True Combined Strength - Introduction

When striving toward a goal, time always passes incredibly quickly.

Sunrise and sunset, and another day was gone.

The moon waxed and waned, waned and waxed, and in the blink of an eye, another month had passed.

During this month, Shen Fan shifted the focus of his training to True Combined Strength. Compared to Savage Bull Fist, True Combined Strength was undoubtedly much simpler to grasp.

Based on his current Talent, it would take at least another half a year for his Savage Bull Fist to advance from Initiation to Minor Accomplishment!

But as for mastering True Combined Strength, Shen Fan felt it should come quickly.

That night, under a clear sky with sparse stars and a bright moon, the training ground was long empty of other Apprentices practicing martial arts. Yet Shen Fan still tirelessly trained in True Combined Strength.

Over the past month or so, Shen Fan's dedication to martial training had reached a frenzied level. Not only did he train during the day, but he also sneaked out of the dormitory for two hours each night to practice in a secluded corner of the training ground!

Because this feeling of constant progress was utterly addictive.

Once, twice, three times, four times, five times...

After practicing more than a dozen repetitions, a sudden inspiration struck him. He felt that the True Combined Strength he was practicing had touched a barrier.

Shen Fan knew that if he could break through this barrier, he would achieve Initiation!

With that thought, his spirit and energy surged again. He recited the key essence of True Combined Strength in his mind, deepening his understanding.

He continuously corrected his movements, and soon, he sensed a change within himself. He could feel the faint blood energy in his body suddenly come alive, flowing through his entire being along with the technique.

Finally, driven by this thread of blood energy, Shen Fan's True Combined Strength achieved Initiation!

The moment it did, the blood energy within him abruptly increased by a thread, nourishing his skin and membrane even faster!

After finishing his practice, Shen Fan let out a long breath.

Looking at the Attribute Panel, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

code
Host: Shen Fan
Talent: 11 (Slightly Gifted)
Lifespan: 43
Martial Path: Savage Bull Fist (Initiation), True Combined Strength (Initiation)
Realm: None

On the panel, there was now a clear change.

With the Initiation of True Combined Strength, Shen Fan's Lifespan had increased by another 3 years, but his Talent had only risen by 2 points—a noticeable reduction compared to last time!

Moreover, the pattern of growth left Shen Fan somewhat puzzled.

He had originally thought that for every year of Lifespan gained, Talent would also increase by one point, but reality proved otherwise—or at least, not entirely.

Clearly, he still needed to thoroughly explore how the panel worked.

But soon, Shen Fan stopped dwelling on this issue, because he had already begun to feel the effect of the panel improving his Talent.

The moment the Talent value changed on the panel, Shen Fan distinctly sensed a special energy emerging from the space around him. As if summoned, this energy surged wildly into his body.

Like returning to a mother's embrace, Shen Fan felt warmth envelop his entire being.

Yet this sensation came and went quickly. When he opened his eyes, he suddenly noticed a sticky film on his face.

Reaching out to touch it, he found the same substance all over his body.

With no choice, Shen Fan forced his eyes open and discovered he had become a greasy mess, covered head to toe in a layer of blackish-yellow oil.

Suppressing his disgust, he hurried to the well, hauled up a large bucket of water, and thoroughly washed himself.

After cleaning up, Shen Fan immediately noticed a tremendous change in himself!

His bones, tendons, skin, and membranes had grown noticeably stronger. Even his height had increased by two centimeters. The blood energy within him had expanded from two threads into a small wisp—multiplying several times over!

His five senses had sharpened, his mind felt as if a shackle had been removed, and his thinking speed had clearly accelerated.

Suddenly reminded of something, Shen Fan immediately performed a set of Savage Bull Fist.

Sure enough, after one round, he could clearly feel that his training speed for Savage Bull Fist had increased by a large margin!

If, when his Talent was 5, practicing Savage Bull Fist once gave him one point of experience, then when his Talent reached 9, one practice gave him two points. But now, with his Talent at 11—an increase of only 2 points—each practice yielded five points of experience!

More than doubled. Such an improvement filled Shen Fan with pleasant surprise.

"It seems 10 points of Talent is a threshold. Cross it, and a whole new world opens up!"

Shen Fan felt he understood a great deal.

Looking at the "Slightly Gifted" evaluation of his Talent on the panel, he felt that all the hardship he had endured these past days was worth it!

Shen Fan stopped and decided to head back to rest, as a reward to himself for his tremendous progress.

Besides, after breaking through to "Slightly Gifted" Talent, he could clearly sense that his future training speed would far surpass ordinary people.

As long as he trained methodically every day from now on, he was confident he could break through to Skin Refining within a month and become a true Martial Artist!

And so another month passed. During this time, no one noticed anything unusual about Shen Fan, though a few Apprentices close to him vaguely sensed that his aura was growing stronger and stronger.

It seemed he was about to break through!

They had no particular thoughts on this, only feeling that Shen Fan's hard work had finally paid off—after all, over the past few months, his image as a "Cultivation Maniac" had become deeply ingrained in everyone's minds!

And today, Shen Fan had finally seized that fleeting opportunity for a breakthrough.

When morning practice was nearly over, Shen Fan was still practicing his most familiar move, the Savage Bull Fist. As he was about to finish this round of the fist technique, he suddenly felt all the blood and qi in his body surge to a boil.

