The Six Character Mantra really was remarkably effective. After reciting all thirty-six syllables, Xian Wu felt his blood and energy surging, and his mind grew clear and refreshed.
His whole body felt as if he were floating on air.
"So this is what practicing a body-tempering technique feels like? It's wonderful~" He used what little time remained to practice even harder.
Instructor Tie Kuang folded his arms across his chest and wandered among the scattered rows of the beginner martial arts class.
As he corrected the students' movements, he reminded them, "If any of you want to find out how strong you are, you can go to the training grounds and test yourselves with the Strength Testing Stone."
"You already tested yourselves yesterday, so I don't need to teach you how to use it again, do I?"
The Strength Testing Stone was a massive rock that gleamed all over like metal.
When martial artists struck the Strength Testing Stone with their fists, the stone would dent. The depth of the dent was used to determine the martial artist's strength.
After paying a certain amount of Demon Spirit Coins, students could begin the test. Professional staff would observe and announce the results.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Nie Li's martial arts talent was average. The others had already practiced the Six Character Mantra once, but he still hadn't learned the Hoo Skill.
A vein popped on Lu Piao's forehead. He'd just returned from the bathroom when he heard Nie Li hissing nonstop beside him.
"Stop hissing! If you do it one more time, I'll fucking smack you!" Lu Piao clenched his fists and snapped. He needed to pee again. "Come on, I'll teach you the Ha Skill!"
"No. I haven't learned the Hoo Skill yet. I shouldn't bite off more than I can chew." Nie Li refused, convinced that diligence could make up for a lack of talent.
Lu Piao was speechless and switched places with Xian Wu.
Since class was almost over, he didn't want to run to the bathroom again.
Seeing that Nie Li still hadn't learned the Hoo Skill after all that time, Xian Wu stood nearby and demonstrated it slowly, again and again, for Nie Li to follow.
The two of them were quite close to the female students' line.
Xian Wu noticed that Xiao Ning'er was drenched in sweat, as if she had just stepped out of a bath. Under the sunlight, she looked dazzling.
The more you sweated, the more effective your training was. Xiao Ning'er had sweated so much—her strength must have increased considerably, right?
A genius was a genius. After practicing the entire Six Character Mantra once, he'd barely broken a sweat.
The results of their training were worlds apart.
Dong, dong, dong!
The melodious chime swept by like a gust of wind, then vanished into the distant horizon.
School was over!
"Dismissed!" Instructor Tie Kuang hated keeping students late. As soon as class ended, he let the students in the beginner martial arts class go.
He'd planned to keep the class representative behind to give him a few instructions, but the kid bolted out the door like he'd sprouted wings.
"Damn it, what a useless idiot!" Tie Kuang muttered.
How had he ended up choosing that guy as the class representative?
At noon, the sun blazed overhead.
Most of the students who'd finished lunch ran back to their dormitories to rest.
Xian Wu didn't return to his dorm. Instead, he went beneath the large banyan tree outside the classroom to practice Sacred Orchid Academy's basic body-tempering technique, the Six Character Mantra.
"Hoo... hoo... hoo... hoo... hoo... hoo..."
"Ha... ha... ha... ha... ha... ha..."
"Hu... hu... hu... hu... hu... hu..."
"Si... si... si... si... si... si..."
"Chui... chui... chui... chui... chui... chui..."
"Xi... xi... xi... xi... xi... xi..."
The Hoo Skill trained the liver, the Ha Skill trained the heart, the Hu Skill trained the spleen, the Si Skill trained the lungs, the Chui Skill trained the kidneys, and the Xi Skill regulated the triple burner.
What was the triple burner?
Instructor Tie Kuang had explained it: the triple burner was the hollow space between the torso and the internal organs.
The space above the diaphragm was called the upper burner; the space below the diaphragm but above the navel was called the middle burner; and the space below the navel was called the lower burner.
The triple burner housed the internal organs and was extremely important to martial artists.
As Xian Wu practiced the Hoo, Ha, Hu, Si, Chui, and Xi Skills, he spotted someone inside the classroom through the window.
It was none other than Xiao Ning'er, who had arrived early.
Xiao Ning'er also noticed Xian Wu peeping in from outside. Without hesitation, she closed the window facing him.
Inside the classroom, she sat upright in her seat, her fingers arranged gracefully and resting on her lap. She closed her beautiful eyes and murmured something under her breath.
She was cultivating her Soul Force.
"Why isn't she taking a nap at noon? What's she doing in the classroom? Could it be... she came to keep me company?" Xian Wu thought shamelessly.
Honestly, Ning'er, we're still young. We should focus on our studies.
Xian Wu had a vivid imagination. He was already fantasizing about what he and Xiao Ning'er would name their children.
He wiped the drool from his mouth, shook his head, and moved farther into the shade of the tree before continuing to practice the Six Character Mantra.
Without strength, nothing else mattered.
So what if Xiao Ning'er liked him? The Prominent Family behind her would never let her marry someone with no power or influence.
What's more, he'd heard those idiots say that Xiao Ning'er was already engaged to Shen Fei of the Sacred Family.
There was even less chance that the two of them could become lovers and live happily ever after.
For his own happiness and Ning'er's, Xian Wu had to work twice as hard at his cultivation.
Inside the classroom, Xiao Ning'er silently cultivated her Soul Force, completely unaware that some idiot outside was fantasizing about her.
Time flew by, and soon the students in the beginner martial arts class began their afternoon lessons.
The afternoon schedule was packed, with four different classes: the first was Spirit Master Class, the second was Demonic Beast Class, the third was history, and the fourth was geography.
The instructor teaching them about Spirit Masters was a plump, fair-skinned old man. He was very kind and approachable, with no airs about him.
Taking a piece of chalk, the old instructor wrote several pairs of words on the blackboard.
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Black Gold
Legend
Putting down the chalk, the old instructor began his lesson. "A Spirit Master is someone who can control spirits. There's a similar profession called a Demonic Beast Tamer, whose members can control demonic beasts."
"Soul Force has no shape, form, color, or smell. Clearly, controlling spirits is much more difficult than controlling demonic beasts."
"However, Spirit Masters aren't necessarily stronger than Demonic Beast Tamers. There's no strongest profession in the world, only the strongest people. Remember that."
"Don't get conceited just because you have talent, and don't despair just because you don't. Hold on to your ideals and convictions, and one day, you'll become the best in your chosen field."
"All right, I'll stop trying to pump you up. Let's get back to the lesson." The old instructor picked up his pointer and indicated a column of words on the blackboard.
"Spirit Masters, like martial artists, have five ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold, and Legendary. Each rank is further divided into five stars."
"A Spirit Master with one hundred Soul Force is called a Bronze One Star Spirit Master. One with one thousand Soul Force is called a Silver One Star Spirit Master; one with ten thousand is a Gold One Star Spirit Master; one with one hundred thousand is a Black Gold One Star Spirit Master; and one with a million Soul Force is a Legendary One Star Spirit Master..."
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