As Yunfan examined the two shimmering vials that he held in his hand, he paused.
Why didn't he use these himself? Even if cultivation gets harder and requires more resources as you grow, two whole bottles of B-ranked nutrient fluid could definitely elevate him to the Blood Purifying stage.
He suspiciously eyed the bottles. Is there some defect with these two vials of nutrient fluid?
The Alchemy Emperor examined the nutrient fluid with his Divine Sense, before shaking his head. "The techniques employed to create this miraculous item aren't familiar to me. I can't help you here."
Why are you so useless? Yunfan sighed.
As he was having his mental dialogue with the Alchemy Emperor, a rugged, scarred man entered the training hall.
"What's going on here?"
His powerful voice immediately drowned out conversation and dominated the area. Qin Wu's stern glare swept over the training hall, before coming to rest on Yunfan. With long, brisk strides, he came to stand in front of the boy.
As Class 7's martial arts instructor, he had an overall understanding of each student's skill level. He'd previously had the impression that Yunfan was moderately talented and his skill lagged behind others. His battle sense, which could only be trained through real combat, was lacking since he didn't normally spar; the medical treatment costs were something that he didn't want to make his family pay for.
Thus, it was very surprising that he had beaten Mu Zhenfei.
Qin Wu's eyes flashed with a curious light as he examined Chu Yunfan. "You reached sixth stage cultivation. Excellent. Keep up the good work."
The crowd hissed, their eyes widening in shock at the revelation that Yunfan had broken through. Not only that, but he had broken through twice within the span of one day! Yunfan was also slightly surprised. How did he know? I thought my aura was invisible.
The Alchemy Emperor chuckled. "No matter how well your aura fluctuations are hidden, there are physical signs that allow others to distinguish your cultivation when you're in the Body Tempering Realm. However, it's quite impressive for someone who is only in Spiritual Ocean Realm to have the observational skills to notice those signs."
There is obviously some truth to the rumors then, Yunfan nodded in understanding. That would be a useful skill to learn. I wonder if I can ask Instructor Qin to give me some tips.
Qin Wu didn't ask about how Yunfan had managed to jump two cultivation stages; everyone had their secrets. Combined with the two bottles of B-ranked nutrient fluid, he could definitely enter the martial arts stream.
The others around him soon came to the same realization at Qin Wu and began regretting being so dismissive of Yunfan.
"So that's how he won. No wonder, he was already in the sixth stage of cultivation."
"Chu Yunfan was too sneaky and Mu Zhenfei was too careless. Mu Zhenfei was defeated because he didn't see it coming!"
"Mu Zhenfei definitely wouldn't lose if they fought again!"
Gao Hongzhi snorted. "Mu Zhenfei could fight Yunfan one thousand times and lose one thousand times! He completely outclassed Mu Zhenfei with technique, battle sense, and strategy!"
The crowd deflated, unable to deny the truth. Mu Zhenfei had lost viciously.
"Still, Chu Yunfan jumped two whole cultivation stages!" The people were evidently curious.
"Maybe he blew all his savings on an expensive supplement."
"He probably hid the fact that he reached fifth stage cultivation for months already!" One of the spectators proclaimed.
The others agreed; this explanation made the most sense. However, Gao Hongzhi frowned. He was certain that Yunfan had been at fourth stage when they were at the school exhibit yesterday.
The musings gradually died down as the crowd dispersed. While Yunfan's rapid growth was impressive and shocking, there were countless rising stars at Haigang City Public School No. 13; Yunfan wasn't that special.
Furthermore, they had something even more interesting to talk about; they were going to be learning real martial skills today!
Previously, they had only ever learned the fundamentals of Common Era martial arts, which optimized the movements of muscles for combat. However, this did not account for the optimized movement of Internal Energy through the meridians! Simply infusing Internal Energy into ordinary attacks like Mu Zhenfei had done was inefficient. Martial skills were devised by grandmasters to allow Internal Energy to flow in certain patterns to produce the most output and were a large part of a martial artist's combat prowess.
Even those who planned on joining the liberal arts stream were extremely excited.
