Bloodline Martial Artists

"I'm seeing this for the first time: someone who's only just started practicing Crushing Stone Fist already managing to reach this level. Could it be... could you have awakened some kind of bloodline?" Li Canghai stared at the scene in shock, his face full of disbelief.

"Bloodline?" Shi Mu was taken aback.

"Heh, I must be overthinking it. Bloodline Martial Artists are incredibly rare. You were probably just born with thick skin and tough flesh. Still, that makes you an ideal candidate for practicing hard-body martial arts. Teaching you Crushing Stone Fist was the right choice after all." Li Canghai gave a wry laugh and shook his head.

"Master Li, what is a Bloodline Martial Artist?" Shi Mu asked, his curiosity piqued.

"How should I put it? Among martial artists, those with awakened bloodlines are called Bloodline Martial Artists. They awaken a certain bloodline within their bodies and gain one or more special talents ordinary people don't have. But martial artists who can awaken their bloodline talents are exceedingly rare, one in ten thousand at best. Given your abilities, it's unlikely. Anyway, if you really want to learn about Bloodline Martial Artists, someone will explain it to you once you enter Kaiyuan Martial Academy. Just remember, Bloodline Martial Artists are practically all monstrous talents. Each one can crush others at the same level, so if you ever encounter one, keep well away. But they're also deeply resented by others. Those born into powerful factions are fine, but countless Bloodline Martial Artists without backing are ambushed and killed before they can grow strong. By the way, quite a few renowned geniuses have signed up for Kaiyuan Martial Academy's admissions this time, so there's a good chance one of them will be a Bloodline Martial Artist." Li Canghai clearly had no intention of going into detail. He waved a hand and replied indifferently.

Shi Mu nodded and asked no more, but he couldn't help linking the matter of Bloodline Martial Artists to the dozen or so times his body had changed. He engraved it firmly in his mind.

"Still, your talent for practicing Crushing Stone Fist really is far beyond ordinary. Here's what we'll do: I'll speed up your training from here on. Otherwise, it won't be of any use to you at your current level." Li Canghai looked Shi Mu over twice, then smiled.

Shi Mu naturally had no objections.

For the rest of the day, Li Canghai had someone replace the water in the vat with gravel that looked sharp, then had Shi Mu remove one layer of his gloves and resume pounding it.

This time, after only a short while of punching, Shi Mu felt his hands begin to ache. After another quarter of an hour, the surface of his fists started to sting, as if countless needles were hidden among the gravel.

Seeing that Li Canghai showed no sign of stopping him, Shi Mu clenched his teeth and continued hammering the gravel in the vat at undiminished speed.

"Remember, Crushing Stone Fist is too fierce a method of cultivation and can easily injure your muscles and bones. Even with your talent and my exclusive medicinal balm, once you've finished a session, you won't be able to train again for three or four days. During that time, you can keep practicing the Body Tempering Technique. You can only resume Crushing Stone Fist once your hands have fully recovered. If you can keep this up, you may well reach minor mastery in Crushing Stone Fist within six months." Li Canghai gave him some pointers.

"Yes."

Shi Mu answered through gritted teeth, then slammed another punch into the gravel, making the whole vat shudder.

At dusk.

Shi Mu sat in a wooden chair inside his room, both arms resting on the table in front of him. He had taken off his gloves, but all ten fingers were already swollen red, like radishes, more than twice their normal size. Even the skin looked almost paper-thin and transparent.

Looking at the bizarre state of his hands, Shi Mu could only smile bitterly.

According to Li Canghai, his hands had to look like this for his day's training to have been effective. But with them swollen so badly, even applying the medicine would be difficult.

Grimacing, he took the bottle of ointment Li Canghai had given him from his clothes, removed the lid, then used his swollen fingers to rub it onto his palms. By then, he was already drenched in sweat from the pain.

The next morning.

When Shi Mu got out of bed, he instinctively raised his hands to look at them—and froze.

His hands, which had been swollen so badly, had returned to normal. If not for the faint reddish bruises still visible on the backs of his hands, he would have thought he was still dreaming.

"How is this possible?!"

Shi Mu blurted out. His wrists flicked as he quickly flexed all ten fingers.

