"First thing this morning, you all said you'd give your hearts for the Town Martial Bonus. At noon, every one of you was full of ambition, determined to rival the heavens. And now, by afternoon, you're all sprawled on the ground, giving up."
"Look at Chen Yan. He spent a year bedridden, and he's still working harder than any of you!"
The summer breeze drifted lazily. The towering Teaching Building cut the molten-gold rays of the setting sun into a patch of shade.
More than fifty boys and girls in summer clothes lay sprawled on the sunless concrete, groaning.
Sweat poured from their heads as they gulped down water. Clearly, running thirty whole laps around the Sports Field had worn them out.
Even as Head Teacher Wang Yang's stern scolding made their eardrums tremble, the students of Class Three in their final year of high school remained where they were, faces strained, barely moving. It was as if nails had been driven into their backsides; they refused to leave this cool patch of shade.
Wang Yang sighed. Awakening Blood Qi required repeatedly pushing past the limits of one's body.
But how many people truly had that kind of willpower?
At the thought, Wang Yang looked toward the young man on the track, where the Blazing Sun beat down and waves of heat shimmered. His gaze softened.
"Chen Yan, take a break. You were sick for a year. Just making it back without having to repeat the year is impressive. Don't push yourself too hard now."
But when Wang Yang's voice faded, the young man on the track seemed not to hear him at all.
Chen Yan kept his head down, his limbs moving like a machine.
Lift his leg, plant his foot, lean forward, then lift it again...
His T-shirt had faded so badly that its brand was impossible to make out. In places, the fabric had worn so thin it was nearly transparent.
After a year bedridden, Chen Yan had missed a whole year of physical training. Now, after running a little over thirty kilometers, he had long since reached his limit.
The classmates still resting looked over at Chen Yan and grumbled one after another, but there was nothing they could do about it.
They weren't jealous of him being praised by the teacher for working himself to the bone. Not one bit.
Wang Yang's words didn't reach Chen Yan clearly. Reality and illusion kept overlapping in his field of vision.
"Almost there."
Chen Yan wiped the sweat from his face and spoke indistinctly.
Within the illusory scene:
An endless void, infinitely still.
A streak of orange light swept across the boundless darkness like a trailing ribbon.
In Chen Yan's mind, a small tree, more than one and a half meters tall, stood alone in the murk. Its trunk was slender and frail, and its scattered branches numbered only seven or eight.
Yet the miracles of life were often astonishing. A single orange fruit hung from one of the branches.
The fruit was plump and round, with a character engraved at its very center, radiating immense power.
[Strength].
The orange light floating through the universe flowed into the tips of the small tree's roots, which absorbed it like pure nourishment.
The fruit engraved with [Strength] grew fuller and fuller, on the verge of ripening completely.
A Data Panel appeared in front of the small tree.
[Saint Breaking Realm: Level One (1/3)] [Saint Breaking Fruits: 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 call it a system, this Consciousness World had a name of its own: the Saint Breaking Realm.
And this tree was the Saint Breaking Tree.
It had appeared suddenly a few days ago. Whenever Chen Yan exercised or trained, orange light would appear within the Saint Breaking Realm, nourishing the Saint Breaking Tree and helping it grow [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruits.
Chen Yan had been bedridden for a year and his body had been in terrible shape. The reason he had recovered so well was that he had already eaten one [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit.
As for the [Blood] Character Saint Breaking Fruit, it needed to absorb Blood Energy.
Its growth was exceedingly slow. Only when Chen Yan trained to his limit would a few wisps of Red Light appear within the Saint Breaking Realm, and even then, the yield was tiny.
He kept running.
As Chen Yan trained more and more intensely, pushing himself almost to the point where it became a test of willpower, the fruit engraved with [Strength] grew faster and faster.
Judging by its rate of growth, it would probably ripen completely today.
Nearby, Head Teacher Wang Yang watched in silence.
