Horizontal Refinement Genius? Ultimate Prodigy!

"Damn it!"

Watching Chen Yan's departing back, Chu Feiyuan's face darkened terribly.

Chen Yan had actually refused him. Chen Yan had some nerve!

By evening, the setting sun slowly sank westward, its afterglow like the ribbons lightly waved by a graceful dancing maiden, dazzlingly beautiful.

Chen Yan strode swiftly along the streets of First Martial High.

His eyes were clear, yet a chill rose in his heart.

Chu Feiyuan had cut off his Town Martial Class Quota and twice mixed impure blood into it when he was sensing the scent of blood.

If he had not awakened, if he were still that weak, what would have become of him?

They stood so high above others that they had never imagined they themselves would be refused.

As he was thinking this, a shrill, miserable cry reached his ears.

Looking over, he saw Zhou Lu, whom he had met on his first day in the Town Martial Class, weeping bitterly with an elderly couple.

Chen Yan spread out his senses and overheard the others talking.

Zhou Lu's younger sister, Zhou Jiayi, had gone missing. Yesterday, the Town Martial Division had discovered a severed hand on the street. It belonged to Zhou Jiayi.

That little girl who had once been mutually displeased with her brother.

Chen Yan's gaze flickered. He had heard before that people had gone missing in Luoshan County, but he had not expected it to happen so close to him this time.

Chen Yan's eyes flashed. His own sister was still weak as well.

He returned to the Training Room.

Chen Yan took out his Martial Merit Badge and stared blankly at one of the missions within it.

What had happened to Zhou Lu's sister still struck him deeply.

For no other reason than that he, too, had a sister.

Immediately after—

A qi wave filled with Cold Ice burst from Chen Yan's mouth, slamming into the Bluestone Wall with a series of bangs.

He circulated the [Chaos Abyss Art] and began cultivating.

The Blood Energy overflowing within his heart began transforming into purer, more powerful Yin Zhe.

His one-hundred-percent Accumulation and Forging Degree gradually declined.

That night, at the Chu Family residence.

"This Chen Yan is actually this arrogant!"

"Looks like it isn't your fault either. It was only because you changed his Town Martial Class Quota before, yet this brat actually holds such a grudge."

"Holding grudges too deeply isn't a good thing. He's gotten a little achievement and already started acting arrogant."

Several people spoke in the Living Room, dissatisfaction in all their eyes.

Chu Feiyuan snorted coldly, even more enraged at Chen Yan.

"Forget it."

The white-haired old man, who had remained silent until now, spoke indifferently:

"He is merely a prodigy from the countryside. If he will not sign, then so be it. Once he slowly grows up, he will realize what a fine opportunity he missed."

The old man's expression was calm, though he too felt somewhat displeased.

But did it need his concern?

No.

How many matters did he have to deal with every day?

He could not possibly spare too much thought for some country brat.

His time had to be spent on people and matters of value.

"Xuansheng set off this afternoon. This time, he will face the twenty-sixth on the Prodigy Ranking. If he returns triumphant, it will be a great cause for celebration."

The old man smiled, and everyone's expressions eased.

"Xuanxian is ranked seventh. If Xuansheng can reach twenty-sixth, then my Chu Family will truly soar like a dragon. The world belongs to the young."

Chu Cang said with a smile.

"Also, Gong Tuo will arrive tomorrow. Feiyuan, receive him properly!" The old man looked at Chu Feiyuan. "Gong Tuo must have a Gong Family contract in hand. Tomorrow, give him a proper introduction to those geniuses we have our eyes on."

Chu Feiyuan rose to his feet and nodded solemnly.

The next day, at five in the morning.

Before dawn had broken, Chen Yan left his room and headed toward the Body Tempering Room.

After condensing his Blood Qi last night, Chen Yan's Heart Accumulation and Forging Degree had compressed to around seventy-eight percent.

For the first realm of Blood Qi, the Five Viscera Realm, an ordinary person was already considered quite good upon reaching an accumulation degree of sixty.

Yet Chen Yan seemed able to continue accumulating. Once he reached the limit, he could open the next organ.

The Body Tempering Room had a Breathing Technique section and an external martial arts section, both of which required points to study.

After walking all the way to the last room in the external martial arts section, Chen Yan saw the words [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement] on the door.

Mortal Grade, High Grade, Martial Grade...

Within the Town Martial Class, [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement] was the highest-ranked martial art. A county-level Town Martial Class should not have possessed such a martial art in the first place.

Yet [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement] was practically the most renowned external refinement martial art of the Body Tempering Path.

