Acupoint Divine Ability, Heavenly Leak!

[Currently evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (99/100)...]

Lu Ming felt the message come from deep within him, and a flicker of excitement rose in his heart.

The "99/100" afterward was something like experience points. After awakening his memories a few days ago, he had discovered that every time he finished striking the stakes nine times, he gained one experience point.

This thing was the Divine Ability Panel, a cheat he had often used when playing games in his previous life. It had come with him when he crossed over, too.

As long as he practiced any method with the Divine Ability Panel, it could evolve the corresponding divine ability!

As for why practicing Nine Palace Living Stakes had evolved an Acupoint Divine Ability, it was probably because one of the key aspects of Nine Palace Living Stakes was striking the stakes nine times.

The parts he struck were the joints and other points on the puppets, so the panel had recognized it as an acupoint-striking martial art.

Yesterday, his Acupoint experience had already been close to reaching 100, so he had become a little impatient and practiced for too long, leaving his hands and feet slightly injured.

Now that he had wound medicine, those minor injuries were nothing to worry about, so naturally, he would keep practicing. He was curious to see what Acupoint Divine Ability would evolve once he reached 100.

Perhaps he could use it to climb even higher in the rankings!

He reached out, his body moving with him as he stepped around the stakes. Entering the Nine Palaces Stakes, he saw red dots on several stakes come into view from different directions. He knew there was another one behind him.

The essence of walking the Nine Palace Living Stakes lay in how the practitioner arranged the order in which they struck the nine red dots, so as to save as much time as possible.

The force one could develop by practicing Nine Palace Living Stakes would also gradually reveal itself through this process.

Thock, thock, thock...

Nine more strikes!

Lu Ming walked out of the Nine Palaces Stakes, returned to the front of the wooden hut, and stood still to finish his exercise, breathing slightly hard.

[Currently evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (100/100)...]

[Evolution complete!]

[Acquired Acupoint Divine Ability: Heavenly Leak.]

[Heavenly Leak]: All things have leaks, and these are their acupoints. Strike an acupoint to weaken its force, then replenish your own.

As the divine ability finished evolving, Lu Ming felt his eyes brighten, and a panel appeared before him.

[Acupoint Divine Ability]: Heavenly Leak (Initial Completion).

Heavenly Leak Divine Ability?

Lu Ming was still a little puzzled when his vision suddenly flickered, and the world before him changed. The wind around him seemed to turn into faint gray lines in his eyes, while several black spots appeared on the wooden hut.

Some of those spots were at the corners of windows; others were cracks caused by years of neglect. Looking closely, each black spot seemed like a small cloud of black smoke that the wind could not disperse.

Those were... "leaks"!

Lu Ming suddenly understood. The Heavenly Leak Divine Ability could let him see the openings in all things—or, in other words, their "acupoints" and "weaknesses"!

He turned around. The red dots on the nine wooden puppets of the Nine Palaces Stakes were now cloaked in black in his eyes.

Those were the spots on the puppets that were out of alignment. The places marked with red dots were already "weak points" specially designed by the Military Service Bureau!

Now that he possessed the Heavenly Leak Divine Ability, he had seen acupoints on the hut and wanted to break them, but had held back for fear of tearing the place apart.

Now, seeing all those black spots on the Nine Palaces Stakes, he could no longer resist. He stepped forward and used Mud-Wading Steps, sliding in almost flush with the ground.

The instant he entered the Nine Palaces Stakes, he struck with his palm, fiercely slamming it into the Black Leak Point on the left stake's abdomen.

Thud!

The stake shuddered and gave a dull thump.

The Black Leak Point abruptly dispersed, but gathered again in the blink of an eye. He had hit it, but hadn't broken it. The leak remained.

Yet his body shook, and he felt a force like wind sweep over him, bolstering him.

For a moment, his strength and momentum remained undiminished, and even seemed to have grown slightly stronger!

Lu Ming was delighted. He had suspected as much just now, but he hadn't expected that to be exactly what it meant.

When ordinary people walked the Nine Palace Living Stakes, every strike affected their momentum and footwork, effectively lengthening the time it took them to pass through the nine stakes and making it difficult to reach the level of Three Breaths Nine Echoes.

People often said that once you used up the force behind a move, your old strength was gone before your new strength had arrived, leaving you to be defeated by an opponent who seized the opening. It was much the same idea.

But he possessed the Heavenly Leak Divine Ability. As long as he could strike the acupoints on his target, his momentum would increase instead of diminishing, at least for a short time!

If he could keep striking acupoints without stopping, his strength would remain at its peak forever—or even surpass it!

