Chapter 165: Chapter 156 Body Refinement
The entire five hundred words, Zhou Leng had long since memorized fluently.
"Good, now, according to the method of the ’Body Refining Technique,’ begin body refinement. If there’s anything wrong, don’t speak, remember to wiggle the five fingers of your right hand, and I’ll know..."
Zhou Leng sat cross-legged on the ground, utilizing martial arts perception, introspecting his whole body.
First, he lifted his Qi, then guided it into his blood, with Qi and blood merging together.
Within his body, the blue Qi veins and red blood veins formed a dual circulation before his eyes.
Slowly, the blood flow became faster and faster.
The Sea Suppressing True Qi roared continuously, endlessly.
A gentle breeze swirled around Zhou Leng’s body.
Soon, the entire room was filled with the sound of wind howling fiercely.
Huang Jingqiu nodded lightly upon seeing this scene.
He had protected students practicing for neither a thousand nor eight hundred times, yet he’d never seen anyone reach such a realm when advancing to body refinement.
The whole room was whistling.
Under Zhou Leng’s introspection, True Qi filled his blood, accelerating the blood flow.
When it reached a certain speed, some blood was actually squeezed out of the blood vessels and into the muscles.
For ordinary people, this situation would be extremely dangerous.
But at this moment, Zhou Leng’s body had already reached the limit of the Blood Transporting Period.
This blood, containing intense True Qi, entered the muscles and began slowly integrating with them, fundamentally transforming the muscles.
The refining process, like blood transporting, faced dangers.
If the body is too weak, it would be damaged by the True Qi blood, and even if advancing to body refinement, it would be hard to progress further in the future.
But now, Zhou Leng was endowed with Steel Skin and blessed by the Ancient God, his pure physical strength had surpassed the ordinary early stage of body refining.
Slowly, the True Qi blood continuously left the blood vessels and entered the muscles.
His entire body’s muscles slowly expanded.
A quarter of an hour later, his muscles had grown three full times in thickness, through the purple skin, the glow of blood could be faintly seen glimmering within the muscle fibers.
Then, the muscles began to absorb the Qi blood, and the body slowly shrank down.
Huang Jingqiu watched closely, as this moment was the most crucial.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Zhou Leng’s heartbeat suddenly intensified, speeding up.
Thump thump thump...
In the blink of an eye, it was like a drum being beaten.
Huang Jingqiu hesitated, extended his hands, and then drew back.
He felt helpless.
He had never witnessed such a transformative advancement and couldn’t determine if it was good or bad, able only to continue observing, paying attention to Zhou Leng’s right hand.
As soon as Zhou Leng signaled, he would have to use Innate True Qi for rescue.
In Zhou Leng’s martial arts perception, as his heartbeat intensified, the latent power of the Original Demon, hidden between the heart and blood vessels, was slowly released.
Threads of black light rushed into the blood, merging with the Qi blood, and entered the muscles.
True Qi, blood, Original Demon power, Steel Skin, Light of the Ancient Gods, the power of pills—all forces swiftly fused, strengthening the flesh.
Even the Divine Texts, memorized in Zhou Leng’s mind, began to slowly rotate.
Zhou Leng’s body had originally been shrinking, but after the Original Demon power was added, the Qi blood surged into the muscles a second time.
The body expanded for a second time, and then, after the muscle condensed, it shrank again.
Huang Jingqiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though he didn’t know what had happened, he guessed that Zhou Leng had some kind of fortuitous encounter.
While others experienced only one fusion of Qi blood and flesh during body refinement, Zhou Leng had done it twice...
Thump thump thump...
Zhou Leng’s heart suddenly accelerated once more.
After compressing to the utmost, his body astonishingly expanded a third time.
Huang Jingqiu watched blankly, the situation had gotten out of control, and he could only silently pray for Zhou Leng to remain alright.
After the muscles expanded to the limit, absorbing internal powers, they slowly contracted.
The formidable strength was integrated into the muscle fibers.
After absorbing all the power, his muscles returned to normal, and his entire body shone with a metallic luster.
