[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 2 (7/15)] [Saint Breaking Fruit: [Strength]: (46/100) Blood: (36/100) [Skill]: (54/100)]
Back home, Chen Yan looked at the Saint Breaking Realm Data Panel.
He had originally had only twelve hours to comprehend the Origin Crystal, but thanks to Wang Yang, Chen Yan had gained three more hours.
Those extra three hours meant that after consuming three [Skill] Character Saint Breaking Fruits, Chen Yan had gained one more half-grown [Skill] Character Saint Breaking Fruit and one half-grown [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit.
And that was on top of the one he had obtained yesterday noon after defeating Zhang Qingsi.
In just twenty-four hours, Chen Yan had eaten four [Skill] Character Saint Breaking Fruits in a row!
What a bountiful harvest!
Cicadas chirred without pause outside the window, and the room was thick with sweltering heat.
Yet Chen Yan sat upright wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. His chest rose and fell with each breath. The muscles all over his body suddenly swelled, then slowly subsided, while bulging veins twisted like coiling dragons before quickly disappearing beneath his skin.
It looked as though Chen Yan's body were constantly shrinking and growing. The changes weren't very dramatic, but the sight still felt uncanny.
Huff, huff, huff...
Chen Yan's breathing grew heavier and heavier. Dust slowly stirred around him, drifting through the shafts of light on faint currents of air.
Outside, Chen Yuxu heard the frightening sound of his breathing and, startled, pushed open the bedroom door. After seeing how Chen Yan had changed, he quietly closed it again.
Chen Yuxu stood frozen for a long time, but a smile gradually appeared on his face.
He didn't understand what was happening, but what Chen Yan was doing now was something ordinary people couldn't do.
That was enough. It told Chen Yuxu that his son was growing stronger.
Holding the twenty thousand yuan bonus Chen Yan had given him, Chen Yuxu thought for a while, then left the house.
As Chen Yan continued breathing, orange, golden, and green lights intertwined and flowed within the Saint Breaking Realm.
The orange light, representing strength energy, was the scarcest. The golden light, representing skill, was more plentiful.
Most abundant, however, was the green light representing physique energy, which he couldn't absorb.
Chen Yan sighed softly. It seemed that upgrading the Saint Breaking Tree took the highest priority.
It was understandable that he had less skill energy. Comprehending things through the memories in his mind was certainly slower than gaining insight from the Origin Crystal.
But as his understanding of the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon deepened, he was getting faster and faster at using it to strengthen himself.
Though the Saint Breaking Tree still couldn't absorb physique energy, Chen Yan's physique was genuinely growing stronger.
The more he studied the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon, the deeper his understanding of the Body Tempering Path became.
"School starts in three days. I wonder how many Saint Breaking Fruits I can get over the next few days."
A brilliant light gleamed in Chen Yan's eyes.
The initial realm of the Body Tempering Path was the Seventy-two Patterns Extreme Forging Realm.
Skin, sinew, bone, and strength each accounted for eighteen patterns.
In other words, only when patterns appeared on the body could one truly be said to have embarked on the Martial Dao. Even though Chen Yan was already incredibly strong, he still hadn't set foot on the Martial Dao.
But deep in his heart, he had a faint feeling.
"Soon."
Chen Yan continued cultivating, but his expression shifted slightly.
Someone seemed to have come to his house. The sound was faint—yesterday, he might only have heard it indistinctly, but now he could make it out clearly. Footsteps.
Chen Yan walked into the courtyard and saw Hu Zeyuan tiptoeing along with a gift box in his hand. The moment he saw Chen Yan, he greeted him warmly:
"Xiaoyan, I'm here!"
Hu Zeyuan's face was wreathed in a bright smile. He looked as though he wanted to rush over and give Chen Yan a big hug, but Chen Yan's whole body was flushed with blood, and the Breathing Technique had made his muscles stand out prominently.
Hu Zeyuan was astonished, and a little afraid, all at once.
He had seen what Chen Yan used to look like. Even a few days ago, he hadn't been this muscular. At a glance, he looked like a man-eating tiger, radiating an imposing presence.
Hu Zeyuan only stood there grinning foolishly.
"Xiaoyan, your uncle heard that your Town Martial Bonus assessment is coming up in a couple of days, so I bought you some supplements to try."
He swung the supplements in his hand, making sure to show the label stuck to the side.
[Zhenhua Essence-Nourishing Liquid Suggested Retail Price: 3,000]
A generous gift indeed.
Chen Yan's expression didn't change. If anything, he felt like laughing.
Hu Zeyuan had thought this through. He was deliberately pretending not to know that the Town Martial Bonus selections were already out, acting as if he'd come bearing a gift purely for Chen Yan's sake.
The problem was, if I really believed that, wouldn't I look like an idiot?
Chen Yan simply said:
"The Town Martial Bonus selections are already out."
"Really?" Hu Zeyuan's eyes shifted. He put on a startled expression and said regretfully, "Then I... I came too late. But since I'm already here..."
As he spoke, Hu Zeyuan held out the gift. Chen Yan continued:
"Since you're already here, you can leave too."
