In the training room, the beating continued.
Accompanied by the sounds of flesh colliding and screams of agony.
Zhao Xiu was the first to give in, able to handle only ten percent of Kuang Tu’s fist strength.
He lay on the ground, feeling as if his entire body was about to give out, watching the still persistent Jiang Weishan in the distance, as well as Zhou Bai who kept crawling toward the door, trying to escape, and he thought to himself:
"Jiang Weishan is one thing, he’s a second-realm monk, but what’s the deal with this Zhou Bai? His ability to take a hit is even stronger than mine, and after taking so many punches from Teacher Kuang Tu with fifty percent more strength, he’s still hopping around."
"I just don’t know why he likes to imitate a cat meowing."
Although she had mountain-like defensive power and an immovable recovery ability, Christina still couldn’t withstand Kuang Tu’s relentless assault and was the second to fall.
Finally, the second-realm Jiang Weishan lasted another ten minutes before falling to the ground, exhausted. He looked at Zhou Bai beside him and smiled, "Kid, you’ve got a good physique there, to hold on for so long in the zeroth realm."
Christina’s eyes were vacant, her body in too much pain to speak. She had realized that there was something peculiar about Kuang Tu’s fists; the beating was only superficial, the more important role was to help them with Body Refinement, ravaging their physical bodies.
Then they saw Kuang Tu roll out three large wooden barrels, with steaming, bubbly dark green liquid already prepared inside.
"This is a medicinal bath, all of you get in and soak," stated Kuang Tu. "Getting beaten up like this every day is the best training for your physical bodies and will. The more severe the beating now, the faster your cultivation level will increase afterwards."
With that, Kuang Tu invoked the power of his Primordial Spirit to strip away their clothes, tossing them into the wooden barrels as if they were little chickens.
"After you’re done soaking, clean up the place yourself, I’m leaving." Kuang Tu waved his hand and then departed, leaving the three behind.
His time was exceedingly precious, being able to spend a whole morning training students was already a favor on behalf of Jian Xing and the three indeed had talent, they were among the most outstanding students of Dao School.
Inside the medicinal bath, Jiang Weishan and Zhao Xiu let out groans, feeling a warm sensation throughout their bodies as their fatigued selves started to recover.
Yet they heard Zhou Bai scream on the other side, his hands covering his body, his face a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness.
Jiang Weishan turned his head and smiled at Zhou Bai, "What’s wrong, Zhou Bai? Not used to soaking together?"
Christina frowned and turned away, crouching down so that only her head was above water.
Zhao Xiu curiously said, "Zhou Bai, don’t tell me you’re shy? We’re all men here, what’s the big deal about soaking together?" He even patted Jiang Weishan on the shoulder, chuckling, "You’ve got a nicely developed deltoid there, I noticed your back’s defensive power has improved today."
Christina silently moved a bit further away from the two, "Don’t touch me! I hate it when strangers touch me!"
...
Later that night in the dormitory.
"This medicinal bath is truly miraculous," Zhou Bai said, seated on his dormitory chair, moving his hands and feet. Although there was still a faint soreness, he had largely recovered.
"No, it’s probably not just the medicinal bath, it’s also related to the recovery power I’ve developed by being immobile."
Zhou Bai felt the surging power within him, his body almost fully recovered, certain he could participate in training again tomorrow morning.
But...
Zhou Bai turned his head to look at Jing Xiu beside him.
He saw Jing Xiu squatting by the bed, staring at the white cat on it.
Christina was lying on the bed with her belly up, her tongue lolling out, looking as though she was already dead.
Jing Xiu’s heart ached as she said, "Brother Zhou, why did you cut Tina’s fur? She looks so sad; she hasn’t moved for half an hour."
Zhou Bai chuckled, "Don’t worry, it’s nothing; she’s just a bit tired. This cat played too wildly during the day."
Jing Xiu stroked Christina’s head with concern, "Don’t be sad, Tina, your fur will grow back."
Meanwhile, Elsa had already excitedly approached with a collar in her mouth, constantly rubbing against Jing Xiu.
