Chapter 36 – Reaching Refinement in One Punch

Dodge it!

I must dodge it!

When s.h.i.+ Feng threw out his punch, Chen Ziyou promptly snapped out of her daze and began treating s.h.i.+ Feng’s attack with unprecedented focus.

A master’s punch could stumble an elephant!

This was a saying that had constantly circulated in the fighting industry. When hearing this saying, ordinary people would typically laugh it off as a joke. After all, an elephant was a humongous creature that weighed several tonnes. A human’s punch would be fortunate if it could even give the elephant an itch, let alone stumbling an elephant.

However, Chen Ziyou knew exactly how frightening a master’s punch could be. It was because she had personally witnessed an internal strength master exploding a sandbag weighing hundreds of kilograms with one punch.

Although the internal force master she previously saw had a much larger build than s.h.i.+ Feng, even the weakest internal force master could execute a punch carrying 500 kilograms of force. Even professional athletes would get crippled if they tried to receive such a powerful punch, which was why everyone regarded internal force experts as masters…

Seeing s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist moving closer and closer to her, Chen Ziyou’s mind began overclocking itself as she manipulated every muscle fiber in her body in an attempt to dodge s.h.i.+ Feng’s punch.

However, even though Chen Ziyou had reacted swiftly thanks to her innate G.o.dspeed Response, s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist had seemingly seen through her actions as it changed course to match her evasive maneuver. This situation forced her with no choice but to block the attack.

How is this possible?!

Chen Ziyou despaired at the abrupt change in the trajectory of s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist. The previous evasive maneuver was already the best she could accomplish within this limited time frame. Yet, her prided reactions were utterly useless against s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist. She could only watch on helplessly as s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist moved closer and closer to her…

Am I really going to die here?

Countless thoughts ran through Chen Ziyou’s mind as she looked at the seemingly gigantic fist approaching her.

In the past, whether it was in the real world or G.o.d’s Domain, she could always rely on her G.o.dspeed Response to defeat opponents stronger than herself. Yet, now, faced with s.h.i.+ Feng, someone who had weaker physical fitness than herself, she could not even dodge his attack. When facing s.h.i.+ Feng, she felt like all the battles she had fought before were nothing but a joke.

No!

I cannot die yet!

I still have to challenge Wu Xiaoxiao! I still have to see the wider world!

The appearance of these thoughts caused Chen Ziyou to grow frenzied. Then, almost instinctively, she twisted her body and spun it sideways, her body barely dodging s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist by a hair’s breadth before stopping beside s.h.i.+ Feng.

“Not bad.”

s.h.i.+ Feng retracted his fist after seeing Chen Ziyou dodge his punch.

At this time, Wu Lingling, who had witnessed this brief scene, gaped in shock. She never thought that s.h.i.+ Feng would be an internal strength master, an existence that numbered around only a handful in the entire Jin Hai City. She also didn’t think that Chen Ziyou would be so amazing as to dodge an internal force master’s punch.

Previously, it was evident that Chen Ziyou couldn’t execute any more evasive maneuvers after dodging s.h.i.+ Feng’s punch the first time. Yet, Chen Ziyou had defied all odds and executed a maneuver that no normal person could execute in that short time. During that instant, Chen Ziyou’s speed was so fast that Wu Lingling couldn’t even keep up with her.

When Wu Lingling put herself in Chen Ziyou’s shoes, she suspected that she wouldn’t even realize how she had lost to s.h.i.+ Feng.

“I dodged it?” Chen Ziyou muttered in surprise and confusion as she looked at s.h.i.+ Feng. In her mind, there was no way she could have dodged s.h.i.+ Feng’s punch. When she mentally simulated herself spinning her body to dodge s.h.i.+ Feng’s punch, the outcome she got was that she would get struck and killed. Yet, now, she was standing in one piece beside s.h.i.+ Feng. This situation simply didn’t make sense.

However, before Chen Ziyou could figure out what was happening, s.h.i.+ Feng suddenly sent another punch flying at her head. Moreover, the speed of his fist was much faster than before as it created even a sonic boom this time.

Instructor s.h.i.+?!

Wu Lingling was horrified when she saw this.

s.h.i.+ Feng’s punch occurred too suddenly. Even while watching this scene play out from a distance, it still caught her off guard. If she were the one standing beside s.h.i.+ Feng instead of Chen Ziyou, she definitely wouldn’t have any time to react and would’ve gotten killed on the spot.

Boom!

When the loud boom echoed throughout the cla.s.sroom, Wu Lingling had also thoroughly fallen into shock and confusion.

“How is this possible?!”

Contrary to Wu Lingling’s expectations, s.h.i.+ Feng’s fist did not land on Chen Ziyou’s face. Instead, it stopped just short of an inch from Chen Ziyou’s chin due to Chen Ziyou lifting her head and tilting it sideways.

