Chapter 9

Yuan Feng was completely unaware of everything happening outside. As for the incident where he beat up Fang Li and his servant, he didn’t even give it a second thought. After returning that day, he locked himself in his room and didn’t come out even once.

The autumn hunt was drawing near, and now he only wanted to further enhance his strength so that he could gain more benefits during the autumn hunt.

In the room, Yuan Feng sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed, his hands resting naturally on his knees, as if he were asleep.

However, he certainly wasn’t really asleep. In fact, since awakening the Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit, he had hardly slept at all. Most of his time was spent on cultivation.

He had fallen too far behind in the past. If he continued to be lazy as before, how could he catch up and surpass others? To stand out, he needed to put in much more effort than others. This was something the old Yuan Feng didn’t understand, but the current him understood very well!

"The Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit is indeed domineering, capable of even interpreting the cultivation method of the Cultivating Essence Art. Truly bizarre to the extreme!"

At a certain moment, his eyes slowly opened. As he opened his eyes, the image of the Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit flashed in his mind, indicating that he had just used it during cultivation.

Originally, he thought the Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit could only automatically interpret martial techniques, but three days ago, he discovered by chance that when he used it to cultivate the Cultivating Essence Art, it also had an auxiliary effect. Although the effect wasn’t as significant as when cultivating martial techniques, it was still highly efficient. In just three days, with the help of the Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit, he had perfected the fourth level of the Cultivating Essence Art, saving nearly half the cultivation time.

"Given my current situation, I should be able to attempt breaking through to the fifth level of the Essence Condensation Realm tonight. I believe the success rate should be over fifty percent!"

He took a deep breath, temporarily ending his day’s cultivation. He could feel that his essence energy and the fourth level of the Cultivating Essence Art had both reached their limits. The next step was to attempt a breakthrough. With many people around during the day, he decided to rest and wait until the night was quiet before attempting to break through to the fifth level of the Essence Condensation Realm.

"Hehe, there’s only a small portion of the thousand-year-old snow ginseng left. I was originally worried about insufficient energy, but these red ginsengs came just in time." He smiled slightly, his gaze falling on the table where a package lay quietly, the red ginseng he had brought back from the market.

The old man at the stall had asked him to pass the red ginseng to Fang Li, but he certainly wouldn’t really hand them over. Although keeping these red ginsengs seemed a bit greedy, he was in dire need of energy at the moment, so he didn’t care about such trivial matters.

As his cultivation improved, the Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit would require more and more energy, and its effects might become less noticeable. What he needed to do was to take advantage of his current low cultivation level to quickly enhance his basic level using the Swallowing Heaven Martial Spirit.

"Compared to this, the martial technique manual is the real gain!"

He retracted his gaze and reached into his pocket to take out a tattered book, the one the old man had given him.

"Annihilation Finger, tsk tsk, although it’s an incomplete martial technique, it’s not a problem for me. Once I break through to the fifth level of the Essence Condensation Realm, I’ll start cultivating this martial technique. My essence energy is still a bit insufficient for now!"

He carefully wrapped the book, his face filled with joy and anticipation. Honestly, he hadn’t expected that a casual move would bring such a reward.

"I wonder if the incident with Fang Li from the Fang family has caused any ripples in Fengtian County. Logically, there were many onlookers that day, so the news should have spread widely."

Putting the book away, he stretched lazily, recalling the incident of standing up for justice that day.

"Strange, if the news had spread, my stepfather should have come to ask me. Could it be that the Fang family suppressed the news?"

One thing he knew for sure was that although Yuan Qingyun didn’t look favorably upon him, deep down, he still hoped for his success, as evidenced by giving him the thousand-year-old snow ginseng. If he had heard about Yuan Feng beating up Fang Li, he should have come to verify it long ago.

"Knock knock knock!"

"Master, the family head has come to see you."

Just as Yuan Feng was pondering, a knock sounded at the door, and Wan'er’s voice came from outside.

"Ah, speaking of the devil!"

Yuan Feng was slightly taken aback and couldn’t help but laugh. He had just thought of Yuan Qingyun, and he had actually come. It seemed he and his stepfather had some sort of connection!

Without hesitation, he got out of bed and quickly opened the door.

"Son, I greet you, Father!" The door opened, and Yuan Qingyun stood there with his hands behind his back, his face calm. Wan'er quietly retreated, leaving only the two of them standing face to face.

"No need for formalities. I just came to see you since I had some free time."

Yuan Qingyun waved his hand. Seeing his son again, he noticed that Yuan Feng seemed to have changed a lot since the last time they met. At this moment, he suddenly became even more eager to hear the rumors.

