"He... was more seriously injured than you. You punched right through his chest, and the Sun family took him away that very night. I heard they used their best medical pod and gene-repair fluid to treat him."
"Now he should be lying alongside Sun Ao, receiving treatment, right? I hope the brothers can make up."
Lin Feng didn't seem to want to discuss the topic any further. He patted Li He's uninjured arm. "Anyway, junior brother, you won. You won!"
You won!
Those two words
struck Li He's heart once again.
A warm current swept away the lingering pain and exhaustion in his body.
Li He slowly closed his eyes, feeling the pure energy from the Wine Crystal flow through every part of him, repairing damaged tissue and nourishing his newly formed bones and muscles. He could vaguely sense a surging power lying dormant deep within him, growing.
"Oh, right, senior brother. What about my mom?"
He had been unconscious for three days. His mother, Zhang Xiujuan, must have been terribly worried.
"Don't worry. We were afraid she'd worry, so we sent someone to your home ahead of time to explain. We told her the martial arts center had urgent business and would be closed for a few days, and that you'd been chosen for your excellent performance and couldn't come home for the time being. Once your injuries are stable, you can go back and let her know you're safe."
Li He felt somewhat relieved.
His father was still out adventuring. If his mother knew he'd been injured this badly, she might worry herself sick.
The martial arts center had made thorough arrangements.
"Alright, you've only just woken up. You need to rest, so I won't keep you. Make sure you get plenty of sleep and take your medicine on time." After a few more reminders, Lin Feng left the hospital room.
Silence settled over the room again.
Li He lay there for a while.
Feeling the new strength in his body, he found it hard to hold back. He couldn't do strenuous exercise, but surely he could practice his stance?
The Turtle-Crane Health Stance included both the standing Crane Stance and the prone Turtle Stance.
He cautiously moved his body, enduring the slight pulling sensation, then assumed the Turtle Stance. He focused inward and guided his blood and qi along the stance's prescribed path.
Buzz!
A sudden change occurred.
A stream of blood and qi quietly spread out from the center of his body.
Threads of blood and qi seeped through his pores, intertwining and winding around one another until they formed a thin, translucent aura around him.
Li He's eyes flew open.
"What is this?"
This faint aura wasn't as fierce and unyielding as protective qi. It was like an invisible membrane, with a peculiar sense of separation.
He continued practicing the Turtle-Crane Health Stance.
The faint aura subtly changed shape, transforming into the illusory image of an overturned tortoise shell that enveloped him.
A precise surge of energy churned wildly within the shell's phantom. After his blood and qi completed one full cycle, this energy poured into his body.
[Proficiency +1] [Proficiency +1] [Proficiency +1]
Three notifications rang out in a row!
A flash of insight passed through Li He's mind, and he understood at once.
Why had his progress become so difficult after reaching minor mastery in martial arts?
Why had he always felt that his strength was trapped inside his body, unable to burst forth?
Why were Sun Jiaoyang and Yuan Lingling's footwork and defenses so fluid and nimble? They were all First-Rank, yet they possessed extraordinary abilities he didn't have.
It was all because his blood and qi were too weak to project beyond his body.
The physical body was limited; the world was boundless.
He recalled Sun Jiaoyang's graceful, unhurried movements, as elusive as a ghost. He remembered how every gesture stirred the air, how deftly he redirected force and transformed energy.
It wasn't just skillful movement. It was also the projection of blood and qi, and the control of the air around the body—a sign that martial arts had entered a higher realm.
At great mastery, blood and qi surged like a dragon, weaving into a net. Every gesture stirred wind and thunder. That was modern martial arts.
His heart surged with excitement. He was about to sink back into the stance and experience the wonders of projecting blood and qi when—
Grrr, grrr, grrr!
An extremely loud rumbling from his stomach suddenly erupted.
A wave of intense hunger swept over him, making his vision dim. He nearly lost his stance.
Only then did Li He remember that he'd been unconscious for three days, kept alive entirely by nutritional fluid. His body had long since been depleted. Projecting blood and qi now was like opening a floodgate, sharply increasing his need for energy.
"I need to find something to eat." He licked his cracked lips, preparing to call a nurse.
Just then, the Wine Crystal he'd swallowed seemed to react. A surge of pure, immense energy burst forth and flowed of its own accord into his starving cells.
The tortoise-shell phantom surrounding him brightened and grew more defined, while the flow of blood and qi suddenly accelerated.
[Proficiency +1] [Proficiency +1] [Proficiency +1]
The notifications rang out in rapid succession.
"This Wine Crystal really is a treasured secret of the martial arts center."
Overjoyed, Li He immediately cast aside all distractions and immersed himself completely in the intent of the Turtle-Crane Health Stance.
Inside the hospital room,
his arms encircled his body, his knees bent slightly, and his back arched as he curled into a ball. He wasn't doing it on purpose. It was the natural posture assumed by his bones and muscles as his Turtle Stance deepened.
At that moment, he looked less like an injured man lying in a hospital bed and more like an ancient giant tortoise lurking in the depths of the sea.
The tortoise-shell phantom enveloping him grew more solid under the steady infusion of energy, gradually taking on the heavy bronze color of antiquity. Ancient patterns appeared across its surface.
More and more threads of blood and qi emerged, growing denser as they intertwined and wound around each other, deepening the shell's color.
[Proficiency +1] [Proficiency +1]
The cold notifications rang out with every surge of blood and qi.
After an unknown amount of time,
[Proficiency +1] [Turtle-Crane Health Stance: Minor Mastery (99%) → Great Mastery (0%)] [Vitality: 17 → 18]
"Great mastery!"
Li He's eyes blazed. He leapt from the bed and landed steadily on the floor, his blood and qi surging with deep, concentrated power.
Every bone, muscle, blood vessel, and even every cell in his body hummed with delight. An unprecedented sense of resilience filled him from head to toe.
He looked down at his chest. The sunken wound had healed completely, and his skin glowed with a healthy flush. His muscles were sleek and powerful.
"Even my injuries have healed. Breaking through in vitality actually has this kind of effect!"
Li He was overjoyed.
He focused his thoughts.
An illusory green tortoise shell instantly covered his entire body, fitting tightly against his skin. Mysterious patterns flowed across its surface, radiating an unbreakable, weighty aura.
He flicked a finger against the hospital bed's steel guardrail.
Clang!
A clear metallic ring sounded.
The sturdy steel rail had been dented by that light flick, yet his finger didn't hurt in the slightest.
"The Turtle-Crane Health Stance's great-mastery technique—the Black Tortoise Battle Body!" Li He was beside himself with joy.
The Black Tortoise Battle Body gave him more than just physical defense. He could clearly sense that this tortoise shell could also resist spiritual intrusion.
He withdrew the battle body, and the green shell phantom quietly faded away.
"It's time to get discharged. Once all my martial skills reach great mastery, I'll be able to become a Second-Rank Martial Artist!" Li He's heart swelled with ambition.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone gently knocked on the hospital-room door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Jin Wancai walked in, beaming with health and wearing a genial smile.
"Little Brother Li, I've brought my Yousheng to see you!"
His gaze swept over Li He. Seeing him standing on the floor, his complexion rosy and a powerful aura faintly radiating from him, Jin Wancai exclaimed in surprise, "Little Brother Li, did you get out of bed to practice martial arts? You really shouldn't! It's only been a few days. It's good that young people recover quickly, but you shouldn't rush things."
As he spoke, he reached out as if to support him.
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