Difficult, bitter, exhausting!

Not long after, the Principal of First High arrived at the hard body martial arts section. Seeing Chen Yan waiting at the door, he paused slightly. Chen Yan had come surprisingly early.

"I thought you were going to waste your talent for body tempering."

The Principal of First High walked over with a smile.

"Everyone knows your talent for body tempering is excellent, but these past few days, you insisted on going to the Blood Sensing Chamber to try awakening. Isn't that just wasting time?"

Chen Yan smiled and greeted him, but said nothing more.

"Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement is very expensive. Contemplating the Origin Stele costs fifty points an hour.

"And it's difficult. In the entire Town Martial Class, only Lu Chong had been learning it before."

The Principal of First High opened the door to the Body Tempering Room and started the timer.

In his view, since Chen Yan had failed to awaken, he should give up on the Qi and Blood Path and focus wholeheartedly on body tempering.

Continuing to visit the Blood Sensing Chamber to attempt an awakening was simply a waste of time.

Entering the Blood Sensing Chamber, Chen Yan saw human figures carved across the bluestone walls, each in a different pose. At the very center of the Body Tempering Room stood a Wordless Stone Tablet in silent stillness.

Chen Yan looked toward the walls. On the rearmost wall, a sentence was clearly engraved: [The myriad paths of the universe lie far away; only my body tempering stands peerless].

Chen Yan quietly studied the figures' movements on the green walls. Gold Light suddenly surged within the Saint Breaking Realm.

Following the fist technique on the green wall, Chen Yan raised one leg and swung his right arm.

In an instant, sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Hm?"

Chen Yan's gaze sharpened. The instant he made that movement, the Blood Qi within his body erupted into turmoil!

No, it was his body rejecting the Blood Qi.

What was going on?

Chen Yan continued the movements. Sweat poured down his body, while his bones crackled and rang.

Luo Puxin had been right. Awakening Blood Qi before cultivating [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement] would make it twice as difficult.

Chen Yan threw a punch, Crimson Gang appearing around his fist.

It was even more exhausting.

The punching movement he had learned before was merely one hand of [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement], but now that he was practicing from the opening stance onward, it was incomparably difficult.

But something was off.

Sensing the Saint Breaking Realm within him, Chen Yan's pupils contracted.

At that moment, orange light, Gold Light, and Green Light within the Saint Breaking Realm had grown dense to the extreme, converging upon the Saint Breaking Tree like an ocean.

The three fruits of [Strength], [Technique], and [Physique] were growing faster than ever before.

Within Chen Yan's heart, Blood Qi churned. It was as if the flesh and blood throughout his body and his Blood Qi had become opposite poles, locked in an intense standoff.

With a smack.

Chen Yan collapsed to the ground.

"That's just how Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement is. It's very difficult at the beginning. You've already done quite well."

Outside the classroom, the Principal of First High spoke with a faint smile, comforting Chen Yan.

Chen Yan shook his head, his eyes filled with utter shock.

[Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement] was rejecting Blood Qi.

No, it would be more accurate to say that from the moment Qin Prefecture Governor Lu Xunyang created [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement], it had carried his disdain for the Qi and Blood Path.

It was extremely difficult for Chen Yan to practice.

But the results were very, very good.

Just a few movements, and a [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit was about to ripen.

This...

"You're Chen Yan?" A plain-looking, short young man with a flat nose entered the Body Tempering Room and looked down at Chen Yan. "I heard you have great body-tempering talent. How come you can't even complete the first form?"

Chen Yan gave him an indifferent glance. Lu Chong, fifth in the Town Martial Class.

He had reportedly already condensed thirty Pattern Lines.

"Lu Chong, when you first practiced the Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement, you weren't even as good as Chen Yan."

Outside the classroom, the principal of First High School said with a smile.

"Principal Lin, when I first practiced the Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement, I was only in my second year of high school."

Lu Chong chuckled, his gaze sweeping over Chen Yan with a hint of amusement. "And I was still much better than him."

This was it?

This was Chen Yan, the one said to possess exceptional body-tempering talent, supposedly even better than him.

He had been overhyped.

Hiss...

A wisp of Red Mist escaped Chen Yan's mouth. He rose to his feet and continued throwing punches.

Lu Chong froze on the spot.

This was... the Heart-Entering level Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon, perhaps even on the verge of Entering Subtlety?

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

Or had he already reached Entering Subtlety?

He couldn't tell.

Lu Chong's expression turned solemn. He stood beside Chen Yan and began throwing punches.

Outside the classroom, Principal Lin of First Martial High opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Chen Yan's mastery of the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon was indeed profound.

