Refining Liquid

Hearing Chang Wei invoke the director of Zhicheng Martial Arts Academy, Chen Xu bent down and pinched Chang Wei's left pinky.

With a crack, Chang Wei's scream rang out from the courtyard, only to be forcibly swallowed back down at once.

"Director Chen, what do you mean by this?" The pain of fingers linked to the heart sent cold sweat streaming down Chang Wei's face.

"I'm not discussing this with you anymore. I'm telling you: you'll hand over the Bronze Body Technique whether you want to or not!"

What goes around comes around without the slightest error. Chen Xu returned Chang Wei's words from moments ago, intact.

"Director Xu ranked fifth among the martial hall directors at last year's Jinning Commandery Martial Hall Exchange Tournament. Director Chen, you'd better think this through." Thinking Chen Xu had spent all year cooped up in the martial hall and did not know how formidable his director was, Chang Wei emphasized it again.

Chen Xu said nothing more and raised his hand as if to strike.

Seeing this, Chang Wei hurriedly begged in a loud voice, "Don't hit me! I'll tell you! I'll tell you, all right?"

Handing over the Bronze Body Technique would at most mean returning to be punished and starting over from the lowest-ranked coach. But if he kept being stubborn here, he was afraid he would never get another chance to be a coach again.

Besides, the Bronze Body Technique required a matching medicinal bath for cultivation. Without the medicinal bath, relying solely on external tempering and beatings, one might not even touch the threshold after ten years.

This Director Chen might not have been very old, but his hand was ruthless indeed.

After Chang Wei recited the cultivation mnemonic for the Bronze Body Technique, Chen Xu checked the [Tianwu] panel.

Host: Chen Xu

Strength: 1.8

Constitution: 1.3

Agility: 0.7

Psychic Energy: 0.2

Martial Path: None

Martial Arts: Chen-Style Tiger Roar Fist (Fifth Layer), Bronze Body Technique (Not Initiated)

Special Effect: Tiger Might, Level 1

His strength was no longer comparable to before. Breaking through to the fifth layer of the Tiger Howl Fist had not only boosted his strength and constitution by a small margin, but also driven up his agility.

Chen Xu had already experienced the newly added Tiger Might effect when he threw that punch just now. His attacks came with sound effects and a deterrent effect.

With [Tianwu], the fastest shortcut for him to gain a foothold in this new world was undoubtedly through the martial path. No matter how many restrictions a technique had, as long as Tianwu dared to record it, he dared to practice it.

Chen Xu accepted the Abyss Coins in the sling bag without hesitation. Just as he was about to toss the bag back, his hand touched a small pouch hidden deep inside.

He unzipped the pouch and took out a transparent miniature sealed bottle filled with crystalline liquid.

The instant Chang Wei saw the bottle, he visibly trembled.

Chen Xu raised an eyebrow. His predecessor's memories contained no information about it, but judging from Chang Wei's reaction, it seemed quite valuable.

Before Chen Xu could ask, Chang Wei could not help saying, "Director Chen, this is Refining Liquid issued by the Martial Pavilion to martial halls. If you drink it, once the Martial Pavilion finds out..."

Chen Xu sneered. Did Chang Wei really take him for some sheltered child wholly devoted to martial arts and ignorant of the ways of the world?

So long as things did not get too big, the Martial Pavilion simply did not interfere with private fights between martial halls in the city. Even matters like annexation, as long as no one died—or rather, as long as they did not discover that someone had died—they would merely turn a blind eye.

He slipped the miniature sealed bottle into his pocket, then casually tossed the sling bag onto Chang Wei. "Get lost. Within three days, prepare ten thousand Abyss Coins for repairs and deliver them here. If you want to buy the martial hall, the price is fixed: two million."

Chang Wei watched helplessly as Chen Xu put away his Refining Liquid, and he wanted nothing more than to slap himself.

Why had he not put away the Refining Liquid he had received at home before coming here?

"You looked down on him, and now you got burned. You fucking deserved it!"