After calling attendance, Qin Wu began class.
"Today, I'll be teaching you a four-part technique called The Tiger Descends The Mountain!"
The students clamored for a moment before being silenced by the instructor's glare. Qin Wu inhaled deeply through his nose and let the air rush out of his mouth in gusts of heated steam as he began circulating his Internal Energy.
Qin Wu had always favored demonstration over explanation. "I'll be doing a demonstration of the four parts. Watch closely."
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, his gaze was laser-sharp.
"Ascending Tiger!"
Suddenly, Qin Wu exploded into movement. He lunged forwards into a vicious uppercut, the sheer strength of his strike sending a blast of air that caused his students' hair to whip around in the wind. His lithe form resembled a pouncing tiger mid-air.
"Crushing Claw!"
He seemed to hover in the air for a moment, before he abruptly clawed his hands downwards. His hands were covered in golden-black light as he ruthlessly brought his hands down into the ground. Cracks spread from where he struck the concrete and his fingers sank deep into the floor.
"Fatal Pierce!"
Qin Wu ripped his hand free from the ground. Chu Yunfan's enhanced senses could feel the instructor's Internal Energy sharpening into a singular, deadly point at the tip of his open hand. When he struck forwards, the sharp blast of wind caused one of the punching bags across the room to explode into a shower of sand.
"And the final move: Descending Tiger!"
The pale scars on Instructor Qin's arms flushed red with heat and steam
began visibly rising off his body. The air around him rippled with both heatwaves and killing intent.
Qin Wu spun, Internal Energy gathering around him and launching him into the air. For one moment, he hovered like an uncaring god of death. Then, he descended.
When his elbow made contact with the ground, the concrete floor gave way as if an elephant had stamped on it. A loud "bang!" compareable to a gunshot rang out and an explosion of dust obscured everyone's vision. When the dust cleared, the students gasped.
Instructor Qin stood in the center of a crater that was three meters wide. The ground had collapsed inwards on itself, creating a crumbling hole that was about a quarter of a meter deep.
None of the students said a word, either observing in shock or listening for Qin Wu's next instructions with rapt attention.
Rising from the crater, Qin Wu began explaining. "This technique was devised by Lu the Progenitor when he first encountered the one of the three Beast Kings, the Sovereign of Tigers. After holding the Beast King off for two days and nights to buy enough time for refugees in the Sovereign of Tigers' path to escape, he reached an enlightenment and began creating his own martial skill based on the Beast King's simplistic movements.
"After his death, he left all his knowledge to the Federation to aid in their fight against the Catastrophe of Beasts. Although this technique is an unfinished work, its profound nature still requires that the user have at least sixth stage cultivation in order to properly perform the first three parts."
The students began discussing amongst themselves, practically buzzing with excitement.
"This is an unfinished technique?! But it's so powerful! Our predecessors were truly unrivalled masters!"
"Sixth stage cultivation? That's a shame… I've only just stepped foot into fifth stage."
"It makes sense though; that technique was so powerful. Obviously, your body needs to be able to take the strain."
Tang Siyu raised her hand. Qin Wu nodded for her to speak.
"You said that we need sixth stage cultivation for the first three moves. What about the fourth?"
Qin Wu gave her a rare smile. "The final move, Descending Tiger, requires you to open your Internal Aperture."
The discussions around the training hall intensified.
"Internal Aperture?! How fearsome…"
"That explains why that move was so much more powerful than the other three."
"The Internal Energy required for that technique must be immense…"
Qin Wu waited for the chatter to die down, before speaking again. "I'll practice these moves four more times. Be sure to watch closely. Afterwards, I'll upload the manuscript into the Class Materials folder on your smartwatch."
The entire class immediately became dead silent as they watched Qin Wu with ferocious intensity.
Meanwhile, Chu Yunfan's eyes began dimly glowing with starlight. Everything around him began to slow down, until Qin Wu was moving through the air at a snail's pace. His eyes darted around, examining every detail and minute movement that Qin Wu made. His mind and thoughts began accelerating even further than usual as he calculated and adjusted his understanding of each step of the technique.