The day after Xiao Chen came to issue his challenge.

Inside the Martial Arts Room, sandalwood smoke curled through the air. Fang Han sat cross-legged, holding a slightly ancient-looking scroll of animal hide.

On the hide, ink outlined a complex and profound Stepping Technique Atlas, with dense annotations in small characters written beside it.

This was the Low Grade Step Technique he had requested from Elder Fang Yuan—the *Startled Swan Step*.

"A startled swan dances, its speed immeasurable, its tracks untraceable. It emphasizes intent over force; the flow of qi must be like a babbling spring brook, never a raging torrent..."

Fang Han silently recited the mnemonic chant, his mind sinking into the Stepping Technique Atlas.

The *Startled Swan Step* was a Step Technique on par with the *Xunfeng Swordsmanship* in terms of Grade, and its cultivation difficulty was naturally extremely high.

Fortunately, his Stepping Talent Amplification had now reached Eightfold.

Under the effect of the Eightfold Stepping Talent Amplification, his comprehension of Step Techniques had reached an inconceivable level.

The seemingly obscure meridian pathways and the subtle key points of transitioning steps appeared in his eyes like a meticulously disassembled mechanism—clear, distinct, and with all its profundities revealing themselves to him.

An hour later, Fang Han finished looking through the *Startled Swan Step* manual, committed everything to memory, and stood up, ready to begin his cultivation of the *Startled Swan Step*.

He didn’t start cultivating immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused, mentally simulating the *Startled Swan Step* several times.

Only when he was certain there were no hitches did he lightly tap his toes on the ground, circulating his qi and blood according to the unique pathways of the *Startled Swan Step*.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

In the Martial Arts Room, he practiced the *Startled Swan Step* over and over again.

With every repetition, he gained new insights.

With every repetition, he could feel a tangible improvement.

An hour later.

His progress transformed from a quantitative accumulation into a qualitative leap; the Step Technique had completely shed its initial awkwardness.

His body seemed to lose all weight, as if lifted by a gentle breeze. He glided forward about ten feet, landing without a sound, not even stirring the dust.

His movements were graceful and agile, completely different from the swift and unpredictable changes of the *Gale Step*. They carried an ineffable elegance and composure.

’I’ve reached the Entry Level.’

Fang Han stopped, savoring the perfect fluency of his movements, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift into a slight smile.

To reach the Entry Level of a Graded Step Technique in just one hour—if word of such speed got out, it would be utterly shocking.

’It’s all thanks to mastering the *Gale Step* to Perfection...’

Fang Han muttered to himself, his eyes twinkling with delight.

He was able to improve at such a rate, on one hand, because of the powerful comprehension granted by his Eightfold Stepping Talent Amplification, and on the other, because he had mastered the *Gale Step* to Perfection.

Just like with the *Qingfeng Swordsmanship*, mastering the Basic Step Technique of *Gale Step* to Perfection had also laid a solid foundation for him in Step Techniques, allowing him to achieve twice the results with half the effort in his cultivation.

Under pressure to reach the Inner Qi Realm before the second day of the second month next year, Fang Han dedicated most of his energy to raising his Martial Arts Realm in the following days.

Empowered by his Eightfold Bone Talent, his qi and blood surged like a dragon, powerfully tempering the bones throughout his body and allowing him to advance steadily toward the final limit.

The Demon Beast Meat, in particular, transformed into pure energy that merged with his qi and blood, accelerating the process.

Even so, he still couldn’t sense the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit.

The amount of accumulation required to go from the Late Stage of Bone Refining to the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit was unimaginably vast.

Time flew, and half a month passed in a flash.

On this day, Fang Han was cultivating the *Crane Form* as usual. Under the Eightfold Root Bone Amplification, his qi and blood surged and flowed, emitting a deep and powerful hum like a great river’s tide surge, repeatedly washing over the depths of his bones.

He could clearly feel that the 206 bones in his body had long surpassed the hardness of refined steel, their density reaching an astonishing level.

His entire skeleton faintly glowed with a warm, jade-like luster, and his qi and blood flowed through it with unparalleled smoothness.

At a certain moment during his cultivation.

BUZZ—

An invisible yet incredibly tough barrier suddenly appeared.

An unprecedented feeling of being "full to overflowing" flooded his entire body.

It was as if a container was filled with water and could not hold another drop.

The strength of his bones and the capacity of his qi and blood seemed to have reached some kind of limit, unable to advance even an inch.

’This is... the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit?’

Fang Han slowly relaxed his stance, a brilliant light erupting in his eyes.

He carefully savored that sense of "Perfection" that could not be improved upon, and that unseen, untouchable, yet truly existing, solid shackle.

Clearly, he had reached the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit.

’A full two months...’

From breaking through to the Late Stage of Bone Refining to touching the barrier of the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit today, it had taken him a full two months, even with the help of his Eightfold Root Bone Talent Amplification and Demon Beast Meat.

This showed just how immense the accumulation was for this final step, from the Late Stage of the Bone Refining Realm to its limit.

No wonder Fang Hong, who had broken through to the Late Stage of Bone Refining over a year ago, had still not reached the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit.

’I’ve finally reached the Late Stage Bone Refining Limit. I just wonder how long it will take me to break through this bottleneck with my current Root Bone Talent?’

Fang Han wondered silently.

The transition from Bone Refining to Inner Qi was the crucial step from the Basic Four Realms of the Martial Dao to becoming a true Martial Artist. It could be described as the trial where a carp transforms into a dragon, and its bottleneck was far more solid than all the previous minor realm bottlenecks combined.

With his Eightfold Root Bone Talent Amplification, he wasn’t worried about being unable to break through this bottleneck.

He just didn’t know how long it would take for his current Root Bone Talent to break through this solid bottleneck that had stopped countless people throughout history.

’Continue cultivating!’

Taking a deep breath, Fang Han’s gaze grew calm again. He once more sank into his stance and resumed cultivating the *Crane Form*.

When his qi and blood were depleted, he would consume Qi Blood Pills. Once they recovered, he would resume his cultivation. He temporarily set aside his Swordsmanship and Step Technique practice.

The sun sank in the west, and a full day of arduous cultivation came to an end.

WHOOSH—

Fang Han slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. Feeling the unbroken bottleneck within him, he couldn’t help but sigh softly.

’The bottleneck from the Bone Refining Limit to the Inner Qi Realm is truly unshakable. Even with my Eightfold Bone Talent, I can’t break through it in one go...’

He sighed with emotion but felt neither anxious nor impatient.

He had long known how difficult this bottleneck was, so failing to break through in one attempt didn’t disappoint him.

’With my current Eightfold-amplified Root Bone Talent, breaking through is only a matter of time. There’s no need to be impatient!’

A determined light ignited in Fang Han’s eyes. He stood up and walked out of the Martial Arts Room, heading for home. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The next morning, Fang Han stepped into the Class A-10 Martial Arts Room, ready to start cultivating immediately, hoping to break through the bottleneck today.

However, before he could assume the stance for the *Crane Form*, a series of light, urgent knocks came from the door.

He frowned slightly, reined in his aura, and opened the door.

Standing outside was Fang Zhong, the steward who perennially attended to the Patriarch, Fang Lingyuan.

"Young Master Han."

Fang Zhong bowed slightly, his tone respectful.

"The Patriarch requests your presence at Songtao Pavilion."

As the Patriarch’s personal steward, his status in the Fang Mansion was extremely high, and he typically paid no mind to ordinary Fang Clan Members.

But the young man before him was different. He was someone that even the steward could not afford to slight, hence his exceptionally courteous attitude.