Inside the Principal's office, the Principal poured a cup of tea and handed it to Old Fart Wei. With a voice full of gratitude, he said, "You finally found a suitable disciple. For many years you refused to see me, but I knew you would never give up so easily."
Old Fart Wei poured the tea into his mouth and enjoyed it before opening his mouth.
"Haha, you are the only one who still understands me. I have observed and studied Ah Mo Li for several years, and I know what kind of temperament this kid has. He is not too bad, and he is the embodiment of my younger self. Muahaha!"
The Principal smiled.
"Then I suppose this little rascal must be arrogant and conceited."
"He is indeed arrogant, but not that arrogant, and he has a simple and honest personality. On the other hand, this fellow… he is crazy. If it wasn't because he cannot adapt to sword arts, I definitely would not bear to send him onto the path of a close-combat expert."
Old Fart Wei looked regretful.
"Oh." The Principal was slightly surprised. "To receive praise from you is not easy. I had already expected something from him. To be able to choose the path of becoming a close-combat expert, he must be special."
"Haha, he is an interesting kid." said Old Fart Wei.
The Principal laughed.
"For you to come visit me, there must be some hidden motive. Tell me, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Heh, actually it's not much." Old Fart Wei did not feel embarrassed.
"Ah Mo Li has no problems learning the Wild Earth Blade, but he lacks a sparring ground. I want to borrow your training ground at Crystal Sky for him to practice.
"As for Tang Tian… he is no longer young. He is seventeen years old now, but he only finished cultivating his fundamental martial arts not long ago. If this continues, he will fall further behind."
"Seventeen years old?" The smile on the Principal's face faded.
He looked at Old Fart Wei.
"He just finished cultivating fundamental martial arts?"
"Yes!" Old Fart Wei smiled. "But you should not underestimate him…"
The Principal raised his hand and cut Old Fart Wei off.
"I am not underestimating him, but I do not think a seventeen-year-old who has just finished cultivating fundamental martial arts has any value worth nurturing. Change to someone else."
Old Fart Wei's smile faded and his brows furrowed.
"Are you saying you cannot help me?"
"I can help Ah Mo Li, but I do not see any value in nurturing Tang Tian." The Principal stood firmly.
"I just remembered, Tang Tian is the ultimate retainer. How could you bring such a student?"
Old Fart Wei said coldly, "Are you doubting my judgment?"
"Your heart is too soft, always moved by strange things," the Principal said coldly.
"You always believe the world will produce miracles. People without talent are destined to remain ordinary. Furthermore, he does not even have time left.
"When you came to find me, I was very happy. However, you brought someone with absolutely no potential. I cannot accept it. You are wasting your time, and wasting our relationship."
Old Fart Wei sneered.
"You are exactly the same as last time. Not even a little bit of mercy."
"That is why Crystal Sky Academy is the number one school in Star Wind City, while your Caramel Academy is the third from the bottom."
The Principal showed no intention of backing down.
Old Fart Wei was too lazy to argue further.
"Then let us meet at the Star Wind Martial Meet."
He turned and pushed open the door, walking out the moment he finished speaking.
When Tang Tian and Ah Mo Li saw Old Fart Wei's dark expression, neither of them said a word.
After returning to Caramel Academy, the two walked quietly behind him without even whispering.
Tang Tian quickly threw the matter to the back of his mind and continued practicing Flash Fist every day.
Although his efficiency was no longer as exaggerated as when he trained behind the Cross Door during Difficulty Training, he could still complete around four thousand repetitions of Flash Fist every day.
Tang Tian used the habit of Difficulty Training for his practice. He trained until he exhausted all his strength and overexerted himself, then continued using the Crane-Style Qi Manual to recover his body.
The progress of the Crane-Style Qi Manual was extremely fast.
The fact that Tang Tian could complete more than four thousand Flash Fists per day was strongly related to the Crane-Style Qi Manual.
Unknowingly, Tang Tian had already reached more than 160,000 repetitions of Flash Fist.
---
Third Difficulty Cycle Training
Tang Tian endured the suffering and continued throwing punches.
His fists vanished and appeared in the air, faster than before, moving rapidly.
His fists actually had an invisible thread connected to the True Power of the third-level Dantian pool.
With every punch, the True Power of the third-level Dantian pool would leak slightly into the meridians of Tang Tian's body.
This thread of True Power was as thin as cow hair, and Tang Tian did not notice it.
All these tiny threads of True Power followed Tang Tian's endless punches and gradually filled every corner of his body.
Although they were extremely small and few in number, ever since Tang Tian began cultivating the Crane-Style Qi Manual, he had already released more than 150,000 of them.
That meant 150,000 tiny threads of True Power.
They were like parts of a collective wave, constantly moving forward.
They passed through many isolated and tiny meridians which most people would never use in their entire lives. One by one, these meridians were activated by True Power, bursting with life.
In the human body, the core meridian system consists of twelve main channels, the most commonly used pathways.
They are wide and suitable for channeling True Power.
Apart from them, there are eight extraordinary meridians, which do not serve the same function as the twelve main channels. Instead, they form a natural system that many martial artists rely on.
Besides these, there are countless tiny and fine meridians forming a network, which many martial artists consider useless.
They are too small and fragile, and only a few can barely support True Power.
However, what Tang Tian did not know was that every punch he threw caused changes within his True Power.
Tang Tian continued punching.
He was not far from 200,000 repetitions.
After reaching 200,000 Flash Fists, he would be able to release a perfect Flash Fist.
