Cultivating Battle Arts

Su Yi said nothing. Having enrolled only a few months ago, he did not know much about the Fourth Grade seniors, and seniors in their final year generally did not hold positions in the martial arts club.

By convention, the Vice President of the Demon Martial Club had to be a martial artist in the Fourth Grade Realm.

"How about Duan Yuan? He just broke through to Fourth Grade Mid, and he's quite strong. We didn't invite him before only because all the Vice President positions were filled."

"Duan Yuan would work, but he's too much of a loose cannon, isn't he? Liu Mingxuan has a better reputation, and he's also broken through to Fourth Grade."

"One is Fourth Grade Initial, the other is Fourth Grade Mid. Of course we invite Duan Yuan first. At Demon Martial, the strong come first."

"..."

Su Yi leaned back in his chair, enjoying their heated discussion.

He was unfamiliar with both Duan Yuan and Liu Mingxuan. He had only heard their names and had never paid attention to the specifics.

Xue Hang chose Duan Yuan, believing that since Duan Yuan was stronger, he should be invited first.

Seated in the central position, Xie Jie listened to everyone's reasons without speaking, silently weighing them.

Whether they accepted or not was unimportant. What mattered was the order in which they were invited.

After listening for a while, Xie Jie shifted his gaze to Su Yi. He was the only one who had not voiced an opinion.

"Su Yi, what do you think?"

Su Yi had not expected Xie Jie to ask him. He was only a nominal Vice President. If this had not been his first meeting, making it awkward to refuse, he would have left already.

Seeing everyone fall silent and look at him, Su Yi shrugged and said casually, "I don't know either of them, so I won't comment. But since Duan Yuan's realm is higher, I choose Duan Yuan. Martial artists should still let strength do the talking."

Though realm did not necessarily equal strength, and being a minor realm higher did not guarantee victory, Duan Yuan and Liu Mingxuan had fought to a draw when they were both at Third-Rank Peak.

Now, he still felt Duan Yuan had the better odds. If Liu Mingxuan refused to accept it, he could challenge Duan Yuan. If he won, everything would be easy to discuss.

"But Duan Yuan's personality is rather reckless. The Internal Affairs Department sometimes needs to take newcomers into the Underground Cave for missions. Isn't that temperament unsuitable?"

Meng Kangping spoke somewhat tactfully. It was Su Yi's first time voicing an opinion, so it would not be good to directly reject his suggestion.

Reckless? A Qin Fengqing-type character?

That piqued Su Yi's interest a little, but that sort of personality truly was unsuitable for taking newcomers into the Underground Cave. He might recklessly get them killed.

When Qin Fengqing had been Vice President, he had merely held the title and served as a fighter. Taking newcomers into the Underground Cave? Who would dare go down there with him?

"Let's contact him first. If he can rein himself in when taking newcomers, wouldn't he be a very good choice?

Besides, we don't even know whether he'll agree. Let's make contact first and talk after that."

Meng Kangping was somewhat speechless. It was true that Duan Yuan's strength would give a team a higher survival rate, but that was only if he could truly restrain his own personality.

"Alright, then contact Duan Yuan first."

Xie Jie made the decision directly. Just as Su Yi had said, since Duan Yuan was stronger, they should approach him first.

Martial artists ultimately let strength do the talking.

If Duan Yuan became Vice President and Liu Mingxuan was dissatisfied, then he could come challenge the Demon Martial Club.

No one argued any further.

"Next, let's discuss other matters. Li Leyao, a Club Member was killed in the Underground Cave a few days ago. Have his compensation and related matters been handled?"

Xie Jie picked up a file and asked Li Leyao, the Minister of the Finance Department.

Compensation for Club Members who died in the Underground Cave was also handled by the Demon Martial Club. The school would provide a portion, while the club would add an extra portion.

Li Leyao flipped through the handover records and said, "The compensation payment and all follow-up matters have been arranged."

