to temper his spine and ribs. The reservoir of his Dark Force was filled to the brim. He could perform the seventy-two forms of the Innate Guiding Skill with extreme proficiency.

It's just a pity that so far, I haven't encountered a true Energy Transformation expert. Jiang Shu thought. Without truly experiencing Energy Transformation, breaking through from Dark Force to Energy Transformation on Xuanxing must still be quite difficult.

Channeling strength to temper the internal organs... ah. I remember over a year ago, when I had just solved the mystery of birth, my greatest ambition was to become such a Martial Artist, to live free of illness, reaching the ripe old age of one hundred and twenty. And now, I'm actually just one step away from that realm! I've even eaten two Mutant Beasts of that very realm!

It should still be early. There's no rush to return to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. Let's first see what mischief the Yao Family of Pingling County has stirred up.

During the over half-month he had spent in the Secret Realm, Jiang Shu had not been able to return. In the time before that, the influence of the Yao Family had grown ever larger; they had even sent people to stake out the Hungry Tiger Dojo to negotiate business dealings with him for salt, monosodium glutamate, and spices. Jiang Shu had kept delaying with excuses until now.

He had cooperated with the Zhou Family's restaurant previously because, ultimately, the Zhou Family had no backers. He was in control of his own business, deciding when to engage in it and when not to. But the Yao Family was different. Collaborating with them, especially as someone who outwardly was only a Skin Grinding Realm Martial Artist, would surely mean very little freedom. He might even have to hand over his so-called secret recipes. As a major household, how could they conduct business normally? Wiping the slate clean after taking advantage—that was what they were best at!

Jiang Shu wrapped the leopard-shaped Mutant Beast's bones in cloth and temporarily buried them. Then, wrapping up his heavy sword, he left and headed towards Qi Yuan's courtyard.

However, Qi Yuan, who usually rose early to practice Martial Arts in the courtyard, was currently sitting on a stone bench, lost in thought. A jug of wine sat on the stone table before him.

The old servant who opened the door whispered, "Recently, it seems something has happened at the dojo. The young master argued with his senior brothers and hasn't practiced Martial Arts since he returned." After speaking, he quietly retreated.

Something happened at the dojo? My master is an expert in the Refining Internal Realm; what trouble could he possibly encounter? Probably not even Magistrate Nie could gain much of an advantage against him.

Automatically ignoring the words "trouble at the dojo," Jiang Shu sat across from Qi Yuan.

Ever since Jiang Shu had last advised Qi Yuan to quit drinking, Qi Yuan had indeed abstained, and his abilities had advanced rapidly. Although he couldn't keep up with Jiang Shu, who progressed as if using cheats, he was already far ahead of his peers. With sufficient resources, he could even directly reach the Iron Skin Realm!

However, in just over half a month, Qi Yuan's personality had dramatically changed. He stared blankly at the wine jug, and one could tell the depths of his inner turmoil and sorrow.

"Qi Senior Brother," Jiang Shu said softly. Seeing Qi Yuan like this, he didn't have the heart to ask about recent events in Pingling County and tried to offer consolation first.

"Little Junior Brother, tell me, why would they do this?" Qi Yuan turned his gaze to Jiang Shu, his eyes filled with confusion, resentment, and pain.

"Although Master indeed never really looked after us, and we had to buy Mutant Beast meat ourselves, he taught us Martial Arts as long as our realms were adequate. Whenever we had questions, he answered them too.

"It's one thing for them to pledge themselves to major households, but now that their realms have improved, what's the meaning of them coming to the dojo to recruit apprentices for those households?

"Don't they have any respect for Master at all?

"They all trained to the Stone Skin Realm and Iron Skin Realm—so what? It was just achieved by piling up resources! Little Junior Brother, you reached the Iron Skin Realm long ago! That's true talent.

"Why didn't I see them break through when they were here at the dojo? Now, with their promoting, they've convinced many apprentices. The apprentices think that by going to the major households, they might all become Martial Artists.

"Soon, there won't be many people left in the dojo."

Listening to Qi Yuan's rambling, Jiang Shu gradually pieced together the recent events in Pingling County.