Everything felt normal. There was no pain or stiffness, as if the previous day's training had never happened.

Still unable to believe it, Shi Mu stared at his hands and blinked. Then he suddenly reached back and grabbed the bedpost, squeezing with all five fingers.

Crack!

A large chunk of wood was crushed to pieces in an instant by his immense strength.

"I'm really fine! Could it be that I've actually awakened some kind of bloodline talent? If that's true, it must have a lot to do with that giant clam I rescued. Did the cloud of blood it sprayed turn me into a Bloodline Martial Artist? But judging by what Li Canghai said yesterday, letting people know I'm a Bloodline Martial Artist right now might not be a good thing. Still, if my recovery is this incredible, doesn't that mean I can practice Crushing Stone Fist every day? That would increase my training speed several times over."

Shi Mu was first startled, then delighted. But soon his expression turned uncertain as he sank into thought.

At noon.

With both hands tightly wrapped in white cloth and heavy sandbags strapped around his waist and legs, Shi Mu ran laps around the square. Before long, sweat poured down his whole body.

Li Canghai stood nearby, watching with a satisfied expression.

In the afternoon.

Dull thuds of "thump, thump" drifted faintly from a tightly sealed room somewhere in the manor.

In the middle of the empty room, the white cloth wrappings had long since disappeared from Shi Mu's hands. He had changed into thin fish-skin gloves and was pounding the gravel in the vat before him with all his might.

Shi Mu kept his mouth tightly shut. He ignored the excruciating pain in his fists and simply kept swinging them at the gravel in the vat.

Late that night.

The boy lay on the bed, fast asleep, his face exhausted. Both arms were stretched wide along the edge of the bed, and his fists had once again swollen red. A thick layer of white ointment covered them.

Suddenly, one of Shi Mu's fingers twitched involuntarily. A trace of pain appeared on his face, but he remained fast asleep.

"What? You want to learn the Iron Refining Method from me?" Li Canghai opened his eyes wide and asked the boy in front of him, greatly surprised.

"That's right. I remember you once said you had an unorthodox Body Tempering Technique whose training speed was several times faster than an ordinary Body Tempering Technique. If I practice it, there's a good chance I'll reach the 11th Layer of Body Tempering before the Martial Academy's admissions. Then, after taking a Spirit Qi Pill, I should have a good chance of sensing qi." Shi Mu's hands were still wrapped in thick bandages, but his reply was calm.

"I did say that. But do you know that although the Iron Refining Method is remarkably effective, it requires a huge amount of resources, and the training is extremely dangerous? You could even lose your life." Li Canghai spoke gravely.

"As long as I can reach the 11th Layer of Body Tempering within six months, I don't care how dangerous it is or how much money it costs. Master Li, just teach me." Shi Mu replied resolutely.

"I've already explained the risks. If you're determined to learn, I have no reason to refuse. But in the early stages, this method requires someone else's help, so you'll have to come to the martial arts school to train from now on. Is that all right?"

"No problem. To avoid the trouble of traveling back and forth, I might as well stay in the city for a while, then return here once my training has reached a stopping point." Shi Mu immediately came up with another plan.

"If you can stay near the martial arts school, all the better. Bring a thousand taels of silver to the school tomorrow. I need to go back and prepare a few things, and then I'll officially teach you the Iron Refining Method. Heh, I'm not taking your money for nothing. As the name suggests, this Body Tempering Technique treats your body like iron and stone, hammering and refining it nonstop to forcibly strengthen your physique. During the process, you'll have to endure pain beyond what ordinary people can bear and bathe in medicinal solutions every day according to the prescription, without missing a single session. Otherwise, your flesh and blood won't be able to withstand it. If you really can persevere, there won't be much more I can teach you at the Martial Disciple stage." Li Canghai gave a chuckle and nodded noncommittally.

Shi Mu readily agreed.

After that, Li Canghai gave Shi Mu a few more pointers on how to generate power in Crushing Stone Fist, then took his leave.

Shi Mu then called for Zhang Suo, the manor's steward, and told him to immediately find and rent a quiet courtyard in Feng City. He would be staying in the city for a while.

Zhang Suo naturally didn't dare refuse. He agreed, took some silver, and hurried out.