Hidden Dragon in the Rocky Ravine

Xu Bo and the woman in black passed by outside the classroom. They had restrained their auras, and they did not watch for long, so Li Yuan never noticed them.

He was completely immersed in his own training.

When Li Yuan studied Cultural Courses, he was serious as well, but fundamentally, he approached them with the mentality of "completing a task," so it was difficult for his efficiency to reach its peak.

But when he practiced fist techniques and spear techniques, feeling his physical qualities and martial skill gradually improve, Li Yuan felt joy from the bottom of his heart.

His focus reached the utmost extreme.

When doing something, only by immersing oneself in it and truly loving it from the heart could one make the greatest progress.

Time slipped by, second by second.

Suddenly.

[Your fist technique realm has increased from Third Stage 88% to Third Stage 89%]

[Your punching force has increased from 426 kilograms to 427 kilograms]

[Your speed has increased from 14.4 meters per second to 14.5 meters per second]

Three notifications appeared one after another in Li Yuan's field of vision out of thin air, and the data on his Divine Palace Panel changed as well.

Yet, immersed in training, he did not even notice the slight improvement in his physical qualities.

Not until his Smart Ring Watch suddenly vibrated.

"It's already five-thirty? Time passed so quickly." Only then was Li Yuan jolted awake.

He was drenched in sweat.

"Hmm? My physical qualities have improved a little again?" Only then did Li Yuan notice the prompt on the Divine Palace Panel.

His heart grew increasingly satisfied.

"A little progress every day; persevere without slackening," Li Yuan thought to himself.

Ever since he awakened the Mind Divine Palace a year ago and learned the Great Sun Starry Sky Sutra, as long as Li Yuan meditated for two hours every day and endured that soul-tormenting hellish scorching, all his physical fatigue would be wiped clean. It was far more effective than sleeping or undergoing deep therapeutic treatment.

From then on, he developed the habit of coming to school to train after three in the morning.

Even during holidays, he would find a place downstairs in his residential complex and train alone.

He pushed himself to the absolute limit.

Only through that had his Martial Arts Score advanced by leaps and bounds over the past year.

Li Yuan wiped the sweat from his body and put the towel away.

Then he sensed something and turned around.

"Tianyou? You came so early?" Li Yuan smiled at the lean figure carrying a backpack.

"You came even earlier than I did." Li Tianyou looked at Li Yuan with slight surprise.

"I only got here a little while ago and just put my bag down." Li Yuan took out his spear as he smiled. "I left evening self-study earlier than you yesterday, so naturally I had to work harder during morning self-study."

"Is that so?" Li Tianyou stared at Li Yuan suspiciously.

He could no longer remember how many times this had happened.

Every evening self-study session, he was always the last to leave the classroom, so the others in class called him the "number one grind king."

But!!

Only Li Tianyou knew that whether he arrived at the classroom at six-thirty, six-fifteen, or even exactly six, there would always be someone already there—Li Yuan.

Today, he had deliberately arrived early at five-forty.

Yet Li Yuan was still already standing in the classroom.

"Pfft!"

Not far away, Li Yuan took out his spear and silently began practicing his spear techniques.

Could it be that Li Yuan came to school at five-thirty every day? Or even earlier? Li Tianyou could not help thinking as he watched Li Yuan.

Then he shook his head to himself.

Impossible!

"My home is only one street away from the school. I already live very close."

"When I arrive after five occasionally, I get sleepy during the day." Li Tianyou thought to himself, If I want to stay energetic all day, I still need to get up at six-fifteen.

Li Tianyou was also exceptionally self-disciplined.

"Li Yuan's family circumstances are only slightly better than mine. He cannot afford advanced treatment, and he lives so far away... If he gets to school by five-thirty, he would have to get up at five. His body couldn't take it."

"He probably only comes to school after five to train occasionally, just like me."

"It's just that we happened to run into each other these past few times." Li Tianyou guessed.

He did not dwell on it and began practicing the Basic Cultivation Method by himself.

Not until six-thirty.

The sky was already bright when several classmates gradually began arriving at the Martial Arts Classroom.

"You two grind kings are both here again?" Several classmates teased before starting their own training.

It was not that all the students of Class 2, Grade 3 did not work hard. Rather, most of them focused on Cultural Courses. Even if they arrived early, most would go to the cultural classroom to review their coursework.

"Clang~"

Li Yuan placed his spear into the weapon cabinet and left the classroom for the cafeteria.

