The next day, Fang Lin delivered the promised sixty taels of silver to Fang Han, the look on his face clearly showing how much it pained him.
He had originally thought Fang Lin would go back on his word, so he was surprised by his promptness. It actually made him think a bit more highly of Fang Lin.
In his eyes, the conflict with Fang Lin was nothing more than a childish squabble, and he didn't take it to heart.
However, Fang Lin was clearly intimidated by him. Whenever they crossed paths, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, scurrying away from a distance.
Half a month flew by in a flash as Fang Han focused completely on his Cultivation.
The terrifying efficiency of his four-fold Root Bone Talent made each day of his Pile Skill Cultivation incredibly effective. Under the constant scouring of the river of qi and blood, his skin and flesh grew ever more solid, undergoing a transformation.
With all this Cultivation, he felt he was getting closer and closer to the Muscle Refining Realm, on the verge of breaking through at any moment.
That evening, Fang Han returned home after finishing his daytime Cultivation.
"Brother."
Seeing Fang Han return, his little sister Fang Ying happily ran up to him, her arms outstretched and her big eyes looking up at him.
Fang Han smiled, bending down to lift his little sister into his arms.
In his previous life, he had been an only child due to the family planning policy. Having a younger sister in this life was a novel and interesting experience.
Especially one who was so attached to him.
"Xiaoying is always so attached to her big brother. It's enough to make a father jealous!"
his father, Fang Zheng, said jokingly, his gaze filled with satisfaction and pride as he looked at Fang Han.
Not long ago, he had been promoted from accountant to Shopkeeper of a restaurant. His monthly salary had doubled, from ten taels to twenty.
He knew this promotion wasn't just because of his diligence or serious work ethic. After all, he had been an accountant for years; if the family had wanted to promote him on merit alone, they would have done it long ago.
Connecting the dots to Fang Han's successful entry into the Inner Hall and his increasingly outstanding performance there, the answer was obvious: it was a special favor granted to him because of his son's excellence.
"You're home. You must be hungry. Dinner will be ready in a moment!"
His mother, Lin Wan, said with a gentle smile.
"Mm."
Fang Han replied.
The moonlight, like flowing water, poured into the courtyard of Fang Han's home.
His parents and little sister were already asleep. Fang Han stood in the courtyard, carefully tipping a jet-black, longan-sized Qi Blood Pill from a blue-and-white Porcelain Bottle.
A rich medicinal aroma filled the air. Unlike the herbal pills from his past life, the pills in this world possessed truly miraculous effects.
The moment the Elixir entered his mouth, it transformed into a scorching torrent that plunged straight into his Dantian before erupting.
An energy ten times more potent and pure than any Qi Blood Soup instantly surged through his entire body, causing his skin to faintly glow with a dark red luster.
Not daring to delay for a single moment, he immediately took the stance of the Crane Form. He focused his mind, guiding the immense power of his qi and blood—now boiling like magma—to surge along the profound pathways of the Crane Form technique.
RUMBLE...
The sound of his qi and blood rushing through him was like muffled thunder.
With the terrifying boost from his four-fold Root Bone Talent, this power was efficiently converted into nourishment, tempering his tendons, bones, and skin.
He could clearly sense the strength of his flesh increasing at a visible rate under this frenzied assault, pushing him closer and closer to the absolute limit of the Flesh Refining Realm.
「An hour later.」
HUM!
An invisible but tenacious resistance suddenly appeared!
It was as if a surging river had slammed into an invisible dam. The smooth feeling of progress came to an abrupt halt.
'I've hit the bottleneck between the Late Stage of Flesh Refining and the Muscle Refining Realm!'
Fang Han knew at once that he had hit a bottleneck.
He had anticipated this.
In the Cultivation of the Martial Dao, one would always encounter bottlenecks, whether crossing between minor Realms or Great Realms.
The further one progressed, the harder it became to break through them.
In the later stages of the Martial Dao, it was common for cultivators to be trapped by a single bottleneck for several years, or even decades.
Of course, the bottleneck between the Flesh Refining and Muscle Refining Realms was nowhere near that difficult. Still, it was enough to trap many talented disciples of the Inner Hall for months on end.
'Even with my four-fold Root Bone Talent, it will likely take half a month of steady grinding to wear down this barrier!'
Fang Han calmly assessed the situation, feeling no impatience whatsoever.
He was no longer the anxious youth who had floundered in the outer hall for two years with no path forward.
With the system in hand, his future was bright; he had all the patience in the world.
He calmed his mind and stopped trying to force a breakthrough. Instead, using the Crane Form, he guided his qi and blood like a precision chisel, tirelessly scouring and polishing the weakest points of the invisible barrier.
An hour slipped by. Just as Fang Han was about to end his Cultivation for the night...
something unexpected happened!
K...CRACK!
An extremely faint yet unbelievably clear cracking sound, seemingly from the depths of his very soul, echoed within his body without warning.
The solid barrier of the bottleneck, which should have taken him at least another ten days of hard work to grind down, shattered piece by piece without any warning—like a dam broken by the final straw.
BOOM—!
The instant the obstruction vanished, the immense, long-suppressed torrent of his qi and blood burst forth like a primordial flood. With a deafening roar, it surged through his entire body, reaching the very ends of every muscle and sinew.
CRACKLE! POP! CRACKLE! POP!
The muscles throughout Fang Han's body felt as if they were being twisted, stretched, and tempered by a giant, invisible hand. A continuous series of sounds—as dense as popping beans, as crisp as a thousand bowstrings snapping in unison—erupted from within him.
An unprecedented sense of power, lightness, and control instantly flooded every corner of his being.
The Muscle Refining Realm. He'd done it!
Fang Han's eyes shot open, a brilliant light flashing within them like two bolts of lightning in a darkened room.
He subconsciously clenched his fist.
HUM!
The air in his palm was crushed, letting out a soft pop. The resulting airflow escaping from between his fingers even created a faint whirlwind.
With a mere thought, his body felt weightless. He pushed off the ground lightly with the tip of his toes.
WHOOSH!
His figure moved like a phantom, leaving a blurry afterimage as he instantly appeared in the opposite corner of the courtyard.
He was so fast it even startled him.
A speed he could previously only achieve by using all his strength at the Late Stage of Flesh Refining was now as effortless as taking a stroll.
TCHHH—
He slowly raised his hand, splaying his fingers. As he made a grasping motion, his fingertips sliced through the air, producing the sharp, clear sound of ripping silk.
His reaction speed, explosive muscle power, and overall coordination had all undergone a fundamental transformation.
'I could probably defeat three to five of my former self with ease now!'
Fang Han slowly relaxed his stance. Feeling the complete transformation his body had undergone after advancing to the Muscle Refining Realm, he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling into a smile.