"Meng Kangping, have the internships for that batch of Senior Year students from the day before yesterday been arranged?"

"They have. The internship schedules and assigned organizations have all been notified."

"Have any students recently applied to enter the Underground Cave?"

"..."

In just over half an hour, the discussion and arrangements were nearly complete.

"Su Yi, although you're a nominal Vice President and don't need to handle other matters, I still need to tell you about the Internal Affairs Department."

Xie Jie said after some thought.

"Please do."

Su Yi was not surprised. It was unrealistic to expect that he would not have to do anything at all. As long as it did not take up too much of his time, he could accept it.

"The Internal Affairs Department is only a name. In truth, it would be more accurate to call it the Underground Cave Affairs Department.

"There are very few people in the Internal Affairs Department. Including me and the Vice Presidents, we are all members of the Internal Affairs Department.

"Sometimes we need to carry out Underground Cave missions, take newcomers into the Underground Cave, and so on. You can think of it as the Demon Martial Club's armed division.

"I want to invite you to join the Internal Affairs Department. We won't trouble you with other trivial matters. We would only occasionally need your help taking newcomers into the Underground Cave."

Xie Jie cleared his throat and explained at length.

Su Yi was immensely strong. With him leading a team, newcomers entering the Underground Cave for the first time would have an extremely high survival rate.

Su Yi frowned deeply. After thinking for a while, he began, "It's not that I'm unwilling to take newcomers. It's just that I killed too viciously in the Meat Grinder, and I've now been put on the Underground Cave's wanted list. If I encounter a powerful enemy, I can still escape, but it would be difficult for the newcomers."

The Meat Grinder had been raging for too long. Before the rumors died down, it would be inconvenient for Su Yi to stay there for long. Fourth- and Fifth-Rank opponents were manageable, but if they ran into a Sixth-Rank Expert through bad luck, every freshman he brought in would die.

A bounty?

Xie Jie had not heard of that either. He frowned deeply and began to think.

In that case, it truly would not be suitable. The strongest opponent Su Yi had slain in the abyss was a Fifth-Rank Peak expert.

Ordinary Abyss Warriors were no match for him, but anyone bold enough to cause trouble would be at least several Fifth-Rank experts, perhaps even a Sixth-Rank Expert.

No, killed in the Meat Grinder?

Then they would not go to the Meat Grinder. Why would newcomers go to the Meat Grinder on their first trip into the abyss? At most, they could hang around within thirty kilometers. If they really encountered a Sixth-Rank Expert within thirty kilometers of the Underworld, the odds would be far too low.

Having understood Xie Jie's meaning, Su Yi nodded in agreement.

There would not be much danger as long as they stayed within thirty kilometers. If they truly ran into a Sixth-Rank Expert, no one could fault him for turning tail and running.

He had simply gone down the wrong path of thought just now and set the wrong standard. He should not have held their first descent into the abyss to such a high standard.

After the meeting ended, Su Yi greeted everyone and left directly.

He still needed to continue cultivating his battle arts.

Several battle arts needed cultivation.

Name: Su Yi

Realm: Fourth Grade Martial Artist

Blood Qi: 1488 cal/1599 cal

Mental Power: 635 Hz/659 Hz

Bone Tempering: 177 bones (100%), 29 bones (30%)

Knowledge: Tempering Method—Internal Organs Chapter{Optimization+3}; High Grade Combat Method—Azure Sky Sword Art—Not Yet Started{Optimization+2}; High Grade Footwork—Skywalk Step—Not Yet Started{Optimization+2}; High Grade Combat Method—Body Forging Art—Not Yet Started{Optimization+1};

Mid Grade Combat Method—Falling Blossom Sword—Major Achievement{Optimization+2}; Mid-Grade Footwork—Cloud Step—Major Achievement{Optimization+2}; Basic Cultivation Method—Tempering Method{Optimization+4};

...

