Li Xijun's involuntary words startled the young girl in the carriage, who resembled a baby beast.
Her deep rose-red eyes flew wide open as she looked at the youth upstairs in disbelief.
Those were words she had never heard since the day she was born.
The dragonkin girl was so flustered and frightened that she felt as if she had fallen into the dream of some Potion Practitioner.
Like a startled kitten, she quickly hid back inside the carriage, leaving Li Xijun filled with regret.
At the same time,
The heart manifestation stretching dozens of yards across the sky gradually faded away. A ray of Divine Light returned to the crown of the gaunt old man in the carriage,
But his body was suddenly wracked by violent coughing. Like a thin old bamboo stalk in a gale, he trembled as he returned to the carriage.
"Clip-clop, clip-clop."
The two magnificent dragon-scaled horses continued onward at an unhurried pace, slowly heading toward an old residence in a remote part of the city.
As the sound of hoofbeats spread, all of Jinmen, which had seemed frozen like a paused film frame, suddenly came alive again.
The citizens of Jinmen gradually came back to their senses and could not help discussing what had just happened.
"Those foreigners are all no good! I told you that Black Night Church was up to no good!"
"Bah! What preaching? Looks more like an invasion to me! They should all be driven back where they came from."
"Who wouldn't want that? But we lost back then. You didn't see it—the Western churches really had gods back then."
"Good thing Lord Li returned home today. Otherwise, Governor-General Tang would've been in real trouble."
"Governor-General Tang is only fourth rank. Lord Li once held a first-rank post. How could they possibly compare?"
"Sigh, if only I'd studied and opened my orifices back then. Spirit-Refining Cultivators are the truly impressive ones."
All of Jinmen, from the streets to the taverns, was abuzz with excitement.
Yet inside this private room by the window, there was a certain silence.
Meng Qifeng seemed lost in thought and no longer had any interest in conversation. He merely drank in silence, his expression melancholy.
Li Xijun, meanwhile, could think of nothing but the dragonkin girl's appearance. After casually finding an excuse to leave, he hurried back to his home in the Main World.
At his home in Bocheng.
"Swish, swish, swish."
Using the brushes and sketchbook Su Nianyi had left behind, Li Xijun lowered his head and focused intently on drawing.
With his powerful mental strength and Spirit Refinement cultivation, clear scenes continuously replayed in his mind.
Stroke by stroke, he gradually sketched the dragonkin girl who had crawled out of the carriage in vivid detail.
Li Xijun's understanding of the dragonkin girl's appearance and physique also grew deeper and deeper.
Time passed bit by bit.
Until the sunlight outside the window had become increasingly scorching,
Li Xijun finally set down his brush and sketchbook, leaned back, and gradually relaxed his taut body and mind.
At the same time, a notification for this improvement appeared in his field of vision.
Your "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method" proficiency has increased from Proficient 11% to Proficient 23%.
"So, at this rate, I only need nine days for my Blood Essence Level to rise by 0.1."
"Just watching her for a short while gave me such a huge improvement. If I could observe her up close every day, I'd soon be able to raise it by 0.1 every five days. By then, reaching the Master level in the Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method wouldn't be a problem."
Although Li Xijun had expended quite a bit of mental energy, he was not the least bit sleepy.
His mind was full of what had happened earlier.
Whether it was the tremendous benefits that dragonkin girl could bring him,
Or the top-tier strength in the path of Spirit Refinement displayed by Grand Secretary Li Boyan,
Both made Li Xijun unable to stop thinking about how he could catch Duke Boyan's eye.
"Sigh... I simply don't have the capital to get acquainted with someone that important right now."
The other party was a Grand Secretary of the Dasheng court who had returned home to recuperate. He lacked virtually nothing, so Li Xijun could not act as he had when entering Life-Slaying Martial Hall and simply spending money to learn Martial Sage Zhang's martial arts techniques.
No matter how Li Xijun thought it over, he could not come up with any method.
"Forget it. I'd better focus on what's right in front of me first."
"Now that my foundational cultivation method has improved, I can spend more time on the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist."
"Before the end of this month, I'll first reach Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement, then obtain the great opportunity Martial Sage Zhang promised me."
"Besides, reaching Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement concerns my later cultivation in the Viscera Refinement Realm, as well as whether I can surpass the Wood Sage and become the strongest College Entrance Exam champion in history."
With that thought, Li Xijun stopped dwelling on what had happened before.
Instead, he returned to his private Martial Arts Classroom at school as usual and began training methodically.
He first tested his improved Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method, silently tempering his blood essence.
After reaching his limit, he took advantage of the surging abundance of blood essence within him.
He began practicing the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist, using his increasingly powerful mental strength to precisely scour his body's major tendons and bones without wasting even the slightest bit of energy.
