After a few days, Zhao Lin gradually adapted to the changes his new Essence Souls brought to his body.

First, his appetite had increased. After all, besides satisfying his own needs, he also had to provide energy for the four Essence Souls.

The Essence Souls of the bear and the Golden Leopard had probably whipped the Lark’s into shape. It now released its white mist to refine only the flesh around Zhao Lin’s chest and back, no longer daring to tamper with his bones.

The muscles on his chest and back grew a bit firmer, but the change wasn’t significant. The biggest change was to his acupoints.

The Lark’s Essence Soul had modified six acupoints on his chest and six on his back, a total of twelve.

This was because, apart from those like Yintang, Mingmen, or the Qi Sea that were situated directly on the body’s central axis, most acupoints on the human body appeared in pairs.

So, to be precise, it had modified a total of twelve pairs of acupoints, or twenty-four in all.

These acupoints were not only wider and deeper, but they were also no longer tightly shut. Instead, they were half-open, making them relatively easier to break through.

Zhao Lin tried controlling his internal force using the already opened acupoints. He found that not only was the "throughput" of the force greater, but its range of vibration was also wider.

When he circulated his force, he could even bulge his clothes outward, as if they were being inflated.

’I wonder if I’ll be able to fly when I reach the First Layer of the Qi Realm?’

He was very much looking forward to it.

...

"Junior Brother Zhao, are you here to see Master? He’s in the study!"

On his way to the training hall, Zhao Lin ran into Chu Liu walking toward him. To his surprise, the other man actually greeted him.

After the last incident, Zhu Huaishan had given Chu Liu a harsh scolding, and he had kept his head down for quite a while.

Zhao Lin smiled. "Thank you, Fifth Senior Brother. I was just on my way to see Master."

Chu Liu smiled and asked, as if nonchalantly, "By the way, who was that old man in white who came looking for Master a few days ago? I saw you were with him."

"An old man in white?"

Zhao Lin pretended to think for a moment before replying, "Oh, I remember now. He was probably an old friend of Master’s. I was just there to keep him company and do things like serving tea. I don’t know anything else."

"Oh, it’s nothing then. I was just asking."

"Alright. See you around."

Once Zhao Lin was a good distance away, Chu Liu’s expression darkened. He snorted coldly. ’Just a country bumpkin from the mountains. Does he think I don’t know who that visitor was?’

’Master is too biased, accepting him as a disciple when he was only at the bone-tempering stage!’

He had no idea that every single word had reached Zhao Lin’s ears.

After his realm advanced, all of Zhao Lin’s abilities had risen with it. His hearing range now extended beyond a hundred meters.

When he was out on patrol, if he just focused his hearing, not a single whisper on the entire street could escape him.

Zhao Lin paid Chu Liu’s muttering no mind. There were always people who blamed their own failures on others.

The truth was, with Chu Liu’s talent, if he had just focused on his training without distraction, Master would have sent him to the Xingyun Sect long ago.

A person like him would squander even the Spirit Beast Scroll if he had it.

Arriving at the study, Zhu Huaishan pointed to a medicinal soup on the desk. "Drink it."

"Thank you, Master."

The medicinal soup was Qi Replenishing Soup, which Zhao Lin had been drinking ever since he finished the skin-tempering stage.

Watching Zhao Lin finish the soup, Zhu Huaishan smiled. "How is your training with the Cloud-Piercing Force coming along?"

Zhao Lin answered respectfully, "Replying to Master, I have a preliminary grasp of it. I set aside time to practice it every day."

The Cloud-Piercing Force was a Cultivation Technique that Zhu Huaishan had recently taught him.

The Sea Return Skill Zhao Lin had learned before was a cultivation method primarily for increasing his force and breaking through acupoints; it couldn’t be used in actual combat. The Cloud-Piercing Force, on the other hand, was a Basic Cultivation Skill for applying that force in an attack.

Zhu Huaishan nodded slightly. "Once you enter the Qi Realm, there are many more Cultivation Techniques you can learn. There are fist techniques, leg techniques, Palm Skills, finger skills, claw skills, Body Techniques, and so on."

"To deeply master any one of them requires a great deal of time. This requires a martial artist to weigh the pros and cons and allocate their time reasonably."

"If you don’t practice any, then even with a high realm, your combat power will be no different from someone in the Power Realm. But if you cultivate too many techniques, you’ll inevitably delay your realm advancement."

"Do you remember when I asked you whether breaking through to a new realm or improving your practical combat ability was more important? This is what I meant."

Zhao Lin knew his master’s words were invaluable advice, and he silently committed them to heart.

"By the way, how long does it take you to suppress and release your force now?" Zhu Huaishan asked.

"About one and a half shichen. That’s half a shichen less than when I started, but it will probably be very difficult to reduce it further."

Zhao Lin repeatedly suppressed and released his force every day. Although it was time-consuming, it wasn’t entirely useless. This back-and-forth process made him increasingly proficient in controlling his force.

Zhu Huaishan nodded and asked again, "How many acupoints have you opened now? Is it sixty?"

"Sixty-four."

Zhao Lin had originally been able to open one or two acupoints per day, but the Lark’s Essence Soul had carved out twenty-four acupoints for him. As long as his meridians reached them, he could break them open directly without much effort.

Zhu Huaishan was visibly moved. "I was already overestimating, but your progress has still exceeded my expectations. At this rate, you’ll definitely be able to enter the Second Layer of the Qi Realm by next year."

"When that time comes, I’ll recommend you to the Xingyun Sect. Keeping you by my side would only hold you back."

Zhao Lin quickly said, "Master, you’re being too kind."

Then he silently added in his heart: ’Before I go... I’ll kill all the bandits!’

He hadn’t gone into the mountains to kill bandits recently. The reason was that heavy snow had sealed off the depths of Baitou Mountain, making travel extremely difficult, and it would be easy to fall into an ambush.

There was another, more important reason. He was currently in a phase of rapid strength growth—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was advancing by leaps and bounds. Time was on his side, so there was no need to take risks for a moment of satisfaction.

As long as he entered the First Layer of the Qi Realm, he would be unrivaled among those of the same level.

Zhu Huaishan didn’t know what Zhao Lin was plotting in his heart. He said gently, "Focus on your training. You can rest assured about your parents and older brother."

"I asked Pan Xiashou of the Xinglong Escort Agency to visit them in Changliu City. They are living without worry and are doing quite well."

A warmth spread through Zhao Lin’s heart. He gave his master a solemn bow. "Master, your kindness is as heavy as a mountain. This disciple doesn’t know how to repay you."

These were his heartfelt words. When he was an apprentice, he had paid regular tuition fees, so you could say he was paying to learn martial arts.

But ever since becoming a formal disciple, he hadn’t paid a single copper coin. Zhu Huaishan had even exempted him from some of the duties a disciple was supposed to handle.

A gratified expression appeared on Zhu Huaishan’s face. "A good master is hard to find, but isn’t an excellent disciple just as rare? Train well. In the future, when people ask about your lineage, being able to mention my name will be repayment enough."

...

In the third month of spring, the grass grew long and the warblers took to the air.

A vibrant spring filled the air both inside and outside Qinghe County. Willows sprouted new branches, and the peach and plum trees blossomed.

About thirty li northwest of Qinghe County, there was a deserted, unnamed mountain.

The mountain was about thirty-odd zhang high. One side was a gentle slope, but the other looked as if it had been split open by a god with a sharp axe, leaving a steep and perilous cliff.

Zhao Lin stood before the cliff, took a deep breath, and leaped.