Iron Leg Sect

Without Spiritual Power to support it, having Flame Energy enter the body was indeed unpleasant for a Cultivator.

However, when Mu Ye began practicing the Crimson Flame Fist, the Flame Energy he drew into his body through breathing quickly coursed into both his arms.

At first, the sensation was subtle, but a fierce, burning pain soon rose in both arms.

These were the symptoms of Flame Energy entering the body.

But as Mu Ye practiced the Crimson Flame Fist again and again, the stinging and burning pain quickly faded, replaced by a slightly soothing tingle.

Then, at a certain moment, a subtle warmth spread from his palms.

Bang!

His fist landed on the stone wall of the mine tunnel, leaving a clear dent.

Mu Ye stopped and stared in slight surprise.

Could this be a sign that I've opened a Divine Aperture?

Mu Ye touched the dent and found a faint warmth lingering there.

He looked at his palm. It was red as a branding iron.

"It seems... it really worked—and not just a little."

"I've opened at least one Divine Aperture."

Opening ten Divine Apertures meant breaking through one level.

Looks like the method of cultivating Divine Apertures might actually work for me too.

Mu Ye beamed, sensing the obvious increase in strength in both palms. For a moment, his heart brimmed with anticipation for the game world.

The hall master could improve through consuming Natural Treasures.

Mu Ye didn't have any Natural Treasures, but he did have the Cultivation World's special environment.

Wait. Even if I don't have the kind of Natural Treasures you can consume, there's still special Spirit Ore like Red Flame Stone, which naturally contains Flame Energy.

Wouldn't wearing it while cultivating for years be better than using a furnace to roast myself?

If Sword and Blade Demon Sealing had a special resource like Red Flame Stone, then every disciple of the Divine Fist Martial Hall would probably have mastered the Crimson Flame Fist. It wouldn't just be a martial hall in Taiping City; it would have to be a prestigious sect renowned across the land.

Of course, only a place with such abundant Spiritual Energy as the Cultivation World could give rise to Spirit Ore like Red Flame Stone.

Even if it was the most common Spirit Ore in the Cultivation World...

Having found the trick and the shortcut, Mu Ye didn't rush to mine. It normally took several days to dig up a single piece of Red Flame Stone anyway, so he might as well focus on practicing the Crimson Flame Fist.

By dusk, Mu Ye felt the stinging sensation in his palms twice more.

That meant he had opened Divine Apertures several times, at the very least.

If absorbing too much Flame Energy hadn't caused it to spill into other parts of his body, forcing him to circulate Spiritual Power to clear it away, Mu Ye would have wanted to keep practicing like this.

The Crimson Flame Fist could only make his arms absorb most of the Flame Energy.

After returning to the Stone House, Mu Ye entered the game with a sense of anticipation and checked his proficiency.

[Crimson Flame Fist: 32/100]

"I didn't expect practicing in the mine to be so effective..."

Mu Ye's heart gave a thump.

And after he entered the game, the character's information showed that the burning condition in both arms had completely recovered.

He returned to the martial hall.

"What? You've already opened three Divine Apertures?"

Yan Zhennan could tell at a glance. He was so shocked that his mouth hung open. "And your arms have recovered too. Did you practice again after you went back yesterday?"

"I felt like my arms had recovered, so I practiced for a little while longer. Then my palms started to sting..."

"A genius!" Yan Zhennan was incredibly excited. "An absolute genius—and one with an extraordinary constitution! No wonder you made a name for yourself as Little Hero Mu despite knowing only a little about fist and footwork."

Mu Ye thought to himself, This Ranger isn't some Martial Arts Genius.

"Excellent, excellent!" Yan Zhennan beamed with satisfaction. "You've made such progress in just one day. Your talent is even greater than I imagined. But martial arts require perseverance."

"Over the next few days, I'll be leaving the city. You mustn't slack off!"

Mu Ye thought to himself, Now that I can see my proficiency, of course I'll come every day.

First things first, I'll get this Crimson Flame Fist to level ten.

With the mine giving him a boost, Mu Ye felt it might not take long.

After the hall master left, the disciples went back to practicing on their own.

Mu Ye practiced for a while, when a sudden commotion rose outside the martial hall.

A disciple hurried back in and shouted:

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother! Those people from the Iron Leg Sect are here again!"

The senior brother who had first brought Mu Ye into the martial hall hurried out, his expression grim.

His surname was Qin, and he was the Divine Fist Martial Hall's third senior brother. As it happened, he had been on guard outside the previous day.

"The Iron Leg Sect..."

Mu Ye knew about them, of course. Taiping City was full of buildings and rival schools, and the Iron Leg Sect was another martial hall where one could learn Martial Arts.

Unlike the Divine Fist Martial Hall, the Iron Leg Sect was stronger, had stricter entry requirements, and charged an exorbitant fee.

When he'd been exploring Taiping City in the Tutorial Stage, Mu Ye had only looked around briefly, but the Iron Leg Sect had left quite an impression.

It was said that the Iron Leg Sect also had the backing of an Aristocratic Clan in Taiping City and was extremely powerful.

Senior Brother Qin hurried outside. Soon, the clash of fists and kicks rang out, mixed with angry shouts and taunts. It sounded like complete chaos.

Mu Ye keenly sensed that this might trigger a Side Quest for the Divine Fist Martial Hall.

So he walked to the very front of the martial hall, where the Martial Arts Arena stood.

It was where the disciples usually sparred, and he had seen it as soon as he entered the hall.

When he arrived, the only person on the arena was a tall, slender woman with an arrogant expression.

She was plain-looking, but her legs were very long, with muscles that stood out in smooth, even lines. At a glance, they looked incredibly powerful.