“Refinement Realm! I entered the Refinement Realm!”

Compared to Wu Lingling, Chen Ziyou was in even greater shock and confusion right now. Never did she think that s.h.i.+ Feng’s statement was true.

Being a Refinement Realm expert meant having the ability to manipulate one’s body to a minute degree and use the simplest and most efficient actions to do combat. Meanwhile, trying to reach the Refinement Realm in the real world was significantly more challenging than in G.o.d’s Domain.

Yet, the evasive maneuvers she just took were indisputable proof that she had already reached the Refinement Realm.

“Do you still not get it?” s.h.i.+ Feng was rendered slightly speechless when he saw the look of confusion on Chen Ziyou’s face. “The reason why you couldn’t reach the Refinement Realm all this time is because you tend to think too much. You are too skilled at utilizing your innate talent. This, in turn, has caused your control over your body to become sluggish and prevented you from reaching the Refinement Realm.”

s.h.i.+ Feng had to admit that Chen Ziyou was incredibly talented. Chen Ziyou had already trained herself to sufficiently high standards when it came to body manipulation. However, one couldn’t just rely on critical thinking and perfect control in combat. One also needed to rely on one’s bodily instincts to a certain extent.

Hence, to stop Chen Ziyou’s brain from trying to exert perfect control over her body, she needed to experience a true life or death situation, which would, in turn, force her to rely on her combat instincts.

“So that’s why I keep getting a feeling of inconsistency when I’m fighting… It’s because I have been limiting myself too much?” Chen Ziyou muttered when she heard s.h.i.+ Feng’s explanation, a hint of self-deprecation in her voice.

In the past, she indeed had a habit of a.n.a.lyzing her actions carefully before acting in battle. Even if her opponent made an unexpected move, she could still swiftly react to it thanks to her G.o.dspeed Response.

However, she never thought that her G.o.dspeed Response would become her biggest constraint to improve…

“Alright, it’s your turn next, Wu Lingling,” s.h.i.+ Feng said as he looked toward Wu Lingling. “Your talent is too subpar, so you still have quite a ways to go before you reach the Refinement Realm.”

Meanwhile, upon hearing s.h.i.+ Feng’s words, Chen Ziyou, who had just snapped out of her daze, couldn’t help but turn to look at Wu Lingling in astonishment.

Subpar talent?

If it wasn’t for the strength and combat standards s.h.i.+ Feng had just displayed, Chen Ziyou would’ve definitely cast him a contemptuous look. After all, Wu Lingling’s talent was one of the best the G.o.d’s Domain Academy had ever seen. Even the various first-rate Guilds’ executives recognized her as a top-tier genius in G.o.d’s Domain. Even if she were to be put into a superpower, she would still receive priority training.

If Wu Lingling’s talent was considered average, Jin Hai University’s G.o.d’s Domain Academy would have no geniuses.

Yet, after hearing s.h.i.+ Feng’s words, Wu Lingling readily nodded and made a worried and embarra.s.sed expression. This situation surprised and confused Chen Ziyou.

Ignoring Chen Ziyou’s reactions, s.h.i.+ Feng asked Wu Lingling, “What’s your current progress on the exercise I previously taught you? How long do you need to finish a set?”

“Around six minutes,” Wu Lingling said confidently.

Previously, it had taken her ten whole minutes to complete one set of the aerobic exercise s.h.i.+ Feng previously taught her. However, after the training session in the Withered Ruins, her control over her body had improved slightly, so she managed to reduce her time to six minutes.

“That’s barely pa.s.sable, I guess,” s.h.i.+ Feng said calmly. “Next, I will teach you a breathing technique. Pair it with the aerobic exercise I taught you. Whenever you can finish a set in under one minute, you will reach the Refinement Realm. Before reaching the Refinement Realm, though, you must make sure to do at least 30 sets a day. Only after reaching the Refinement Realm are you allowed to stop doing it.”

“Mhm, I’ll work hard,” Wu Lingling said, nodding earnestly.

Meanwhile, s.h.i.+ Feng’s words had further dumbfounded Chen Ziyou.

Since when did the lofty Refinement Realm become something so worthless?

The Refinement Realm was something even the various first-rate Guilds’ core executives had gone through great pains to reach. Yet, now, s.h.i.+ Feng was saying that a couple of exercise moves and a breathing technique were all that was needed to become a Refinement Realm expert. How could anyone possibly believe such a thing?

