Martial Saint!
Chapter 68: Mortal Bone 0068

Chapter 68: Mortal Bone 0068

After dinner, Lu Chenzhou went to the training ground beneath the dormitory building to practice his punches. With only a month left until the summer exams, everyone was training hard under the scorching sunset.

There were rooms with air conditioning available, but no one chose to train inside, as martial artists with a Qi-blood level above 2 were generally unaffected by the heat or cold. And so the saying goes: one must train in the winter cold and the summer heat.

In ancient times, martial arts training emphasized absorbing the "spirit of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon," which resulted in martial artists possessing vigorous yang qi, granting them a certain restraint over Void Things.

As night fell,

some went to rest while others continued to punch tirelessly.

"Tianyu, have you reached the Sixth Rank?"

"Yes."

The two young lovers from noble families finished sparring.

Other students cast envious glances their way.

"To be at the Sixth Rank as a freshman, I can’t imagine how powerful you’ll be by senior year."

"Yeah, and to be born a disciple from a noble family!"

After reaching the Dark Force Realm, advancing in rank becomes difficult. Even Huo Tianyu, with his advantages, was stuck at the Fifth Rank for over half a year. Other students were content just to reach Fifth Rank before their college entrance exams.

Breaking through to the Power Transformation Realm was even more challenging.

Liu Huan knew this firsthand. He had breezed through the first three ranks in just over half a year, only to find himself stuck at the Sixth Rank, unable to advance for the better part of a year.

As the conversation turned to this topic, the students gathered to share their cultivation experiences. After finishing his punches, Lu Chenzhou sat down beside Liu Huan to listen as everyone detailed their personal journeys.

Huo Tianyu laughed and said,

"By the way, Chenzhou, I heard you won the championship at the Pingjiang District Martial Arts Academy exchange competition a while back. Congratulations, what a joyous event! Why haven’t you shared this piece of good news with us?"

"Yeah, I even watched the video."

"Hahaha, Chenzhou, you were so cool."

"Right? That so-called Son of the Juggernaut looked tough but was completely overwhelmed. You did Dragon City High School proud—stepping out there is like bringing a whole other dimension of force!"

Lu Chenzhou was somewhat puzzled.

Liu Huan opened a video platform app called "PiliPili" on his phone. He often watched martial arts videos, so the app’s algorithm recommended a video with the title "Mortal Bone" highlighted on the cover. The subheading was "Don’t Let Root Bone Define You, In Martial Arts, Everyone Can Be a Dragon!"

Liu Huan clicked on the video, and everyone crowded around to watch.

One person who had never seen it shouted,

"Isn’t that Chenzhou?"

The video fully captured the scene where Lu Chenzhou had relentlessly defeated Ricken in the academy exchange, complete with an inspiring background music track.

Then it showed Lu Chenzhou’s journey from being alone at the training ground in the martial arts hall, punching the air, to sparring with others—all footages from the academy’s security cameras. After obtaining Lu Chenzhou’s consent, Old Zhang had sought Ji Xuantong to collect these clips.

He even hired a "million-follower editor" to make the ten-minute video and give it a cinematic and documentary feel. The transformation of a young man with ordinary root bone into a champion through hard work and diligent practice was beautifully portrayed.

The video finale displayed the name of an app.

"Mortal Bone APP, a martial arts community for the average person."

"This video has reached a hundred thousand views?"

"Yeah, Chenzhou, you’ve become popular."

Looking at other videos with millions of views, Lu Chenzhou said with a smile,

"That’s hardly worth calling ’fame.’"

"It’s different. Martial arts videos are precisely targeted at the martial arts circle or those interested in the field, so at least tens of thousands of martial artists have seen your video. You’re doing great, Chenzhou; you’ve become the face of a company. Don’t forget your buddies when you make it big."

The group was joking around and having fun at Chenzhou’s expense.

Lu Chenzhou had a lot of respect for Old Zhang, who harbored unappreciated talents and felt his martial arts journey was obscured by his Low Class root bone. But instead of turning to the antisocial path some Black Knights took, he sought to unite others like him to band together, self-improve, and keep warm together.

It was a nice outcome.

