Teacher Xia Tong Must Be Full of Regret, Right?

Fifty Martial Merit Points in hand.

A faint smile appeared on Chen Yan's face.

Martial Merit Points were very useful.

He gently swiped right on the Martial Merit Badge, and the text on it changed.

[High Grade Class A Basic Body Refinement Breathing Technique (Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon) Origin Crystal Contemplation One Hour: One Point]

[High Grade Class B Basic Qi and Blood Cultivation Method (Nine Suns Art) Origin Crystal Contemplation One Hour: 0.7 Points]

[Martial Grade Class A Body Refinement Breathing Technique (Blazing Sun Dragon Control Art) Origin Crystal Contemplation One Hour: One Hundred Points]

This was the product list. Chen Yan swiped right again, and the product list changed once more, now entirely a weapons page.

Flipping through briefly, Chen Yan lingered on two items for a long time.

[Martial Grade Class A Blood Qi Martial Technique (Hundred Spears Dark Stab) Origin Crystal Contemplation One Hour: One Hundred Points]

This was a Blood Qi martial technique, and Chen Yan wanted to learn it.

Moreover, after glancing at the description, it matched his Yin Zhe Qi and Blood quite well.

He lacked Blood Qi martial techniques.

For now, he couldn't afford it, so he just had to keep earning.

Aside from [Hundred Spears Dark Stab], Chen Yan had his eye on a second item.

[Earth Vein Level Class C Refining Body Tempering One Hour: One Thousand]

This was the price for Refining Body Tempering. According to what Luo Puxin said, one session of tempering would be enough for Chen Yan to grow two Pattern Lines.

This was a Martial Grade tempering opportunity.

The classification of treasures in this world generally had levels.

Mortal Grade, High Grade, Martial Grade, Earth Vein Level, Azure Sky Level, Morning Star Level.

Each level also had four subgrades: A, B, C, D.

The Red-haired Ganoderma Chen Yan had used before was a Mortal Grade Class B treasure medicine.

So this Earth Vein Level Class C tempering opportunity was very important.

And Chen Yan still had the Saint Breaking Tree!

If he could undergo body tempering, his growth would be absolutely rapid!

After thinking it over again and again, Chen Yan put the Martial Merit Badge into his pocket.

Earn Martial Merit Points!

He wanted to become stronger.

Under the moonlit night.

Chen Yan ran like a horse freed from its reins through the desolate wilderness, kicking up a trail. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled silver light, and his body carried the rustling sounds all around him.

With [Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon] constantly active, Chen Yan exhaled pale red mist from his mouth.

[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 3 (50/75)]

[Saint Breaking Fruits:

Strength: (88/100)

Blood: (26/100)

Technique: (32/100)

Body: (100/100)]

On the Saint Breaking Tree, one [Body] Character Saint Breaking Fruit had ripened. Chen Yan swallowed it in one gulp, and immediately a series of 'crack crack crack' sounds rang out from his body.

His skin became a bit tighter and more resilient.

On his chest, Chen Yan had already condensed one substantial Strength Stripe at 0.9, while the rest of his Muscle, Bone, and Skin Stripes had reached forty percent.

The breathing technique refined Muscle, Bone, Skin, and Strength. According to Luo Puxin, the order in which each person condensed their Pattern Lines was different.

For example, Wu Chuhua had first condensed Skin Stripes, followed by Strength Stripes.

Because of the Saint Breaking Tree, Chen Yan had first condensed a Strength Stripe, and then the Shallow Stripes of Muscle, Bone, and Skin had all condensed together.

This showed that the strengthening of Chen Yan's physique was not uniform; his body's strength far exceeded its endurance.

Chen Yan needed to pay more attention to the endurance of his Muscle, Bone, and Skin, and make sure he could both take hits and dish them out.

As for realms.

The Body Tempering Path was not weak. The first realm of the Body Tempering Path was the Seventy-two Patterns Extreme Forging Realm, the second realm was the Unity Realm, and the third realm was Origin.

As for Qi and Blood, the realms were the Five Organs, the Hundred Meridians, the Golden Body, and Origin.

That's right, the third realm of Body Tempering and the fourth realm of Qi and Blood shared the same name.

But the essence was completely different.

One was the physical body reaching the origin, the other was blood qi reaching the origin.

Reaching the origin meant becoming an absolute expert capable of suppressing an entire prefecture.

The origin, also known as a Martial Dao Grandmaster, there were only a few in all of Qin Prefecture, and none in Yunmeng City.

According to Luo Puxin, when a Hardening Martial Artist reached thirty-two patterns, they could already rival a Blood Qi Martial Artist who had just entered the Hundred Meridians Realm.

When a Hardening Martial Artist reached seventy-two patterns, they were equivalent to a Blood Qi Martial Artist at the peak of the Hundred Meridians Realm.

One realm of Hardening matched two realms of Blood Qi—not weak at all.

Moreover, it seemed some people had forged more than seventy-two patterns in the Extreme Forging Realm.

