Everyone was flabbergasted. They didn’t dare to believe their eyes.

Even Ye Yinping’s eyebrows twitched subconsciously, and a sliver of astonishment flashed across her eyes.

She knew very well how strong Wang Chong was. At the most, he was only at Origin Energy Tier 6.

On the other hand, Xu Xuan was at Origin Energy Tier 7, and he possessed extraordinary martial arts to pair with it.

Furthermore, he often crossed blows with experts. Regardless of whether it was experience, discernment, reaction speed, strength, or agility, Xu Xuan was above his peers. This was also the reason why Ye Yinping chose him to do the job.

Not to mention, the Duke of Xu Residence possessed the ‘Ferocious Elephant Technique’.

Yet, with a single blow, he was easily subdued by Wang Chong.

Xu Xuan’s reaction speed and adaptability to sudden situations were far from mediocre. Even if someone were to strike him from above, he was capable of reacting in the shortest time possible to deflect the move or even counterattack.

Nevertheless, Xu Xuan fell so ‘easily’.

That could only mean one thing. Wang Chong’s speed, reaction, and grasp over timing were above Xu Xuan!

“I have underestimated him!”

Ye Yinping frowned. She realized that she has misjudged Wang Chong.

“However, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s weak. Wait until he catches up with me then will we talk about it!”

Ye Yinping harrumphed contemptuously as though a proud peacock before turning around to leave. Her cultivation realm has already transcended Origin Energy realm, and to her, Wang Chong’s cultivation was only barely passable.

She, Ye Yinping, would never submit to a weakling.

...

“Isn’t it time for you to hand the Bone Forging Pill over?”

Having defeated Xu Xuan, Wang Chong walked over, stretched out his hand, and spoke curtly to the eldest son of the Xu Clan, Xu Jing.

“Hmph! Don’t you get gleeful, you were just lucky this time!”

Xu Jing replied with a steeled face. He would never believe that Wang Chong was capable of defeating Xu Xuan in a straightforward battle. In his view, it was merely luck.

“It’s not up to you to determine whether it is luck or not. You should just hand over my pill!”

Wang Chong spouted coldly.

If not for the Bone Forging Pill, he would have never wasted his efforts on this.

Xu Jing was reluctant to give him the box, but before the gazes of such a huge crowd, and not to mention, they were in the Four Quarters Embassy, he could only unwillingly hand it over.

“You brat, well done!”

A familiar voice echoed from behind. Wang Zhu Yan walked over with a bright smile.

“Cousin!”

Wang Chong called.

“I almost thought that you would lose!”

Wang Zhu Yan smiled with an expression saying that ‘seems like I have underestimated you in the past’.

“How is that possible? Do you think that I will lose to that lad?”

Lifting his head, Wang Chong glanced at Xu Xuan, who was currently surrounded by the other offsprings of the Xu Clan. The group massaged Xu Xuan frantically in an attempt to alleviate his condition.

“Alright, stop boasting! How can I, as your Second Sister, not know how much weight you carry?”

Wang Zhu Yan reprimanded with a smile. Until now, she still found it hard to believe that Wang Chong could suddenly become so powerful. In her view, a huge reason for Xu Xuan’s defeat was due to luck.

Wang Chong simply smiled in response. It was also good for cousin and the others to think that it was luck, or his sudden growth may scare them.

After chatting with his cousin for a while, Wang Chong impatiently looked for a remote area and started cultivating.

The ‘Bone Forging Pill’ was an extremely valuable commodity, and such resources were severely lacking in the market.

Wang Chong wasn’t fated with such pills in his previous life, so it was the first time he obtained a Bone Forging Pill.

An enhancement in one’s root bone would result in a qualitative rise in one’s strength. If Wang Chong could reach the level of Tiger Bone, everything would be completely different.

While it was already good that Wang Chong won the recognition of Elder Ye, Duke of Hu, and the others, his individual strength would also play a huge part in forming the opinion that others’ have of him. This was also the main reason why Wang Chong accepted Xu Xuan’s challenge.

If he had lost today, the offsprings of those elders might look down on him. If so, everything would be vastly different...

Pah!

Wang Chong opened the purple box, and a rich smell of medicine gushed into his nose. Within the purple box was a round pill around the size of a thumb. Its surface was as smooth as jade, and light reflected off its surface.

“So this is the Bone Forging Pill!”

A tinge of astonishment flashed across Wang Chong’s eyes. This pill was translucent, and with a single glance, it felt incredibly pure. It was no wonder why it would possess the tremendous ability of altering one’s root bone.

That elder of the Xu Clan was definitely an incredible alchemist!

Cultivating one’s root bone was an extremely difficult job, and the Bone Forging Pill of the Xu Clan was one of the very few items that Wang Chong knew could alter a person’s root bone.

Gulu!

With his back against the fake hill, Wang Chong sat cross-legged on the ground and swallowed the Bone Forging Pill. There were Imperial Army members patrolling the Four Quarters Embassy, and not a single movement, even that of a fly, could escape their notice.

Wang Chong didn’t need to worry that anyone would make a move on him while he was cultivating.

Weng!

Swallowing the pill, a powerful surge of medicinal energy immediately rose from Wang Chong’s stomach. Although this medicinal energy was gentle, it was extremely strong. As though a hurricane, it spread from Wang Chong’s stomach to his entire body.

Pilipala!

The powerful medicinal energy induced changes to Wang Chong’s bones, creating light popping sounds in his bone joints.

From the joints, the energy slowly moved on to nourish the most important bone in Wang Chong’s body, his spinal cord!

The spinal cord was also known as the ‘dragon’s bone’ in a human’s body, and it was the source of strength for martial artists. Every single movement and transmission of strength had to go through the spinal cord.

