014 Returning to the Martial Academy

One gold coin is equivalent to ten thousand renminbi; that feels a bit better.

Lian Yunbi fed one of the Five Poison Beads to her younger brother. She then stood by his side, watching his reaction with bated breath.

Gurgle.

In less than half a cup of tea's time, a thunderous rumbling sound erupted from the boy's stomach.

The boy suddenly said in a weak voice, "Big Sister, I need to use the toilet." Although his voice remained frail, it was clearly much calmer, and most importantly, the flush on his skin seemed to be fading.

"Little Brother, how do you feel?" Lian Yunbi asked immediately.

"After taking the medicine, it doesn't hurt as much as before. I need to have a bowel movement now," the boy replied.

"Ah?" Lian Yunbi's parents were both shocked and overjoyed. Mother Lian immediately untied the boy's bindings and carefully helped him to the commode. Only a moment later, a foul, fishy stench wafted through the air.

After finishing, the boy's spirit seemed even brighter.

"This medicine is truly effective!" Lian Yunbi was filled with joy, and at that moment, she felt immense gratitude toward Zhang He.

"Yunbi, what kind of medicine did you just give your brother?" Father Lian asked at this time.

"I don't know either. A friend gave it to me, and he didn't say," Lian Yunbi said, taking out the porcelain bottle and handing it over.

Father Lian took it and opened it cautiously. When he saw the pills inside, his expression shifted. He immediately poured one out to examine it closely. After confirming what it was, he couldn't help but gasp, "Yunbi, who is this friend who gave you this medicine?"

"He is also a Martial Child." Lian Yunbi suddenly realized how little she knew about Zhang He, but from her father's reaction, she sensed the extraordinary nature of the medicine. She asked with slight trepidation, "Father, is there something wrong with this medicine?"

She was terrified that the medicine might be harmful to her brother.

"There is something wrong with it, all right!" Father Lian remained in shock. "This is a Detoxification and Marrow Cleansing Pill. It can neutralize the virulent toxin of the Corpse Poison Beetle. A single pill now costs four or five gold coins, and it's a seller's market—you can't even find them for sale!"

Father Lian recalled the news he had heard from a friend when he returned. This kind of medicine was incredibly precious! Even with money, one might not be able to buy it!

He checked the small bottle; there were at least thirty pills inside. This meant this bottle of medicine was worth at least over a hundred gold coins! The entire Lian family's total annual income was barely two thousand gold coins, and after expenses, having four or five hundred left over was considered quite good. Yet, this friend of his daughter had casually gifted over a hundred gold coins' worth of medicine!

How could Father Lian not be shocked?

Lian Yunbi was also stunned, her pretty face filled with disbelief. Was this medicine really that valuable? She recalled the nonchalant way Zhang He had given her the pills and couldn't help but click her tongue. A question suddenly arose in her mind: how did he have so much medicine?

"It seems this medicine is indeed helping your brother's condition. Yunbi, you must thank your friend properly another day!" Father Lian carefully put the medicine bottle away.

He was now filled with questions, racking his brain but unable to figure out which family in all of Mengyin City could have the audacity to give such a heavy gift so casually!

At this moment, Lian Yunbi was thinking of Zhang He. She remembered the scene on the mountain where Zhang He had touched her leg to suck out the poison, and she couldn't help but feel shy all over again.

A glimmer shone in Lian Yunbi's eyes: "What is his background, exactly? His cultivation is about on par with mine. He can't be a nobody in the Martial Child Academy, so why have I never heard his name?"

Thinking of how Zhang He called her "Goddess Lian," Lian Yunbi felt a strange sensation in her heart. Generally speaking, didn't boys only call the girls they liked "goddess"?

Zhang He had already returned to the Martial Academy.

He learned from Fatty Tang that everything had been fine at the Martial Academy during his absence. Zhao Feng and his lackeys hadn't bothered Fatty Tang or Wang Dachui, which made Zhang He breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Seeing Fatty Tang and Wang Dachui working hard at their cultivation with little hope of success, Zhang He's heart stirred.

Fatty and Dachui are both my good friends, especially Fatty. With their current cultivation, they have almost no hope of achieving good results in the Martial Child Assessment. I cannot just stand by and watch them like this; I must help them.

Zhang He made up his mind in secret. However, he had to come up with a proper method to help them, otherwise, attracting the attention of others would be a disaster.

"That bastard Zhang He is back? Very good. This time, I will definitely kill him!" Upon hearing the report from other Martial Children, Zhao Feng's handsome face twisted into a snarl. A cruel light erupted from his eyes. "Is everything ready? This time, I will ruin his reputation, make him crawl out of the Martial Academy in disgrace, and ensure he has no chance to participate in the Martial Child Assessment! I will make him experience the despair of having his hopes shattered!"

Zhao Feng's expression was ferocious. The commoner Martial Children who came to the Martial Academy viewed the Martial Child Assessment as a stepping stone in their lives. By achieving good results, they could gain the appreciation of influential figures. If he prevented Zhang He from participating, all of the boy's hopes would be destroyed!

Han Zhao also wore a savage look. "This time, we absolutely cannot go easy on him! However, Young Master Zhao, I think we can play with him slowly. First, we ruin his reputation until he's like a rat crossing the street, shouted at by everyone, and forced to roll out of the Martial Academy. Then, we can slowly torture him until he loses all hope for life!"

