Hand Over the Tempering Method

A month after he started practicing the Tempering Method?

Before he even became a martial artist?

Had he tempered his bones so quickly and reached Third Bone Tempering because he had modified the Tempering Method himself?

How had he dared? How old had he been then—fifteen? Sixteen?

No, that was exactly the age when someone would have the nerve. The young knew no fear.

What would a boy that age be afraid of?

But how had he modified the Tempering Method?

By instinct alone?

And he had modified it four times!

Lyu Zhen questioned him again, looking as though everything he knew had been turned upside down.

Su Yi had prepared his answer long ago. He said confidently, "I was in my first year of high school. I'd already memorized all my specialist coursework.

"I knew the circulatory system and the pathways and bones throughout the body by heart. Back then, I wondered why the Tempering Method only followed the main meridians. Weren't there plenty of others?"

"That's because it was meant to be taught widely, so it couldn't involve too much."

Lyu Zhen took out a fresh folder and began taking notes. When Su Yi brought up the main meridians, he couldn't help interjecting.

The Tempering Method was a foundational technique, so it naturally had to be simple. Otherwise, it would never have been chosen for widespread instruction.

More advanced foundational tempering methods had been developed, but they were too difficult and offered too little benefit for the effort, so they had been shelved.

"Mm. I only learned that later."

"Go on!"

"Back then, I wondered why we had to limit ourselves to the twelve primary meridians. Why couldn't we use the eight extraordinary meridians, or the twelve divergent meridians, twelve sinew meridians, twelve cutaneous regions, fifteen connecting vessels, superficial collaterals, and minute collaterals associated with them?

"Why stick to the main pathways? That was the idea behind my first modification. After that, I went by instinct and optimized a new Tempering Method.

"The second time, I was stuck at Second Bone Tempering. I was stuck for almost two whole months! So I studied it again and optimized it once more. Only then did I reach Third Bone Tempering."

"Wait! You think two months is a long time to be stuck before reaching Third Bone Tempering?"

Lyu Zhen asked, once again questioning everything he knew. He had become a martial artist at Second Bone Tempering. After being stuck there for six months without succeeding, he had chosen to advance instead.

Did young people these days think two months was a long time?

Su Yi smiled sheepishly. "It did feel a little long at the time."

Lyu Zhen had no answer to that. How could he argue with a teenager?

"And the third time?"

"The third time..."

Su Yi's spirits seemed to sink. "After I became a martial artist, I wanted to reach third rank quickly so I could learn a few things."

Reach third rank quickly?

Could it be?

Lyu Zhen hurriedly changed the subject. "Then what were you thinking this time?"

"I want to become a grandmaster as soon as possible and take revenge."

Su Yi's gaze was resolute, with a glint of killing intent in his eyes.

A grandmaster? Revenge?

This child... Lyu Zhen sighed.

He shook his head. When would any of this end?

Destroying the Underground Cave was too difficult. Technological weapons couldn't be used underground, and energy cannon development had stalled. The current cannons consumed far too much energy.

But was there truly no way to teach Su Yi's Tempering Method widely?

"Su Yi, could you write down your tempering method? I'm not trying to pry into your secrets. It's just that this is too important."

Lyu Zhen looked troubled as he spoke. Since becoming a grandmaster, this was the first time he had asked a junior for something. He wasn't doing it for himself, but for all of Huaxia—perhaps even the entire world.

Still, it was Su Yi's secret. Lyu Zhen quickly added, "Based on your Tempering Method, I can apply for more—"

"Of course!"

Su Yi agreed at once, without the slightest hesitation.

His ready answer caught Lyu Zhen off guard. He didn't mind being interrupted.

He looked up at Su Yi and met a gaze that was steady, clear, and sincere.

Lyu Zhen had mixed feelings. Su Yi really was a good kid. Of course he wouldn't care about rewards. Lyu Zhen had underestimated him with his own narrow thinking.

Then came a surge of joy. With a young man like this following in their footsteps, they weren't alone!

Before long, Su Yi had filled four sheets of paper with the four versions of his optimized Tempering Method.

The moment he set down his pen, he ventured, "Grandmaster, if I have a Tempering Method that could be taught widely, should I write that down too?"

Lyu Zhen thought little of it, assuming it was an offhand question. "Of course. What you've written so far will only serve as a reference for our research. We might not be able to develop a method that everyone can practice from it."

"Actually, I did try creating a new Tempering Method."

"And? Did it work?"

Lyu Zhen's voice quickened.

"It did!"

"How effective is it compared with the original?"

"It uses a little less vitality, and bone tempering goes a little faster. I'm not sure about anything else, but it should also be somewhat easier to advance through Bone Tempering."

Lyu Zhen suppressed his excitement. His voice trembled slightly. "Write it down first. Let me see."

If it could truly be taught widely, reducing vitality consumption and speeding up bone tempering would already be remarkable. Making it easier to advance through Bone Tempering would be another benefit on top of that.

It might not increase combat strength in the short term, but looking further ahead, its impact would be enormous once enough people practiced it.

A short while later, Lyu Zhen was reading the version Su Yi had written for widespread use.

