Cultivation Energy Stone

Lyu Zhen, waiting at the entrance to the passageway, completely ignored Lyu Fengrou.

He stared at Su Yi with delight, as though he had found some priceless treasure, and asked directly, "You're Su Yi? Your marrow is like mercury? Come, come have a proper chat with this old man."

Su Yi nodded somewhat awkwardly. This situation seemed a little off. Wasn't he only supposed to have some marrow extracted?

Lyu Zhen's expression sent a chill down Su Yi's spine, like ants crawling over him.

Could you imagine an old man gazing at you tenderly?

Forcing down his discomfort, Su Yi answered respectfully, "Greetings, Master! My marrow tempering has indeed reached Major Achievement."

Lyu Zhen had an old-fashioned temperament, so Su Yi could not act frivolously around him. Besides, he was not a frivolous person to begin with.

Master?

Hearing that form of address, Lyu Zhen shot Wu Kuishan a somewhat disdainful glance.

But seeing how proper Su Yi's attitude was, and that he was a junior, he could not help but nod.

In his eyes, Fengrou was a junior, Duo'er was a junior, and Su Yi was a junior.

As for Wu Kuishan?

He was a sinister little man!

"Come chat with me first. We'll run some tests later."

Lyu Zhen directly pulled Su Yi toward his office, paying no attention to Wu Kuishan or Lyu Fengrou.

He could see his daughter anytime. But this was the first Third-Rank martial artist with Marrow Like Mercury he had ever seen.

As for Wu Kuishan, he could go wherever the hell he wanted! If he had not brought such a treasure today, Lyu Zhen would definitely have mocked that sinister little man again.

The moment he took Su Yi's hand, Lyu Zhen noticed that his weight was indeed abnormal. Delighted, he began fussing over Su Yi.

Su Yi shook his head helplessly. He only wanted this to end quickly so he could borrow the Credit Points and make his escape.

The husband and wife who had been left behind exchanged a look and shook their heads. Whenever the old man began researching something or came across something that interested him, he entered this state.

They had long grown used to it over the years. They also knew that it was best not to make a sound unless the old man asked a question. If his train of thought was interrupted, he would become extremely irritable.

Before long, Lyu Zhen brought Su Yi to his office and pressed him into a chair.

Sitting in the chair, Su Yi first surveyed the office. It was large, with many bookshelves packed tightly with documents and books.

Other than the documents and books, there was only a desk and several chairs. It was very simple.

Lyu Zhen took out a blank file folder to make a record and began asking, "Su Yi, when did you discover that you could temper your marrow?"

Su Yi organized his wording before saying, "About eight days ago."

"Eight days ago—that would be September 10th!"

Lyu Zhen recorded the date and continued, "How did you discover that you could temper your marrow?"

"While practicing Standing Meditation, I suddenly felt the urge to try it. I tried, and tempered it directly."

Su Yi answered with complete seriousness.

Lyu Zhen frowned slightly. He had simply tried on a sudden whim, and he could temper it?

That was not scientific. But since Su Yi had succeeded in tempering it, there had to be a reason.

Perhaps it was due to his physique. Lyu Zhen extended his Spiritual Power toward Su Yi.

Hm? What surging Blood Qi. It was at least one thousand calories. Ordinarily, even Third-Rank martial artists could not break through the limit of 999 calories.

Even with Third Bone Tempering, he had seen people break that limit in the Third-Rank realm, but they had all been at Third-Rank Peak and possessed either special body-tempering methods or fortuitous opportunities.

Su Yi was only at Third Grade Mid Stage. Although tempering the marrow itself would raise the upper limit of Blood Qi, he had broken through the limit despite lacking the qualitative transformation of Third-Rank High Stage. The strength of Su Yi's Meridians, physique, flesh, and skin was definitely not low.

Su Yi felt a wave of discomfort, as though someone were peering at him.

His expression tightened. There were only Lyu Zhen and himself in the office.

Wu Kuishan and Lyu Fengrou had remained outside and had not entered.

Then Lyu Zhen had to be using Spiritual Power to probe him. Su Yi thought for a moment. Since he wanted to understand him, then he could learn a little more.

He focused his mind and began intercepting Lyu Zhen's Spiritual Power.

The interception was extremely weak. After all, there was a vast gap between their Spiritual Power, and Su Yi's use of it was far less proficient than Lyu Zhen's.

Yet even this faint interception made Lyu Zhen's expression change.

"Spiritual Power!"

Lyu Zhen set down the file he had been recording in, a hint of surprise showing on his face. "You can actually sense Spiritual Power."

Although Su Yi's use of Spiritual Power was extremely crude, a person in the Third-Rank realm could actually sense Spiritual Power?

Wu Kuishan did know about Su Yi's Spiritual Power breakthrough, but he had not told anyone. Su Yi was too weak.

"Yes. I've been able to do it ever since I broke through to Third-Rank."

He could sense Spiritual Power as soon as he broke through to Third-Rank? Was he born with it?

Then again, that seemed right. Without something special about him, he should not have been able to temper his marrow.

Without Mental Manifestation to guide it, the priority for tempering should not have been the bone marrow, but the Skull.

The Skull?

Lyu Zhen froze. Could Su Yi temper his Skull?

Somewhat puzzled, Lyu Zhen asked Su Yi about it.

Su Yi shook his head. Tempering the Skull would probably require the Tempering Method to undergo Optimization for the fifth time.

Having received a negative answer, Lyu Zhen felt somewhat relieved.

Being one step ahead made you a genius; being too far ahead made you a monster. Though in his eyes, Su Yi was not far from being a monster himself.

