8: Desire to become stronger

“Gulp!”

As a mouthful of delicious soup entered his stomach, Xiao Shi felt warm currents rising within his body.

Before him was a large bowl of meat soup.

Inside, Five-Colored Spirit-Tailed Sparrow was stewed.

“Too bad the taste is just average…”

Xiao Shi shook his head.

He felt that the taste was far inferior to the food dropped from slain creatures.

However, he also knew that the Five-Colored Spirit-Tailed Sparrow's primary benefit was to enhance the physical body, and taste was not the key factor.

Xiao Shi ate heartily, not only finishing all the meat but also crushing and swallowing the bones.

He urgently needed to improve now and did not want to waste even a bit.

Although the Latent Potential Pill had already made his aptitude incomparable to what it once was, aptitude primarily determined the speed of cultivation and breakthroughs.

The enhancement of the physical body still required years of accumulation.

Fortunately, the dozens of Heavenly Cycles he completed daily were making his body stronger and stronger, and he was not far from the Entrance to Martial Realm Fifth Level.

Xiao Shi made a rough estimate.

Under normal circumstances, he would reach the limit of Entering Martial Realm Fourth Level in about another week.

Now, with the Five-Colored Spirit-Tailed Sparrow… this time could be saved.

Not long after he finished the entire large bowl of meat soup, Xiao Shi felt a rush of warmth spring from his heart, continuously flowing throughout his entire body.

It felt as if his whole body was immersed in a hot spring, incredibly comfortable.

As this warm current flowed, his physical body strengthened at a visible pace.

In an instant, he reached the limit of Entering Martial Realm Fourth Level.

“This kind of improvement… No wonder the Five-Colored Spirit-Tailed Sparrow is so expensive!”

Xiao Shi’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

He immediately began the fifth Heavenly Cycle.

His astonishing aptitude allowed him to feel no difficulty or obstruction whatsoever in performing the fifth Heavenly Cycle.

He completed the fifth Heavenly Cycle with ease, breaking through in one fell swoop and officially stepping into the Entrance to Martial Realm Fifth Level!

The main difference between each level of the Entering Martial Realm lay in the strength of the physical body.

Now, Xiao Shi could clearly feel the gap between his current physical body and when he was at Entering Martial Realm Fourth Level.

Most importantly… upon reaching Entrance to Martial Realm Fifth Level, he met the conditions for Body Tempering and could begin the process!

However, considering that Body Tempering with the flame phoenix fruit would carry a certain risk, and the stronger the physical body, the smaller the risk, Xiao Shi felt he could postpone it for a while.

After all, he had only just met the conditions for Body Tempering, so the risk was relatively high.

It would be best to continue strengthening his body, reduce the risk, and then proceed with Body Tempering; that way, it would be much safer.

“No rush!”

For Xiao Shi, who always prioritized safety, he did not want to take any risks.

Thus, over the next half month, he spent most of his time on Heavenly Cycle movements, continuously strengthening his physical body.

Additionally, the hunting of Spotted Bugs did not cease.

Now, in addition to his own room being filled with numerous items, the rented room also accumulated more and more items.

In terms of contribution points, after dealing with the Five-Colored Spirit-Tailed Sparrow’s feathers and blood, he had accumulated five hundred points.

This amount of contribution points was already higher than many Outer Sect Disciples who frequently went out on missions.

He continued cultivating like this for over half a month.

Xiao Shi’s physical body was much stronger than it had been half a month ago.

The danger of Body Tempering was greatly reduced.

He made a preliminary assessment and felt that it was just the right time for Body Tempering.

So, he decisively took out the flame phoenix fruit, swallowed it without hesitation.

As the flame phoenix fruit entered his stomach, a scorching heat immediately rose from Xiao Shi’s lower abdomen, then permeated and spread throughout his entire body, making him feel as if he was being burned by flames all over.

This sensation was extremely painful.

Intense pain flared up everywhere in his body.

Every piece of his flesh, every bone, every meridian, was subjected to the scorching flames.

Although this scorching was for enhancement and refinement, the process was incredibly painful.

It was a great test of one’s will.

Xiao Shi’s body trembled, his face contorted in a grimace, and occasional painful growls escaped his lips.

He could feel that the flames inside his body did not weaken with time; instead, they grew stronger and fiercer.

Under this continuous scorching, his flesh and bones constantly became denser, his meridians grew tougher, and from the inside out, every aspect rapidly improved.

However, the pain remained intensely strong, reaching a level that ordinary people could not endure.

This was a necessary process for all Body Tempering.

If one did not possess a tough and strong will, even with rare heavenly treasures, it would be difficult to persevere and complete Body Tempering.

As the flames scorched within his body, Xiao Shi’s body visibly thinned by a large margin, and he even became a few centimeters shorter than before.

The condensation of his flesh, tendons, and bones made his figure appear smaller than before.

