Chapter 6: Efforts
Zen poured a?vat of cold water over himself and watched the milky impurities flow along the water as it hit the ground.
Since he had reached the bone refining level, his flesh had no impurities left to remove. The milky white pollutants that were being washed out were being expelled from his bones.
Zen closed his eyes and relished how refreshed his body felt after washing away all the impurities.
Ever since he beat Darren, the steward had not come to Zen's cell. This lack of supervision meant that Zen had more freedom.
Every evening, Zen leaned his iron bed against the cellar wall and then used layers of batt to wrap the bed frame to make a simple practice stake.
Since he placed the bed frame close to the cellar's stone wall, most of the power from his fists were absorbed by the thick wall. Zen had taken the precaution of wrapping the bed frame in cotton so that the sound of his fist hitting the iron frame was reduced to a minimum. Since he was in a cellar far from the main buildings, no one could hear that he was secretly practicing.
He began his practice by using the 'Purple Light Fist', which had been inherited by the Luo Clan hundreds of years ago. Today, it was a lost knowledge, and only a handful of people knew its secrets. Even the collateral relatives of the Luo Clan did not get the opportunity to learn the secrets of the Purple Light Fist.
A smirk played on Zen's lips. Since reaching the bone refining level, the complicated techniques of the Purple Light Fist were not as challenging as before. As he had been unable to practice for these past two years, he knew he would still find it demanding. However, with his newfound powers, he could now play and deconstruct at will.
“Purple Fist Strength!”
“Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!”
Seven muffled sounds echoed through Zen's otherwise quiet cell.
Purple Fist Strength was the most profound part of Purple Light Fist. Each punch was capable of causing multiple injuries to people. The number of injuries showed the level of use of 'Purple Fist Strength'.
Seven muffled sounds indicated that this punch had caused seven injuries. Zen was not satisfied with this result.
Zen's father had told him that he was able to cause eight massive injuries when he used Purple Light Strength at the bone refining level. However, Zen could only cause seven serious injuries even though he was at the same level as his father. His understanding of the Purple Fist Strength was not impressive enough. Obviously, he needed to make a better effort.
Since each punch hit the top of the batt, only muffled sounds could be heard.
Zen's power and strength had grown immensely since he reached the bone refining level.
Perrin had already stepped into the peak of the bone refining level. Thus, the strength of each of Perrin's punches had an impact equivalent to almost one thousand pounds.
But Zen had just reached the bone refining level. He estimated that his boxing strength was about 700 to 800 pounds.
This was insufficient to fight against Perrin.
Zen desperately wanted to enter Cloud Sect.
His heart felt as heavy as stone when he thought about his sister who had been banished to Perdition mountain.
Yan had always been obedient and well-behaved. It was impossible for her to be a troublemaker. She must have been set up to earn such a terrible punishment. Zen needed to enter Cloud Sect as soon as possible. This was the only way to protect Yan!
“Bang bang bang!” The strength with which Zen lashed out increased little by little.
Cloud Sect was the largest martial arts school in the Imperial Capital. They recruited many students on a wide scale every year.
Young people throughout the Imperial Capital also desired being selected by Cloud Sect. Not only did it have the best resources, but the Sect also had the most experienced and professional coaches who could teach them a lot.
However, the prerequisites for being admitted into Cloud Sect were extremely strict.
Each student there needed to be very talented, like Yan, who had been easily admitted.
Needless to say, most students at Cloud Sect were very strong. They were better than other children in every way possible. Zen's feat of reaching the bone refining level was just not enough.
'I am now being refined. My body level is changing day-by-day. But if I want to upgrade rapidly, I need to practice harder!'
At this thought, Zen gritted his teeth and threw a hard punch at the bed frame.
Ever since he was a young boy, Zen had desired perfecting the ultimate martial arts. His pursuit of this form had molded him into a conscientious and meticulous teenager. He had improved step-by-step. When alive, Zen's father had praised him for his perseverance.
But ever since the death of his father and his banishment from the Luo Clan, Zen as a slave, had stalled in his growth. Not only did he have few chances to practice, but his mood had also been greatly affected.
But now, Zen had regained his confidence. He also had new goals. Now was the right time for him to catch up.
He didn't sleep the whole night.
Zen lost count of how many punches he had thrown at the bed frame. But he could see that the impact of his boxing had been such that the batt was now attached to the wall. He had to pry the cotton away and pull it apart gently.
During the daytime, he became more active in his pursuit of continuous refining.
In order to practice as much as possible, Zen walked to the Martial Arts Hall every day, even though the guards no longer came to fetch him.
He volunteered for the Luo children to beat him. This was undoubtedly a risky step as people might learn the truth.
After all, he was now being beaten more often and more severely than the other slaves. However, he lacked the telltale injuries on his body. This would definitely attract questions to which Zen had no answers.
Regardless, Zen continued. He had decided not to care too much about possible outcomes. He knew he needed to be beaten extensively in order to refine his body as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would not be able to enhance his strength within a short time.
Some Luo children did find Zen's behavior to be strange. They also frowned when they saw how badly he was being beaten. Despite the situation, Zen's demeanor seemed cheerful, which was contrary to how slaves usually behaved. Instead, he seemed as confident as any of the Luo children, almost as if he were beating other people!
