Chapter 17

At this moment, the difference between a genius and an ordinary person could be seen. A genius, after three cycles of circulation, absorbs much more spiritual energy than an ordinary person does in one cycle, the difference being three times as much.

This means that even in future cultivation, the speed of cultivation for these geniuses would be three times that of ordinary people. Of course, this is also the limit he can reach; as for whether there is more, it is unknown.

It can be seen how shocking it was for Ye Feng to have completed nine cycles. What made him depressed was that while others could increase their spiritual energy in their bodies after one cycle, he had completed nine cycles, yet not only did his spiritual energy not increase, it even decreased slightly.

"Smells terrible!" After calming down, Ye Feng suddenly smelled a foul odor spreading in his room.

When Ye Feng searched for the source of the smell, he suddenly found that the foul smell was coming from his body. His skin was covered with a layer of black, greasy substance, which was the source of the smell. At first sight of these things, Ye Feng thought of a state from his previous life. "Refining the hair and washing the marrow?"

Ye Feng got out of bed, quickly opened the door and windows of the room, and went to the corner of the yard to fetch a bucket of clear water to start cleaning. He did not expect that there would be so many impurities in a person's body. He had to wash five times before the smell on his body disappeared.

After taking a bath, Ye Feng came to the middle of the yard and immediately felt an unprecedented sense of ease. His body was filled with strength, much stronger than when he had practiced the Iron Body Technique to the ninth level. This means that his physical cultivation technique had broken through the limit of the Iron Body Technique and reached an unprecedented realm.

Standing in the middle of the yard, Ye Feng casually swung his fists, "Pop... Pop... Pop...!" Immediately, a series of air explosions sounded, like someone setting off firecrackers. He could feel that his strength had at least doubled compared to yesterday.

"Peak First Rank Warrior!" After feeling the strength of his body, Ye Feng looked at his martial cultivation. He had previously only felt that the spiritual energy in his dantian meridians far exceeded that of a First Rank Warrior, but he did not expect to have reached the peak state of a First Rank Warrior.

Originally, he had a thousand catties of strength, and this time it had roughly doubled, meaning he now had at least two thousand catties of strength. A peak First Rank Warrior could only exert a thousand catties of strength.

In this way, his combined martial and physical cultivation could exert three thousand catties of strength, equivalent to the strength of a peak Third Rank Warrior. However, warriors have some martial skills that can greatly exceed their own strength, so Ye Feng's strength was likely unmatched by any warrior below the Third Rank.

Of course, this was all his own speculation. He had never seen a Third Rank Warrior, so he could only know after a battle.

However, even so, Ye Feng was very satisfied. He did not expect that the strengthening of his muscles and bones by spiritual energy would bring him such great benefits. Of course, Ye Feng also understood that this was the effect of the first refinement of hair and washing of marrow, and it was unlikely that there would be such a significant increase in the future.

Ten days passed in a flash. On this day, it was the village testing day. Ye Feng and Ye Hao got up early. When they got up, their mother, Ling Wanrong, had already prepared their meals.

"You two, come over and eat quickly!" As soon as the two came out of their rooms, Ling Wanrong stood at the door of the living room and called out to them.

"Mother! (Mom!)" The two walked over and greeted Ling Wanrong.

"Let's eat!" Ling Wanrong looked at her two tall and handsome sons and smiled.

Ling Wanrong had prepared a very rich meal today, surpassing any previous one. Today was the most important day in her two sons' lives, especially for her eldest son, Ye Feng, who was about to come of age. This might be his last chance to join a sect. She could not help them in any other way, so she prepared the best meal for them.

Ye Feng looked at his mother and then at the food on the table, sighing inwardly. The bear paws of a violent brown bear, the tendon meat of a fanged wild boar, the flesh of a green wolf with blue eyes, and a few vegetables. Even during the annual sacrifice, their family's meals had never been so rich. Especially the look of expectation in his mother's eyes, it was like the scene before the college entrance exam in his previous life.

For a moment, the dining table was filled with laughter. After eating, the whole family went to the village training ground.

On the Tianlang Continent, the most important place in every village was the training ground. Next to the training ground was the most sacred place in the village, the Martial Arts Pavilion, where martial arts manuals were stored. Although there were only some basic manuals inside, it was the most important place in the village. Without the permission of the village chief and the coach, no one could enter casually.

