At breakfast time, the dining hall was a cacophony of voices.
Over a hundred wooden tables were packed to the brim.
The aroma of coarse rice mixed with the salty tang of pickled vegetables, wafting through the steam-filled air.
The clatter of bowls and chopsticks intertwined with the sounds of laughter, making the dining hall as boisterous as a boiling pot of water.
Yet, amidst the clamor, a strange vacuum existed in the southeast corner.
A square table sat there.
A saucer of pickled vegetables, a bowl of white congee, and two white flour steamed buns were giving off wisps of steam.
Li Qingxue sat bolt upright at the table, her back perfectly straight.
With one hand holding her chopsticks and the other resting on the rim of her bowl, she ate slowly and deliberately, her movements unhurried.
The surrounding noise seemed to have nothing to do with her.
Her gaze was indifferent. She would occasionally look up and scan the dining hall, her eyes as cold and clear as autumn waters, without a hint of warmth or concern.
Although several tables around her were empty, no one dared to go over and take a seat.
Even those sitting closer unconsciously lowered their voices, not daring to even glance in her direction.
It was as if an invisible barrier surrounded her area, or perhaps a ferocious beast lay dormant there; get too close, and you would get yourself burned.
A few newcomers who didn't know any better were about to head over, only to be yanked back by the people beside them, who shook their heads emphatically.
In stark contrast to the almost stagnant silence in the southeast corner, the other side of the dining hall near the entrance was a completely different scene, so lively it was about to explode.
A round table was surrounded by several layers of people.
Every one of them wore an expression of excitement and adulation.
All eyes were fixed on Zhao Tianxing, who sat in the seat of honor.
Zhao Tianxing had only been in the Seven Stars Gang for six days, but he had already become a prominent and eye-catching figure.
He reached the Entry-Level of the Monkey Form in the Twelve Forms Fist in just two days;
His Qi and Blood were so vigorous they rivaled someone who had already broken through the "Blood Nourishing" realm;
He defeated a senior who had joined the gang three months earlier in just ten moves;
He easily beat five others who had joined at the same time in a one-on-five fight;
He had caught the eye of Chief Instructor Cao Feng, who was now giving him private lessons…
Any one of these achievements was enough to be proud of.
His fame had even eclipsed that of the genius, Ling Feng…
Thus, many people wanted to befriend him.
Wherever he went, he was treated like the moon surrounded by stars.
...
One side was still, the other in motion. One was cold, the other hot.
Li Qingxue remained seated in her corner, leisurely sipping her congee.
To her, the commotion on the other side was nothing more than the irrelevant whistling of the wind.
Meanwhile, Zhao Tianxing, surrounded by the crowd, was in high spirits and deep in conversation.
The dining hall of the Seven Stars Gang Sub-Branch was thus invisibly divided into two separate worlds.
Each with its own noise, each with its own silence.
Yet they coexisted strangely in the same space, creating a unique morning scene.
Chu Fan strode in and frowned at the sight of the crowded dining hall.
He got a bowl of hot congee, a few cornmeal buns, and a small plate of pickled vegetables, then brought them to the table to Li Qingxue's right, where he sat down and began to eat with his head lowered.
Li Qingxue glanced at him sideways before turning her gaze away, her expression unchanged.
On the other side, Zhao Tianxing was winking and waving frantically at Chu Fan, but Chu Fan pretended not to see.
'This area is quiet and comfortable, so why bother squeezing in over there?'
Even before he'd transmigrated, Chu Fan—though not yet old enough to be steeping goji berries in a thermos—had long since come to enjoy peace and solitude.
...
A short while later, Li Qingxue stood up and left.
The moment she moved, Zhao Tianxing darted over like an agile monkey and said, "Brother, you clearly saw me waving. Why'd you pretend you didn't see?"
"Even if you didn't see me, you couldn't have missed Senior Sister Qingxue, could you?"
"Aren't you even a little bit afraid of Senior Sister Qingxue?"
The crowd that had been surrounding Zhao Tianxing followed him over.
A tall woman said, "Are you genuinely stupid or just acting dumb? Do you have any idea how formidable Senior Sister Qingxue is?"