In fact, in every ten punches, he could already release nine Flash Fists.
His Flash Fists carried his own personality—graceful and swift.
"Hu… Hu… Hu…"
Sweat dripped endlessly, but it did not affect his focused gaze.
Perhaps because he was approaching his target, Tang Tian did not feel tired at all.
Instead, he felt anticipation, and his punches became faster and faster.
The wind from his punches suddenly changed, becoming faster and stronger.
The True Power within the third-level Dantian pool seemed to be filled with stored energy and began surging upward.
Tang Tian completely forgot everything.
The only thing he could focus on was the trace of every punch.
He could clearly see each punch disappearing into the air and the tiny airflow formed by it.
Punch after punch.
The airflow in the air resembled flowing water channels that were broken by his punches.
---
The 200,000th Punch
Tang Tian's body trembled.
The violent True Power from the third-level Dantian pool surged as if something had shattered.
A clear and sharp crane cry echoed in his mind.
Tang Tian's fist suddenly disappeared in the air.
When his punch came out, a faint White Fist Aura enveloped his fist.
Tang Tian was stunned.
He stared blankly at his own fist.
Just now… that punch… Fist Aura.
He tried another punch.
That's right.
His fist shone with a faint White Fist Aura.
Fist Aura!
He had actually cultivated Fist Aura!
Tang Tian jumped with joy.
Although it was only a thin layer of Fist Aura, its power would be greatly enhanced.
Flash Fist was a Rank Two martial arts technique, focusing on muscle strength to generate power.
Because of that, fundamental martial arts and Flash Fist shared the same origin, making it impossible to produce Fist Aura.
True Fist Aura would not be blocked by swords or blades.
It had the power to shatter rocks and metals.
"Haha! Fist Aura! I actually cultivated Fist Aura! I really cultivated Fist Aura!"
The so-called White Fist Aura could only be produced by releasing True Power, which was the characteristic of Rank Three martial arts.
Ah Mo Li could release Blade Aura with his Groundbreaking Chop.
In the past, Tang Tian could release True Power, but he never managed to create Fist Aura.
This meant Tang Tian's Flash Fist had reached a level where he could start practicing Rank Three martial arts techniques.
After a while, Tang Tian calmed down and began thinking.
How could Flash Fist produce Fist Aura?
Flash Fist was a Rank Two technique. Logically, it should not be able to produce Fist Aura.
Suddenly he thought about the pulsating third-level Dantian pool and the cranes.
His heart leaped.
It was True Power.
He quickly sat down and examined the True Power inside his body.
The third-level Dantian pool was filled with True Power, making it difficult to find clues.
But when Tang Tian decided to throw another Flash Fist, a miracle happened.
A strand of True Power flowed out from the third-level Dantian pool into the cultivation pathway he normally used and directly into his fist.
Interesting.
Tang Tian continuously fired Flash Fists while focusing on what was happening inside his body.
The True Power in his body was unusually active.
With the Dantian as the source and the qi channels as roads, it was like a massive network covering Tang Tian's entire body.
When Tang Tian waved his arm, the network of True Power rapidly changed.
Many tiny threads of True Power began flowing toward his fist, as if obeying commands with the highest respect, forming the Fist Aura.
Tang Tian kept releasing Flash Fists to observe the changes in the True Power network.
He felt the changes were strangely familiar.
Wait a moment.
Tang Tian slapped his forehead.
The silhouette of a crane!
The True Power network covering his body had the structure of a crane.
Tang Tian's fist was the beak of the crane.
When Tang Tian threw a punch, True Power gathered at the crane's beak and formed Fist Aura.
When he withdrew his fist, the crane silhouette became loose and blurry again.
Crane-Style Qi!
This was incredible.
Tang Tian gasped in shock.
No wonder the Crane Sect was so powerful during their golden age.
They possessed such a powerful mental cultivation technique.
Tang Tian did not know that he had accidentally mastered the Crane-Style Qi Manual.
The current Crane Sect actually used a modified version of it.
The original Crane-Style Qi Manual gradually disappeared over time because of its principle.
Its cultivation path was extremely complicated.
If someone could not display the crane silhouette characteristic, it would be extremely difficult to cultivate.
Therefore, it required someone like Tang Tian to constantly develop martial arts techniques to open the tiny and isolated qi channels.
This process formed the Crane Body.
The Rank Three Silver-Grade Spirit Card — Crane-Style Qi Manual was best used by younger disciples of the Crane Sect.
The Crane Body formed the foundation of the Crane Sect's martial arts techniques and was the authentic tradition of the Crane Sect.
Unknowingly, Tang Tian had cultivated the Crane Body.
Now his fists contained the True Power of his entire body, gathering layer upon layer to form a current of force.
Sometimes, when tracing back from the results, the key points would suddenly become clear.
The Silver-Grade Spirit Card would remain with him for a month.
Tang Tian understood this and reacted immediately.
A large amount of comprehension flowed into his brain.
The more it flowed, the clearer his mind became.
Tang Tian suddenly saw the light.
Those tiny and seemingly useless qi channels could release explosive energy once activated by True Power.
The burst of energy was astonishing.
What surprised him even more was that once the Crane Body was cultivated, it could be used not only with fist techniques, but with all martial arts techniques.
Without wasting time, Tang Tian buried himself in even harder cultivation.
What was 200,000?
There was a milestone of 400,000 repetitions waiting for him.
Strengthen the Crane Body.
Comprehend his killing technique.
Tang Tian was powerful.