However, as the head of the family, a man who had experienced many storms, he maintained a calm expression despite his inner excitement.

"Father, please come in!" Yuan Feng smiled faintly, knowing that his stepfather was likely here because of the previous incident. In his memory, Yuan Qingyun had never personally come to see him before, so this was a first.

The two entered the room, and Wan'er had already brought in tea. They sat opposite each other, and Yuan Qingyun took a sip of tea, hesitating to speak. Yuan Feng, on the other hand, sat quietly, waiting for Yuan Qingyun to ask.

"Cough, Feng, a few days ago, you told me your essence energy had improved. How is it now?" Yuan Qingyun couldn’t hold back any longer, but he didn’t directly ask about the rumors. Instead, he casually inquired about Yuan Feng’s cultivation.

"Father, there’s something I wanted to tell you earlier, but I was busy cultivating, so it was delayed until now." Yuan Feng smiled and continued, "To be honest, a few days ago, I successfully broke through to the third level of the Essence Condensation Realm using the thousand-year-old snow ginseng you gave me. I am now a true martial artist."

"Crack!"

The sound of something breaking followed Yuan Feng’s words. Yuan Qingyun, in his excitement, had crushed the teacup in his hand.

"What? What did you say?"

Yuan Qingyun, who had been calm and composed, suddenly stood up, all pretense of dignity and gentlemanly demeanor forgotten.

"Father, please look!" Seeing Yuan Qingyun’s excited expression, Yuan Feng smiled and stood up, assuming a stable horse stance. Once he was steady, he moved his feet and suddenly swung his fists.

"Bang bang bang!"

He delivered three consecutive punches, each one clean and powerful, creating a sonic boom in the air. These three punches were the first three moves of the Vajra Fist.

"Vajra Fist?"

Seeing Yuan Feng effortlessly perform the first three moves of the Vajra Fist, Yuan Qingyun’s face was filled with excitement. It was well known that only those who reached the third level of the Essence Condensation Realm had enough essence energy to cultivate martial techniques. Yuan Feng’s successful performance of the Vajra Fist confirmed his cultivation level.

"Ha ha ha, good, good, good! My son has finally broken through, finally broken through!"

Unable to contain his excitement and joy, Yuan Qingyun burst into laughter.

For so many years, since Yuan Feng started cultivating, his heart had been shrouded in gloom. As long as Yuan Feng didn’t reach the third level of the Essence Condensation Realm, he couldn’t resolve his inner turmoil. Now that Yuan Feng had successfully broken through, his heart could finally see the light of day!

The third level of the Essence Condensation Realm, to be honest, wasn’t a high level, but it was a significant milestone for martial artists. Without reaching the third level, one couldn’t cultivate martial techniques, and without cultivating martial techniques, one couldn’t be considered a true martial artist.

"Ha ha, Feng, you didn’t even tell your father about such a big event. I’ll convene a clan meeting later to announce this news." Yuan Qingyun was genuinely excited. He wanted the whole world to know about Yuan Feng’s breakthrough.

"Ah, Father, is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?" Yuan Feng’s face darkened. Just the third level of the Essence Condensation Realm, and his father was already planning a clan meeting. If he told him that he was already at the fourth level and about to break through to the fifth, his father might announce it to the world!

Of course, if he told him that he had not only broken through in cultivation but also improved his talent by several dozen times, Yuan Qingyun might die of happiness!

"Ha ha, this isn’t a big fuss. My son breaking through to the third level of the Essence Condensation Realm and mastering the Vajra Fist is a big event for our Yuan family." Yuan Qingyun laughed heartily, then suddenly remembered something and his expression changed. "By the way, Feng, it’s rumored that you beat up the third young master of the Fang family, Fang Li, and crippled two third-level Essence Condensation Realm guards. Tell me the truth, is this true?"

Compared to Yuan Feng’s breakthrough to the third level of the Essence Condensation Realm, Yuan Qingyun was even more curious about this incident. After all, even at the third level, it seemed unlikely that Yuan Feng could easily cripple two third-level martial artists and beat up a fourth-level martial artist.

"I dare not hide anything from Father. This incident is indeed true. Speaking of which, I have another matter to report to Father. Please look!"

Yuan Feng composed himself and stood up again. Before Yuan Qingyun could react, he suddenly flashed to Yuan Qingyun’s side, and by the time Yuan Qingyun’s eyes widened in surprise, he had already returned to his original position, his speed so fast that it left an afterimage.

"Whoa, this, this is..."

Yuan Qingyun suddenly drew in a sharp breath, completely stunned, unable to speak for a long time.