Chapter 6

A large bucket of cold water was poured over Luo Zheng's body, washing away the milky white impurities that flowed to the ground.

After entering the Bone Tempering Realm, his flesh had no impurities left, and what was now being expelled from his body were the milky white impurities from his bones.

After washing away all the impurities from his body, Luo Zheng felt refreshed all over.

In recent days, Manager Fang no longer dared to come and trouble him, giving Luo Zheng more space.

At night, Luo Zheng propped up the iron bed against the stone wall of the cellar, then wrapped the bed frame with layers of cotton to create a makeshift wooden dummy.

Since the bed frame was tightly against the stone wall, most of the force was absorbed by the thick stone wall, preventing the iron bed from being dismantled by Luo Zheng's punches. The cotton wrapping also reduced the sound of each punch to a minimum, and since he was in the cellar, no one outside could know that he was secretly practicing.

The Purple Sandalwood Fist, which he used, had been passed down in the Luo family for hundreds of years and was a secret technique not taught to outsiders, even to collateral descendants.

After entering the Bone Tempering Realm, the techniques in the Purple Sandalwood Fist that he once couldn't practice were now at his fingertips.

"Purple Sandalwood Inch Power!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Seven muffled sounds erupted from the stone wall.

The Purple Sandalwood Inch Power was the most profound technique in the Purple Sandalwood Fist. One Inch Power could cause multiple injuries, and the number of injuries indicated the level of mastery.

Seven muffled sounds meant seven damages, and Luo Zheng was not entirely satisfied with this result.

His father had once told Luo Zheng that he could cause eight damages when he was in the Bone Tempering Realm. Now, Luo Zheng, also in the Bone Tempering Realm, could only cause seven damages. He needed to understand the Purple Sandalwood Inch Power more deeply and work harder!

Each punch on the cotton produced a muffled sound.

After entering the Bone Tempering Realm, Luo Zheng's strength had increased dramatically.

Luo Peiran had already reached the peak of the Bone Tempering Realm, and each of his punches had a force of over a thousand pounds.

Luo Zheng, who had just entered the Bone Tempering Realm, estimated that his punch force was around seven to eight hundred pounds.

This level of strength was still not enough.

The most critical issue was that Luo Zheng wanted to enter the Qingyun Sect.

Thinking of his sister facing the wall in the Hellfire Mountain, Luo Zheng felt a heavy stone in his heart.

Luo Yan had always been obedient and would never cause trouble; she must have been a victim of a villain. He had to enter the Qingyun Sect as soon as possible to protect her.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Each of his punches was even stronger.

The Qingyun Sect was the largest sect in the imperial capital, recruiting disciples from across the empire every year.

Young people in the imperial capital regarded the Qingyun Sect as their ultimate goal, where the best cultivation resources and the most powerful experts gathered.

However, the conditions for entering the Qingyun Sect were extremely strict.

One had to have exceptional talent, like his sister Luo Yan, who was admitted on a special basis.

Or one had to have extraordinary strength, standing out among many young people. Just being in the Bone Tempering Realm might not be enough.

"I am being hammered and my body is advancing at an unprecedented rate, but to improve rapidly in a short time, I still need to practice diligently!"

Thinking of this, he struck the stone wall again with more force.

Luo Zheng had always had a heart for pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts. In the past, he was meticulous and made steady progress, earning his father's high praise for his perseverance.

However, after his father's death, he was demoted to a household slave, and his mindset suffered a significant blow, causing him to stagnate in martial arts.

But now, Luo Zheng had regained his confidence and was determined to catch up for his goal.

He hardly slept that night.

He didn't know how many punches he had thrown, and the cotton had become tightly pressed against the wall. He had to tear it off and gently pull it to restore its original state.

During the day, it was endless punches and endless hammering.

To practice as quickly as possible, even being beaten became a positive thing for Luo Zheng.

He actively asked the Luo family's descendants to hit him, but there was a risk of being discovered.

After all, being hit so many times without any injuries was suspicious.

But Luo Zheng couldn't care less. Only by enduring as much beating as possible could he quickly temper himself and improve his strength.

Some of the Luo family's descendants found it strange that Luo Zheng was being hit more and more often, yet his spirit seemed to be getting better. He didn't look like someone being beaten; he looked like someone hitting others!

However, considering that Luo Zheng had been a punching bag for two years and was still alive and well, they described him as tenacious. These Luo family descendants weren't interested in the secrets of a punching bag. After all, they practiced to hit others, not to be hit. Even if Luo Zheng had special defensive techniques, they didn't care.

