Nicknamed "Whetstone"

Li Pingsheng returned to his small courtyard and pulled a small porcelain bottle from his robes.

After he pulled the stopper, a burst of cold air rushed out.

He poured all of the viscous, ice-blue Ice Marrow Fluid onto his trembling, reddened right arm.

The moment the liquid touched his skin, intense pain flared up immediately.

His out-of-control lightning-attribute blood energy was rampaging through his meridians, and the Ice Marrow Fluid was meant to bind, compress, and freeze those volatile forces.

Li Pingsheng let out a muffled groan, the veins on his forehead bulging as beads of sweat the size of peas rolled down his face.

The meridians in his right arm felt as if they had been locked by something, making his blood energy feel stiff and obstructed as it moved.

This was the price paid for Thunderclap Explosion, and it was also what Old Qi called the "suicidal path of Black Tortoise Unity."

It felt like an eternity before the pain finally began to subside.

Li Pingsheng lifted his right arm; the entire limb was deathly pale, devoid of any color, and even moving his pinky finger required immense effort.

Ice Marrow Fluid could serve as a life-saving medicine or as a poison to imprison evil forces.

[Potential Points: 2]

These two potential points were his final trump card for dealing with the grand examination.

Just then, three knocks sounded at the courtyard gate.

It was the secret signal from Lu Qingshan.

Li Pingsheng went to open the door, and Lu Qingshan slipped inside, already dressed in night-traveling gear.

"What happened?"

"Your sign-plate, I heard... someone tampered with it!"

After catching his breath, Lu Qingshan pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his robes.

On it was the draft of the first-round matchups for the new disciples' grand examination.

Behind Li Pingsheng's name, three characters were written clearly—Chen Tieshan.

"Chen Tieshan?"

Li Pingsheng did not know much about this name.

"A madman, a monster. He is an old disciple at the Bone Refining stage, with much more seniority than the likes of Zhao Ming."

"He practices a form of hard-body cultivation; his skin is rough, his muscles are strong, and his stamina is immense. His nickname is 'Whetstone'."

"Whetstone?"

"Right, his specialty is wearing people down; winning isn't what he's good at."

Lu Qingshan said, "He will use his body to block all your moves, and once you are exhausted, after your hands and feet are broken, he will slowly torture you."

"Three years ago, a True Disciple had his meridians completely exhausted by him and was left a cripple. He was locked in solitary confinement for three years because of that."

"He is here specifically to spar with you! He's meant to target your injured meridians and weak blood energy, grinding you into mincemeat in front of all the other disciples!"

"The Zhao Family did this."

"Who else but them?"

Lu Qingshan slammed his fist onto the stone table. "Chen Tieshan only just got out of solitary confinement and was granted special permission to participate in this grand examination; there is definitely a connection to the Zhao Family behind this."

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "Pingsheng, we can't let this slide."

"We'll go find the Hall Master right now and show him the evidence."

"The martial arts hall has strict rules and regulations. If there was backroom dealing, committing such an error during the examination is a very serious offense. Even if we can't do anything to the Zhao Family, we can at least have this match annulled before it even begins."

This was indeed the safest approach.

But Li Pingsheng shook his head, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"If we expose them now, they'll just be more discreet next time."

"Huh? But..."

"Brother Lu, do you really think they went to all this trouble just to cripple an 'injured' me in the ring?"

Lu Qingshan froze in place.

Li Pingsheng continued, "They are doing this to test my bottom line while simultaneously forcing my hand."

"They want to see exactly what my trump cards are."

"If I go to the Hall Master to complain today and the match is canceled, what about tomorrow? What about the day after? By the time the grand examination arrives, there will be more than just one person lurking in the shadows."

"Instead of waiting for them to make their move, it would be better to..."

He tapped his finger on the characters "Chen Tieshan" on the draft paper.

"...smash this 'Whetstone' of theirs to pieces in front of everyone."

He was not acting on impulse; he understood the situation better than anyone.

"They want to force me to reveal my lightning arts, but I won't let them have their way."

After seeing Lu Qingshan off, Li Pingsheng did not stop; instead, he walked straight to the center of the courtyard and assumed the starting stance of the Thunderbolt Fist.

His right arm was disabled, and his lightning techniques could not be used at will.

Then he would use his most primitive fists to deal with this trouble.

[Martial Wisdom] talent activated!

Every move, every stance, and every detail of force exertion within the Thunderbolt Fist continued to be broken down, pulverized, and then observed.

Where were the vulnerabilities of an opponent like Chen Tieshan?

After cycling through countless scenarios in his mind, one image settled.

The stronger a person's physique, the slower their blood-qi circulation, yet it remained airtight.

However, during the transition from defense to offense between cycles of blood-qi, a window of less than a second would appear near the opponent's Dantian point at the heart.

In that very instant, his defense would reveal a gap that no one else could ever detect.

To others, this flaw did not exist.

But to Li Pingsheng, who possessed [Martial Wisdom], this flaw was glaringly obvious.

Early the next morning.

With a loud clang, the sound of a bronze gong dispersed the morning mist.

The Martial Hall Grand Exam officially began.

A group of disciples gathered on the Martial Practice Field.

Many people sat upon the high platform.

The Hall Master leading them even wore a bronze mask.

The upper echelons of the martial hall were all present.

There was an empty seat beside the main position.

It was reserved for the Well-Guardian, Old Qi.

Li Pingsheng mingled in the crowd, touching the Well-Guarding Bronze Talisman hidden in his robes.

Old Qi had not come, but he was surely watching from somewhere.

Instructor Wu stood before the Draw Board, his eyes darting shiftily through the crowd before finally landing on Li Pingsheng.

"Quiet!"

A deacon disciple holding a roster shouted loudly.

"The first round of draws will determine the opponents!"

The deacon disciples began to call out the first list of matchups, and the area below the platform fell into dead silence.

"The first match: newly promoted True Disciple Li Pingsheng, versus—"

The deacon disciple deliberately drew out the sound.

"—our veteran disciple, Chen Tieshan!"

The moment the name Chen Tieshan was spoken, the Martial Practice Field fell deathly silent.

Immediately following was a wave of chaos.

"What the hell? It's actually Chen Tieshan? Isn't that 'Whetstone' Chen Tieshan supposed to be in solitary confinement?"

"My god, starting off with such a heavy hitter? Li Pingsheng is too unlucky!"

"Unlucky? I think someone wants him dead! I heard that Li Pingsheng got into a fight a while back and damaged his meridians, causing his strength to plummet. Now that he's up against a monster like Chen Tieshan who specializes in grinding people down, he'll be lucky to walk away with his skin intact!"

"It's over, he's completely finished. The Azure Cloud Martial Hall finally produced a genius with top-tier aptitude, and now he's going to be played to death in the very first round!"

Voices of discussion erupted everywhere, and thousands of gazes converged upon Li Pingsheng.