On this trip, he had truly learned what it meant to lose the lady and the army as well.

After sulking for a while, he silently picked up the sling bag and limped over to push open the iron gate.

Only after walking nearly a hundred meters away from Chen Martial Arts Academy did he cast a resentful glance back at the massive iron gate. He had come alone today, and a wise man knew when to bow his head. Next time, the ones coming would be everyone from Zhicheng Martial Arts Academy.

Director Xu had long had his eye on this plot of land. When they met again, he would see whether this brat could still be so arrogant.

Back in his bedroom, Chen Xu leaned over the mess of a desk and operated one of the most valuable items in the entire martial hall: an old desktop computer.

It had been a birthday gift from the old director when his predecessor turned fifteen.

Different startup sounds, a different boot screen—only the tortoise-crawling internet speed gave Chen Xu a faintly familiar feeling from back then.

"Refining Liquid." Chen Xu awkwardly typed the characters. The language and writing system were completely different, so he could only fumble his way through with the memories of his predecessor occasionally using the computer.

"What is Refining Liquid?"

"Can Refining Liquid be released into the wild?"

"Can applying Refining Liquid to my little ** improve efficiency?"

"Is Refining Liquid something you use in the morning, lie down at noon, and walk at night?"

Chen Xu's face darkened. What kind of ridiculous questions were these? It seemed that no matter the world, netizens' absurd nature could not be changed.

After learning how Refining Liquid was used, Chen Xu took the sealed bottle from his pocket.

It might have contained only around ten grams, but this was a precious treasure Chang Wei could receive only once every two months. It provided considerable benefits to the cultivation of any martial art.

Taken internally, it was ten percent more effective than external application. But only those whose graded martial arts had reached Minor Accomplishment or above could use it; otherwise, their bodies would not be able to bear it. At best, they would be paralyzed. At worst, they would die on the spot.

Chen Xu sat cross-legged on the bed. According to the Martial Pavilion's official explanation online, he had just entered the Minor Accomplishment level and was qualified to take Refining Liquid internally.

He was not sure whether Refining Liquid could be converted into Psychic Energy, so this was the perfect chance to test it.

Opening the panel, he stared without blinking at the Psychic Energy value after consuming the Refining Liquid.

Less than five seconds after it entered his body, his Psychic Energy rose from 0.2 to 0.3, then continued increasing.

After his Psychic Energy reached 1.2, Chen Xu waited a full minute. The number did not move again. Clearly, the Refining Liquid had been completely converted into Psychic Energy.

"One gram of Refining Liquid is roughly equal to 0.1 Psychic Energy?" Chen Xu pondered this. It was good news. It meant his Psychic Energy now had a source, and he could increase it through other methods.

"So one unit of Psychic Energy really can't raise the Tiger Howl Fist anymore?" After thinking briefly, Chen Xu invested the Psychic Energy into the Bronze Body Technique and brought it to the entry level.

Compared with improving attack power, Chen Xu felt that defense was just as important.

If you could not hurt me, but my punches hurt you badly, was there anything more satisfying than that?

Unlike the Tiger Howl Fist, the first layer of the Bronze Body Technique gave Chen Xu 0.2 Constitution and 0.1 Strength.

Compared to his Strength and Constitution, which had reached 1.9 and 1.5 respectively, his 0.7 Agility was clearly lagging behind. Chen Xu felt it was time to find a movement technique to practice.

No matter how high your attack power was, you still had to be able to hit someone; no matter how strong your defense was, you could not stand around as a living target.

Of course, before looking for a movement technique, Chen Xu planned to visit the Martial Pavilion. Logically speaking, the old director should have had Refining Liquid, yet his predecessor's memories contained nothing of the sort among the belongings left behind. He had never even seen it before. If there was no trick behind this, Chen Xu would not believe it no matter what.

If he found out that someone had dared to swallow something that should have belonged to him, Chen Xu figured his newly improved Bronze Body Technique was just right for a test.