Despite this, his physical body was far stronger than before.

Every piece of his flesh contained astonishing and surging power.

As time passed, Body Tempering quickly reached its final stage.

The flames burning within his body began to merge into his flesh and bones.

Finally, they even formed a flame pattern on his glabella.

This was the mark of successful Body Tempering!

However, Xiao Shi chose to conceal this mark beneath his skin to avoid exposure.

At this stage, he could not let anyone know that he had completed Body Tempering.

After all, he couldn't explain the heavenly treasures required for Body Tempering.

Xiao Shi carefully sensed his physical body after Body Tempering.

He discovered that his body strength had already reached the limit of Entrance to Martial Realm Fifth Level, and he could even proceed with the breakthrough to Entering Martial Realm Sixth Level!

He had directly risen one level!

This greatly excited him.

Originally, according to his cultivation speed, he could at most cultivate to Entering Martial Realm Sixth Level before becoming a Night Watch.

But now, with the enhancement after Body Tempering, he had a complete chance to strive for Entering Martial Realm Seventh Level!

Not only that, the success of Body Tempering also meant that his body, to some extent, had no limits.

Even if he cultivated to Entering Martial Realm Ninth Level, he could still continue to strengthen his physical body.

“A good experience!”

Xiao Shi excitedly clenched his fists.

Without much delay, after successfully completing Body Tempering, he immediately began the sixth Heavenly Cycle.

He intended to break through directly from Entrance to Martial Realm Fifth Level to Entering Martial Realm Sixth Level in one go!

Typically, Outer Sect Disciples of the Red Tiger Sect, before becoming Night Watch, generally had cultivation levels between Entering Martial Realm Second Level and Entrance to Martial Realm Fifth Level.

Now, Xiao Shi had surpassed the vast majority of people.

At the same time, the benefits brought by Body Tempering also made him look forward to subsequent Body Tempering even more.

“As long as suitable heavenly treasures drop, I can continue Body Tempering!”

Although the process of Body Tempering was painful, the improvements it brought were much faster than normal cultivation!

It could be said to be the fastest way to increase strength currently available.

However, now that there were no Entering Martial Realm creatures to kill, it was difficult to drop Entering Martial Rank items.

Xiao Shi could only place his hopes on the Spotted Bugs.

He continued to capture and kill Spotted Bugs every day.

More than ten days passed like this.

On this day, Xiao Shi, as usual, caught a bag of Spotted Bugs.

However, on his way back, he heard terrible news.

Fu Chen was dead!

It was suspected that he encountered an evil spirit while on a mission and was killed by it… Xiao Shi’s mood instantly became heavy.

Fu Chen and he had a good relationship.

When Fu Chen had asked him to go on a mission together before, Xiao Shi had specifically cautioned him to be extra careful, but he never expected that farewell to become a permanent one.

Xiao Shi sighed.

This was also the reason he insisted on not Going out on missions.

This world was too dangerous.

Evil spirits, natural disasters, wars, bandits… dangers were everywhere!

Not to mention Martial Warriors of the Entrance to Martial Realm, even Qi Martial Realm Martial Warriors could not guarantee a safe return in the face of these dangers.

Fu Chen’s death made Xiao Shi feel very uncomfortable.

Although he knew this was the norm in this world, many Martial Warriors like Fu Chen died outside every day.

But Fu Chen was, after all, his first friend in this world.

Xiao Shi felt sad, and at the same time, his desire for strength grew even stronger.

He knew… soon, after he became a Night Watch, he would also face these dangers.

To survive, he must have enough self-preservation capabilities.

“I must become stronger!”

Xiao Shi clenched his fists.

There was no longer any joy or satisfaction from successful Body Tempering, only a fervent desire for strength and an urgent need to become stronger.

He knew that his remaining time was running out.

Aside from hunting Spotted Bugs every day, all other time was spent on Heavenly Cycle movements.

One month later, the number of Spotted Bugs Xiao Shi had killed already reached several thousands!

After continuously killing so many Spotted Bugs, an Entering Martial Rank item finally dropped.

【Name: Storage Bag】

【Type: Storage】

【Grade: Entering Martial Rank】

【Introduction: Large space, can hold many items】

【Remark: You no longer have to worry about not having a place to store items】

…Although it wasn't an item to increase strength, the Storage Bag was very useful to Xiao Shi.

As the number of items grew, even with a rented room, it was almost full.

And the most troublesome part was that when he became a Night Watch, it would be difficult to take so many things with him.

Now with the Storage Bag, he no longer had to worry about too many items.

After all, the internal space of this Entering Martial Rank Storage Bag was as large as a football field, completely sufficient to hold all these items.

Time flowed by.

Three months passed in a flash.

In the Red Tiger Sect plaza, numerous Outer Sect Disciples gathered, summoned to prepare for their journey to Jin Yun City under the sect’s arrangement, to begin their careers as Night Watch!