Daily News: You promised yourself to be a fisherman, but you've become a martial arts god?

On the twenty-fifth day, Ge Xiong, the seventh leader of Shenyuan Village, was splattered with blood on the beach.

The sound of gongs and drums filled Qianhu County.

Central island, lakeside plaza.

Three stone slab arenas stand majestically, each over ten feet tall, with open space on all sides.

A plaque hangs from the horizontal beam, flags flutter in the wind, and two wooden ladders lean against the side of the platform, the surface of which is smooth and clean, without any railings or barriers.

The square was surrounded by flags with red backgrounds and black lettering.

The black characters are "撼".

The flag of the Mountain-Shaking Camp!

The square was bustling with people, and vendors roamed around, creating a lively atmosphere.

At that time, Li Nian's home.

Li Nian stood at the doorway with his sword on his back, looking at his sister-in-law and niece before him, and said:

"Sister-in-law, Duoduo, wait for my good news at home!"

"Uncle, Duoduo is waiting for you at home. Please come back safely."

"Uncle promises you!"

"Uncle, let's make a pinky promise."

"Pinky promise, for a hundred years, never to be broken! Whoever breaks it is a little puppy!"

After Li Nian and Duo Duo made a pinky promise, a smile finally appeared on Duo Duo's little face.

Beside her, her sister-in-law Zhao Lijuan said:

"Erlang, your sister-in-law and Duoduo won't go to the arena to bother you. We'll wait at home for your good news."

"Your sister-in-law will prepare a feast for you to enjoy when you come back!"

"Okay, sister-in-law!"

Li Nian nodded emphatically.

Although his sister-in-law Zhao Lijuan didn't say anything too sentimental, he understood her feelings.

His family's care is his motivation to work hard!

After a brief farewell to her family, Li Nian headed to the arena.

Outside the square were disciples of the Qinyun Martial Arts School. Following the directions of his fellow disciples, Li Nian found Xia Qingwei and the others.

All the inner disciples were present, as were Song Xingzhu and two others who had graduated early and whom Li Nian had met before.

He has been visiting the martial arts school these past few days to learn about the people attending the martial arts banquet there.

The Dark Force Group only has Qin Geyue.

The Mingjin Group: Xia Qingwei, Gu Jingsong, Cen Mo, and him.

Gu Jingsong and Cen Mo had only recently broken through to the Bone Refinement stage, which was not originally in Liu Qinyun's plan. However, both of them wanted to gain experience through this, and Xia Qingwei agreed after considering it during Liu Qinyun's seclusion.

Gu Jingsong patted Li Nian on the shoulder and said enviously:

"Junior Brother Li, since we parted that day, you were just opening the Blood Refining stage, and now you've already reached the Tendon Refining stage. It's truly astonishing!"

Cen Mo, who was not very talkative, nodded in agreement.

"Thanks to everyone's good fortune!"

Li Nian said modestly.

Seeing his composure and humility, Gu Jingsong and the others all praised him.

As they chatted, Meng Suxi finally arrived, greeting everyone cheerfully:

"Greetings, fellow senior brothers and sisters!"

"Hello, Junior Sister Meng."

Everyone returned the greetings.

Xia Qingwei thanked Meng Suxi:

"Junior Sister Meng, thank you for supervising the outer court disciples these days."

"Second Senior Sister, what are you saying? I also have a role in supervising the outer disciples. You need to prepare for the Martial Banquet, so I can take care of these trivial matters. Anyway, I'm not participating."

Meng Suxi said cheerfully.

Then he asked:

"Second Senior Sister, what stage of the Tendon Refining Realm have you reached?"

"I broke through the barrier of entanglement last night."

"Entangling Strength Gate! Second Senior Sister, didn't you just start training your tendons half a month ago? You've progressed so quickly!"

Meng Suxi was shocked.

Others also found it incredible.

The Entangling Force Gate is the fourth gate in tendon training. After breaking through the fifth gate, the Unity Gate, one can begin to break through the hidden force!

Song Xingzhu offered his congratulations:

"Junior Sister Xia has finally unleashed her full potential; congratulations! She can definitely compete for a top-three finish in the Ming Jin category at this martial arts banquet!"

Congratulations, Junior Sister Xia!

The others offered their congratulations.

