Using experience points to raise his cultivation, Zhang Wan spent half the night mastering his increased strength.
The next afternoon, Zhang Wan returned to the Sky-Class Training Ground.
There were already people fighting on the ten arenas.
However, compared to yesterday, far fewer people were lining up to enter the arenas. Most were gathered below, watching.
This was hardly surprising. The fights had been so brutal yesterday that many students had ended up with bloody heads and battered faces. They were all injured now.
Without ten days to half a month of rest, these people would not be entering the arenas again.
Zhang Wan joined the line, and before long, it was his turn to enter the arena.
After paying one low-grade spirit stone, Zhang Wan leaped up, soaring more than three meters into the air and covering a distance of two zhang before landing in the center of the one-meter-high arena.
The other person entered the arena in much the same way.
The senior Postnatal student serving as referee shouted from below, "One, two, three—begin!"
The moment the voice fell, Zhang Wan immediately retreated. His opponent pursued him head-on, striking with both palms. Overlapping palm shadows spread densely like a fine rain.
Fine Rain Spring Breeze Palm? Zhang Wan recognized the palm technique. He had seen it while watching the fights yesterday.
Fine Rain Spring Breeze Palm was both a palm technique and a cultivation method.
This technique excelled in palm techniques and movement techniques. Once it launched an attack, the body moved like a clear breeze, coming and going freely, graceful and unrestrained. Its palms were like fine rain, its attacks dense enough to leave no room for its opponent to catch their breath.
However, the person before him clearly had not mastered the movement technique. Zhang Wan retreated rapidly, yet his opponent still could not close the distance between them.
Just as Zhang Wan was about to retreat to the edge of the arena, his legs tensed. He settled into a horse stance, force surged through him and gathered between his palms, and he struck at his charging opponent with one palm.
A pleased look appeared on his opponent's face. He neither dodged nor evaded, preparing to meet Zhang Wan head-on with the Fine Rain Palm of Fine Rain Spring Breeze Palm.
The Fine Rain Palm's attacks were dense yet filled with feints and real strikes, changing unpredictably.
Zhang Wan unleashed Stacked Force Palm into the dense palm shadows, but struck nothing. He merely scattered the palm shadows without hitting his opponent.
Just as the Fine Rain Palm slipped past Stacked Force Palm and was about to land on the arm Zhang Wan had extended—
Whoosh.
His horse stance turned into a full split. Zhang Wan's entire body dropped in an instant, avoiding his opponent's Fine Rain Palm.
He immediately twisted around, supporting his body with one hand, then swung out with a kick and sent his opponent flying.
That fellow was not weak either, and was not defeated by this.
When Zhang Wan's split attack missed, he had already realized something was wrong. He swiftly assumed a defensive stance and blocked Zhang Wan's kick.
After kicking, Zhang Wan landed from a backflip. As he looked at his opponent, a trace of excitement showed on his face.
This was the first time he had fought someone with his hands and feet completely unleashed. He could feel the blood in his body boiling.
Without hesitation, Zhang Wan used the Nine Step Movement Technique, closing the distance with his opponent in an instant before throwing a punch.
The crackling sounds of fists and feet colliding rang out without pause. In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged dozens of blows.
Both sides suffered injuries, but the pain only made them more excited, and their fight grew even more intense.
In the end, relying on the even stronger physique granted by cultivating Bronze Iron Body, Zhang Wan forcibly dragged the fight out until his opponent exhausted his strength, then won the battle in one stroke.
When Zhang Wan left the arena, he was covered in blue and purple bruises.
Once the fight ended and the cold wind blew, the excitement faded. The stinging pain radiating throughout his body made Zhang Wan suck in a sharp breath.
He had won this bout, but judging by his opponent's condition, the other man was clearly less injured than he was.
He had won, yet suffered worse injuries. This was seriously infuriating!
"Fine Rain Spring Breeze Palm really makes him as slippery as an eel," Zhang Wan grumbled inwardly.
