Breaking Through by Taking a Beating

Shen Liuli's words made the air in the training room freeze for a moment.

Someone famous from New Star?

Could the origin of the Heaven-Burning Sword Art be connected to New Star?

Jiang Yuan's face remained calm.

"Is that so? Perhaps all sword arts have something in common once practiced to a profound level." He lightly steered past the topic. "Mine is only an incomplete copy. Much of its inheritance has been lost."

Shen Liuli did not press the matter further, as though she had merely mentioned it in passing.

"That's enough for today." She transferred six thousand Blue Star Credits to Jiang Yuan through the terminal. "Same time tomorrow."

Jiang Yuan looked at the payment notification displayed on his terminal and began calculating in his heart.

These six thousand had come at exactly the right time.

After leaving the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Jiang Yuan did not go home. Instead, he headed straight to the largest exotic beast ingredient market in the Old City District.

He spent all six thousand on a full fifteen pounds of tenderloin from a low-tier exotic beast known as the Ironbone Boar.

This pork was famed for its rich vitality and blood energy, making it the first choice for many Body Tempering Stage martial artists replenishing their energy.

Upon returning home, Jiang Yuan did not even have time to prepare it properly. He simply tossed the huge chunks of pork into a pressure cooker to stew.

A rich aroma of meat soon filled the entire room.

An hour later, Jiang Yuan devoured every bit of the pork that had been stewed until tender.

A surging heat exploded in his abdomen. His Nine Yang Inner Force began circulating automatically, frantically refining the pure energy and converting it into threads of scorching vitality and blood energy that fused into his limbs and bones.

[ Ding! Detected that the host is circulating the low-tier cultivation art Azure Wolf Art.]

[Under the influence of the Nine Yang Divine Skill, the cultivation efficiency of the Azure Wolf Art has increased by 400%.]

Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment.

The Azure Wolf Art was the lowest-tier cultivation art issued by the school to deal with inspections from the Education Bureau. He had never practiced it before.

He had not expected the overflowing energy of the Nine Yang Divine Skill to ripen it along the way.

That was actually a pretty good disguise.

Even if someone checked the circulation path of his vitality and blood energy in the future, they would only discover an utterly ordinary Azure Wolf Art.

The next day, during practical martial arts class.

Li Qingshan was explaining the key points of attacking and defending against joint-locking techniques when Zhou Hu suddenly stepped out from the ranks.

"Teacher, I would like to challenge Jiang Yuan to a practical spar."

Everyone's attention focused on them.

"This time, it will be unarmed combat." Zhou Hu deliberately emphasized the point, casting a provocative look at Jiang Yuan. "No weapons, just fists and feet. Do you dare?"

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Guo Hongtao started cursing beside him.

"Zhou Hu, do you have no shame? Wasn't the humiliation you suffered in the cafeteria yesterday enough? You want to come over and get beaten again?"

"Shut up! This is none of your business!" Zhou Hu roared.

Li Qingshan frowned. "Zhou Hu, this is class time."

"Teacher, practical martial arts and sparring are both part of cultivation." Zhou Hu held his head high. "Jiang Yuan is the top student in our grade. I want to learn from him. That isn't against the rules, is it?"

On the other side of the ranks, class monitor Zhao Qingya was lowering her head as she sorted through the list in her hands. From beginning to end, she did not glance in their direction, as though none of this had anything to do with her.

"Jiang Yuan, what do you think?" Li Qingshan looked at Jiang Yuan.

"Fine." Jiang Yuan stepped forward.

He had been worrying that the cultivation progress of the Baxia · Stone-Metal Body was too slow. He had not expected someone to voluntarily deliver himself as a punching bag.

The two walked to the center of the field.

"This time, I won't give you any chances!" Zhou Hu lowered his body into a fighting stance, vitality and blood energy surging throughout him.

Jiang Yuan merely stood there casually. He even gave up on drawing upon the Nine Yang Inner Force in his dantian, allowing only his basic vitality and blood energy to circulate through his body.

"Begin!"

At Li Qingshan's command, Zhou Hu stomped the ground and charged forward. His right fist clenched tightly, its knuckles covered in a heavy layer of vitality and blood energy.

Shatterrock Hammer!

This was the C-rank martial skill he had trained hard for a long time. One punch was enough to crack granite.

Facing this ferocious punch, Jiang Yuan neither dodged nor evaded. He merely raised his left arm and held it horizontally before his chest.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out.

