I will eventually become a divine being through accumulating constantly

Xue Jing expressed his gratitude.

"In that case, Little Junior Brother, you keep practicing~ I have all the medicinal materials here, and that small room over there is for preparing medicines. You can use it as you wish."

Zhu Shanying pointed to an inconspicuous door in the corner of the practice room.

"I still have some things to take care of. I'll come back to have lunch with you at noon, and then I'll teach you how to ride a horse."

The girl said, waved her hand, and left the practice room.

Xue Jing suppressed the strange feeling of being taken care of, shook his head, took a deep breath, and began his daily training.

...

Elsewhere, outside Qingcheng, in a deserted wilderness.

Jiao Hongyuan opened his eyes and started coughing fiercely.

"Cough, cough, cough—"

With each cough, he spat out a thick, almost solid lump of black blood, involuntarily covering his chest with his hand, his face twisted in pain.

Li Chengxuan, sitting beside him, quickly reached out to rub his back and asked with concern,

"Master... are you all right?"

Jiao Hongyuan waved his hand and looked down at his dantian area.

There, his clothing was torn open in a circular hole, and his bare abdomen featured a spiral wound about three fingers wide.

It should have been a large hole, but he controlled his muscles to forcefully contract it into a spiral shape.

"A Kungfu Body cultivated for nearly sixty years couldn't withstand a single blow from a junior."

Jiao Hongyuan sighed.

"Time spares no one."

If only he were twenty years younger, would he have been bullied to this extent?

"Master, what should we do now?"

Li Chengxuan asked in a low voice.

He was a bit panicked.

The master he viewed as nearly invincible was beaten to such a state...

And perhaps, it might possibly, seemingly, be his fault?

No, Li Chengxuan denied the thought.

He had gone to the Hidden Dragon Dojo to seek justice for Kaiping brother's death and to properly inquire from that Xue Jing what had actually happened.

Only, he had not expected the people of Hidden Dragon Dojo to be so dishonorable in martial arts...

Hisss...no wait, they actually seemed quite honorable, only letting Xue Jing, who was younger than him, fight him...

Forget it, none of that matters now, what's done is done.

Even though he had 99% of the problem, didn't the people from Hidden Dragon Dojo have 1% of the blame?

Both parties had issues; pondering who was right and who was wrong was pointless.

Li Chengxuan thought to himself.

Jiao Hongyuan looked at Li Chengxuan with a complex expression.

It was as if disappointment mixed with something else.

He sighed, dispirited,

"Chengxuan, you should head to Maple City immediately, the elimination contest is about to start."

Li Chengxuan said softly, "But... it's still more than a week away, I wanted to spend more time with you."

Jiao Hongyuan glared at him.

"Don't you understand the meaning? I'm asking you to get out of the way!"

"Hidden Dragon Dojo is not to be trifled with. They won't let this go."

"And they're well aware, I won't let this go either."

Jiao Hongyuan clutched at his stomach.

"What comes next is not something for a youngster like you to get involved in, hurry up and go to Maple City. Your injuries also need to be treated; I know a very skillful doctor there..."

Just then, a deep voice suddenly came from nearby.

"Enough, save these trivial matters for later."

A man clad in a black trench coat covering his entire body was sitting on a fallen dead tree trunk nearby, immensely tall.

His arms were propped up on his knees, his broad palms stacked together, his green eyes emotionlessly staring at Jiao Hongyuan and his companion.

The man had no hair on his head, with six-button-like objects embedded on top, his face partially covered with a black mask stitched into the skin around his eyes.

Even though he was sitting, his stature was evidently immense, easily over two meters tall.

As soon as Li Chengxuan heard the man speak, he became deathly silent.

The reason they were able to escape from the monster of Hidden Dragon Dojo was entirely because this man had held back the monster.

"Jiao Hongyuan, how is the task I gave you progressing?"

"The conference is only two months away, don't tell me that's all the progress we've made."

The man's voice carried a mechanical chill, devoid of any emotion.

Jiao Hongyuan coughed a few times before replying slowly,

"The mature individuals have already been cultivated and are currently accumulating in number, why the rush?"

The man stared at him for a while before nodding and saying,

"That's for the best."

"Moreover, this is the last time I'm helping you... the company must not have any involvement in this matter, you understand."

he man stated emotionlessly.

"One must deal with one's own affairs."

Jiao Hongyuan huffed.

"I never had any expectations, there's no need to mention it again."

The man gave him a deep look.

"As long as you understand."

...

Toward noon, Xue Jing stopped the blade he was swinging and sheathed the Crouching Rabbit.

[You have completed a session of Sword Skills practice, Weapon Strike Experience Points +98]

Having glanced at the panel, Xue Jing thought for a moment, decided not to continue training, and instead opened the door and left the training room.

He walked down the stairs to the third floor, where Zhu Shanying had once shown him to the indoor swimming pool.

It was a large pool, twenty meters long and ten meters wide. Xue Jing looked at the blue water, the distinct smell of chlorine from the pool reaching his nose.

He removed his clothes, folded them neatly with Crouching Rabbit, and placed them on the ground before walking over to a nearby cabinet and opening it.

Inside were various sizes of unopened swim trunks. Xue Jing selected a larger pair to put on.

Bare-bodied except for the swim trunks, he displayed his perfectly sculpted body in the air as if crafted by divine hands.

Approaching the edge of the pool, Xue Jing squatted down and scooped up some water with his hand.

He then leapt forward with a splash, diving into the pool.

He awkwardly fluttered in the water in a butterfly stroke form.

'It seems I've never swum in this lifetime.'

Xue Jing thought while swimming.

In a previous life, he had learned a bit and knew how to butterfly swim, a legacy from that past life.

Xue Jing swam in the pool, initially clumsy, knowing the technique in his mind but not yet instinctive in his body.

However, the superb body control of a martial artist allowed him to rapidly familiarize himself with everything about the butterfly stroke, his swimming skills improving at an incredible pace.

"Splashing—"

Soon, he shot through the water like an arrow, shuttling back and forth in the pool like a torpedo, stirring up a great commotion.

His powerful physical condition, enhanced by Running and breathing skills, allowed him almost no need for rest, swimming tirelessly.

After an unknown amount of time, a prompt suddenly appeared on the panel.

[Conditions met, Skill Activated: Swimming]

[Swimming Lv1 (0/300)]

Seeing the panel's notification, Xue Jing pushed off powerfully, propelling himself to the shore and catching his breath briefly.

"Sure enough, a skill can be activated."

Xue Jing let out a breath and spoke.

He looked at the water surface, feeling an instinctive familiarity.

As if he was naturally a creature meant to live under water.

Xue Jing kicked off the pool wall and dove back into the water.

This time, his movements were much smoother and more graceful than before, almost naturally elegant.

Like a fish that dwells in the sea, born belonging to the ocean.

Even without using his arms, just by the agile movements of his body, he swiftly traversed through the water.

"Puff ha!"

Xue Jing raised his head out of the water, somewhat delighted.

"My swimming has significantly improved, and even my physical condition, balance, and control have evenly increased a lot."

He felt the enhancement that [Swimming] brought him.

"Regarded as the best sport in the world, perhaps unparalleled, it comprehensively exercises every part of the human body."

"Aside from demanding conditions, it is a nearly flawless perfect sport."

"Awesome!"

Xue Jing flipped over and dove back into the water.

...