A One-Month Challenge!

Gao Hu froze, seemingly taken aback that this brat, no more than a speck of dust in his eyes, dared make such a brazen claim!

Then even greater contempt and mockery spread across his face, as though he had just heard the funniest joke of the year!

"One month? The arena?" Gao Hu looked at Dongfang Yueming as though he were an idiot. "You? A piece of trash who might not even be able to stir his qi and blood? Forget one month. Even if I gave you a year, you still wouldn't reach the threshold of skin tempering!"

He sneered, his voice rising sharply. "Even if you stumbled into a mountain of dogshit luck and managed to get started with skin tempering, so what? In front of me, you'd still be a bug I could crush with one finger!"

He looked down at Dongfang Yueming from above, his gaze as if he were looking at a dead man. "Good! Very good! You've got guts! I'll give you this chance!"

"One month from now, I'll be waiting for you in the arena! Let's see how you cry and drop to your knees begging for mercy!"

With that, Gao Hu turned and swaggered away with his entourage under a sea of awestruck gazes. He didn't spare Dongfang Yueming another glance, as though looking at him again would dirty his eyes.

After Gao Hu left, a deathly silence fell over the martial arts hall.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Dongfang Yueming. Their gazes were complicated, filled with shock, but even more with undisguised pity.

"He's crazy... This brat has definitely gone crazy!"

"Arena fights might be the martial academy's accepted way of settling personal grudges, but the fighters have to be close in strength! He's a mere mortal, and he's challenging Gao Hu? Isn't he courting death?"

"Gao Hu is a Gao Family disciple they've put special effort into training. How can he possibly fight him?"

"Alas, he's young and hot-blooded. He acted on impulse, and I'm afraid he'll pay a terrible price..."

The discussions came surging in like a tide. Almost no one thought Dongfang Yueming stood a chance; they all believed anger had clouded his head for a moment, leading him to make the most foolish decision.

Dongfang Yueming took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcibly suppressing the anger and humiliation churning in his heart. Impulsive? Perhaps a little. But more than that, he was unwilling to endure it any longer!

He paid no more attention to the gazes and discussions around him. Lowering his head, he focused all his attention on the "Skin Tempering Art" in his hands.

The paper was coarse, the ink clear. Each word seemed to hold a certain magic, beginning to sketch out in his mind the profound method of stirring qi and blood and tempering the skin. He read with intense focus, as if he meant to carve every word into the depths of his soul.

"Ding!"

The moment he had roughly memorized the contents of the entire cultivation method and grasped its core principles, a system notification sounded in his mind!

With a thought, he sank his consciousness into the panel.

[Character: Dongfang Yueming]

[Realm: mortal (gains 1 point per day)]

[Cultivation method: Basic Skin Tempering Method (0/1, not at Entry)]

[Martial arts: none]

[Points: 1000]

It worked! The "Basic Skin Tempering Method" had appeared on the panel!

However, when Dongfang Yueming saw the notation "(0/1, not at Entry)," he felt as though lightning had struck him, and his pupils contracted sharply!

What?!! A tidal wave rose in his heart!

Getting started... only costs 1 point?!

The discovery left him utterly stunned! He had assumed that getting started with a cultivation method involving supernatural power would cost at least dozens, if not hundreds, of points. After all, he had worked so hard to save up a thousand!

But now... it actually cost only 1 point?!

Then how terrifying a level could his remaining thousand points... no, 999 points, to be precise, raise this "Basic Skin Tempering Method" to?!

After a brief moment of shock, Dongfang Yueming quickly calmed down, his heart growing hot. But... that makes sense. This is only the "basic" skin tempering method. Its effects must be limited, which is why the cost is so low. There must be more advanced skin tempering methods above it, and even methods for the other stages of body tempering.

But I can't worry about all that now! His gaze grew utterly resolute. The advanced methods can wait. The most important thing right now is to increase my strength immediately!

A month from now, he would stand in the arena and repay Gao Hu a hundredfold for the humiliation he had inflicted on him!

At the thought, Dongfang Yueming could no longer hold back. He closed the booklet, turned, and left. He needed to find somewhere he wouldn't be disturbed and immediately begin his heaven-defying path of allocating points!

Watching Dongfang Yueming hurry away, the people in the martial arts hall sighed again.

"Alas, it looks like he really is going into seclusion for arduous training. What a pity, he's headed in the wrong direction..."

"What can he do in a month? It's just a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood."

However, among the crowd, the shrewd young man who had been selling "Body Tempering Powder" earlier-Qian Jingming-watched Dongfang Yueming leave, an unusual light flashing in his eyes.

"Challenging Gao Hu in a month... This brat is either truly crazy, or he has something to rely on... Tsk, tsk. Either way, he must be in desperate need of anything that can increase his strength right now!" Qian Jingming stroked his chin, the corners of his mouth curling up. "Now there's a big customer..."

Someone beside him heard his muttering and couldn't help pouring cold water on him. "Qian Jingming, you'd better take it easy. One look at that brat tells you he's penniless. Don't end up taking a deposit only for him to run off because he can't pay the balance!"

"Run off?" Qian Jingming laughed upon hearing that, as though he had been insulted. Patting his chest, he said, "Do you take me, Qian Jingming, for that kind of person? In business, I've always treated young and old alike with honesty and put my reputation first! I'll stake the name 'Qian Jingming' on it! As long as he can pay the price, I guarantee I'll get him something good!"

His eyes shone with a light called "business opportunity," and he was already calculating how to make a fortune off the "desperado" Dongfang Yueming.

With the "Skin Tempering Art" tucked inside his clothes, Dongfang Yueming walked steadily back toward the dormitory.

He had forcibly suppressed his earlier anger and humiliation, replacing them with an almost obsessive calm and an intense desire for power.

As he passed the academy's medical hall district, he caught sight of several staggering figures out of the corner of his eye.

They were senior students. Some had broken arms wrapped in thick bandages and pale faces; others leaned on crutches, with what seemed to be ghastly wounds on their legs. One more was being carried on a stretcher, his breathing faint.

"Alas, they were injured while clearing out mortal beasts outside the city again, weren't they..."

"That's right. I heard they ran into a few especially ferocious ones this time. Even a senior in the Internal Force Realm was wounded."

"The path of martial arts means contending with heaven, fighting the earth, and battling beasts with your life on the line! One wrong step, and you're doomed beyond redemption!"

The low sighs of passersby reached his ears, carrying an understanding of martial artists' hardships and a fear of ferocious beasts.

Dongfang Yueming's heart clenched!

This was reality! Behind the glory of martial artists lay blood-soaked battles!

Without strength, never mind challenging Gao Hu, even surviving outside the city was a pipe dream! At any moment, he could become one of these injured and maimed people, or even... a cold corpse!

Strength! I need greater strength! Now! This instant! Immediately!