In fact, even ren and du meridian lay along the path of the dragon’s bone!

The reason why animals tended to be stronger than humans was because they possessed an even stronger dragon’s bone, granting them more strength at their disposal.

“Ah!”

Wang Chong suddenly released a pained moan. Little sweat droplets seeped out from his forehead, as though a drizzle.

A change in one’s root bone was a huge affair, and it would always be accompanied with excruciating pain. Finally, Wang Chong had come to the crucial moment.

Hong long long, wave after wave of piercing pain ravaged his body. After an unknown period of time, the intense pain gradually weakened and dulled.

Hu!

Letting out a huge breath, Wang Chong stood up. At this moment, he was already completely drenched from head to toe.

“I’ve finally succeeded!”

Feeling an entirely different strength filling his wntire body, Wang Chong could sense that he broke through another bottleneck, reaching a new level:

Panther Bone 3-dan!

This was the highest realm of the Panther Bone. Another breakthrough would mean reaching the level of Tiger Bone, the cultivation realm of most military commanders.

After exhaling deeply, Wang Chong stretched his body. Pipapa, crisp sounds echoed throughout his body. He could sense that the bones in his body had grown even more compact.

The change upon reaching the pinnacle of the Panther Bone wasn’t just limited to strength and the root bone, but speed as well!

Ji ji!

Zha zha!

The chirping of birds reached Wang Chong’s ears. Turning around, he saw a sparrow pouncing around on a branch around five to six feets away, chirping non-stop.

Due to the tranquil atmosphere in the Four Quarters Embassy, such sparrows were commonplace.

Sou!

A gleam flashed across Wang Chong’s eyes. The muscles in his body contracted abruptly before immense force burst from them. As if a sharp arrow, he flew straight toward the bamboo forest. The immense speed he moved at generated strong winds in the surroundings.

Ji ji!

Zha zha!

Instinctively sensing danger, a sliver of fear appeared in its black beady eyes. Spreading its wings apart, the sparrow immediately soared into the sky.

But even though the sparrow reacted swiftly, Wang Chong was faster.

The sparrow in the bamboo forest had just lifted a few chi off the ground when a long and forceful hand stretched forth. In the blink of an eye, it had already grasped the sparrow.

Ji ji!

Zha zha!

Terrified by the sudden occurrence, the sparrow tried its hardest to flap its wings, but it wasn’t able to move at all.

“It is indeed possible to catch birds upon reaching Panther 3-dan!”

Looking at the sparrow in his hands, Wang Chong smiled. This kind of sparrow was extremely alert, and it would escape the moment it sensed the presence of a human approaching it. Without tremendous speed, it was impossible to capture it.

Only after consuming the Bone Forging Pill and reaching Panther Bone 3-dan was he capable of such feat. The increased compactness of his bones granted him a greater degree of explosive power.

“... It’s a pity that the weakness of the Panther Bone is clear as well, lack of endurance. The strength I expended in catching a bird is even more than fighting an entire battle!”

Wang Chong smiled bitterly. Loosening his grip, he watched as the terrified sparrow flew out of his hands, chirping furiously. At the same time, a huge amount of warm sweat leaked from the pores all over Wang Chong’s body.

Exhaustion clearly showed on Wang Chong’s face.

Upon reaching Panther Bone 3-dan, one’s strength and speed would increase significantly. Even though one would still be unable to match up to be a true panther, the speed was already incredible.

However, this wasn’t a true speed-type secret art after all.

After utilizing one’s latent strength, one would end up in Wang Chong’s state. Completely weary from head to toe, he didn’t even have the strength to sprint a dozen meters now.

This was also why cheetahs were known as the fastest animal on land, but this was only limited to a distance of a hundred meters.

Beyond a hundred meters, a cheetah would have to rest, and the hunt would end in failure.

This was also the reason behind ‘Panther Bone’.

This kind of short bursts was impractical on the battlefield, and it was no different from courting death. Thus, to raise one’s speed, one had to cultivate speed-type secret arts, such as the ‘Spectre Steps’ of the Eastern Islands female assassin.

Wang Chong rested a moment so as to allow his stamina to recover before walking back to the Erudite Pavilion.

That bunch of Xu Clan offsprings had already left. After Xu Xuan embarrassed himself, Xu Shao didn’t have the face to remain here. Thus, after meeting grandfather, he left hurriedly with his grandchildren.

Xu Shao would always find some reason every year to wreck havoc on Duke Jiu’s birthday, but this year, he failed utterly.

Wave after wave of people arrived at the Four Quarters Embassy to offer their blessings. Some of them offered their earnest blessing while some bore malicious intentions. There were a few whom Wang Chong recognized, and there were a few he didn’t.

But slowly, Wang Chong could sense that something was amiss. Those who came to offer blessings seemed to have something on their mind, as though they had another objective here.

Wang Chong even saw a few important officials of the royal court.

After greeting grandfather at the the Erudite Pavilion, they would grab big uncle to the side to chat about something before leaving. Worry marked their faces.

And big uncle broke conventions and escorted them to the entrance of the Four Quarters Embassy.

“This must be... the matter regarding Consort Taizhen!”

A thought flashed across Wang Chong’s mind, and he immediately understood what was going on.

He was astounded. Judging from the atmosphere in the Four Quarters Embassy, the incident regarding Consort Taizhen seemed to be much more severe than he expected.

It was at this moment that Wang Chong suddenly recalled something.

In his previous life, big uncle and King Song underestimated the Sage Emperor’s determination and stood on the wrong faction. As such, their political career took a hit. But other than them, countless other important officials were implicated as well. Those who were berated, demoted, and expelled numbered in the hundreds! ...