It was time for breakfast.

Eating three meals a day at the prescribed times, adding or reducing meals according to the body's needs.

That was a basic quality for a martial arts student.

After breakfast.

Li Yuan headed directly to the cultural classroom and began a morning of cultural course study.

Day after day.

Li Yuan trained in an orderly routine.

Senior year studies, whether for students focused on Cultural Courses or martial arts students.

Were an extremely dull and stifling process.

But Li Yuan knew very well that there had never been such a thing as a true genius.

Genius had always been 99% sweat and 1% talent. Sometimes, when breaking through a bottleneck, that 1% of talent truly mattered more.

But without 99% sweat, no matter how high one's talent, it would ultimately be a castle in the air.

Because this world never lacked geniuses.

What it lacked had always been geniuses willing to work hard.

Day after day, and in the blink of an eye, it was already mid-September.

During this time, Li Yuan found time to visit the Guanshan District Branch of the Starry Sky Martial Hall and asked Uncle Zhong to buy him a whole box of Basic Qi and Blood Potions, spending 19,000 Blue Star Coins.

Uncle Zhong was the friend of Li Changzhou, Li Yuan's uncle. He was an Entry-Level Martialist and also a member of the Starry Sky Martial Hall, so he could get a discount when helping purchase Basic Qi and Blood Potions.

Even so, the expense pained Li Yuan.

But he had no choice but to spend it.

Without Basic Qi and Blood Potions, the speed at which his physical qualities improved would weaken by at least half.

His body might even be unable to withstand such frenzied training, leaving him depleted.

The martial path required not only talent and hard work, but also money piled upon money.

None of the three could be absent.

And now, more than ten days had passed since Teacher Xu Bo promised him the "Third-Class Financial Aid."

Although Li Yuan longed for it in his heart.

During this period, whether in martial arts class or when he encountered Teacher Xu Bo between classes, Li Yuan never mentioned it.

It was as though the two had never discussed it.

"As for this financial aid, all I can do is wait. I absolutely cannot ask for it," Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

Because he was not qualified.

Since Teacher Xu Bo had not mentioned it all this time, he must have encountered some difficulty.

Taking the initiative to press him would only make him unhappy.

In the blink of an eye, another five days passed.

The moonlight was hazy, scattering a cold radiance across the asphalt road outside the senior-year teaching building.

In the spacious Martial Arts Classroom of Class 2, Grade 3, more than ten students trained separately.

At one side of the training ground, Li Yuan was immersed in spear practice.

He stood there like an unshakable boulder, containing an invisible pressure as he held the spear with both hands.

Again and again, he practiced every technique of the long spear.

"Puff!"

"Psh!" The spear tip carved invisible arcs through the air, forming afterimages. One moment, it was swift as a gale, launching fierce thrusts.

"Boom!" The next moment, it was firm as rock, the spear shadows flowing on without end.

Every turn, spear lift, direct thrust, block, and upward sweep Li Yuan made landed with flawless accuracy upon the point he had envisioned in his mind.

As his spine bent like a bow and his waist twisted, all the muscles, tendons, and bones in his body moved with the spear. His body, mind, and weapon had already reached an extremely high realm of unity.

Suddenly.

Li Yuan, who had just held his spear in a defensive stance, abruptly drove forward with a fierce thrust, like a hidden dragon lurking amid ten thousand rocky ravines, bursting forth after gathering its momentum.

Before this spear strike erupted, it concealed itself to the utmost extreme.

But once it erupted, its might was terrifying to the utmost extreme as well.

"Boom!" The spear shadow blurred in an instant, and even the air faintly exploded.

This scene.

Stunned the surrounding students, and they could not help turning to look at the move Li Yuan had unleashed.

"Finally, I've completely perfected this killing move."

"Hidden Dragon in the Rocky Ravine!" Li Yuan withdrew his spear, a faint gleam in his eyes. "With this killing move, combined with the killing move I created before, 'Bedrock Pillar,' one for attack and one for defense, complementing each other."

"I have every hope of raising my Gold Rank points on the Starry Sky Fighting Net beyond 500."

The Starry Sky Fighting Net had long established the rules.

Anyone who reached 500 points at Gold Rank before turning eighteen would receive a reward of 50,000 Blue Star Coins.

"Hmm?" Li Yuan suddenly noticed the prompt from the Divine Palace Panel.

[Your spear technique realm has increased from Third Stage 40% to Third Stage 46%]

(End of Chapter)