During this period, the impurities washed out from Luo Zheng's bones increased. Every time he took a bath, the clear water on the ground immediately turned milky white, as if it were as thick as milk.

The impurities he washed out each day were almost equivalent to what others could wash out in months of cultivation. It was as if one day of being beaten was equivalent to months of cultivation, a miraculous speed!

During the day, he was beaten, and at night, he practiced punches, never stopping.

During this period, he probably slept for less than ten hours, but his spirit was not at all fatigued, and his eyes remained as clear as ever.

The reason for his high spirits was mostly due to the mysterious "Nine Dragon Furnace" in his mind. On that day, his soul was refined by the Nine Dragon Furnace, breaking and reforming countless times, each time causing him unbearable pain.

But after enduring that pain, his spirit had been excellent ever since, and his soul must have been tempered as well!

The soul is the most difficult part of the human body to cultivate. Anyone can train their body, even those who don't practice martial arts.

But the soul is hidden deep within the human body, invisible and intangible, like the illusory shore in Buddhist scriptures, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to cultivate.

It was said that in the Qingyun Sect, there were some higher-level secret texts that could affect the soul, such as the "Soul Refining Technique."

These mysterious realms were beyond Luo Zheng's reach, and he didn't think about them much. Since he didn't need to sleep, he could use this time to practice.

Time passed quickly, and more than twenty days had gone by.

"Bang!"

Luo Zheng's punch created a crack in the thick stone wall of the cellar.

He only used seven-tenths of his strength, but the power was terrifying. If he hadn't held back, he might have collapsed the entire cellar with one punch.

After more than half a month of tempering, Luo Zheng's strength had improved.

He had advanced from the middle stage of the Bone Tempering Realm to the peak stage, with a single hand capable of a thousand pounds of force, equivalent to the strength of a cauldron.

For martial artists, the strength of a cauldron was a watershed. Only after reaching the strength of a cauldron could one be considered to have entered the realm of martial arts.

In less than a month, he had advanced from the peak of the Flesh Tempering Realm to the peak of the Bone Tempering Realm, a leap of an entire level. This cultivation speed was unprecedented in the Luo family and probably hard to find in the entire empire.

After all, the method of tempering the body to expel impurities relied on perseverance and persistence, and the amount of impurities that could be refined each day was minimal.

But the method of tempering by being beaten expelled impurities from the body at a speed hundreds or even thousands of times faster...

However, today, when he was being beaten, he felt that his body seemed to have undergone some changes.

The punches and kicks he usually endured, though not painful, still had some weight. Today, he felt that the Luo family's descendants' punches seemed lighter.

Luo Zheng secretly observed and found that these Luo family descendants were not holding back, but why did he have this feeling?

Moreover, the warm currents generated by each punch on his body were much less.

If a punch used to generate a warm current the size of a thumb, now it only generated a warm current the size of a little finger, reducing the efficiency of cleansing the body.

After returning to the cellar and taking a bath, he found that the impurities expelled from his body were about half as much as before.

These changes made Luo Zheng worry. What was wrong?

Could it be that his body had become harder?

According to the mysterious cultivation technique, his current physical strength was equivalent to that of a low-grade mystic weapon.

A mystic weapon, after continuous tempering, would gradually increase in strength. Once it reached a certain level, the effect of ordinary tempering would be reduced.

Most of the Luo family's descendants in the martial arts hall were in the Skin Tempering Realm, including Luo Dalong, who, despite his innate strength, was only equivalent to the Flesh Tempering Realm.

Now, a few hundred pounds of force hitting Luo Zheng had little effect. It seemed he needed to find someone stronger to beat him to have any effect.

But where could Luo Zheng find such a person? He couldn't ask the elders of the Luo family to do it...

"In a few days, it will be the Clan Tempering Day. On Clan Tempering Day, the Luo family's descendants will use their full strength, and the force of their punches will increase significantly. More importantly, if I can win in the death match on Clan Tempering Day, I can officially remove the status of a household slave and leave the Luo family with dignity."

With Luo Zheng's current physical strength, the Luo family's descendants couldn't shake him. Even if they beat him for a day and a night, it wouldn't matter.

In the cellar, Luo Zheng's bright eyes blinked, and under the candlelight, his face showed a determined expression.

He had never forgotten the hatred of his father's murder. He had endured humiliation and survived because he was weak. But now, with the lucky possession of the mysterious cultivation technique, he had a special physique that allowed him to advance rapidly. He must seize this opportunity...