Sweat poured from Chen Yan like rain. He knew that after cultivating Qi and Blood, practicing the Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement would be difficult—several times harder than for ordinary people.

But this was Luoshan County, in a county Town Martial Class.

Even if it was several times harder, he shouldn't be inferior to these people.

He had the Saint Breaking Tree. Others did not. Perhaps no one in the entire world was as fortunate as Chen Yan.

He was proud. Who wasn't?

With the Saint Breaking Tree, he had even more reason to be proud.

What was Chu Xuansheng, anyway?

He was merely the top Heavenly Pride of a county. Chen Yan had undergone a Limit Breaking Awakening—could such powerful Willpower really be weaker than these people's?

Someone like Chen Min was his true target.

So what if it was several times harder?

If he could not even surpass these people, how was he supposed to fight Chen Min?

He refused to fall.

Within his heart, Qi and Blood was being compressed, churning violently. The more he practiced the Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement, the more fiercely his Qi and Blood was compressed.

As Qi and Blood was compressed within his heart, his heart itself was compressed as well.

Chen Yan's muscles rippled, but the color in his face grew increasingly poor.

The movements of his hands became sluggish and difficult, his muscles aching unbearably.

"Your movements are far too slow."

Beside him, Lu Chong spoke indifferently. Seeing Chen Yan struggle so much gave him an inexplicable sense of pleasure.

Chen Yan's talent was good—very good.

But compared to how he had been at the beginning, Chen Yan was only about the same.

In fact, his movements at the start had at least been faster than Chen Yan's, and he had not been as exhausted as Chen Yan was now.

Didn't that mean his talent was better than Chen Yan's?

A trace of smugness rose in Lu Chong's heart. He had always been a body-tempering genius.

Chen Yan threw another punch and let out a long breath. His body staggered for a moment, but in the next instant, his muscles bulged taut again.

He swallowed a [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit, and every trace of soreness vanished from his body.

Continue!

With a thunderous boom, the punch cracked like lightning.

Beside him, Lu Chong, drenched in sweat, shuddered violently. Was Chen Yan trying to get himself killed?!

He remembered that when he had trained back then, he had never pushed himself as far as Chen Yan was now.

The problem was, [Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement] was no ordinary Hard Body Martial Arts.

It was a powerful external cultivation method that constantly challenged the limits of the human body.

Training like this, how long could Chen Yan hold out?

A sedan stopped in front of First Martial High.

Gong Tuo, dressed in a sharp suit, entered First Martial High accompanied by Chu Feiyuan and Zhuang Xihang.

"Where's Luo Puxin?" Gong Tuo asked directly.

"Director Luo seems to have often been absent from the Town Martial Class these past few days. He's been rather elusive," Chu Feiyuan replied respectfully.

Gong Tuo frowned and looked at Chu Feiyuan, only to see the latter slowly shake his head.

"Deputy Director Gong, I heard you came this time to select a few geniuses on behalf of the Gong Family?"

Zhuang Xihang asked from the side.

"I brought a few contracts." Gong Tuo smiled faintly.

"Still, I don't think the Town Martial Class has any geniuses worth mentioning, apart from Chu Xuansheng."

Zhuang Xihang paused, but did not refute him.

Gong Tuo was a core member of the Gong Family, a man of lofty experience and insight. Why would he care about the Town Martial Class in some backwater place?

This time, taking over Chu Lan's management of the Town Martial Class was likely for the sake of keeping an eye on Luo Puxin.

Gong Tuo cast a somewhat disdainful glance at the surrounding buildings.

"If the Old Chief Director hadn't required the Gong Family to fund student training, our family wouldn't have to spend money on poverty relief every year."

What kind of geniuses could a county-level Town Martial Class possibly have?

Chu Feiyuan smiled but said nothing.

The group walked quickly onward.

When they arrived at the Blood Sensing Chamber, several youths were seated amid the Red Mist, absorbing Qi and Blood.

To others, the Blood Sensing Chamber was filled with Red Mist, but Gong Tuo and the other two could see everything clearly.

"Deputy Director Gong, that is Chu Bizo of my Chu Family. He just reached the Four Zang yesterday," Chu Feiyuan introduced first.

Gong Tuo merely smiled faintly without speaking.

Chu Feiyuan pursed his lips, knowing that the other man had not taken a liking to Chu Bizo.

"That one is Tan Qi, fourth in the Town Martial Class. He has already reached the Four Zang, and his Accumulation and Forging Degree is at fifty-five percent."

