Martial Artist

He arrived at the Office door and knocked lightly.

"Come in."

The Martial Arts Class's homeroom teacher was an alumnus specially hired back by Magic Capital Affiliated High School. He had graduated from both Magic Capital Affiliated High School and Magic Martial University.

He was a Fourth Grade Realm martial artist. If anyone in the Martial Arts Class needed to break through to the First Grade, they could ask him to act as their Guardian.

When Yuan Li saw that it was Su Yi, his face immediately filled with smiles. As the most talented student in the class, Su Yi had always been the darling of every teacher. Especially after breaking through to Third Bone Tempering, even the principal had come by several times to offer his congratulations.

With a Third Bone Tempering student, the school's achievements had been completely maxed out.

Moreover, Su Yi's temperament and character suited Yuan Li's taste perfectly.

High school students were already at the age when their blood ran hot, and with all of them practicing martial arts, troublemakers sprang up everywhere.

Troublemakers might easily produce geniuses, but when they encountered an even greater genius like Su Yi, they were utterly crushed.

Walking up to the desk, Su Yi said, "Teacher Yuan, I'm about to break through to become a martial artist. I'd like to ask you to be my Guardian."

"Have you nourished your qi-blood to its limit? There's still some time before the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam. If it can still increase, it would be best to nourish your qi-blood a little longer."

Yuan Li asked with some concern.

"It's already been nourished to the limit."

Name: Su Yi

Realm: Third Bone Tempering

Qi-Blood: 209 cal/209 cal

Mentality: 299 Hz/299 Hz

Knowledge: Basic Cultivation Method—Tempering Method {Optimization +2}; Horse Stance {Optimization +1}—Solid Stance Realm; Basic Fist Technique—Minor Achievement;

Basic Leg Technique—Minor Achievement; Basic Sword Technique—Major Achievement {Optimization +1};

...

Energy: 266 points

Damage Status: 3.75%

At 209 cal, his qi-blood had already stopped growing.

Over thirteen days, his qi-blood limit had risen by 4 cal. Thanks to the school heavily publicizing Su Yi's breakthrough to Third Bone Tempering during that time, he had gained more than two hundred Energy Points.

That was nearly 20 points a day on average. Between Second Bone Tempering and Third Bone Tempering, his daily growth had only been 2–3 points.

Su Yi had not chosen to Optimize the Basic Fist Technique or Basic Leg Technique. At his cultivation speed, training in the Lower Three Grades would be very quick. After breaking through to become a martial artist, cultivating a Mid Grade Combat Method would offer the highest value for the cost.

Energy Points were hard to come by. Every point had to be spent on the blade's edge.

Hearing this, Yuan Li nodded.

"In that case, breaking through to become a martial artist is indeed a wise choice. No matter how strong a non-martial artist is, they are still only a non-martial artist. The principal has already arranged your resources:

One First Grade Qi-Blood Pill, one First Grade Bone-Tempering Pill, and one Organ Protection Pill. I'll submit the application now, and you can get them right away."

"There's an Organ Protection Pill too?"

The resources provided for breaking through to become a martial artist in the Martial Arts Class included one Qi-Blood Pill and one Bone-Tempering Pill. An Organ Protection Pill was not essential; it merely made things safer.

A First Grade Qi-Blood Pill had a market price of 300,000. A First Grade Bone-Tempering Pill cost 500,000, and a First Grade Organ Protection Pill cost another 600,000.

That was a full 1.4 million.

"Yes. This was specially arranged because you achieved Third Bone Tempering. With the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam so close, safety comes first."

Third Bone Tempering was no easy feat. The entire Magic Martial Affiliated High School had only produced a few students like that, so naturally they had to be carefully protected. If something went wrong during his breakthrough, the principal would cry himself to death.

Yuan Li thought silently.

People really could infuriate each other by comparison. Geniuses were always treated differently.

"You practice the Horse Stance, so you're planning to temper your Lower Limb Bones first, right?"