Countless thoughts whirled through his mind, but his hands and feet never stopped moving. He stepped around the stakes, striking the red dots on the nine wooden puppets in succession—the black acupoints in his Heavenly Leak vision.

With every acupoint he struck, his momentum grew stronger. His footwork barely faltered as he smoothly struck the stakes nine times.

Thock, thock, thock...

At last, he stood at the other end of the Nine Palaces Stakes, his blood and qi surging throughout his body, excitement coursing through him.

He felt that his entire body had become a single whole, all his strength twisted into one. After a long while, as he slowly calmed down, it loosened like a wad of cotton being gently teased apart.

A wave of warmth spread through every part of his body. His heart thudded, and a feeling of sheer exhilaration pierced straight through the crown of his head, leaving him refreshed from head to toe.

It was different now—completely different from before.

Lu Ming excitedly clenched his fists.

This was Integrated Force! The Integrated Force Director of the Military Service Bureau had spoken of, when all the strength in one's body was twisted into a single strand.

This was the sign that one had entered the basics of Nine Palace Living Stakes. Just now, he had definitely reached the level of Three Breaths Nine Echoes.

Moreover, after he finished one round of practice, the Divine Ability Panel sent him a message.

[Currently evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (1/1000)...]

That meant his Acupoint Divine Ability could continue evolving!

As long as he continued evolving his Acupoint Divine Ability, perhaps he could place near the top in the Grand Examination and become a promising martial arts prospect.

But his Heavenly Leak Divine Ability was only at "Initial Completion" for now. He didn't know whether evolving Acupoint Divine Ability again would improve Heavenly Leak or evolve a new divine ability.

He would think about that later. Unable to resist, Lu Ming turned around and slid his Mud-Wading Steps across the ground, entering the Nine Palaces Stakes once more.

The sensation of his entire body acting as one, the Integrated Force, was truly wonderful!

That sensation alone was enough to make him a little obsessed. This was the first time he had experienced the wonders of martial arts.

And then there was the Acupoint Divine Ability. Every strike strengthened his momentum, and every complete round of Nine Palace Living Stakes added one point to his Acupoint experience. He couldn't help practicing it again and again.

He really wanted to know what would appear after the second evolution!

[Currently evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (2/1000)...]

[Currently evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (3/1000)...]

[Currently evolving...]

[Currently evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (10/1000)...]

Over the next full hour, he practiced ten times. Watching his Acupoint experience rise by ten points filled him with motivation.

Once he had reached the Integrated Force level, his body was not as easily injured, and he could practice for three hours a day. That meant thirty rounds.

After all, even though each round took only three breaths, every time he had to give it everything he had, which put a heavy strain on his body. It might take three breaths for one round, but it was impossible to do two in six.

He tried taking his time striking the acupoints, too, but gained no experience that way, so he could only keep practicing properly.

If he had enough wound medicine, he could practice for at least four hours a day, which meant forty rounds and forty experience points!

By that calculation, he needed only twenty-five days—less than a month—to evolve his next divine ability.

He couldn't wait.

Lu Ming couldn't help smiling. The feeling of making steady progress was wonderful.

But when he opened the squat, flat medicine bottle and applied the medicine to his hands and feet, his brow furrowed.

One bottle of wound medicine would last at most three days. If he ran out, he would have to cut back on his practice time, and the Acupoint experience he gained each day would plummet.

"I've only just made it into the top two hundred. To be safe, I need to get as much wound medicine as I can and make sure I can practice every day."

Lu Ming thought to himself.

"Dong~" Just then, a bell rang in the distance.

It was the summons bell!

Lu Ming pushed aside his distracting thoughts and hurried out the door.

During their period of service, all the disciples were required to practice martial arts for two hours each day. That meant everyone had to go to the Martial Arts Arena in the morning.

There weren't enough Nine Palace Stakes at the Martial Arts Arena, though, so each disciple actually got less than two hours of practice. That was why so many people practiced so hard during their free time.

Many disciples emerged from the cramped little courtyards around him. They left the alley and entered the main road in front of the dormitories.

Across the road was another district of cramped little courtyards. A stone-paved road ran between the two dormitory areas, with the Martial Arts Arena to the left.

The ground rose to the right, where the courtyards were all large. Every disciple who emerged from them wore white practice uniforms. Among them was Shen Jue, a broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man.

Some disciples in the cramped courtyard district wore white practice uniforms, too, but Shen Jue and the others also had a brass key hanging from their waists—the key to the large courtyards.

