Displaying Divine Might Before Others

Having received his instructions, Escort Master Li walked to the front of the crowd.

"Hah!"

With an angry roar from Escort Master Li, his right fist turned bright red, as if it had suddenly become engorged with blood.

Escort Master Li said, "This is the first level of Stance Training. At this stage, one can initially mobilize one's blood and qi and gather it in any part of the body."

As he spoke, everyone could clearly see the crimson color in Escort Master Li's fist swiftly travel along his entire arm.

"This is the second level of Stance Training: freely mobilizing blood and qi."

Suddenly, white vapor rose from Escort Master Li's entire body as he threw a punch toward an empty spot to the side.

A solid, blood-red fist imprint shot toward the testing stone disk, striking it in an instant.

Bang!

A deafening boom rang out.

Stone dust scattered everywhere from the waist-high stone disk.

When the dust settled, a fist imprint an inch deep had appeared on the stone disk.

"At the ninth level of Stance Training, blood and qi can be released externally and shaped into form."

At this sight, the entire training ground fell silent. Even those practicing Stance Training stopped one after another.

Zhou Ming, who had been practicing while watching Escort Master Li display his divine might before the crowd, stopped as well.

He had only reached the first stance of his third round of Stance Training.

He stopped because the panel had startled him.

[Dragon Soaring Stance, First Level (49/100)]

[Dragon Soaring Stance, First Level (50/100)]

[Dragon Soaring Stance, Second Level (0/100)]

Zhou Ming stood frozen, muttering, "Do half a thing, reap great rewards. What kind of lunacy is this? It really counts as halfway."

With a progress bar, all he had to do was grind. He did not even need to grind it to completion. This Destiny was a little ridiculous.

After a moment, Zhou Ming took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

At the moment, Zhou Ming felt weak all over and utterly exhausted—more tired than after hauling goods at the docks for an entire day.

This must have been what Escort Chief Wang had meant before: martial arts came down to one word—eat.

The more Zhou Ming thought about it, the hungrier he became. He was even starting to feel dizzy. He lightly bit the tip of his tongue, and the pain instantly scattered the dizziness.

Damn! The cheat had arrived. There was no way to keep a low profile now.

Zhou Ming called out loudly, "Escort Chief Wang, if someone enters the second level of Stance Training within a single day, is there a reward?"

Escort Chief Wang knew from the voice that it was Zhou Ming.

Escort Chief Wang looked toward Zhou Ming, feeling slightly dissatisfied. After half a day, this brat was actually still pretending not to know him.

Although he had to follow the rules, he was still one of the escort chiefs of the Dragon Soaring Escort Agency. Giving one of his own people a little extra help was not impossible.

But when he recalled that he had said they would handle matters according to the rules, and that afterward this brat had not tried to curry favor with him just because they knew each other, that tiny bit of dissatisfaction vanished like smoke.

It proved that Wang Quan had a sharp eye for people.

Escort Chief Wang cleared his throat. "Entering the second level of Stance Training in a single day—such a genius would no longer merely receive a reward. Our Dragon Soaring Escort Agency would devote all its strength to nurturing him. But unfortunately, such geniuses basically never..."

Escort Chief Wang's voice grew softer and softer, while his eyes widened further and further.

There was no other reason: a pale red streak was rapidly moving across Zhou Ming's bare arm.

"Damn it, brat, you really did it?"

Inside Wang Quan's private standalone residence.

After listening to Zhou Ming recount what had happened at home, Wang Quan said with a chuckle, "Luckily, luckily! You nearly got snatched away by that brat and sent to join a martial arts school."

Zhou Ming was somewhat displeased. Escort Chief Wang was building his happiness on Zhou Ming's suffering.

Escort Chief Wang wiped away his smile, patted Zhou Ming's shoulder, and said gravely, "You did nothing wrong in this matter. With my temperament, I would already be making preparations for revenge. Family? This was the enmity of blocking one's path. We cannot live beneath the same sky!"

"Even if you possess the talent of a heaven-blessed monster, on the road of martial arts, one step slow means every step slow. If talent cannot be made manifest as strength, then it is no different from being useless."

"If I had not heard from your words that you still cared about your cousin, I would have wanted to stand up for you immediately, so you would owe me this favor."

Zhou Ming picked up his tea and took a sip. "Uncle Wang, let bygones be bygones. Tell me about the Escort Agency's arrangements going forward."

"You brat, our Dragon Soaring Escort Agency has truly never encountered a genius like you. As for the specific arrangements, we will have to wait until the chief escort returns and everyone discusses it before giving you an answer."

Zhou Ming frowned slightly. He did not want to lie low anymore. He had revealed his talent precisely so he could break through quickly.

He was already twenty years old. The prime golden years for martial arts only lasted ten years.

Seeing Zhou Ming's tightly furrowed brow, Wang Quan comforted him, "This time, the chief escort led a team on an imperial escort mission. It was specially authorized by the royal court. Across the entire Yan Kingdom, no one would dare obstruct them. They were headed straight for the Imperial City and have already been gone for half a year. They will return in three months at most. It will not delay you for long."

"Besides, you are only at the second level of Stance Training and have yet to become a Martial Artist. There will be all the Meat Marrow Soup you can eat. Even if you break through to become a Martial Artist during these three months, I can make the decision on the pills required by a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist. I guarantee it will not delay your training."

After considering it for a moment, Zhou Ming nodded in agreement. As long as his resources were guaranteed in the early stages, that was enough.

Seeing this, Wang Quan smiled and pulled a token from his robes, handing it over.

Zhou Ming accepted the token. The words "Wang Quan" were engraved upon it.

"There will be as much Meat Marrow Soup as you want. It depends only on how quickly your training progresses. In short, there will be enough."

Zhou Ming's eyes lit up. Grasping the token, he headed toward the dining hall.

As he passed the training ground, a group of people cast envious looks at him.

Suddenly, a figure blocked Zhou Ming's path, then immediately dropped to his knees.

"Brother Zhou, please be magnanimous and spare my life."

Only then did Zhou Ming clearly see who it was: Chen Li.

Looking at Chen Li kneeling before him, Zhou Ming said calmly, "It is not that big a deal. I am not going to make trouble for you. Just keep your eyes open in the future. I may be easy to talk to, but that does not mean everyone you meet in the future will be."

Zhou Ming gave him a deep look, then walked past him and entered the dining hall.

After Zhou Ming left, two figures came over to Chen Li and helped him up.

Fan Daniu patted the dust from Chen Li's knees and said in a rumbling voice, "Brother Chen, Brother Zhou Ming is not the petty sort. I can tell."

Yang Shu patted Chen Li's shoulder. "Though we have spent less than a day together, we are still dormmates. It is fine."

Chen Li nodded forcefully.

He had truly been terrified. After Escort Chief Wang took Zhou Ming away, Escort Master Li had immediately gathered everyone from Room Seven together.

He questioned them one by one about whether they had any conflicts with Zhou Ming. He even said there would be rewards for reporting them—an extra bowl of beef for half a month.

The entire group pointed at Chen Li, saying that he had refused to let Zhou Ming sleep in the lower bunk beside his.

More than ten people from Room Seven pointed at him, adding fuel to the fire.

Escort Master Li immediately turned cold-faced and told him to beg Zhou Ming for forgiveness himself. If he failed to receive forgiveness, his limbs would be broken and he would be thrown out of the Dragon Soaring Escort Agency.

Chen Li's face turned deathly pale on the spot. After suffering endless torment in the training ground, the moment he saw Zhou Ming, he chose to kneel and apologize.

His dignity and pride were not more important than his life.