Beneath the pitch-black night sky, in the training ground.
The man before him had been quite strong, able to leave marks on the stone lock. But in the eyes of Guande Martial Arts School's prodigy, Jin Guangqing, he was merely decent.
The marks on the stone lock were numerous, but the deepest were only an inch and a half.
That was hardly enough to make Jin Guangqing think highly of him. At most, it was surprising.
Among their peers at the school, only the top prodigies—Zhong Wanyu, Qi Yaxue, Qin Shuqin, and Zheng Mengyang—were worthy of Jin Guangqing's serious attention.
In fact, several nearby large towns had martial arts schools where many talented youngsters had emerged. Some had extraordinary physiques, others exceptional gifts, and some wielded their sabers with unparalleled ferocity, cultivating the Basic Saber Technique to the Great Accomplishment Realm. With that mastery, they ran rampant through the Body Tempering Realm.
Without exception, these people were the cream of their respective martial arts schools.
Soon,
Jin Guangqing set aside his thoughts and began training.
He could not only leave marks on this specially made stone lock, which weighed over a hundred pounds, but even strike cracks several fingers deep into it.
But Jin Guangqing could not shatter this thick stone lock, made with special stone. Neither could Zhong Wanyu, Qi Yaxue, Qin Shuqin, or Zheng Mengyang.
Only a Meridian Opening Realm expert, relying on domineering inner energy, could do that.
He went over to an intact stone lock and began training with it. His fist shot out like flashing thunder and lightning, heavy and fierce. The specially made stone lock, weighing over a hundred pounds, shuddered at once. Cracks shaped like a fist, four fingers deep, appeared on its surface, sending up dust and stone grit.
This was the Thunderous Body Refining Fist Jin Guangqing practiced.
The Thunderous Body Refining Fist was one of the three most powerful body-tempering martial arts at Guande Martial Arts School. It was said to be immensely powerful and could be practiced all the way to the Tendon Changing Realm. It was far superior to the Azure Origin Body Tempering Art.
But the school had a rule: to learn any of these three body-tempering Cultivation Techniques, a disciple had to either reach the peak of the late Body Tempering Realm before turning nineteen, or possess such exceptional aptitude and physique that the school's senior leaders took notice of them as soon as they joined.
Jin Guangqing met both conditions. He had fulfilled the requirements for practicing the school's three most powerful body-tempering Cultivation Techniques.
Jin Guangqing was seventeen this year. Not only had he reached the peak of the late Body Tempering Realm, but he also had excellent natural talent and physique. As soon as he joined, his master, Yu Guande, had summoned him alone and taught him the Thunderous Body Refining Fist, one of the three most powerful body-tempering Cultivation Techniques.
That was unlike Xie Baolin, who had only been taught Thunderous Fist, the preparatory martial art for the Thunderous Body Refining Fist.
It was easy to see just how highly the school's senior leaders regarded Jin Guangqing. He was all but certain to become a Tendon Changing Realm expert, and might even grow stronger than that.
"Even though I've reached the peak of the late Body Tempering Realm, and have the Thunderous Body Refining Fist to boost me, I still can't shatter this specially made, thick stone lock. But why can I only leave cracks four fingers deep? I heard Zhong Wanyu and the others can easily leave cracks six fingers deep in one of these."
"Could it be that I'll never measure up to them?"
Jin Guangqing looked at the cracks, a full four fingers deep, but there was not a trace of happiness on his face. Ordinary martial arts school disciples could take pride in leaving even a one-finger-deep crack in one of these specially made stone locks, and brag about it to others.
But now Jin Guangqing looked utterly dejected. He trained and practiced martial arts so relentlessly, yet when he faced Zhong Wanyu, Qi Yaxue, and the others, the gap still felt enormous.
His full-force strike could only leave a crack four fingers deep in the thick stone lock, while Zhong Wanyu, Qi Yaxue, and Qin Shuqin could leave palm-shaped cracks six fingers deep.
And it was said that Zhong Wanyu and the others had not even used their full strength.
Of course, even if Zhong Wanyu and the others had gone all out, they still could not have shattered a thick, specially made stone lock like this. At most, they could have left cracks seven fingers deep, but that was already frightening.
