Verification of Cultivation

Hmph! Hah!

In the courtyard, the sounds of fists and feet colliding rose and fell through the air, weaving together and echoing back and forth.

Shen Xiu and Duan Hongfei darted through the field in crossing flashes, fighting with fierce, exhilarating intensity.

For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

When Shen Xiu returned to the martial arts school, Instructor Duan had called for him to verify the progress of his cultivation, leading to this very scene.

Duan Hongfei's movements came down like a raging storm. Shen Xiu continuously parried and blocked along the way before launching counterattacks.

Move for move, he fought back and forth with Duan Hongfei, a Third Realm Bone Marrow Cleansing martial cultivator.

Yet as Duan Hongfei fought Shen Xiu, the more astonished he became. At the beginning, he had clearly felt that Shen Xiu's fists and kicks lacked sufficient force.

But as they fought on, Shen Xiu did not fall behind even against him, a Third Realm Bone Marrow Cleansing martial cultivator.

He even grew stronger the longer they fought, without showing the slightest trace of decline. Duan Hongfei felt that he no longer needed to hold back.

This kid had become so formidable after such a short time apart?

Was this still a Second Realm martial cultivator?

Faced with this scene, Duan Hongfei was puzzled and deeply baffled, but the state of their clash was an ironclad fact.

"Instructor Duan, be careful."

Noticing the shift in Duan Hongfei's mood, Shen Xiu gave a warning and threw a punch. It reversed in from the side of the palm wind before him, slipping around the guard and charging straight at Duan Hongfei's face.

A fierce wind rushed toward him.

He delivered a punch from the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art. The move flowed with seamless naturalness, his entire body suffused with an overwhelming fist force far beyond the strength he had shown moments ago.

Duan Hongfei was greatly startled by the sight. He had actually committed one of a Martial Artist's greatest taboos—letting his mind wander in battle.

But he reacted swiftly as well. Facing Shen Xiu's punch, Duan Hongfei retreated while fiercely striking out with his palm.

Thunder roared through his tendons and bones, and force surged violently. Having witnessed Shen Xiu's strength, he could no longer afford to hold back.

A sudden blast erupted before the fist, its momentum fierce and overwhelming.

The force of this palm was like waves crashing down mountains and seas, pouring forth and shrouding Shen Xiu's entire fighting area in palm wind, sealing off his range of movement.

Shen Xiu felt boundless palm-force momentum surging toward him from all directions.

There was nowhere to evade, nothing he could block. He could only face it head-on.

Yet he showed not the slightest fear.

His waist and abdomen shifted slightly, and he sent out another punch.

His fist force surged like rivers and seas.

Fist and palm collided fiercely, and the air erupted with a thunderous blast that shook all four directions.

At the instant fist met palm, Duan Hongfei felt a vast and majestic force surge toward him with unimaginable power. It jolted his tiger's mouth with searing pain and sent his entire body flying backward.

He could not even withstand this punch.

At that moment, Shen Xiu instantly raised his right hand and threw another punch.

Then it stopped half a foot before Duan Hongfei's face.

Even half a foot away, Duan Hongfei still felt the fierce wind bearing down on him. His skin throbbed with stinging pain, as though he were facing a savage Fierce Beast in the wilderness.

The Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art had actually reached a great mastery of force?

This kid had only practiced it for such a short time, yet he had truly cultivated the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art to such a realm.

Watching Shen Xiu withdraw his fist and stand tall in the courtyard, Duan Hongfei first muttered to himself. After his final disbelief faded—

He instead burst into hearty laughter. "Good, good, good! I lost this one. Not bad, not bad, very good!"

Duan Hongfei was not angered by losing to Shen Xiu. On the contrary, he was exceptionally delighted.

To him, nothing brought greater joy than watching the disciples under his guidance grow stronger bit by bit, until they surpassed him, their instructor.

Now that this apprentice he had thought so highly of had made such progress in cultivation, nothing could have made him happier.

"Good lad, you've made such progress in so little time. Not bad, not bad."

Duan Hongfei patted Shen Xiu on the shoulder, his face brimming with open delight. He had thought he had discovered a piece of goldstone, only to find it was uncut jade.

