Saint Breaking, Chen Yan

"You all told me this morning you'd give your hearts for the Town Martial Bonus, you were full of spirit at noon, wanting to challenge the heavens, and now in the afternoon, you're lying on the ground giving up."

"Look at Chen Yan, he lay in a hospital bed for a year, and he's worked harder than any of you!"

A gentle breeze blew as the towering teaching building cast a shadow from the setting sun's molten glow.

Over fifty young men and women in summer clothes lay casually on the sunless concrete ground, groaning incessantly.

Sweat poured from their heads as they guzzled water, clearly exhausted from running thirty laps around the track.

Even as their homeroom teacher Wang Yang's stern scolding vibrated their eardrums, the students of Class Three, Grade Three remained motionless with strained expressions, as if nailed to the ground, unwilling to leave the cool shade.

Wang Yang sighed; awakening Qi and Blood required constant attempts to break through physical limits.

But how many truly possessed such willpower?

Thinking this, Wang Yang's gaze softened as he looked at the youth on the track, shimmering with heat waves under the scorching sun.

"Chen Yan, take a break. You were sick for a year; it's already impressive you didn't have to repeat the grade. Don't push yourself too hard now."

As Wang Yang's voice fell, the youth on the track seemed not to hear him at all.

Chen Yan lowered his head, his limbs moving mechanically.

Lift leg, plant foot, lean forward, lift leg again…

The T-shirt he wore had long faded, the brand unrecognizable, and in some places, the fabric was worn thin and transparent.

Chen Yan had been bedridden for a year, missing a full year of physical conditioning. He had only run just over thirty kilometers now, already reaching his limit.

His classmates, who were resting, looked at Chen Yan and grumbled one after another, but they were helpless.

Working themselves to such exhaustion, they felt no envy for his teacher's praise.

Chen Yan didn't hear Wang Yang very clearly; reality and illusion overlapped within his vision.

"Almost there."

Chen Yan wiped the sweat from his face, speaking indistinctly.

Within that illusory scene.

Endless void, infinite silence.

An orange glow, like a tassel, swept through the boundless darkness.

In Chen Yan's mind, a small tree, over a meter and a half tall, stood alone in the hazy void. Its trunk was slender and weak, and the branches spread out sparsely, only seven or eight in number.

But the miracle of life was often breathtaking; on one branch, an orange fruit hung.

The fruit was round and full, with a powerful character engraved in its center.

[Strength].

The orange glow floating in the universe flowed into the roots of the small tree, absorbed like pure nourishment.

The fruit engraved with the character [Strength] grew even plumper, on the verge of full maturity.

A data panel appeared before the small tree.

[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 1 (1/3)]
[Saint Breaking Fruit:
 Strength: (93/100)
 Blood: (4/100)]

This was Chen Yan's consciousness world. It had appeared a few days ago after he recovered.

Rather than calling it a system, this consciousness world actually had its own name: Saint Breaking Realm.

This tree was the Saint Breaking Tree.

It had suddenly appeared a few days ago. Whenever Chen Yan exercised or trained, an orange light would appear within the Saint Breaking Realm, nourishing the Saint Breaking Tree to grow the [Strength] Saint Breaking Fruit.

Chen Yan had been bedridden for a year, his body extremely weak. He had recovered so well now because he had already eaten one [Strength] Saint Breaking Fruit.

As for the [Blood] Saint Breaking Fruit, it required the absorption of Qi and Blood energy.

Its growth was extremely slow. Only when Chen Yan trained to his limit would a few wisps of red light appear within the Saint Breaking Realm, yielding very little.

He continued to run.

As Chen Yan's training intensified, reaching a point that tested his willpower, the fruit engraved with [Strength] grew faster.

Judging by its growth rate, it should be fully mature today.

Beside him, homeroom teacher Wang Yang watched quietly.

This was already the second time he had asked Chen Yan to rest, as Chen Yan had just recovered from a serious illness and was physically frail.

But seeing his persistence now, he chose to remain silent.

As for Chen Yan, his thoughts were more ambitious.

The school would be selecting for the Town Martial Bonus next week, and the benefits were substantial.

For him, it was naturally still a distant prospect.

If a person has no goals, they're truly pitiful.

Before the Town Martial Bonus selection, there's an assessment of punching power. If your punching power doesn't reach 160 kilograms, you're not eligible to participate in the Town Martial Bonus selection.

"Damn it, keep running!"

"If Chen Yan can do this, I can't lose!"

"Keep going!"

The students who were resting saw Chen Yan's current effort and their expressions changed. Some of the boys shouted and joined the running as well.

Chen Yan continued to run, but a figure appeared beside him.

"If effort were useful, what would money be for?"

The boy named Hu Yuan spoke:

"Chen Yan, your dad owes my family a thousand, you know that?"

Chen Yan looked over. The boy was his cousin, Hu Yuan.

"Tell your dad when you get back."

Chen Yan's expression darkened slightly. It was only right to repay debts, but being chased like this was also quite uncomfortable.

Hu Yuan was his cousin, but the relationship between their families was difficult to maintain.

His family was too poor, and others looked down on them.

Chen Yan took a deep breath. The Town Martial Bonus alone had a cash reward of twenty thousand. If he could get it, it would greatly alleviate his family's situation.

"Did you hear me!" Hu Yuan saw that Chen Yan wasn't replying and spoke sternly.

Just then, someone cheered.

"Zhang Qingsi has awakened Qi and Blood!"

"Wow, he really awakened it!"

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"So amazing!"

Chen Yan and Hu Yuan turned their heads to look. Everyone on the sports field was running towards the area behind him.

There was also a commotion in the teaching building. Students from all grades ran out of their classrooms and leaned over the railings to look down.

