Defeated. Lin Jiao was defeated!
The entire training ground fell deathly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
All the spectating Inner Hall Descendants of the Fang Family, including the several disciples ranked in the top ten, had looks of astonishment on their faces.
They had considered that Fang Han might not be a match for him, and they had even imagined that Fang Han might hold on through a bitter struggle, but they had never expected that Lin Jiao, who was already at the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining, would lose.
And to lose so decisively, so utterly wretchedly.
"Hiss... Middle Stage... of Muscle Refining?!"
After the silence, Fang Rui, the Inner Hall Disciple ranked seventh, gasped and cried out in shock.
"What? Fang Han has already broken through to... the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining?!"
This cry of alarm was like a clap of thunder.
Only then did the crowd belatedly realize that the power Fang Han had just unleashed had surpassed the Early Stage of Muscle Refining.
"How long has it been since Fang Han broke through to the Early Stage of Muscle Refining? For him to reach the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining in such a short time... what a terrifying cultivation speed!"
A disciple cried out involuntarily.
"With the strength Fang Han has displayed today, I'm afraid... he's already strong enough to challenge for a spot in the Inner Hall's top twenty..."
Fang Rui, the seventh-ranked Inner Hall Disciple, speculated in a low voice, his eyes filled with gravity and apprehension.
"What? Fang Han is already strong enough to challenge for the top twenty in the Inner Hall?"
At these words, the expressions of the Inner Hall Descendants ranked below twentieth changed drastically. Fang Han had actually surpassed them without a sound.
The disciples ranked between tenth and twentieth also had their expressions shift, their gazes toward Fang Han now filled with tension and a strong sense of crisis.
With Fang Han's ridiculously fast rate of improvement, their rankings would likely soon be trampled under the feet of this "newcomer."
'We have to work harder!'
At the edge of the crowd, Fang Lin's face was slightly pale. He looked at Fang Han, standing on the stage with his sword in hand and his momentum like a rainbow, then looked at the wretched Lin Jiao, who had collapsed to the ground.
A sense of a vast, insurmountable gap washed over him like a cold tide, drowning him completely.
The last flicker of hope in his heart of ever catching up was utterly extinguished, leaving only endless despair and powerlessness.
The person he had once looked down on had not only surpassed him but had already left him so far behind he couldn't even see his shadow.
"SWOOSH, SWOOSH—!"
Two figures rushed to the training ground like lightning, arriving just in time to see Fang Han defeat Lin Jiao. These two were none other than Fang Yuan and Lin Shan.
'Middle Stage of Muscle Refining! The kid actually broke through again without making a peep, and he even beat Lin Jiao cleanly once more!'
Fang Yuan was stunned at first, but then his face instantly bloomed with irrepressible ecstasy and excitement. He almost couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud.
'Middle Stage of Muscle Refining? How could he be so fast?! This Fang Family boy... is he a man or a monster?!'
As for Lin Shan, it was as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue. The "furious" look on his face froze completely, morphing into incredulous astonishment and humiliated rage.
He stared deadly at Fang Han, as if seeing this young man for the first time.
Killing intent even flickered in his heart. It would not be a good thing for the Lin Family if a genius like this was allowed to mature.
However, given the importance the Fang Family placed on this boy, an assassination would be anything but easy.
Moreover, if he broke the long-standing tacit agreement among the five great families, it would set a terrible precedent, making his own family's geniuses targets for assassination as well.
"Jiao'er!"
Suppressing the thoughts in his heart, Lin Shan strode forward with an ashen face and pulled up the dazed and empty-eyed Lin Jiao.
Without even bothering with pleasantries, he gave Fang Yuan a perfunctory cupped-fist salute and said in a strained voice,
"Brother Fang Yuan, my discipline was lax. I've made a fool of myself! Farewell!"
After speaking, he practically half-dragged, half-carried the despondent Lin Jiao away. Under the mocking gazes of the Fang Family disciples, they made a hasty and wretched departure, their backs showing none of the imposing momentum they had arrived with.