Zhuang Xihang introduced him. Tan Qi was the number one Genius of their Second High, so naturally he had to introduce him first.

"An Accumulation and Forging Degree of fifty-five?"

Gong Tuo frowned and looked coolly at Zhuang Xihang.

"A student at this level can rank fourth in the Town Martial Class?"

Zhuang Xihang fell silent, his expression turning ugly.

Gong Tuo spoke with an indifferent air.

"The Accumulation and Forging Degree of Qi and Blood concerns one's future. If one refuses to build up their Accumulation and Forging Degree just to rush into advancement, then even if they enter the Hundred Meridians afterward, what future will they have?"

Gong Tuo was somewhat speechless. At this level, why the hell would the Gong Family invest?

The Town Martial Class of Luoshan County was utter trash.

Zhuang Xihang understood what he meant, but forced a smile and continued the introductions.

"That long-haired one is Liu Zong, second in the Town Martial Class. He has already reached the Five Organs. Other than the final organ, the average Accumulation and Forging Degree of his other Four Zang is sixty-two."

Gong Tuo nodded. He merely gave Liu Zong a faint glance and said, "Not bad. Send him to Hard Body training."

Zhuang Xihang froze. Even Liu Zong had not caught his eye...

The people of the Gong Family had standards far too high.

The Hard Body training area.

Zhuo Qingren, ranked third, was absent.

Chu Feiyuan and Zhuang Xihang followed behind Gong Tuo in silence.

Gong Tuo's standards were too high. If they introduced any more Heavenly Prides, they would only be inviting humiliation.

Chu Feiyuan did not mind. After all, both Chu Xuanxian and Chu Xuansheng of the Chu Family had received the Gong Family's focused cultivation.

In his heart, the geniuses of the Town Martial Class ought to be inferior to Chu Xuansheng.

Being more talented than Chu Xuansheng simply made no sense.

Zhuang Xihang could only smile wryly, lamenting inwardly that geniuses from small places found it hard to rise.

As Vice Principal, he truly felt miserable.

At last, the group stopped outside the final classroom of the Town Martial Class.

Chu Feiyuan's expression darkened when he saw Chen Yan inside, moving with great difficulty. He let out a cold laugh.

"This Chen Yan is rather interesting. They all say his talent for Body Tempering is excellent—so why does cultivation come so hard for him?"

"Being able to endure hardship is a talent too, haha." Zhuang Xihang gave an awkward laugh from the side.

Chu Feiyuan began introducing them instead.

"Deputy Director Gong, that one is Lu Chong. Fifth in the Town Martial Class, a Body Tempering genius. Look, his movements are very fluid."

Gong Tuo's expression remained still as an ancient well. He quietly watched Chen Yan and Lu Chong inside the Body Tempering Room.

Seeing Gong Tuo arrive, Lu Chong, already exhausted to the extreme and about to rest, gritted his teeth and continued.

He glanced at Chen Yan beside him, drenched in sweat, clenched his jaw tight, and roared inwardly.

Why won't you stop?

Why are you still going?

Fury filled his heart. Why was this man clearly already at his limit, yet still insisting on training?

As for Principal Lin of First Martial High, he seemed not to have noticed Gong Tuo's arrival at all. His eyes were fixed dead on Chen Yan inside the Body Tempering Room.

Sweat seeped across his forehead.

He knew one thing: after Chen Yan had stopped to rest for the first time, he had never stopped again.

He could not comprehend what kind of Willpower this was.

He only knew that this Body Tempering genius, so lavishly praised by others, might not possess such terrifying talent.

But his Willpower was frighteningly high.

"Deputy Director Gong, look at Lu Chong. He has thirty Pattern Lines now, second in the Town Martial Class on the Body Tempering Path, surpassed only by Zhuo Qingren.

"And Zhuo Qingren will achieve Unity at forty-five Pattern Lines, while Lu Chong can push to fifty..."

Chu Feiyuan was still speaking. Though he knew there was no need to pay attention to Chen Yan, he still wanted to use Lu Chong to belittle him.

Then Gong Tuo's cold gaze swept over him.

"Shut up!"

"Hm?" Chu Feiyuan froze.

"I told you to shut up!" Gong Tuo barked, turning to look at Chen Yan, who was still throwing punches.

His gaze locked in place, shock surfacing in his eyes.

He had only counted briefly just now. This Chen Yan...

This Chen Yan had reached his limit time and again, then charged past it time and again.

Training in the Eight Forms of Extreme Refinement came very difficultly to him. His talent was not among the best.

Yet in this short while, he had already broken through his own limit three times!

His physical limit!

He was anything but simple!