The violent blood and qi continuously tempered his skin and membrane, greatly enhancing the toughness of his flesh.

Shen Fan could even hear the sound of blood flowing within his body, like a long river rushing endlessly.

Finally, under the stimulation of the Savage Bull Fist, Shen Fan felt the blood and qi in his body grow more and more lively, and the tempering of his skin and membrane was complete!

The moment he withdrew his stance, Shen Fan clearly sensed the change in his body—Skin Refining was achieved!

Without a moment's hesitation, and with no intention of hiding his progress—after all, becoming a formal disciple of the martial arts school would grant him not only more time for training but also access to greater resources.

For a martial artist, having resources versus not having them were two completely different things, so Shen Fan decided to go for it!

Just as Liu Zhen was about to leave, Shen Fan called out to him: "Senior Brother Liu, I think I just broke through!"

As Soon As the Words Fell, the apprentices on the training ground all turned to look at Shen Fan in unison.

"What, did that guy just say something?"

"Broke through? Did his cultivation method just reach the entry level?"

"Yeah, yeah, otherwise it couldn't be a breakthrough to warrior—that requires Minor Accomplishment in the method!"

"I think I recognize that guy—he's a Cultivation Maniac, been at our Ox Demon Martial Arts School for over a year!"

"Ah—that long? So he's an old disciple. Looks like his talent isn't all that great, huh?!!"

"Exactly, just getting entry level in his method and daring to disturb Senior Brother Liu—how reckless..."

As the surrounding apprentices murmured, Liu Zhen's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. As a Bone Forging martial artist, he could clearly hear everything they were saying.

"What did you break through to? Don't toy with me," Liu Zhen said, lacking confidence in Shen Fan.

"Skin Refining, of course. This Humble One has broken through to the Skin Refining Warrior level. I ask Senior Brother Liu to test me!"

Shen Fan spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly, completely ignoring the sneers and sarcasm of the other apprentices.

In the eyes of ordinary people, geniuses were figures far out of reach, so when geniuses achieved results, they could only admire and praise them endlessly.

But when someone similar to themselves made progress they hadn't achieved, they would put on a completely different face—cold mockery was the least of it, and stabbing in the back wasn't out of the question!

Because jealousy often arises among those of similar standing.

The apprentices below started murmuring again, but Liu Zhen ignored them. He quickly strode over to Shen Fan, his fingers tightly gripping Shen Fan's palm.

Shen Fan only felt a pair of iron claws seize him, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.

But he didn't need to resist.

Liu Zhen's brow furrowed. He gave Shen Fan a careful look but didn't let go immediately.

One of the apprentices beside Shen Fan, Zhou Yang, seemed to sense something and immediately jumped out, saying, "Haha, I knew it! How could a guy like you break through to Skin Refining and become a warrior?"

"My talent is above yours, and even I only got my fist technique to entry level half a year ago—and I still haven't reached Minor Accomplishment to this day!

Clearly, you're just deceiving us. But fooling us is one thing—today you've lost your mind and tried to fool Senior Brother Liu. I think you're—"

Zhou Yang put on a righteous air, as if he had Shen Fan cornered, but before he could finish, Liu Zhen cut him off.

"Shut up! When did this Junior Brother deceive me? Don't spout nonsense here!"

A sharp glint flashed in Liu Zhen's eyes, and he immediately broke into a genial smile, saying to Shen Fan, "I don't know this Junior Brother's name yet—"

"You're too kind, Senior Brother. This Humble One is Shen Fan!"

"Shen Fan? Good, Junior Brother Shen is indeed a man of his word!

But you're usually too modest. You're not just breaking through now—the blood and qi in your body surpass even an ordinary Skin Refining Warrior!

You must have been holding back for quite some time, right?"

Liu Zhen acted as if they were old friends, even winking at Shen Fan with an expression that said, "I've seen through you."

But Shen Fan didn't say much, simply maintaining a calm demeanor.

No matter what, his status as a formal disciple of the martial arts school was secure. As for the rest, he'd let it go—explaining would only be a waste of breath.

Seeing Shen Fan like this, Liu Zhen became even more convinced of his own assumption. He shot a glare at Zhou Yang, then warmly took Shen Fan by the arm and led him away.

The surrounding apprentices watched Zhou Yang standing frozen in place, casting pitying glances his way.

"That guy—he was never as good as me before. How did he suddenly surpass me?

Could hard training really be that effective?"

Zhou Yang looked like he was questioning his entire existence, but soon, deep fear set in.

He had already offended Shen Fan, and now that Shen Fan was an official disciple of the school, making life difficult for him would be all too easy.

It seemed he had just envisioned his own miserable future, and Zhou Yang truly wished he could slap himself twice across the face.

How had he suddenly lost his head, running out like an idiot to offend someone? Under normal circumstances, this was almost impossible!

He could only say that jealousy truly disfigures a person and robs them of reason.

As for Zhou Yang, who was now sunk in deep regret, Shen Fan couldn't care less. As for revenge—that was even more out of the question. Zhou Yang was merely an ordinary person he had already surpassed; what was there to hold a grudge over?

Just because a dog barked at you, did you have to hunt it down and kill it? There was absolutely no need. With all that time spent on revenge, wouldn't it be better to train in martial arts and raise one's Realm?

After all, Shen Fan was a man who had set immortality as his small goal!

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