Body Forging

When Shen Mu and his companion arrived at the training grounds, the area was already packed with a dense crowd of peripheral gang members, numbering at least several hundred by a rough estimate.

"Tsk tsk, so many people?" Luo Tao couldn't help but widen his eyes, blurting out in surprise.

Shen Mu, however, was not the least bit surprised.

Those who appeared here were clearly from impoverished backgrounds; unable to afford the tuition fees of martial arts academies, they had no choice but to settle for becoming auxiliary members of the Firewood Gang.

Now that the monthly firewood dues had been collected, most of the peripheral members had nothing left to do, so they were naturally organized to begin body tempering.

"I will begin calling names now. You will be divided into squads of fifty, and an instructor will be assigned to guide your body tempering. At the same time, each person will receive one jin of unranked beast meat to assist in the process."

As the sun rose, a middle-aged man with a cold expression, surrounded by several subordinates, arrived at the training grounds holding a roster, his voice ringing out across the field.

The training grounds, which had been as noisy as a vegetable market, instantly fell silent.

Under the middle-aged man's roll call, the peripheral members gathered at the grounds were divided into six squads, with Shen Mu and Luo Tao assigned to the fifth squad.

"Distribute the beast meat now!"

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, several people immediately carried steaming beast meat onto the training grounds.

Seeing the meat, the faces of the peripheral members present were filled with excitement.

Beast meat was the essential resource for those in the body tempering stage to nourish their own blood energy.

Beyond this, there were also medicinal pills rich in blood energy that could quickly help one increase their levels, but they were far more expensive and generally only affordable for the children of wealthy and influential families.

Shen Mu received his jin of beast meat and stared at it in stunned silence.

The meat had only been briefly blanched; it was still oozing blood from within, similar to rare beef, though the texture was much denser.

I didn't expect that wanting to become a martial artist would require going through this stage of eating raw meat and drinking blood.

Shen Mu sighed inwardly.

Seeing that Luo Tao had already begun to tuck in, Shen Mu did not hesitate and immediately bit a chunk off the meat in his hand.

They didn't even add salt...

If I'm not mistaken, it's likely to preserve the maximum essence of the beast meat...

As Shen Mu began to chew, a pungent, bloody taste exploded in his mouth, causing his stomach to churn violently.

However, remembering that this piece of beast meat was worth one tael of silver, Shen Mu immediately overcame the discomfort.

Is this just meat?

No, it is one tael of silver!

"Ugh~"

On the training grounds, many peripheral members, unable to adapt to the bloody taste, immediately crouched on the ground and began to retch uncontrollably.

However, most people endured the discomfort, expressionlessly swallowing the entire piece of meat bit by bit.

"So full..."

When the entire piece of meat was in his stomach, Shen Mu felt as if he had eaten enough for the next half month, a strong sense of fullness rushing to his head.

"Eh?!"

At this moment, Shen Mu was surprised to discover that the ancient tree in his mind had changed; one of its roots was actually emitting a wisp of scarlet mist.

"What is this?"

Shen Mu's heart hammered against his ribs.

Could it be that this ancient tree in my mind can help me cultivate?

Shen Mu thought to himself.

The change in the ancient tree had begun the moment he consumed the beast meat, which showed that the meat was the catalyst for the transformation.

As someone in the body tempering stage, his primary purpose for eating the meat was to nourish his own blood energy.

Although he still did not understand what impact the changes in the ancient tree would have on him, the fact that it had finally changed after a month was enough to make Shen Mu feel joyful.

One day, he would surely uncover all the secrets of the ancient tree in his mind.

"My name is Mao Shouzhuo, and I am your instructor. I will now teach you the fundamentals of body tempering!"

At this moment, a young man a few years older than Shen Mu walked up to the fifth squad and spoke in a clear, loud voice.

"Does anyone know the purpose of body tempering?"

Mao Shouzhuo looked around the circle and asked in a deep voice.

"Body tempering is to increase one's blood energy and accelerate the digestion of the beast meat in the body."

Someone in the squad immediately provided the answer, clearly well-versed in the basics of body tempering.

"Correct."

Mao Shouzhuo nodded and said, "The purpose of body tempering is to accelerate the digestion of beast meat, while allowing the body to absorb the blood energy contained within it, subsequently converting it into your own blood energy."

"It is much like a person tilling a field; the body feels hungry due to the expenditure of strength, which is, in fact, a subtle form of body tempering."

"Years of labor will cause him to gradually adapt to the intensity of the work, while simultaneously requiring food to compensate for the physical deficit brought about by the tilling."

"The method of body tempering is the same: by squandering your own strength, you promote the body's rapid digestion of the beast meat you have consumed."

"Entry-level body tempering consists of two steps: internal cultivation and external practice. Internal cultivation nourishes your own blood energy, while external practice—such as stance training, sandbag carrying, running laps, rock hugging, and sparring—accelerates the digestion of the consumed beast meat in a progressive manner!"

"Once you advance to the first level of Boiling Blood, your bodies will have grown accustomed to this intensity, and these methods will no longer be sufficient."

"At that time, I will teach you the Army-Breaking Saber Technique, and you will digest the beast meat through the practice of this technique."

"Very well, I will now begin teaching you the incantation for the first stage of internal blood energy cultivation."

