Practicing his perfected stance technique was a true pleasure. Every day, Yu Fei would leave home before dawn and jog to the school’s training ground to practice for two hours.

He had figured out through trial and error that two hours was the optimal duration. Any longer, and his body would begin to sting from absorbing too much of the world’s primal energy. It was a case of too much of a good thing being a bad thing.

Of course, when he first acquired the Void Martial Body talent, he had been able to practice for much longer because his body was so depleted. The circumstances were different now.

The morning star had yet to fade when Yu Fei arrived at the southeast corner of the training ground. With no buildings to block the view, it was the perfect spot to be the first to see the sun rise.

He had been practicing his stance technique in this spot for some time now. The martial arts students at No. 2 High were all aware of his habit, and out of a silent understanding, no one ever tried to claim it.

When you were strong enough, most of the people you encountered were friendly.

Each of Yu Fei’s movements carried a profound, Dao-like rhythm. On a plane invisible to the naked eye, wisps of white primal energy materialized from the void, drawn to him before slowly merging into his body.

This was a characteristic of the perfected stance technique: Void Body Refining.

Before a Martial Artist perfected their stance technique, they could only rely on the essence from medicinal pills or food to temper their bodies and strengthen their Qi Blood.

Compared to Void Body Refining, this method had many drawbacks.

First, converting the primal energy gained from supplements was inefficient. The body’s absorption capacity was limited, which in turn restricted daily practice time and lowered overall effectiveness.

Second, the primal energy converted from external sources lacked purity, leading to incomplete Body Tempering. Moreover, no matter how high-quality a pill was, it always contained trace amounts of toxins. Using such methods would leave flaws in the body, impeding future breakthroughs to the Inner Qi Realm.

There was another reason Yu Fei chose to practice his stance technique in the morning. As the sun rose, a faint wisp of Supreme Yang Flame Qi would be drawn to him during his practice, slowly entering through his mouth and nose to join the circulation of his Qi Blood.

Although the amount of this special primal energy was minuscule, it was exceptionally pure and fundamentally extraordinary in nature.

As his Qi Blood circulated, this wisp of Supreme Yang Flame Qi was completely refined by his body. Under its tempering, Yu Fei’s Qi Blood became purer and more vigorous; even his life force seemed to have strengthened by a fraction.

This was something he had discovered not long ago. After some thought, he figured it must be related to his Three Yang True Blood talent, which had come from the ’Overlord of Chickens’.

The talents integrated into his Void Martial Body included the Three Yang True Blood. He figured that any abilities related to blood must have been fused and absorbed along with it.

The more Supreme Yang Flame Qi he absorbed, the higher the purity of his Qi Blood became, seemingly enhancing his explosive power and destructive force. However, the effect was still quite weak at this stage and required consistent practice.

Strangely enough, Yu Fei discovered that the Supreme Yang Flame Qi was only produced in the brief moment the sun first rose. Practicing under the sun at any other time had no similar effect.

Ever since obtaining the red-grade talent, Yu Fei’s cultivation had progressed by leaps and bounds. In just over a month, he was already more than halfway through the bone tempering stage. This was all the more impressive considering the difficulty had increased now that his Qi Blood was three times stronger.

If he’d had this kind of speed before, he estimated he would have finished the bone tempering stage long ago.

The boons of the Void Martial Body weren’t limited to his physical cultivation. Yu Fei had more free time recently, so he had taken to reading the Great Yu Martial Scripture during class each day.

Before, the scripture had felt abstruse and profoundly arcane, but now, his enhanced talent had drastically improved his comprehension. He gained something new every time he read it; the text truly felt fresh with each perusal.

This was an improvement to his intangible strengths. While not immediately apparent, every little bit of martial insight he gained was solidifying his foundation.

Two hours flew by in a flash. The training ground went from deserted to bustling with activity, then back to being nearly empty. Yu Fei was the only person who had been practicing the entire time.

