With the Guan Chong acupoint opened, Lu Chenzhou was one step closer to warding off all diseases.
The next evening, he arrived at the Flying Swallow Martial Arts Hall to test his Qi-Blood.
Qi Blood Value: 1.67, only 0.06 away from the Third Rank.
Just open one more acupoint at random, achieve Small Success in Black Tiger Boxing, and he'd be able to break through the realm.
Lu Chenzhou felt a rush of joy from his achievements, as if in a dream.
Before he realized it, he was already close to reaching the Late Stage of the Ming Power Realm.
To break through to the Fourth Rank, one must comprehend the technique of [Dark Force], which was once called [Dark Jin]. This is a major obstacle, enough to hold back many people.
Generally speaking, those with Low Class root bone, if they put in effort and spend a bit more money and time, still have a decent chance to attain the Third Rank in this lifetime, known in the past as the Peak of Ming Jin.
In the martial world, that barely counts as a low-level expert.
This doesn't really require much talent.
But to go from Ming Power to Dark Force, that's the real hurdle.
For an ordinary person, the hope is slim.
As for the even harder Transformation Power, once called the "Transformation Realm Master" in the old days.
Just the title alone proves its value—even for Intermediate root bone, breaking through isn't easy. Before the First Shackles, there's hardly any stagnation, save for the one-in-ten-thousand Top Class root bones.
Training ground.
"Lu Chenzhou, come up and help me demonstrate Sweeping Step."
Shi Ruyu called his name.
Lu Chenzhou agreed, vaulting up onto the stakes.
The other students all looked on with envy—same Low Class root bone, same instructor, same study time, yet Lu Chenzhou's Sea-sweeping Body was clearly more proficient.
This is what they call an academic ace in the teacher's eyes.
So every demonstration always called for Lu Chenzhou.
After nearly a month of special training, Lu Chenzhou lasted much longer on the wooden stakes this time, nearly touching Shi Ruyu several times, his movement technique much improved.
Of course, he still didn't succeed in the end.
Shi Ruyu's Qi-Blood rank was higher, and even at the same level of Sea-sweeping Body, the effect she displayed was far superior to Lu Chenzhou's—which is why Qi-Blood is the foundation!
Practicing Fist Techniques and Pile Skill is the key!
"Not bad, Lu Chenzhou is progressing fast."
Shi Ruyu recalled the demonstration just now. Inside, she was less calm than she seemed. Clearly, she had started earlier than Lu Chenzhou by a few months, yet their realms were already nearly the same.
She guessed Lu Chenzhou had also reached the Proficient level in Sea-sweeping Body.
This guy is getting a bit scary.
After all, she herself had some enlightenment and her cultivation speed wasn't slow.
"Everyone keep practicing."
Shi Ruyu turned and left, heading for Ji Xuantong's Martial Arts Room. She planned to report her discovery to the teacher and have Lu Chenzhou taken as a True Inheritance sooner.
This junior brother isn't simple!
Lu Chenzhou had no idea what his senior sister was thinking.
He gazed at the Martial Arts Tree, three leaves swaying at the bottom branches—Basic Boxing
[Martial Art]
[Black Tiger Boxing: Mastery (84%)]
[Sea-sweeping Body: Proficient (24%)]
"Black Tiger Boxing will reach Small Success by the end of the month, and Sea-sweeping Body should also be mastered. Having a proficiency panel is great; my cultivation progress is crystal clear, heart leveled."
As he was leaving—
Du Men called out to Lu Chenzhou.
"Junior brother, spar with me a bit."
It was already late at night now, all the other students had left.
"Alright, but just for a few minutes. My mom's still waiting for me."
"Thanks, let's spar on the stakes as usual."
Du Men had managed to reach Beginner level in Sea-sweeping Body recently too; he wanted to see the gap between himself and Lu Chenzhou. As a Third Rank, being beaten by a Second Rank always left him a bit unwilling.
On the wooden stakes, two figures occasionally struck or chased one another.
"You two go home soon, don't spar too late."
Shi Ruyu passed by with her messenger bag, reminding them.
"Okay, senior sister."
Lu Chenzhou responded to Shi Ruyu while dealing with Du Men at the same time.
Shi Ruyu watched the two, sweating hard and punching seriously, feeling a bit emotional inside... If Du Men didn't have some sudden luck, he'd soon be overtaken by Lu Chenzhou.
She was even more convinced about Lu Chenzhou now. After knowing him for over half a year and witnessing his transformation, no one understood this kid better than she did.
Bam!
A dull thud as flesh collided.
Less than three minutes later. Du Men was sent flying off the stake by Lu Chenzhou's Black Tiger Howling Wind Kick. He picked himself up, emotionally downcast, his eyes reddened.
"I lost, thank you, junior brother."
He changed out of his training clothes, looking on the verge of tears.
"Senior brother, are you alright?"