Most importantly, Lu Chenzhou could join a reliable platform and earn some money in his spare time through his abilities—he was desperately poor.

At night, back in the dormitory, he sent a message to Old Zhang.

"Old Zhang, how’s the APP doing?"

After a while, Old Zhang replied:

[It’s going well. We have a few thousand initial registered users. I’m thinking of spending some money to advertise on some gaming or novel apps to spread the word.]

"Why not place ads on professional martial arts apps?"

[Not really feasible. For one, they usually won’t accept it because my app might take a slice of their pie. Secondly, the quotes are high. Our app is for the average person practicing martial arts, enriching their channels for martial arts learning. Only because of my good relationship with Master Ji and me do they support what I’m doing. Other masters definitely won’t.]

"Alright, then do your best. I don’t know much about it, so I can’t help you much."

[Your video was a great help and will bring in some new users. I’ve already set up a fist technique coaching account for you. Take some time to get a coaching certificate—it’ll be a breeze for you. Then you can start making money on the side. You’re one of our pioneers, so I’ve set up a special contract for you: You only have to pay 20% for maintenance costs, and the other 80% is all yours. How does that sound?]

"Sounds good, thanks a lot, Old Zhang."

[No problem, tell me if you ever need help.]

After chatting with Old Zhang, Lu Chenzhou was filled with anticipation. Other fitness gyms, martial arts halls, or personal training apps took a large cut, so the 20% was virtually giving Lu Chenzhou a free platform and client base at no cost.

He pondered; that bald coach at the Third Rank charged 300 per lesson, so charging 400 per session as a fist technique coach seemed fair to him.

Just taking four or five classes a week would do. Earning 2000 should be enough, as teaching others also counted as demonstrating martial arts techniques, boosting proficiency. He could hope to earn ten thousand a month—enough to buy an extra box of Martial Arts Supplements.

Of course, that was if anyone sought him out. Lu Chenzhou decided to get his certification next week. The fist technique coaching exams allowed registration from the age of 16; he was just the right age.

Before going to bed, he practiced the Flying Swallow Sea Flying routine. When he finished, Lu Chenzhou felt a Mysterious Power welling up from within his acupoints, lightening his body. With a slight bend in his knees, he leaped effortlessly onto the high windowsill, soaring like a swallow.

"Sea Sweeping Body breakthrough."

Lu Chenzhou looked out at the Martial Arts Tree:

[Sea Sweeping Body: Mastery (100%) → Small Success (1%)]

[Cultivation Technique]

[Dragon and Tiger Heavenly Pile: The 6th Acupoint Opens]

He revealed a look of joy and said,

"The sixth acupoint has opened as well, double happiness comes knocking at the door."

"Tomorrow, I can start to open the seventh acupoint. My progress in the Heavenly Pile is no longer the worst in the class, I should be among the upper-middle ranks now."

Currently, the strongest in class is Liu Huan, who has already opened 13 acupoints, and several other cadres along with Huo Tianyu are above 10 acupoints, which puts ordinary students far behind.

In the first-year class, two distinct worlds have subtly formed.

The dividing line is the "Key Focus List."

He has only been practicing Heavenly Pile for a bit over half a year and has a weak foundation. Since Heavenly Pile is essential to breaking through shackles, its cultivation will always come first for him. Every day, he must ensure his Heavenly Pile’s progress increases by 3%, for which he continuously extends the time spent on Pile Skill.

The sixth acupoint is the "Shaoshang Acupoint," also an important one for Martial Arts Cultivation. After solidifying it can clear heat and detoxify, refreshing the mind and enhancing the learning and fist training efficiency—an indirect way of speeding up cultivation.

"Flying Swallow Sea Flying" at small success, Lu Chenzhou felt an itch in his hands he couldn’t ignore and went to the training field in the wooden pile area to practice "Swallow Return Fist" for a while, feeling more and more smooth with his punches. Until his proficiency in the fist technique increased by another 1%, he calculated the time spent and realized it was a whole ten minutes less than before. The same combination of fist and movement techniques mutually enhance each other significantly.

...

June 2nd, a day off.

Early in the morning, Lu Chenzhou casually checked his WeChat messages and Moments, and noticed that Shi Ruyu had unusually posted on Moments; it turned out to be his birthday.

