Chapter 337: Helping Lu Chong Improve His Strength

It had been less than a day since leaving Zheng Yang and the others when Zhao Ya was injured. Now, less than two hours after leaving Mu Xueqing and the rest, this girl was hurt too?

What terrible luck!

“Yes!” Meng Tao’s face flushed red.

“Take me to see her!”

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan followed him into the classroom.

As soon as he entered, he saw Mu Xueqing leaning sideways on her desk, her face pale.

Approaching, he looked her over carefully…

Zhang Xuan felt a surge of frustration.

Sure enough…

He couldn’t see anything at all!

Zhao Ya had cultivated the technique he taught, which belonged to the category of the Heavenly Dao, sharing the same origin. Moreover, having spent a long time together, even without knowing the illness, he could easily treat her.

Mu Xueqing was a student he had only taken on today; he didn’t know her well, so naturally he couldn’t see the crux of the problem at a glance and treat her quickly like the former.

But if he couldn’t identify the illness, how could he treat it?

“Punch me!”

After hesitating, he had to resort to the dumbest method he had used before.

“Yes!”

Though puzzled as to why the teacher wanted her to do this, out of trust, Mu Xueqing nodded, clenched her delicate fist, and threw a punch.

As she attacked, a book about Mu Xueqing appeared in his mind as expected. He glanced at it and breathed a sigh of relief.

This girl had merely forced the use of a martial technique beyond her physical capacity, injuring her meridians—nothing major.

With a flick of his fingers, several silver needles appeared and flew over.

After a moment, Mu Xueqing felt a wave of comfort; the injury from forcibly using the martial technique vanished, and she was fully recovered.

Feeling the change in her body, the girl widened her eyes in disbelief.

Her father was a pill refiner who often helped people resolve injury troubles. She knew how difficult it was to eliminate the effects of forcibly using a martial technique—if not handled properly, it could cause a cultivator to lose all their cultivation.

How could it be so simple in Teacher Liu’s hands?

“I’ve troubled the teacher…”

Shocked, Mu Xueqing knew that this Teacher Liu’s methods were unfathomable, and she admired him even more.

“It’s nothing. How did you get injured?”

Zhang Xuan looked at her with confusion.

“Senior sister…”

Meng Tao started to explain, but Mu Xueqing raised a hand to stop him.

“I forcibly used a martial technique earlier, and because my cultivation wasn’t sufficient, it caused this… Thank you for your concern, Teacher!”

Knowing she was being evasive, but since she didn’t want to say, Zhang Xuan didn’t bother asking more. He said, “That’s good then. If there’s nothing else, Lu Chong stays; the rest of you can go back first!”

“Teacher…”

Mu Xueqing hesitated.

“Something on your mind?” Zhang Xuan looked at her.

“Could the teacher teach me a martial technique…” Mu Xueqing’s face flushed.

She had never fully trusted this Teacher Liu before, and he hadn’t held it against her. Now she was asking him to teach her a technique, which made her a bit embarrassed.

But she also knew that without learning a new martial technique, she couldn’t possibly defeat that girl.

Her father’s martial techniques were too profound; if she couldn’t execute them well, she might end up seriously injured like just now.

Most importantly…

Learning a martial technique required years of hard work, which she couldn’t afford. She had to compete with that person again in three days. Learning from anyone else would be too slow; her only hope was this Teacher Liu, who had repeatedly worked miracles.

“Martial technique?”

Zhang Xuan looked at her curiously. “What do you want to learn?”

“I’m skilled with the blade. Could the teacher teach me a blade technique…”

Mu Xueqing said.

“Blade technique?”

Zhang Xuan found it a bit strange.

Girls usually liked swords, because swords were light and agile, elegant and delicate, fitting their temperament. This girl actually liked using a blade—quite surprising.

“Go back for today. I’ll think about the blade technique and teach it to you tomorrow!”

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

“Yes!”

Mu Xueqing nodded, then left with Meng Tao and the others.

“Senior sister, why didn’t you let me say it?”

Once outside the classroom, Meng Tao couldn’t hold back and asked.

She had clearly been injured fighting for the teacher’s honor, so why wouldn’t the senior sister let him tell?

“Tell? How? Say that I was hurt competing with Zhang Shi’s student? If I said that, I’m afraid Teacher Liu would drag us to apologize tonight!”

Mu Xueqing snorted.

“This…”

Meng Tao was taken aback.

The status and influence of a master teacher were immense, especially someone like Zhang Shi, a super genius—far beyond what Teacher Liu, an ordinary teacher, could contend with.

If he knew there was a conflict with his student, he might indeed do as the senior sister said and take them to apologize.

“Apologizing is nothing. I truly feel that Teacher Liu is no worse than that Zhang Shi… even surpasses him! But why is there such a gap in their fame? I must defeat that guy and make a name for Teacher Liu!”

Mu Xueqing’s eyes showed a firm resolve.

Teacher Liu had such great skills but remained unknown, clearly lacking a platform. This time, competing with Zhang Shi’s student—if she won—she could instantly shake the royal city.

Let everyone know that although this Teacher Liu is not a famous teacher, his level of guidance is in no way inferior to that of a famous teacher!

"Not bad!"

Meng Tao nodded.

Indeed.

