10: Chapter 1: All About Hard Work, Steady Improvement

Jianglin City, Villa, early morning.

On a garden path damp with morning dew, Zhao Shiyu leaned into Zhou Bai's embrace, her eyes filled with shyness.

"Zhou Bai, aren't you afraid of being discovered?"

Zhao Shiyu's eyes carried a mix of purity and charm as she whispered.

"Did you forget? I have an S-grade Spiritual Thought Power talent. I'll naturally notice if someone comes. When that happens, we'll just hide in the bushes!"

Zhou Bai felt Zhao Shiyu's warmth and smiled.

Although Zhou Bai hadn't cultivated any Visualization Methods or spiritual martial arts, he was, after all, an S-grade spiritual talent, possessing strong innate potential in that area.

He was already using spiritual power to perceive his surroundings, warn of enemies, or check information.

After realizing this, Zhou Bai used learning points to increase his spiritual power to 30 Hz to better perceive his surroundings.

It's definitely not for the sake of studying better in the wild, definitely not, Zhou Bai thought to himself.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Then I can rest easy!"

Zhao Shiyu had a sudden realization and felt relieved.

"Zhou Bai, how do I feel like you've become much more formidable again?"

After a moment, Zhao Shiyu seemed to think of something and said to Zhou Bai.

While Zhao Shiyu used to get tired during their previous study sessions, it had never been like today... giving her a faint feeling of being unable to hold her own.

"I've entered the Second-Rank!"

Zhou Bai said slowly.

"Second-Rank??? Didn't you just get the Breathing Technique yesterday? And, Second-Rank?? Are you sure you don't mean just Martial Dao Entry Grade??"

Hearing Zhou Bai's words, Zhao Shiyu looked shocked, staring at Zhou Bai in disbelief.

Zhou Bai didn't say a word, instead directly stimulating his Qi and Blood Power.

Suddenly, a surge of majestic Qi and Blood Power churned from within Zhou Bai's system. This powerful blood qi left Zhao Shiyu stunned.

"It really... really is Second-Rank... You..."

Feeling the thick aura within Zhou Bai, Zhao Shiyu couldn't even speak straight.

Zhao Shiyu had personally watched Chen Jianghe give the Breathing Technique to Zhou Bai yesterday.

By any count, it had only been about a dozen hours until this morning.

And Zhou Bai had come to find her after spending only an hour in the martial arts room looking at the Breathing Technique yesterday.

In other words, Zhou Bai learned an A-grade Breathing Technique in one hour, entered the martial path, and broke through to the Second-Rank while he was at it.

Thinking of this, Zhao Shiyu felt a bit dizzy; this was beyond her understanding.

There are no shortcuts in martial cultivation. Even those top SSS-grade geniuses have to follow the steps and practice slowly under a teacher's guidance.

Yet, Zhou Bai did it in over an hour...

"How... how did you do it?"

Zhao Shiyu looked at Zhou Bai with a face full of shock and asked.

"Hmm? How did I do it?"

Zhou Bai recalled the scene of himself diligently using learning points to upgrade yesterday, then said with a serious face,

"It's all thanks to hard work and talent!"

Hearing Zhou Bai's words, Zhao Shiyu's heart stalled. One hour of hard work...

Isn't that just pure talent?

"As expected, in this world, talent is the most important thing!"

Zhao Shiyu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Zhao Shiyu had an A-grade Vegetation Vitality talent. Back then, it took her over half a month just to enter the martial path, let alone reach the Second-Rank...

Zhao Shiyu could now understand why those top universities used talent as the sole criterion; a powerful talent against a low-level talent was a complete dimensional strike, they weren't even on the same level.

She also understood why Chen Jianghe wanted to recruit Zhou Bai...

"Hmph, so what if you broke through to the Second-Rank? You're still going to be suppressed by me now. Let's see how this young lady suppresses you, a double S-grade peerless genius!"

Zhao Shiyu wasn't one to wallow in self-doubt, so she spoke aggressively,

"Before, seeing that your strength was insufficient, I didn't use my full power. This time, you're finished. I'm going all out..."

"Bring it on, you enchantress. Don't even think about suppressing me!"

Zhou Bai then replied softly...

...

In the following days, Zhou Bai worked hard at studying every day, accumulating learning points.

Knowing that Zhou Bai had entered the Second-Rank, Zhao Shiyu would also spar with him, helping him hone and learn martial skills.

However, the more she practiced with Zhou Bai, the more shocked Zhao Shiyu became. Not only did Zhou Bai's blood qi improve rapidly and steadily, but his comprehension of martial skills was also fast to an occasionally appalling degree.

The B-grade Mountain Splitting Fist seemed to have reached the pinnacle of perfection under Zhou Bai's use.

Zhao Shiyu, who had practiced B-grade martial skills for several years, was completely no match for Zhou Bai.

"I'm done, I'm done. You're just a freak!"

In the martial arts room, dripping with sweat and her face pale, Zhao Shiyu spoke with a look of frustration and helplessness.

Originally, Zhao Shiyu thought she could use her Third-Rank realm to crush Zhou Bai.

But Zhou Bai's Mountain Splitting Fist was simply too powerful, and he even had an A-grade martial skill that pressed Zhao Shiyu so hard she could barely breathe.

Not to mention, Zhou Bai was a top-tier Lightning-type talent, and his attacks carried quite a bit of lightning power.

Although Zhou Bai didn't actively trigger it, it still brought a powerful sense of pressure to Zhao Shiyu.

Zhou Bai smiled slightly and stopped the fight.

During these ten days, through daily study, Zhou Bai's learning points increased by over a thousand more.

Zhou Bai added 600 points to his blood qi, entering the mid-stage of the Second-Rank.

The dividing line for a Second-Rank Martial Artist's Qi and Blood Power is 5,000 cal. Once it exceeds 5,000 cal, one becomes a Third-Rank.

Furthermore, after entering the Third-Rank, one can use Qi and Blood Power for Bone Tempering.

Every stage of Bone Tempering provides a massive boost to one's physical constitution.

Zhou Bai also extravagantly added 1,000 Hz to his spirit.

Upon reaching 1,000 Hz of spiritual power, Zhou Bai's perception became increasingly sharp, and many of Zhao Shiyu's moves were easily seen through by him.

Even though Zhao Shiyu's blood qi reached over 8,000 cal and she had completed two stages of Bone Tempering, she was still no match for Zhou Bai.

"Zhou Bai, I'm afraid your current strength could directly defeat a Third-Rank Martial Artist with three stages of Bone Tempering!"

Zhao Shiyu leaned gently into Zhou Bai's arms and said slowly.

After entering the Third-Rank, blood qi is no longer the most important thing; Bone Tempering is more crucial.

With each stage of Bone Tempering, the body's potential is developed.

Three stages of Bone Tempering is considered outstanding among the Third-Rank.

"By the way, Zhou Bai, our school has a myriad beast blood pool, which is quite effective for increasing blood qi. Since you've already entered the Second-Rank, you can use that myriad beast blood pool to boost your Qi and Blood Power!"

After a moment, Zhao Shiyu seemed to think of something and said to Zhou Bai.

"The myriad beast blood pool sounds pretty good. Then let's go to the school and see what Azure Bird Academy is really like!"

Zhou Bai said slowly.

Zhao Shiyu nodded and wanted to say something more, but soon, she was unable to speak.

The studious Zhou Bai began studying again...

Zhao Shiyu naturally couldn't resist...

...