Two Years! Third Rank Warrior

Flowing Frost City.

Bart's Manor.

As the sun rose and the moon set, the cold came and went.

In the training grounds behind Bart's Manor.

The black stone slabs that had once left Lei Wen's legs bruised and swollen had now been worn smooth and shiny.

Two years flashed by. To the long-lived Jade Rabbit nobles, it was no more than the snap of a finger.

But to the young Lei Wen Barte Lei, they had been more than seven hundred days spent tempering himself to the bone.

Eight-year-old Lei Wen had grown to Barte Lei's chest.

Some of the childish softness had faded from his face, replaced by the delicate firmness of a young leopard.

At that moment, bare-chested, he was lying upside down on a thick ebony beam that took three people to encircle. In each hand, he held a specially made Black Stone dumbbell.

Each Black Stone dumbbell weighed a full hundred pounds.

"Nine hundred ninety-eight..."

"Nine hundred ninety-nine..."

"One thousand!"

Sweat slid down, dripping onto the mud below and instantly blooming into tiny dark flowers.

Lei Wen's arms trembled. His whole body flipped nimbly through the air before landing steadily on the ground.

He was not panting at all. Even his breathing rhythm had not been disrupted.

He casually set the two stone dumbbells down, then picked them up again and continued lifting.

His movements flowed as smoothly as water. The hundred-pound weights in his hands seemed less like iron and stone and more like two fluffy cotton pillows.

"Third Rank Warrior."

Lei Wen clenched his fist, and a crisp crackle rang out from his knuckles.

This was not merely an increase in strength.

It was proof of his control over his body.

For an ordinary person to advance from an apprentice warrior to a Third Rank Warrior—

Even with Spirit Qi secret manuals, someone of merely decent talent would need at least five years to build a foundation.

But he had only needed two years.

And that was without cultivating any Spirit Qi secret manual, relying purely on the tempering of his physical body!

"Such speed!"

"He truly is extraordinary!"

Lei Wen murmured, his gaze falling onto the back of his right hand.

There, what had once been nothing more than a blurry patch of dark crimson birthmark had now taken on the faint outline of a beast's mark.

Its patterns had grown more intricate, and its color had deepened.

The mark vaguely resembled a gaping maw, greedily seeking to devour everything in the world.

Whenever Lei Wen trained to exhaustion or rapidly consumed high-energy food, the birthmark would glow faintly.

It was like a tireless converter.

It refined and purified all the energy he consumed, then poured it into every limb and bone in his body.

This was also why Lei Wen's appetite was so astonishing.

He could eat an entire roasted sheep in one meal, along with ten pounds of white bread.

If Bart's Manor had not been wealthy, he feared he would have eaten them into poverty long ago.

"Huff—"

Lei Wen let out a long breath, grabbed a towel from the nearby rack, and casually wiped the sweat from his body.

He had no idea what the birthmark truly was.

But as long as it could make him stronger, what did it matter if it was some demon's curse?

In a world where strength reigned supreme, weakness itself was the original sin.

"That is..."

Lei Wen's expression shifted.

He turned toward the entrance of the training grounds.

A tall figure stood quietly there.

It was Father Barte Lei.

The man leaning against the wooden fence was wearing a complicated expression.

There was satisfaction, relief, and even...

A trace of black-stone-like bewilderment.

Barte Lei was indeed confused.

As a dignified Ninth Rank Warrior, what genius had he not seen?

Back in his day, he too had been someone praised as the pride of Jade Orchid City. The number of geniuses he had encountered was far from small.

But this boy...

He was simply too absurd.

Barte Lei had originally planned for Lei Wen to spend ten years building up his physical foundation. Reaching the level of a Second Rank Warrior would already have been a blessing beyond measure.

After all—

The further a warrior cultivated, the harder it became.

The more solid the foundation in the early stages, the greater the explosive power later on.

Who could have imagined it?

