Martial Saint!
Chapter 257 - 0183 Black Tiger Mountain Venerate (3.6k for monthly tickets and subscriptions)

Chapter 257: 0183 Black Tiger Mountain Venerate (3.6k for monthly tickets and subscriptions)

The Black Tiger’s roar startled the dreamer awake.

At this moment, Lu Chenzhou’s Tiger Form Boxing Realm had also stepped into the Third Realm!

On the Martial Arts Tree, the leaves of "Black Tiger Fist" and "Mountain Crossing Body" shone brightly, and after the light faded, rows of tiny, nearly invisible characters appeared.

Black Tiger Fist: Perfection (can be integrated)

Mountain Crossing Body: Perfection (can be integrated)

Tiger Supreme Fist: Perfection (can be integrated)

Except for "Tiger Spirit Divine Fist", they could all be fused.

Do you wish to integrate?

The Martial Arts Tree sent a mental prompt.

Lu Chenzhou had a moment of clarity.

"This integration should produce a quasi-Third Rank Divine Seed."

The rules of fusion were the same as last time.

"Integrate!"

Lu Chenzhou drank down the Martial Arts Supplements and then rested for an hour, waiting until his strength was almost fully recovered, and continued to practice the already perfected three types of Tiger Form Martial Arts.

This would speed up the process of integration.

It just so happened that today was a rest day, and there were no classes during the day. Lu Chenzhou, spurred on by determination, practiced the fist techniques for three hours straight, exhausting his strength, until the time reached ten a.m.

The integration was complete.

He looked at the Martial Arts Tree where three leaves had become one.

Please name the new martial art.

"Another name?" Lu Chenzhou thought for a moment.

"Black Tiger Fist, take the words ’Black Tiger’."

"Tiger Supreme Fist, take the word ’Supreme’."

"Mountain Crossing Body, take the word ’Mountain’."

"Let’s call it ’Black Tiger Mountain Venerate Fist’."

He chose this name mainly because of the Black Tiger he had seen in his trance.

Lu Chenzhou’s true path in Martial Arts had also started from the Black Tiger.

It served as a constant reminder to himself never to forget his original ambition.

After naming, he looked at the Martial Arts Tree.

Black Tiger Mountain Venerate Fist: Perfection

Black Tiger Mountain Venerate Divine Seed (quasi-Third Rank): Hidden in the Shangyang Acupoint

Black Tiger patrols the mountain, with no taboo!

Effect 1: Tiger Wisdom Level 3, somewhat improves the comprehension for general fist techniques

Effect 2: Tiger Form Level 3, somewhat improves the comprehension for Tiger Form Boxing techniques

Effect 3: Tiger Skill Level 2, slightly improves the comprehension for general movement techniques

Effect 4: Tiger Evil’s Roar, can intimidate beasts with the sound and cause a small amount of real damage to evil spirits; can intimidate enemy’s minds and evil spirits with Evil Qi.

Effect 5: Mountain Patrol, increases the power of Tiger Form Boxing slightly in mountainous terrain

Perhaps because this integration involves more Divine Seeds, the change in the Divine Seed this time is even greater than that of the Swallow Form Divine Seed fusion. Firstly, Tiger Form has reached Level 3, improving the comprehension of Tiger Form Boxing from "a little" to "somewhat," which is the effect of a Third Rank Divine Seed.

"Tiger Wisdom" and "Tiger Skill" were also strengthened.

One was promoted to Level 3 and the other to Level 2.

The biggest change was that "Tiger Evil" and "Tiger Roar" merged into "Tiger Evil’s Roar," and the effect was enhanced; the real damage changed from "a slight amount" to "a small amount."

The Mountain Patrol also changed from "a slight amount" to "a small amount."

"In the future, as long as I practice enough Tiger Form Boxing, and keep stacking Divine Seeds, I might be able to create an extraordinary Divine Seed. Once my Boxing Realm reaches the required level, I could even integrate Tiger Form and Swallow Form to create a Tiger Swallow Dual Forms technique."

At his current level, he was not yet capable of fusing Dual Forms.

The higher the level of the Martial Arts being integrated and the greater the variety and quantity, the higher the requirement for the Boxing Realm. He had only just entered the Connect with the Divine Realm and still had a long way to go.

After a short rest, he began to practice the new martial art, Black Tiger Mountain Venerate Fist. With the Boxing Realm and martial arts merged, this technique was much more powerful than Tiger Supreme Fist.

However, it was still much weaker than Tiger Spirit Divine Fist, but strong enough to be used against enemies of the same realm in battle, so its martial arts would not gather dust and remain non-practical.

The phone rang. It was Ji Xuantong calling.

After connecting, the master asked,

"Chenzhou, have you been staying at school recently?"

"Yes, Master, what’s up?"

"Nothing much, just try not to go out of school for a while."

