Chapter 105 – Skin Training, Xia Zhiqing

“Teacher has summoned us back.”

Qin Feng said, “This time, accepting a direct disciple is merely a side task.”

“It’s you all, not us.”

Lin Zhiqin, expressionless, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and watched the pale blue smoke slowly dissipate in front of him.

“Teacher has always hated to see me.”

Qin Feng noticed a fleeting sadness in Lin Zhiqin’s eyes and suddenly seemed to understand something. He spoke softly with a sudden realization.

“Senior Brother Lin has withdrawn several years’ worth of resource quotas in one go to nurture Lu Yuan. It turns out he wants to use this to mend his relationship with Teacher. It seems like Senior Brother Lin hasn’t been completely idle in Jiaoyan these past few years…”

Qin Feng tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if trying to smile.

“However, Senior Brother Lin might be disappointed. Although Lu Yuan’s talent is decent, he is far from impressing Teacher. Firstly, with his current strength, he surely won’t pass the assessment. Secondly, in terms of qualifications alone, there are quite a few candidates better than him. Unless Senior Brother Lin can find…”

“Enough!”

Lin Zhiqin abruptly interrupted Qin Feng before he could finish.

“What do you want from me?”

Lin Zhiqin’s tone turned a bit icy.

Qin Feng looked at him calmly, without speaking.

After a few seconds, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Senior Brother Lin, please hear me out. What I mean is, unless you can find a martial arts prodigy like that person, maybe… Teacher might really change his mind.”

As Qin Feng finished his sentence, Lin Zhiqin’s hand holding the cigarette trembled violently, dropping a large ash.

He suddenly turned to look at Qin Feng, his expression stunned, eyes filled with deep incredulity.

…

“Hiss—”

Lu Yuan sat leaning against the wall of the training room, inspecting his hands, feet, and various parts of his body, wincing in pain.

“So this is Skin Training? No one told me it would hurt this much…”

As soon as Lin Zhiqin left, Lu Yuan entered a state of [absolute concentration]. He attempted to perform the set of [Spirit Crane Body] movements that Lin Zhiqin had taught him earlier.

He couldn’t get past the twenty-fifth move.

It wasn’t that the move was particularly difficult.

It was the excruciating pain of his skin and flesh tearing all over his body that forcibly pulled him out of his [absolute concentration].

Lu Yuan had figured out that these body training techniques aimed to strengthen the body by repeatedly destroying and healing it, over and over again.

The principle was sound.

Human cells do indeed become denser and more resilient with repeated external damage.

But the process was incredibly painful.

Lu Yuan’s whole body now looked “white with a hint of red.”

Not the usual kind of white with a rosy tint, but a disturbing sight of bright red patches and streaks under his fair, delicate skin, indicating severe bruising.

Even a light poke with his finger caused intense pain.

However, this was when the power of his 15 constitution points became evident.

Lu Yuan watched as the red patches on his body faded at a visible speed, and the pain quickly subsided.

In less than five minutes, most of the bruises and tears under his skin had healed about seventy to eighty percent, and he felt “fully revived” again.

Lu Yuan tried the initial move of the [Spirit Crane Body] and felt in good condition.

“Lin Zhiqin probably didn’t expect my recovery to be this strong. The faster the recovery, the faster the progress in body training. At this rate, I might be able to fully complete the Skin Training Level in less than a month…”

Lu Yuan scratched his arm with his fingernail, pondering, “If I combine this with some impact resistance training, will the effect of Skin Training be even better?”

He had seen in movies and novels that many martial artists trained this way.

Things like hitting the body with sticks, piercing the throat with iron spears, barehanded frying iron sand… and even more extreme methods like fire and ice training, subjecting the body to extreme heat and cold simultaneously.

“I’ll ask about it later.”

Lin Zhiqin had left in a hurry, and Lu Yuan still had many questions he hadn’t had the chance to ask.

Without further delay, he resumed practicing the [Spirit Crane Body]. Whenever he couldn’t take the pain anymore, he would stop and wait for his injuries to heal.

Repeating this process, Lu Yuan suddenly remembered that there was a follow-up body training session waiting for him upstairs. It was nearly two hours later by then.

“That’s enough for now. If I push too hard, I might end up with hidden injuries…”

After this session, Lu Yuan felt a persistent dull pain in some areas of his body, likely from accumulated bruises.

He checked his professional panel and saw that his [Spirit Crane Body] had gained 12 experience points.

The growth rate was acceptable. Not too fast, not too slow.

After all, [Spirit Crane Body] was an advanced skill, just one tier below a killer move.

It was normal for the training to be more challenging.

“I wonder if [Spirit Crane Body] is a prerequisite for [Crane Shadow Float]. If it is, what level do I need to reach to upgrade the killer move [Crane Shadow Float] to level 2?”

Seeing the note “temporarily unable to upgrade” still next to [Crane Shadow Float], Lu Yuan sighed, packed up his things, and left the training room.