Huang Jingqiu even had the illusion that Zhou Leng was like a pure steel sculpture.
Though not as tall as the two-meter giants, and without muscles as eye-catching as bodybuilders, his muscle proportions were perfect, containing immense strength.
Every muscle seemed cast like a cannonball, ready to unleash unmatched power at any moment.
After a long time, Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes and looked at his body.
Although the process differed from what he had learned, the result was excellent.
Inside his body, it was brimming with strength.
Zhou Leng felt every part of his body was under control, and with a single thought, he looked at his right wrist.
From the position of the wrist, the muscles began to slowly twitch, gradually upwards, right forearm, right upper arm, right shoulder, chest, left shoulder, left upper arm, all the way to the left wrist.
The process was smooth.
Whichever muscle he wanted to move, that muscle would gently twitch.
The body’s subtleties were all within his grasp.
Huang Jingqiu smiled slightly, feeling emotional.
Like a hammer pounding, the muscle is like a drum.
This was evidently a power that could only be mastered in the late stage of body refining, yet Zhou Leng could do it now, showing that his control over his body was extremely high.
"First, take the Flesh and Blood Potion."
Huang Jingqiu picked up the Flesh and Blood Potion and handed it to Zhou Leng.
Zhou Leng drank it in one gulp, like accidentally gulping down a mouthful of high-strength vinegar mixed with horseradish.
The extremely stimulating sour, spicy, fishy, and smelly flavors rolled in his mouth, directly hitting his nasal cavity.
"Circulate the Qi blood."
Zhou Leng endured the strange taste, circulating the Qi blood.
Surges of heat flowed through his body, quickly merging into the muscles.
In martial arts perception, the potion unexpectedly contained the aura of demons, giant dragons, and demigod beasts’ blood.
Thanks to the power of the Original Demon, Dragon Marrow Blood Bone, and Divine Marrow Blood Bone, the absorption of the Flesh and Blood Potion was particularly thorough.
Afterward, he took the Great Returning Pill and the Tongqiao Pill separately.
Unlike the nourishment from the Flesh and Blood Potion, these two pills forcibly opened up new meridians and blood vessels.
It was as if a needle was traversing through the flesh.
However, after experiencing the Land of Blades, it was just that.
Zhou Leng’s mouth twitched, suppressing the pain, his expression returning to calm.
Huang Jingqiu originally wanted to see Zhou Leng’s painful expression after taking the Great Returning Pill and Tongqiao Pill, but the reaction was no more than drinking a sip of vinegar.
"This kid, his spiritual will is astonishingly strong, a rare..."
Digesting the medicinal power, Zhou Leng slowly opened his eyes.
"Don’t move yet, lie down for about an hour. For the next three days, do not engage in any weight training, running is not recommended, only walking, slowly manipulating Qi Blood, in addition to taking supplements."
"Okay." Zhou Leng glanced at the surface of his body.
Through the skin, he could see traces of blood threads.
That was the mark of the pills forcibly expanding the blood vessels.
Huang Jingqiu handed over Blood Replenishing Pills and some other pills, feeding them to Zhou Leng.
Zhou Leng lay down on the prepared mat, closed his eyes, and circulated the Sea Suppressing True Qi.
Slowly, Zhou Leng felt himself floating by the beautiful seaside, feeling the ripple of the seawater, the gentle touch of the sea, warming his body.
Huang Jingqiu sat steadily, observing the process of new blood vessels forming on Zhou Leng’s body.
Once everything was stable, he said, "Alright, you can get up."
He called out a few times, with no response from Zhou Leng.
Huang Jingqiu walked out of the classroom, leaving Deng Zhijue there, and then instructed a few words.
"When Zhou Leng’s body refinement stabilizes, in about half a month to a month, teach him the suitable methods..."
"His body is very strong, the ’Hard Skills’ which normally require the Vitality Stage to cultivate can be taught in advance. But you have to inform me, I need to supervise..."
"If he can start learning Hard Skills soon, then the Eagle Plan resources next time should swap some for Hard Skills pills..."
