A Remarkable Body

After teaching Steward Fang a lesson yesterday, Luo Zheng did not see him today. Once several servants had fitted him with the Leather Armor and Shackles, he was taken to the Martial Arts Practice Hall.

As usual, a group of Luo Family Disciples trained diligently in the morning mist within the Martial Arts Practice Hall.

Their arms were bare as they pounded furiously at rows of Stone Men by the wall. Every fist that struck a Stone Man produced a soft explosive crack, making even the air tremble.

The Meat Targets standing off to one side all looked as though their parents had died, their faces drooping and their mouths filled with bitterness.

This life of being punched and kicked day and night was truly hard to endure. Sometimes, covered in injuries, they would toss and turn in bed, unable to sleep from the pain. Yet they had no freedom at all. Other than taking a beating, they had no choice.

"Meat Targets, stand properly!" the Luo Family Instructor shouted in a ringing voice.

All the Meat Targets promptly lined up in an orderly row, their backs ramrod straight. They all knew the instructor's temper well—one slight mistake, and a whip would come down on their heads. The Luo Family Instructor's whip was no ordinary whip; even a light touch would tear flesh and split skin.

The Luo Family Disciples each selected their own Meat Target. The one who chose Luo Zheng was a collateral-branch disciple built like a bear, named Luo Dalong.

When the other Meat Targets saw that Luo Zheng had been chosen by Luo Dalong, pity appeared on all their faces.

Luo Dalong's talent was average, and his own strength was only at the Skin Refining Realm. Yet he had been born with immense strength, force comparable to the Flesh Refining Realm. Moreover, he was savage by nature, even somewhat brutal. Quite a few Meat Targets had either died or been badly injured at his hands. Being chosen as his Meat Target was undoubtedly a miserable fate.

Luo Dalong raised his fists and loosened up, a flicker of excitement in his eyes as he looked at Luo Zheng. There had been fewer Death Row Prisoners lately, and many had been bought away by other lineages. The Luo Family had long struggled to replenish its Meat Targets, so Meat Targets could be considered a scarce resource within the Luo Family.

Beating Meat Targets could both temper the body and vent one's frustrations. That was why Luo Dalong was excited. Better yet, this Meat Target had once been the Luo Family's young clan head.

A young clan head who had once stood so high above them, begging for mercy beneath his fists—just imagining it made him feel deliriously pleased.

Facing Luo Dalong, Luo Zheng frowned. Luo Dalong's strength was exceptionally great. Last time, he had suffered under this man's fists, sustaining internal injuries and needing a full half-month to recover.

However, two years as a Meat Target had taught him to keep his heart still as water. He quickly calmed down. He even carefully adjusted the leather armor over his chest before setting his stance and facing Luo Dalong.

Luo Dalong then lunged at him. He practiced an incomparably fierce and domineering fist technique called the Raging Bull Rush Fist, a technique of overwhelming ferocity and formidable power.

Like an enraged wild bull, Luo Dalong stirred up a gust of chaotic wind as he sent a Raging Bull Rush Fist straight at Luo Zheng's chest.

Facing that astonishing fist force, Luo Zheng drew a deep breath and thrust out his entire chest. This would allow the leather armor to neutralize the greatest possible portion of the blow's power.

"Pfft!"

Although the thick leather armor on his chest had weakened much of the blow, its tremendous force still seeped through it like a muffled hammer smashing into his chest. At that instant, he swiftly expelled the air from his chest, making it cave in at once.

"Unload Strength!"

Exhaling and rapidly contracting his chest created a buffer zone that could further neutralize an opponent's force. This little trick was also the secret to how Luo Zheng had survived two years as a Meat Target!

But Luo Dalong's punch was far too ferocious. Even after being weakened twice, its force remained incomparably tyrannical. A bitter smile appeared on Luo Zheng's face as he flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily to the ground.

Lying on the ground, Luo Zheng was still somewhat dazed. He thought, This time I'm done for. That punch will probably leave me seriously injured inside. But just then, he strangely discovered that he felt no pain whatsoever.