If he really told Teacher Liu about this, the fight definitely wouldn't happen—how could he then clear his name and let everyone know he was an incredibly capable teacher?

Of course, he also knew that what the senior sister said only made the fight seem justified; it wasn't her main purpose.

This Senior Sister Mu was the school's little tyrant, having already driven away several teachers. Today she was injured; if she didn't get revenge and just apologized directly, she would definitely be unconvinced.

"Alright, this matter must not be known to Teacher Liu. Whoever spills the beans, I'll teach them a lesson!"

Looking at the group of juniors, Mu Xueqing snorted in threat.

"Yes!"

Everyone responded.

"We won't say anything, but what if Lu Chong..."

Meng Tao paused, pointing toward the classroom.

They had all come out; Lu Chong was now with Teacher Liu. What if they kept their mouths shut, but that guy blurted it out?

"Lu Chong? That mute won't even speak about his own affairs; do you think he'll talk about ours?" Mu Xueqing rolled her eyes.

"That's true..." Meng Tao scratched his head awkwardly.

Lu Chong hadn't spoken more than three sentences in over two years; how could he possibly gossip about this...

...

Just as they guessed, Lu Chong indeed said nothing.

At that moment, he was looking over with a restrained expression, because Teacher Liu's... request made him somewhat embarrassed.

"Take off all your clothes..." the teacher's voice rang out.

"Take off your clothes..."

Scratching his head, Lu Chong didn't know what to do.

"Cultivating the Poison Body is extremely difficult, and you must master the body-tempering technique I taught you to its highest level. You're still lacking; I have to help you!"

Zhang Xuan's expression was grave.

Cultivating the Poison Body was harder than imagined; otherwise, countless poison masters wouldn't have died in the process.

"Yes!"

Hearing that the teacher asked him to undress for cultivation, Lu Chong finally relaxed.

If Zhang Xuan knew what he was thinking, he would be furious.

Were students nowadays... so precocious?

What kind of thoughts were these...

Before long, Lu Chong had stripped naked and lay flat on the rest bench in the classroom.

Frowning slightly, Zhang Xuan flicked his fingers, and several silver needles appeared in his palm. He gave a gentle shake.

The silver needles immediately pierced into Lu Chong's acupoints, and pure Heavenly Dao true qi began to flow through his body.

This Lu Chong's talent was indeed mediocre. According to his cultivation speed, mastering the simplified version of the Heavenly Dao Golden Body to its highest level would probably take a day or two, plus consolidation, at least three or four days.

He had already boasted that he would let him take revenge within ten days. If the Heavenly Dao divine art alone took this long, the Poison Body would naturally be hard to complete.

Therefore, to speed things up, he planned to forcibly circulate true qi to help the other enhance his strength.

If he helped Zhao Ya and the others improve, they might become dependent, leaving hidden dangers for future cultivation. But this Lu Chong was different.

He had knelt outside the door for seven days and seven nights just to become a disciple, and to avoid slipping up in speech, he pretended to be mute for two years... This mental fortitude far surpassed theirs.

With such strong willpower, how could he possibly lose confidence and progress slowly in the future?

Most importantly, this kind of forced enhancement would cause great pain. Zhao Ya and the others, even Yuan Tao, probably couldn't bear it.

Bang bang bang bang!

Flicking his five fingers lightly, the silver needles danced.

Streams of true qi followed the meridians into Lu Chong's body, instantly tearing open the previously narrow channels.

The intense pain, like being sliced alive, tore apart every muscle in his body. Fortunately, Lu Chong had a strong will; otherwise, he would have cried out long ago.

"Hold on!"

Without further ado, Zhang Xuan's true qi boiled within him as he shot out all the silver needles in his hand.

He was very clear about the operation of the Heavenly Dao Golden Body and knew how to cultivate to improve quickly. The golden needles moved along a certain path, advancing steadily until they reached the crown of the head.

Rumble!

The true qi in his body, led by Zhang Xuan's true qi, surged forward. Lu Chong felt a loud bang in his mind, as if some barrier had been broken.

"The Aperture Opening realm... I've actually reached the Aperture Opening realm?"

In an instant, he knew that he had broken through the peak of the Strength Peak realm and reached the Aperture Opening realm.

"Don't move; it's not over yet!"

Seeing his body tremble with excitement, Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows, grabbed with his hand, and the medicines obtained from the Physician Guild and Jiang Shu appeared before him. His true qi surged as he struck out, pulverizing the medicines into powder.

Zizi zizi!

These powders merged and immediately reacted, changing form into a highly toxic substance.

With a grab of his hand, the silver needles on Lu Chong's body flew up. Upon contact with the powder, they instantly turned black.

Flicking his ten fingers repeatedly, the poisoned needles flew back and re-entered the latter's body.

"Ah..."

The poison seeped into his body along the silver needles, and a pain several times stronger than before tore at him. Lu Chong's face turned deathly pale; unable to bear it any longer, he cried out.

"Phew!"

After driving all the silver needles into the other's body, Zhang Xuan finally relaxed, wiped the sweat from his forehead, packed the remaining powder, and put it into his storage ring.

The first tempering was done; whether he could hold on depended on his willpower.

If he couldn't hold on, death!

If he could, the carp would leap over the dragon gate, break the cocoon into a butterfly, and soar to the skies!