Both master and mother had left messages.

He also hit ’like’.

Looking at the time it was posted, it appeared to have been sent at dawn yesterday, but as Lu Chenzhou typically browsed Moments only every few days, he had only seen it today.

After eating, Lu Chenzhou went to visit Brother Tiger.

In Tiger Garden, man and tiger faced each other, neither tiring of the sight.

Lu Chenzhou practiced Tiger Fist for three hours, but his state didn’t come.

He felt an urge to kill another cultist again.

For Tiger Form Fist, the act of killing could perhaps become addictive.

On the Martial Arts Tree, at the base of the leaf for "Black Tiger Fist," a bud, white with a hint of black luster, had bloomed ever so slightly.

[Black Tiger Fist: Great Success (61%) → Great Success (62%)]

"The opening of the Shaoshang Acupoint has indeed sped up my cultivation. Yesterday it took 208 minutes to improve 1%, acupoints really are wondrous... with 720 major acupoints in the human body, I wonder how many secrets they contain, waiting to be unearthed by Martial Arts."

Gradually, Lu Chenzhou realized that there were quite a few factors that could improve the speed of Martial Arts Cultivation; it just required bit by bit exploration.

...

Training field, Pile Skill class.

Recently, Yu Zheng has been mainly teaching techniques for the 5th to 13th acupoints, with no students in the class being below the fifth acupoint anymore, which he was very pleased about.

"Teacher, I’d like to learn about the seventh acupoint."

During free time, Lu Chenzhou came up to seek guidance.

Yu Zheng was slightly surprised and asked,

"The Shaoshang Acupoint is solidified?"

"Just opened last night."

"I remember you started practicing the sixth acupoint a month ago... Not bad at all, you should try to maintain an average of one acupoint a month, doing so, you can hope to touch the First Shackles before you turn 20, leaving enough time for breaking more shackles afterward."

Martial Arts Cultivation is about going far and fast!

Yu Zheng was very satisfied with Lu Chenzhou’s performance and said solemnly,

"Today, I will teach you the Heavenly Pile for opening the ’Fish Border Acupoint’. If you can open this acupoint, lung diseases will hardly affect you, and it even helps with quick Martial Arts breathing and regaining strength."

...

Pingjiang sub-bureau.

Lufang started his new week of work.

"Chief, in last month’s case involving the cult, our forensic team found something interesting inside the body of the deceased, come have a look."

A police officer came to his office.

The two headed to the autopsy room, where two bodies were laid out on the tables, one of which still possessed a silver-white prosthetic right leg—it was the one killed by Lu Chenzhou.

Their internal organs were neatly extracted and arranged.

The forensic held two fist-sized blood and flesh objects in his hand, unidentifiable as any particular organ. For on the surface of these fleshy objects were sparse strands of what seemed like naturally grown hair. And on the surface, one could faintly see a blurry... smiling human face, spreading an eerie air around.

Lufang frowned and asked,

"Is this... a mutated organ?"

He knew that due to their worship of an Evil God, some cultists’ internal organs could mutate, but he had never seen such a mutation in a vital organ like the heart before.

The forensic replied,

"Yes, this appears to be a mutated heart."

He also couldn’t imagine how the man had lived until now.

Lufang had the forensic showcase the heart from all sides, and from every angle, the human face seemed to be looking right at him, revealing a strange smile.

He remembered the incident at Taihu Lake and said lightly,

"Keep the heart well-preserved, and move both bodies to the containment facility at the outskirts managed by the Bureau of Handling Void Things. Continue the search for other cult members based on clues found on the two bodies and their cell phones; this could be a new cult."

"Yes, boss."

Lufang rubbed his temples.

He went to his office and dialed a senior from Jiangnan Wu University, a well-respected figure with great strength who was still fighting on the forefront against Void Things and cults. A heart with a human face was surely something the senior had seen before.

(Author’s note: Old Tian is sorting out the plot outline today and revising the upcoming Chapters. If there’s no regular update by six o’clock tonight, it means the revisions aren’t done. Kindly don’t wait up, and we will resume normal updates tomorrow. Sorry _(:з」∠)_)

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