Born with powerful Mentality, Su Yi's chances of becoming a Grandmaster far surpassed those of ordinary Sixth-Rank Warriors.

With Marrow Like Mercury on top of that, he was already invincible among those of the same rank. It would not be impossible for him to kill opponents above his rank.

Fortunately, he had not tempered his Skull. If he could even temper his Skull, then after closing the three gates and completing his Mental Manifestation breakthrough, he probably would not become Seventh Grade, but Eighth Grade.

"What does it feel like to temper the bone marrow?"

"It's itchy, and it hurts! It makes me desperately want to scratch, but I can't reach it!"

That was different from how Grandmasters tempered their bone marrow. Was it because he was tempering it ahead of time?

After Grandmasters tempered their Skulls, they naturally underwent a complete transformation, finishing their Bone Marrow Tempering in a single day and achieving a Golden Body on the spot.

Su Yi, however, still had to temper it piece by piece. The difference was enormous.

"How long does it take you to temper the marrow in one bone?"

"With sufficient Blood Qi, around an hour. I stayed in the Energy Room for seven days before I more or less finished tempering the bones I've tempered so far. All my resources have been used up. I don't even have the resources to continue tempering my Spine Bone now."

Su Yi answered helplessly.

Seven days in the Energy Room? Naturally, Lyu Zhen knew about Magic Martial Academy's Energy Room. Ten Credit Points per hour was not cheap for a new student, and seven days came to 1,680 Credit Points.

Lyu Zhen also caught Su Yi's underlying meaning. He wanted to secure some resources, and that was not impossible.

Under normal circumstances, Lyu Zhen would not have bothered with such wasteful resource consumption merely to save time.

But this was for Bone Marrow Tempering, and Su Yi's Mentality was also extremely high. He was a living, breathing Grandmaster seedling.

It was worth investing in a Grandmaster seedling like this, especially since he was one of their own juniors.

Lyu Zhen patted Su Yi on the shoulder and placed an Energy Stone in his hand, saying with a light smile, "This is a Cultivation Energy Stone. It's enough for you to finish tempering your Spine Bone."

Su Yi's feelings were complicated. Though he had indeed intended to ask, Lyu Zhen had actually given him an Energy Stone outright.

He weighed it in his hand. It was around fifty grams. Even basic Energy Stones cost one Credit Point per gram, while Cultivation Energy Stones were thirty times more expensive.

The Energy Stone in his hand was worth roughly 1,500 Credit Points.

After hesitating for a moment, Su Yi said seriously, "Master, I can't accept this. I was planning to borrow some Credit Points from my teacher."

As he spoke, he placed the Energy Stone on the table.

He truly had not intended to take Lyu Zhen's resources. Leaving such an impression upon their first meeting would be terrible. He had only brought it up as a lead-in so that he could borrow Credit Points from Wu Kuishan afterward.

Lyu Zhen picked up the Energy Stone and stuffed it back into Su Yi's hand, smiling kindly. "What? You can take Wu Kuishan's resources, but not mine? You've already called me Master. I'd be embarrassed to take back something I've given you."

Su Yi was immediately at a loss, unable to accept it yet unable to refuse it.

Seeing Su Yi caught between a rock and a hard place, Lyu Zhen chuckled. "Consider it resources I'm lending you. Return them after you break through to Grandmaster."

Huaxia's Grandmasters were not actually all that wealthy, but a single Cultivation Energy Stone was not enough to hurt.

As a researcher, he enjoyed top-tier compensation and benefits, and he even held shares in several pharmaceutical companies.

He could treat it as a meeting gift for a junior. He found Su Yi rather pleasing—young, supremely talented, and with a good temperament and manner of speech.

If only Su Yi had been Feng Rou's disciple, then he could have called himself Master with even more justification.

Su Yi's expression relaxed. He silently accepted the Energy Stone and said solemnly, as if making a promise, "I'll definitely repay you!"

With this Energy Stone, he could soon reach Third-Rank High Stage. There were so many resources in the Underground Cave—he could seize them and fight for them. With his strength after breaking through, he would be practically invincible among Fourth Grade martial artists. As long as he did not die, he could obtain plenty of resources.

He could even try his hand against Fifth Grade martial artists. He would just need to train his Battle Art further by then and gain proper control over his own Blood Qi.

After crossing the 1000 Cal threshold, his control over his Blood Qi had slipped considerably. It would probably decline a little more after his breakthrough.

Lyu Zhen had told him to repay the resources after becoming a Grandmaster. Once he became a Grandmaster, Su Yi would be even less likely to lack such a small amount of resources.

If he died, then he died.

He was not the protagonist. It would not be surprising if he died, and once a man was dead, his debts were gone.

Su Yi still held deep awe toward the Underground Cave. Tempering his bone marrow did not mean he could run rampant through it.

Leaving aside High Rank martial artists, if several Fifth Grade Warriors came at him, he would have to flee for his life.

If a Sixth-Rank Warrior hunted him down, his hopes of escape would be even slimmer.

Over and over, Su Yi reminded himself not to get carried away.

The Underground Cave martial artists were no fools. They formed groups and laid ambushes.

Hearing Su Yi's earnest answer, Lyu Zhen could not help bursting into laughter and nodded in agreement.

Whether Su Yi repaid him or not was not important to him, but he liked this attitude.

With that, his impression of Su Yi improved even further.

But was it really a good idea to let such an outstanding prospect be taught by Wu Kuishan?

If he learned Wu Kuishan's sinister way of doing things, would that not be ruining him?

When the time came, he would have to let Feng Rou keep a closer eye on him and guide him more.