Before long, news that Lu Ren would achieve Qi Gathering this month at the latest spread among the Outer Courtyard Disciples, shocking them all.
It usually took three months to reach the first gate of the Martial Dao, but Lu Ren was about to achieve Qi Gathering in just two. His speed was astonishing.
If he had a better family background and access to resources worth dozens of taels of silver a month like those rich young masters, his progress would be even faster.
Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong both felt a sense of urgency and began to train even harder.
"Lu Ren is going to achieve Qi Gathering this month. Can Xu Yang still keep pace with him?"
This was the question Luo Dehu posed while spreading the news of Lu Ren's impending breakthrough.
"Can you keep up?" Zhang Hong asked with a smile.
Xu Yang shook his head.
'Even if I could, I wouldn't say so. Why seek that kind of limelight? Who knows what will happen a month from now.'
'Luo Dehu is out there hyping up Lu Ren every day. It looks impressive now, but sooner or later, he's going to stumble and fall.'
Seeing this, Zhang Hong was a little disappointed. He had actually hoped Xu Yang could surpass Lu Ren and put him in his place, but from the looks of it, Xu Yang wasn't capable of it.
"By the way, a few of us have made plans to go into the mountains to hunt Exotic Beasts in a few days. Want to come along?" Zhang Hong said suddenly.
Exotic Beasts were strange creatures from deep within the mountains. They were incredibly ferocious, but their entire bodies were treasures. Hunting one could fetch at least twenty to thirty taels of silver, while rarer ones could be worth hundreds or even thousands.
However, not only were these creatures difficult to kill, they were also extremely hard to find.
Some Martial Artists who were unwilling to become Tributors for wealthy families specialized in hunting Exotic Beasts in the mountains.
Back when Xu Yang was short on money, he had considered hunting Exotic Beasts himself, but he gave up on the idea after learning more. It was said that some powerful Exotic Beasts were a match for even Martial Artists.
Xu Yang shook his head. "Exotic Beasts are dangerous. I advise you not to take the risk."
'If Exotic Beasts were so easy to hunt, there wouldn't be so many poor people.'
He didn't bother asking who else was going. Even if a Martial Artist was leading the team, he wouldn't go.
Zhang Hong said, "A senior brother from the Inner Courtyard is leading the team. Zhang Yong and the others are going too. We'll mainly be helping to search for the Exotic Beasts, so the danger isn't great."
'So there really is a Martial Artist involved, and a senior brother from the Inner Courtyard at that.'
But Xu Yang still refused. 'With so many disciples in the Outer Courtyard,' he thought, 'why would an opportunity this good fall to a few nobodies like us?'
He didn't voice his suspicions, not wanting to offend a Martial Artist from the Inner Courtyard.
Nor did he try to persuade Zhang Hong any further.
He was confident he could become a Martial Artist, so he didn't need to take such risks. But if Zhang Hong didn't take risks to obtain Cultivation Resources, his chances of becoming a Martial Artist were truly only one in ten.
Zhang Hong didn't press him to join either and got up to leave.
"Well? Did he agree?" Zhang Yong asked.
Zhang Hong shook his head. "Xu Yang refused."
"I didn't think he'd be so cowardly."
Zhang Yong had thought Xu Yang would join. Once they hunted an Exotic Beast and obtained Cultivation Resources, given the Root Bone of their group, the probability of achieving Qi Gathering and becoming Martial Artists was high. It was a risk worth taking.
"He's a lost cause. The Huang Family was right to abandon him," Luo Dehu said with contempt.
Of the nine people the Huang Family had sponsored, all but Lu Ren—who didn't need to take risks due to the resources invested in him—had joined the hunt. They all knew that only by risking their lives did they stand a chance of achieving Qi Gathering in the future.
And yet Xu Yang, whose talent was second only to Lu Ren, lacked the courage to risk his life for a chance.
"I was originally thinking of giving him a helping hand. He probably thinks we're trying to harm him," Tang Ruiyang sneered.
He was the one who had arranged this matter. He had some connections with that senior brother from the Inner Sect and had asked Zhang Hong to find Xu Yang, thinking he would help out someone else stuck in the same mire.
"Let's not talk about him anymore. Everyone makes their own choices. Let's discuss when we're heading into the mountains."