What settled some of the Luo children's concerns was the fact that Zen had been a punchbag for two years. Considering that he was still alive and well, they assumed he had strong life vitality. Fortunately for Zen, these children were not interested in demystifying how a punchbag could survive under these circumstances. After all, they were required to practice beating people. It was not needed for them to study their targets. Even if Zen had special protective skills, they showed no interest in learning more about these skills.
During this time, Zen's impurities were being washed out more and more. Every time he took a bath, the water flowing on the ground was almost as rich as milk.
Soon, Zen's plan showed results. The amount of impurities being removed from Zen's body on a daily basis was equivalent to the ones being removed from others on a monthly basis. This satisfied Zen as it meant that each day's practice had the same effect on him as that of people who practiced for months. This practice speed seemed like a miracle!
Motivated, Zen exhausted himself. He volunteered to be beaten during the day and spent his nights practicing. He didn't stop, not even for a few seconds.
The improvement in Zen's body and knowledge of martial arts fed his spirit. Even though he was barely sleeping, his eyes were clear and bright as always.
Another reason why he was so full of energy and his spirit was flourishing was the existence of the mysterious 'Nine dragon furnace'. The refining furnace was purifying his soul. Each time, the pain was the same. Zen felt as though his soul was being crushed a thousand times, and each time, he collapsed and wished for death.
And yet, when the episode ended and Zen realized that he had survived that kind of pain, his spirit grew by leaps and bounds. He knew that his soul was also being refined!
Among all the parts of the human body, the soul was the most difficult to purify. Everyone could exercise their body. Even people who did not practice martial arts could exercise themselves too.
The soul, however, was hidden in a secret place. It was invisible and untouchable. As said in Buddhism, the soul was an illusory shore, which was difficult for the average person to reach.
Allegedly, Cloud Sect had higher-level methods and theories that could affect people's souls. Amongst these were the soul refining books.
These mysterious realms, Zen could not reach, and he did not want to think about it. Instead, Zen focused on refining his body every day.
Time passed quickly. It had been twenty days since he beat Grey and Darren.
“Boom!”
Another punch thrown by Zen hit the thick stone wall.
Zen was dumbstruck! He had only used seventy percent of his strength in this punch. However, his power was so extreme that the cellar wall cracked. Zen knew that if he were to use all his strength, the wall would collapse.
While worrisome, this thought made Zen smile. It had been almost a month since he started practicing and he had improved significantly!
When he began, Zen had just entered the bone refining level. With just a short amount of practice time, he felt as though he had reached the peak of bone refining level. The cleansing his bones had undergone showed in the results of his punches. The strength of his punches was almost up to a thousand pounds. A thousand pounds! That was the weight of an ancient tripod.
For warriors, the strength of a tripod was a watershed moment. Only after reaching the strength of a tripod could a person be said to have officially become a warrior.
And Zen had achieved all this in less than a month. Such development and quick improvement had never been witnessed in the Luo Clan. Even if a person searched the entire empire, it would be difficult to find another person as skilled as Zen.
After all, refining the body by way of removing impurities from the body through perseverance, meant decades of practice as the body only released a pitiful amount of impurities a day.
However, to refine the body by being beaten every day was a thousand times faster ...
Today, when Zen went to the Martial Arts Hall, he noticed something had changed.
Although the children were reluctant to use him as a punchbag, after Zen insisted, they did throw him a volley of punches. Zen felt no pain. It was almost as though the power of these children had diminished.
Zen was about to tell them to hit harder, but he remained quiet. He observed for some time and realized that the children were not holding back. They were using all of their strength to hit. Then why was it that he was not feeling their power?
What was worse was that every punch produced much less warmth in his body.
If previous attacks produced a thumb-sized warm current, current attacks only produced warmth the size of the little finger. With less warmth refining his body naturally, Zen became worried that its efficiency was diminishing.
After returning to the cellar that evening, Zen watched the impurities being washed away. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw that the amount of impurities being forced out of his body had reduced by about half.
These changes made Zen anxious. He had no idea what was wrong.
Could it be that his body was becoming harder?
According to the mysterious weapon refining theories, his body strength was now comparable with a low-grade mysterious weapon.
After profound and continuable refining, the strength of a mysterious weapon would gradually increase. However, if the strength of the weapon had reached a certain extent, the effect of general refining would be low.
Most of the students in Martial Arts Hall were at the skin refining level. Even Melvin, whose inner divine strength was so powerful that he was comparable to someone at the flesh refining level.
Now, hundreds of pounds of strength were hitting Zen's body at the Martial Arts Hall. However, that seemed insufficient as the effect was too little for his body. It looked as though Zen needed to find more powerful people to beat him to continue refining his body if he wanted to produce better results.
But Zen didn't know how to find someone who had more strength. It was impossible to ask the elders in the family to refine his body...
Family Practicing Day was only a few days away. On this day, all students would try their best and work at full strength. The punches that would come his way would certainly be more powerful. Most importantly, if he survived the day, he would be able to gain his freedom and leave the Luo family.
Since Zen could barely feel any pain from the beatings given by the Luo children, he wasn't worried about being hurt on Family Practicing Day.
Zen sat before the dim lamp in his cellar. His bright eyes shone with fortitude in the light as he thought over his plans.
It had been two years since his family was wrongly accused. Zen had remained a docile slave all this time. However, he had not forgotten the pain and hatred he felt when his father had been killed. He lived with shame before, as he was too weak. Now, Zen was fortunate to have found the magical refining theory, which was creating his special constitution. He had to grab this opportunity!