Not only was there no pain, but a peculiar Warm Current surged from his chest. The moment those Warm Currents appeared, Luo Zheng's body immediately reacted. He felt as though his body were a hungry wolf, swiftly devouring every last trace of them.

The Warm Currents then spread into his five viscera and six bowels, his limbs, hair, and skin, leaving his entire body warm and glowing. Not only did he feel no suffering, he instead felt an incomparably pleasant sensation.

"What is this?" Luo Zheng's face was full of astonishment. "These Warm Currents are actually cleansing my body!"

Although Luo Zheng had fallen into the status of a Family Slave, he had once been the Luo Family's young clan head. He still possessed this much knowledge.

Medicines capable of cleansing the body were exceedingly rare. The Luo Family's Heaven and Earth Creation Pill, for example, could cleanse the body. But how precious was Sacred Medicine of the Heaven and Earth Creation Pill's caliber? The vast Luo Family had accumulated only two Heaven and Earth Creation Pills over several centuries. That alone showed how invaluable they were.

This Warm Current that cleansed the body had appeared for no reason at all. Luo Zheng lay there thinking for a while, then quickly connected it to yesterday's strange phenomenon.

"Take the body as an artifact, take the self as its spirit; Thousand Hammered, Hundred Refined, cleanse my body..."

Could this so-called Thousand Hammered, Hundred Refined mean that he had to be beaten?

Just as the golden foil had recorded, his own body was like a Mysterious Artifact treasure. Wasn't artifact refinement all about Thousand Hammered, Hundred Refined, forging something into a superior treasure?

As long as he took a beating, he could produce Warm Currents that cleansed his body! As long as he took a beating, it was equivalent to constantly swallowing Heaven and Earth Creation Pills!

At the thought of this possibility, Luo Zheng's heart grew blazing hot. His heart even trembled with excitement.

To verify his guess, Luo Zheng climbed to his feet.

Though he was not injured at all, and Luo Dalong's punch had greatly benefited him, he still put on a pained expression and struggled to stand. To make the act more convincing, he even kept trembling.

When Luo Dalong saw Luo Zheng get up, astonishment flashed across his face. He had thought that after taking that rushing punch, Luo Zheng would be crippled even if he did not die. Yet Luo Zheng could actually still get up, making Luo Dalong lose face.

"Heh, worthy of the peak Flesh Refining Realm. You really can take a beating! Get down!" After saying that, Luo Dalong threw another rushing punch straight at Luo Zheng.

"Boom!"

Luo Zheng was sent flying once more. Like a Humanoid Figure sandbag, he rolled several times across the ground. The instant he landed, he secretly cried out in delight. That Warm Current appeared again at the moment he was struck, turning into little snakes that burrowed into his five viscera and six bowels and his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, constantly tempering his body and cleansing his organs.

It felt far too good. Luo Zheng seemed to be bathing in a spring breeze, utterly comfortable from head to toe. His eyes shone brilliantly; the more he was beaten, the brighter his eyes became, the more energetic he grew.

"Die!"

"Bang!"

"I'll beat you to death!"

"Rumble!"

Every time a Warm Current appeared, Luo Zheng's body became a little more refined. To Luo Zheng, Luo Dalong was like a diligent Blacksmith, constantly hammering this "Mysterious Artifact" of Luo Zheng's body with his fists.

This beating continued for quite a while before Luo Dalong finally stopped. Panting heavily, he stared at Luo Zheng on the ground, his heart filled with shock. He had heard before that Luo Zheng was exceptionally good at taking beatings, but he had never expected this Kid to be so tenacious. After taking so many of his punches, he could still get up. Although every time he rose, he trembled unsteadily and looked as though he were barely managing it...

How could Luo Dalong know that Luo Zheng's frail, ready-to-collapse appearance was entirely an act? In truth, he was bursting with vitality, enjoying the exhilarating sensation of the Warm Currents cleansing his body.

Seeing this, the other Meat Targets cursed Luo Zheng as an idiot in their hearts. If he could not get up, why force himself? At least he could be sent back to rest for a day. But getting up only meant taking more beatings. Wasn't that asking for it? Could it be that this guy had become addicted to being a Meat Target and actually liked being beaten?

