Zhao Changhe had long wanted to leave this small pond, but he couldn't determine the point of departure because he had been staying here to accumulate cultivation. However, he couldn't predict how his cultivation would progress.

But at this moment, he was sure.

When he first crossed over, he couldn't even find a single technique. Zhao Changhe never imagined that he would break through Xuan Guan three times within a few months. It had only been a little over half a month since he broke through the second level, and he was already ambitiously planning for the third level...

It should be noted that Sun Jiaoxi and Fang Buping were only at the fourth level of Xuan Guan. They were both in their thirties and had been practicing for more than twenty years. Such cultivation was already elite in various places in the vast martial arts world. Fang Buping could be the leader of a branch, and Sun Jiaoxi's position as a right-hand man was no worse than him. Even Lin Feihu had become the leader of a gang at the fourth level.

The first level of Xuan Guan was already at the level of heaven. Many people in the world could not see the end of their lives.

Of course, this was due to personal aptitude and the level of techniques. It was not necessary for everyone to practice for more than ten or twenty years. Yue Hongling was already at the eighth level at the age of nineteen. It was unknown what kind of adventures she had on the rivers and lakes before. Everyone's aptitude was different.

So the world was bustling, but the hidden dragon was in the abyss.

Xia Chichi was also talented and intelligent. She had been taught top-notch divine skills by her mother since she was young. She was already at the fourth or fifth level of Xuan Guan at the age of sixteen. After the transformation of the Qinglong Seal, and with the full support of the Four Elephant Sect, she was expected to be at the same level as Yue Hongling at the age of eighteen or nineteen, or even slightly better.

However, Zhao Changhe was originally not good enough. Including the master-level Zhuque, the vast majority of people's first judgment on Zhao Changhe's future was that he was an old youth without prospects. He only started practicing martial arts at the age of nineteen, and his foundation was too poor. It might take ten years to lay the foundation to reach the third level of Xuan Guan, and he might not even reach it in his lifetime.

The Blood Slaughter Technique was almost the only technique that could bypass the disadvantage of age and take a shortcut through physical superiority. So, no matter how many disadvantages it had, Zhao Changhe could not give up.

Originally, if he wanted to practice both internal and external techniques, it was impossible to bypass this disadvantage with internal techniques. However, he encountered Xia Longyuan's inheritance, which skipped the entry process and was also a compatible technique. Maybe it couldn't escape the disadvantage of age in the later stages of cultivation, but if it was used as an auxiliary technique for Blood Slaughter Technique to break through the barriers and as an extra reserve of blue energy, it was a shortcut among shortcuts.

With such an advantage, why not try to reach the third level of Xuan Guan? It might be slower in the future, but who cares.

......

The bandits in the mountain stronghold found that the leader's wife had run away, and the leader had been gloomy for several days. The atmosphere in the stronghold was tense, and no one dared to speak loudly.

Ah, they knew that with Zhao Laoda's personality, he would never be able to control his wife sooner or later.

In the future, it's better not to find someone so pretty. What's the use of looking like Yue Hongling? It's not like he really married Yue Hongling. Speaking of which, reminded by this painful example of the leader, no one dared to want the real Yue Hongling if she came here. Just thinking about the future position of the family's younger brother was so tragic. When will she run away, and what can you do about it?

The leader hasn't been talking much these days, but it seems that he turns his grief into appetite. He can eat a meal of three catties of meat and three large bowls of rice. It's unclear how he can stomach it. If the stronghold hadn't had money recently, with his eating habits, he could have eaten the old stronghold out of business.

After eating, he would punch, practice the knife, shoot arrows, and hold a few hundred pounds of stone locks to squat and horse stance.Then he went into the house to soak in the medicinal bath. Even in the middle of the night, one could hear muffled screams coming from inside the house, as if he had increased the dosage of the bath.

Although it seemed like he did this every day, he had been particularly diligent lately. After all, his wife had left him, and he had one less outlet for his energy. He didn't want to be drained dry.

Who would have thought that Zhao Changhe was crazily ingesting nutrients and converting them into the physical energy required for the Blood Slaughter Technique's third level? He had only been practicing for a few months, but he dared to think like this!

Zhao Changhe himself felt that it wasn't enough. Although he didn't think the third level would be too difficult, he underestimated the strength of the energy and blood required between the second and third levels. He had only filled up half of it at most, and relying on food and medicinal baths would only accumulate over time, making it unlikely to achieve it in a short time.

In fact, it was like working out. It was never a short-term effect.