"What happened? Is it the Void Things causing trouble?"

"The master of Youlong Martial Arts Hall, Dragon Ascending Li Zhen, has been missing for ten days... They still haven’t found where he is, and the last location his phone was detected at was in the middle of Taihu. It’s unclear if it was Void Things or cultists who did it."

"Senior Li is an old Martial Artist, and he’s missing?"

"Yes, it doesn’t look good."

Ji Xuantong sounded somber.

Even during the recent Taihu Virtual Calamity, the Martial Artists who went to support suffered some injuries, but there were no disappearances or deaths.

It seemed the matter was far from over now that a Martial Artist had gone missing.

Moreover, Old Ji had a good relationship with Dragon Ascending Li.

Now that his old friend had likely died, it is natural to feel sorrow for another’s death despite the safe distance.

Lu Chenzhou sighed and comforted him,

"Master, also be careful outside school. Why don’t you apply for on-campus housing?"

As a graduate Martial Artist from Dragon City, it would be easy for him to reside on campus.

Ji Xuantong said,

"We’ll see. I have the Martial Arts Academy to take care of. I can’t just stay inside like you. The Martial Arts Academy is my main source of income. Don’t worry about me, it’s safe as long as I’m within Su City."

Lu Chenzhou figured that was the case. Inside the core city area, if high-level experts took action, masters within the city would sense it and quickly go to support.

That said, the methods of some Void Things or cultists were unpredictable, and there was no telling if, one day, they could kill someone in a bustling area without anyone noticing.

In the end, there was no absolute safety in this world.

At the root of it all, personal strength was what truly mattered.

After a brief exchange of cautionary advice, Ji Xuantong went back to cultivating, full of a sense of urgency. Lu Chenzhou felt the same, and the joy of just having fused a Divine Seed had faded somewhat.

"Get stronger!"

...

Nighttime.

In the outskirts of Su City, at a certain farmhouse.

Several figures were sipping Maojian tea and chatting leisurely.

"Tsk, tsk, the great Master Tang of the past now has to be addressed as Grandmaster Tang."

"Protector Dao Long, it’s been a while. I heard that your Holy Master Sect has been so suppressed by Su City’s police force that you can’t lift your head. Is it really tough to mix in Su City?"

"It’s just the death of an Incense Master."

"So that’s it... I heard that the Heart Happiness Sect has been uprooted and has left Su City. Chen, the Squad Leader with a notorious reputation abroad, has become like a bereaved dog."

"Indeed, Chen Yongjing was foolhardy to expose himself."

"Why did he expose himself?"

"I heard it was because he wanted to kill a few young geniuses, but it backfired miserably."

"It seems our allies are down one," he mused.

"No matter, Master Xu of the Blue Lotus Society is still in Su City."

"Xu Cheng, is it?"

"Yes."

"I didn’t expect that after being away for so long, the power structure of Su City would remain as such."

"Master Tang, have you thought of your next game plan?"

"I’ll summon my old units and then plan the great endeavor."

"Alright, then I will go and communicate with those Void realm lords... The existence of the Void Realm has always been suppressed by the worldly planar rules, making it difficult for them to descend. Our lord and other deities are trying to find a way to allow stronger beings to temporarily oversee matters. As long as your Carefree Travel can fully cooperate with us, benefits will certainly be abundant."

"Understood."

The conversation carried on into the deep night.

Dao Long, the protector, dissipated into a green mist with an eerie charm.

A powerful presence vanished without a trace.

Tang Zheng’s eyes were tranquil, tinged with speculative thoughts.

...

Several days later, in the Tiger Spring District.

By an artificial lake, a figure strode upon the water; his arms thrust out like fish spears, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing against metal and the noise of leather being torn by sharp objects. Blood spread like a rouge tint across the surface of the water. Amidst the waves, a behemoth resembling a giant catfish with six barbels and a human face leaped out, its scale armor that once resisted swords and spears now shattered beyond repair.

With a splash, the Fist Blade bored into the creature’s human-like head.

Accompanied by a sound akin to splitting a watermelon, the creature dissipated into dark red blood, leaving only six barbels, glowing with a yellowish luster, floating on the water’s surface.

Lu Chenzhou picked up the long barbels and stepped back onto the shore.

He spoke into a communicator:

"The Void thing in the artificial lake has been killed."

Turning off the communicator, Lu Chenzhou returned to shore.

Voices of wonderment from the onlookers in the distance could be heard.

"This young man is too strong."

"One look and you can tell you don’t follow Martial Arts? He’s the national Martial Arts Academy champion!"

"Holy crap, the champion is from our Su City?"

Lu Chenzhou donned his Training Clothes and returned to school.

This Hunting Void was the school’s practical training task for the first half of the year; unlike previous group tasks, this was a personal combat assessment, and he should have achieved Perfection.

