Liu Yu Takes the Old Man as His Master!

In an ordinary student dormitory at the Martial Dao Academy.

Liu Yu sat cross-legged, veins faintly bulging on his face as beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead! Gritting his teeth, he put all his strength into circulating the feeble qi and blood he had struggled so hard to rouse, following the route of the Basic Skin Tempering Method as he painstakingly attacked his skin and membranes!

"Pop!"

It was as though something exceedingly fine had been broken through!

A faint but distinct current of warmth finally began to circulate steadily across the surface of his skin!

"I did it! I finally did it!!"

Liu Yu's eyes flew open, a light of wild joy bursting from them! Feeling an unprecedented, subtle toughness in his skin, he trembled all over with excitement!

Skin Tempering Entry!

Only around ten days had passed since classes began, and he had already stepped through the gates of the Skin Tempering Realm!

Though his speed couldn't compare to those true monsters, he was certainly among the best of the ordinary freshmen!

"Hahaha! I knew I was a genius!" Liu Yu was immensely pleased with himself, feeling that none of his earlier efforts had been in vain!

Then he thought of Dongfang Yueming, the one who had subjected him to such utter humiliation!

"Dongfang Yueming! Just you wait!" A venomous light flashed in Liu Yu's eyes. "As I grow stronger and stronger, one day I'll grind you beneath my foot! I'll show you who the real protagonist is!"

He couldn't wait to tell someone this "good news" and gain more recognition and attention!

The first person he thought of was Instructor Qin Rushuang, a peerless beauty with profound strength!

Liu Yu immediately straightened his clothes and rushed off to report his "cultivation results" to Qin Rushuang.

In the instructors' office.

Qin Rushuang listened to Liu Yu's excited report and looked at the pride written all over his face. A nearly imperceptible trace of surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Skin Tempering Entry in ten days... his aptitude is indeed fairly good, she judged objectively.

"Instructor Qin! What do you think of my talent?" Liu Yu looked at Qin Rushuang expectantly and mustered the courage to say, "I hope to become your disciple! I want to follow you and study more profound martial arts!"

His heart was full of anticipation! He had long since made inquiries and learned that Instructor Qin's strength was unfathomable, and her background was extraordinarily mysterious! If he could become her disciple, his future would surely be boundless!

Qin Rushuang, however, merely glanced at him and refused without hesitation:

"No."

"What?!"

The smile froze on Liu Yu's face! He stared at Qin Rushuang in disbelief, wondering if he had misheard!

"Wh... why?!" he couldn't help pressing. "Isn't my talent good enough?!"

Qin Rushuang parted her red lips slightly. Her voice was cool, but left no room for doubt:

"Your cultivation speed is indeed among the best of the freshmen. But..."

She paused, her gaze utterly calm. "There's nothing about you... that moves me."

Nothing about him that moved her?!

Those words were like a basin of ice water poured over Liu Yu from head to toe! They left him chilled to the bone!

He couldn't accept it! He was clearly already one of the best among the freshmen! Why... why couldn't he catch Instructor Qin's eye?!

Seeing Liu Yu's dazed, disbelieving expression, Qin Rushuang's lips suddenly curved into a smile tinged with teasing, yet seemingly concealing some deeper meaning:

"Of course, if you could..."

She held out a slender jade finger and spoke unhurriedly:

"Within seven days, cultivate Skin Tempering to perfection and reach the legendary Jade Skin Realm.

"Then, within a month, cultivate Flesh Refining to perfection and reach the level of the Heaven-Splitting Body..."

She looked at Liu Yu with a playful smile:

"If you could do all that... never mind taking you as a disciple, I, Qin Rushuang, would even offer myself to you as a maid!"

Having left him with those earth-shattering but plainly teasing words, Qin Rushuang paid no further attention to the utterly petrified Liu Yu and went about handling her other affairs.

Liu Yu, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning, only those mythical terms echoing in his mind:

The Jade Skin Realm... the Heaven-Splitting Body...

Were... were those realms a person could reach?!

"Jade Skin in seven days... Heaven-Splitting in a month..." Liu Yu repeated the words in a daze, finding them utterly absurd!

Th... that's impossible! There's no way anyone could do it! he shouted inwardly! This was no longer within the realm of genius-it was downright myth and legend! Instructor Qin... was clearly making sport of him!

In the office, Qin Rushuang watched Liu Yu's soulless expression and pursed her red lips slightly.

Hmm... perhaps I did exaggerate a little, she reflected inwardly. After all, even across the higher dynasties, monsters of that caliber are probably as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, encountered only once in a hundred years...

