Volume One: The Ancient Painting of the Immortal Abode

Chapter 1: North Slope Academy

　　Wu Kingdom.

　　North Slope Mountain Range, North Slope Academy.

　　The academy is built against the mountain, covering several thousand acres, with courtyards and pavilions layered upon each other. As the largest academy in the Wu Kingdom, North Slope Academy has a strong martial atmosphere and has cultivated many civil and military officials for the kingdom. Young men across Wu Kingdom flock to North Slope Academy with great enthusiasm.

　　North Slope Academy is divided into the Lower Academy and the Upper Academy.

　　The Lower Academy has over a thousand students, most of them in their early teens, with strength at the first to third level of the Body Refining Stage.

　　The Upper Academy has about two hundred students, slightly older, fifteen or sixteen and above, with strength at the fourth to sixth level of the Body Refining Stage.

　　At the break of dawn, in the academy's martial training ground, over a thousand boys in blue training uniforms from the Lower Academy are practicing martial arts. Around the training ground, more than a dozen stern-faced instructors stand, urging the boys to diligently hone their skills.

　　"Bang, bang, bang!..."

　　Over a thousand boys are lined up neatly in the training ground, each with a thick wooden stake in front of them, kicking and punching the stakes to train their fists and legs. The uniform sound of fists and feet breaking through the air, and the rustling of clothes, echo throughout the entire training ground.

　　Fifteen-year-old Charles Bennett is among this large formation of students, practicing his punches and kicks.

　　"I've been stuck at the third level of the Body Refining Stage for years. I wonder when I'll finally break through!"

　　Charles Bennett thought to himself, punching and kicking the wooden stake with force, making it thud loudly. However, his strength was still not enough to break the stake.

　　...

　　"Martial cultivation is fundamentally about tempering the body, also known as the Body Refining Stage."

　　The chief instructor of the Lower Academy, an old man in a gray robe, stood with his hands behind his back, his posture straight, and swept his cold gaze over the students as he spoke sternly.

　　The boys immediately stopped when they saw the gray-robed old man begin to speak.

　　"The Body Refining Stage is divided into nine levels. The early stage, levels one to three, is about tempering the body—skin, muscles, and bone marrow. As you train, your strength gradually increases. At the peak, your arms can possess up to three hundred jin of force, enough to draw a bow weighing three stones."

　　"Practicing punches and kicks on wooden stakes is the basic training of the early Body Refining Stage. Until you break through the third level and can break the stake with your strength, you must keep practicing. Don't think that hitting the wooden stake is boring or pointless. Many of Wu Kingdom's top civil and military officials, and the most powerful experts, no matter how impressive they are now, all spent years diligently pounding these wooden stakes at North Slope Academy!"

　　"Once you break through the early stage, you can shatter a wooden stake with just your fists and feet. Entering the middle stage, levels four to six, your bones become solid, your vital energy grows stronger, and when your entire skeleton is filled with energy, your strength can reach up to six hundred jin, enough to subdue a fierce tiger. After reaching the middle stage, you can train in various martial techniques—saber, sword, spear—greatly enhancing your combat power."

　　"You brats in the Lower Academy, watch carefully. I'll show you the strength of someone at the sixth level of the Body Refining Stage!"

　　As he spoke, the gray-robed old man walked to a stone stele a zhang tall and a chi thick in the training ground, standing like a pine tree, and took a deep breath.

　　All the students held their breath and focused.

　　Suddenly, a faint red glow flashed across the old man's face, veins bulging.

　　"Shadowless Kick!"

　　With a shout, the old man swept his right leg through the air! So fast, the leg was almost invisible! The kick was like lightning, as swift as thunder.

　　"Boom!"

　　The stone stele, a zhang tall and a chi thick, was kicked in half by the old man.

　　The broken stele flew ten zhang away, dust and stone fragments scattering everywhere.

　　"Sixth level of Body Refining, Shadowless Kick!"

　　Charles Bennett was shocked and cried out at the sight. He was still at the third level, practicing his fists and kicks on wooden stakes every day to temper his body, but he couldn't even break a thick wooden stake, let alone a stone stele a chi thick.

　　The power of the chief instructor's kick shattered the stele, far surpassing the strength of his own fists and feet.

　　"Old man Gavin Stone's 'Shadowless Kick'—even heavy cavalry probably couldn't withstand it!" "Who knows when we'll reach Chief Instructor Stone's level! With that kind of strength, you could become a high-ranking military officer in Wu Kingdom."

　　Exclamations of awe rose among the blue-clad boys of the Lower Academy, their discussions lively. They had always underestimated the unremarkable gray-robed old man, but now their gazes were filled with newfound respect.

　　Elsewhere in the training ground, over two hundred older students from the Upper Academy watched Gavin Stone show off his leg technique with disdain. Among the Upper Academy students, there were quite a few whose martial skills surpassed the old man's.