A Transformation in Strength

"It smells amazing! It's delicious." Fang Yu couldn't help marveling. "I really have no idea how all these heavenly treasures are cultivated."

He had never heard of so many extraordinary treasures on Blue Star. Otherwise, the ancient grandmasters' life levels wouldn't have been so low.

Was Primordial Star really that miraculous?

As soon as the Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruit entered his stomach, it rapidly dissolved. Fang Yu's Innate Divine Ability, Devour, quickly took effect, sending waves of strange icy energy surging through his limbs and bones to every part of his body.

It was extremely potent!

"In terms of medicinal effect, this Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruit is much stronger than the Myriad Phenomena Life-Transforming Fruit, yet its price is relatively low. No wonder everyone says it's because its effects are too potent." Even though Fang Yu's life level had reached level 16, he still found it somewhat difficult to bear.

It was like an elderly person who had always been frail and couldn't take tonics indiscriminately.

The same was true of martial artists. Some heavenly treasures were not miracle medicines but poisons to low-level martial artists and ordinary people, who risked death if they consumed them.

What suited you was best.

And!

My Innate Divine Ability can also bring out the full effects of elixirs and treasures, and I can absorb them faster, Fang Yu thought. To me, this one Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruit is probably equivalent to two or even more for an ordinary person.

There's no need to use the Cell Vitality Elixirs and Vitality Regeneration Elixirs yet. I shouldn't waste them.

Fang Yu immediately began practicing basic fist techniques. He assumed the Open the Dragon Spine posture, circulated his qi and blood, and directed Dark Force to surge through his body, tempering it.

As time passed, Fang Yu became more aware of what made the Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruit special.

Most of its medicinal effects are actually acting on the bones and internal organs throughout my body, and a small amount of its power has rushed into my brain, Fang Yu thought in surprise.

As the saying went, the young shouldn't train their strength, and the old shouldn't train their tendons.

Young people grew and developed rapidly. If they pushed their bodies too hard, their height and bones would stop developing prematurely, greatly limiting their future potential. That was why the Blue Moon Alliance explicitly required people to be at least thirteen before they could gradually begin martial training, and at first the focus was on "nurturing," a process known as foundation building.

Only after eighteen would they begin tempering their bodies further.

That was also why Fang Ping'an wanted to buy Myriad Phenomena Life-Transforming Fruits for Fang Siyue and Fang Long... Once those years passed and their bones stopped growing, it would be very difficult to grow taller or strengthen their skeletal foundation.

Back then, although the foundation-building treasures Fang Yu used had not been as good as the Myriad Phenomena Life-Transforming Fruit, they had still been exceptional, giving him an excellent muscular and skeletal foundation for his age.

And the Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruit...

It could actually build further on the already excellent muscular and skeletal foundation he had developed in his youth, and even strengthen his brain slightly.

"No wonder it's called marrow-cleansing." Fang Yu smiled. In scientific terms, what was called marrow-cleansing meant strengthening the cells in specific parts of the body.

It could even improve the body's genes.

Star Power had the same effect and would continue to bring improvements, which was why powerful martial artists could break through their limits again and again... But Fang Yu still couldn't absorb Star Power.

That's enough.

The elixirs and treasures Father gave me are far more effective than Qi and Blood Mixtures and Bone-Strengthening Pills. I've never fought a battle with resources this abundant before. A hint of anticipation appeared in Fang Yu's eyes. Combined with my Innate Divine Ability and my Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety in bodily techniques...

This month...

Let's see just how far I can raise my life level.

It wasn't just for himself.

He also wanted to live up to his family's sacrifices and expectations.

July 15, a little after three in the morning.

When Fang Yu got up on time and went to the basement martial arts room, he switched on the light and saw Fang Long and Fang Siyue already dressed and ready.

Both looked at Fang Yu excitedly and called out in unison, "Brother!"

"What's going on?" Fang Yu was completely baffled.

"Starting today, I'm going to get up at three in the morning and practice martial arts, just like you," Fang Siyue said first. "You work so hard. We can't slack off either."

"Me too," Fang Long quickly added.

Fang Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He scolded them, "Nonsense! You can practice martial arts, but who told you to get up at three in the morning to do it? What time did you go to bed last night?"

"Nine," Fang Siyue said.

"Nine thirty," Fang Long followed.

"That's not enough." Fang Yu shook his head and said seriously, "I know you signed with Galaxy Group yesterday, and the first batch of training resources they're giving you has already arrived at home."

"But even with the help of expensive calming incense, your own mental strength is too weak for you to sleep deeply for long."

"And you're still growing."

"You want to train with me? Fine!" Fang Yu said. "Then follow my plan. Go to bed at eight thirty every night and get up at five in the morning, without fail."