Watching their panicked retreat, Fang Yuan could no longer hide the smile on his face and burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha, good, well done!"
A deed like this—a moment of glorious triumph that greatly boosted the family's prestige—had to be reported to the Patriarch as soon as possible.
After offering a few words of encouragement to Fang Han, he hurried off to see the Patriarch.
Sure enough, when Patriarch Fang Lingyuan heard the news, he was even more delighted than last time.
He not only rewarded Fang Han generously once again but also ordered that the news of Fang Han's clean victory over Lin Jiao be spread far and wide by Dali in Liangshui City.
In no time, the news that "Fang Family's Qilin'er, Fang Han, has defeated the Lin Family's Lin Jiao again" spread like wildfire through the streets and alleys of Liangshui City.
Inside the Fang Family's restaurant, Shopkeeper Fang Zheng was greeting customers with a beaming smile.
At a neighboring table, several well-dressed merchants were loudly discussing the latest event in the city.
"Did you hear? That Qilin'er from the Lin Family, Lin Jiao, fell to the Fang Family's Fang Han again. And this time he was defeated publicly in the Fang Family's Inner Hall! Tsk tsk, this loss was even worse!"
"For real? Didn't they say that Lin Jiao had broken through to the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining?"
"Heh, breaking through was useless. The Fang Family's Fang Han broke through too! I heard he sent Lin Jiao's saber flying in just a few moves. The Fang Family has really produced a genius this time!"
"Incredible, just incredible! At this rate, I'm afraid it won't be long before the Fang Family surpasses the Lin Family..."
Listening to the customers' discussions, which were filled with awe and envy, Fang Zheng felt a swell of pride. He stood up straighter, and the smile on his face grew even brighter.
Just then, a regular customer who recognized Fang Zheng walked over with a wine cup in hand, his face flushed as he boomed,
"Shopkeeper Fang, congratulations, congratulations! Your son Fang Han is truly a young genius! Come, let me toast you!"
"Haha, Boss Li, you're too kind!"
Fang Zheng quickly raised his cup to meet the toast. As their cups clinked, the pride in his heart nearly overflowed.
...
Inside his room, the flame of an oil lamp flickered, casting Fang Han's long shadow upon the wall.
He sat at his desk, where two wooden boxes lay open.
One contained snowflake silver ingots, stacked neatly and gleaming with a soft luster in the dim lamplight.
The other held ten small, blue-and-white porcelain bottles, the kind used for holding Qi Blood Pills.
"Another hundred Qi Blood Pills!"
A satisfied look appeared in Fang Han's eyes.
After breaking through to the Muscle Refining Realm, his physical constitution had grown stronger, and his consumption of Qi Blood Pills during cultivation had increased.
The original monthly quota of ten Qi Blood Pills had been ample in the Flesh Refining Realm, even leaving a small surplus.
But after entering the Muscle Refining Realm, it had started to become insufficient.
The one hundred Qi Blood Pills from the previous reward, plus the hundred he just received, would be enough to keep him from worrying about running out for a long time.
"Five hundred taels of silver!"
Fang Han's gaze finally landed on the pile of silver ingots, and the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably.
'Indeed, packaging myself as a genius through cultivation to earn money from the family is the most suitable way for me to make a profit at this stage.'
"Seven hundred and seventy-seven taels..."
Five hundred taels, plus the two hundred taels left over from the family's previous reward and the seventy-seven taels he had saved himself.
The amount of silver Fang Han now possessed had reached an astonishing seven hundred and seventy-seven taels!
He murmured the number, his heart beating a little faster with excitement.
Activating the Level 3 Amplification for his Root Bone Talent required a full one thousand taels of silver.
Before, this sum had seemed as distant as the stars, but now he was three-quarters of the way there, with only two hundred and twenty-three taels to go.
He could already see hope of activating it.
Once he activated the Level 3 Root Bone Amplification, it should provide an eightfold boost to his Root Bone.
'What a terrifying cultivation speed that will be!'
Just the thought of it made his heart surge with excitement.