Boom! Boom! Boom...
As Lu Yuan continuously circulated his qi and blood, thunderous rumbles seemed to reverberate inside his body.
It was as if a red-hot knife were churning wildly in his lower abdomen.
Lu Yuan clenched his teeth. He could only endure it; this was the pain he had to withstand to open his dantian.
But as time slowly passed, not only was his qi and blood being depleted at an alarming rate, he also seemed to sense an invisible barrier.
No matter how he marshaled his qi and blood, he couldn't break through it.
At once, Lu Yuan shoved another slice of Blood Ginseng into his mouth.
"Break!"
Lu Yuan roared inwardly, while frantically driving every last drop of qi and blood through his body.
His qi and blood seemed to transform into a heavy hammer, slamming into the barrier.
Bang! Bang! Bang...
Once, twice, three times...
He didn't know how many times he had struck it. Lu Yuan felt as though his abdomen were about to be torn apart completely.
Crack!
At last, he felt something inside him shatter.
Immediately afterward, the qi and blood surging in began to force open an invisible space the size of a fist.
His dantian had formed!
But this was only the first step.
Next, he still had to draw more qi and blood into his dantian, then compress and refine it again and again until the first wisp of inner force was born. Only then would he truly have entered the Skin Refining Chapter of the Five Elements Vajra Body.
After producing his first wisp of inner force, he would finally count as having entered the ranks of martial artists. Only then could he begin using inner force to temper the skin throughout his body.
This was a gradual process that required steady effort over time; there was no rushing it.
Of course, that was true for other people. Lu Yuan was different.
With the Practice Makes Perfect fate, he would only get faster the more he trained.
Even if he could only cultivate twice a day, it would take him no more than a dozen days to achieve it.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
Lu Yuan had only just stepped out of his room when he heard someone knocking.
He opened the door and saw several burly, muscular men standing outside.
At their head was a middle-aged man in a gray padded robe, with unusually thick hands.
"May I ask if you're Lu Yuan, the young man training at Guangchun Hall?"
The gray-robed man asked with a faint smile.
Clearly, he had already looked into Lu Yuan's background before coming.
"What is it?"
Lu Yuan nodded.
"I'm He Qing of the Iron Palm Gang."
The gray-robed man smiled, then took out a portrait and asked, "I wonder if you've ever seen this person, young Master Lu Yuan?"
"Never seen him."
Lu Yuan glanced at the portrait, then shook his head.
"In that case, I won't trouble you any further."
He Qing's smile remained as he put away the portrait and turned to leave.
Could the middle-aged man in the portrait be the one who killed the Iron Palm Gang's young master, Wang Qing?
Watching He Qing and the others walk away, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and wondered to himself.
If that was the case, then at least he wouldn't have to worry about being framed for it again.
Then he left the courtyard and headed straight for Guangchun Hall.
"Master Qing, you're the dignified deputy chief of the Iron Palm Gang. Why were you so courteous to him?"
In a nearby corner, a man asked He Qing, puzzled.
"That young man must be no ordinary person if Guangchun Hall took an interest in him."
He Qing watched Lu Yuan walk away, his expression faintly grave. "Besides, judging by what we've learned, he may well be the culprit who nearly wiped out the entire Black Tiger Gang."
Everyone believed the Iron Palm Gang had destroyed the Black Tiger Gang. Even they themselves had admitted to it. But only they knew that the real culprit behind the gang's destruction was someone else.
"Master Qing, aren't you giving him too much credit?"
"That can't be possible, can it? Even if we count from the day he started training at Song Academy, it's only been a little over a month. Even with exceptional natural talent, he could at most be at the Bright Energy Realm. How could he have wiped out the Black Tiger Gang?"
Several men spoke in disbelief.
"That's only my own guess, but my instincts tell me this young man is no good."
He Qing paused thoughtfully, then continued, "Either way, don't provoke him lightly. Suspend the protection money in this area for now, too. And tell our men to keep their eyes open. If anything seems off, report it immediately."
"Master Qing, then what should we do now?"
The others nodded in agreement, then asked.
"Keep looking. Anyone who dares kill the Iron Palm Gang's young master and steal that item must be found, even if we have to dig three feet into the ground!"
A cold glint flashed in He Qing's eyes.
As soon as Lu Yuan entered the rear courtyard of Guangchun Hall, he saw that not only had everyone arrived, but Huang Hui and the brothers Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu were there as well.
"Brother Lu Yuan!"
Zhou Wu strode over to Lu Yuan with a broad smile.
"Second Master Zhou."
Lu Yuan greeted him with a smile.
"From now on, just call me Second Brother Zhou!"
Zhou Wu waved a hand, then smiled and said, "We're going to the Blazing Sun Martial Hall for the Gathering of Heroes. You can spar and exchange pointers with the talented young men from the other schools, and gain some experience for the upcoming Martial Examination!"
"Sounds good!"
Lu Yuan nodded slightly.
He wasn't particularly interested in sparring and exchanging pointers, but there was no harm in going to take a look.
Still, since they were going to the Blazing Sun Martial Hall, he couldn't casually reveal the Blazing Sun Sword Technique he had been secretly practicing.
Soon, after finishing their meat at the dining hall, everyone left Guangchun Hall.
Led by Zhou Wen, Zhou Wu, and Huang Hui, the group of more than twenty arrived at the Blazing Sun Martial Hall before long.
After entering the martial hall, they saw that the vast training grounds were already crowded with people.
Some were practicing on their own, while others were sparring and demonstrating their skills. Shouts rose and fell without pause.
"Oh my heavens... Is that the Blazing Sun Martial Hall's gifted disciple? He's actually mastered sword radiance!"
Zhang Feng suddenly pointed at someone and cried out in shock.
Everyone turned to look. A young man in white training clothes, with a crimson sun embroidered on his chest, was practicing his swordsmanship. A foot-long crimson glow flickered incessantly at the tip of his sword.
As he continued to swing his long sword, charred sword marks appeared one after another on the ground.
"That is indeed the Blazing Sun Sword Radiance, something one can unleash only after mastering the Blazing Sun Sword Technique!"
Huang Hui watched the young man in white with surprise in his eyes, then spoke.
"He's incredible. If I master sword radiance too, will I be able to do what he can?"
Wang Chao asked, his eyes full of hope.
"Your natural talent isn't exceptional. If you weren't unusually gifted in the way of the sword, it would probably take years, perhaps even more than a decade, of painstaking study to reach that level."
Huang Hui glanced at Wang Chao and continued, "Besides, the Blazing Sun Sword Technique is a Mystic Grade technique. The Blazing Sun Sword Radiance it unleashes is not only incredibly sharp but also blisteringly hot, capable of burning anything. It's nothing like ordinary sword radiance."
At those words, envy shone even brighter in the eyes of Zhang Feng, Wang Chao, and the others.
Lu Yuan, however, remained as calm as ever. He had already mastered the Blazing Sun Sword Radiance, and was on the verge of producing the even mightier Blazing Sun Sword Qi.
"It's only sword radiance. My Angry Dragon Spear Technique has also reached mastery, so I can use him to test my spear!"
Cao Yang spoke calmly, brimming with confidence.
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