But there was one notable difference from working out. If there were good medicines, they could directly fill the required energy and blood, which was much more effective than protein powder.

"Iron Pillar, have you heard anything about the medicine you were supposed to find in the city?"

"Boss, the energy and blood powder you wanted wasn't sold in the city..."

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"It's normal for the medicine not to be sold. This is the auxiliary medicine recorded in our Blood Slaughter Technique. How could others sell it? Are you a pig?" Zhao Changhe said irritably, "What about the medicinal ingredients I listed? We can make the medicine ourselves. It's a soup, not a Taoist alchemy. What's so difficult about it?"

"We have the medicinal ingredients, but not a lot." Iron Pillar took out a package, "Just these..."

Seeing the medicine, Zhao Changhe's expression improved a bit, but he still found it strange. "Why is there so little?"

"Uh, Master Fang often buys this kind of medicine too, and the dosage is quite large."

Zhao Changhe was taken aback and scratched his head.

This probably wasn't Fang Buping targeting him. If that were the case, he wouldn't even leave this package for him. Instead, it was because every branch was practicing related techniques, and everyone had a demand for it, so the dosage was naturally not small. It was normal for there to be few left in this remote small town.

He didn't have the foresight to prepare these medicines in advance... but no one had expected him to rush to the third level of the Xuan Guan so quickly. Fang Buping didn't dare to think about it, otherwise, he would have searched everything by now...

"This is enough. We can support ourselves for a few days. You guys go to the farther towns and help me find more. It's okay if it's a few days late." Zhao Changhe sighed, "She said that impatience is forbidden in practicing, but I've been impatient these past few days."

The bandits looked at their boss with strange expressions. The man who lost his wife a few days ago was really pitiful. He hadn't stopped talking about it for days.

Zhao Changhe knew what these guys were thinking, but he had no intention of arguing. He couldn't just say that their former bandit queen was Yue Hongling, and that she had naturally left after finishing her business. That would be ridiculous.

He picked up the medicine and silently went back to his room to prepare and brew it. Let people say what they want.

Every time he parted ways, he felt like he grew up a little. In fact, he had just turned twenty after the New Year...

He felt like he had grown up faster in the past few months in this world than in the previous years. Was this what they meant by the years of the martial world making people grow old faster?

Zhao Changhe looked at the steam rising from the medicine pot and suddenly laughed."Your cultivation these past few days has been quite calm, not as erratic as before, hopping around like a rabbit," Cui Yuanyong sighed as he looked at his younger sister. "If you could focus on your training, how could you still only be at the second level of Xuan Guan? You were supposed to be the best genius in our family, wasting your talent like this is truly a pity."

"Alright, alright, my ears have calluses from listening to you nagging since I was a child. You guys can practice well, why do I have to practice? It's hard, tiring, and boring."

"If you were content with studying literature and embroidery like other girls, and marrying into a good family in the future, it wouldn't matter. But you want to catch thieves and think bounty hunting is fun, yet you don't want to put in the effort...isn't that just asking for trouble?"

"Who dares to touch the Cui family?"

"The chaotic times are approaching, the Cui family's reputation may not be useful everywhere. Not to mention, the Four Elephant Sect would love to kill a member of the Cui family to sacrifice to their flag...and your father and brothers can't protect you forever," Cui Yuanyong sighed. "You'll be sixteen after the New Year, it's time to grow up."

"My birthday is at the end of the year! It's still early, I'm only fifteen!"

"Alright, alright, fifteen it is." Cui Yuanyong couldn't do anything about his younger sister, he shook his head and handed her a pill. "Your progress these past few days has been decent, if you keep it up, you should be able to break through in another ten days or so, without needing the two months we anticipated. This is a Qingxuan Pill, take it when the time comes, it can help you break through the bottleneck."

"So stingy, just one pill?"

"Fine, fine, I'll give you three." Cui Yuanyong sighed again. "People are never satisfied...Zhao Changhe sent someone to buy medicine in the city, even the lowest-grade herbs are hard to come by. You have access to top-grade pills, yet you still want more."

"Why is he buying medicine? Is he sick?"

"If I'm not mistaken, he's also trying to break through to the third level of the Xuan Guan." Cui Yuanyong looked at his sister with a meaningful gaze. "He's been practicing martial arts for about three months now, and he had to fight over even a piece of meat with others with the things he had in his mountain stronghold."

The girl widened her eyes. "That's impossible! I'll definitely be faster than him this time!"