Breakthrough Through Taking Hits

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

Someone famous from New Star?

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

Jiang Yuan's expression remained calm.

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

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

"That's all 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 on his terminal and began calculating.

These six thousand had come at exactly the right time.

After leaving the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Jiang Yuan did not return home. Instead, he went 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-level exotic beast known as the Ironbone Boar.

This pork was renowned for its rich blood and vitality, making it the preferred energy supplement for many Body Tempering Stage martial artists.

After returning home, Jiang Yuan did not even have time to prepare it properly. He tossed the large chunks of pork straight into the pressure cooker to stew.

The rich aroma of meat soon filled the entire room.

An hour later, Jiang Yuan ate every last piece of the stewed, tender pork.

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

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

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

Jiang Yuan froze for a moment.

The Azure Wolf Art was the lowest-level cultivation art distributed by the school, used merely 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 mature it along the way.

That would make for a good disguise.

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

The next day, during martial arts combat class.

Li Qingshan was explaining the key offensive and defensive points of joint-locking techniques when Zhou Hu suddenly stepped out from the line.

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

Everyone's gazes turned toward them.

"This time, it's bare-handed combat." Zhou Hu deliberately emphasized the point, his eyes challenging as he looked at Jiang Yuan. "No weapons, just fists and feet. Do you dare?"

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

"Zhou Hu, do you have any shame left? Wasn't humiliating yourself in the cafeteria yesterday enough? You want another beating?"

"Shut up! This has nothing to do with you!" Zhou Hu roared.

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

"Teacher, practical combat and sparring are both part of cultivation." Zhou Hu held his head high. "Jiang Yuan is the top student of our grade. I want to learn from him. That doesn't break any rules, does it?"

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

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

"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 volunteer as a punching bag.

The two walked to the center of the field.

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

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 blood and vitality to circulate through his body.

"Begin!"

At Li Qingshan's command, Zhou Hu stomped off the ground and charged forward. His right fist clenched tight, covered in a dense layer of blood and vitality.

"Shatterrock Hammer!"

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

Faced with that ferocious punch, Jiang Yuan neither dodged nor retreated. He simply raised his left arm across his chest.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out.

Zhou Hu's fist landed solidly on Jiang Yuan's arm.

The tremendous force forced Jiang Yuan back half a step, and a burning pain shot through his left arm.

[Ding! Effective attack detected!]

["Hit-Based Ascetic Training" mechanism activated!]

[Baxia · Stone-Metal Body has begun automatically circulating blood and vitality, repairing damage and tempering the muscles 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 flash of astonishment crossed his face before turning savage.

"Again!"

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

Jiang Yuan simply abandoned all unnecessary movements. He raised both arms to protect his head and face, forcibly enduring Zhou Hu's attacks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

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

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

Guo Hongtao anxiously stomped his feet nearby.

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

Zhou Hu grew more excited as he fought, feeling that he had finally regained his dignity.

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

Jiang Yuan's arms had already turned red and swollen, while his shoulders and back had taken several blows, sending waves of bruising pain through him.

Yet the system notifications filled him with delight.

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

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

...

In less than a minute, his progress had skyrocketed from one percent to five percent!

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

"Enough!"

Jiang Yuan felt that it was about right. If he kept taking hits, he would really be injured.

He suddenly shook both arms, erupting with a powerful burst of blood and vitality that forced Zhou Hu back a step.

Now!

Jiang Yuan leaned forward and charged in.

Profound Heaven · Shattering Bone Hand—Snake Fang Thrust!

This move specifically targeted the body's vulnerable joints.

Crack!

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

"Ah!"

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

Before he could react, his vision blurred.

Slap!!!

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

Zhou Hu spun half a circle on the spot from the blow. His left cheek visibly swelled at an incredible speed, and a distinct five-fingered handprint appeared on it.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden slap.

One second earlier, Zhou Hu had been dominating Jiang Yuan with imposing force. The next, one of his arms had been disabled, and he had suffered such a humiliating slap.

"I'll kill you!"

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

Jiang Yuan easily evaded him, occasionally using the techniques of the Shattering Bone Hand to leave several neither-light-nor-serious injuries on his body.

The two remained tangled in combat until the class bell rang.

"Stop it, both of you!"

Li Qingshan rushed over and forcibly separated them.

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

Although Jiang Yuan bore a few injuries as well, his breathing was steady. Aside from his somewhat disheveled training uniform, he did not appear seriously affected.

"If any of you dare to fight privately in my class again, all of you can get lost into the gravity room for confinement!" Li Qingshan snapped.

Zhou Hu covered his face and glared at Jiang Yuan. Leaning close to his ear, he spoke through gritted teeth in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Jiang Yuan, listen carefully. Stay away from Shen Liuli and quit that sparring partner job immediately! Otherwise, you'll regret it!"

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 sentences, Li Qingshan approached with a serious expression.

"Jiang Yuan, come with me to the office."

"What's wrong, Teacher?"

Li Qingshan lowered his voice. "The special investigation team has come again."