Luo Zheng did not get up the final time. In truth, he was still not satisfied; the sensation of those Warm Currents cleansing his body had become addictive!

But being knocked down time and again, then getting back up each time, was simply too tough.

If he got up again, this performance probably could not continue. Someone might spot the flaw and grow suspicious, so he decided... he would take more beatings tomorrow.

Seeing that Luo Zheng could no longer get up, Luo Dalong also breathed a sigh of relief. If Luo Zheng could stand there and Luo Dalong still could not knock him down, he would lose all face.

That night, Luo Zheng limped back to the cellar. Once the Luo Family's servants locked the cellar door, he immediately sprang back to life.

Steward Fang still had not appeared today, but servants had brought him three injury pills. This time, they had not embezzled his medicine; the number was complete.

Had that small punishment yesterday made Steward Fang behave himself? Luo Zheng shook his head. He did not believe it at all.

He knew very well how petty people like Steward Fang thought. Steward Fang would definitely not let the matter rest; he was likely brewing some poisonous scheme to harm him.

So what? He needed to be on guard against petty people like that, but he could not take them too seriously either. Soldiers came, generals blocked them; water came, earth dammed it.

He casually tossed the three pills aside. Given the state of his body now, he had no need for such cheap things.

After taking a day's worth of beatings, he was filthy all over. He removed his clothes, scooped up a large ladle of cold water from the water vat, and poured it over himself from head to toe.

The clear, transparent cold water flowed down from his head, turning into black muddy water when it reached the ground. Mixed within that black sludge were traces of pale white impurities.

He had noticed it while being beaten. Because the Warm Currents were cleansing him, they had constantly forced impurities out of his body.

What was the Flesh Refining Realm?

It was refining away the impurities within the flesh.

What was the Bone Refining Realm?

It was refining away the impurities within the bones.

What was the Viscera Refining Realm?

It was...

The Five Realms of the Body were a process of refining the body. First came skin refinement, then flesh refinement, followed by bone refinement and viscera refinement. From outside to within, step by step—once all impurities within the marrow had been cleansed away, one could break through the body realm, elevate one's life, and rise to a higher level of existence.

The greatest difference between Luo Zheng and others now was that others needed to rely on their own training to remove impurities from their bodies. The process was exceedingly slow, requiring daily accumulation over time—at least several years, at most decades or even a lifetime.

Luo Zheng, however, merely needed to passively take beatings. Using those Warm Currents, comparable to Heaven and Earth Creation Pills, to cleanse himself, he could expel the impurities from his body!

Compared to others cultivating bitterly and managing to expel only a tiny bit of impurity in a year, his speed was more than a hundred or thousand times faster!

Luo Zheng had already reached the peak of the Flesh Refining Realm. Only because he had spent the past two years as a Meat Target, with no time to cultivate, had his realm remained stuck at the peak of the Flesh Refining Realm.

Yet after today's beating had cleansed the impurities from his body, he felt that his body had undergone a qualitative transformation. His flesh had become incomparably pure, and while bathing just now, he had discovered that amid the black impurities was also a portion of pale white impurities.

The impurities expelled from the flesh were pure black filth. Those pale white impurities, meanwhile, were impurities forced out from his bones. This was proof that he had entered the Bone Refining Realm!

He moved aside his iron bed, clearing some room in the cellar, and began circulating the Rosewood Fist. His entire body was bathed in a layer of Purple Light, and this purple radiance was actually no weaker than the Purple Light that had surrounded Luo Peiran that day.

He threw a punch through the air, and an explosive crack instantly rang out.

"Pop!"

The powerful sound wave created a turbulent current of air, tossing the cellar's candles, paper, and other small objects into complete disarray.

Unfortunately, the cellar was too narrow. There were no Stone Locks or Stone Men for him to test his strength on, and he also feared making too much noise and alerting others.

Still, it was an undeniable fact that he had become a Bone Refining Realm expert.