Not far from him, a boy in a school uniform was sitting on the ground, gradually surrounded by people. White mist was constantly rising from his body, and a faint red light burned slowly like flames.

"Close your eyes, take a deep breath, don't rush, feel your body carefully!"

The homeroom teacher, Wang Yang, said nervously. Soon, Principal Zhang Yue and Director of Academic Affairs Xia Tong also arrived. A crowd of students completely surrounded the sports field, and everyone looked at Zhang Qingsi with envy.

Hu Yuan couldn't bother with Chen Yan at this moment and quickly ran towards Zhang Qingsi.

After a while, Zhang Qingsi was taken away by the principal.

The sports field was soon empty, and Chen Yan continued running.

Others awakening Qi and Blood had nothing to do with him.

But there was only one spot for the Town Martial Bonus per class. If he wanted it, he had to defeat Zhang Qingsi.

Time passed slowly, and Chen Yan ran a few more laps.

The school gate opened, and several tricycles entered. A school teacher led some students to meet them.

Soon, a group of people carried the brass-colored metal sheets from the tricycles. A welder quickly spot-welded these metal sheets together.

It was a humanoid bronze statue about two meters tall, with its body crouched and in a punching pose.

Chen Yan glanced at it briefly and froze in place as he prepared to run.

In his consciousness, a wisp of pale golden light swept through the endless darkness, flowing towards the Saint Breaking Tree. It stopped three feet away from the Saint Breaking Tree, blocked by an invisible barrier.

A line of text suddenly appeared on the prompt panel.

[Prompt: Detected absorption of skill energy. The Saint Breaking Tree cannot absorb it. The Saint Breaking Tree needs to be upgraded to level two.]

Chen Yan's eyes narrowed. He had only glanced at the sculpture, and it had already caused an anomaly in the Saint Breaking Realm.

He walked to the sculpture and saw that Director of Academic Affairs Xia Tong was still guiding the welding. He asked:

"Hello teacher, may I ask whose sculpture this is?"

Xia Tong glanced at Chen Yan and reprimanded him:

"Stay away. Can't you see we're working here?"

Chen Yan frowned slightly but didn't ask further and went back to running.

He knew he could gain benefits from looking at this statue, but he couldn't get those benefits now.

"Congratulations to Zhang Qingsi of Class Three, Senior Year, for awakening Qi and Blood. Student Zhang Qingsi, on weekdays..."

The principal's excited voice sounded over the broadcast.

The sun lay drunk between heaven and earth, the night about to fall.

Students from Qingshan High School left school one after another.

On the balcony of the office building, homeroom teacher Wang Yang and principal Zhang Yue stood smoking.

"Qi and Blood awakening, you need to go to the county's Town Martial Division to register tomorrow."

"Mm." Wang Yang nodded, his gaze sweeping towards a figure running with all his might on the sports field. He was stunned for a moment, then a look of relief appeared in his eyes.

"This kid is working hard enough. I know about his situation. You should tell him not to push himself too hard since he just recovered," Zhang Yue also noticed Chen Yan, saying with a smile.

"I told him, but it's no use." Wang Yang smiled helplessly, his eyes filled with even greater admiration.

"Sigh..." Zhang Yue shook her head.

"Sometimes, a lot of people's extra effort is because of the problems of the previous generation. I admire hardworking students, but often I feel sad for them."

Zhang Yue's gaze lowered, and as if thinking of something, she suddenly said, "The Town Martial Bonus for your class will go to Zhang Qingsi."

Wang Yang was taken aback, then said, "The Town Martial Bonus share is quite large, let's wait and see again next Monday."

Zhang Yue shrugged indifferently, "Then it's up to you. But Zhang Qingsi is the only one in your class who has awakened Qi and Blood."

Zhang Yue left, leaving Wang Yang alone to light another cigarette.

One after another.

He looked at Chen Yan, who was still running, his eyes complex.

He had known from the start that Zhang Qingsi would be the first student in the class to awaken Qi and Blood. After all, Zhang Qingsi's father owned three restaurants in town, as well as a martial arts school.

Resources were piled up endlessly, even to the luxury of using Qi and Blood potions to help Zhang Qingsi break through the Qi and Blood bottleneck.

The gap between two generations, how much effort do you need to bridge it?

Town Martial Bonus...

The Town Martial Division only looks at strength. If your family conditions are good, then your strength is also good.

The sun set, and it got dark, but Wang Yang still watched the sports field.

The two seemed to be in a silent contest. Wang Yang wanted to see how far this kid Chen Yan would persist.

"Not bad, just like me!"

As the moon appeared, Wang Yang knew he had lost, but the smile on his lips grew stronger.

On the sports field, Chen Yan suddenly stopped and sat on the track, panting heavily.

From the teaching building in the distance, Wang Yang smiled and returned to the office.

He didn't know that Chen Yan was filled with excitement at that moment.

The Saint Breaking Fruit had completely matured. In his consciousness, a Chen Yan identical to the one in the real world appeared.

He carefully picked the Saint Breaking Fruit and swallowed it in one gulp.

The next moment, he felt a surging heat rush madly into his limbs and bones, and all the fatigue in his body disappeared.

Exiting his consciousness, Chen Yan in the real world felt the same sensation.

A gentle yet vast power spread within his body.

The veins on Chen Yan's arm bulged for an instant before slowly receding.

He sat on the ground for a long, long time.

All the fatigue and muscle soreness in his body vanished like smoke after taking the Saint Breaking Fruit.

Slowly accepting everything he had gained, a sense of joy welled up in his heart.

The surge of power made Chen Yan need to adapt to his body properly. He clenched his fist.

"Can I beat Zhang Qingsi, who has awakened Qi and Blood, now?"