"She's the number one fastest sword in our Seven Stars Gang! When her sword flashes, blood falls!"
"If not a hundred, at least dozens of demons from the Blood Saber Sect have died by her sword!"
"When those savage tyrants from the Blood Saber Sect see her, they're like rabbits seeing a hawk—wishing their parents had given them two more legs!"
"Only an ignorant brat like you would dare..."
"Annoying!" Zhao Tianxing looked up and shot the woman a cold glare.
The woman's pretty face flushed bright red. She stammered, "Tianxing, your talent is exceptional and your future achievements will be limitless. Why do you have to associate with someone so untalented and reckless?"
SLAM!
Before she could finish, Zhao Tianxing had slammed two boiled eggs down on the table.
Slightly irritated, he said, "Tell me, you've been in the Seven Stars Gang for four months, haven't you?"
"Four months and you haven't even touched the Blood Nourishing Realm. What gives you the right to mock Chu Fan's talent as inferior?"
"Are you blind, or is your heart? Didn't you see that on the day Chu Fan joined the Seven Stars Gang, he didn't get hit by the whip even once while practicing the Twelve Forms Fist for the first time? And you call that kind of talent inferior?!"
"Besides, who says you can't sit at the tables near Senior Sister Qingxue? Does sitting there make you reckless?"
"Take your eggs back. I can't accept them!"
The woman's face turned deathly pale, and she fled as if for her life.
Seeing Zhao Tianxing's anger, the surrounding crowd fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to make a sound.
Without lifting his head, Chu Fan said, "She was just being nice, giving you eggs and trying to befriend a genius like you. Was it necessary to chew her out like that?"
"What kind of genius am I? My foundation is just a little better, that's all." Zhao Tianxing shook his head with a smile. "If we're talking about geniuses, your talent is far superior to mine. It's just that these people are too shortsighted to notice!"
"What?" The surrounding crowd was stunned, and they all stared at Zhao Tianxing in confusion.
It was true that Chu Fan not getting whipped that day was astonishing, but to say his talent was superior to Zhao Tianxing's...
'How is that possible!'
Zhao Tianxing waved his hand. "Break it up, break it up! You're crowding me, it's annoying as hell!"
The group dispersed with awkward laughter.
The immediate area instantly cleared out.
Chu Fan kept his head down and continued eating.
Zhao Tianxing added, "Also, back when we joined the Seven Stars Gang, I couldn't quite figure out your Firewood Splitting Saber Technique. But I clearly saw the disbelief in Master Cao's and Senior Sister Qingxue's eyes."
"A Sword Technique, or a talent for Sword Cultivation, that could shock both of them—how could that be ordinary?"
Chu Fan glanced up at him but still said nothing.
Seeing his silence, Zhao Tianxing didn't mind. He just placed the two eggs in front of Chu Fan and said, "A gift from the senior sisters. No need to be jealous. Can't help being handsome."
Chu Fan couldn't help but laugh. "You're quite the narcissist."
Zhao Tianxing continued, "But right now, I just want to focus my mind on cultivation. I'm not thinking about romance for the time being."
'Not thinking about romance, yet he still accepted her eggs?'
'He took the eggs, then scolded her and drove her away...'
Zhao Tianxing suddenly looked around slyly and lowered his voice, "Chu Fan, do you know if Senior Sister Xue has anyone she's interested in?"
"Don't be so reckless with your words! You'll get me beaten up too!" Chu Fan picked up his bowl and moved to another table.
In just six days in the Seven Stars Gang, he had already seen several people beaten black and blue by Li Qingxue.
Although he wasn't afraid of Li Qingxue, he didn't want to get a pointless beating.
He still had lingering fear from the grab Li Qingxue had used on him the day he joined the Seven Stars Gang.
'And this guy Zhao Tianxing actually has his eyes on her!'
"In seven days, I'm going to start preparing to condense my first strand of Qi Blood Power..." Zhao Tianxing also picked up his bowl and sat down across from Chu Fan.
"So soon!" Chu Fan was taken aback.
But then, he understood.