Of course, most people couldn't even reach seventy-two patterns and had to enter Unity.

There was no right or wrong; it all depended on one's own physical condition.

Chen Yan thought as much, moving swiftly through the shadows. By the time the morning sun rose in the east, he had already returned to First High School.

When the cafeteria staff pushed a cart of food to the front of Chen Yan's courtyard, the Handsome Youth, bare-chested, was drenched in sweat, throwing punches vigorously on the campus under the morning sun.

Bam bam bam!

Chen Yan's fists whistled through the air, his form coiling like a hornless dragon, blending hardness and softness, powerful and steady.

"So diligent."

The cafeteria girl murmured softly, her face flushed red, as she delivered the meal made from fine beast meat into the living room.

Chen Yan splashed his face under the faucet, thanked her, and began to eat.

Within the Saint Breaking Realm, after downing a [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit, Chen Yan's second Strength Stripe fully solidified.

A slight vibration came from his pocket—it was the Martial Merit Badge.

Chen Yan saw that the column showing he had condensed a new pattern within the week had disappeared.

Had it sensed it?

Chen Yan was surprised. This Martial Merit Badge was peculiar—just a simple iron plate, yet it could display changing images.

And the original training task had also changed:

[Condense three substantive patterns within one week, reward two hundred Martial Merit Points.]

The column for assassinating Ye Yong had also disappeared this morning. What surprised Chen Yan was that the base reward for killing Ye Yong was fifty Martial Merit Points, but he had been awarded two hundred.

Chen Yan now had two hundred and fifty Martial Merit Points.

[Contemplating Hundred Spears Dark Stab for one hour costs one hundred Martial Merit Points. Chen Yan planned to earn enough for twelve hours before going.]

Feeling the flow of power carefully, Chen Yan took a deep breath.

A surging force clashed within his body. Chen Yan clenched his fists, the veins on his arms bulging visibly.

The feeling of fatigue gradually faded, and the drowsiness dissipated significantly.

"This courtyard houses Chen Yan, right? So handsome, so diligent."

The young girl among the two staff members murmured, her face red with shyness.

Beside her, the Middle-aged Man accompanying her scolded softly:

"Stop daydreaming. The people living here are all martial geniuses with high status. How could they ever take a liking to ordinary people like us?"

The girl froze, her blush fading as she too remembered the gap in status.

Meanwhile.

Yu Zhiwen hesitantly arrived at the front of Chen Yan's courtyard:

"In response to the readers' requests, we now introduce the VIP Member Ad-Free Function."

"Click to view."

"Chen Yan, can you come out for a moment?"

Yu Zhiwen pursed her lips, glancing at a Round-faced Girl standing in the shade of a tree in the distance. The girl clasped her hands together, looking at Yu Zhiwen with hopeful eyes.

Chen Yan stepped out. Yu Zhiwen's eyes flickered.

She studied Chen Yan carefully—he was indeed handsome, with an excellent aura. Taking a pink letter from her pocket, Yu Zhiwen spoke softly:

"This is for you."

Chen Yan was taken aback. A love letter?

He stood still, not reaching out to take it:

"Sorry, I'm not considering that right now."

Yu Zhiwen froze, then quickly clarified:

"It's not mine. It's from..."

"Mm, no matter who it's from, I'm not considering it." Chen Yan smiled, his expression very gentle.

Yu Zhiwen quietly watched Chen Yan, wanting to say something, but Chen Yan had already gone back.

Yu Zhiwen stood stunned for a long moment, then awkwardly returned, shaking her head at the girl standing under the shade of the tree.

"Ah..." the girl murmured, full of disappointment.

Yu Zhiwen said nothing. Chen Yan hadn't even asked who it was—he'd refused outright.

That meant even if it were her, Yu Zhiwen, she would be rejected too.

For some reason, her heart felt very complicated.

She couldn't help but think back to what Xia Tong had said.

Teacher Xia Tong must be very regretful now.

An hour later.

"Chen Yan, are you going to the Breeding Area?"

Gao Yuan appeared at the door of the Small Courtyard. Having heard that Chen Yan had endured five hours in the Blood Sensing Chamber yesterday trying to awaken, Gao Yuan was full of admiration.

Going to the Blood Sensing Chamber without awakening was like an ordinary person stepping into an eighty-degree sauna—lasting even a minute was impressive.

"Yeah."

Chen Yan walked out of the room. He had just practiced the Chaos Abyss Art for a while and had gained some insight into concealing Yin Zhe.

The Breeding Area housed Ancient Beasts raised by the Chu Family, and Chen Yan needed actual combat experience.

This was also what he and Gao Yuan had agreed on.

Chen Yan and Gao Yuan left.

Two male students arrived—Zhang Qingsi and Li Shaowu.

"Chen Yan's not here." Zhang Qingsi said irritably.

"No problem. Since the hall master gave me the money, I'll handle this for you." Li Shaowu chuckled and patted Zhang Qingsi on the shoulder.