In just two years,

the eight-year-old had become a Third Rank Warrior.

And this was purely physical strength.

Once word got out, even those old monsters from Jade Orchid City's great academies would probably come knocking, begging to take him as a disciple.

Barte Lei took a deep breath.

He tried to suppress the surging emotions in his heart and walked over with a stern face.

"Father."

Lei Wen bowed respectfully.

Barte Lei folded his arms and looked Lei Wen up and down as though assessing a treasure.

After staring for a long time—

The Ninth Rank Warrior could only squeeze out several words full of praise.

He did not want to praise him too harshly, lest the boy grow arrogant.

But he truly could not find any flaw to criticize.

His lower body was as steady as a mountain, his breathing long and powerful, his muscles streamlined rather than bulky, and his gaze was as sharp as a hawk's.

How did he look like an eight-year-old child? He was clearly a battle-hardened elite!

"You don't need to train today."

Barte Lei suddenly said.

"Why?"

Lei Wen froze.

He had not had enough yet.

Every inch of muscle in his body still hungered for more weight, making it hard to stop.

"Too much is as bad as too little."

"The body is like a bow. If it remains constantly drawn, it will eventually break."

Barte Lei waved his hand, his tone remaining calm.

"Besides..."

"Since your physical strength has reached its limit, there is no need to waste time any longer."

Barte Lei paused.

He pulled out a dark, simple booklet from his sleeve and casually tossed it to Lei Wen.

Lei Wen caught the booklet.

It felt slightly heavy, carrying an ancient, weathered texture.

There were no words on the cover, only an ancient-looking battle axe. The blade seemed to retain a faint dark crimson stain.

That was the trace of blood.

Even across countless years, one could still sense the baleful aura rushing toward one's face.

"This is..."

Lei Wen's heart jolted.

"Raging Flame Spirit Qi!"

"This is the secret manual passed down through the Barte Lei family for centuries!"

"It may not be considered top-tier, but among fire-element Spirit Qi secret manuals, it is still more than respectable."

"Only by cultivating Spirit Qi can you truly be called a warrior."

"With only brute strength, before a true powerhouse, you are nothing more than a slightly larger sandbag."

Barte Lei said calmly.

Spirit Qi.

Lei Wen tightly gripped the ancient booklet in his hand, his fingertips turning slightly pale from the force.

He had finally waited for this day.

In this world—

No matter how strong one's physical body was,

without the support of Spirit Qi, there would ultimately be a limit!

Only Spirit Qi was the path to the Saint Domain, and even to the divine ranks!

"Take a look."

Barte Lei gestured.

Lei Wen eagerly opened the first page.

What entered his eyes was a complex diagram of the human body's meridians.

It marked the circulation route of Spirit Qi and the nodes that needed to be opened.

Every line of explanation was written in vigorous strokes, clearly containing the painstaking effort of generations of ancestors.

"Remember!"

"When cultivating Spirit Qi, the greatest taboo is rushing for success!"

"The step of drawing Qi into the body is especially dangerous!"

"One careless mistake can damage the meridians. In severe cases, your body may explode and you may die!"

"Your body may be strong, but you are still young. Your meridians have not fully stabilized!"

"I will instruct you from the side."

"Whether you can sense the fire element and draw Qi into your body will depend on your own fortune!"

Barte Lei's voice became stern.

Spirit Qi secret manuals were also ranked.

The most common Spirit Qi secret manuals on the continent were those with a single elemental attribute.

Such Spirit Qi did not possess much power.

Even if cultivated to the peak, one could at most reach the Seventh or Eighth Rank Warrior level.

Only Spirit Qi secret manuals containing multiple elemental attributes could allow one to cultivate to the Saint Domain.

And during the magic appraisal two years ago—

Lei Wen had been tested to possess dual-attribute talent in water and fire!

The fire-element Raging Flame Spirit Qi was naturally the most suitable Spirit Qi secret manual for Lei Wen.