A freak of nature

"Hall Master Zhou."

Li Xian stepped forward and greeted him.

He naturally had a favorable impression of the master of the Dragon Spring Martial Arts Hall, who had been generous and openhearted enough to give him the Five Elements Art for free.

As for their wager about completing blood exchange and marrow washing in three months...

A little over a month had passed now.

Originally, completing blood exchange and marrow washing in the nearly two months remaining would have been a little rushed, but after obtaining the Blood Jade Art, it was no longer much of a problem.

If he had enough medicinal pills to replenish his increasingly depleted qi and blood, it would only take ten days to half a month.

Hearing Li Xian greet Zhou Juechen, the two young martial artists who had personally witnessed his fearsome might hurriedly bowed. "Senior Li."

Their voices held a trace of nervousness amid their excitement.

Senior?

Li Xian was speechless. He had only encountered this world's martial arts two months ago. How had he become a senior already?

The steward from the Canglang Sword Sect beside them, however, greeted him with a smile. "Hall Master Zhou."

Seeing that Hall Master Zhou and Young Hero Li clearly had something to discuss, he tactfully took his leave.

After Zhou Juechen waved them off with a few words, the two young martial artists also reluctantly departed.

"So, how exactly did you do it?"

Zhou Juechen looked Li Xian up and down.

After repeatedly using the Blood Jade Art to exchange his blood and wash his marrow, his qi and blood were depleted and his spirits flagging. At first glance, it was difficult to compare his current state to that of an Internal Organ Refinement martial master brimming with vitality.

Yet so many people swore that he had just killed two Internal Organ Refinement martial masters, and even the Canglang Sword Sect steward treated him with great respect. It was difficult not to accept the fact.

"It was a little faster than I expected."

Li Xian answered truthfully.

"Are you at internal organ refinement or blood exchange and marrow washing right now?"

He pressed him again.

"Internal organ refinement."

Li Xian said, "I'm still a little short of blood exchange and marrow washing."

Then he added, "But I'm fairly confident I can fulfill our wager."

"Wager?"

Zhou Juechen paused, then quickly recalled something. "Three months..."

"Yes."

Li Xian nodded. "Reaching blood exchange and marrow washing in three months."

Zhou Juechen's eyes grew somewhat blank.

Reaching blood exchange and marrow washing in three months!?

When had he made a wager like that with him?

Hadn't his intention been to judge whether Li Xian could endure the pain of bone tempering and sinew transformation once he comprehended force and began stretching his tendons and strengthening his bones three months later?

When had that become blood exchange and marrow washing in three months?

Reaching for the Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing Realm in so little time-did he really think blood exchange and marrow washing came cheap?

Even if he were facing the grandmasters and Martial Saints of the present age, if he dared demand that they reach blood exchange and marrow washing in three months, they would absolutely drown him in spit.

But immediately afterward, he realized something. His eyes suddenly widened, and he looked at Li Xian with unconcealable shock.

"You... you thought back then that I wanted you to complete blood exchange and marrow washing in three months!?"

"Wasn't that it?"

Li Xian found this a little strange.

He had said at the time that he already had some idea of the first four martial realms, including internal organ refinement, and was only somewhat confused about blood exchange and marrow washing.

Back then, Zhou Juechen had generously given him the entire Five Elements Art, which led straight to the Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing Realm...

And even included the cultivation hurdles of the Body Without Leaks Realm.

Didn't that mean he wanted him to complete blood exchange and marrow washing in three months?

"Then... when you agreed back then... you were serious?"

Zhou Juechen's eyes were round, his face full of disbelief.

"Yes. It was quite a challenge, but I have some confidence in my talent."

Li Xian nodded.

Confidence!

Confidence in completing blood exchange and marrow washing in three months!?

Hearing Li Xian's answer...

Especially considering that Li Xian had genuinely attained internal organ refinement in just over a month, a martial realm proven with the lives of two Internal Organ Refinement martial masters...