He had already told Chen Yan to rest twice. After all, Chen Yan had only just recovered from a serious illness, and his body was still weak.
But seeing how determined he was now, Wang Yang chose to remain silent.
Chen Yan, however, had more on his mind.
The school would be selecting a recipient for the Town Martial Bonus next week. The benefits were substantial.
For him, it was naturally far out of reach.
But a person without a goal at all would be truly pitiable.
Before the Town Martial Bonus selection, there would be a fist-strength assessment. Anyone whose fist strength fell short of one hundred and sixty kilograms would not qualify to compete for the bonus.
"Damn it, keep running!"
"If Chen Yan can do it, I can't lose!"
"Keep going!"
Seeing how hard Chen Yan was working, the classmates who had been resting all looked shaken. A few boys shouted and joined him on the track.
Chen Yan kept running, but a figure came up beside him.
"If hard work were enough, what would we need money for?"
A boy named Hu Yuan spoke up.
"Chen Yan, you know your dad owes my family a thousand yuan, right?"
Chen Yan looked over. The boy was his cousin, Hu Yuan.
"Tell your dad when you get home."
Chen Yan's expression darkened slightly. Paying back a debt was only fair, but being hounded about it was still unpleasant.
Hu Yuan was his cousin, but it was hard to see how their families' relationship could be salvaged.
His family was too poor. People looked down on them.
Chen Yan took a deep breath. The Town Martial Bonus came with a cash prize of twenty thousand yuan. If he could win it, he could greatly ease his family's financial situation.
"Did you hear me?" Hu Yuan snapped when Chen Yan didn't respond.
Just then, someone cheered.
"Zhang Qingsi awakened her Blood Qi!"
"Wow, she really did!"
"That's amazing!"
Chen Yan and Hu Yuan turned to look. Everyone on the Sports Field was running toward the area behind him.
The Teaching Building was in an uproar too. Students from every grade rushed out of their classrooms and leaned over the railings to look down.
Not far from Chen Yan, a boy in a school uniform sat on the ground as the crowd gradually surrounded him. White Mist kept rising from his body, while a faint Red Light burned slowly around him like flames.
"Close your eyes, take a deep breath. Don't rush. Focus on what you feel in your body!"
Head Teacher Wang Yang spoke tensely. Soon, Principal Zhang Yue and Director of Studies Xia Tong hurried over as well. The students packed around the Sports Field, all watching Zhang Qingsi with envy.
Hu Yuan had no time for Chen Yan now. He hurried over toward Zhang Qingsi.
After a while, Zhang Qingsi was escorted away by the Principal.
Before long, the Sports Field was empty again. Chen Yan continued running.
Someone else awakening Blood Qi had nothing to do with him.
But each class had only one spot for the Town Martial Bonus. If he wanted it, he had to beat Zhang Qingsi.
Time passed slowly, and Chen Yan ran a few more laps.
The school gates opened, and several three-wheeled vehicles entered. A teacher led a few students over to help.
Soon, a group of people unloaded sheets of brass-colored metal from the vehicles. A little later, a welder brought over a welding machine and tack-welded the sheets together.
It was a human-shaped bronze statue about two meters tall, bent forward with its body lowered as it threw a punch.
Chen Yan glanced at it briefly. But just as he was about to start running again, his body froze in place.
In the Consciousness World, a wisp of pale golden light swept across the endless darkness toward the Saint Breaking Tree. It reached a point three feet away, then was blocked by an invisible barrier.
A new line of text suddenly appeared on the prompt panel.
[Prompt: Skill Energy detected. The Saint Breaking Tree cannot absorb it; the Saint Breaking Tree must be upgraded to Level Two.]
Chen Yan's gaze narrowed. He had only glanced at the statue, yet it had caused an unusual reaction in the Saint Breaking Realm.
Chen Yan went over to the statue and saw that Director of Studies Xia Tong was still overseeing its welding.