Su Yi nodded. Tempering the Lower Limb Bones first might not provide as great a boost to swordsmanship as tempering the Upper Limb Bones, but it would let him run and fight.

"Good. Sit here and wait a moment. I'll go get the pills."

With that, he left the Office.

Su Yi casually sat down in a chair and waited.

Yuan Li returned very quickly. After handing the pills to Su Yi, he unfolded a diagram of the human body's meridians and said, "You should be thoroughly familiar with the sixty-two Meridians that need to be opened. Just in case, point them out in the order they need to be opened."

As Su Yi pointed out the Meridians and Branch Meridians on the diagram one by one in sequence, Yuan Li nodded with a smile. "Good, that's right. In a moment, take the Organ Protection Pill first, then the Bone-Tempering Pill. Finally, open the Branch Meridians. If you feel your qi-blood is insufficient, take the First Grade Qi-Blood Pill. Use the explosive power of its qi-blood to continue opening these half-sealed Branch Meridians.

"With your qi-blood, your chances of getting through are high even without using the Qi-Blood Pill. I'll act as your Guardian at your side, so don't be nervous."

Su Yi nodded. With these pills, he could have broken through alone, but better safe than sorry.

When he could be one hundred percent safe, why choose ninety-nine percent?

Expanding the 62 Semi-Closed Meridians was even easier than he had imagined. In truth, the Third Bone Tempering had already opened up some of his meridians.

In just over an hour, all 62 meridians had been fully opened. Su Yi did not choose to take a First Grade Qi-Blood Pill.

He opened his eyes and said excitedly, "Teacher Yuan, I successfully broke through."

Yuan Li smiled and nodded, utterly unsurprised. If he could fail to break through even under these circumstances, then hardly anyone would ever succeed.

"Now that your meridians have just opened, cultivate the Tempering Method first. Then take a Common Qi-Blood Pill to replenish your qi and blood and see how high your peak qi-blood value is."

Su Yi took out a bottle of pills from his pocket, poured out a Common Qi-Blood Pill, and swallowed it.

As he recovered his qi and blood, he sensed the Book of Knowledge's panel.

Name: Su Yi

Realm: First Grade Martial Artist

Qi-Blood: 125 Cal/239 Cal

Mental Strength: 279 Hz/315 Hz

Knowledge: Basic Cultivation Method—Tempering Method {Optimization +2}; Horse Stance {Optimization +1}—Solid Stance Realm; Basic Fist Technique—Minor Achievement;

Basic Leg Technique—Minor Achievement; Basic Sword Technique—Major Achievement {Optimization +1};

...

Energy: 268 Points

Damage Status: 3.75%

About two hours later, Su Yi finally rose to his feet after recovering to his peak state.

Only after noticing that Su Yi had stood up did Yuan Li say, "Your qi and blood is at least 230 Cal."

An ordinary First Grade Martial Artist at their peak would only have around 250 Cal of qi and blood. Even among the newly broken-through Second Bone Tempering martial artists Yuan Li had seen, they had only just exceeded 200 Cal.

A gap of at least 30 Cal.

"Thank you, Teacher Yuan, for serving as my guardian," Su Yi said with heartfelt gratitude.

Yuan Li casually waved a hand.

"It's simply my duty. Your qi and blood is very strong, and your bone tempering will be much faster than others'. Bone tempering in the Lower Three Grades will no longer pose any pressure for you."

"Oh, right, Teacher. I plan to take another leave of absence and return when it's time for the Martial Arts Exam."

Yuan Li paused slightly, then nodded. "That works too. Go home and prepare properly for the exam. You'll also have more time to cultivate."

Indeed, Su Yi had already broken through to become a martial artist, and his academic grades had consistently ranked first. There was truly no need for him to keep coming to school; the school could no longer offer him much help.

After getting his leave slip, Su Yi politely bid Yuan Li farewell and left the office.