Normally, people would admire legs like those, but the martial hall's disciples now looked at her with fear and resentment.

"Your Divine Fist Martial Hall is too weak. If Yan Zhennan hadn't gotten lucky back then, he'd be no better than the rest of you."

"You're all a bunch of good-for-nothings. You think you can make a place for yourselves in Taiping City? With trash like you? I say the Divine Fist Martial Hall should just merge into our Iron Leg Sect!"

The woman's voice was haughty. It was obvious she had come to challenge the hall.

Mu Ye moved to one side and looked at Senior Brother Qin, who had just been kicked off the arena. He couldn't help asking:

"Senior Brother, what's going on?"

"You just got here, so you don't know..." Senior Brother Qin held his chest and sighed. "That's Tie Wuhua of the Iron Leg Sect. The Iron Leg Sect and our Divine Fist Martial Hall are sworn enemies. Every few months, they come here to provoke us. The Iron Leg Sect is also a sect with a Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art. Since our teachings share the same origin, they've always wanted to swallow us up."

"Tie Wuhua is the current sect leader's daughter. She was still manageable a few years ago, but she's become much stronger in recent years. Maybe she was a late bloomer. She's trained the Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art, Vajra Leg, to the fourth level and is already close to being a second-rank Martial Warrior."

"Then what level is your Crimson Flame Fist, Senior Brother?" Mu Ye asked.

"Your senior brother is slow-witted. I've practiced for seven or eight years and only barely reached the fourth level..." Senior Brother Qin looked ashamed.

"You're both at the fourth level. How come you don't seem to be anywhere near her match?" Mu Ye asked in surprise.

"Ah..." Senior Brother Qin slowly got to his feet. "You've only just started learning martial arts, so you don't understand the key difference. When it comes to opening Divine Apertures through Secret Martial Arts, the location matters enormously."

"As the saying goes, an arm can't wrestle a leg. Our Crimson Flame Fist opens the Divine Apertures in the arms, while Vajra Leg opens them in the legs. Even when you open the same number of Divine Apertures, the strength gained in the legs is much greater than what we get in our arms. As those small differences add up, even Martial Warriors of the same rank can end up worlds apart."

"Besides, the Crimson Flame Fist opens only a little over a hundred Divine Apertures in the arms, while the legs have over two hundred that can be opened."

"The most complicated Divine Apertures are in the torso and brain. I told you before about the Shen Family's Sea-Covering Supreme Art. It's said that the complete art can open over a thousand Divine Apertures in the torso alone."

"So, do you understand now? Even if her Vajra Leg is only at level ten and she's at the same level as me, your senior brother is still no match for her."

Mu Ye seemed to understand.

At the same time, a message appeared.

[Taiping City Side Quest Unlocked: Restore the Hall's Prestige]

[Quest Objective: Defeat Tie Wuhua and reverse the martial hall's decline.]

[Accept/Decline]

The quest looked simple, but there was also a time limit in the top-right corner of the information.

He would also need a certain amount of Paradise Coins to unlock the second stage.

He still had to accept the quest. Side Quests like this were bound to earn him plenty of Paradise Coins.

But...

"The Iron Leg Sect... Could I choose a different character, join the Iron Leg Sect, and learn that Vajra Leg thing too?"

Mu Ye suddenly thought of that possibility.

Once the idea occurred to him, he decided to try it. He exited the game, thought for a moment, then spent 100 Paradise Coins to unlock the Ranger. He picked the name Bai Zhanfeng at random, entered the game, and headed straight for the Iron Leg Sect in the southwest of Taiping City.

The Iron Leg Sect occupied a manor, much larger than the Divine Fist Martial Hall.

When he arrived, Mu Ye was about to go up and make some inquiries.

Suddenly, he saw a disciple get sent flying out and crash onto the bluestone paving, smashing the stones.

Mu Ye hurriedly stopped in his tracks.

"Even if you're throwing me out, your Iron Leg Sect should at least refund some of the thirty thousand coins I paid!"

The disciple struggled to his feet and roared.

The disciples guarding the entrance snickered.

"Refund you? Who do you think you are? Thirty thousand coins is just the entry fee. You paid it, we took you in, and now the money belongs to our Iron Leg Sect."

"Get lost!"

"I'm going to report you to the authorities!"

"Hahaha! Go ahead!"

The disciple coughed up blood. As the argument went on, Mu Ye pieced together what had happened.

The disciple came from a poor family. He had worked hard to scrape together thirty thousand coins and paid the fee to join the Iron Leg Sect. But he had barely been learning for a few days when they threw him out for stepping through the gate with his left foot a moment before his senior brother, supposedly showing disrespect.

Naturally, not a single coin was refunded.

Just then, Tie Wuhua happened to return from the Divine Fist Martial Hall. When she saw what was happening, she didn't think twice before kicking the arguing disciple away again.

This time, he couldn't even speak. He lay there on the brink of death.

"Why waste words on trash like that?"

Then she turned and walked straight into the Iron Leg Sect.

Mu Ye felt a chill in his heart as he watched. Getting into the Iron Leg Sect seemed like one thing; actually learning there might be another.

The Iron Leg Sect offered only a few choices. Aside from challenging the school, there wasn't even an option to present an apprenticeship letter. Instead, there was...

[2. I have money and want to join the Iron Leg Sect.]

[3. My father is a high-ranking official at court. May I join the Iron Leg Sect?]

You needed either money or power.

But now it seemed that even money might not be enough. They could take you in for a while, then find some excuse to throw you out...

Mu Ye switched back to the Ranger and continued practicing at the martial hall.

Just like that, a month flew by...