Xu Le nodded as well. "I will make him wish he were dead!"

Ever since they were beaten by Zhang He in front of everyone, the three of them had viewed him as their mortal enemy. For the past few days, they had been constantly plotting against him, coming up with a vicious plan that would not only end Zhang He's future but also ruin his reputation and force him to slink away from the Martial Academy in shame!

They wanted to make Zhang He understand what true despair felt like!

Zhang He was naturally unaware of the malicious intentions these three held toward him. He was currently busy with his own cultivation. In the deep mountains, he had absorbed a massive amount of demonic poison, causing his true energy to soar, but his body had yet to be fully tempered.

Therefore, since returning to the Martial Academy, aside from processing the medicinal herbs he had gathered, Zhang He spent every moment—from early morning until late at night—at the Martial Arts Arena, using the vast array of equipment there in conjunction with his true energy to constantly hone his physique.

Every day, Zhang He arrived at the arena to train before anyone else was awake. It was only at night, when everyone had returned to their quarters to rest, that he would finally stop.

Because he did not want to attract attention, everything was carried out in silence.

Under the moonlight, in a corner of the Martial Arts Arena.

Zhang He was bare-chested, gripping two of the heaviest stone locks and holding them above his head while performing continuous frog jumps. Each of these stone locks weighed three hundred jin; together, they totaled six hundred jin.

"Three hundred fifty-one, three hundred fifty-two..."

Zhang He counted silently. Sweat poured from his body like rain, and with every jump, he left a trail of sweat on the ground. At this moment, his muscles felt as if they were burning, especially his legs; every jump brought immense pain, as if they were about to snap.

In his consciousness, there was a desire urging him to give up for a moment and rest. Zhang He ignored this desire, using his powerful willpower to wage a resolute battle against his innate craving for comfort.

"Four hundred ninety-eight... four hundred ninety-nine... five hundred!" Zhang He had completed his goal, but he did not stop immediately. Instead, he gritted his teeth and took one more fierce jump. "Five hundred and one!"

BANG!

Two heavy stone locks slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Zhang He was drenched in sweat. He gasped for air, but instead of resting immediately, he went to the side, picked up a wooden bucket, and gulped down nearly a third of its contents like a thirsty ox. This water had been specially treated, infused with medicinal agents and salt, which was highly beneficial for rehydration after such high-intensity training.

After finishing the water, Zhang He did not pause. He headed toward several massive wooden stakes. Each of these stakes was so thick that it would take two people to wrap their arms around them. They were capped with steel plates, which were in turn covered by five layers of incredibly tough oxhide.

These were known as Body Training Stakes! With strength like Zhang He's, ordinary sandbags could not withstand his blows, so he had to strike these steel-reinforced stakes directly!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zhang He's body erupted into motion. In an instant, a sound like popping beans rang out from the Body Training Stakes. These massive stakes were buried thirty feet deep into the ground and reinforced with rammed earth at the base, ensuring they wouldn't budge an inch no matter how hard they were struck.

Fist prints began to appear one after another on the oxhide covering.

Once he finished with his fists, Zhang He moved on to kicks, knee strikes, back slams, and shoulder checks... Every part of his body—hands, feet, knees, shoulders, elbows, and even his back—became a weapon as he relentlessly hammered away at the Body Training Stakes.

It was fortunate that there were few people at the Martial Arts Arena at this hour; otherwise, anyone witnessing him training with such monstrous intensity would surely have been terrified. This was exactly why Zhang He insisted on coming out to train at night!

Finally, when his entire body was wracked with pain and felt as though it had lost all sensation, he stopped.

He drank another half-bucket of water, and as the medicated liquid entered his body, it was rapidly absorbed. The true qi dormant within him began to circulate. Wherever it flowed, the true qi nourished his body, allowing his damaged muscles to repair themselves at an accelerated rate.

Through this constant grinding, Zhang He's physical constitution was improving at a frantic pace.

In the Brute Force Realm, my current strength has already reached ten shi! Yet my physical constitution far exceeds that of an ordinary Brute Force Realm expert! The next step, as I continue to temper my body, is for my true qi to break through the meridians, flow into my limbs and bones, and reach the surface of my skin! That must be the cultivation level of the True Martial Realm!

The fact that his cultivation had reached this level in such a short time shocked even Zhang He himself. Looking back, he owed it all to that demon poison. The demon poison possessed unique elemental properties; once absorbed, it caused his true qi to surge and continuously temper his body, allowing Zhang He to achieve in one day of training what took others three years of bitter toil!

He couldn't help but think that if he wanted to continue raising his cultivation, he shouldn't stay in the Martial Child Academy, but rather head deep into the mountains to train!

Circulating his true qi until his strength was fully restored, Zhang He rose to his feet. By now, everyone was nearly ready for bed, and he had to hurry back, or the dormitory would be locked. If he were caught missing curfew, the academy would surely punish him.

As Zhang He walked back, he stopped abruptly when he was still a hundred meters from the entrance of the Male Martial Child Dormitory. He looked up and saw two figures flash past the top of the wall.

Across from the Male Martial Child Dormitory lay the Female Martial Child Dormitory. The two figures were burly, clearly possessing the physiques of men. On a dark, windy night, such skulking behavior could only mean trouble.

Zhang He moved, his figure melting into the darkness as he crept silently toward them.