There were about fifty of them. Many came from wealthy families and had practiced martial arts since childhood, having long since surpassed the Integrated Force level of basic martial arts.

When the disciples in gray practice uniforms saw these imposing figures, they hurriedly got out of their way.

"Lu Ming." Shen Jue spotted Lu Ming and greeted him. His companions glanced at Lu Ming, then indifferently looked away.

Lu Ming nodded to him without saying much, then followed the crowd to the Martial Arts Arena.

"Dong~" The third bell rang, and the Martial Arts Arena was filled with four hundred disciples.

A figure slowly approached the edge of the raised platform in the middle and looked down at them.

He appeared to be in his thirties, with a sturdy build and an imposing aura. He stood there without saying a word, yet it seemed as if his powerful presence enveloped the entire arena. No one dared make a move, and their bodies stood stiff.

He was Wei Jinlin, Director of the Military Service Bureau. He was also the martial arts instructor who taught them Nine Palace Living Stakes.

"I've taught you Nine Palace Living Stakes for ten days. From today onward, I won't teach you anymore. You'll practice on your own. Success or failure will depend entirely on your efforts."

After saying that, Wei Jinlin turned and left.

As they watched Wei Jinlin descend from the platform, many people's expressions changed.

"He's only teaching for ten days? What am I supposed to do? There's still so much I don't understand."

"That's unfair! I've only just started learning martial arts. How could I possibly learn it that quickly?"

"Exactly! Doesn't this just benefit those wealthy young masters?"

The Martial Arts Arena erupted in complaints.

Wei Jinlin acted as if he hadn't heard them. To him, the Military Service Bureau was just a job. Unless the bureau produced a genuine martial arts genius, the work held little meaning for him.

And among this year's four hundred disciples, he hadn't seen a single true genius.

Teaching for ten days was already his duty. From here on, it was up to fate.

"Master Wei!" Just as he was stepping off the platform, someone called out to him.

Wei Jinlin turned to look. A disciple stepped out of the crowd, wearing a white practice uniform. His face was dark, his eyes long and narrow, and his expression full of respect. He cupped his hands and said:

"Master Wei, I can now achieve Three Breaths Nine Breaks."

"Oh?" Wei Jinlin raised an eyebrow. "You're Zhu Ming, aren't you? Show me."

"Yes." Zhu Ming answered, then took a deep breath and walked to a set of Nine Palace Stakes in the Martial Arts Arena.

This set of Nine Palace Stakes was different from the one in Lu Ming's courtyard. The wooden puppets had no red dots; instead, wooden plaques hung from their shoulders, armpits, foreheads, and other spots.

The plaques swayed in the breeze, occasionally striking the puppets with a clacking sound.

This was a more advanced set of Nine Palace Stakes.

Zhu Ming took a deep breath, his gaze suddenly turning sharp. With a single Mud-Wading Step, he slid into the Nine Palace Stakes.

"Pa, pa, pa..."

In a flash, nine sharp cracks rang out. All nine wooden plaques shattered, and Zhu Ming was already standing at the other end of the Nine Palace Stakes.

The crowd watched, filled with envy and admiration.

"Three breaths! I've entered the basics of martial arts, too, and I'm sure less than three breaths just passed! Zhu Ming did it!"

"Three Breaths Nine Breaks—he's succeeded in skin-tempering. He's stepped into the ranks of martial artists in one bound! Isn't Zhu Ming's family poor? How can he be this good?"

"He must have great talent. Ah, comparing people is enough to drive you mad."

"Not only that! I heard that Young Master Chen Jinyang of the Chen Family has been supporting him..."

The crowd buzzed with discussion. Lu Ming was surprised, too. Zhu Ming certainly had good talent. Skin-tempering was the true first stage of martial arts, and Zhu Ming had already reached it.

Still, it was convenient that Zhu Ming had drawn attention today. That meant Lu Ming wouldn't stand out as much.

Wei Jinlin took out a brass key and handed it to Zhu Ming.

"Since you've achieved that, you deserve a large courtyard. There's a set of Nine Palace Stakes with hanging stone plaques in the courtyard. I'll teach you how to strike them later."

A spark of joy appeared in Zhu Ming's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. He accepted the key respectfully and said:

"Yes. Thank you, Master Wei."

Lu Ming glanced at the brass key and understood. So Shen Jue and the others had been given those large courtyards because they had become skin-tempering martial artists.

Now Zhu Ming was one of them, too.

Seeing that Wei Jinlin was about to leave, Lu Ming turned his gaze away and stepped forward without hesitation.

"Master Wei, I've developed Integrated Force."