A Million an Hour, Prajna Seven Kills!

After entering the rank, qi entered the Initial Aperture and continuously nourished his flesh. Su Tu could feel a burning sensation beneath his heart from time to time.

That acupoint was the Initial Aperture. The qi that had previously drifted endlessly through his body now seemed to have found a home and a source. If his original qi had been like duckweed without roots, drifting with the blood and meridians, then now it had roots, channels, and a source.

Like streams and rivers, once they found their source, they became inexhaustible.

Moreover, Su Tu discovered that after entering the rank, when he continued circulating his Base Skill, his qi seemed to have found a target. While washing through his entire body, it was also faintly charging toward another acupoint.

But before he could think further—

An indescribable heat suddenly erupted within his body.

His skin reddened at a visible rate, and steam-like vapor continuously rose from around him.

Su Tu felt as though he had been thrown into a sea of fire. The heat was unbearable, scorching his tendons and baking his blood, as if his entire body were about to be roasted.

As he sensed the changes in his body and endured the pain, a term suddenly popped into Su Tu's mind.

This feeling... could I have suffered a qi deviation?

In the martial arts novels from his previous life, this was exactly what a qi deviation looked like.

Before his chaotic thoughts could run wild, Zhou Wuliang appeared before him. With two fingers pressed together, he repeatedly tapped different parts of Su Tu's body, then gently pushed and kneaded him with his palms.

Only then did that scorching sensation recede.

"Haste makes waste. A Base Skill requires bitter, gradual cultivation. The stronger the Base Skill, the greater its restrictions. Once you cross that red line, your body will be unable to bear it, causing your qi and blood to surge wildly, like flames consuming your body."

"When cultivating your Base Skill, you must grasp the proper measure. When to work diligently and when to rest—both are things you must learn."

Zhou Wuliang cautioned him.

Su Tu nodded seriously.

Cultivating a Base Skill is like running or lifting weights. You have to proceed step by step and gradually increase the duration of your training.

Just like when he had first obtained the system, his Physical Fitness had been extremely limited. He would be out of breath after running one or two kilometers. But as his training time increased and his Body Strengthening level rose, Su Tu could now run thirty kilometers in one go.

That was where the system's power lay. Whenever Su Tu mastered a skill, that skill would be deeply imprinted into his body and improve along with his Proficiency.

"How does entering the rank feel?" Zhou Wuliang looked at Su Tu, and the more he looked, the more delighted he became.

High talent, good temperament, and even damn handsome enough to nearly rival this old man in his youth. Who wouldn't like a student like that?

"The qi in my body has found a source. It no longer charges around recklessly like before. Its flow also seems to have gained a certain pattern, consciously or unconsciously striking toward some acupoint..."

Su Tu described what he felt as he sensed the changes within himself.

"That's right. After entering an aperture, qi has a place to return to and can naturally be used by you. It will travel through your body in a manner suited to you. As for the point it is striking, that is qi attempting to open the next aperture."

"It's already trying to open the next aperture?"

Su Tu knew that the first rank of cultivation involved refining all 108 acupoints within the body with qi. But he had not expected it to happen so quickly. He had only just entered the rank and opened one aperture, yet he was already about to strike at the next. That seemed somewhat at odds with Zhou Wuliang's earlier words about bitter, gradual cultivation.

Zhou Wuliang saw Su Tu's confusion. He smiled first, then explained.

"The human body's 108 acupoints are like a map of mountains and rivers. Each acupoint is a mountain. Before you entered an aperture, it was as though you stood at the foot of the mountain, naturally unable to glimpse the surrounding peaks. Entering an aperture is like standing atop a mountain summit. When you raise your eyes, the mountains lie ahead, and qi will naturally forge onward."

Hearing Zhou Wuliang's explanation, Su Tu immediately understood.

So qi was like a tour group. Once it sensed the next acupoint, it figured it was already here and wanted to try entering it.

After figuring it out, Su Tu was just about to say something to Zhou Wuliang.

But when he looked up, he saw Zhou Wuliang's mouth corner rise and fall like it was twitching. It happened six times in a row.

That's a little abstract, Su Tu thought, though his expression remained unchanged.

No matter how one looked at Old Zhou, he had the bearing of a highly respected grandmaster. The aura he gave off proved as much.

Yet ever since Su Tu had entered the martial arts hall, the old man had always done strange and inexplicable things.

If he had to put it into words, it felt as though the old man was padding out the count.

