Qinghe County, Zhu Family.

"To think that brat actually became that old bastard’s True Disciple."

The Zhu Family’s Elder Wu snorted coldly.

Although the Zhu Family hadn’t sent anyone to the Huwei Arts Hall today, the Iron Saber Gang, Flying Eagle Castle, and the County Magistrate’s Office had. The news had spread throughout Qinghe County, and the Zhu Family was no exception.

The men the Zhu Family had sent to tail him had long since been recalled.

Those men weren’t even Martial Artists; it was impossible for them to hide from a True Disciple.

Before, when Bai Yuan was just an Inner Courtyard Disciple, it wouldn’t have mattered if he found them. But now that he was a True Disciple, it was a completely different story.

Provoking Bai Yuan was tantamount to making an enemy of the Huwei Arts Hall. A True Disciple was the public face of a martial arts hall, and they would not let such an offense slide.

The Iron Saber Gang could afford to provoke the Huwei Arts Hall, but the Zhu Family dared not.

Just one True Disciple, Chu Yuan, was enough to give them a headache.

"Should we continue the investigation?"

The Zhu Family Patriarch, Zhu Shiping, looked grim. If not for the pressure from the Iron Saber Gang, his personality would have driven him to pull out long ago, severing all ties to avoid getting burned.

It was just one son who had died. There was no need to risk the entire Zhu Family for it.

"Investigate? Of course, we’ll investigate!"

A look of determination flashed in Elder Wu’s eyes.

"Have the rest of the Zhu Family members pull back. I have my own way of handling this."

Zhu Shiping pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Every True Disciple was an expert who had reached the Bone Forging Pass. In the entire Zhu Family, only Elder Wu was qualified to investigate.

"I’d like to see for myself just what secrets this little brat is hiding."

...

Baisha Town, Bai Family.

"Sister Qiao, some more cold water, please. Thank you for your hard work."

Bai Yuan sat upright in a large wooden tub. A blazing fire burned beneath it, but a large stone slab placed at the bottom of the tub kept the water temperature from getting too high.

This was the new method Bai Yuan had come up with: boiling himself.

The previous medicinal bath recipe had been too mild. It wasn’t enough to counteract the Evil Qi of the Blood Tiger Saber in a short time.

So, Bai Yuan had made an improvement: he used hotter water to stimulate his meridians and added more potent herbs.

If an ordinary person were to do this, they would surely die from the overwhelming potency of the restorative herbs.

But Bai Yuan wouldn’t. In fact, he felt it still wasn’t potent enough.

The Blood Tiger Saber was like an insatiable Taotie; it would devour any amount of medicinal power.

’Add points!’

[In your twenty-sixth year of practicing the Blood Tiger Saber, you continue to temper your bones with Evil Qi, and your root bone begins to change.]

...

[In your thirtieth year of practicing the Blood Tiger Saber, your root bone has greatly changed, now on par with the geniuses of the clan.]

...

[In your forty-fifth year of practicing the Blood Tiger Saber, you have a gradual epiphany, and your saber technique reaches the Proficient level.]

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Class: Demon Hunter, Swordsman, Boxer, Chef]

[Skills: Cooking (Master), Knife Skills (Skilled), Tracking (Master), Archery (Proficient), Tiger Form Crane Style (Skilled), Blood Tiger Saber (Proficient)...]

[Enhancement Points: 0]

He had finally raised his Blood Tiger Saber to the Proficient level.

But what made Bai Yuan happiest was that, by following the method described by that mysterious old man, his root bone had actually changed!

Martial practitioners placed great importance on one’s root bone. Those born with a superior root bone progressed much faster than ordinary people.

Chu Yuan, for example, had become an Yijin Martial Master at such a young age because he was born with a "Dragon Spine."

Although Bai Yuan’s current root bone couldn’t compare to Chu Yuan’s, as long as he continued to temper it with Evil Qi, he would surely surpass him one day.

Practicing a saber technique to change one’s root bone—this was simply unheard of.

