The clerk went to get the clothes for Lin Mu and returned after 5 minutes. He brought with him ten sets of clothes, all in different colours and patterns. The clerk then placed them in front of Lin Mu and asked him to choose.

Lin Mu picked two different sets of black clothes, a grey set of clothes, and one flawless white robe that he particularly liked. He then paid the clerk 10 silver coins for the clothes before putting them in the sack. Lin Mu had now spent more than half of the coins he got from selling the Snow veiled hare and was left with 30 silver coins.

The next thing he wanted to get was more cooking ingredients. He went to the same shop as before and bought more rice, oil, spices, and condiments that he could not before; spending 3 silver coins in the process.

Lin Mu decided to get some lunch before heading back to the shack. He went to the street with all the restaurants and food stalls. While on his way, he saw some commotion happening in the middle of the road. Coming closer to check what was happening, he saw a carriage approaching the site; out of which a few mercenaries came out. He recognised them by the symbol on their armours: the crimson fang mercenaries he had met before.

As the crowd parted to let the mercenaries approach, Lin Mu could finally see what the commotion was about. He saw a mercenary that was heavily injured and was being carried by three other mercenaries who also had injuries. The heavily injured mercenary’s leg was shredded, and pieces of shattered bone could be seen sticking out of it. The gruesome sight of which made Lin Mu’s stomach churn.

He then saw the mercenaries put the injured men into the carriage; probably to be taken away for treatment. The crowd soon dispersed after the carriage went away. Putting this matter to the back of his mind, Lin Mu continued walking and reached the food street whilst somehow maintaining an appetite. He chose a restaurant which was popular for its noodles and went inside.

Lin Mu saw that it was rather crowded and most of the customers seemed to be other mercenaries that had come to the town today. He found an empty seat and sat down to order a bowl of noodles. While he was waiting for his food to arrive, he listened to the mercenaries talk.

“Did you all see the commotion out in the street?” said a mercenary sitting on the table beside Lin Mu.

“Yeah, a team from the crimson fang mercenaries got injured in the forest. Apparently they got attacked by a spirit beast.” Said another mercenary sitting at the same table.

“Do they know what kind of spirit beast attacked them?” asked the first mercenary.

“They could not tell exactly what type of spirit beast it was, except that it was a large bear. They were ambushed by the bear and spent all their efforts in trying to escape. Still, one of them ended up heavily injured.” Answered the second mercenary.

“It’s a shame that the mercenary who got heavily injured will be permanently crippled. His leg is as good as gone now.” Said the first mercenary with a sigh.

“He could still be healed, but the price for that will be incredibly high. Only an alchemical pill will be able to save his leg now,” another mercenary continued who was listening to the conversation.

The two mercenaries turned to the man who spoke and asked,

“What kind of alchemical pill can heal him? Don’t the healing alchemical pills only work on qi cultivators? That mercenary was not a cultivator.”

“No, there are some higher-ranked alchemical pills that are effective on common people as well. The most common pill would be the Four vessels restoration pill. It is easily recognised by its strong herbal aroma and the spiral patterns present on it.” Answered the third mercenary.

Upon hearing the mercenary’s answer, Lin Mu’s ears perked up and his eyes focused on him. The mercenary continued speaking,

“Though getting the four vessels restoration pill would be next to impossible, even for the leader of the crimson fang mercenaries. The only place you can get it from in this region would be from the Tri-cauldron peony sect, and I can’t even tell what it would cost. For us commoners, it is a priceless pill.”

The two mercenaries were listening with great interest, as it was the first time they’ve heard of such information. Desiring to know more, Lin Mu built up his courage and asked,

“What cultivation levels does this pill work on, and what kind of injuries can it heal?”

The third mercenary turned to look at Lin Mu, then answered,

“From what I’ve heard, it works on all cultivation levels up to the peak of the core condensation realm. That’s why it’s said to be so incredibly expensive. As for what kind of injuries it can heal, as long as no vital organ is destroyed it can heal all physical injuries and even reattach severed limbs.”

Lin Mu was shocked upon hearing the mercenary’s answer.

‘If what this mercenary’s saying is true, then this is incredible. The three pills I found in the spatial rift should be the four vessels restoration pill.’ Thought Lin Mu inwardly.

A bowl of noodles soon arrived after the conversation ended. Lin Mu ate the delicious noodles and then paid for it before leaving the restaurant. Today was a great day for Lin Mu, as he was even able to find out what the use of the alchemical pills was in addition to buying his first sword.

An hour later he reached the hunting shack. Lin Mu had already stored the extra sets of clothes and all other items in the ring after he had gotten out of the town. He then went to check the traps for any beast that may have been caught in it. But this time his luck was not as good and all the traps were empty, thus he returned with nothing.

Upon reaching the shack, Lin Mu felt the mysterious ring buzz and got ready for the spatial rift that was about to open. This time, he was looking forward to the opening of the spatial rift after finding out about the four vessels restoration pills. He was excited about what other valuable treasures he could find there.

The spatial rift opened in front of Lin Mu, and it pulled in his hand. He spent a minute trying to find something in it until he touched something that seemed like a broken piece of wood. Pulling his hand out of the rift, Lin Mu then withdrew the item from the ring. He was a little puzzled upon seeing the item in his hand.

“What is this, a broken part of a wooden fence?” thought Lin Mu.

The item in Lin Mu’s hand looked to be a part of a wooden fence, about half the length of his hand. It did not look like anything special after he scanned it over, so he put it back in the ring. He then unsheathed the short sword to practice with it. Lin Mu tried to mimic the exercises he had once seen the guards do.

He practiced various attacking methods such as slashing, cutting, chopping, stabbing and poking with the short sword. His movements were awkward, but he kept on doing it till he was dead tired and his arms felt sore. It reminded him of how he ran today and how the calming heart sutra helped reduce his fatigue.

He suddenly remembered the imposing gaze of Jing Wei, and how a stream of energy had spread from the ring along with the thunderous chants in his mind which reduced the pressure from the old man’s gaze. He recalled the thunderous chants and felt like they were the same as the calming heart sutra, yet different somehow.

After he was done practicing with the sword, Lin Mu sat down cross-legged and chanted the calming heart sutra. The vital energy within his muscles intensified in waves, rising and falling in a harmony. Suddenly, he felt the vital energy overflowing into his skin. Every inch of his skin erupted with pain at that moment, and then he felt it all fade away.

Lin Mu opened his eyes after he felt the changes in his body. He had successfully broken through to the 5th stage of the body tempering realm and was now considered to be a mid-stage body tempering expert.

The body tempering realm could be roughly divided into four parts:

The early-stage was composed of the 1st to 4th stage of the body tempering realm, and in it, a person would temper his muscles and toughen them.

The mid-stage was composed of the 5th to 7th stage of the body tempering realm, where one would temper their skin, increasing its resistance.

The late-stage was composed of the 8th to 10th stage of the body tempering realm, and a person would temper their blood vessels. It was also this stage where a person could start to cultivate qi, as it was only now that their body was tough enough to handle it.

The peak stage was composed of the 11th to 13th stage of the body tempering realm, and in it, one would refine their bones and marrow. It was very rare for any person to reach this stage, as it was considered incredibly difficult. No one would attempt to train their body this far along, as they could just become a qi cultivator before this stage and would be much stronger than any expert at this stage.

Most of the core disciples of top sects would only train up to the 10th stage of the body tempering realm, as even the best cultivation techniques only had a maximum requirement of the 10th stage.