In the afternoon, he practiced the True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock, while also beating up Ye Liuyun a little to keep his hand in.
Time passed like this, day after day.
The maple grove of Yan'an No. 7 High School withered away without anyone noticing.
At the end of December, Bocheng's first snowfall blanketed the earth.
The vast school campus was draped in silver, a boundless expanse of white.
After arriving early at his private Martial Arts Classroom and drinking a bottle of Blood Essence Potion,
Li Xijun began his final round of bone and tendon refinement.
As he continuously performed the forty-eight movements,
He felt the blood essence within him washing over his tendons and bones like enormous waves crashing through the sky.
At the same time, he felt as though he were a blazing furnace overflowing with blood essence.
With each rising burst of flame, it continuously hammered and forged his tendons, bones, and physique, reducing every impurity deep within his body to ash.
Great waves scoured him, while the furnace forged him.
The pain, the tempering, every sensation eventually merged into the seamless unity of tendons, bones, skin, and flesh.
The results of his day-after-day training and long, bitter practice emerged naturally at this moment.
Li Xijun suddenly felt that he had grasped the essence of the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist. He lunged forward, threw a punch, and struck through empty space, raising a thunderous boom like a tiger's roar.
At that moment,
He felt as if he himself had become a tiger demon, roaring across the world, unbound by law or heaven.
The physique he had cultivated had reached a realm of steel tendons and iron bones, impervious to blades, spears, water, and fire.
The aura around him mixed with his blood essence, and like Deng Gao during that life-or-death Viscera Refinement battle, it faintly carried an incomparably fierce will, an imposing force capable of affecting the mind.
Your Martial Arts System: Tendons and Bones Realm has increased from 99% to 100%. Your "Subduing Tiger Bone Refining Method" proficiency has increased from Master 83% to Master 90%. Your "True Martial Thirty-Six Forms" proficiency has increased from Master 18% to Master 30%.
Looking at the notification before him, Li Xijun was slightly surprised.
The improvements in the first two had been within his expectations.
He simply had not expected that after refining his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones to completion and unifying everything in his physique apart from his internal organs, the progress of his True Martial Killing Move - Void Shock would increase by so much.
He immediately had the mechanical arm in his private Martial Arts Classroom place a humanoid target in front of him.
"Phew."
After adjusting his breathing,
Li Xijun suddenly snorted.
His palm landed soundlessly against the humanoid target's chest, and a crisp crack indeed rang out from within it.
After its outer layer and bone-like material had been pierced, its internal organs could be seen displaced, their surfaces covered in cracks.
"It seems the technique behind this shock relies heavily on coordinated resonance between the body's interior and exterior."
Li Xijun looked at the scene before him thoughtfully.
"Still, I'm not quite there yet. Teacher Zhang doesn't need to regulate his breathing before striking, and his attacks on the internal organs are even quieter. They directly turn them into a lump of mush-like minced flesh."
"My current strike can only displace the five viscera and inflict severe injuries. Its lethality is still a little lacking."
"If I wanted to kill someone, it would be less useful than a Flying Sword or an Electromagnetic Handgun. But for ordinary sparring with classmates, it's a little too ruthless."
"Hmm. For now, I can only use it against people I have a grudge against but cannot kill."
Just as Li Xijun was thinking this, Ye Liuyun knocked on the door outside.
"Xijun, I have good news to tell you."
Ye Liuyun entered with a rare hint of excitement, waving the document displayed on his phone at Li Xijun.
"Teacher Su has demanded practical combat assessments for Elite Class members, especially students enjoying Elite Class benefits because of their Martial Dao Spirituality."
"This time, our final exam's practical combat has been changed to a melee arena format."
"The thirty Elite Class members will each be assigned to one of thirty arenas. Everyone else will be randomly assigned among those thirty arenas, and every arena will hold a free-for-all."
"This final ranking will be scored directly according to each person's eliminations and survival performance in the arena melee."
As Ye Liuyun said this, he revealed the fighting spirit of an Apprentice martial artist.
"I'd only heard that Martial Arts Universities liked holding this sort of arena tournament. I never expected our final exam to have one too."
"This time, with the teachers, Principal, Teacher Su, and several Exterior Scenery experts overseeing things, there is no need to worry about deaths. We can finally cut loose and fight the powerful students at our school to our hearts' content."
Li Xijun's eyes also lit up after hearing that, and he nodded repeatedly.
A melee in this format was indeed good news for him.
Although he definitely could not bring out a Flying Sword or anything similar,
With his Spirit Solidification Realm cultivation and his powerful physique that had just reached Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement, his actual combat strength was truly formidable.
Even against a Blood Essence Level 9.0 martial artist carrying a weapon, he could still slaughter them with ease.