"Staying an extra hour in the Breeding Area earns you two points. This is a walkie-talkie—call for help if there's danger. After ten distress calls, you'll be eliminated from the Town Martial Class."

In front of the Breeding Area, Second High Vice Principal Zhuang Xihang looked earnestly at Chen Yan and handed him the walkie-talkie.

"Every Ancient Beast's right eye is a fake eye. Kill them and collect the fake eyes. Each eye has its own score. As long as you take it, the points are yours."

As he spoke, Zhuang Xihang took out two cloth bags and handed them to Gao Yuan and Chen Yan.

Chen Yan took the bag, but saw Gao Yuan rubbing his head: "Teacher, I don't need one. I can't fight Ancient Beasts anyway. I'm just here to stay as long as I can—carrying a bag is too much trouble."

Zhuang Xihang nodded.

Every student who stayed an hour in Green Mountain earned two points. These students were just starting out, and most didn't plan to hunt Ancient Beasts at all.

With that, Zhuang Xihang looked at Chen Yan: "Kill what you can, but don't force it."

"Okay."

Chen Yan nodded and looked ahead at the Inner Qingshan enclosed by iron fencing.

It was called the Breeding Area, but it was really just Inner Qingshan. The Ancient Beasts here were all selected—none stronger than the Five Viscera Realm. The deeper you went, the stronger the beasts became.

Beside him, other Town Martial Class students were also heading up the mountain.

"Meeting again, Chen Yan."

Nearby, Wu Chuqi and Wu Chuhua, about to enter the Breeding Area, looked at Chen Yan. He gave a slight nod.

Wu Chuqi smiled, while Wu Chuhua kept his head down and went straight in.

"Wu Chuqi is really strong. I heard he killed ten Ancient Beasts yesterday."

Gao Yuan said with great emotion from the side:

"The Heavenly Prides from the county are the real Heavenly Prides."

Just then, another group of students walked over. The one at the front spoke to Chen Yan:

"Chen Yan from Green Mountain Town, I'm Li Qingyuan from Zhang Ni Township. Want to go up together?"

Before Chen Yan could answer, the boy named Li Qingyuan smiled: "We're all students from the townships, with weak foundations. We need to help each other.

The county high school students look down on us too, so we have to stick together even more. It's all about earning points."

Chen Yan understood. The students from the three high schools in Luoshan County had been ignoring him too.

So, factions had already formed.

Chen Yan noticed that Yu Zhiwen was also in Li Qingyuan's team. When she saw him looking, she lowered her head.

"Chen Yan, Li Qingyuan is strong—ranked tenth. Among us students from the townships, only you and Li Qingyuan have your own private courtyards."

Beside him, Gao Yuan smiled and even greeted Li Qingyuan, clearly already acquainted.

"No."

Chen Yan spoke. It was Luo Puxin who had suggested he come to the Breeding Area to try fighting the Ancient Beasts.

If he teamed up with others and just kept dodging the Ancient Beasts, what was the point?

Seeing Chen Yan refuse, Li Qingyuan wasn't upset either. He smiled and said:

"I know you're a genius, thinking maybe you can handle the Ancient Beasts on your own. I thought the same at first.

But fighting them is dangerous. Right now, what we need is to earn points first, then get stronger."

As Li Qingyuan spoke, Gao Yuan nodded.

"No, I'll try first. If it doesn't work, I'll join you." Chen Yan showed a hint of a smile. Since the other party was being kind, he answered normally.

"Mm, that works too. If you run into trouble, join us, and we'll get stronger together." Li Qingyuan said with a warm smile.

Chen Yan glanced at Gao Yuan and saw that he seemed hesitant, so he spoke:

"Gao Yuan, go ahead and team up with them first."

Seeing Chen Yan say this, Gao Yuan could only nod.

Chen Yan left, and someone in Li Qingyuan's team spoke up in dissatisfaction:

"Does he think he's that great? All he did was beat a Wu Chuhua.

Brother Qingyuan is Tenth. Wu Chuhua is only Twentieth."

Li Qingyuan turned his head and said to that person:

"I don't agree with that. Don't you think you're impressive yourself?

No one thinks they're trash, myself included. Chen Yan wants to try going solo—that's his right."

Li Qingyuan's tone was gentle:

"Of course, failing is also his right. That has nothing to do with us either."

Everyone nodded, full of admiration for Li Qingyuan.

When they first arrived at the Town Martial Class, they were looked down on in every way. It was Li Qingyuan who formed a faction and pulled them together into a united front.

Within the team, Yu Zhiwen looked at the round-faced girl beside her:

"Why don't you just go after Li Qingyuan? He's steady, and stronger than Chen Yan too."

The round-faced girl was still trapped in the shadow of Chen Yan's rejection, unable to pull herself out. She muttered:

"But Chen Yan is good-looking."

Yu Zhiwen said nothing. He really was good-looking. How had she never noticed before?

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