His opponent had not even mastered the Spring Breeze movement technique, yet Zhang Wan had still found it difficult to catch him. His fists and feet had struggled to land.
His opponent, however, could rely on his movement and palm techniques to launch effective attacks against him.
If not for his tough, thick-skinned body, he truly would not have lasted until his opponent exhausted his strength.
Zhang Wan had gained a great deal from this battle. It had also made him aware of many flaws in himself, all of which he needed to overcome one by one.
Then, after he received the two low-grade spirit stones he had won from the wagered battle, the pain in his body vanished without a trace, leaving only happiness behind.
His wealth had increased by another low-grade spirit stone. Wonderful.
For the following month, Zhang Wan cultivated on his own, digesting what he had gained from that battle.
From time to time, he also visited the Sky-Class Training Ground to watch the arena wagered battles and absorb experience from them.
He also became familiar with some of the Postnatal students who came often.
They could not be considered friends, but they could at least exchange a few words.
From these Postnatal students, Zhang Wan learned quite a few things.
For example, near the Beginner Martial Arts Academy was a place called Yunmeng Market. Whenever these Postnatal students needed something, they could go to Yunmeng Market to buy it.
The market was controlled by the Jade Bone Sect, which had opened shops there.
When disciples of the Jade Bone Sect went there to purchase cultivation resources with their disciple tokens, they could enjoy a ninety-nine percent price. Of course, the most important thing was safety.
No one would dare attack members of the Jade Bone Sect in Yunmeng Market.
However, if they wanted to obtain cultivation methods or other inheritances, it was best to go directly to Inheritance Hall.
According to these fellow students,
Cultivation methods, martial skills, cultivation techniques, and other inheritances were all extremely expensive in the market. Even after the ninety-nine percent discount, the prices remained despair-inducing.
Obtaining them from Inheritance Hall was instead much cheaper.
Although these Postnatal students still had to remain in the academy and complete ten full years of academic classes, going to the sect's Inheritance Hall was not difficult.
They only needed to request two or three days of leave, take a flying ship or rune carriage to the mountain gate, and then go to Inheritance Hall to exchange for the inheritance they wanted.
Quite a few Postnatal students in the academy had accumulated spirit stones and exchanged them for an inheritance of a cultivation technique at the sect's Inheritance Hall.
This made Zhang Wan suddenly understand.
No wonder so many students used talismans, spirit ores, and scraps of spirit medicine as stakes in the arena wagers.
He had assumed they had exchanged spirit stones for those resources and then could not resist using them as stakes.
Now that he thought about it, those resources being offered as wagers were likely leftovers from practicing their techniques.
After learning this, Zhang Wan also formed an idea. He could save up a sum of spirit stones, then go to the sect's Inheritance Hall and exchange them for a Spirit Planter inheritance. He could use some of the spirit plants he cultivated himself and take the rest to Yunmeng Market to sell for other resources.
"I just wonder how many spirit stones a Spirit Planter inheritance costs."
That would not be difficult to find out.
Among the academy's Postnatal students, there were also some who had obtained Spirit Planter inheritances from Inheritance Hall. After making a few inquiries, Zhang Wan soon learned what he wanted to know.
After asking, Zhang Wan discovered that the situation was rather complicated.
Inheritance Hall did not sell a complete Spirit Planter inheritance.
It only sold the cultivation method for Postnatal low-grade spirit plants. To obtain the subsequent inheritance, one had to join the sect's Spirit Planter Hall and gain its recognition.
Aside from that, if one had a sect Prenatal martial artist vouch for them, one could also obtain the subsequent Spirit Planter inheritance recorded by the Jade Bone Sect.
This left Zhang Wan helpless.
A Prenatal martial artist to vouch for him? Where would he get that kind of background? Even if it were Zhao Qixin, perhaps that would work.
Thus, if he wanted to obtain more profound Spirit Planter knowledge later on, he would need to join Spirit Planter Hall.
Fortunately, the department sounded like a logistics department, which suited Zhang Wan's needs perfectly. There was no need to hesitate.
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