***
After Zhang Hong left, Xu Yang found Qiu Wenjie. "I want to ask you something. I've heard about a thing called Confusing Smoke. You put it in a tube, light it, and blow the smoke into a room, and the people inside pass out instantly. Does something like that exist?"
Qiu Wenjie gave Xu Yang a strange look and said, "Xu Yang, do you also want to be a lecherous rogue?"
'Too...?'
Xu Yang didn't dwell on it. "So such a thing really exists?"
"Of course it does!" Qiu Wenjie nodded.
"Where can I get some?"
"I don't know!" Qiu Wenjie said, then lowered his voice. "Xu Yang, do you have your eye on some young lady?"
"Get lost!"
Unable to get any useful information, Xu Yang stood up to leave, but Qiu Wenjie pulled him back.
"I don't know where to find the thing you're talking about, but I do know of something called Muscle Relaxing Powder. If you sprinkle it and someone inhales it, as long as they're not a Qi Gathering Martial Artist, they'll become completely weak and collapse to the ground within a dozen breaths or so.
Even a Qi Gathering Martial Artist might be affected if they inhale too much of it."
'Muscle Relaxing Powder?'
'The effect sounds similar to the Confusing Smoke, but if I sprinkle this stuff and the wind changes, or if I accidentally inhale it, I'll be in trouble too. I can't just fight while holding my breath the whole time.'
"You can take the antidote beforehand," Qiu Wenjie rolled his eyes. "The person who created Muscle Relaxing Powder already thought of that."
Xu Yang's eyes lit up. He asked in a low voice, "Where can I get it?"
Qiu Wenjie pointed to himself, then fumbled in his clothes and pulled out a few paper packets. "This is the Muscle Relaxing Powder."
Xu Yang never expected this guy to be carrying such a thing on him. 'Does he really want to be a lecherous rogue?'
"Can you sell it to me?"
"It's a gift. I can just go back tonight and ask my dad for a few more packets!"
Xu Yang took the packets, almost unable to resist the urge to open one and take a sniff, but he ultimately restrained himself.
'Qiu Wenjie probably wouldn't lie to me.'
Qiu Wenjie pointed out which packet was the antidote, which ones were the Muscle Relaxing Powder, and explained how long the effects lasted.
"If I use this to kill someone, will it be traced back to your family?" Xu Yang asked after a moment of thought.
'If this is something exclusive to the Qiu Family, then I can't use it.'
"No. This kind of underhanded stuff is common in the Jianghu; lots of people have it."
Qiu Wenjie didn't press Xu Yang on who he wanted to kill or what he was planning to do.
He was a smart person himself; otherwise, he wouldn't have told his father, Qiu Yongqiang, about Xu Yang in the first place.
"If you can't handle it, you can ask my dad for help. The Qiu Family isn't some major clan, but we can handle minor troubles," Qiu Wenjie said.
The Qiu Family had invested in Xu Yang, and he didn't want anything to happen to him. Besides, in his eyes, what kind of major figure could Xu Yang possibly have offended?
If it were truly a major figure, Xu Yang wouldn't still be here.
"It's nothing. I can handle it myself."
Xu Yang got up, left, and sat down in another spot, looking at his panel.
[Cultivation Technique: Turtle and Snake Grand Posture - Introduction (31/100), Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist - Introduction (63/150)]
[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 31]
It had been about ten days since he killed Li Hu, and he had saved up over thirty points again. He had originally planned to use them to improve his Root Bone, but now he had to use them to level up his Cultivation Technique first.
'Although I got the Muscle Relaxing Powder from Qiu Wenjie, to be safe, I still need to improve my Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. A dozen or so people won't be easy to kill. I have to make sure there are no survivors.'
'It just means the time until I can attempt Breaking the Gate and Gathering Qi will be delayed.'
'Slaughtering these dozen people should buy me some peace for a while.'
Closing his eyes, Xu Yang poured all his points into the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.
The Turtle and Snake Grand Posture was a Static Skill, an Inner Cultivation Method. Increasing its proficiency didn't directly increase one's Cultivation.
[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist - Introduction (94/150)]
A flood of insights washed over him. The progress of his Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist rose to ninety-four, and his understanding of the technique changed dramatically.