Chapter 28: The Tyrannical Supervisor

"Please stay here for the time being. Tomorrow morning, I will personally report to my father. We will start immediately after he makes a decision," Tie Butian said with a smile. Just a moment ago, he had exuded the aura of a sword tester, but now, his entire demeanor seemed to shift. He appeared kind, gentle, and approachable, making people feel as if they were basking in a warm spring breeze!

He didn’t need any special means to win people’s hearts. Yet, his simplicity made people involuntarily want to dedicate their lives to him!

"Yes," Bao Kuanglei’s heart trembled, and he couldn’t help but raise his evaluation of this Crown Prince of Iron Cloud. Despite his young age, this prince was far from ordinary! Among all the people he had met, regardless of age, none could compare to this man!

No wonder he was hailed as the greatest young genius in the history of the Lower Three Days, the only one born to be a king!

Before meeting Tie Butian, Bao Kuanglei had always dismissed this claim: How could there be a born king in this world? It was just a matter of good birth, better education, and the accumulation of imperial aura over time.

As for the title of the greatest genius... weren’t there plenty of geniuses in this world?

But now, he believed it. The elegance in his bones, the authority in his soul, and the natural regal bearing that flowed from his every movement made even a fierce warrior like Bao Kuanglei tremble in his soul!

At this moment, the Purple Bamboo Garden of the Skyward Tower was bustling with activity.

Skyward Tower, early morning.

Tantian lay on the ground in the shape of the character "太," panting heavily and rolling his eyes. "Chu... Chu Yang, I admit you’re handsomer than me, okay? But you’ve been too harsh these past few days! You’re going to kill me..."

These days, whenever Chu Yang practiced, he would drag Tantian along. Tantian would be exhausted to the point of near-death every time, and after a few days, he was already trembling in fear at the sight of Chu Yang.

Chu Yang always knew exactly how long Tantian could push his body to its limits. After each practice, Tantian would be unable to stand up on his own, but his body would not be damaged.

Now, Tantian saw him like a ghost. At first, he was still boasting and being self-absorbed, but now he didn’t even have the time for that...

Chu Yang took a deep breath, finished his practice, and stood up. In these twenty days, he hadn’t relaxed his own training at all. Currently, he had advanced his cultivation to the Ninth Rank of Martial Disciple, just one step away from becoming a Martial Warrior.

Feeling the changes in his body, Chu Yang smiled. Only by entering the ranks of Martial Warriors could he truly begin to temper his body.

Before becoming a Martial Warrior, if one forcibly tempered their body, whether it was bones, muscles, or internal organs, they would suffer severe damage!

This misconception was still prevalent in the Lower Three Days. Hence, there was a saying: "Literature governs for a thousand years, martial arts rest after sixty." This referred to the fact that martial artists rarely lived past sixty.

Although this saying had a bias towards literature and against martial arts, and the claim about the sixty-year limit was somewhat arbitrary, many martial disciples each year pushed themselves to the limit to quickly advance their cultivation. The excessive exertion and physical strain would damage their bodies. While their cultivation levels might rise, by the time they reached around fifty, the drawbacks would become apparent. Once these drawbacks surfaced, their bodies would be irreparably damaged, and it would be too late to recover...

The greatest damage to a martial artist’s body occurred during the foundational stage of Martial Disciple.

He was just one step away. The cultivation condition for the Nine Heavens Divine Technique in the Nine Tribulations Sword was to be a Martial Warrior! In fact, not just the Nine Tribulations Sword, but even some techniques from the Middle Three Days clearly stated on their first page: "No cultivation below the rank of Martial Warrior!"

A slight movement in his dantian, and the new essence energy Chu Yang had painstakingly cultivated in the afternoon was swallowed by the Nine Tribulations Sword. After a while, it was expelled, though in much smaller quantities, but extremely refined.

This essence energy, while not as powerful as innate essence energy, was far more refined and condensed, and vastly different from ordinary acquired energy.

These days, every step forward made the Nine Tribulations Sword in his body move mysteriously. Over time, Chu Yang had become accustomed to it.

The purple crystal jade hanging around his neck remained silent and unresponsive. Chu Yang was speechless about this purple crystal jade. The first time he used it to recover his strength, the soul of the Nine Tribulations Sword in his dantian suddenly surged up, cutting off the connection before Chu Yang could even enjoy it.

Chu Yang tried several times, but the soul of the Nine Tribulations Sword always cut off the connection. It was clear that it wanted him to cultivate using his own strength and not rely on external aids!

However, when he used it to recover during battles, the soul of the Nine Tribulations Sword didn’t interfere. For example, when he recovered after dealing with Qu Ping, the soul of the Nine Tribulations Sword remained silent. But after the battle, it wouldn’t let him use it again...

Faced with such a strict and tyrannical supervisor, Chu Yang could only submit. He extinguished the thought of using the purple crystal jade during cultivation.

Turning his head to look at Tantian’s pitiful state, Chu Yang almost laughed. He said helplessly, "Alright, rest for a while."

Hearing this, Tantian felt as if he had received a great imperial favor, almost shedding tears of gratitude. He struggled to get up and crawled to the side, finally sighing in relief.

In the courtyard, Chu Yang continued practicing his sword drawing and sheathing, a simple and monotonous action, but he approached it with the greatest enthusiasm and full concentration each time.

The sun slowly rose in the east, and steam rose from Chu Yang’s head and body. Sweat dripped from his forehead, shattering on the ground.

Tantian finally recovered, but as he watched Chu Yang’s movements, he gradually became entranced. Chu Yang kept repeating the same action, but after hundreds of repetitions, Tantian noticed that each time, Chu Yang’s movements were slightly different!

It seemed he was constantly adjusting. From the initial awkwardness, the movements became smoother and smoother. By the end, they formed a curtain of light.

Drawing the sword, thrusting, sheathing, and returning it to the scabbard, the cycle repeated, and the sound gradually diminished. Although not obvious, it was indeed getting quieter and quieter.

"Chu Yang, your arm is swollen!" After watching for a long time, Tantian suddenly noticed that Chu Yang’s elbow and shoulder were abnormally swollen and shouted out.

Chu Yang’s expression remained unchanged, and he continued practicing the same movement, saying indifferently, "Swollen? It will go down as you keep practicing. Tantian, if you wait for it to go down on its own, it will be too late. But once you get used to this strength, the swelling will go down on its own. When it does, that’s when you’ll make progress!"

"Uh..." Tantian was stunned, then suddenly felt ashamed. Feeling that he had recovered some strength, he stood up and started practicing again.

Meng Chaoran stood quietly in the purple bamboo grove, watching his two disciples practice, a smile of satisfaction on his lips.

In the room, moans of pain could be heard. This was Shi Qianshan suffering. He had been bedridden for twenty days. Qu Ping and the others had been ruthless, breaking his ribs and thigh bones that day.

For at least three months, Shi Qianshan wouldn’t be able to practice. For six months, he wouldn’t be able to engage in combat. But by then, the Skyward Tower’s disciple ranking tournament would be almost over.

This injury had destroyed Shi Qianshan’s future at the Skyward Tower!

Physical pain was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. So Shi Qianshan was filled with hatred. Strangely, he didn’t hate those who injured him, but he hated Chu Yang the most. In Shi Qianshan’s heart, if it weren’t for Chu Yang, he would have risen to the top!