Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement, Arena Melee

The words Li Xijun couldn't hold back startled the girl in the carriage, who was like a young beast.

Her deep rose-red eyes widened, and she looked up at the young man on the second floor in disbelief.

These were words she had never heard since her birth.

At this moment, the Dragon-person girl felt a panic and fear as if she had fallen into a dream conjured by some Potion Practitioner.

She was like a startled kitten, quickly hiding back into the carriage, leaving Li Xijun filled with regret.

At the same time, The Heart Image, dozens of feet tall in the sky, gradually dissipated. A divine light re-entered the head of the thin old man in the carriage.

He then coughed violently, like a thin old bamboo in a strong wind, trembling as he returned to the carriage.

"Dada-da."

The two majestic Dragon-scaled horses continued to move forward at a steady pace, slowly driving towards a remote old house in the city.

As the sound of the horse hooves spread, the entire Jinmen, which had been like a paused movie scene, suddenly came alive.

The citizens of Jinmen, gradually regaining their senses, couldn't help but discuss what had just happened.

"None of these foreigners are good people. I knew that Black Night Church wasn't good!"

"Pah! What kind of bullshit preaching is that? I think it's more like invasion! They should really be driven back to their homeland."

"Who doesn't want that? But who can we blame when we lost back then? You didn't see it, but the Western churches truly had gods back then."

"Fortunately, Lord Li has returned home today. Otherwise, I think Governor-General Tang would be in trouble."

"Governor-General Tang is only fourth rank, but Lord Li was a first-rank official back then. Can they be compared?"

"Sigh, if only I could have studied and opened my apertures back then. Spirit-Refining Cultivators are truly awe-inspiring."

The entire Jinmen, the streets, and even the restaurants were incredibly lively.

However, in this private room by the window, there was some silence.

Meng Qifeng, lost in thought, had lost his desire to talk and was merely drinking alone, his expression melancholic.

Li Xijun's mind was filled with the image of the Dragon-person girl from earlier. After casually finding an excuse to leave, he quickly returned to his home in the main world.

At home in Bo City.

"Swish, swish, swish."

Li Xijun, using the paintbrush and sketchpad left by Su Nianyi, buried his head in focused painting.

With his powerful mental strength and Spirit Refinement cultivation, his mind continuously replayed the scene clearly.

The appearance of the Dragon-person girl who climbed out of the carriage was gradually and clearly depicted by him, stroke by stroke.

Li Xijun's understanding of the Dragon-person girl's appearance and physique deepened with each stroke.

Time passed by, Until the sunlight outside the window grew increasingly scorching hot.

Li Xijun finally put down his paintbrush and sketchpad, leaned back, and gradually relaxed his tense body and mind.

At the same time, the message about his current advancement appeared in his vision.

[Your realm in the "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method" has increased from 11% mastery to 23% mastery.]

"If I calculate it this way, it now only takes me 9 days to increase my Blood Essence Level by 0.1."

"Just observing her for a short while brought such great progress. If I could observe her up close every day, I would soon reach the speed of increasing my Blood Essence Level by 0.1 in 5 days. Then, reaching the Master level in the "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method" would not be a problem."

Although Li Xijun had consumed a lot of mental energy, he did not feel the slightest bit tired or sleepy.

His mind was filled with thoughts of what had happened earlier.

Whether it was the immense benefits the Dragon-person girl could bring him, or the strength of a top-tier expert in the Dao of Spirit Refinement displayed by the cabinet minister Li Boyan, Li Xijun couldn't help but ponder how he could catch the eye of this Duke Boyan.

"Sigh, to know such a big figure, I have no capital at all right now..."

The other party was a cabinet minister of the Da Sheng court returning home to recuperate, lacking nothing. It was impossible for him to act like he did when he entered the Life-Slaying Martial Hall to pay for learning Martial Saint Zhang's martial arts.

Li Xijun thought and thought but couldn't come up with any solution.

"Forget it. I should focus on the matter at hand first."

"Now that my basic cultivation method has improved, I can spend more time on the "Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist"."

"I'll cultivate to Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement by the end of this month and then receive the great opportunity promised by Martial Saint Zhang."

"Moreover, achieving Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement is related to my subsequent Viscera Refinement cultivation, and whether I can surpass the Wood Sage to become the strongest top scholar in history."

With this thought, Li Xijun stopped daydreaming about past events.

Instead, he returned to his private martial arts classroom at school as usual and began his methodical cultivation.

First, he tested the improved "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method," silently tempering his Blood Essence.

As his cultivation reached its limit, Li Xijun took advantage of the abundant and surging Blood Essence within his body.

He began practicing the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist with his increasingly powerful mental energy, ensuring not a single bit was wasted as it precisely scoured his body's major tendons and bones.