"Oh, right. Weapons aren't prohibited in this arena melee. Quite a few people are now training with weapons to improve their martial skill scores. Your basic swordsmanship has improved quickly lately, so if you want to fight on the arena, you'd better hurry up and practice."
As he spoke, Ye Liuyun tossed a standard-issue longsword to Li Xijun.
During their sparring sessions over recent days, Li Xijun had often asked Ye Liuyun for guidance in practicing basic swordsmanship.
After hearing from his father how Li Xijun had beheaded that Blood God Cult follower with a single sword strike,
Ye Liuyun had wisely asked no questions. He had merely focused on helping Li Xijun grind his swordsmanship from beginner to proficient.
Of course, he had also taken plenty of chances during their sword sparring to thoroughly beat Li Xijun up, avenging the days when a certain someone had pummeled him every day.
"Fine, same rules as always. I won't use mental strength or my externally cultivated physique."
Seeing Ye Liuyun's excited expression at the prospect of bullying a weaker opponent, Li Xijun was somewhat speechless. Still, for the sake of improving his basic swordsmanship, he silently drew his sword and prepared to fence.
Evening.
The sky after the snowfall was vast and cold. The setting sun dyed the western horizon a gentle orange-yellow, like pale gold watercolor quietly bleeding across a huge sheet of pure white rice paper.
Bright icicles hung from the school gate, and beneath the slanting rays of the evening sun, clear droplets still dripped from their tips.
Li Xijun had just walked out of the school gates with Ye Liuyun when the enthusiastic Ye Jianhua came over to meet them.
"The snow was heavy today, and the ground is covered in snow and ice. Uncle will give you a ride."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Uncle Ye."
Thanks to what had happened with the Blood God Cult follower last time, the two sides had become fairly familiar. Naturally, Li Xijun would not stand on ceremony and refuse.
For a moment, the atmosphere between the elder and the two younger men was warm and harmonious.
But by sheer coincidence, when Li Xijun followed Ye Jianhua to the parking lot, Zhou Xinmin's car was parked beside theirs.
Zhou Xinmin, who was smoking while waiting for someone, naturally did not let the chance pass. Smiling, he came over to exchange pleasantries and promptly praised Ye Liuyun for being outstanding and for having such a talented friend.
Zhou Yibai and Zhou Shenghao, who had just finished school and walked out of the campus as well, came over.
Seeing this scene, the former smiled and greeted Li Xijun and Ye Liuyun, while the latter pressed his lips together, his face gloomy and unpleasant.
Fortunately, they only exchanged a few pleasantries before getting into their respective cars and driving away.
Inside Zhou Xinmin's car,
"Uncle, the final exam in a month is an arena melee. I didn't expect the school to do something like this. It feels a little dependent on luck. If I get randomly assigned with a group ranked in the forties or fifties, I'll be finished," Zhou Yibai said.
"Hey, I asked a friend in the Academic Affairs Office. How could it really be random? They try their best to ensure students with strength and talent aren't grouped together. To put it bluntly, it's pseudo-random. My friend handled the backend program."
When Zhou Xinmin was asked about it, he directly revealed the inside information to the two of them.
"Yibai, your Blood Essence Level has risen so quickly lately, and your martial skills have advanced by leaps and bounds. You'll definitely be fine. Don't look at how quickly that Li Xijun improved after getting resources, with everyone praising him so highly. With your family's support, your recent improvement hasn't been any worse."
"Don't worry. When the time comes, Uncle will find someone to make sure that, within reasonable limits of the rules, the students on your arena are more evenly matched. Given your recent mental progress, as long as you take the fight seriously, you'll still be in the Elite Class next semester."
Zhou Yibai nodded slightly upon hearing that, feeling reassured.
Meanwhile, Zhou Shenghao gave his cousin, who had recently been advancing by leaps and bounds just like him, a cold glance before suddenly speaking.
"Dad, Li Xijun ranked over eightieth in the previous exam. Theoretically, someone in his range could be assigned to my arena, right?"
"Oh, then don't worry. Dad will find someone! I definitely won't let him get assigned to your arena. That kid can kill Blood Essence Level 9.0 Blood God Cult followers in actual combat. He's too dangerous."
Zhou Xinmin, who had just been encouraging his nephew, immediately changed his expression and turned serious.
"No. What I mean is that I want to be in the same arena as him!"
Zhou Shenghao withdrew his gaze from his cousin beside him, his expression becoming exceedingly resolute.
"That Blood God Cult bastard was only unarmed against an armed opponent. He never expected Li Xijun to have a hidden sword, so he was caught off guard and killed."
"My saber technique has improved greatly lately, and my Blood Essence Level has reached 8.6. With a saber in hand, I will definitely defeat him!"
"I will prove myself in this battle!"
Before you continue