Monsters, Monsters!

"I don't want to live anymore!"

Chen Yuque clutched her chest, rubbed her eyes hard, then watched the surveillance footage again.

The footage was from the evening of June 29, in Training Room No. 2.

In the high-definition image, the janitor who was currently lying in the general hospital nudged the boy curled up on a meditation cushion, apparently in unbearable pain.

Chen Yuque could even see the wrinkles twisted into the boy's face.

The next second.

That damned monster straightened up, sat cross-legged, placed his five centers toward the heavens, and then—

Then he started glowing. He started glowing!

When the bones emitted a faint glow, it meant the White Bone Meditation had reached Great Accomplishment.

I Observe as I Should Be.

"Fuck your mother."

"I don't want to live anymore!"

She clawed at her wine-red hair, and a surge of grief and indignation suddenly welled up inside her.

Why?

Why?!

Hadn't they said it required ten years of Mental Accumulation?

How had he reached Great Accomplishment in a single day?

Unfair. This was unfair!

A profound sense of powerlessness rose in Chen Yuque's heart as she muttered to herself,

"I thought Junior Sister was already invincible under heaven."

She slumped into her chair, then suddenly sprang up and ran madly out of the Martial Arts Academy.

Long street.

Swarms of moths circled the streetlamps, as though trying to drown out their blazing light. An occasional breeze stirred, carrying a rare coolness in the blazing summer.

The moon hung quietly in the sky.

The moment Hong Tianbao heard his second disciple's cry, he had vaguely believed it.

He believed it, yet did not want to.

"You said you brought the White Bone Meditation to Great Accomplishment?" He stared at the refined-looking youth. "For a Visualization Method to reach Great Accomplishment, it requires more than ten years of Mental Accumulation."

"Mental... Accumulation?"

Zhang Fusheng blinked, not understanding what that meant. Doubts rose in his heart. Hadn't Chen Nuanyu also brought her Visualization Method to Great Accomplishment?

He vaguely realized that the significance and difficulty of bringing a visualization to Great Accomplishment seemed far greater than he had imagined.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Fusheng chose his words carefully.

"I don't know what happened either. At the time, I sank into an infernal illusion for an entire day, and then... then I suddenly understood something."

"And after that, it seemed to reach Great Accomplishment."

Hong Tianbao drew in a deep breath.

"An entire day."

He hesitated no longer. His eyes flew wide, divine light gathering within them!

Zhang Fusheng instinctively met the old School Master's gaze.

Abruptly.

The slightly cool summer night breeze vanished, as did the faint streetlamp glow on both sides of the street, obscured by clusters of moths.

Behind him was no longer the Martial Arts Academy, nor were there broad roads to either side.

In their place stood bloody mountains and wailing skeletons.

The skeletons surged like a tidal wave.

Zhang Fusheng raised his head and looked toward the sky of this illusion—what sky was there? There was only the School Master's enormous face.

The surging tide of skeletons had reached him. They roared and howled as though they wanted to tear the youth apart and devour him, their chilling aura sweeping over him.

Zhang Fusheng exhaled a breath of Pure Qi and silently visualized himself.

The next instant.

He began to rot, decay, and gradually transform into a skeleton no different from the skeletal monsters.

"When white bones give rise to flesh, and flesh gives rise to muscle; when flesh gives rise to muscle, bones become light."

The youth muttered to himself.

Then, treasure light truly bloomed from each of his two hundred and six bones!

The howls, roars, and wails—

All sounds ceased at this moment.

The skeletons prostrated themselves and knelt, bowing before the youth in perfect unison as they let out harsh cries.

"Great Physician King!"

"Great Physician King!"

Amid their worship, the youth raised his head again and looked at the boundless face filling the sky, meeting its gaze.

The faint glow on his bones pierced the infernal illusion, shattering it into fragments. All the sights before him dispersed, and he returned to the tranquil long street.

Before him stood the old School Master.

The old School Master slowly lowered the hand frozen in his beard, quietly stuffing the handful of white whiskers he had torn out into his pocket.

He nodded.

"It has indeed reached Great Accomplishment."

"Your spirit is profound and refined. You were born with the equivalent of what ordinary people would gain after thirty to fifty years of tempering through a Visualization Method. Not bad."

Not bad?

Zhang Fusheng looked at the calm and indifferent old School Master, and doubts rose in his heart again.

Had he guessed wrong?

Was bringing a Visualization Method to Great Accomplishment not actually that difficult?

Or were people born with a weighty spirit not uncommon?

He was somewhat at a loss, but he understood one thing: he had not been born with a profound spirit.

It was because he truly had fifty years of accumulation.

If he used Zhong Shan's [Contemplation Time] as well, that accumulation would directly break past a hundred years. What use was that?

Zhang Fusheng did not understand, nor did he know what it meant. He only grew somewhat uneasy, because the School Master was far too calm.

