Chapter 3: A Marvelous Body
Since Zen had taught Darren a lesson the evening before, the steward didn't show up in the morning. Several of his accomplices, however, came to dress Zen in the customary leather armor before escorting him to the Martial Arts Hall.
As usual, a group of children from the Luo Clan were practicing. Despite the morning mist and chill, they concentrated on their lesson at the Martial Arts Hall.
They didn't wear any protection on their arms as they beat a row of stone men in the corner with their fists. Despite how hard the stone men were, these children smashed their targets with great power and precision.
The slaves stood on the other side of the Hall. Gloom and hopelessness reflected in their expressions as they watched the force being used by the children.
The never-ending cycle of being hit and kicked every day and night made their life really unbearable. Most nights, they lay in bed, tossing and turning. As they writhed in pain, sleep would elude them. Unfortunately, they had no freedom at all. They had been bought by the Luo Clan and they had no choice but to bear the beating.
“All slaves get ready!” Corey, the trainer shouted.
All the slaves snapped out of their contemplation when they heard Corey. He was a cruel trainer. If he noticed any of the slaves making even the slightest of mistakes, he would lose his temper and whip them. Corey's whip was not an ordinary whip, and a thin-skinned person could easily have their skin peeled away with one strike of the whip.
The Luo children were familiar with this part of their routine. Quietly, they made their way to the slaves and began selecting. A strong teenager named Melvin Luo chose Zen.
Other slaves glanced at Zen with sympathy-filled eyes.
Melvin Luo's talent was ordinary since he was still at the skin refining level. However, his inner divine strength was powerful, and his strength was equal to anyone at the meat refining level. He was ferocious and brutal, and several slaves had died or been seriously injured by him. To be chosen as Melvin's punchbag was indeed, unfortunate.
Melvin Luo shook his fist and moved his body a little bit before looking at Zen. His eyes gleamed with excitement. Death row inmates had been difficult to procure in recent times. Their number dwindled even more as other families were also competing to buy them. Human punchbags used by the Luo Clan were deprived of adequate supplements. Therefore, slaves were a scarce resource in the Luo Clan.
Beating a slave not only exercised their bodies, but also helped the children to vent their feelings. Another reason why Melvin Luo felt excited was because his punchbag was once the young master of the Luo Clan.
The young master was at a much higher level than Melvin, and now Zen would be begging for mercy under Melvin's fists. The thought pleased Melvin.
Zen frowned. Melvin was known for his strength. Zen had suffered gravely from his beating the last time. Zen had taken half a month to recover from the internal injuries he had sustained.
However, having spent two years of his life as a human punchbag had taught him how to calm himself in any situation. He quickly took a few deep breaths and then arranged his leather armor before facing Melvin Luo.
Melvin Luo came toward him with all his strength. He had been practicing a very fierce form of boxing, called Bullish Punch, and he was eager to test it on his human punchbag.
Melvin Luo came at Zen like a raging bull. His first punch landed straight on Zen's chest. Everyone watched wide-eyed as a burst of wind enveloped Zen.
In the face of this momentum, Zen took a deep breath, and stiffened his chest so that he could use the protection of the leather armor to counteract the power of this punch.
“Puff!”
Although the thick leather armor helped slow down the power of Melvin's fist, Zen still felt pain explode throughout his body. The strength with which Melvin had hit Zen made him feel as though he had been struck on the chest with a huge hammer. At this moment, he quickly exhaled the air from his chest and let his chest flatten as much as possible.
“Unload power!”
With the air quickly expelled from the chest, it formed a buffer zone, which offset the opponent's power. This was Zen's secret of survival during his two years as a human punchbag.
However, Melvin Luo's fist force was too intense, and after the second offset, Zen felt as though the pain was unbearable. Zen forced a bitter smile as his whole body trembled with the impact. Like a broken kite line, Zen flew back suddenly.
As Zen lay on the ground, he let the dizziness he was feeling overtake him. He thought it was over. He was afraid that this punch had caused serious internal injuries. However, he was surprised when a moment later, he realized that he was not feeling any pain.