The first stage of Martial Arts Foundation Establishment, "Blood Nourishing," was extremely difficult for most ordinary people.
Ruffians like Liu Da had trained at the Martial Arts Hall for over half a year and still hadn't broken through this stage.
Some might never overcome this hurdle in their entire lives.
But Zhao Tianxing was different.
He had eaten beast flesh, drunk beast blood, raced against elk, fought with tigers and wolves, and even consumed many precious medicinal herbs, as well as the flesh of a Vermilion-Scaled Blood Python.
Before joining the Seven Stars Gang, his Qi and Blood were already as vigorous as a Blood Nourishing Martial Artist's!
All Zhao Tianxing needed to break through "Blood Nourishing" was a technique to circulate his Qi and Blood.
Breaking through "Blood Nourishing" can be divided into two steps.
The first step is Blood Nourishing Like Mercury;
Practicing the Twelve Forms Fist, eating beast flesh, and drinking medicine soups were all for this step.
The second step, after one's Qi and Blood become vigorous, is to sense the Qi Blood Power, condense three strands of it, and finally circulate the Qi Blood Power throughout the entire body;
And Zhao Tianxing had apparently skipped the first step entirely!
All he needed to do was sense his Qi Blood Power, then circulate and condense it!
Zhao Tianxing continued, "This Martial Dao cultivation is truly wondrous... Master Cao said my Qi and Blood were already powerful, but I just didn't know how to use or condense them."
"After practicing the Twelve Forms Fist hard for several days, plus drinking three bowls of medicine soup daily, I can now hear my own Qi and Blood roaring like a tide whenever I focus my mind."
"Master Cao says this is the foundation for Condensing Qi and Blood."
"Starting tomorrow, Master Cao will teach me the technique for condensing Qi Blood Power."
"In seven days, I will attempt to condense my first strand of Qi Blood Power!"
As he spoke of this, the excitement in Zhao Tianxing's eyes was impossible to hide.
"Congratulations!" Chu Fan smiled and gave a sincere nod. "Once you succeed in condensing it, you'll have to tell me about your experience."
"Don't worry!" Zhao Tianxing slapped his chest. "I'll tell you everything I know!"
As they talked, they went together to get a bowl of Blood-Nourishing Medicine Soup.
Chu Fan raised his bowl and drank it down. GULP, GULP.
[Spiritual Essence 10.2]
The Spiritual Essence Value was finally high enough.
Of these ten points of Spiritual Essence, three came from the two pieces of Vermilion-Scaled Blood Python Flesh that Zhao Tianxing had given him.
Chu Fan walked out of the dining hall. With a thought, his focus landed on the plus sign after "Firewood Splitting Saber Technique."
["Firewood Splitting Saber Technique" has reached the limit of Perfection. Consume 10 Spiritual Essence Points to proceed with Breaking Limit? Yes/No?]
Chu Fan no longer hesitated. His mind stirred.
The Spiritual Essence Points on his panel instantly decreased by ten.
The panels for "Firewood Splitting Saber Technique" and the Map of Mountains and Rivers immediately changed.
In that instant, Chu Fan felt a strange power flow through his body.
In his mind, countless sharp glints of a saber flashed, cold and chilling, tearing through the sky!
Although these saber flashes consisted of only simple chops and slashes, they held a strange rhythm that mesmerized Chu Fan.
At the same time, it felt as if millions of ants were crawling over his arms, and a tingling, itching sensation spread from deep within his muscles and bones.
Chu Fan closed his eyes, sensing the changes within his body.
After a moment, everything returned to calm.
[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment First Realm, Blood Nourishing 43%]
[Skills: Firewood Splitting Saber Technique (First Breaking Limit 0/3000) (Trait: Sword Swift as Wind)]
[Skills: Literacy (Small Success) Progress: (169/200) (Trait: None)]
[Skills: Twelve Forms Fist (Small Success) Progress: (2/300) (Trait: None)]
The limit of the "Firewood Splitting Saber Technique" had been broken.
A new progress bar had appeared!
Not only that, but a new trait had been added...
"Sword Swift as Wind"!