Yu Fei cultivated until 11 PM before he felt tired. He didn’t push himself, instead turning and heading back to his room to sleep.

Things were different now. He was still self-disciplined, but there was no need to push himself to the brink. A balance of work and rest was the key; he didn’t need to overexert his body.

Before, he had no choice, and some of his overtraining had damaged his foundation. Now, he just needed to proceed one step at a time, solidify his basics, and his future would be more or less guaranteed.

He slept dreamlessly through the night.

Yu Fei woke up early. His biological clock was already set and was very accurate.

Inside the Aurora Martial Arts Hall, there were few people, especially on a weekday morning.

"Why, if it isn’t Yu Fei! I haven’t seen you in a while!"

Jia Yun had a deep impression of the handsome young man. His simple clothes were neat and proper on him. Most of all, the vibrant, striving spirit in the young man’s eyes was particularly infectious, as if no difficulty was worth fearing.

Having not seen Yu Fei for so long, Jia Yun had felt a little disappointed. Seeing him again today, she thought Yu Fei seemed even more handsome. His features were the same, but he looked stunning. Meeting his gaze, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

"Good morning, Miss Yun. I’ll be coming to the martial arts hall to cultivate for the next week. Are there any training chambers available?"

Jia Yun was one of the service team leaders in the VIP area of the Aurora Martial Arts Hall. She was highly skilled at her job, enthusiastic and generous, and very popular.

"Yes, there are! Which training chamber do you like, Yu Fei? I’ll take you there!"

"Any of them are fine!"

The facilities in each training chamber were more or less the same, with no major differences.

"Then let’s go to the Kuaidou Chamber! It was just serviced two days ago, so the equipment is a bit newer."

The Kuaidou Training Chamber was over five hundred square meters and included an open-air sand platform. The decor leaned toward a classical style, with most of the furniture made of solid wood.

"Miss Yun, thank you. I’ll also have to trouble you to refill the energy drinks. Oh, and please remember to call me for lunch; I’m afraid I’ll forget."

Jia Yun glanced back with a gentle smile. "Don’t worry. If I forget to call you, I’ll treat you to a feast today!"

Yu Fei’s eyes lit up. "In that case, I kind of hope you really do forget, Miss Yun. Then I’d get to go on a date with a beautiful woman today!"

"You and your silver tongue!"

...

Yu Fei changed into his martial arts uniform, stepped onto the sand platform barefoot, and stretched his muscles a bit.

’Time to train!’

The moves of the Perfection-level Ox Subduing Pile Skill contained profound martial principles, representing a Cultivator’s breakthrough of some kind of worldly shackles. To reach this level in the first realm of martial arts, one needed perseverance, comprehension, and innate talent in equal measure.

In the martial arts circles of the Yu Kingdom, the basic criterion for being considered a prodigy-level Martial Artist was to master a pile skill to the Perfection level within the first realm of martial arts. Yu Fei now had one foot in that circle of prodigies, though unfortunately, no one knew of this achievement.

In the summer of year 837 of the New Calendar, the prodigy Yu Fei was born, but no one knew.

The cultivation of martial arts is a gradual process.

A tiny sprout, growing day by day and night by night, can become a towering tree.

By gathering soil and piling sand, braving wind and rain without cease, a nine-ren mountain is formed!

Under the scorching sun, the young man’s aura was like fire as he trained without rest.

After a long while, he finished a round of cultivation, opened the refrigerated cabinet, and downed five bottles of energy drink in a row. The feeling of fatigue temporarily faded. After a short rest, Yu Fei threw himself into the next round of cultivation.

The Aurora Martial Arts Hall was a good place. Here, Yu Fei didn’t need to think about anything else; he only needed to throw his entire being into his training. As his body’s deficit was gradually replenished, his Qi Blood grew stronger by the day. Although his physique didn’t change much, the oppressive feeling he gave off to others grew more and more intense.

As it neared 12 PM, Jia Yun carefully opened the door to the training chamber and stood to the side, watching Yu Fei cultivate. In truth, she didn’t need to call out to stop him. As a Martial Artist—and a newly minted prodigy at that—Yu Fei was extremely sensitive to changes in his surroundings.

The moment Jia Yun appeared, Yu Fei knew it was time for lunch. He had an agreement with Miss Yun; as long as she showed up, he would stop after finishing his current round of the pile skill.

