Martial Saint!
Chapter 290 - 0200 The Number One Martial Artist of the Branch School! (3k)

Chapter 290: 0200 The Number One Martial Artist of the Branch School! (3k)

Master Ji’s weathered face pulled Lu Chenzhou back to the present in an instant. With a smile that was not quite a smile, Ji Xuantong looked at Lu Chenzhou, observing the sweat on the young man’s forehead and the spirit that seemed to have been shocked by the vast world he had glimpsed. Ji Xuantong asked with a smile,

"How is the view beyond the gate?"

Lu Chenzhou came to his senses, looked up at the sky, and said,

"It can only be described as stunning!"

Ji Xuantong laughed heartily.

"The last sentence you recited just now was good... ’Martial Arts are not solitary, my path is not lone.’ Hmm, to me, it’s no less than the sayings of the Cangtian Dragon King."

Lu Chenzhou’s face turned red as he hurriedly asked,

"Ah? Teacher, you could hear it?"

"Otherwise? You shouted it out loud, of course we heard... Your mind seems to be in the Martial Arts Internal Realm, but in fact, you are just using Martial Arts Internal Observation to directly face your own body and mind. It’s not like you’ve run off to an otherworld... I saw everything you did very clearly. Don’t worry, we won’t casually share it with others. Such words are usually reserved to be spoken when one achieves a ranking at the All Nations Martial Arts Competition."

Suddenly,

An excruciating pain pierced through to his core, causing Lu Chenzhou to let out a hoarse scream.

"It hurts!"

Only then did he realize that his right hand was mangled to a bloody pulp. Not only that, blood was seeping out from his pores all over his body, like a ceramic vase filled with blood that had cracks. He had been too excited just now and forgot about his current predicament.

Ji Xuantong said,

"It’s fine, you just need to sit quietly now. You can take some Martial Arts Supplements to replenish your body’s deficiencies, preferably Great Medicine... The usual medicines for Martial Artists are like grass to an old cow for your current body, it wouldn’t be enough unless you took dozens of pounds a day. I brought you a Blood Replenishing Pill."

Lu Chenzhou’s expression changed slightly:

"Teacher, you should keep it for yourself, I’m fine."

Ji Xuantong had no source of income and was also striving to Break Second Shackles.

That Great Medicine cost 50 Great Merit points each.

Ji Xuantong was inwardly gratified,

"Don’t worry, the school will reimburse me, essentially it’s the school paying for it."

"Alright."

After taking the Great Medicine, the medicinal properties turned into a stream of green Mysterious Power and flowed into his somewhat empty and dry muscles and bones. In the Martial Arts Inner Realm, a spring breeze blew, bringing a light rain that moistened the ravaged wilderness.

Lu Chenzhou closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, circulating the medicinal power.

Ji Xuantong’s voice drifted gently,

"You’ll need to rest quietly for three days and nights. During this time, the school won’t let anyone disturb you. If you run out of Blood Replenishing Pills, just call for me to fetch some. The school will reimburse the healing expenses incurred during your breakthrough as a Martial Artist."

It wasn’t easy to produce a Martial Artist.

Even for a Top Martial University, it was the same.

During this time, they would certainly give their utmost care.

"Okay, Master, please go back."

Ji Xuantong’s eyes reddened slightly, and he silently regarded Lu Chenzhou. After a moment, he regained his composure, took big strides, and left the practice room, saying,

"Chenzhou, your master is proud of you!"

Lu Chenzhou’s heart trembled, and he smiled and nodded,

"I will always make you proud."

...

In the living room.

Several teachers, who waited as if anticipating the birth of a child, gathered around.

Li Guizheng wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and asked,

"Is everything okay now?"

Ji Xuantong nodded.

"Everything is normal, went very smoothly."

Wu Zun burst into laughter,

"The first Martial Artist of the branch school is born! I’m going to tell the Principal."

Qingtian Cang looked toward the practice room and said,

"This time he broke the shackles in just one hour. Chenzhou’s accumulation is substantial, and with both internal and external cultivation, breaking through the first door was a matter of course."

Elsewhere, two anxious elders also came over.

"Master Ji, is Chenzhou now a Martial Artist?"

"Yes, from now on he’ll be Martial Artist Xiao Lu."

Li Xianghua clapped her hands joyously, laughing and crying,

"See, Lu Guoping? My son is a Martial Artist!"

Lu Guoping, tears streaming down his face, also sobbed,

"The history of the Lu Family is going to be rewritten."

For most ordinary families, having a Hua Realm expert was enough to bring glory to the ancestors and be recorded in the family annals, let alone a genuine Martial Artist!

From now on, Lu Chenzhou had become a Transcendent, no longer a mere mortal! In ancient times, he would have been called an "Immortal Master" by some unknowing common folks.

Qingtian Cang said,

"Alright, everyone go about your own business. Lu Guoping, you two should not disturb Lu Chenzhou either. He needs to rest quietly these few days. Having just broken the shackles, he needs time to adapt to his extraordinary body. Otherwise, at the slightest mistake, at best he would damage the furniture at home, or worse, he might accidentally hurt you."

Such incidents had happened before.

The elders nodded. Ever since Lu Chenzhou started on the path of Martial Arts, they spoke with him only during meals and didn’t interact much otherwise.

Villa number 32 quieted down.

In the end, only Ji Xuantong remained there.

He had to wait three days to prevent any accidents.

Even here, it didn’t hinder his practice of stance training.

Principal’s office.

Wu Zun said with a smile,

"Principal, Lu Chenzhou has become a Martial Artist."

Wang Changming stood in front of the window, hands clasped behind his back.

"I know, it took only an hour, pretty fast."

