Void-Standing Realm

Seven days later, "Kick toward me, don't hold back."

"Your blood-qi isn't concentrated enough, your explosive power is too slow—are you trying to tickle me?"

"Faster, faster! Kick it out! That was as limp and pathetic as a woman's."

Lu Hao listened to the instructions from Li Siyuan opposite him and felt a deep sense of malice. At first, Lu Hao had assumed Li Siyuan was the serious, old-professor type, but he realized he had thought wrong.

Anyone who could hang out with a weirdo like his old man certainly wasn't an ordinary person. This Li Siyuan was capable of everything, but that mouth of his...

"You're not even a fraction of the man your parents are."

"You're just a soft shrimp with nothing but blood-qi."

Lu Hao now highly suspected that Li Siyuan was venting his dissatisfaction with his father onto him.

However, under such provocation from Li Siyuan, Lu Hao's progress was rapid. With Li Siyuan feeding him moves, Lu Hao's leg techniques and fist techniques were all improving at a breakneck pace.

Li Siyuan had arrived three days after Lu Hao's breakthrough. Although he had already heard about Lu Hao's talent from Bai Qiuyao, seeing it for himself left Li Siyuan speechless.

In just half a month, he had broken through to a First-Grade martial artist, and he had done it with a triple-bone refinement. Li Siyuan felt he couldn't let such a seedling go to waste, so he began playing the "bad cop" during their training sessions to push Lu Hao to improve faster.

"Stop, Teacher Li. My blood-qi is running low. Let's call it a day."

Lu Hao panted as he stood in place.

"That's it? I really doubt you're a triple-bone refinement breakthrough. How are you so short-lived?"

"No, Teacher Li, we've already stopped the lesson. You don't have to keep chasing me to hit me, and you know exactly how much blood-qi I've used up, don't you?"

"Hehe, force of habit. Tsk, your talent is truly something, kid. If I didn't know you were dead set on going to Capital Martial University or Magic Martial University, I'd have recruited you into Donglin Martial University right now."

Li Siyuan said this while packing up his things on the side.

"Teacher Li, what's the difference? In the end, we're all fighting for the human race," Lu Hao laughed.

"At your current rate of cultivation, you'll probably break through to Second-Grade by the time the college entrance exam rolls around. Just thinking about those double-bone refinement geniuses trying to compete for the top spot makes me feel sorry for them. This year's top scorer is already in your pocket."

Li Siyuan shook his head, acting as if he were truly saddened for those candidates, but the upturned corners of his mouth betrayed him. After all, Lu Hao could be considered his student; if Lu Hao became the top scorer, he would gain more recognition as well.

After seeing Li Siyuan off, Lu Hao ducked into the bathroom to shower. He finally understood why he often read about martial artists showering in novels.

It was because every battle and training session produced a massive amount of sweat, and it was incredibly uncomfortable if you didn't wash it off.

Lu Hao checked his panel while washing up.

[Slaughter Point System]
[Host: Lu Hao]
[Blood-qi: 127/245 cal+]
[Spirit: 147/299 Hz+]
[Storage Space: 10 cubic meters]
[Slaughter Point: 117]

Over these seven days, Lu Hao hadn't spent any Slaughter Points to recover his blood-qi, relying entirely on rest. This meant that after a week, including the bones he had refined at the start, he had only refined four toe bones.

His blood-qi had only increased by 4 calories, which was far too slow compared to his previous rate of growth.

There was no good solution for now. He had to wait until his basic leg and fist techniques reached the minor completion stage and add a blade technique before he dared to suggest taking on missions to Bai Qiuyao.

Otherwise, not only would Bai Qiuyao likely reject the idea, but he was also afraid of failing. After all, his combat experience was essentially zero.

If you asked Lu Hao to slaughter a pig, he could do it with his eyes closed, but if it came to killing a person, that was a different story.

After all, humans and livestock were not the same.

After grabbing a quick bite outside at noon, Lu Hao returned to the training room to practice his Stance Technique. Recently, his progress with the stance had been significant.

He could now maintain the stance on top of a water basin for a certain amount of time, though he would eventually fall off if he couldn't hold it any longer.

He walked over to the familiar basin, skillfully stripped off his clothes, stepped out, and stood on the surface of the water.

Lu Hao controlled his center of gravity to maintain balance, then held the stance, continuing to search for and adjust his center of gravity as he practiced.

Slowly, Lu Hao found a trick to maintaining the stance on the water. Just as he thought he had succeeded, his center of gravity suddenly shifted, and no matter what he did, he couldn't adjust it back.

Splash!

Lu Hao fell into the water basin again.

However, Lu Hao didn't have time to wipe the water off his body.

He immediately stood back on the water surface and began the stance again. He felt he was only a hair's breadth away from a breakthrough, so he adjusted his posture, attempting to return to the state he had just achieved.

Half a minute...

One minute...

Fortunately, he didn't hear the sound of falling water this time, which meant Lu Hao had successfully broken through his stance, entering the Void-Standing Realm.

Lu Hao wore a smile on his face, pacing back and forth on the surface of the water while adjusting his Stance Technique, yet he never once sank into the water.

Lu Hao felt that his current state was something that could be understood intuitively but could not be described in words.

Was this the mystery of the Void-Standing Realm? Lu Hao couldn't quite say; he only felt it was a bodily instinct. As he adjusted his movements, his center of gravity maintained its balance quite naturally, without the need for strenuous adjustments.

It was no wonder that Li Siyuan had no specific explanation regarding the Void-Standing Realm, only telling Lu Hao that he would naturally comprehend it once he could perform the Water-Walking Lightness Skill.

Lu Hao stepped down from the water basin.

He took a step into the empty air and, sure enough, did not fall; instead, he felt the effect of a reactive force. Lu Hao attempted to leverage this force in mid-air.

One step, two steps, three steps...

After all, this was merely the effect of the Stance Technique, and its core still lay in an individual's mastery over their own body and the adjustment of their center of gravity.

Therefore, he could only leverage force for seven or eight steps at most before he could go no further, but having even this much was enough; the significance of the Void-Standing Realm lay precisely in this.

The so-called Void-Standing meant being able to achieve brief combat capability in the void, which brought about a qualitative change to a martial artist's offense and defense.

Lu Hao darted back and forth across the training ground, walking in mid-air for half the distance as he adapted to this state.

After adapting for a while, Lu Hao began to practice basic leg techniques, simultaneously attempting to execute the Point-Burst of his leg techniques while in the state of Void-Standing.

With the assistance of the Void-Standing Realm, Lu Hao's progress was simply like riding a Warp-Drive Spaceship.

In just half an hour, Lu Hao's leg techniques successfully entered the Minor Accomplishment realm. Now, he could skillfully use Point-Burst, causing his blood-energy to erupt the moment it made contact with an enemy, leaving them no chance to dissipate the force.

Lu Hao attempted to concentrate his blood-energy and then kicked the sandbag; this time, the sandbag exploded suddenly, just as Li Siyuan had demonstrated back then.

Next, as long as he learned Adhesion Force and learned how to stick to an enemy so they could not escape, Lu Hao's leg techniques would be able to advance to Great Accomplishment.