The people from the Martial Arts Academy at the Western Sea looked at Zhou Leng's back, puzzled.

A person who has broken through to the sixth floor, how come he has so few wounds on his back?

The sixth floor is notoriously the hell of beating.

"Did he hear it wrong, 'break through' and 'break into,' the difference is huge." One person said.

"It's hard to tell. He's only in the Early Stage of Body Refining, possibly breaking through five floors, but not the sixth."

"Mountain and River Primordial Energy, why can't Zhou Leng succeed?"

"Mountain and River Origin is a giant, is he?"

"Why can't Zhou Leng acquire the Body of Wonders? Besides, can Mountain and River Origin's Pinecone Continuous Fire defeat Zhou Leng?"

"Why are you being so contrary?"

"Zhou Leng is pureblood human, Mountain and River Origin is mixed-blood, who's inside and who's outside?"

"You…"

"Stop, stop, stop! Minister You, you have the highest ability, do you think Zhou Leng can pass the sixth floor?"

You Lisheng kept watching Zhou Leng's back, and at this moment, he sighed slightly.

"Beyond Mountain and River Origin, the first among the new generation." He finished and turned to walk towards the Copper Man Array.

Everyone followed, discussing among themselves.

Zhou Leng and Rao Mingxian left the Martial Arts Bureau, bought some fruits and supplements, and went to Ruge District Hospital to visit Instructor Deng Zhijue.

"I already told you there's no need for you to come…"

"For Martial Artists in the Late Stage of Vitality, these are not even injuries."

"If it wasn't for Chief Instructor Huang holding me back, I could return to the Martial Arts Hall in three days."

Deng Zhijue conversed freely, speaking more than he did at school.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhou Leng said, "Instructor, that Shen Jun, is he quite something? Some of his information seems to require access permission."

Deng Zhijue nodded and whispered, "He's been involved in many major incidents. In recent years, the demon invasions in nearby cities, sea siren attacks, Demon Worship Sect sacrifices, mostly have traces of him and his apprentice."

"We've been trying to catch him, but he's too cunning."

"His appearance this time makes us suspect that the Demon Worship Sect is making moves, which is actually a good thing. As long as the sect makes a move next, we'll intercept significant intelligence, earn a collective third-class merit, and I'll get an extra individual third-class merit."

Zhou Leng and Rao Mingxian knew Deng Zhijue said this to reassure them, so they nodded in agreement.

Deng Zhijue carefully examined Zhou Leng's wounds, looked at Rao Mingxian, and said, "You started training the method, right?"

"Just learning recently, I've been training these days." Rao Mingxian said.

Deng Zhijue then looked at Zhou Leng and said, "You've consolidated your Early Period of Body Refining and can start training the method too. I'll send you the videos to learn on your own first. Anything you don't understand, ask me. I'll direct you when I'm discharged next week."

"Sure."

"Moreover, you've gained something in the dwarf world, and your body is strong enough to start practicing 'hard skills' early. I'll send you some hard skill cultivation methods. Try them all first, and then through martial arts perception, find the one most suitable."

"Is it okay now? Hard skills are prone to injuries." Rao Mingxian said.

Deng Zhijue said, "The reason hard skills are prone to injury is because the body is too weak. No matter how Zhou Leng's body gets tossed, it won't matter. Of course, during the first formal training sessions, Chief Instructor Huang must oversee."

Rao Mingxian said, "Since Instructor Deng says it's feasible, it should be fine. But you need to be careful, after all, the basic standard for training hard skills is the Vitality Stage. Also, for the medicinal bath, you'll need to increase the quantity."

Deng Zhijue asked, "Have you looked into hard skills?"

Zhou Leng said, "I have. Hard skills training mainly relies on hard skill techniques, external force strikes, and nourishment from medicinal baths."

"The principle of hard skills is, when struck by external force, to operate Qi Blood in a specific manner to stimulate muscle and skin tissues to grow in a specific way."

"Once the body is trained in hard skills, as long as Qi Blood is infused, the skin and adjacent muscle can be as hard as steel, tough against external forces."

"Essentially, it's similar to body training, only more refined with hard skills, and its effects are stronger."

"The effectiveness of hard skills is chiefly determined by hard skill techniques and medicinal baths; the external force striking uses the striker, and the difference in outcome isn't that large."

Deng Zhijue nodded, "Correct."

He suddenly sighed and said, "Actually, I've heard that some special hard skills have been obtained by Martial Clans, under the guise of research, not disclosed externally."

Rao Mingxian said, "Such things are common, we've gotten used to it."

Deng Zhijue added, "Mainly because those hard skills are all incomplete, they are justified in their stance. However, I've heard those hard skills have shocking features, even incomplete, their power far surpasses ordinary hard skills."

Rao Mingxian said, "I've heard as well, the most powerful hard skills, even at innate level, can block demonized crossbow arrows. Standard bullets from the technological era can't even break the skin."

"Innate level can already do that?" Zhou Leng heard about such strong hard skills for the first time, and used to believe only Grandmasters could flesh block bullets.

Deng Zhijue said, "The universe's myriad worlds are vast treasures, with gods and beyond, let alone powerful hard skills. Hopefully in future Ten Realms Wars, the Human Race achieves victory continuously, acquiring more treasures and secret martial arts manuals."

The three of them chatted for a while, then Zhou Leng and Rao Mingxian left.

After leaving the hospital, they ran towards Ruda.