In the afternoon, he practiced the True Martial Killing Move, Void Shock, and incidentally sparred with Ye Liuyun to maintain his hand-to-hand combat feel.

Days turned into weeks, and time passed like this, day after day.

The maple leaves of Yan'an No. 7 High School's Maple Forest withered and fell, unnoticed.

By the end of December, Bo City's first snowfall of the year blanketed the land.

The vast school campus was entirely covered in a layer of white, a scene of pure snow.

Li Xijun, who had arrived early at his private martial arts classroom, drank a bottle of Blood Essence Potion.

He then began his final tendon and bone refinement.

As he continuously executed the forty-eight movements, He felt the Blood Essence surging through his tendons and bones like colossal waves crashing against the shore, churning and rolling within him.

Simultaneously, he felt as if he were a great furnace, his Blood Essence burning intensely, Forging and tempering his tendons, bones, and physique with each surge of flame, burning away all impurities deep within his body into ashes.

Giant waves washing over him, a furnace forging him, The pain, the tempering, all sorts of sensations ultimately transformed into the seamless integration of his tendons, bones, skin, and flesh.

The result of day after day of arduous practice manifested naturally at this moment.

Li Xijun suddenly felt he had grasped the essence of the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist. He lunged forward, striking an imaginary blow in the air, creating a roar like a tiger's as he displaced the air.

At this moment, He felt as if he were a 'Tiger Demon' himself, roaring at the world, unrestrained and lawless.

The physique he had cultivated had reached a state of steel bones and iron tendons, impervious to blades and spears, unaffected by water and fire.

The aura emanating from him, mixed with his Blood Essence, was akin to Deng Gao's desperate struggle in the Viscera Refinement Realm that night. It carried a subtle yet immensely powerful will, an aura that influenced the mind.

[Your Martial Arts System: Tendons and Bones Realm, has increased from 99% to 100%.]

[Your Subduing Tiger Bone Refining Method realm has increased from Master 83% to Master 90%.]

[Your True Martial Thirty-Six Forms realm has increased from Master 18% to 30%.]

Looking at the prompts that appeared before him, Li Xijun was slightly surprised.

The improvements in the first two were within his expectations.

He simply hadn't anticipated that after refining his skin, flesh, and bones to perfection, and unifying his physique outside of his internal organs, the progress on his True Martial Killing Move, Void Shock, would increase so significantly.

He immediately had the mechanical arm in his private martial arts classroom place a humanoid training dummy in front of him.

"Hoo..."

After adjusting his breathing, Li Xijun suddenly grunted.

A palm landed silently on the chest of the humanoid dummy, and a crisp cracking sound indeed emanated from within.

After penetrating the outer layer and the bone-like material, the internal organs could be seen to have shifted, and cracks appeared on the surface.

"It seems the technique of this Shock move relies heavily on the internal and external coordination and resonance of the body,"

Li Xijun mused, observing the scene before him.

"However, I'm still not there yet. Teacher Zhang doesn't need to regulate his breathing when he strikes, and his attacks on internal organs are even more silent, directly turning them into a paste of minced meat."

"My current strike can only displace and severely injure someone's internal organs; the killing power is still a bit lacking."

"If I were to use it to kill someone, it's not as good as a flying sword or an electromagnetic handgun. And for ordinary sparring with classmates, it's a bit too brutal."

"Well, for now, it can only be used in situations where killing is not an option, but where I have a grudge against the target."

As Li Xijun was thinking this, Ye Liuyun's knock echoed from outside the door.

"Xijun, I have some good news to tell you."

Ye Liuyun, with a rare hint of excitement, walked in and showed Li Xijun the file on his phone screen.

"Teacher Su requires practical combat tests for Elite Class members, especially those students who enjoy Elite Class benefits through their Martial Dao Spirituality."

"This time, our final exam's practical combat has become a free-for-all arena battle."

"Thirty Elite Class members will be stationed on thirty arenas, and the rest will be randomly assigned to the thirty arenas. Everyone will participate in a free-for-all battle."

"The final ranking this time will be directly based on the kill count and survival performance in this arena free-for-all."

As Ye Liuyun spoke, he displayed the fighting spirit of an Apprentice Martial Warrior.

"I've always heard that martial arts universities liked to hold these arena competitions, but I didn't expect our final exam to have one this time."

"With teachers, the principal, and Teacher Su, several Outer Scenery experts present as guardians, there's no need to worry about fatalities. We can truly go all out and fight against the strong students from our own school."

Upon hearing this, Li Xijun's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

This kind of free-for-all combat mode was indeed good news for him.

While he definitely couldn't pull out a flying sword or anything, his Spirit Solidification Realm cultivation, combined with his powerful physique that had just reached Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement, made him quite formidable in actual combat.