Jing Xiu had been walking Zhou Bai’s dog during this time, so Elsa got excited about going out as soon as she saw Jing Xiu.
Jing Xiu patted Elsa’s head, "Good Elsa, I’ll take you out soon."
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She turned to Zhou Bai and said, "By the way, Brother Zhou, Xia Li wants to treat you, me, and Qian Wangsun to dinner. She’s thankful we saved her."
Zhou Bai raised an eyebrow, "She struck it rich? Treating all of us to dinner? Is she going to go bankrupt?"
Jing Xiu smiled, "The assessments just ended, and Xia Li came in second this time, with a reward of over five hundred points."
"Oh?" Zhou Bai remembered that when their special class had their practical assessment, the other regular grades should have also had their bi-monthly assessment.
’That being said, if one stayed in the regular grades and took first place each time, the points would really add up, huh? I got 2000 points for coming in first last time. If I could take first place in the bi-monthly assessments, that would mean 1000 points every month.’
However, Zhou Bai soon thought that the various cultivation materials exclusively supplied to the special class, like Liu Bingxin’s Purely Jun forge, his own Body Refinement medicated baths, and the instructors Ying Hui brought in, were worth far more than a mere 1000 points.
Zhou Bai curiously asked, "Xia Li got second place? Who got first, Liu Xian?"
Jing Xiu nodded, and Zhou Bai sighed. Many of his classmates from the same grade, including Jian Xing, Du Bing, and Yun Shi, had sacrificed themselves, Kong Zheng had dropped out after losing a limb, and he, along with Zuo Dao and Qian Wangsun, had gone to the special class—leaving behind few familiar faces.
"By the way, Jing Xiu, what place did you get this time?"
Jing Xiu said proudly, "Third place, but I think about how I only managed to get into the top three because you, Zuo Dao, and Qian Wangsun went to the special class. So, what do you think? Xia Li is treating, will you go, Brother Zhou?"
"Go! Of course, I’ll go!"
Jing Xiu said, "Then, Brother Zhou, don’t forget to remind Qian Wangsun, huh? We’ll all have dinner together tomorrow evening."
...
The next morning, Zhou Bai looked at Christina lying ’dead’ in his sea of consciousness and persuaded, "Tina, it’s time for class."
"Trash Body Refinement class, the most trash course in Dao School," said Christina with a face full of indifference. "If you want to attend, go ahead. I don’t want to attend such a trashy class."
Seeing Christina’s demeanor, Zhou Bai helplessly massaged his temples. After trying to convince her again and seeing her absolute refusal to attend the Body Refinement class, he said with resignation, "Fine, I’ll start attending Body Refinement class myself from today."
Zhou Bai, rarely in control of his body, arrived at the training room. Kuang Tu expressed satisfaction, "Not bad, not bad, you’ve recovered quickly. Looks like I need to push you even harder today."
Following a series of inhumanely brutal cultivations that ravaged their bodies, Zhou Bai, Jiang Weishan, and Zhao Xiu all lay together in the medicinal baths.
Zhou Bai’s eyes widened vacantly as he felt as though his body was no longer his own.
Jiang Weishan grinned at the two men, "Heh heh heh, today’s beating was so satisfying, I feel like my Golden Bell Shield is about to break through the 12th level."
Zhao Xiu nodded solemnly, "Zhou Bai, ever since you joined us, the teacher seems more energized when he hits us. I feel like I trained my erector spinae muscles pretty well today."
Watching the two muscular men enjoy themselves and appear happier the more they were beaten, Zhou Bai turned his face away, feeling completely out of place in the conversation.
However, by personally undergoing the Body Refinement training, although he lost Lazy Points, Zhou Bai felt that not only had his physical body been tempered, but his willpower had also undergone tremendous strengthening.
’Training in Body Refinement seems to really boost willpower,’ Zhou Bai reflected inwardly. ’The path of cultivation is filled with danger; stronger willpower can also better reduce the risk of anomalies.’