Were Martial Arts Masters' standards really this high?

Was reaching First Refinement in a few days simply commonplace?

As countless thoughts whirled through his mind, School Master Hong said reservedly,

"Your Mental Accumulation was naturally weighty, and your comprehension is passable as well. Your aptitude for martial cultivation looks rather poor, but that can be made up for later. Mm, you barely meet the requirements."

After a pause, he said lightly,

"Thus, I may accept you as my disciple. But remember this well: do not become arrogant merely because you possess fairly decent talent. On the path of cultivation, the greatest taboo is blind conceit."

Zhang Fusheng was delighted.

"School Master... Master, I understand what you mean!"

Hong Tianbao nodded, stroking his long beard with an unfathomable air.

"Do not be arrogant, but neither should you belittle yourself. Your talent may not be stunning, but compared to ordinary people, it is still somewhat better—"

Before he could finish.

A streak of fiery red burst out of the Martial Arts Academy. The newcomer cried out uncontrollably,

"Master! Monster, he's a monster through and through!"

Chen Yuque slammed to a halt before the two of them. Though she lowered her voice, she could not conceal her excitement as she pointed at Zhang Fusheng.

"This great monster has cultivated the White Bone Meditation to I Observe as I Should Be!"

"He's that 'old thing' you were so wary of!"

"Monster! Monster!"

Hong Tianbao tore out another whisker, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh, not daring to look at Zhang Fusheng's baffled expression.

All his previous efforts had gone down the drain. All of them!

An hour later.

The Martial Arts Academy fell silent once more. The resident students gradually returned to their dormitories. They had no idea what had happened, but they all saw a youth follow the School Master up to the fourth floor.

"Who was that?" the students wondered.

Wang Xiangnan recognized Zhang Fusheng, but he found it hard to believe. The fourth floor...

Had the School Master taken him in as a personal disciple?

No way.

Wang Xiangnan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Meanwhile, at the top floor of the Martial Arts Academy.

"So this dead pervert became Junior Disciple Brother?" Little Bean glanced at Zhang Fusheng, her face full of displeasure.

"Little Bean, don't call Junior Disciple Brother that." Chen Yuque sighed. "Uh... though you seem to be right. He really is a dead pervert."

After a moment of silence, she shifted her hips and stared at Zhang Fusheng.

"You really brought a fist technique to Perfection too??"

Three gazes locked onto his face.

Zhang Fusheng's expression did not change, nor did his heart skip a beat.

"It was a fist manual I picked up when I was little, called Tiger Roar Fist. I've practiced this fist technique since childhood. I'm not sure whether it's Perfection... but it should be?"

He flicked his hand, casually sending up a cloud of dust. Within the wind of his fist and palm, the dust swirled and spun, briefly gathering into the shape of a tiger's head.

The quiet room on the fifth floor fell into dead silence again.

After a moment of silence.

"Ahem. Your fist is close to intent. For a low-grade fist technique, that is indeed a sign of Perfection."

Hong Tianbao's expression was calm—this time, truly calm.

More precisely, it should have been called numbness.

Heh. Was a fist technique reaching Perfection really that bizarre?

Could it compare to the White Bone Meditation reaching Great Accomplishment in a day?

Oh, half a day.

He quietly rubbed his chest and asked calmly,

"Then what was that thunderclap?"

This time, he was truly calm as well, not putting on an act.

Hong Tianbao felt that in just over an hour, his ability to endure shocks had multiplied several times over. Besides—

A thunderclap bursting forth was indeed something a low-refinement martial artist had methods to produce.

Though rare, it was not unheard of.

"Oh, that?"

Zhang Fusheng hesitated, then decided to tell the truth.

"When I went home this afternoon to practice the Spring Thunder Technique, I kept practicing, and somehow it reached Great Accomplishment."

Hong Tianbao's hand trembled slightly before returning to normal. Chen Yuque was numb too.

"Oh, Great Accomplishment. Impressive."

After a pause, she asked in confusion,

"What does that have to do with the thunderclap?"

Zhang Fusheng scratched his head and answered honestly,

"Then I discovered that after the Spring Thunder Technique reached Great Accomplishment, there was no path ahead."

The old man nodded.

"Though the Breathing Technique is important, compared to the Visualization Method, it amounts to little. The Spring Thunder Technique can indeed only be cultivated to Great Accomplishment. And then?"

For some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough.

The youth spoke bashfully.

"After that, I tried practicing the Spring Thunder Technique a little more."

"As I practiced, I took another 'half-step' forward. It seemed to... reach Minor Perfection?"

The quiet room fell silent.

For a long while.

Chen Yuque sprang to her feet and said calmly,

"I'm going to get some heart-saving pills. Master, do you want one?"

"Me?"

The old man replied calmly,

"Bring me one."