"The dangerous-level human catfish barbels, 360,000. These are excellent materials for making whip-type Void Blades. Chen Xiaoyun’s whip might be made from the barbels of a Great Void-level human catfish."

The following day.

Lu Chenzhou’s points on the Hidden Dragon List increased by 500. The task was not particularly difficult, earning a standard Class A evaluation, yet his ranking still jumped to 464.

Looking ahead, he noticed that Li Fu’s ranking had soared to 424. It was known that climbing even a single rank within the top 500 was incredibly tough.

"What? Li Fu surged ten thousand points? Even with a perfect evaluation, that would only be 3,000 points, which leaves only one explanation... He has become a Martial Artist."

Suddenly, Lu Chenzhou felt the Super Hidden Dragon competition was rather lackluster.

He had been looking forward to fighting this Martial Arts Genius.

Unexpectedly, the guy had simply ascended.

"Martial Bone Dao Embryo, terrifying indeed."

This time, Lu Chenzhou truly realized the terror of a Martial Arts Genius.

He had the Martial Arts Tree and had been striving to catch up, advancing vigorously.

But for the time being, he still could not reach these individuals.

...

Dragon City headquarters.

Class 9 of the Dragon Ascending program.

"Ah? Li Fu, you’ve become a Martial Artist?"

Fang Xue gazed at the bashful young man, somewhat astonished.

Li Fu replied remorsefully,

"Yes, unfortunately, I can’t participate in the Martial Artist competition anymore."

Fang Xue smiled,

"Well, that’s okay, breakthroughs are the priority, competition is not that important."

Fang Xue felt a slight shock inside.

Li Fu’s talent was stronger than she had imagined.

Among Class 9 of Dragon Ascending, he was also a standout.

Normally, Innate Nine Apertures is a talent that blooms in the Late Stage, not this quickly.

A tall, gentle-faced man approached with a smile,

"How wonderful! Our entire class are Martial Artists now."

He was Liu Xiang, 20 years old this year, having stepped into the Martial Artist Realm several years ago.

Likewise, a Martial Bone Daoist, an Innate Dragon Species, legend has it that the night before his mother conceived him, she saw in a daze a divine and extraordinary white serpent... Very mystical.

After all, many stories about the Martial Bone Dao Embryo are not to be taken seriously.

Many of them are exaggerated later just to mythologize themselves.

Fang Xue suggested with a smile,

"Brother Liu, trouble you to call Wan Huahua, Feiyun, and the rest. When everyone has a free moment, we should celebrate a little for Li Fu."

Liu Xiang responded with a smile,

"Good! Without Li Fu securing his position, who will be Dragon City’s number one this year is quite a mystery. It seems like this year’s branch schools have also brought forth some impressive newcomers. That Lu Chenzhou, he even won the national Martial Arts Academy’s overall championship not long ago."

Fang Xue nodded,

"This person has entered the Tenth Rank, specializing in both internal and external practices. I estimate he, too, is a Martial Bone Dao Embryo. Had the country not been supporting the construction of Su City branch school, he would probably have transferred to Class 9 by now."

Li Fu listened to everyone’s conversation, feeling a bit fortunate in his heart.

He often followed Lu Chenzhou’s growth, knowing how formidable he was.

Not only was he adept in internal and external practices, but his progress in cultivation was also terrifying.

By the time of the Super Hidden Dragon competition, his Qi-Blood might reach 8.

From the national competition videos, it appeared Lu Chenzhou’s combat talent was also strong.

Whether he could defeat Lu Chenzhou at that time was an open question.

As a member of Class 9, losing to a branch school genius would be somewhat embarrassing, so he wanted to become a Martial Artist early to avoid Lu Chenzhou’s edge.

He was a laid-back person.

In Martial Arts, surpassing oneself was enough.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of April.

The individual training tasks of the genius class were being completed one after another. To Lu Chenzhou’s mild surprise, Wang Hongdao actually received a perfect evaluation; supposedly, he carried out a high-difficulty task, assisting a Martial Artist in killing an Incense Master.

It seems the branch school is also looking to support Wang Hongdao as a Special Level talent by using this year’s perfect quota. For a Special Level talent like Lu Chenzhou, a perfect evaluation was no longer useful. Regardless, Wang Hongdao’s wish was granted, having become a Special Level talent.

Lu Chenzhou’s cultivation continued methodically.

Some days ago, he opened the Wanggu Acupoint and began to practice the 23rd acupoint, the Yanglao Acupoint, a key location whose function is simple and rough – life extension. On opening this apertural point, a Martial Artist can extend his life by several years, and easily live a disease-free life for a hundred years.

After becoming a Martial Artist, a guaranteed sixty years of lifespan is the baseline.

Cultivation for life extension for Martial Artists in the future cannot do without this acupoint.

Truly deserving of the phrase: of paramount importance.