"But your cultivation has only entered the Second Realm Muscle Tendon Training. Why does it feel completely different from before?"

As he spoke, Duan Hongfei voiced the doubt in his heart.

Shen Xiu's physical constitution seemed utterly different from before, even more powerful by more than a single level. It was something Duan Hongfei had unexpectedly noticed during their exchange.

Shen Xiu had not yet come up with a good explanation for his increased talent, so he could only say that he had somehow suddenly become stronger as he practiced.

Duan Hongfei shook his head speechlessly and could only accept Shen Xiu's explanation.

However, he now had a deeper understanding of Shen Xiu's comprehension. After all, he had never seen a disciple who could cultivate the Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Art to such a great mastery in so short a time.

Looking across the entire martial arts school, he had not seen a single one.

If he had previously believed Shen Xiu might reach the world of Middle Five Realms martial cultivators, then now he believed Shen Xiu had an excellent chance of stepping into it.

And becoming one of them.

Perhaps even the great martial cultivators of the Upper Five Realms, spoken of only in legends, were not beyond reach.

Because he believed Shen Xiu might have awakened the one-in-ten-thousand Innate Martial Body.

After seeing Shen Xiu fight him and witnessing that inhuman physical constitution, this was the only possibility Duan Hongfei could think of.

If that was truly the case, then Shen Xiu entering the world of Middle Five Realms martial cultivators would likely be only a matter of time.

An Innate Martial Body meant one was born to practice martial arts, an existence one in ten thousand.

Invincible within the same realm, a First Realm martial cultivator could be considered equal to an ordinary Second Realm martial cultivator. Crossing realms to strike down foes had never been a problem.

Han Li, the prodigy from Taixi City who had once betrayed the martial arts school before joining the Wind Thunder Martial Arts School, was also suspected to possess such a physique, though there was no proof.

To have such a promising seed in his hands, one capable of reaching such heights, filled Duan Hongfei with boundless anticipation.

He immediately asked Shen Xiu whether there was anything else he needed guidance with.

At Instructor Duan's prompting, Shen Xiu demonstrated the Blood Battle Saber Technique he had learned once more.

Duan Hongfei had originally intended for Shen Xiu to perform the saber technique so that he could spot its problems and offer guidance. Yet when Shen Xiu practiced the set of saber techniques—

He discovered that Shen Xiu's Blood Battle Saber Technique was already approaching great mastery. Shen Xiu's level of cultivation in it had already surpassed his own, leaving him with almost nothing to teach.

Looking back over everything, Duan Hongfei suddenly realized that aside from having a higher cultivation realm than Shen Xiu, there was practically nothing in his lifetime of learning that he could teach him.

He immediately began doubting himself, wondering whether he had learned too little or Shen Xiu had learned too quickly.

Seeing this, he could only tell Shen Xiu to come ask him whenever he encountered anything he did not understand in cultivation.

As for himself, after thinking it over, he decided he would find Shen Xiu a movement technique later. He felt that was what Shen Xiu currently lacked most.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Aside from completing the martial arts school's tasks within the city, Shen Xiu spent all his remaining time soaking in the Lishui River within the city.

After practicing his fist techniques, he practiced his saber techniques.

After practicing his saber techniques, he practiced his fist techniques.

And so, he watched the things he had learned improve bit by bit, until he discovered that he even seemed to have grown fairer.

During this time, Shen Xiu heard that the operation to eliminate the White Bone Demon, led by the two officials from the Suspended Sword Division, had been declared a failure.

That was because the two Night Watchers from the Suspended Sword Division had returned with ugly expressions. When they passed Changqing Street, they had even chopped down a flagpole by the roadside.

Meanwhile, the two Peak First Realm Formal Disciples sent by the Golden Rainbow Martial Arts School had vanished without a trace, forever remaining in the mountains outside the city.

This gave Shen Xiu an inexplicable sense of crisis. The Suspended Sword Division's people seemed... not all that capable either?

If the White Bone Demon broke into the city, wouldn't it be able to slaughter in all directions?