Hu Zeyuan froze, his mouth opening and closing before he gave a bitter smile.
"Xiaoyan, your uncle was indeed a little harsh on you before, but I really did borrow a thousand from your family when Hu Yuan was critically ill."
Chen Yan nodded and turned to walk inside.
"Of course I remember."
Hu Zeyuan's face lit up, but Chen Yan continued:
"Next time Hu Yuan is critically ill, I'll definitely lend you money." Chen Yan turned to meet Hu Zeyuan's gaze, his eyes sharpening like a falcon's.
"I'll lend you two thousand!"
Hu Zeyuan stalked out of the courtyard with a livid face. Then came a bang as the gate slammed shut behind him.
Humiliated to this extent, Hu Zeyuan pressed his lips together. He looked at the gift in his hand and was about to hurl it to the ground, but at the last moment he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"What's there to be so smug about?"
He muttered sulkily, then left.
Inside the room, Chen Yan let out a breath of stale air.
"A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring!"
He murmured it softly. Wang Yang had helped him, and Luo Puxin had helped him.
How could he ever forget? He wanted to lift everyone around him to the heavens once he succeeded. He would repay those who had helped him today.
That was one of the goals he worked toward.
He was grateful to Hu Zeyuan for lending him money, but Hu Zeyuan had trampled the dignity of Chen Yan and his father underfoot over a thousand yuan.
Because to Hu Zeyuan, to Xia Tong, and to most people,
Chen Yan's dignity wasn't worth a thousand yuan.
In this world, everyone could think his dignity wasn't worth a thousand yuan, except...
Except Chen Yan himself!
If he looked down on himself, then what was the point of everything he did?
Training!
Chen Yan sat on the bed. Three days was enough time for him to become even stronger!
Luoshan County, Zhangni Township.
In a quiet courtyard, a shirtless young man stood with his feet slightly apart, steady as a rock. In a flash, he leaped like an eagle swooping on a hare, spreading his arms and swinging them as his fists cut through the air.
"Very good."
A faintly amused voice came from atop the courtyard wall. Luo Puxin, dressed in ordinary clothes and standing with his arms folded, watched the young man with approval.
"Venerable Sir Luo." The young man drew back his fists and bowed respectfully to Luo Puxin.
"Zhang Mancang, your foundation is very poor. You still haven't awakened your blood qi, but I've been teaching you for days now, and you truly have great potential." Luo Puxin walked up to him and began correcting his movements.
The young man named Zhang Mancang wiped the sweat from his face and listened humbly, but guilt and fear flickered in his eyes.
The rules for this Town Martial Class were that every student who received a Town Martial Bonus would be admitted. But the Chu Family had taken it upon themselves to remove more than twenty names from the list.
If Luo Puxin reported this, it wouldn't do much damage to the Chu Family.
His target was the deputy instructor of this Town Martial Class, as well as the head of the Resource Department at the Luoshan County Town Martial Division: the Chu Family's Chu Lan.
Chu Lan had decided who got into the Town Martial Class. In their eyes, Luo Puxin was merely a parachuted-in chief instructor with no real authority.
They didn't know that Luo Puxin had come to Luoshan County for their sake.
At the very least, he could use this incident to pull another nail the Chu Family had planted in the Town Martial Division.
"On the day the Town Martial Class opens, I'll invite Bai Yuyue, deputy head of the Military Martial Department at the Yunmeng City Town Martial Division. When the time comes, everything will depend on you."
Luo Puxin continued instructing Zhang Mancang as he spoke:
"You'll challenge the Town Martial Class to protest the injustice. This will make a huge fuss. You'll make an enemy of the Chu Family, but you'll also earn the attention of me and some people within the Town Martial Division.
"Among the twenty people barred from the Town Martial Class, you're the strongest, and the one most likely to awaken your blood qi in the short term."
Luo Puxin slapped Zhang Mancang on the shoulder and spoke with high hopes:
"There are still a few days. Try to awaken your blood qi in that time. I can tell you're almost there."
With Luo Puxin watching him like that, Zhang Mancang's eyes flickered slightly. Then he bowed respectfully.
"Zhang Mancang won't let you down, Venerable Sir Luo!"
Luo Puxin nodded and laughed.
"Good, good, good!"
With that, he left the courtyard.
Zhang Mancang stood in the courtyard. Gradually, his expression grew troubled, and soon he slumped down onto the ground in despair.
Creak...
The courtyard gate opened, and a cleanly dressed man wearing gold-rimmed glasses stepped inside.
"Venerable Sir Chu!"
When Zhang Mancang saw him, he hurriedly bowed.
"Luo Puxin just left?" The man in gold-rimmed glasses was imposing and dignified. He was none other than Chu Lan of the Chu Family, whom Luo Puxin intended to target.
"Yes, he just left," Zhang Mancang replied, his eyes full of bitterness.
"Heh." Chu Lan narrowed his eyes, then looked at Zhang Mancang.
"You did well. If you hadn't tipped us off, Luo Puxin might really have taken me down with one move."
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