Xia Qingwei looked at Li Nian and said:

"I was able to break through so quickly this time thanks to the two He Yuan Jin Pills that Junior Brother Li gave me. Otherwise, I would not have been able to break through the fourth level of the Tendon Refining stage."

"Thank you, Junior Brother Li, for the pill!"

Everyone looked at Li Nian.

Li Niandao:

"Second Senior Sister, there's no need to be so polite. The pills are merely an aid; if you weren't exceptionally talented, you wouldn't have been able to break through to the fourth level!"

His words contained not a trace of flattery.

He consumed eight He Yuan Jin Dan pills, and without breaking through the shackles, he progressed from the second stage of tendon training to the fifth stage, reaching the pinnacle of tendon training.

Xia Qingwei used only two stones to break through from the first level to the fourth level, which shows her strong talent!

Meng Yao agreed:

"Junior Brother Li is right, Junior Sister Xia, you don't need to belittle yourself!"

After speaking, he looked at Li Nian and asked:

"Junior Brother Li, since you gave Junior Sister Xia pills, you should have kept some for yourself. May I ask what stage of the Tendon Refining Realm you've broken through to?"

"I took eight He Yuan Jin Pills and barely reached the peak of the Tendon Refining stage, but I failed to break through to the Dark Force stage."

Li Nian told the truth.

hiss!

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock.

Then, everyone exclaimed in surprise:

"Junior Brother Li, you actually used only eight Qi-Meridian Pills to reach the peak of the Tendon Refining stage in such a short time! My goodness!"

"Back when I was training my tendons, I consumed at least thirty or fifty He Yuan Jin Pills, yet it still took me two and a half years to complete my tendon training. You're just too monstrous!"

"Holy crap!"

Finally, Cen Mo, who was usually silent, blurted out two words.

Qin Geyue looked at Li Nian in surprise.

That guy is fast!

It's getting faster and faster!

Xia Qingwei, who had just felt she could catch up with Li Nian, was dealt another blow.

Everyone understood that although Li Nian had taken six more He Yuan Jin Pills than Xia Qingwei, the barriers would become larger as one progressed through different cultivation levels, requiring more pills in the process.

Even Xia Qingwei herself could clearly sense that she needed at least ten He Yuan Jin Pills to break through the final stage of the Tendon Refining Technique!

This junior brother Li is simply monstrous!

Xia Qingwei clenched her fists, her beautiful eyes resolute.

We have to keep watching!

As they were talking, two girls' voices came from the right:

"Brother Li!"

Looking around, I saw two girls squeezing through the crowd.

The older woman, around fourteen or fifteen years old, wore a dusty rose silk dress. She had a full and well-proportioned figure, soft eyes, and a calm and composed demeanor.

It was Yi Jieyi.

The other girl was about twelve or thirteen years old, with fair and jade-like skin, willow branches laden with fruit, and long legs that were beginning to take shape. Her childish face highlighted her early beauty.

It was Yi Mingxi.

Seeing so many people from the Qinyun Martial Arts School surrounding Li Nian, Yi Jieyi felt shy, but still maintained a dignified demeanor as she greeted them:

"This is Yi Jieyi from the Yi family. I have met the senior brothers and sisters of Qinyun Martial Arts School."

"Little sister Yi Mingxi of the Yi family..."

Yi Mingxi, standing beside him, also timidly greeted them.

"Greetings, ladies."

Upon seeing that they were Li Nian's friends, everyone greeted Miss Yi Jieyi and Miss Yi Mingxi.

Song Xingzhu and the others scrutinized Li Nian with meaningful gazes, as if they knew something.

Song Xingzhu said to Li Nian in a coquettish tone:

"Brother Li~"

"You idiot! How disgusting! You've given me goosebumps!"

Meng Yao rubbed the goosebumps on her arms with both hands.

Beside them, Yi Jieyi and Yi Mingxi blushed bright red from the sudden movement.

Xia Qingwei noticed the awkwardness between the two women and said to Li Nian:

"Junior Brother Li, the arena will open for a while, why don't you take the two ladies for a stroll around the area?"

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Li Nian nodded.

After saying goodbye to his fellow disciples, he left with Yi Jieyi and Yi Mingxi.

Qin Geyue approached Xia Qingwei without making a sound and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Second Sister, aren't you afraid that Junior Brother Li will be snatched away by another woman?"

Xia Qingwei's delicate face flushed, but her eyes remained firm:

"As long as Junior Brother Li is happy, I don't care what he does!"