Principal Wang usually spent most of his time in cultivation, but at such a crucial moment, he would definitely expand his perception to observe the condition of Lu Chenzhou.

Su City had been unstable lately, and they couldn’t afford to be careless.

The first Martial Artist of the branch school was of utmost importance.

If Lu Chenzhou failed, the consequences would be more serious than they appeared.

Wu Zun asked,

"Principal, is there a reward for the branch school’s first Martial Artist?"

Wang Changming replied,

"Let him choose a Divine Weapon of master level... Although his main focus is on Fist Technique, having a Divine Weapon by his side can sometimes play a key role."

Wu Zun showed an envious expression,

"That’s great."

Wu Zun didn’t have a Divine Weapon.

Most Martial Artists in Dragon City didn’t have one either!

For one, there was no suitable Divine Weapon for him in the treasury, and his own Virtual Blade Weapons were quite good; secondly, Divine Weapons were too expensive, pricing at tens of thousands of Great Merit to start.

If he didn’t splurge, the money he earned would just be enough for the Medicine required for his cultivation, leaving him no funds to buy Divine Weapons. Moreover, in the present age, the role of Divine Weapons had been diminished. It wasn’t that Divine Weapons weren’t powerful, but that there were cost-effective Virtual Blades and modern weaponry available.

Of course, there was another objective reason.

Divine Weapons were too scarce, essentially reserved for the Martial Arts Geniuses of the schools. Wu Zun, having just turned 35 this year and recently placed on the Hidden Dragon List, was rated only as a Special Level Martial Arts Talent before being delisted, not meeting the Divine Weapon standards.

Unless one was a Martial Arts Genius, to purchase a Divine Weapon, one needed to have at least the Cultivation of a Martial Arts Master, and for Martial Arts Grandmasters, schools typically would present Divine Weapons as a token of appreciation to win their loyalty.

Wang Changming continued,

"After Chenzhou stabilizes his Realm, you should take him to the headquarters; I’ve already applied to Principal Li and the Grandmaster Committee, and the request has been approved."

The Hidden Weapon Pavilion was in the headquarters.

Wu Zun said,

"Good, with the aid of a Divine Weapon, coupled with the advantages of both internal and external cultivation, although Chenzhou is only at the initial Realm of Martial Artist, he should be able to spar with those in the Middle Realm... Faced with masters of the End Realm and the Final Realm, he should be well enough to preserve his life and be safe."

The four realms of a Martial Artist – each step bore great differences.

The difficulty of fighting above one’s level was incomparable to crossing one rank during the entry phase.

The gap between the Initial Realm and the Middle Realm, while not as vast as the differences between Bright Force, Dark Force, and Hua Realm, was still equivalent to that between the Seventh Rank and the Ninth Rank. After all, the minimum Qi-Blood points for the Initial Realm were 10, but for the Middle Realm, it was 15.

A difference of 5 points was significant.

It wasn’t just the quantity of disparity but also a small range of qualitative change.

Before Wu Zun left, Wang Changming spoke earnestly,

"Now that Lu Chenzhou has become a Martial Artist, you and Li Gui need to learn to let go, and you can’t let Lu Chenzhou always live under your protection and that of the school’s. From now on, he is not only an adult in age but in Martial Arts as well!

Martial Artists must experience great trials and tribulations on their own. As long as it’s not a deliberate death trap, he should be given free rein on normal missions.

Martial Artists are not flowers of a greenhouse; the Martial Arts Will cannot be honed by merely shouting slogans. The torment of blades and swords, the struggle between life and death, is indispensable."

Wu Zun responded with a smile,

"Don’t worry, I won’t do that, and I’ll talk to Li Gui."

Li Gui treated Lu Chenzhou as his True Inheritance, and he was most concerned about this child.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Lu Chenzhou had taken a total of three Blood Replenishing Pills, and the green Mysterious Power, like the goddess of spring, enveloped his battered internal organs and bones, akin to the perennial youth of the emerald emperor. Coupled with his already robust constitution, his internal and hidden injuries had fully healed.

Like an old machine reforged, Lu Chenzhou was reborn. Opening his eyes, his strong spiritual power and aura spread like a Thunderclap, flashing with electricity in the vacant room, breaking a mirror into pieces, an indescribable aura fracturing the void dimension.

"This is my aura! My Qi Po!"

Lu Chenzhou stood up, his body clad in crimson Blood Armor. This was the outmoded blood shed by the Martial Artist due to advanced metabolism and hematopoietic function, or in other words, the blood of ordinary people, now coagulated and encrusted on the surface of his body.

With a single thought, Lu Chenzhou’s heart erupted like a volcano, his hot blood flowing through the meridians, bringing forth wisps of steam, transforming him into a steam machine. This steam caused his tendons and bones to resonate like never before, followed by a deafening Tiger Roar that trembled the glass of the balcony ceaselessly!

"Roar!"

The loud and resonant roar pierced through the well-insulated villa, echoed across Stone Lake, lasting for a long time, sending ripples across the water, and dispelling the cold wind.

The Blood Armor on his skin crumbled away, revealing Lu Chenzhou’s upper body with a golden sheen and the dark luster of his lower body and other parts.

"While the membrane looks good, it’s not sufficiently discreet."

Lu Chenzhou snapped his fingers, his muscles writhed, breaking down the visible Cross Training Membrane during vibrations and making it disappear entirely, revealing his naturally bronze skin. However, when Lu Chenzhou touched it with his fist, the membrane reappeared.

Without external force, he appeared no different from an expert of internal cultivation.

But once attacked, it would reveal the Horizontal Training True Body!

"This is the return to true nature."

After becoming a Martial Artist.

One’s control over the muscles surpassed the ordinary.

And this was just one such ability.