In fact, Zen felt nothing. Then a strange warmth emerged from his chest. As soon as those warm currents flowed through him, Zen's body reacted. He felt as though his body was like a hungry wolf, swallowing that warmth greedily.
The warmth then spread across his whole body, right down to the smallest cell. Enveloped in this warmth, Zen felt comfortable.
'What is going on?' Zen thought as he felt the warm currents on his flesh!
Although Zen was a slave, he was once a young master of the Luo Clan. The knowledge he had gained during that time had been immense. He knew that this was no ordinary reaction.
Pills that could refresh one's body were very rare, just like the Magical Pills that the Luo Clan had. It was said that the pills could cause various effects on the body. However, the ingredients for the Magical Pills were rare to come by. That explained why it had taken hundreds of years for a family as rich as the Luo Clan to procure only two of these pills. They were precious, indeed.
Their effect on the body was a rare phenomenon as well. Zen lay on the ground thinking for a while. Soon he linked his reaction to the strange experience he had endured the night before.
'Use the flesh as a weapon. Use your body as the soul, temper and practice thoroughly, clean the body for great vitality ...' Zen remembered part of what he had learned the previous night.
Was this what it meant by 'temper'? He needed to be beaten?
Just as recorded in the piece of gold foil, his body had become a mysterious weapon. Refining a device was perhaps, part of the process. Was tempering a process that refined the top mysterious weapons?
Through the beating he had sustained, Zen's body had produced the warm current required to wash the flesh of his body! It seemed that being beaten was equal to taking the Magical Pills constantly.
Thinking of this, Zen's mind became a chaotic mess. He felt excited and his heart beat faster at the implications.
In order to confirm his theory, Zen stood up.
Although he was not injured, and Melvin Luo's punch had helped him, he still pretended as though he were in pain. It looked as though Zen was struggling to stand and even trembled to avoid other people from wondering why he hadn't been hurt.
When Melvin Luo saw Zen stand, his expression turned to one of surprise. He had thought that his punch would kill or cripple Zen. However, Zen was still able to stand, which embarrassed Melvin Luo.
“Hey, no wonder you are at the peak of the flesh refining level! You are resistant to attacks! That's great. Now I get to hit you again!” Melvin Luo rushed forward to punch Zen.
“Boom!”
Zen was hit hard again. This time he flew back and rolled on the ground as though he were a man-shaped sandbag. Zen was secretly thrilled when instead of pain, he felt the warm currents again. The warmth spread throughout his body, constantly revitalizing his organs. The warm currents turned into small snakes crawling into his internal organs, his veins, constantly refining his flesh body and refreshing his organs.
'I feel so invincible, ' Zen thought as the warmth enveloped him like a gentle spring breeze. His whole body felt at ease and his eyes shone with excitement. In fact, the more punches he received, the more brightly his eyes shone.
“Go to perdition!”
“Boom!”
“I will beat you to death!”
“Bang!”
Each punch by Melvin revitalized Zen. Melvin Luo worked so hard to break his opponent, and yet, his actions were equivalent to those of a hardworking blacksmith's. Each blow shaped Zen's body into the 'Mysterious Weapon'.
After a long while, Melvin Luo stopped. Although Zen lay on the ground, he looked unharmed. Melvin panted as he glared at Zen. He was bewildered by this experience. He had heard that Zen could bear heavy beatings, but he had not expected Zen to be this tenacious. He had endured so many punches from Melvin and yet, he was able to stand on his own, even though he appeared to struggle and tremble with the effort.
Melvin Luo had no idea that Zen was just pretending to be weak. He actually enjoyed his punches.
The slaves standing by shook their heads. They couldn't understand why Zen would continue to defy Melvin by trying to stand after each blow. If Zen was smart, like they were, he would stay on the ground as though defeated. That way the guards would send him back to the cellar where he could rest and avoid further injury. And yet, despite that intrinsic survival instinct, Zen stood up repeatedly, and faced each blow by Melvin. Perhaps he enjoyed being a punchbag? Did he like being beaten by other people?
Zen did not get up after the last blow by Melvin. Instead, he lay on the ground enjoying the warmth that had spread through every part of his body. He felt so serene and invincible!