He recalled their first meeting: the old man drinking seven cups of tea and forcibly frowning seven times. Then there had been the six twitches of his mouth just now. If those counted as smiles, along with the one time he had smiled earlier, that made exactly seven.

I know your lucky number is seven, but padding it out like this... Su Tu was speechless.

Zhou Wuliang said, "Now that you have entered the rank, this old man will pass on a technique to you shortly. Practice it often whenever you have time. A technique can not only be used for combat, but also temper the body and strengthen your foundation."

"Yes, Teacher."

Anticipation rose in Su Tu's eyes.

Here came a way to raise his Combat Proficiency. He had originally planned to slowly grind up his Combat skill with Straight Punches.

Now, it seemed he had found a better method.

"Everyone, come over!" Zhou Wuliang spoke in a low voice, but the moment his voice emerged, it was as if all things fell silent. His deep voice rang clearly in everyone's hearts.

The students quickly gathered around.

Su Tu also joined the crowd. Tang Yangwu raised his brows at him in greeting, and Su Tu smiled back. After all, the other man had just given him a gift.

"Brother, tell me honestly. Are you some heavenly god reincarnated?"

The tall, skinny boy beside Su Tu lowered his voice as he asked.

His name was Balu. He had something of a chuunibyou personality and loved reading novels. He often shared novels and comics in the group chat.

Su Tu could not help but laugh at his words. He could not understand how the man's imagination worked.

"Come on, don't talk nonsense. I think Su Tu must be the descendant of some hidden family, concealed on the Ancestral Star. Even our families can't uncover his origins. Wow! You aren't from the Ten Heavens Martial Clan, are you?"

The chubby boy on the other side also blurted out noisily.

The chubby boy's surname was Zhuge. He had never mentioned his full name, so everyone called him Zhuge. He seemed like a descendant of that Martial Marquis. The Zhuge surname appeared to come with an intelligence bonus, and Su Tu had once thought this man was practically monstrously wise.

But after getting to know him, he discovered that Fat Zhuge did not possess the Martial Marquis's monstrous intellect. His ability to make associations, however, was utterly unrestrained. If you stopped paying attention for a moment, he could connect a whole pile of things together—and somehow make it sound quite reasonable.

"How did you even get there?" Su Tu said helplessly.

"Wow, brother, this is seriously outrageous. Do you know what it means to enter the rank in a single day? I spent seventeen years taking all kinds of supplements and precious medicines, and it still took me a year to enter the rank. Luo Fan and Mo Ya, those geniuses from New Star, also took a month. But you? You entered the rank in one day, and you'd only just begun Martial Dao!!"

"If you'd been born on New Star, people would have been crying and begging to invest in your martial arts training, you know!!"

"With talent like yours, I don't believe there isn't some bloodline theory behind it. Like some Bandit King or Water Shadow Ninja, you get me?" Fat Zhuge said in a low voice.

Only then did Su Tu notice that the other students' gazes toward him were extremely complicated.

It seemed his entry into the rank had truly shocked them.

Quite a few of them probably thought the same way, but Su Tu knew he was just an ordinary person. There was no bloodline theory involved. He was merely hardworking enough, talented enough, and had a tiny bit of help from the system... that was all.

Luo Fan's gaze, however, differed somewhat from the others. There was an inexplicable eagerness to try in his eyes.

"Today, this old man will pass on a technique to you all. It can nurture the heart or kill the living; all depends on what you yourselves comprehend."

Zhou Wuliang stood tall and straight, as though lightning flashed within his eyes.

At the sight, everyone straightened their backs. Even Balu and Fat Zhuge became extremely serious. This old man had an extraordinary background, and nothing he taught was ordinary. Having come here, they naturally had to do everything they could to learn it.

"This technique is called Prajna Seven Kills. It emphasizes seven strikes in one shock, one thought that kills all!"

"This is a third-rank technique!"

At those words, everyone revealed delighted expressions. Luo Fan and Mo Ya were somewhat calmer. The two came from New Star and had powerful backgrounds; each of them had mastered more than just third-rank techniques.

But when Su Tu heard the words "third-rank technique," his eyes gleamed!

By now, he had gained some understanding of Martial Dao. Through the Forum, he knew that martial arts techniques were currently divided into nine ranks. The higher the rank, the greater the power a technique could unleash and the greater its potential.

Su Tu did not know exactly how vast the gap between technique ranks was, but he knew one thing.

In the Forum's instructor guidance section, the going rate for guidance in a third-rank technique was one million per hour!!!