It was a little harder than the original Tempering Method, but not enough to pose a problem. Practitioners would just need to memorize the meridians.

The way it compressed vitality was clever, too.

Whether it really reduced vitality consumption, sped up bone tempering, and made advancement easier would have to be tested first.

This was no small matter. If the Tempering Method was changed, the new version would be introduced across the country, perhaps even the world.

Lyu Zhen looked at Su Yi with delight. He might have modified the technique entirely by instinct, but that instinct was uncannily accurate. Wasn't he a born researcher?

The hardest part of research was finding inspiration. Relying on instinct sounded far-fetched, but if someone's instincts were as sharp as Su Yi's, why not?

Lyu Zhen began laying out his ideas.

Su Yi kept shaking his head. Research wasn't for him. Besides, it would cost him Energy Points.

At last, he managed to talk Lyu Zhen out of it.

"All right. If you don't want to, I won't force you. I'll find a group to test the Tempering Method shortly. If it works, I'll report it directly to the central authorities.

"I'll also apply for a reward for you. Don't refuse! You need resources for your training too."

After a moment's thought, Lyu Zhen continued, "What about credit? Should I submit it under your name, or keep your name hidden until you're strong enough?"

"Use my name! Now that I'm a martial artist, I believe I can bear both the responsibility and the honor."

Su Yi's voice was firm and confident.

If his name wasn't on it, how would he get Energy Points?

That was the whole reason he had developed the Tempering Method.

"Very well!" Lyu Zhen didn't try to persuade him further. Young people were eager to make a name for themselves, after all.

Still, he offered a warning. "Watch out for the Cult! Famous Prodigy Youths always draw attention."

Su Yi might already have been well known, but once this was announced, his fame would be on another level.

The Cult would certainly set its sights on him.

Su Yi nodded to show he understood. Let the Cult come. He wasn't going to give up this chance to make his name known.

"Now, how about I show you around the research institute? Would you like to see the Underground Cave Humans?"

Lyu Zhen smiled.

Su Yi was tempted. He really was curious, since he had never entered the Underground Cave.

There was no harm in taking a look. He nodded. "I would!"

Lyu Zhen extended his mental power and opened the door first. Su Yi hurried after him.

Outside, Lyu Fengrou and Wu Kuishan saw the door finally open and gave Lyu Zhen puzzled looks.

What had been so secret that he had needed to surround the room with his mental power?

"You'll find out in time," Lyu Zhen said quietly. "Don't ask, and don't ask Su Yi either."

The Tempering Method had yet to be tested. For now, it was best kept secret.

Getting no explanation, Wu Kuishan and Lyu Fengrou nodded in agreement.

They understood the laboratory's rules. They would be told when it was time for them to know. There was no need to press the matter.

"I'm going to show Su Yi around the laboratories now."

With that, Lyu Zhen paid them no further attention. He motioned for Su Yi to follow and turned away.

"This is the Energy Laboratory. Its main focus is Energy Stone research. Energy Stone generally comes in three types.

"There's the kind used in daily life, the kind used for training, and Raw Ore. The difference is really just purity. Refining Energy Stone is still far too complicated. Fifty grams of basic Energy Stone might not even yield one gram pure enough for a martial artist to train with.

"If its purity is too low and it has too many impurities, it can't be used for training. When you trained in Magic Martial Academy's Energy Room, that room released energy from Energy Stone that wasn't pure enough for direct use.

"The effect is minor, though. In the Energy Room, you mostly rely on your own recovery and absorb few impurities.

"You'll be entering the Underground Cave soon. Learn more about it while you're at school, along with Energy Stone prices.

"Energy Stone has many uses. It can be used directly or in an Energy Room. It's also used in scientific research and weapons manufacturing."

"This area is for pill research. We also keep some medicinal materials from the Underground Cave here. This is Luosheng Fruit, the main ingredient in the Body-Tempering Pill. For martial artists in the Middle Three Grades, three kinds of pills are especially important: Body-Tempering Pills, Organ Protection Pills, and the Eleven Pill."

"The Eleven Pill?"

"It's actually a set of pills for tempering the internal organs. There are eleven major organs, aren't there?

"And there happen to be eleven pills in the set, so they're called the Eleven Pill. Body-Tempering Pills mainly temper the body, while the Eleven Pill focuses on the organs.

"Martial artists in the Middle Three Grades work on both inside and out. Their goal is to temper everything below the head to its limit."

Lyu Zhen noticed Su Yi looking at a bright-red fruit about the size of a cherry tomato.

"That's a Blue Leaf Fruit. The fruit is red, but the plant it grows on has blue leaves all over. That's where the name comes from.

"It's one of the main ingredients in the Eleven Pill.

"Come on. Next is the dissection room. You can get a good look at the Underground Cave Humans there."

Lyu Zhen led the way and soon stopped outside a laboratory beside a large hall.

"Let's look from out here."

Su Yi glanced inside through the clear glass.

Sure enough, they looked exactly like humans. By appearance alone, there was no way to tell them apart.

Lyu Zhen explained, "Humans and Underground Cave Humans are very hard to distinguish by looks. But humans give off vitality fluctuations, while Underground Cave Humans give off energy fluctuations. That's the main way to tell them apart."