Another reason that Zen stayed on the ground, was to avoid doubt. No slave would be able to take such a beating without being seriously injured. And if he were to stand repeatedly and not be injured, people would begin to wonder how he was able to withstand such a beating.
So to avoid suspicion, Zen decided to stay on the ground and relish the warmth. He knew he would be beaten again tomorrow.
Upon seeing that Zen was no longer attempting to stand, Melvin Luo felt relieved. If Zen had stood up again, Melvin would have been disgraced.
At night, Zen limped back to the cellar. The minute the cellar door slammed shut, he stopped feigning being hurt. On the contrary, he felt immediately alive, as though he was bubbling with energy.
Darren didn't show up in the evening either. He ordered his accomplices to bring three wound-healing pills to Zen. Zen smiled as he looked in the paper bag. It seemed as though Darren had learned his lesson and wouldn't embezzle his drugs.
'Could yesterday's small action have scared Darren this much? Would he be better behaved now?' Zen shook his head as he didn't believe that Darren would reform this quickly.
He had a feeling that a villain like Darren would be plotting something else. He would never give up so easily, and was probably planning something more dire like perhaps, poisoning Zen.
'Who cares?' Zen knew that he needed to be more watchful. But he also knew that people like Darren were cowardly. He decided not to take him seriously. He thought, 'I will take measures according to the actual situation.'
Then he threw away the pills as he didn't need them any more.
As his mind calmed, Zen began focusing on other things. A full day of fighting meant that he was dirty. He walked toward the water tank and quickly removed his clothes. Zen then scooped cold water in his palms and poured it over his head.
Crash....
The clear cold water trailed down from Zen's head and pooled into a dark muddy mess at his feet. When Zen looked down, he was surprised to see that the dirty water was mixed with some light white things.
Just as he had suspected, the beating Zen had received had forced out the impurities from his body.
What was flesh refining level?
It was the level where impurities were expelled from the body.
What was the bone refining level?
It was the level where impurities were removed from the bones.
What was the organ refining level?
It meant...
These five levels of refining were a crucial process that would purify the whole body; starting from the skin to the flesh followed by bones and organs. It was a step-by-step outside to inside refinement process that would stop once the impurities were cleared from the spinal marrow. In completing all the levels, a person could break through his flesh body, attain a life of sublimation, and be elevated to a higher level.
The biggest difference between Zen and others was that other people needed to rely on their exercise regimes to remove impurities from their bodies. This was a slow and time consuming process that could take a few years or decades or even a lifetime, depending on the person.
However, Zen's experience from the previous night meant that he now needed to be beaten to reach the higher levels. With those warm currents around his body, which had the same effect as the Magical Pills, he could discharge impurities from his body quicker.
Compared to other people who through hard work, discharged a small amount of impurities each year, Zen's refining was a thousand times faster!
Zen had plateaued at the top of the flesh refining level before, but then because of the two years he had spent being a punchbag, there was no time for him to practice, and he stayed at the flesh refining level.
But after today's beating, some impurities in his body had been washed out. He felt as though his body had undergone a qualitative change; his flesh was very pure already and the light white impurities that were released when he washed up, led him to believe he had been further purified.
Impurities removed from the flesh were usually pure black dirt, and those pale white impurities were supposedly discharged from his bones. This was the proof he needed to be sure that he had entered the bone refining level.
Enthused and invigorated, Zen removed his iron bed and made place in the cellar for practice. He began with the Purple Light Fist. His whole body was bathed in a purple light as he concentrated. It was roughly the same as the purple light around Perrin Luo earlier that day.
Suddenly Zen released all his energy with a punch. The silence in the cellar was replaced with a sharp ringing sound.
“Boom!”
Another powerful sound was generated with the scattered air flows. It stirred the candles, paper, and other small objects in the cellar.
Unfortunately, the cellar was narrow, which meant that Zen didn't have much space. There was no stone lock nor a stone man on which he could try out his strength. Zen also didn't want to make much noise as that would alert the guards.
However, he basked in the satisfaction that he had reached the bone refining level.