When the final crisp crack sounded, a flush crept over Zhao Yuan's face. His entire body was engulfed in excruciating pain. Although he managed to grit his teeth and stifle a cry of pain with sheer willpower, the ordeal had drained a considerable amount of his stamina. His legs felt weak, and he swayed, struggling to stay on his feet.
Yu Ke noticed something was wrong and asked with concern, "Zhao Yuan, what's the matter?"
He Chengwei, Chairman Cui, and the others soon noticed Zhao Yuan's strange condition as well, and they all started talking at once, their voices filled with concern:
"Zhao, you look so pale. Are you not feeling well?"
"Zhao, where does it hurt? Tell us, quickly."
Of course, Zhao Yuan couldn't tell them the real situation. He waved a hand and said weakly, "Thank you for your concern. It's nothing serious, I'm just a little tired..."
Hearing this, everyone was filled with emotion.
The match just now might have seemed simple, but it was incredibly draining mentally! It seemed perfectly normal to them that Zhao Yuan would feel tired. At the same time, this very exhaustion made them admire him even more.
Kobayashi Haruo had come to challenge the Jing City Acupuncture Association, which originally had nothing to do with Zhao Yuan. Yet, he had stepped forward out of a sense of justice, defeating the arrogant Kobayashi Haruo in one fell swoop and forcing him to flee in disarray—to literally roll away. To achieve this, he had not hesitated to expend a huge amount of mental energy, to the point that his face now bore a sickly pallor... What chivalry! What righteousness!
In that moment, everyone, both at the scene and in the online live stream chat rooms, was deeply moved. This emotion, in turn, transformed into a new wave of Wish Power that surged into Zhao Yuan's body.
Moved, Chairman Cui began directing the members of the Jing City Acupuncture Association, who all sprang into action around Zhao Yuan.
"Quick, get a chair for Zhao to sit down!"
"Someone, go make Zhao a cup of honey water!"
"Xiaoli, make a run to the pharmacy and buy some medicine to calm the nerves and aid mental recovery. We need to help Zhao recuperate properly."
Soon, a comfortable chair was brought before Zhao Yuan. After he sat down, a steaming cup of honey water was delivered to him, followed by Xiaoli, who returned breathlessly with an oral liquid for mental recovery...
Zhao Yuan didn't stand on ceremony with them. After a word of thanks, he sat down, drank the honey water and the oral liquid, and then closed his eyes. He appeared to be taking a short rest, but in reality, he was inspecting the changes within his body.
Chairman Cui, He Chengwei, and the others hurriedly made shushing gestures, telling everyone to keep quiet and not disturb Zhao Yuan's rest. Even the flood of comments in the online live stream chat rooms dwindled at that moment.
Meanwhile, after a quick internal check, Zhao Yuan was overjoyed to discover that under the torrential flood of Wish Power, all the tendons in his body had been completely stretched! He had leaped to the Peak of Muscle Strengthening in a single bound, just one step away from the next stage, Marrow Cleansing!
'Haha, fantastic! This is a truly unexpected windfall!'
Zhao Yuan was absolutely ecstatic. Even the pain wracking his body was largely dispelled by this good news.
'I originally thought it would take at least another ten days to half a month of cultivation to reach the Late Stage of Muscle Strengthening. I never expected that just by showing up to watch the show today, my cultivation would shoot right past the Late Stage and straight to the Peak! Wish Power really is amazing stuff. Not only can it be used for Drawing Talismans and Casting Spells, but it can also raise one's cultivation! And today's events have proven my previous theory. This Wish Power doesn't just come from gratitude, but also from admiration! Also, I have those two live streams to thank for the massive amount of Wish Power I received today. The people here at the scene would have given me a lot, but definitely not this much...'
With his cultivation raised to the Peak of Muscle Strengthening, Zhao Yuan felt that his strength, speed, reflexes, as well as his sight and hearing, had all been enhanced! If he were to encounter the drug traffickers again, he was completely confident he could subdue them before they could even fire a shot! He would absolutely not let them injure his companions!
Besides the advancement in his cultivation, the massive amount of Wish Power brought Zhao Yuan a series of other benefits.
First, Zhao Yuan discovered a new technique called the 'Hair-Shedding and Marrow-Replacing Technique' in the Cultivation Technique section of his Information Leaf.
According to the description below the new Cultivation Technique, this was a method to help a Body Refiner cross from Muscle Strengthening to Marrow Cleansing. Its function was to wash and replace the old marrow in the human body, transforming it into Innate Marrow—incomparably pure, without any impurities or toxins!
Only after possessing Innate Marrow could one step into the Marrow Cleansing Realm and begin Nourishing Marrow and Marrow Cultivation!
The 'marrow' mentioned here wasn't just bone marrow, but all essential substances, including qi, blood, and essence! These substances originate from the Innate Essence and are nourished by Postnatal factors like food and air. It is during this Postnatal nourishment that impurities and toxins gradually accumulate in the marrow, causing it to lose its purity, which in turn leads to the human cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death!
Marrow Cleansing, then, was the process of cultivating pure innate essence! By doing so, a person's body could not only become stronger, but might even achieve miraculous effects like eternal youth or rejuvenation! At the same time, Marrow Cleansing was a crucial step in the transition from Body Refining to true Cultivation, and it was also known as 'Nurturing the Red Child'.
Zhao Yuan never imagined he'd be able to begin the process of shedding hair and replacing marrow so soon! This was more than a month faster than he had estimated!
In addition to the Hair-Shedding and Marrow-Replacing Technique, Zhao Yuan also discovered a new category under the 'Medicine' section: Elixir Recipes.
Inside, besides the recipes for Soul-Stabilizing Incense, Bone Refining Pills, and Blood Circulation Soup that he had found before, there was a new recipe for a Marrow Cleansing Pill. This Marrow Cleansing Pill could not only be used in conjunction with the Hair-Shedding and Marrow-Cleansing Technique, but could also continue to be used after he stepped into the Marrow Cleansing Realm in the future.
'Good stuff, this is all good stuff.' Zhao Yuan was grinning from ear to ear. 'I wonder if there are any other goodies?'
He continued to search through the Information Leaf.
Under the Talisman section, he found a Spell called the 'Tracking Spell'.
Zhao Yuan read the description. The way this Spell was cast was a bit like playing with a Ouija pen, both involving holding a pen in hand. However, the Tracking Spell could be used by one person alone, and its purpose wasn't to summon gods or ghosts, but to pinpoint and draw the location of a target. It didn't even require a specific name or identity; as long as there was some kind of clue, it could lock onto the target's location and draw it out.
'A spell for finding people? Doesn't seem very useful, does it? What a shame. This is the first Spell I've ever gotten, but I probably won't have much use for it.'
Zhao Yuan frowned. He had assumed that the new Talisman-related ability he received this time, even if not an offensive one, would at least be more powerful than the Enchanting Talisman. He never expected to get such a seemingly useless Spell.
What a waste of his first-ever Spell!
Shaking his head, Zhao Yuan continued to inspect his rewards.
"Huh? What's this?"
Suddenly, Zhao Yuan's eyes lit up. He had found a brand-new section on the Information Leaf!