Jia Yun’s eyes were fixed on the young man. She felt that Yu Fei’s aura was growing stronger and stronger.

The young man before her was like a humanoid beast. If that surging Qi Blood of his were fully unleashed, it would be terrifying enough to make people unable to even lift their heads.

"Kiddo, are you still in the first realm of martial arts?"

Although she didn’t practice martial arts herself, working at the hall meant she had picked up a lot of common knowledge about it through exposure. Jia Yun had received second-realm Martial Artists before, but none of them exerted as much pressure on her as Yu Fei did.

After a moment, Yu Fei finished his cultivation and walked over to Jia Yun.

"Thanks for the reminder, Miss Yun. I would’ve starved today otherwise." His voice was calm, but very pleasant to hear.

"With me here, how could I let you starve? ...Er... I mean, I was keeping an eye on the time, waiting to come see you?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Jia Yun froze.

’Damn it, what am I saying?’ Her cheeks instantly turned bright red.

"I mean, um, it’s time to eat."

She didn’t understand what had gotten into her these past few days. Yu Fei had always been a handsome young man, but he was just pleasant to look at before. Now, though, there was something bewitching about him. He was just so good-looking that she couldn’t help but stare blankly whenever she saw him.

"Okay, Miss Yun. In any case, thank you for your trouble."

Yu Fei, however, knew the reason. He had integrated the [Celestial-Man’s Bearing], and its appearance-enhancing effects had been inherited along with it.

It wasn’t really an improvement to his looks, per se. He was still him; it was just that under the influence of the talent’s effect, his features and demeanor became more natural and more attractive.

Unlike Ye Feng, whose temperament leaned toward the ethereal and graceful, Yu Fei, with the bonus from his mixed martial physique, had a temperament that leaned more toward a display of masculine power.

Because of a woman’s natural inclination to admire the strong, they would have even less resistance to someone like Yu Fei—unless the other person was stronger than him.

For five days, Yu Fei trained without rest. He finally replenished his body’s deficit.

A feeling of completeness and self-satisfaction spontaneously arose within him. The Qi Blood in his body surged, feeling as if it held the force of ten thousand jun.

At the same time, the incredibly oppressive power of his Qi Blood completely retracted, and his entire person suddenly became extremely approachable. This, in fact, was the true state of a Martial Artist. The past few days, because of his body’s deficit, his Qi Blood had been churning uncontrollably. Though it seemed powerful, it was actually an inferior state.

As his cultivation for the day ended, he pointed a finger, and the Cyan Lotus Sword on the wall, still in its scabbard, wobbled through the air to his side.

He had already cultivated the Cyan Lotus Sword Seal to Perfection. The power of a red-grade talent was clear to see.

For the past five days, Yu Fei had focused on his foundational cultivation, replenishing his deficit. He had spent all his evenings cultivating the Sword Seal. The difficulty of this Cultivation Technique lay only in its talent requirement; as long as a Martial Artist’s innate aptitude was sufficient, it was very easy to master. Under the enhancement of his red-grade talent, he had reached Perfection last night.

Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the work of chopping wood. From now on, there would be no bottlenecks when cultivating the Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill.

He had to go to school the day after tomorrow, so Yu Fei planned to dedicate tomorrow to the Six Harmonies Killing Fist. He had long yearned for the legendary Ruyi Shen Jin.

The two foundational martial arts methods carefully selected by the Yu Kingdom each had their own marvels. The Ox Subduing Pile Skill was balanced and proper, able to build a solid foundation for a Martial Artist. Breaking through to the next realm using this pile skill could harmonize the five elements within a Martial Artist’s inner world, making their body complete and flawless. If the pile skill was cultivated to Perfection, one could break through worldly shackles and set foot on the path of a prodigy.

Its equally famous counterpart, the Six Harmonies Killing Fist, consisted of five fist forms, encompassing the aspects of ferocity, suppleness, control, defense, and speed. It served as a perfect transition to subsequent martial skills and Cultivation Techniques. No matter which path one chose, they would have a decent foundation.

Yu Fei had now cultivated all five fist forms to the Great Accomplishment stage, just one step away from Perfection and achieving Ruyi Shen Jin. If he truly took this step, his path in martial arts would truly begin to rise. Even if he didn’t cultivate the Calamity Sword, his future would be anything but weak.