"I can't live anymore!"
Chen Yuque clutched her chest, rubbed her eyes fiercely, and watched the surveillance again.
The surveillance video was from the night of June 29, Room 2 at the Martial Arts Dojo.
In the high-definition footage, the handyman, currently lying in the general hospital, pushed the young boy curled up on the meditation mat, seemingly in great pain.
Chen Yuque could even see the lines of wrinkles that appeared on the boy's face due to distortion.
The next second.
This damn monster straightened up, sat in the lotus position, palms facing up, and then.....
Then he started to glow, started to glow!
The bones emitted a faint light, signifying the Great Success of the White Bone Observation.
I should see myself as such.
"Damn it."
"I can't live anymore!"
She went crazy, tugged at her wine-red hair, and suddenly a surge of grief and indignation came over her.
Why?
Why??
Wasn't it supposed to take ten years of spiritual accumulation?
How did he achieve Great Success in just one day?
It's not fair, this is not fair!
Chen Yuque felt overwhelmed with a strong sense of helplessness, muttering to herself:
"I thought my junior sister was already invincible in the world..."
She slumped in the chair, then suddenly jumped up and ran out of the Martial Arts Dojo like a mad woman.
......
Long street.
Swarms of moths circled the street lamp as if trying to extinguish its radiant light. Occasionally, a breeze brought rare coolness to the hot summer night.
The moon quietly hung in the sky.
Upon hearing the gasp from his second apprentice, Hong Tianbao vaguely started to believe it.
He believed, yet he didn't want to believe.
"Are you saying..... you have achieved Great Success in the White Bone Observation?" He stared at the delicate-looking young boy. "The Contemplation Technique's Great Success requires over ten years of spiritual accumulation."
"Spiritual..... accumulation?"
Zhang Fusheng blinked, puzzled by what that was. Wasn't Chen Nuanyu at the Great Success of the Contemplation Technique too?
He vaguely realized that the significance and difficulty of achieving Great Success in Contemplation seemed much greater than he had imagined?
After a moment of silence, Zhang Fusheng hesitated and said:
"I don't know what happened, at that time I was lost in the Purgatory Illusion Realm, lost for an entire day, and then, then I suddenly comprehended something..."
"And then, it seemed to just achieve Great Success."
Hong Tianbao took a deep breath:
"An entire day..."
He no longer hesitated, suddenly widened his eyes, and a divine light shone in them!
Zhang Fusheng instinctively met the gaze of the old hall master.
Suddenly.
The mild summer night breeze vanished, and the dim street lamp lights on either side of the street, shrouded by swarms of moths, also disappeared.
Behind him wasn't the Martial Arts Dojo, nor were the roads on either side wide,
Replaced by were bloody mountains and wailing skeletons.
The skeletons surged like tides.
Zhang Fusheng raised his head to look at the sky of this illusion realm — where was the sky? There was only the hall master's giant face.
The surging tide of skeletons was already near, roaring and howling as if to tear the boy apart, and the chilling sensation swept over him.
Zhang Fusheng breathed out a clear air, silently contemplating himself.
The next moment.
He began to decay, rot, gradually turning into a skeleton no different from the bone monsters.
"As the bones turn flesh and muscle, and the flesh and muscle make the bone glow..."
The boy muttered to himself.
Then, his 206 bones indeed began to shine with treasure light!
The roaring, howling, and wailing,
All sounds ceased at this moment.
The skeletons prostrated, knelt, and crawled towards the boy, uniformly uttering an unpleasant chant.
"Great Medical King!"
"Great Medical King!"
In the worship, the boy lifted his head again, looking at the boundless face filling the sky, meeting its gaze.
The Purgatory Illusion Realm was pierced by the faint light of his bones, then shattered, and all scenes before him dissipated, returning to the peaceful long street.
Before him stood the old hall master.
The old hall master slowly lowered the hand that was stalled on his long beard, wordlessly putting a handful of white beard hairs into his pocket.
He nodded and said:
"It is indeed Great Success."
"Your spirit is thick and refined, naturally equating to the level of a person who has trained in the Contemplation Technique for thirty to fifty years, not bad."
Not bad?
Zhang Fusheng looked at the calm and indifferent old hall master, once again puzzled.
Did I guess wrong?
Is the Great Success Contemplation Technique not so difficult?
Or is it that many people are born with thick spirits?
He couldn't quite grasp it, but he understood one thing, that he wasn't born with a thick spirit...
It was because he truly had fifty years of accumulation.
If he added the [Contemplative Time] from Zhong Mountain, this accumulation would go directly over a hundred years... what's the use?
Zhang Fusheng didn't understand, nor was he aware of the implications, he just felt a bit uneasy because the hall master was just too calm...
