The Speed of Deduction Points Increasing

Then, a new martial art called Turtle Shell Art appeared in Zhao Ping'an's mind, as if directly engraved there—impossible to forget even if he wanted to.

The cultivation method on the attribute panel had also changed to:

[Name: Zhao Ping'an]

[Realm: Warrior First Level]

Cultivation Method:

[Turtle Shell Art (Third-rate Cultivation Method): 0/200 (Not Yet Mastered, Simplified) Use the body to continuously ram a wooden stake 100 times to increase proficiency by 1 point]

[Deduction Points: 0%]

(Method to obtain Deduction Points: Eating, absorbing External Energy, etc., can all yield Deduction Points!

The higher the cultivation, the greater the total Deduction Points!

Once a cultivation method is fully mastered, Deduction Points can be consumed to deduce and advance the method!)

"Turtle Shell Art? This is... a pure Body Cultivation technique?

The required proficiency has increased too? And Deduction Points reset to zero?

Makes sense—after all, the method's grade went up, and Body Tempering Art was always a pure Body Cultivation technique."

"If I keep deducing like this, I might just become a saint through the body alone! Gets me a little excited just thinking about it..."

Looking at the new method and values on the panel, Zhao Ping'an muttered to himself, both surprised and as if it were only natural.

"This is fine too. A pure Body Cultivation technique—if I hadn't experienced it firsthand, I'd never know how strong I am. Thoughtful!"

Though he couldn't split rivers or shatter mountains with a blade, breaking all techniques with raw strength was still a great deal.

Plus, it let him conceal his cultivation to the utmost. Zhao Ping'an was very satisfied with the deduction results.

"Let's test the effect first!"

The training requirement for Turtle Shell Art was to continuously ram a wooden stake with the body 100 times to increase training progress by 1 point.

There were no wooden stakes in the open ground of the forest, but plenty of trees—those counted as oversized stakes.

Zhao Ping'an found a tree over half a meter in diameter, took off his shirt, bared his arms, and began ramming the trunk with his body.

Once, twice, three times...

He didn't ram fast—about once per second.

In less than two minutes, Zhao Ping'an completed a set of 100 impacts. He immediately looked at the panel to see if hitting the tree worked.

[Turtle Shell Art (Third-rate Cultivation Method): 1/200 (Not Yet Mastered, Simplified) Use the body to continuously ram a wooden stake 100 times to increase training progress by 1 point]

"It works! Good. Too bad there's no time..."

Seeing the proficiency for Turtle Shell Art increase by one on the panel, Zhao Ping'an's eyes lit up. He picked up his shirt, put it back on, and walked toward the nearby house.

The blood exchange had eaten up a lot of time. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, leaving only a faint orange glow.

It was time for dinner!

Waking up the next morning, Zhao Ping'an quickly opened the game panel and looked at the [Deduction Points] at the bottom.

The [Deduction Points], which had been completely drained yesterday afternoon, had already grown again, reaching: [Deduction Points: 2%].

That meant a hearty dinner, after full absorption, had given him 2% of [Deduction Points].

"I wonder if the noon medicinal bath will increase [Deduction Points]?"

Seeing the progress at only 2%, Zhao Ping'an was far from satisfied. Dinner was the most lavish meal; even adding breakfast and lunch, he could only gain at most 5% of [Deduction Points] per day. That meant he'd need a full twenty days to deduce again.

So Zhao Ping'an set his sights on the medicinal bath—it surely contained a massive amount of energy.

After that, taking advantage of the early hour, he went back to the open ground in the forest behind the house, took off his shirt, bared his arms, and once again rammed the tree before him.

From the Deep Forest came the sound of "Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"—low and rhythmic.

When the sun appeared on the horizon, Zhao Ping'an finished the last dozen or so impacts and slowly stopped.

Though the three stages of tendon training, bone forging, and skin tempering, plus the final comprehensive boost from blood exchange, had made his body much stronger than an ordinary person's, he still needed to rest a while after each set of 100 impacts before continuing to train.

And he had to constantly switch the spots he rammed, or his body simply couldn't take it.

At this moment, Zhao Ping'an was flushed red all over from the hundreds of impacts just now.

But the gains were solid—because the Turtle Shell Art on the panel had already become:

[Turtle Shell Art (Third-rate Cultivation Method): 5/200 (Not Yet Mastered, Simplified) Use the body to continuously ram a wooden stake 100 times to increase training progress by 1 point]

That meant he'd completed four sets of impacts this morning alone.

Feeling his much stronger body, Zhao Ping'an put on his clothes and headed to the dining hall for breakfast.

Today's breakfast: rice porridge, pickled vegetables + dried meat.

At noon, after lunch, Zhao Ping'an once again lay down in the green medicinal bath, closing his eyes in comfort.

Streams of heat continuously seeped into his body through his pores, easing his fatigue.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed.

Hearing Master say the time was up, Zhao Ping'an quickly rose from the medicinal barrel, dressed, and slipped back to his room in a flash.

He couldn't wait to open the panel.

The Deduction Points at the bottom had changed to: [Deduction Points: 9%]

"It increased!"

Zhao Ping'an remembered clearly—before the medicinal bath, the Deduction Points were only 3%. Even adding the energy from lunch, it would be at most 5%. Now it was a full 9%, meaning the bath alone had given him at least a 4% increase.

"Great! That means I can perform a deduction in at most twelve days!"

Zhao Ping'an's mind settled, and he lay down on his bed to rest.

That afternoon, Deep Forest.

Because the sound of hitting the Tree Trunk was louder, Zhao Ping'an moved dozens of meters deeper into the forest and chose another half-meter-thick tree to start slamming into.

Deep in the woods, the thumping sounds of "Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!" rose and fell, echoing far and wide, occasionally startling a few birds into flight.

Only when the sun set behind the western hills did Zhao Ping'an finish his last dozen or so impacts and slowly come to a stop.

From the half-meter-thick tree's bark, which he had smashed to shreds, it was clear his strikes were no light matter.

Zhao Ping'an had tried merely brushing against the trunk, but after a hundred times, the proficiency of Turtle Shell Art hadn't increased at all. Clearly, cutting corners wasn't recognized by the panel.

After an afternoon of training, the Turtle Shell Art on the panel had become:

[Turtle Shell Art (Third-rate Cultivation Method): 35/200 (Not Yet Initiated, Simplified) Continuously strike a wooden stake with your body 100 times to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

That meant he had completed thirty full sets of impacts in one afternoon. At most a week, and he would initiate Turtle Shell Art.

After resting a while, Zhao Ping'an put on his clothes, turned, and headed back to his room. Tonight, he would rest well, because tomorrow at noon, Senior Disciple Brother Ji Xiangming would return.

And he had also received Master's special permission to rest for the entire morning tomorrow.