Zhou Juechen unconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but for a long while, he could not produce a single sound.

Only after a long time...

Did he slowly utter a phrase.

"A freak of nature."

He felt that genius, or even prodigy, was no longer enough to describe him.

He was a freak of nature!

A peerless freak of nature!

For an instant, deep jealousy rose in his heart.

But the next second, he forcibly scattered that jealousy.

Jealousy!?

What right did he have to be jealous!

Internal organ refinement in just over a month, and even...

Rumored to possess combat strength potentially on par with blood exchange and marrow washing!

Then what heights could he reach if he trained hard for another month or two!?

And as one of the Four Talents of Lijiang...

One who had come from humble origins and truly earned the recognition of countless peers through his studies and learning, no less, his comprehension and intelligence were far beyond those of ordinary people. His chances of comprehending primordial unity and a body without leaks were much higher than an ordinary martial master's.

Given time, entering the sixth martial realm would be as certain as a nail driven into iron.

If he could maintain this momentum, then after five years of tempering himself, borrowing the false to cultivate the true and developing true qi would not be an extravagant hope either.

He was only twenty-two this year. In five years, he would only be twenty-seven!

He would meet the requirement that those attempting to leap the Dragon Gate be under thirty.

Once he leaped over the Dragon Gate, he would truly rise with the wind and soar ten thousand miles.

Having thought all this through, Zhou Juechen looked at Li Xian again, his gaze suddenly burning.

"Good, good, good! This is wonderful! After three days apart, a scholar must be seen with fresh eyes. Li Xian, you've truly astonished me!"

Zhou Juechen spoke with exhilaration.

Then he glanced around and realized this was no place to talk. "Come with me. Let's discuss this in detail inside."

Li Xian nodded.

He also wanted to consult Zhou Juechen properly about medicinal meals that replenished qi and blood.

The two quickly entered the Canglang Sword Sect and went straight to the courtyard the sect had arranged for Zhou Juechen to stay in.

Once inside the house, Zhou Juechen even carefully shut the doors and windows before turning to Li Xian and saying solemnly, "Li Xian, remember..."

"Li Xian."

Li Xian reiterated his name.

Though Zhou Juechen found this a little strange, he did not concern himself with why Li Xian insisted on this alias. He simply continued, "Li Xian it is. Remember, from the moment you entered Pinewind Academy, you had already encountered a vast number of cultivation arts and secret manuals through my third great-uncle, Zhou Liachen. It was only because my third great-uncle hoped you would first study and understand your nature, comprehending through books the ultimate principle of Heaven and man in primordial unity before practicing martial arts, that you never embarked on the martial path."

"The tree that towers above the forest is sure to be battered by the wind."

Li Xian nodded. "I understand that principle."

"Good that you understand. Someone who completes blood exchange and marrow washing in three years might be called a prodigy and spoken of with admiration. But three months..."

Zhou Juechen's expression was solemn.

Before he could finish, Li Xian interrupted him. "Countless people will come to challenge me. I know."

He smiled faintly. "I look forward to their arrival."

"You look forward to their arrival?"

Zhou Juechen froze, but immediately said, "No! Do you think reaching blood exchange and marrow washing in three months will instantly put you high on the Hidden Dragon Ranking and draw countless great factions and supreme experts to invest in you and recruit you? It won't! Once they learn you completed blood exchange and marrow washing in only three months, they'll do everything they can to uncover the truth behind how you exchanged your blood so quickly!"

His tone was grave. "They won't even believe it's your talent. They'll only think you practiced some divine art or encountered some extraordinary fortune, and they'll stop at nothing to dig out every one of those secrets!"

With that, this fifth-realm martial master of blood exchange and marrow washing looked at Li Xian. "Human greed and desire are more terrifying than fists, feet, blades, and swords! When that happens, you'll die! Or even... suffer a fate worse than death!"

(End of chapter)