If such a heaven's chosen appeared here, who would believe there was nothing suspicious about it?

"Still..." Qin Rushuang raised her head and looked at Liu Yu, who was still lost in the blow he had suffered. Her tone softened a little:

"The world is vast, and geniuses emerge in every generation. Nothing is absolute." She paused and added, "To be fair, reaching Skin Tempering Entry in ten days means your aptitude is already very good, far beyond ordinary people. It's just... you really haven't met my standard for taking a disciple, that's all."

Her words did little to make Liu Yu feel better. To him, the words "very good" were the greatest mockery of all!

In a daze, he walked out of Qin Rushuang's office like a mindless walking corpse. One moment he had been brimming with confidence, and the next he had been cast into the depths. The enormous contrast was more than he could bear.

Just as he was walking along, disheartened and at a loss,

a sinister voice suddenly sounded beside his ear:

"Kid, I can see you have good bones. You're fine material for martial arts. Interested in taking this old man as your master?"

Liu Yu started in alarm! He turned to see a short old man with a goatee and eyes like a venomous snake. He had appeared behind him at some unknown point and was sizing him up with a chuckle.

"Who are you?" Liu Yu instinctively grew wary. The old man had appeared without a sound; he was no ordinary person!

At the same time, however, a spark of hope flared in his heart! Could it be... that heaven never seals off every path?

Still, he had learned to be smarter now. Instead of agreeing at once, he asked with a probing look, "Senior, you are...? What can you teach me?" He didn't want to take just any mediocre teacher and disgrace his "genius" aptitude!

"Hehe..." The old man with the goatee gave a couple of strange chuckles and puffed out his chest. A concentrated, powerful aura suddenly poured out of him!

"This old man is Wu Daozi, the 'Yin Wind Hand'! As for my cultivation... it's so-so. Tendon Transformation Greater Completion!"

"Tendon Transformation Greater Completion?!"

Liu Yu's pupils contracted sharply! Towering waves surged through his heart!

The Tendon Transformation Realm! That was a realm above the Bone Forging Realm! And he had even reached greater completion! Surely that made him one of the top experts in the entire Martial Dao Academy?!

He never imagined he would meet an expert of this caliber, who even wanted to take him as a disciple?!

Th... this was a fortuitous encounter dropped from heaven!

The disappointment and resentment of Qin Rushuang's rejection were instantly replaced by immense delight!

"Your disciple Liu Yu pays his respects, Master!!" Without the slightest hesitation, Liu Yu dropped to both knees and respectfully knocked his head against the ground three times!

A master at Tendon Transformation Greater Completion! Though he couldn't compare to Qin Rushuang and her mysterious background, he was more than enough to let Liu Yu strut through the Martial Dao Academy!

"Hehehe... good disciple, get up! Get up!" Wu Daozi helped Liu Yu to his feet with a sinister grin, undisguised greed and excitement flickering in his snake-like eyes!

Good! Wonderful! Another little fellow with decent talent! Wu Daozi laughed wildly in his heart. What I love most is watching you so-called "geniuses" sink and struggle, step by step, under my "attentive guidance," until you finally become playthings in the palm of my hand! Hahaha!

He patted Liu Yu on the shoulder with a kindly smile (though from an angle Liu Yu couldn't see, it looked exceedingly sinister). "Don't worry, disciple! Follow your master, and I guarantee you'll have all the cultivation resources you need! Cultivation methods, pills-whatever you want!"

"However..." He changed tack with a chuckle. "There's no free lunch under heaven. Your master will help you, but naturally, you'll have to pay a small price in return..."

"A price?" Liu Yu was somewhat curious.

Wu Daozi leaned close to Liu Yu's ear and whispered a few words in a voice only the two of them could hear.

As the old man spoke, the excitement and anticipation gradually vanished from Liu Yu's face, leaving it deathly pale! His eyes filled with terror and disbelief!

He instinctively wanted to retreat, wanted to refuse!

But just then, Dongfang Yueming's indifferent gaze and the utter humiliation of being pinned to the table suddenly flashed through his mind!

No! I can't give up!

For power! For revenge!

A trace of crazed ruthlessness flashed in Liu Yu's eyes!

He gritted his teeth and nodded emphatically!

"All right! Master! I agree!"

Seeing Liu Yu nod, Wu Daozi's smile grew even more unrestrained, full of the delight of a scheme come to fruition!

"Jiejeje... good disciple! What a good disciple of mine you are!"