Lu Chenzhou looked at the usually cheerful guy. Feeling Lu Chenzhou's concern, Du Men couldn't help his emotions anymore and actually started sobbing.
"I've trained hard too, so why am I still this terrible?"
Lu Chenzhou was taken aback, clearly not expecting this.
Senior brother Du's heart was more fragile than he'd imagined.
Well, he was only a sixteen-year-old kid!
He'd originally been so much stronger, but now had to watch himself be surpassed, powerless no matter how much he cultivated — his spirit collapsed.
Lu Chenzhou didn't know how to comfort him.
He couldn't very well tell him about the Martial Arts Tree, right? He handed Du Men a tissue to wipe his tears. After venting his emotions, Du Men felt much better, and said quietly:
"Sorry, I couldn't help it, made a fool of myself."
People always say men don't cry easily.
"It's fine, no need to compare to others. Just stick to your goal. With your level, senior brother, getting into Pingjiang Martial Arts University won't be a problem."
Lu Chenzhou, clearly lower-ranked, turned around to comfort Du Men instead.
"Yeah, it's getting late, let's head back."
"Goodbye."
The two disappeared into the night.
Closing the Martial Arts Room door, Ji Xuantong was the last to leave the Martial Arts Academy. He could also understand Du Men's breakdown. All he could say is, this world is cruel.
...
After leaving the Martial Arts Academy,
Du Men walked to the street corner.
Just then, a self-driving taxi happened by. Now that autonomous driving technology was mature, the accident rate was even lower than with regular taxis.
The interior lights were dim, just right for resting.
He sat in the back seat and dozed off.
By March, Su City was already blooming with spring, but he didn't know why he felt a chill in his body, an unknown cold wind blowing at his back.
Almost as if someone was blowing cold air at him.
"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."
This made it hard for him to sleep.
He touched his forehead; he wasn't running a fever.
"I've opened five acupoints, I'm a Third Rank martial artist, this shouldn't be happening, right?"
Du Men tried to sleep again, but the next moment he abruptly jolted awake.
"Something's off!"
He immediately grabbed the door handle to get out.
Some bad memories resurfaced in his mind.
But the door felt welded shut—he couldn't open it at all.
He turned to look back—nothing there.
"Could the car have broken down?"
He turned back to the front—only to see a pale hand on the steering wheel, with beads of turbid, corpse-like fetid fluid dripping down—drip, drip…
"Void Thing!"
Du Men's face went pale with fear.
There was actually a Void Thing hiding in this self-driving car!
Without a thought, he kicked at the car door. According to Da Xia's law, when encountering a Virtual Disaster, emergency measures were allowed and wouldn't count as intentional property damage.
The insurance company would cover it afterward.
The car drove on in silence, the pale hand still on the steering wheel.
Faintly, a blurred white shadow was reflected in the window; Du Men sensed that someone on the seat seemed to be silently grinning, chilling him to the bone.
Bam!
The car door was kicked open. Du Men barely had time to rejoice at surviving; in his sights was a deserted street, cold wind howling.
The car's interior light flickered, then went out.
Shhh... something seemed to be getting out of the car.
Du Men's Qi-Blood erupted. He roared:
"What the hell are you? Come on! I'm not afraid of you!"
"Heheh…"
The laughter drew nearer, but Du Men saw no one. It was said that Void Things loved to torment their victims with terror before killing them—Du Men could confirm it's true.
This ghostly thing could have killed him in the car already.
But had to keep toying with him!
Du Men thrashed his fists wildly in all directions, losing all form—intense fear made this young martial artist with no real experience as helpless as any regular person.
The reaper's wind rushed him, Death God approaching.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
In that nightmarish world, it was as if a motorcycle's roar shattered the silence—a helmeted figure, riding a customized bike spraying blue flames, sped over! In his right hand he gripped a strange ancient saber, sparks flying over the ground as it dragged.
"Haa!"
Taking advantage of the bike's momentum, the man vaulted ten zhang through the air to land in front of Du Men. Swish, swish, swish—cold, sharp blade arcs flashing!
There seemed to be screams abruptly rising in the dark.
Du Men felt the chill start to recede.
The ghostly thing was struck by the newcomer and began to flee. Just then, there was a pale handprint left on a nearby lamppost, a flickering white shadow flitting past.
"Trying to run?"
In the next instant, a huge hand covered in bluish glowing light slammed down, pinning the white shadow against the pole with a clean, loud bang.
The white shadow struggled, slashing with its phantom claws. Invisible power even ripped open the man's leather jacket, revealing his muscular chest. The same blue phosphorescence glimmered on his chest; no matter how the white shadow attacked, it could not break through.
"Xuan Yan·Reverse Sea!"
The man pressed hard toward the ground, slamming the white shadow down. The pavement cracked, blue light spraying wildly like bioluminescent waves before dimming into nothingness.
The white shadow dissipated.
The man took off his helmet.
Du Men was stunned and blurted out:
"Lord?"