A thunderous boom rang out, its reverberations echoing across the training ground and making everyone's eardrums buzz.
Time seemed to freeze in that instant.
Every gaze was fixed on the Ironwood Stake that had taken Li Yuan's punch.
The stake was as hard as iron, and the other apprentices could leave only faint marks on it with all their strength. Now, centered on Li Yuan's fistprint, countless cracks suddenly spread across its surface like a spiderweb! A terrifying fistprint, over an inch deep with sharply defined edges, even revealing the splintered fibers of the wood, was stamped into it!
The print was deeply indented, as if it hadn't been made by human strength at all, but by a heavy iron hammer crashing down on it!
"Crack... crack-crack..."
Faint snapping sounds continued. The Ironwood Stake swayed several times, then its upper half slowly tilted, starting from the fistprint. At last, with a "crash," it broke in two and slammed onto the bluestone ground, kicking up a cloud of dust!
It... broke?
The Ironwood Stakes Blustering Wind Martial Hall used to test its apprentices... had been broken with a single punch?
Dead silence!
Absolute silence, so complete that a falling pin could be heard!
More than a hundred people stood frozen on the training ground, including the instructors on the raised platform and even the hall master, Shi Lie Feng. They stared blankly at the broken stake and Li Yuan, who had held his punching stance before slowly lowering his fist.
He still stood there, not particularly tall, his clothes still shabby. But now, in everyone's eyes, he seemed like a mountain that had suddenly thrust up from the earth, radiating an oppressive force that made it hard to breathe!
"N-no... impossible!" The sneer on Zhao Hu's face froze completely, transforming into utter shock and disbelief. He shrieked, his bulky body stumbling back two steps despite himself as he pointed at Li Yuan with a trembling finger. "Y-you cheated! You must have cheated!"
But his shrill cries sounded so feeble on the silent training ground. How could he have cheated with everyone watching?
Li Gou Er's mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg, his eyes full of fear.
Even Shi Feng, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, abruptly straightened his back. For the first time, his gaze fixed on Li Yuan with unprecedented gravity and shock!
Instructor Chen sprang off the raised platform and almost threw himself at the broken stake. His trembling hand felt the smooth break and the deeply indented fistprint. Sensing the scorching, domineering aura that still lingered there, he suddenly looked up and stared hard at Li Yuan. His voice wavered with shock.
"Iron Body Technique... Great Accomplishment?! No! This force, this penetrating power... ordinary Great Accomplishment can't possibly achieve this! H-how did you do it?!"
He instinctively stepped forward and grabbed Li Yuan's arm, squeezing it hard.
What he felt beneath his hand wasn't hard bone. It was like rubber wrapped around steel wire, possessing astonishing resilience and spring. Beneath Li Yuan's skin, his qi and blood surged like a volcano on the verge of eruption!
No one could reach this level of physical strength through half a month of hard training! Even many veteran apprentices who had trained for years might not have such a formidable physique!
"Instructor," Li Yuan said, letting him hold his arm. His expression remained calm, and his voice still carried a trace of deliberate hoarseness. "This disciple has only practiced diligently every day according to the methods you taught us. I wouldn't dare slack off in the slightest."
His words were airtight, attributing everything to "diligent practice."
As Instructor Chen looked into Li Yuan's tranquil eyes, a storm raged in his heart. He absolutely did not believe this was merely the result of "diligent practice"! This boy had to be hiding a secret!
But he had no proof, and he couldn't investigate further with everyone watching.
The hall master, Shi Lie Feng, had somehow made his way to the front of the raised platform. For the first time, his sharp, hawk-like eyes truly settled on Li Yuan. They held scrutiny and surprise, along with a trace of... interest that was hard to detect.
"What is this boy's name?" Shi Lie Feng asked, his deep voice carrying unquestionable authority.
Instructor Chen hurriedly bowed and answered, "Reporting to the hall master, his name is Li Yuan. He's an apprentice in Class C Room Seven."
"Li Yuan..." Shi Lie Feng repeated the name. His gaze lingered on Li Yuan's seemingly ordinary body, which in truth concealed unfathomable depths, before he said slowly, "Class C is beneath you. Effective immediately, you're being transferred to Class A Room One."
Class A Room One!
The finest lodgings among the martial hall's apprentices, a symbol of the best resources and attention!
The crowd erupted again! Countless gazes focused on Li Yuan, filled with envy, jealousy, awe, and deep confusion.
A collateral-line descendant who had been unknown just a month and a half ago, mocked as a good-for-nothing, had made a single punch shatter a stake at the Half-month Exam—and vaulted straight into the martial hall's core ranks of apprentices!
Zhao Hu's face turned ashen, and he collapsed limply to the ground. He looked at the boy he had once bullied and mocked at will, now standing at a height he could only gaze up at. Terror and regret swallowed him whole.
Li Yuan bowed slightly toward Shi Lie Feng on the raised platform. "Thank you, hall master."
His tone remained calm, as if being transferred to Class A were no more than a trivial matter.
He lifted his head and calmly swept his gaze across the crowd, over their shocked, awestruck, and complicated faces. At last, his eyes passed over Zhao Hu, crumpled on the ground.
He said nothing and made no taunts, yet that calm gaze carried more force than any cutting words.
With his own fists, he had shattered every doubt and slight, announcing his rise to the world!
His days of insignificance were behind him. The hidden dragon... would at last soar from the depths!
Feeling the Crimson Sun Qi and Blood surging endlessly through his body, as if it would never run dry, Li Yuan's lips finally curled into a clear, icy smile.
This was only the first footprint on the road to the summit.
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