Passing by Fifty-Ninth Middle School, Zhou Leng and Rao Mingxian glanced at the sports field of their alma mater.

In the school's sports field, junior high school students were doing their exercises.

Just like last time, there was a class of students languishing behind, far at the back.

Zhou Leng casually said, "Back in middle school, we never had such a dispirited class."

"Yeah." Rao Mingxian looked at the jogging formation indifferently.

The two parted at Ruda's gate, Zhou Leng heading towards the Frost Giant Tree.

As he walked out of the forest, stepping onto the white grassland, he saw Huang twisting his big backside, digging a hole in the soil.

Before long, Huang ran up with a new golden page in its mouth, wagging its tail.

"Thank you, Huang, and thank you, Elder Tree."

Zhou Leng said, leaning against the trunk, sitting on the ground, reading the new golden page.

As soon as he saw the first line, his eyes lit up.

This page was actually about hard skills.

"... So-called hard skills are just incomplete training methods, a term used by ordinary civilizations."

"In high-level civilizations, it's called 'Martial Body.' Hard skills are only part of the Martial Body's training methods."

Seeing this, Zhou Leng recalled Instructor Deng's words.

He immediately guessed that the powerful hard skills held by the Martial Clan were likely not hard skills, but incomplete Martial Body methods.

"There are many types of Martial Bodies, and the Martial Body techniques before Ascension to Divinity have already been thoroughly researched."

"The final gap is not determined by Martial Body techniques, but by Martial Body medicine."

"Different types of Martial Bodies, different races, different realms, different environments, require different Martial Body medicines."

"However, despite endless changes, many Martial Body medicines can substitute for each other."

"For elementary civilizations, complete Martial Body techniques are the most rare."

"Here is a Martial Body cultivation method known as the 'Undying Star Body.' It was casually created by an Ancient Supreme while comprehending the Cosmic Path, for his young descendants."

"This technique itself has nothing special, but later it was discovered that those who practiced this Martial Body could resist some of the Divine Star Power from the 'Unknown Celestial Region.'"

"Subsequent research found that when the Ancient Supreme created this technique, he was comprehending a long-lost celestial wall in the 'Undying Celestial Wall.'

"This allowed the technique to be imbued with a hint of the Supreme Tao Rhyme from the Undying Celestial Wall."

"Unlike other techniques, which may require special bloodlines, vast wealth, or rare Star Medicine, this one requires only the illumination of the stars for gradual cultivation."

"After cultivating this Martial Body, one can receive star power to supplement physical strength in the starry sky, thus named 'Undying Star Body.'"

"If the stars in the celestial region are insufficient, the 'Star Conch' can be used as an aid for better results."

Zhou Leng paused for a moment, looking at the high-energy shell under the tree.

Although the golden page didn't explain in detail, these high-energy shells were likely Star Conches.

"However, this 'Undying Star Body' progresses slowly, often taking a thousand years to achieve minor achievement."

Zhou Leng stared at the words "a thousand years," speechless.

Then, he nodded gently.

From humanity's perspective, a thousand years is long.

But from the perspective of a high-level civilization and the entire universe, a thousand years is not long.

The Martial Arts of humanity is just emerging, and all Martial Saints who haven't died naturally died in battle or from injuries and illness, making their lifespan uncertain.

But in other realms, there are old monsters that have lived for thousands of years.

On the 18th Floor of the Demon Prison, such old monsters are countless.

It's said that there's an Old Turtle Demon Demigod among the Sea Sirens that's lived for tens of thousands of years.

Zhou Leng continued reading until he finally put down the golden page and stared ahead, lost in thought.

This Undying Star Body indeed far surpasses hard skills and might be the only complete Martial Body cultivation method in the Ten Realms.

However, this technique has its shortcomings.

Its cultivation speed is slower than other Martial Bodies.

While other Martial Bodies can speed up through bloodlines and Martial Body medicine, the Undying Star Body can only progress step by step through the illumination of star power, with the medicine only enhancing power but not speeding up cultivation.

From humanity's time perspective, one might find it difficult to reach minor achievement before death.

Moreover, spending too much time cultivating this Martial Body might slow progress, delaying other trainings and resulting in failure to advance.

Ultimately, grasping at everything results in grasping nothing.

In the path of Martial Arts, one must avoid being overly ambitious.

Even with Elder Tree, Zhou Leng dared not learn everything. He only focused on Leg Technique after mastering Palm Technique to the Extreme Realm, for the Giant Trial.

However, with such a top-tier Martial Body technique in front of him, it's hard to let go.

"No matter what, I can't just give up like this; I'll start by cultivating it."

"If it doesn't work, get more high-energy shells... no, Star Conches."

"According to the golden page, Star Conches seem quite valuable, but no one uses them in the Ten Realms, just collectibles."

"Next, spend some money to buy Star Conches; if ten aren't enough, a hundred will do; if a hundred aren't enough, then a thousand."

"As long as I accumulate enough Star Conches, I will definitely succeed!"

Zhou Leng glanced at the dozen Star Conches.

"I won't buy demonized equipment for now; I'll focus on collecting 100 Star Conches first."

"However..."

Zhou Leng flipped through the golden page again.

It was clearly written there.

The Undying Star Body contains Supreme Tao Rhyme; cultivating with a weak body might be crushed by the invisible mighty force.

The best time to cultivate is after mastering the Giant Body of Wonders and completing the twelve forms of the 'Establishing Image Chapter.'

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