"Store the primordial energy, enter the Tiantu, penetrate the Xuanji, invert the stars, strengthen the blood energy..."

The incantation for the first stage of body tempering consisted of only a dozen or so lines.

After Shen Mu recited it clumsily a few times, he committed the entire content of the first stage to memory, while noting the corresponding acupuncture points as indicated by Mao Shouzhuo.

"The reason I only teach you the incantation for the first stage is to prevent any of you from trying to run before you have learned to walk."

Mao Shouzhuo looked around the circle and warned in a deep voice, "The Body Tempering Technique is not merely an incantation. If you rashly practice techniques that do not match your current strength before reaching the corresponding Boiling Blood realm, at best you will suffer severed meridians and become a cripple; at worst, your blood energy will flow in reverse, causing you to collapse and die on the spot."

"Do you hear me clearly?"

"We hear you clearly!"

About half an hour passed, and once everyone could recite the incantation fluently, Mao Shouzhuo began to instruct them on stance training.

Shen Mu observed every one of Mao Shouzhuo's movements, terrified of missing any step of the tempering process.

After only a short while of standing in the stance, people began to collapse to the ground one after another as their legs went numb and they could no longer hold on.

Shen Mu, however, persisted in silence; even though his legs felt so numb they no longer seemed like his own, he dared not slacken in the slightest.

Taking advantage of the stance training, Shen Mu sank his consciousness into his mind to observe the changes in the ancient tree.

The ancient tree still appeared illusory, but as the scarlet mist surged in, the area of one of its roots was gradually becoming solid.

The solidified area was still only a tiny fraction, less than one percent compared to the entire root.

I just wonder what kind of changes will occur once this root of the ancient tree is completely solidified, Shen Mu thought to himself.

Although he did not yet know the specific function of this towering ancient tree, Shen Mu was deeply expectant from the bottom of his heart.

When that root of the ancient tree was completely filled with scarlet mist and turned into substance, what kind of changes would appear?

"Next, I will teach you sandbag carrying. The method is very simple: carry the sandbags on your back and walk quickly, while circulating the Body Tempering Technique to nourish your blood energy. Otherwise, the beast meat you have eaten will be wasted in vain..."

Mao Shouzhuo did not give the group any time to rest, continuing to teach the second step of body tempering.

"..."

The entire body tempering process began at sunrise and did not conclude until the sun had set.

Even though he had expended a massive amount of strength during this time, Shen Mu still felt an intense sense of satiety, as if he would not need to eat for several days to come.

This made him click his tongue in secret; could the satiety provided by beast meat really last this long?

That meant the pound of beast meat he had consumed had not yet been fully digested by his body.

At the same time, the towering ancient tree in his mind made him impatient to uncover its secrets.

The vast roots of that towering ancient tree were clearly not something that could be filled by the scarlet mist provided by a single pound of beast meat.

"Very well, I have taught you the entire process of body tempering, and today's session ends here."

"You are all dismissed. Go back, nourish your blood energy well, and gather here again tomorrow!"

Mao Shouzhuo looked around; everyone appeared exhausted, yet because they had consumed the beast meat, they had a constant supply of energy and were still able to hold themselves up.

The methods of body tempering had been taught in full; as for how far they could go, it would depend entirely on their own fortune.

There were no shortcuts to nourishing one's blood energy; it was simply a matter of consuming beast meat and converting its blood energy to strengthen oneself.

"Sir, if I advance to the first level of Boiling Blood, how will I know if I have reached it?"

Just as everyone was preparing to disperse and head home to rest, someone asked.

Those who were about to leave stopped in their tracks, their gazes fixed squarely on Mao Shouzhuo.

Meeting their curious stares, Mao Shouzhuo said indifferently, "If you can enter the first level of Boiling Blood, your physical strength will see a tremendous increase."

"Watch closely."

Mao Shouzhuo picked up a pebble and tossed it into the air.

As the pebble fell within his reach, Mao Shouzhuo threw a heavy punch, striking the falling stone perfectly.

"Bang!"

The next moment, a faint muffled sound came from the pebble, and it shattered into dust that scattered across the sky.

Seeing this, the expressions of everyone present turned to one of shock.

If that punch were to land on his own forehead, wouldn't it explode just like a watermelon?

"Upon entering the first stage of Boiling Blood, one can possess the strength of three hundred catties!"

"Whether you have entered the first stage of Boiling Blood, you can test it using the method I just mentioned!"

After Mao Shouzhuo finished speaking, he turned and walked away without looking back.

"Entering the first stage of Boiling Blood grants the strength of three hundred catties?"

Watching Mao Shouzhuo's retreating figure, Shen Mu couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

The three hundred catties of strength Mao Shouzhuo spoke of was clearly different from the three hundred catties of strength he understood.

In his past life, weightlifting champions could even lift a three-hundred-kilogram barbell, but could they shatter a rock with a single punch?

That was clearly impossible.

From this, it could be deduced that the three hundred catties of strength Mao Shouzhuo referred to meant that a single punch carried three hundred catties of force.

This was truly terrifying.

At the first stage of Boiling Blood, a single punch erupting with three hundred catties of force was already enough to kill a man.

If a Martial God at the pinnacle of the martial path struck, wouldn't it be comparable to a nuclear explosion?