Even after knowing that s.h.i.+ Feng was an internal force expert, Chen Ziyou couldn’t help but feel that s.h.i.+ Feng was tricking Wu Lingling. Yet, what made things worse was that Wu Lingling believed him…

Afterward, s.h.i.+ Feng started instructing Wu Lingling on how to execute the breathing technique he mentioned. Then, once he was done, he had Wu Lingling apply this breathing technique while executing the aerobic exercise. After Wu Lingling repeated the exercise for over an hour, Chen Ziyou became thoroughly dumbfounded.

Impossible! Is she a monster?! Chen Ziyou thought as she stared at Wu Lingling in shock. If it was before she had reached the Refinement Realm, she would’ve most likely treated the exercise Wu Lingling was doing as nonsense. However, it was a different story now that she had reached the Refinement Realm and understood it for what it was.

Simply put, reaching the Refinement Realm meant achieving subtle and proper manipulation of one’s body.

Meanwhile, on Wu Lingling’s first attempt at completing the exercise set, her control over her body’s movements could only be described as strained. However, on her subsequent repet.i.tions, the minute movements her body executed had started to become smoother and smoother.

It should be known that manipulating the subtle movements of one’s body was easier said than done. Accomplis.h.i.+ng this feat required one to undergo numerous live combat situations, conduct many combat reviews, and experience repeated trials and errors. Only then could one start to exert control over one’s minute movements. Meanwhile, this was something that most people could not do.

Yet, in less than two hours, Wu Lingling had continuously improved her control over her minute movements. By now, she could already control her limbs’ subtle movements to a smooth extent. Rather than doing simple aerobic exercise, it felt more like she had just undergone thousands of arduous battles. It should be known that Chen Ziyou had taken three months to accomplish similar results!

Meanwhile, after reaching this standard, players already possessed the qualifications to challenge the early stage of the Trial Tower’s sixth floor!

Was he really just a Tier 3 expert at his peak? Chen Ziyou couldn’t help but grow confused and curious as she watched s.h.i.+ Feng instructing Wu Lingling.

Chen Ziyou admitted that Wu Lingling was a top-tier genius. However, even if Wu Lingling was a genius, there was no way she could go from being at the fifth-floor middle-stage standard to the sixth-floor early-stage standard after just one lesson. Moreover, Chen Ziyou herself had reached the Refinement Realm she had dreamt of after dodging only one punch from s.h.i.+ Feng. She’d be lying to herself if she said that these two things were merely coincidences.

Not only was s.h.i.+ Feng an internal force master, but he even possessed such extraordinary teaching standards. How could such a person possibly be a measly Tier 3 expert in G.o.d’s Domain?

At this time, even if someone were to tell her that s.h.i.+ Feng was a Tier 4 expert, she wouldn’t doubt this statement in the slightest.

However, while Chen Ziyou was immersed in her thoughts, the bell in the cla.s.sroom had rung. Realizing that cla.s.s was over, Chen Ziyou couldn’t help but regret wasting her time thinking about useless matters instead of asking s.h.i.+ Feng for more pointers. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do but watch as s.h.i.+ Feng left the cla.s.sroom.

Subsequently, after Chen Ziyou bid goodbye to Wu Lingling and arrived at the teaching block’s entrance, she found Luo Tiancheng and Gu Tong standing there waiting for her.

“Senior Ziyou, how was Wu Lingling? Did she end up learning nothing from Instructor s.h.i.+’s cla.s.s?” Gu Tong asked in a delighted tone. “Wu Lingling could’ve gained a significant harvest had she attended Instructor Qi’s cla.s.s instead. It’s a pity that she missed it. I heard that there would be a practice match held during the Secret Pavilion tour two days later. I’ll be sure to show her how important it is to have a good instructor at that time.”

Originally, Gu Tong did not have the qualifications to visit the Secret Pavilion’s branch headquarters. However, his instructor was a senior instructor in the Academy, and every one of the Academy’s senior instructors would receive a slot for this field trip. Meanwhile, as he was Instructor Qi’s best-performing student this semester, Instructor Qi’s slot naturally went to him.

However, when Chen Ziyou heard Gu Tong’s words, she couldn’t help but sigh and look at her junior with sympathy as she said, “I understand that you want to avenge your past disgrace, but with her current standards, I’m afraid she is already invincible among you freshmen…”

Gu Tong grew confused when he heard Chen Ziyou’s words. However, before he could say anything, Luo Tiancheng anxiously asked, “Student Ziyou, did you find out what kind of connection s.h.i.+ Feng has with Soulfire?”

“I haven’t found any clues as of yet,” Chen Ziyou said, shaking her head. Then, with a strange look on her face, she asked Luo Tiancheng, “But I am suddenly interested in learning one thing about Shadow. May I know if you can humor me, Instructor Luo?”

Seeing the strange gaze Chen Ziyou was giving him, Luo Tiancheng asked curiously, “What is it?”

“Why did Shadow dismiss Instructor s.h.i.+ from the Guild in the first place?”