Zhou Hu's fist smashed solidly into Jiang Yuan's arm.

The tremendous force made Jiang Yuan retreat half a step, and a searing pain shot through his left arm.

[ Ding! Effective attack detected!]

[The "Hit-Based Ascetic Training" mechanism has been triggered!]

[Baxia · Stone-Metal Body has begun circulating vitality and blood energy on its own, repairing injuries and tempering the sinews and bones...]

[Cultivation progress +1%!]

It worked!

Jiang Yuan was delighted.

When Zhou Hu saw that his punch had only forced Jiang Yuan back half a step, a flicker of astonishment crossed his face before turning into a savage expression.

"Again!"

He launched both fists at once, his punches raining down on Jiang Yuan like raindrops.

Jiang Yuan simply abandoned all unnecessary movements, shielding the vital areas of his head and face with both arms as he forcibly endured Zhou Hu's attacks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The dull sounds of impacts rang out continuously across the training ground.

To the onlookers, Jiang Yuan had completely fallen into a disadvantage and was being beaten without any ability to fight back.

Guo Hongtao was so anxious at the side that he nearly jumped out of his shoes.

"Brother Yuan! What are you doing? Hit him!"

The more Zhou Hu struck, the more excited he became. He felt that he had finally regained his lost face.

"Trash! Without that sword, you're nothing but trash!"

Jiang Yuan's arms had already become red and swollen. His shoulders and back had taken several hits as well, each one sending waves of bruising pain through him.

Yet the system notifications made him incomparably pleased.

[Baxia · Stone-Metal Body cultivation progress +1%!]

[Baxia · Stone-Metal Body cultivation progress +1%!]

...

In less than a minute, the progress had surged from one percent to five percent!

That was equivalent to several days of painstaking cultivation on his own!

"Enough!"

Jiang Yuan felt the heat was about right. If he took any more hits, he would actually be injured.

He suddenly shook both arms. A powerful burst of vitality and blood energy erupted, knocking Zhou Hu back a step.

Now!

Jiang Yuan leaned forward and took the initiative to charge in.

Profound Heaven · Shattering Bone Hand—Snake Fang Thrust!

This move specifically targeted the body's vulnerable joints.

Crack!

Jiang Yuan's fingers locked precisely onto Zhou Hu's right elbow joint, and he released his force.

"Ah!"

Zhou Hu let out a miserable scream. His entire right arm instantly went limp and hung weakly at his side.

Before he could react, his vision blurred.

Slap!!!

A crisp, resounding slap landed viciously across his left cheek.

Zhou Hu was slapped so hard that he spun half a circle on the spot. His left cheek swelled high at a visible rate, and a clear five-fingered print emerged.

Everyone was left dumbfounded by the sudden slap.

One second Zhou Hu had been imposing and domineering as he pressed Jiang Yuan down and beat him; the next, one of his arms had been crippled, and he had suffered such an extraordinary humiliation of a slap.

"I'll kill you!"

Zhou Hu completely lost his mind. Using his still-functional left hand, he lunged at Jiang Yuan without regard for anything else.

Jiang Yuan dodged easily, occasionally using the techniques of the Shattering Bone Hand to leave several neither-light-nor-heavy injuries on him.

The two tangled in combat until the dismissal bell rang.

"Both of you, stop!"

Li Qingshan rushed over and forcibly separated them.

Zhou Hu's right arm hung limp, and half his face was swollen like a pig's head. He looked utterly miserable.

Although Jiang Yuan had some injuries on his body as well, his breathing was steady. Other than his slightly disheveled training uniform, he did not appear seriously affected.

"If you dare fight privately in my class again, all of you can get lost to the gravity room and sit in confinement!" Li Qingshan shouted angrily.

Zhou Hu covered his face and stared fixedly at Jiang Yuan. Leaning close to his ear, he ground out in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Jiang Yuan, listen carefully. Stay away from Shen Liuli, and quit that job as her sparring partner immediately! Otherwise, you'll have a nasty time ahead!"

He paused, then added, "Also, Zhao Qingya asked me to pass along a message. Don't think that becoming the number one seed means you can steal someone else's position."

After saying that, he limped away with the support of his companions.

Before Jiang Yuan could process the information in those two statements, Li Qingshan walked over with a grave expression.

"Jiang Yuan, come to my office."

"What's wrong, Teacher?"

Li Qingshan lowered his voice. "The special investigation team is here again."