He even suspected that Old Xue had no idea the Blood Tiger Saber had such a marvelous use.

The value of that one sentence from the old man was still rising.

Bai Yuan had benefited immensely from that piece of advice. He felt it would be worth it even if he had to let the old man eat for free for the rest of his life.

’If I ever run into that old man again, I have to drag him to the Five Flavors Pavilion for another meal. Maybe if I serve that Old Immortal well, he’ll offer me another sentence as payment.’

Bai Yuan leaped out of the large wooden tub like a fish, looking much like a certain monkey emerging from the sea.

Although his skin-tempering was already complete, he couldn’t withstand the scalding water for too long. Any longer, and he really would have turned into minced meat in the soup.

With the help of his Master-level Cooking skill, the level of his Blood Tiger Saber had surpassed his Tiger Form Crane Style for the first time.

The Blood Tiger Saber followed a heretical path of drawing on one’s potential in advance, so it leveled up quickly. Even a disciple as hopeless as his predecessor had only needed thirty-five years to reach the Proficient level. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

If it had been the Tiger Form Crane Style, it would have taken at least eighty years of practice.

The Tiger Form Crane Style was more of a gentle, conditioning method. Long-term practice offered endless benefits with no side effects.

It was like the Sword Sect and Qi Sect from the novels of his past life. They were simply different choices with no inherent superiority or inferiority. In fact, practicing both could yield unexpected results.

However, this was a path that only someone with a cheat like Bai Yuan could walk.

An ordinary Martial Artist’s lifespan was barely a hundred years; how could they have enough time to practice multiple Cultivation Techniques? Even a genius like Chu Yuan had only cultivated a single saber art.

The Assassins from the Soul-Chasing Tower practiced many techniques, but because their training was too diverse, they found it difficult to advance their realms.

Bai Yuan felt the surging Evil Qi within his body.

This time, if he were to spar with Ma Dingjun again, he would no longer need three of his strikes to cancel out one of Ma’s. A single strike would be enough.

"Brother Yuan, you look kind of scary."

Xiao Qiaoniang, perhaps intimidated by the Evil Qi emanating from him, looked at Bai Yuan with a hint of fear.

Bai Yuan frowned slightly. The negative side effects of the Blood Tiger Saber were gradually beginning to show.

He suddenly recalled the image of the dark-faced, demonic old man from his past life. ’He must have ended up looking like that because he practiced the Blood Tiger Saber.’

Xiao Qiaoniang sized up Bai Yuan fearfully.

The current Bai Yuan exuded an indescribable, sinister aura, giving off a "keep your distance" vibe.

"Sister Qiao, it’s just from my training. Don’t worry too much."

Bai Yuan offered a few words of comfort with a smile.

He secretly circulated the Tiger Form Crane Style to neutralize the Evil Qi from the Blood Tiger Saber, and the sinister aura immediately vanished.

Seeing Bai Yuan return to normal, Xiao Qiaoniang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sister Qiao, it’s still early. Let me explain the acupressure points of the body to you."

"You’re so bad."

"..."

...

「The next morning.」

As usual, Bai Yuan first made a trip to the Five Flavors Pavilion.

Today, quite a few people had ordered wild game, so the number of enhancement points he received was quite substantial.

However, as his cultivation level rose, Bai Yuan was no longer satisfied with the enhancement points he earned from the restaurant each day.

He wanted more...

In the past few days, besides visiting the Huwei Arts Hall and the Five Flavors Pavilion, he had also made several trips to Master Ridge.

He had been eyeing the final boss of this "starter village" for a long time. Now that his Blood Tiger Saber had reached the Proficient level, he finally had the strength to slay this demon.

Just as Zhang Yang had said, killing a person was never about one’s realm, and the same was true for killing a demon.

With Bai Yuan’s Demon Hunter class combined with the killing power of the Blood Tiger Saber, it wasn’t impossible for him to kill that Huang Pizi.

The thought of the good loot the Huang Pizi might drop made his heart burn with anticipation.

’What’s hunting compared to the thrill of slaying a demon?’