However, he knew that with his level of talent, breaking through to the Iron Skin Realm was practically impossible.

When he’d first started his martial arts training, he hadn’t felt this way so strongly.

He’d just thought that Gong Yulei was only a little faster than everyone else.

But the further he progressed in his training, the more he realized just how vast the gap between them truly was.

He finally understood why their master treated them differently.

If he were the master, he’d probably do the same thing.

After that, Luo Kun continued to check on the other disciples’ progress.

However, everyone could tell that his mind was no longer on them.

As for Jiang Che, although he had also broken through to the Late-stage Stone Skin Realm and was even faintly approaching the Peak of the Stone Skin Realm, his progress could be considered swift as well.

In the past, everyone would have paid him some attention.

But now that Gong Yulei had broken through to the Iron Skin Realm, no one paid him any mind.

After all, there were many who reached the Peak of the Stone Skin Realm every year.

But those who could break through to the Iron Skin Realm were few and far between.

The Stone Skin Realm and the Iron Skin Realm. Though only separated by a single Realm, in reality, the gap between them was a chasm.

"Oh, right. In two months, our Martial Arts Hall will be having a sparring exchange with the Fierce Wind Martial Arts Hall. Everyone use this time to prepare. Don’t bring shame to our White Cloud Martial Arts Hall! If we win, I, your master, will have rewards for you!"

After checking everyone’s progress, Luo Kun suddenly made the announcement.

"Don’t worry, Master. I definitely won’t disappoint you!" Gong Yulei declared.

’Now that I’ve broken through to the Iron Skin Realm, I need a stage to show off my strength and let the people of Lin Yuan City witness my rise!’

Luo Kun smiled and nodded.

In fact, the sparring exchange was supposed to have happened several months ago.

However, the Fierce Wind Martial Arts Hall had to postpone due to some internal matters, pushing it back to two months from now.

If the competition had been held back then, Luo Kun wouldn’t have been very confident.

But now that Gong Yulei had broken through to the Iron Skin Realm, he felt he had a great chance of winning this year!

Luo Kun and Li Hong, the master of the Fierce Wind Martial Arts Hall, had known each other since they were young.

The two had been rivals for years, with neither willing to concede to the other.

Now that they were both old and could no longer fight, they had an agreement that their disciples would compete once a year.

To see whose disciples were better.

For many years, the White Cloud Martial Arts Hall had lost.

Just thinking of Old Li’s smug face made Luo Kun’s blood boil.

’This year, I’ll definitely make that Old Li taste defeat!’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

...

...

...

One day, Chief Constable Liu Hai suddenly sought out Jiang Che.

He was surprised to see that Jiang Che was already approaching the Peak of the Stone Skin Realm.

But then he recalled Jiang Che’s extraordinary constitution and it made sense.

After he quickly explained the situation, Jiang Che was surprised.

"The Black Beasts are running rampant again?"

Jiang Che hadn’t gone hunting in a while. He hadn’t expected another incident where a large number of Black Beasts came down from the mountains to destroy crops.

"That’s right. This time, it’s the Thorny-skinned Pigs from Luoyan Mountain. For some unknown reason, they’ve come down in large numbers. These Thorny-skinned Pigs are mostly at the Stone Skin Realm, with a few at the Iron Skin Realm. The Government Office is severely short-handed," Liu Hai said with a sigh.

Most of the constables at the Government Office are in the Bull Skin Realm. Very few are at the Stone Skin Realm, so they’re completely powerless to clear out the Black Beasts.

As for himself, he had too many other matters to attend to and couldn’t be everywhere at once, so his only option was to recruit help.

Jiang Che nodded. ’So it’s the Black Beasts from Luoyan Mountain,’ he thought.

Qin Yue had mentioned before that there were Black Beasts at the Force Integration Realm and above on Luoyan Mountain, so no one dared to hunt there.

’Without any culling from hunters, perhaps that’s why the Black Beast population is running rampant!’

Since he had to go up the mountain to hunt every so often anyway, Jiang Che accepted the mission.

When he arrived at the city gate to assemble, he discovered that the group gathered for this Black Beast hunt was completely different from the last one.

The weakest among them were at the Late-stage Stone Skin Realm, and most were at the Peak of the Stone Skin Realm.

There was even one person who had already reached the Early-stage of the Iron Skin Realm.

This person was nearly two meters tall, with a fleshy, brutish face and no eyebrows, giving him a fierce appearance.

He wore a black martial arts uniform with the character for "Fierce" on the back.

"It’s Niu Yan from the Fierce Wind Martial Arts Hall! One of Lin Yuan City’s Four Young Masters of Martial Arts!"

"So that’s him? The genius who broke through to the Iron Skin Realm at eighteen!"

"I heard he’s very likely to break through to the Force Integration Realm before he’s thirty!"

The crowd erupted in discussion.

"What are the ’Four Young Masters of Martial Arts’?" someone who wasn’t familiar with the term asked.

"The Four Young Masters of Martial Arts refers to the four disciples from all the Martial Arts Halls in Lin Yuan City who broke through to the Iron Skin Realm before the age of twenty! They are Niu Yan of the Fierce Wind Martial Arts Hall, Bai Yufan of the Qianye Martial Arts Hall, Gao Lin of the Cold Mountain Martial Arts Hall, and Shao Jianbo of the White Cloud Martial Arts Hall!" someone explained.

"What about Xiong Hui from the Thunder Shock Martial Arts Hall and Gong Yulei from the White Cloud Martial Arts Hall? They’re both young and seem to be geniuses too," someone asked.

"Them? Every year there are tons of geniuses at the Stone Skin Realm. How many of them actually end up breaking through to the Iron Skin Realm?" the man replied, shaking his head.

Jiang Che listened silently to their conversation from the side.

’This guy’s information is a bit out of date,’ he thought. ’Gong Yulei has actually already broken through to the Iron Skin Realm.’

He didn’t step forward to correct him, though.

He also felt a bit wistful.

’I can’t believe both Shao Jianbo and Gong Yulei have already made a name for themselves. And Shao Jianbo is even one of the Four Young Masters of Martial Arts.’

Jiang Che himself was now approaching the Peak of the Stone Skin Realm and was much stronger than before.

But compared to these people, he was still quite ordinary. No one paid him any attention.

Liu Hai then began to announce the rules, which were similar to the last hunt.

However, the rewards had been upgraded.

This time, in addition to a Qi Blood Realm martial art, the first-place winner would also receive a Qi Strength Pill.

Upon hearing the name "Qi Strength Pill," some people’s expressions changed drastically.

But most people just looked confused.