On his way back to the classroom, Su Yi wore a radiant smile the entire time.

He had successfully broken through to the First Grade. At a time like this, the school would definitely build up publicity around him, flaunt its teaching standards, and incidentally suppress the other high schools to give advance notice for enrollment in the second half of the year.

He could also harvest a wave of Energy Points. If, after the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, he could follow it up with interviews from television stations or newspapers, he might be able to gather enough for a third Optimization of the Tempering Method. The twice-Optimized Tempering Method had already given Su Yi a 20% increase in qi-blood absorption, a 20% increase in bone-tempering speed, and a 20% reduction in qi-blood consumption.

If he could carry out one more Optimization, it should shorten the time needed to complete the Lower Three Grades by a month.

One step ahead, every step ahead.

Breaking through to the Second Rank and then taking on missions was a goal Su Yi had long since set. By then, as a Second Rank martial artist, he should be strong enough to contend against martial artists below the Third-Rank High Stage.

Of the inheritance his parents had left behind, apart from the house he lived in, Su Yi had sold off all assets such as shares.

Excluding the resources used for non-martial artist cultivation, he had 120 million in cash remaining, along with two First Grade Qi-Blood Pills and seventeen Common Qi-Blood Pills.

That should be enough for cultivation through the Lower Three Grades.

Su Yi did not take missions entirely for resources. More than that, he wanted to see blood. Martial artists would have to walk this path sooner or later.

Imagination alone could never convey that sensation.

By the time he finished thinking, Su Yi had returned to the classroom. He headed straight to his seat and began packing up the materials he would need.

It happened to be a self-study period, and Su Yi's movements drew his classmates' attention.

Cheng Wen was the first to ask impatiently, "Brother Yi, did you successfully break through?"

Everyone's gaze turned toward Su Yi. Although they felt that Su Yi, who had entered with a beaming smile, was ninety percent likely to be a martial artist now, they still wanted a definite answer.

Su Yi turned around, his smile unchanged. "Of course. I even took leave to go home and prepare for the exam."

"Amazing!!"

"So cool!!"

"I knew it! How could Brother Yi possibly fail!"

"You even took leave? So jealous!!"

Su Yi's words instantly caused an uproar among the entire class, with praise after praise ringing out without end.

"Hahaha! To celebrate Brother Yi breaking through to become a martial artist, gather at Mingyu Tower at seven tonight. My treat. After we eat, we'll head to Lanyu Bar. I'll book the whole place tonight, and we can all have a good time together."

The one speaking was Cheng Wen. Although Su Yi was the most well-liked person in the class, everyone had different personalities.

The three he was closest to were Cheng Wen, Lai Yu, and Li Xian.

Cheng Wen was generous by nature and often treated them all to meals. The others, moved by his kindness, frequently returned the favor, and back and forth, their friendship only grew deeper.

Mingyu Tower was also one of his family's businesses. Both its atmosphere and cuisine ranked among the best in Demon City, and with its proximity to the school, it was usually everyone's first choice when treating others to a meal.

Cheng Wen's father was an instructor at Magic Martial University, at the Fifth-Rank Peak.

His mother was at the Second-Rank Peak and had graduated from Demon City Women's College.

After graduation, she married Cheng Wen's father and chose to enter the business world.

Lanyu Bar was also one of the businesses under Cheng Wen's mother's name.

"Young Master Wen, you're loaded!!"

"Brother Wen, you're freaking awesome!!"

"..."

Although the conditions for entering the Martial Arts Class meant that none of them were badly off, everyone was still happy to join in.

Once registration was over, they would have to face the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam. They all needed somewhere to vent their emotions.

Watching the crowd make a ruckus, Su Yi did not say anything to spoil the mood.

It was good to let loose a little.

Su Yi threw an arm around Cheng Wen's shoulders and laughed. "In that case, Young Master Cheng will be picking up tonight's tab."

"Whoo~~~"

"..."