"Hello, sir. May I ask whose statue this is?"
Xia Tong glanced at Chen Yan and rebuked him.
"Keep your distance. Can't you see we're working here?"
Chen Yan frowned slightly, but didn't press the question. He went back to running.
He knew he could gain something by looking at the statue, but right now, he couldn't obtain that benefit.
"Congratulations to Zhang Qingsi of Class Three in her final year for awakening her Blood Qi. Zhang Qingsi has always been..."
The Principal's excited voice rang out over the broadcast.
The sun sank drowsily toward the horizon, and night was drawing near.
The students of Qingshan High School left in ones and twos.
On the balcony of the office building, Head Teacher Wang Yang and Principal Zhang Yue stood smoking.
"Now that she's awakened Blood Qi, you'll have to go to the county Town Martial Division tomorrow and register her."
"Mm." Wang Yang nodded. His gaze swept across the Sports Field and landed on a figure still running hard. He was startled at first, then a look of approval appeared in his eyes.
"That kid works hard. I know his situation. You should tell him not to overdo it; he's only just recovered." Zhang Yue had noticed Chen Yan too. She smiled as she spoke.
"I told him. It didn't do any good." Wang Yang smiled helplessly, but the admiration in his eyes only grew stronger.
"Ah..." Zhang Yue shook her head.
"Sometimes, people work themselves to the bone because of the problems left behind by the generation before them. I admire hardworking students, but often, I feel sorry for them."
Zhang Yue's gaze darkened as she thought of something. Then she suddenly spoke.
"As for your class's Town Martial Bonus, just give it to Zhang Qingsi."
Wang Yang was taken aback, then said,
"The Town Martial Bonus is substantial. We should wait until next Monday and see."
Zhang Yue replied casually,
"Suit yourself. But Zhang Qingsi is the only one in your class who's awakened her Blood Qi."
Zhang Yue left, leaving Wang Yang alone to light another cigarette.
One after another.
He watched Chen Yan still running, his expression complicated.
He had long known that Zhang Qingsi would be the first student in the class to awaken her Blood Qi. After all, her father owned three restaurants in town alone, as well as a Martial Arts Hall.
All kinds of resources had been piled on her, to the point that they'd lavishly used Qi and Blood Potions to help Zhang Qingsi force open the Blood Qi barrier.
How hard would you have to work to make up for the gap between two generations?
The Town Martial Bonus...
The Town Martial Division judged only by strength. A good family background meant better strength, too.
The sun sank in the west. Night fell, but Wang Yang was still watching the Sports Field.
The two of them were like silent opponents. Wang Yang just wanted to see how long Chen Yan would stick it out.
"Not bad. Just like me!"
As the moon rose, Wang Yang knew he had lost. Yet the smile at the corners of his mouth only grew wider.
On the Sports Field, Chen Yan suddenly stopped and sat down on the track, panting heavily.
Up in the distant Teaching Building, Wang Yang smiled and returned to his office.
But he had no idea that Chen Yan was bursting with excitement.
The Saint Breaking Fruit had ripened completely. Within the Consciousness World, another Chen Yan had appeared, identical to the one in the outside world.
Carefully, Chen Yan plucked the Saint Breaking Fruit and swallowed it in one bite.
In the next instant, a torrent of heat surged wildly through his limbs and every part of his body. All his exhaustion vanished.
After leaving the Consciousness World, Chen Yan felt the same thing in the real world.
A gentle yet immense power unfurled inside him.
The veins in Chen Yan's arm bulged for an instant, then slowly settled back down.
He sat on the ground for a long, long time.
Every bit of fatigue and muscle soreness vanished after he swallowed the Saint Breaking Fruit.
As he slowly took in everything he had gained, joy welled up inside him.
The sudden surge of strength meant Chen Yan would need to get used to his body. He clenched his fist.
Could I beat Zhang Qingsi now that she's awakened her Blood Qi?
Before you continue