When he reached the second floor of the martial arts gym, he found the Massage Room as Lin Zhiqin had mentioned. The follow-up procedures were already arranged.

First, he was led to soak in a medicinal bath for ten minutes.

It was the same type he had often used after practicing the crane stance.

After the bath, he was taken to a private room to wait.

Soon, a middle-aged woman, around forty, carrying a box, walked in.

“Lie down on your stomach.”

The woman instructed Lu Yuan to lie on the small bed in the center of the room.

As soon as he lay down, he felt a cold hand grab the waistband of his underwear, startling him. He quickly asked, “What are you doing?”

“The secret ointment for Skin Training must be applied all over your body.”

“Can I apply it myself down there?”

“Sure, I’ll do the rest first.”

Lu Yuan managed to retain a bit of his dignity.

The middle-aged woman then took out a jar of milky white ointment and started applying it to his body, covering him completely, even his face wasn’t spared.

After Lu Yuan went into the bathroom to handle the more private areas himself, the woman brought out a roll of silver needles and began performing acupuncture on him.

“Stimulating certain special acupoints on your body can aid in recovery and also strengthen your skin and flesh. Combined with the martial arts gym’s secret ointment, the Skin Training will be even more effective…”

The middle-aged woman explained to Lu Yuan while performing acupuncture.

In no time, she had turned him into a “porcupine.”

After finishing, the woman picked up her box and left, saying she would return in half an hour to remove the needles once the ointment had been fully absorbed.

Before leaving, she mentioned that the ointment might cause his skin to turn slightly red, which was normal and would soon fade.

With needles in various parts of his body, Lu Yuan couldn’t lie down, sit, or even lean comfortably. He could only stand there, bored.

He remembered there was a half-length mirror in the bathroom, so he took his mobile phone and snapped a selfie in front of it.

Watching the seconds tick away on the wall clock, he suddenly recalled what Lin Zhiqin had mentioned about the direct disciple candidate.

“Someone with the Surname Xia. Who would spend twenty million to buy me an assessment slot?”

Pondering this, Lu Yuan picked up his phone and called Ge Wenjun to ask about the girl he had saved earlier in the rainy alley.

This time, Ge Wenjun didn’t play coy. However, it seemed he was in a meeting, so he quickly told Lu Yuan two names before hanging up.

“Xia Chong, Xia Zhiqing… they really are surnamed Xia.”

Lu Yuan’s eyes lit up as he searched for information on these two names.

He found that Xia Chong was the CEO of a pharmaceutical raw materials company in Jiaoyan, making him a relatively successful local entrepreneur.

His daughter, Xia Zhiqing, was born with autism. Although she was later cured, she was left with a condition where she couldn’t speak when nervous…

“She can’t speak when nervous…”

Lu Yuan blinked and couldn’t help but laugh.

“No wonder she never spoke during those daily calls. From her breathing, it was clear she was quite nervous. So, this is the reason.”

Lu Yuan had long suspected that the silent calls he had been receiving daily were from the girl he had saved in the rainy alley.

Now, his suspicion was confirmed.

“Twenty million. Just for saving Xia Zhiqing’s life, they really went all out…”

“If only they had just given me the twenty million directly instead of buying a spot as a candidate for the direct disciple position.”

Honestly, Lu Yuan wasn’t particularly interested in becoming a direct disciple of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style.

He had just demonstrated his exceptional martial arts talent to Lin Zhiqin. Even if he didn’t become a direct disciple, Lin Zhiqin would likely still teach him the body training techniques.

Worst-case scenario, if Lin Zhiqin refused to teach him, he could always switch to another martial arts gym. He didn’t have to be tied down to just one style.

Spending twenty million on this was unnecessary.

With that amount of money, his family wouldn’t have to struggle as they do now.

“Why didn’t they discuss it with me first…”

Lost in thoughts about the twenty million, Lu Yuan suddenly felt a burning sensation all over his body.

Looking down, he saw his skin turning red, resembling a boiled shrimp.

“The secret ointment for Skin Training is starting to take effect…”

Lu Yuan quickly began pacing around the room.

The woman who applied the ointment had mentioned that moving around would help with the absorption of the ointment’s Effect.

After pacing for about ten minutes, the burning sensation and redness gradually subsided.

“My skin does feel a bit firmer.”

Lu Yuan tugged at the skin on the back of his hand, unsure if it was a psychological effect or if the ointment was truly working.

…

“Bang!”

“Thud! Thud!”

That night, on the rooftop.

Wearing a tank top and shorts, Lu Yuan was focused on striking the Concrete Block in front of him.

Unlike before, this time the block was wrapped in a layer of black sandbags for protection.

Lu Yuan aimed his punches and kicks at the black sandbags.

After a series of strikes, Lu Yuan stopped and examined his hands, finding his knuckles red and swollen.

His legs also bore numerous red marks from the impact.

Touching the red areas, he noticed that the skin seemed to have hardened slightly, forming a layer of calluses.