Aren't all Martial Arts Masters having such high vision?
Just a few days to reach the First Refinement, and it's considered ordinary?
As his mind raced, Hall Master Hong said with restraint:
"The accumulation of mental strength from birth is substantial, and your enlightenment is acceptable. Your root bone doesn't look very promising, but that can be compensated for postnatally... Hmm, it barely meets the requirements."
After pausing for a moment, he said lightly:
"Thus, I should be able to take you as my apprentice, but you must remember, do not become arrogant because you have decent talent. In the path of cultivation, the greatest taboo is blind arrogance."
Zhang Fusheng was joyfully surprised:
"Master... Master, I understand what you mean!"
Hong Tianbao nodded, stroking his long beard with profound insight:
"Don't be arrogant, but also don't underestimate yourself. Your talent may not be stunning, but compared to ordinary people, it's somewhat better..."
He didn't finish his sentence.
A flash of fiery red burst out from the Martial Arts Dojo, and the newcomer couldn't repress a shout:
"Master! Monster, he's a complete monster!"
Chen Yuque screeched to a halt in front of the two, and though she lowered her voice, she couldn't hide her excitement, pointing at Zhang Fusheng:
"This great monster has cultivated White Bone Observation to the state of 'I should see myself as such'!"
"He's the 'old thing' you were quite wary of!"
"Monster, a monster indeed!"
Hong Tianbao pulled another thread from his beard, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply, not daring to look at Zhang Fusheng's bewildered gaze.
All previous efforts were in vain, all in vain!
......
An hour later.
The Martial Arts Dojo once again fell silent, as the students residing there returned to their dorms one by one, unsure of what had happened, but all seeing a young man follow the master to the fourth floor.
"Who is that?" the students wondered.
Wang Xiangnan recognized Zhang Fusheng but found it hard to believe, the fourth floor.....
Did he get accepted as the master's personal disciple?
No way.....
Wang Xiangnan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Meanwhile, at the top floor of the Martial Arts Dojo.
"So, this freak has become a junior brother?" Little Child glanced at Zhang Fusheng, full of displeasure.
"Hey, don't talk about your junior brother like that." Chen Yuque sighed lightly, "Um, what you said might not be wrong, he is indeed quite the freak."
After a moment of silence, she shifted, staring at Zhang Fusheng:
"Did you really cultivate a fist technique to perfection??"
Three pairs of eyes locked onto his face.
Zhang Fusheng remained calm and composed:
"It was a fist manual I found when I was young, called Tiger Roar Fist. I've been practicing it since I was a kid, not quite sure if it's perfected... maybe?"
He waved his hand, nonchalantly stirring up a cloud of dust. In the breeze of his fist, the dust swirled and briefly formed the shape of a tiger's head.
The quiet room on the fifth floor lapsed into silence once more.
A moment of quiet.
"Ahem, the fist near the intent, for a lower grade fist technique, it's indeed a sign of perfection."
Hong Tianbao's expression was calm—this time genuinely calm.
More accurately described as 'numb.'
Heh, fist technique perfection, is that peculiar?
Is it more impressive than achieving Great Success in White Bone Observation in one day?
Oh, half a day.
He discreetly patted his chest, calmly asking:
"And what's with that thunderous sound?"
This time, genuinely calm, not an act.
Hong Tianbao felt that in just over an hour, his capacity for patience had exponentially increased, besides...
A thunderclap, indeed, there are methods for a low refinement martial artist to produce such a sound.
Though rare, it isn't unheard of.
"Oh, that..."
Zhang Fusheng hesitated briefly, then decided to be honest:
"When I went home to practice the Spring Thunder Technique in the afternoon, I just practiced and eventually achieved Great Success."
Hong Tianbao's hand trembled slightly, then returned to normal, and Chen Yuque was also numb:
"Oh, Great Success... impressive."
After a pause, she asked confusedly:
"What does that have to do with the thunderous sound?"
Zhang Fusheng scratched his head, honestly confessing:
"Then I discovered, after achieving Great Success in the Spring Thunder Technique, there was no road ahead."
The elder nodded:
"Breathing Technique is important, but when compared to Contemplation Technique, it doesn't matter much. Spring Thunder Technique indeed can only be cultivated to the Great Success level... then what?"
For some reason, he suddenly had a bad premonition.
Sure enough.
The young man shyly spoke:
"Then I tried practicing the Spring Thunder Technique again."
"As I practiced, I managed to take a 'half-step' forward, seeming to have reached Minor Perfection?"
The quiet room was a bit silent.
For a long time.
Chen Yuque abruptly stood up, calmly saying:
"I'm going to get a Life-saving Pill... Master, do you want one?"
"Me?"
The elder calmly replied:
"I'll have one."