Energy: 157058 points

Damage Status: 20.33%

Optimizing the three battle arts had cost 230,000 Energy Points. Su Yi felt a pang of heartache; he had drifted even farther away from the Spiritual Power Cultivation Method.

But he had no choice but to optimize them. Sword arts and footwork were what he needed to master as quickly as possible, as they concerned both his combat strength and his chances of survival. He had not performed a second Optimization on the Body Forging Art, however.

The rise in his Blood Qi had already strengthened his physique. One Optimization was enough.

Su Yi had progressed fastest in cultivating the Skywalk Step. He had cultivated the Cloud Step, had long since brought his Stake Standing to the Void Standing Realm, and had optimized the Skywalk Step twice.

With all these measures working together, he had already touched the threshold of entry. His cultivation progress was advancing a thousand miles a day.

His sword art lagged much further behind. Though it had also been optimized twice, he had spent too little time cultivating battle arts. He was still quite far from entry.

The Body Forging Art had only just begun as well. All of it required time and resources to cultivate.

Su Yi had yet to begin cultivating his internal organs. His priority remained consolidating his Fourth Grade Mid realm. Tempering the heart could not be rushed. Of the Five Viscera and Six Bowels, strictly speaking, the heart was the hardest and most dangerous to temper.

Thus, Fourth Grade Mid to Fourth Grade High Stage was also a comparatively time-consuming phase. By contrast, going from High Stage to Peak was faster, since tempering the other four viscera was quicker than tempering the heart alone.

He had yet to use the four Hundred-Tempering Fruits and two Vein-Shaping Flowers he had obtained in the abyss.

From the Fourth Grade Realm to Fifth-Rank Mid, one was constantly tempering the Five Viscera and Six Bowels. At Fifth-Rank High Stage, one shaped the veins; at Peak, one shaped the body.

After eating a Hundred-Tempering Fruit, one could temper the internal organs uninterrupted for twenty-four hours a day over the next three days, at astonishing speed and with exceptional results.

Seventy-two hours of uninterrupted tempering could match one or two months of arduous cultivation by an ordinary martial artist.

Once he began tempering his heart with the four Hundred-Tempering Fruits, he would complete it very quickly.

"First, I'll find a place to cultivate my battle arts."

Su Yi headed straight for Sheltered Cove, found an unoccupied area, and began cultivating his battle arts.

Without worrying about the expenditure of Blood Qi, he began practicing his battle arts without end. A Fourth Grade Mid martial artist could already absorb Energy Particles on their own, not to mention that he had Cultivation Energy Stones on him.

After cultivating until seven o'clock, Su Yi ate a simple dinner in the cafeteria and headed straight for the Battle Art Room.

Arriving at the Battle Art Room, Su Yi showed his Martial Arts Certificate and went to the High Grade Combat Method section.

There were not nearly as many battle arts in the High Grade Combat Method section as in the ordinary battle art section.

Su Yi first flipped through the fist techniques and found the Mahakala Fist.

Su Yi knew a little about the Mahakala Fist. It came from the same lineage as the Vajra Fist, but the Vajra Fist attacked the exterior, while the Mahakala Fist attacked the interior.

It used the power of Blood Qi to penetrate inward and attack an enemy's insides. Once cultivated to Major Achievement, it could easily inflict grievous wounds or even kill martial artists below Fifth-Rank Peak.

Fifth-Rank Peak martial artists had completed the tempering of their internal organs, making them difficult to kill. Back then, if Su Yi had not detonated Life Essence to blast him apart from within, he would have been unable to kill him.

If the injury had landed even a little lower, Su Yi would have been the one fleeing.

For Su Yi right now, it was not particularly useful—unless his Mental Power rose further, allowing him to directly stun an enemy mentally before landing a punch on their head.

"I should still learn it as a backup. If I don't have a weapon, my fists and feet can still deal more effective damage."

It was not as if losing one's weapon meant becoming useless. It was simply that one could no longer receive the added power of more battle arts.

There was still quite a difference between using a palm and using a sword.