"Right now, nurturing your bodies comes first."

"I'll work out a training plan for you during the day." Fang Yu snapped, "Now, both of you get back to bed. Go!"

"Oh." The siblings retreated to their rooms in embarrassment.

A hint of a smile appeared on Fang Yu's face.

At nine that morning, Fang Siyue and Fang Long began training under Fang Yu.

The first exercise was still stance training.

"Stance training is the foundation."

"In ancient martial arts, there were the Hunyuan Stance, Santi Stance, Rising and Falling Stance, Wuji Stance, and so on, each with its own strengths. After the Great Burning Heaven era, Astral Aspects appeared, and especially after the New Calendar began, they were unified into the Zhoutian Star Stance, which drew on the strengths of every school... But its most essential purpose is to help martial artists open their Star Apertures as quickly as possible," Fang Yu explained to his younger brother and sister.

Fang Siyue and Fang Long listened.

They had studied this material before, but never as attentively as they did now.

"Practicing stances is like arranging the stars; the body moves like the heavens in revolution," Fang Yu said. "In plain language, holding a static stance establishes a reference frame for your body, which you then bring into alignment with the Astral Aspect you visualize."

"You adjust all the muscles, bones, and joints in your bodies into the state best suited to absorbing Star Power."

"I've heard..."

"On New Moon, they already have holographic projection training pods that can project a translucent star map of the human body around you for data-based corrections, such as posture deviation, the flow rate of force, bodily stability, the angle of displacement of your center of gravity, and changes in the efficiency with which your apertures absorb Star Power," Fang Yu said.

Fang Yu had learned this from a teacher at his junior college.

New Moon's strength did not lie simply in having many powerful martial artists. It surpassed Blue Star's old lands across the board in many respects, including its training environment, technological level, and number of treasures.

According to recent statistics, although its population was only a little over a hundred million, the Earth Martial Artists and Sky-Roving Martial Artists it produced already accounted for thirty percent of the alliance's total.

"It's that amazing?" Fang Siyue and Fang Long were secretly astounded.

"There's no need to sell yourselves short," Fang Yu said, shaking his head.

"It's just like tempering the body: going too far is as bad as not going far enough." Fang Yu smiled. "Sometimes absolute precision is wrong, while something imprecise is the truth. So whether it's a holographic calibration stance or the holographic projection in a training pod, the calibration rate is only ninety percent. You still have to feel out the remaining ten percent yourselves."

"Remember."

"Ye Xinghe, the strongest person in civilization, once said that the greatest truth in this world is that there is no absolute truth," Fang Yu said.

On the second floor, in Fang Zhiyuan's room.

"That's how it should be."

"Brothers united can cut through metal." Fang Zhiyuan smiled as he watched the three training on the surveillance screen. "Only when all of you are standing firm can I lie back more comfortably."

"My boy has worked hard all his life. With these three children, he should be able to lie back a little in the future too."

He turned off the surveillance feed.

Fang Zhiyuan put on his VR headset and lay down in a comfortable, specially made chair. What game should I play today? he muttered to himself. I'm Surrounded by Married Women or Young Married Women's Alliance?

"What a wonderful era!"

"Unlike before the New Calendar era..."

"I hear they've even started selling virtual reality headsets on New Moon. I have to live long enough to see them become common on Blue Star too." Fang Zhiyuan began immersing himself in the game. "Oh, right, I need to order delivery ahead of time."

"Eat on time."

The height of summer passed in day after day of training.

Aside from his own training, Fang Yu devoted himself to guiding his younger brother and sister. He didn't think it was a waste of time; on the contrary, he found it enjoyable.

To his delight...

This time, his younger brother and sister no longer complained about hardship and exhaustion as readily as they had in the past. Although they occasionally slacked off a little, on the whole they were now incredibly diligent, surpassing most of their peers.

Their willingness to train on their own had risen considerably.

Moreover, both showed good comprehension when practicing fist techniques.

Good!

Upper Astral Aspects, hard work, and their comprehension isn't bad either. Fang Yu was delighted. As long as they keep this up, Siyue and Xiaolong can both hope to achieve great things in the future.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, it was a little after four in the morning on August 15.

Five Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruits.

Twelve elixirs, all used up without wasting a drop. Standing in the basement martial arts room, Fang Yu felt the power surging through his body, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. This month has practically remade me.

The second batch of guaranteed admission slots for the junior-college-to-bachelor's program? Let's see who can compete with me.

Whoosh!

Fang Yu threw a punch, slamming it hard into the punch-force tester and setting off a series of rumbling alarms... As a basic tester, its upper limit for measuring punch force was 2,000 kilograms.

--

P.S. The second chapter is here. There'll be another tonight. Brothers, please give me your monthly votes!

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