His second year of high school was almost over, and they were about to finish all the academic coursework.

The high school’s academic schedule was rather unique. The teachers for every subject invariably finished teaching the entire high school curriculum by the end of the second year, leaving the entire third year for review and consolidation.

At ten in the morning, the Human Body Scripture class had just ended when a loud, noisy commotion suddenly erupted outside the classroom.

Lei Xiaoqiang’s chubby face suddenly peeked through the front doorway of the classroom.

"Fei, hurry up and get out here! Someone’s saying they’re gonna mess you up! Come and teach him a lesson!"

His voice was so loud that it woke the students who were resting during the break. They blinked at him in confusion.

"Come on, hurry up! What are you dawdling for?"

Lei Xiaoqiang’s short, chubby legs moved surprisingly fast. He bounded past the podium and ran to Yu Fei’s desk in just a few steps, grabbing his arm and trying to drag him outside.

"Let’s go!"

Lei Xiaoqiang pulled with all his might, but Yu Fei didn’t budge an inch.

It was a joke. With his level of cultivation, if he didn’t want to move, poor Xiaoqiang could pull until he was blue in the face and still not budge him in the slightest.

"What kind of trick are you playing this time? Let go first." With a gentle shrug of his arm, Yu Fei easily broke Xiaoqiang’s grip.

Anxious, Lei Xiaoqiang hopped on the spot, slapping his hands against his thighs.

"I’m really not playing any tricks! You’re the one who caused this mess, and now someone’s come looking for an explanation!" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Yu Fei frowned. ’This is getting more and more ridiculous,’ he thought. ’Is Xiaoqiang just itching for a beating?’

Ever since his rise on the martial path, the vast majority of his classmates had become awkward around him. Their attitudes had changed, to varying degrees. Even Du Mingxuan and Li Mengyao were no exception. The only person whose attitude hadn’t changed at all was Lei Xiaoqiang.

Perhaps it was because the two had grown up together, and Yu Fei had awakened his past-life memories at an early age. In Xiaoqiang’s eyes, Yu Fei had always been this badass; now, he was just even more of a badass. Nothing had really changed.

Just as Yu Fei was pondering this, his homeroom teacher, Zhang Kun, arrived.

"Yu Fei, come here for a moment. Hmm... and Jiang Yifan. The other students from the sprint class should come too."

Completely bewildered, the students followed their homeroom teacher, Zhang Kun. Yu Fei noted they were heading in the direction of the training ground.

Because the third-years had already graduated, the school’s largest training ground was now free. Its maintenance had just been completed, and Yu Fei and his classmates hadn’t had a chance to move in and use it yet.

The training ground was now fully open. An elderly man with graying sideburns was conversing with Liu Ming, while Yan Sea stood off to one side.

"Mr. Zhao, your visit today is quite sudden. We weren’t able to prepare at all," Liu Ming said deferentially.

The two of them stood together. Liu Ming looked much older than Zhao Zeyang, but Zhao Zeyang was actually more than thirty years his senior.

Once a Martial Artist’s cultivation reached the Inner Qi Realm, their life force, nourished by a higher level of energy, would grow considerably stronger. This, in turn, would greatly extend their lifespan.

An ordinary person’s average lifespan is seventy-five years. A Martial Artist in the Body Tempering Realm, if they take proper care of themselves, can live for at least a hundred. Meanwhile, an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist, depending on their physical condition and Cultivation Technique, can live an additional sixty to ninety years, meaning a total lifespan of over one hundred and fifty.

If a Martial Artist’s cultivation reached the Grandmaster Realm, their natural lifespan would be over two hundred years, and their maximum possible lifespan was undetermined.

This was for two reasons. First, the number of Grandmaster Martial Artists was too small to provide a reliable sample. Second, few Grandmasters ever lived to their natural limit. History recorded many Inner Qi Martial Artists who died of old age, but Grandmasters rarely died from natural causes.