Zhou Leng took a nap and only got up at noon.
After having lunch with Xu Qingjin in the cafeteria, he returned to the Frost Giant Tree, took the Strengthening Body Pills, and sat down to practice Qi Manipulation.
The Strengthening Body Pills mainly supplement and enhance muscle strength.
After three days, the realm stabilized, and he officially entered the Early Stage of Body Refining.
After resting for a few more days, Zhou Leng asked for leave from Deng Zhijue and headed to the Lieutenant Camp.
In the southern suburbs of Rucheng, the Sea Suppression Army’s Rucheng base stood there like a city within a city.
Zhou Leng, holding the invitation letter to the "Staircase Lieutenant Competition Camp," entered the Sea Suppression Army base.
Under the guidance of a soldier, Zhou Leng walked to the location of the Lieutenant Camp.
As they walked, the soldier introduced.
"Our Rucheng base primarily focuses on training exercises, among which the largest area is occupied by various training fields, competition camps, and martial arts arenas."
"The highest-level Grandmaster Martial Arts Arena in Rucheng is located in our base."
"The Lieutenant Camp you are heading to is a fixed venue, occupying a large area, like a small town. It contains a complete test field, training field, and Martial Arts Hall."
"What is your realm, leader?" the soldier asked.
"Early Stage of Body Refining."
"Then you should be prepared to stay for several months."
"Is it difficult?"
"Quite difficult. If your strength is lacking, you might not pass even after six months and be forced to graduate. In the last three months, only once in several years does someone manage to pass through the competition camp."
Zhou Leng said, "In a few days, it will be January, I still need to participate in the Copper Man Array and then the midterm exam."
"Huh? Then don’t think about it, today is the 27th, no matter how great you are, you need to practice for at least half a month in there."
"Can I change the time?" Zhou Leng asked.
"How is that possible? This is not an ordinary competition camp, let alone a student training camp."
"This is troublesome, I’ll just have to do my best." Zhou Leng said.
"Hey, don’t worry. The resource allocation in the competition camp far exceeds what you get at school, what grade are you in?"
"Martial Arts School Student, freshman."
"Hmm?" The soldier turned to look at Zhou Leng.
"From West Sea Martial Arts Academy?"
"Affiliated Martial Arts Hall of Ruda."
The soldier was silent, unsure if it was true or a joke.
Not long after, the two arrived at the entrance of the Lieutenant Camp, and Zhou Leng walked through the gate.
The soldier looked at Zhou Leng’s back, pondered for a while, shook his head, and turned to leave.
Zhou Leng carried a large backpack, inside holding a Magic Spirit Bag.
The guard at the entrance raised his hand to salute and said, "Hello, leader, please show your invitation letter to the Lieutenant Camp."
Zhou Leng glanced at the emblem on the soldier’s shoulder, which was of a Senior Private.
Zhou Leng handed over the invitation letter, saying, "Hello."
"Please wait, I’ll enter your information, then arrange for someone to familiarize you with the camp zone." The guard walked into the guardhouse, scanned the invitation letter, and entered the information.
"Lieutenant Zhou, please wait a moment, someone will be here shortly."
"Okay."
After a moment, a junior sergeant about Zhou Leng’s age came trotting over.
He took a look at Zhou Leng, stood straight, raised his hand in salute, and said loudly, "Hello, Lieutenant Zhou, my name is Shi Lai, and I will be your guide to the Lieutenant Camp. If you need anything, feel free to ask me."
Zhou Leng asked, "Even as an Honorary Lieutenant, do I need to salute?"
"It’s up to you. The leaders of the Lieutenant Camp come from all over, and unless they’re full-time officers, most don’t salute."
Zhou Leng nodded and said, "Alright, let’s go then."
"Yes."
Shi Lai guided Zhou Leng from one camp area to another, providing introductions.
When they reached the training camp area, Zhou Leng saw a familiar figure.
Wearing black silk attire, standing out amongst the crowd in camo uniforms.
The person had a head of white hair, an elderly figure, but with a smiling face, vigorous spirit, and an extraordinary presence.