When the whole family arrived at the training ground, there were already many people there.

As expected, everyone in the village, regardless of age or gender, came to the training ground to participate in this grand event held every three years.

"Brother, are you really not going to participate?" Outside the crowd, Ye Hao looked at Ye Feng and asked.

Yesterday, when he asked Ye Feng how his preparations were, Ye Feng told him that he would not participate in the grand ceremony for the sect's recruitment of disciples. This surprised Ye Hao greatly. Although he was young, he knew how much Ye Feng valued this matter. Others might not know the efforts his elder brother had put into preparing for this recruitment ceremony, but he did.

The last time Ye Feng took the medicine to strengthen his meridians, he had already told him about it and even arranged for the aftermath. But he did not expect his elder brother to give up now.

Hearing this, Ye Feng nodded silently.

"Why? Isn't joining the sect your dream?" Seeing Ye Feng nod, Ye Hao pondered for a moment and then asked.

When Ye Feng said this yesterday, he was very surprised, but when he asked for the reason, Ye Feng did not answer.

"Xiao Hao, in the past, I wanted to join the sect not because of a dream, but because joining the sect could change our family's life. Your talent is very good. If I could join the sect and have the resources of the sect, your cultivation would be very fast. But now you are only ten years old and have already reached the middle stage of the quasi-warrior realm. You can definitely join the sect, so there is no need for me to join. Besides, we can't both join. Mother's age is getting older, and someone needs to stay to take care of her! Besides, you know my talent. They might not even want me!"

Ye Hao had a great chance to join the sect and would not be able to stay at home for a long time in the future, so Ye Feng explained to him.

Hearing Ye Feng's words, Ye Hao's eyes turned red, and he lowered his head silently.

"Xiao Feng, your mother hopes you will participate. It will be a perfect ending to your youth. Even if you are not selected, what does it matter? It's an experience in life. Besides, your mother can take care of herself! If you insist on not participating, your mother will die in front of you!"

Just as Ye Feng finished speaking, Ling Wanrong's voice came from behind them.

Hearing Ling Wanrong's voice, Ye Feng turned around and saw that her eyes were filled with tears, but her expression was very stern.

Ye Feng's understanding made Ling Wanrong very happy, but she absolutely could not let her son's future be blocked because of her. She knew her eldest son's stubborn personality; once he made up his mind, even ten strong oxen could not pull him back. That's why she said such harsh words.

"Mother..."

Ye Feng looked at his mother and called out, but Ling Wanrong's expression did not soften at all. After a moment's thought, he said, "Alright, I'll participate!" Ye Feng knew Ling Wanrong's character; she would do what she said. So he did not plan to tell her, and if she found out he did not participate in the end, it would be too late. He did not expect that she would hear him talking to Ye Hao, which made him very helpless.

About an hour later, almost everyone in the village came to the training ground.

Ye Feng and the other teenagers under sixteen also gathered at the entrance of the Martial Arts Pavilion to wait.

Niu Jiao Village had over 170 households, and there were 83 teenagers between six and sixteen years old. Today, no one would be absent, even those without cultivation talent came back.

What if they couldn't cultivate? They still had to try. What if they passed by chance and were noticed by some important figures in Qing Shuang City? So even those who knew they had no hope came.

Actually, in the eyes of all the villagers, Ye Feng belonged to this group.

"Ye Feng, you waste of space, are you here to participate in the selection? Aren't you just wasting everyone's time?"

While they were waiting, a teenager of about fourteen or fifteen, with a slightly arrogant demeanor, glanced at Ye Feng and said disdainfully.

Hearing the teenager's words, Ye Feng turned around and glanced at him indifferently, then turned his head and stopped talking, as if the person in front of him did not exist.

This teenager was called Lin Ming. He had always been at odds with Ye Feng. Although the whole village was a community, there were still people who got along and those who did not. Coincidentally, Ye Feng and Lin Ming did not get along.

"Lin Ming..."

"Xiao Hao, don't mind him. If a dog bites you, are you going to bite it back?"

Ye Feng ignored it, but Ye Hao could not help but shout angrily at Lin Ming. However, just as he shouted, Ye Feng stopped him.