They far outstripped Jin Guangqing!
Unless a Meridian Opening Realm expert appeared, no Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist could punch through and shatter one of these thick stone slabs.
But the strength of Zhong Wanyu, Qi Yaxue, and Qin Shuqin weighed heavily on Jin Guangqing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jin Guangqing continued his extra training. His Thunderous Body Refining Fist hammered relentlessly into the thick, specially made stone lock. The stone lock shuddered again and again, and fist-shaped cracks appeared across it, but its interior remained completely unbroken.
That meant that no matter how relentlessly Jin Guangqing struck it, he would have a hard time smashing it apart.
But his training was so loud and his punches so fierce that the stone lock before him not only shook, but also disturbed the one beside it—the stone lock someone had already left marks on. Now, under the impact, stone flakes began falling from it nonstop.
"Hm?"
Jin Guangqing stopped training and glanced to the side in confusion. The stone lock someone had used earlier bore several cracks an inch and a half deep, but now broken chips and grit were crumbling from them. More and more fissures appeared, spreading across the stone lock's surface.
This surprised Jin Guangqing.
When he had come to the training ground, he had meant to train with this stone lock. But someone had already used it and left marks on it, so he had picked another one instead.
Now, though, perhaps affected by his training, the stone lock beside him was shedding grit and fragments. Its cracks were spreading like a spiderweb, crawling across the entire surface. The stone was splitting apart, as if it could no longer hold together and was about to burst.
Baffled, Jin Guangqing walked over to the stone lock the other man had used. He stared intently at the cracks and raised a hand, slowly resting his palm against the stone. In that instant, his heart lurched and his eyes widened.
"How is this possible?"
What had he felt? The inside of the stone lock had already been pierced and shattered, reduced mostly to fragments and grit.
The next moment, the hand he had placed on the stone lock became the last straw.
The dense cracks spread wider at once, covering the entire stone lock. With a sharp series of cracking sounds, it burst apart from within.
With a bang,
the specially made, thick stone lock, weighing over a hundred pounds, split into pieces, collapsing into a heap of fragments and dust. A cloud of smoke rose as debris scattered across the ground.
Jin Guangqing stared at the scene, dumbstruck.
He slowly raised his hand and stared at what had happened in disbelief.
"How could this be?"
The thick stone lock, which only a Meridian Opening Realm expert could pierce and shatter, had now split apart. He stood stunned, unable to believe it.
He knew the stone lock had nothing to do with him. When he touched it, its interior had already been in a shocking state, shattered and pierced through by some tremendous force.
But although that terrifying force had destroyed the stone lock from within, it seemed to have held back. It had not caused the stone lock to burst apart on the spot.
His training nearby had then shaken the stone lock, already riddled with holes, until it could bear no more. It had split apart in an instant, collapsing into a pile of rubble.
At that moment, Jin Guangqing was shaken to the core.
He stared fixedly at the rubble scattered across the ground. Then, as if struck by a thought, he looked toward the direction the other man had gone, his mind trembling as he murmured:
"I never imagined there was an expert like this in the school."
"Without even having developed inner energy, he could shatter this thick stone lock with the strength of his bare fists. And he could make it hold together, leaving it shattered inside without letting it burst apart on the spot. His strength is simply terrifying."
"Compared to someone like him, what do the school's top prodigies Zhong Wanyu, Qi Yaxue, Zheng Mengyang, and Qin Shuqin even amount to?"
Jin Guangqing gave a bitter smile.
He had thought only top prodigies like Zhong Wanyu and Qi Yaxue posed a threat to him at the school. But what he had seen tonight had utterly overturned everything he knew.
There was an expert among the school's younger generation.
A true expert.
If Jin Guangqing had not been mistaken when he arrived, that man's cultivation was only at the peak of the middle Body Tempering Realm. Yet he had directly shattered the thick, specially made stone lock, which only a Meridian Opening Realm expert could damage.
At that moment, Jin Guangqing was no longer arrogant or contemptuous.
All that remained was respect and humility!
And a shock too profound for words!
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