He could even easily defeat a Martial Warrior at Blood Essence Level 9.0 who was armed.

"Right, this arena free-for-all doesn't prohibit weapons. Quite a few people are using this time to practice weapon forms to boost their combat technique scores. Your basic swordplay has improved a lot recently, so if you want to get some real combat experience on the stage, you'll need to buckle down."

As Ye Liuyun spoke, he tossed a standard-issue longsword to Li Xijun.

During their sparring sessions in recent days, Li Xijun had often asked Ye Liuyun for advice and practiced basic swordplay with him.

And Ye Liuyun, having heard from his father about how Li Xijun had beheaded a Blood God Cult follower with a single sword strike, was clever enough to ask nothing, only diligently helping Li Xijun progress his swordplay from beginner to proficient.

Of course, he also took plenty of opportunities during their swordplay sparring to thoroughly beat Li Xijun up, seeking revenge for being beaten daily by him previously.

"Alright, same as usual, I won't use my spiritual power or my externally trained physique."

Seeing Ye Liuyun's excited look as he prepared to bully a weaker opponent, Li Xijun felt a bit speechless, but to improve his basic swordplay, he silently drew his sword and prepared to duel.

Evening

The sky after the snow was vast and crisp. The setting sun painted the western horizon a soft orange-yellow, like pale gold watercolor quietly bleeding onto a large sheet of plain white rice paper.

Sparkling icicles hung from the school gate, still dripping clear water droplets in the slanting sunlight.

As Li Xijun and Ye Liuyun walked out of the school gate, the enthusiastic Ye Jianhua greeted them.

"There's a lot of snow and ice on the ground today, I'll give you a ride."

"Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Ye."

With the favor owed from the Blood God Cult follower incident, they were quite familiar with each other, so Li Xijun naturally wouldn't politely refuse.

For a moment, the atmosphere between the elder and the two juniors was warm and harmonious.

But as luck would have it, when Li Xijun went with Ye Jianhua to the parking lot to get into the car, Zhou Xinmin's car was parked right next to theirs.

Zhou Xinmin, who was smoking and waiting for someone, naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity. He walked over with a smile and exchanged pleasantries, quickly praising Ye Liuyun for being outstanding and the friends he made as geniuses.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yibai and Zhou Shenghao, who had also just finished school and were leaving the building, walked over.

Seeing this scene, the former smiled and greeted Li Xijun and Ye Liuyun, while the latter pursed his lips, his face grim, finding the situation somewhat unpleasant.

Fortunately, their interaction was brief, and they soon got into their respective cars and drove away.

In Zhou Xinmin's car, "Uncle, the final exam in a month is a free-for-all arena battle. I didn't expect the school to do it this way; it feels like it's based on luck. If we get randomly assigned to a group with students ranked forty or fifty in the year, we're finished." Zhou Yibai said.

"Hah, I asked a friend in the academic affairs office. It's not truly random. They try to ensure that students with strength and talent aren't grouped together. It's a pseudo-random system, and my friend set up the backend program."

When asked about it, Zhou Xinmin directly revealed the inside story to the two of them.

"Yibai, your Blood Essence Level has been improving so rapidly recently, and your combat techniques have also advanced by leaps and bounds. You'll definitely be fine. Don't mind that Li Xijun guy; he's made rapid progress with resources, and everyone's hyping him up so much. But with your family's support, your recent progress isn't inferior either."

"Don't worry, I'll find someone to ensure that the strength of your arena opponents is balanced within reasonable rules. With your recent progress in the mental aspect, if you take the battles seriously, you'll still be in the Elite Class next semester."

Hearing this, Zhou Yibai nodded slightly, feeling reassured.

On the other side, Zhou Shenghao cast a cold glance at his cousin, who had also been 'rapidly progressing' recently, and then suddenly spoke:

"Dad, Li Xijun was ranked over 80th in the previous exam. Theoretically, he should be assigned to my arena, right?"

"Oh, then don't worry. Dad will find someone! He definitely won't be assigned to your arena. That kid is too dangerous; he killed a Blood God Cult follower at Blood Essence Level 9.0 in actual combat."

Zhou Xinmin, who had just been encouraging his nephew, immediately changed his expression and became serious.

"No, I mean I want to be in the same arena as him!"

Zhou Shenghao withdrew his gaze from his cousin and his expression became extremely resolute.

"Back then, that Blood God Cult member was only fighting unarmed against an armed opponent. I didn't expect Li Xijun to have a hidden sword, which led to his downfall."

"My saber techniques have greatly improved recently, and my Blood Essence Level has reached 8.6. With a saber in hand, I will definitely defeat him!"

"I want to prove myself in this battle!"