Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter Six: The Angry Instructor

It wasn't that Xiao Banqiu was particularly kind to his brother-in-law, but rather that he felt Xiao Chong was provoking him and blatantly humiliating him.

"If you fail the test later, a beating with the ruler will surely break your bones and make you wish you were dead."

With a hint of resentment, Xiao Banqiu glared at Xiao Chong again before beginning his routine pre-test instruction.

"Yesterday, you all received silver and body-tempering pills from the clan academy. This is a gift from the family."

"These silver coins and pills didn't come from nowhere, so why is the family spending so much on you?"

"I have no other wish than that you all strive diligently and complete your body tempering before the age of sixteen, and then be promoted to elite disciples!"

"However, some of you disciples are not ambitious and receive money and pills every month for nothing, yet your cultivation progress has been stagnant."

Xiao Banqiu shouted coldly, walking back and forth in the ranks, his gaze sweeping over the disciples. Wherever he passed, the disciples didn't even dare to breathe.

Upon reaching Xiao Chong, Xiao Banqiu deliberately stopped, pointed his ruler at the other's chest, and shouted, "Especially you, with your excellent aptitude, you should have passed the test long ago according to your usual cultivation progress, yet you haven't made any progress in the past six months. If you fail again today, I'll let you experience the power of the ruler!"

"Is this the start of retaliation?" Xiao Chong raised an eyebrow but did not argue.

Since a feud has already been formed, there's no point in arguing; it would only make one appear afraid of the other. Besides, if he fails the test, Xiao Fangzheng has six strokes of the cane waiting for him. Compared to that, the punishment with the ruler seems trivial.

After giving some instructions, Xiao Banqiu returned to the front of the line, raised his hand and waved, and immediately more than a dozen servants from the clan school, dressed in coarse cloth, carried several large wooden barrels into the field.

The servants took out large bowls and scooped out bowls of boiling black broth from the wooden bucket, placing them in front of each disciple before leaving.

This is one of the advantages of being born into a large family. According to custom, before each body tempering test, the family would spare no expense in preparing medicinal soups for the participating disciples. These soups contained a large amount of precious medicinal herbs, which could improve the disciples' physical strength and increase their power.

Half an hour after taking the herbal decoction, the body tempering test will officially begin.

The so-called tempering test is actually not complicated.

In the Tianyun Continent, a person's strength is measured in units of weight. Fifty jin equals one jun, four jun equals one shi, and four shi equals one drum, totaling eight hundred jin.

If a person can lift a weight of one drumstick, he is considered to have the strength of one drumstick. Having the strength of one drumstick is the minimum requirement for a disciple of the Xiao family to pass the body tempering test.

Like the other disciples, Xiao Chong sat down cross-legged, picked up the large bowl in front of him, frowned, and drank it all in one gulp.

The scalding hot medicinal liquid entered my mouth, and a flavor that blended sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, and fishy sensations immediately traveled down my throat to my stomach. Before these flavors could dissipate, a warm current rose from my stomach and intestines, quickly spreading throughout my limbs and bones.

Xiao Chong dared not delay and hurriedly used the Xiao family's basic cultivation technique to guide the heat flow slowly into his body's meridians, where it was eventually completely absorbed.

"It really is a good product. Its effect is not much worse than a Body Tempering Pill. It's a pity that it can't be taken every day."

Half an hour later, Xiao Chong stood up and stood up again. He secretly checked his body and felt that his strength had increased again. He couldn't help but sigh.

"Now that your medication is finished, I hope you haven't let the family down and won't disappoint me!"

With a gloomy old face, Xiao Banqiu pointed his ruler at a disciple in the front row and said coldly, "Xiao Tianhu, you reached 750 jin of strength in your test last month, just one jun short of the strength of a single drumbeat. Now that a month has passed, let me see if you have improved."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Xiao Tianhu stepped forward, bowed to the martial arts instructors, and strode toward a row of stone locks placed beside Xiao Banqiu.

These stone locks were specially prepared for the body tempering tests of the disciples of the sect, and they were all of the same size. However, due to the different densities of the stones used, their weights varied, with the lightest weighing no more than one jin (a unit of weight) and the heaviest exactly equal to the weight of a drum.

"If it passes, fine; otherwise... Hmph!" Accompanied by Xiao Banqiu's cold snort, a series of sharp cracking sounds of rulers striking each other rang out from behind. Xiao Tianhu's steps trembled, and he immediately walked even faster.

Arriving at the heaviest stone lock, Xiao Tianhu took off his outer robe, bent down, grasped the crossbeam of the stone lock with both hands, and with a soft shout, the stone lock was lifted off the ground.

Once the stone lock had passed his chest, its upward momentum gradually slowed. By the time it reached above his head, Xiao Tianhu's face was flushed, and the muscles on his arms bulged as if they were about to burst through his undergarments.

"Humph!"

Watching the stone lock in Xiao Tianhu's hand slowly move upwards above his head, showing signs of weakening, Xiao Banqiu let out another cold snort, and the sound of the ruler striking each other became even more frequent.

Upon hearing the sound, Xiao Tianhu felt a chill run down his spine, and his neck throbbed with a slight numbness.

Whether it was due to the stimulation or not, Xiao Tianhu suddenly unleashed a power beyond his usual level. He roared loudly, his eyes wide open, his face looking as if it was about to bleed, and he used every ounce of strength he had.

When the stone lock finally passed overhead, Xiao Tianhu stretched out his arms and completed the required test movements. He let go of the stone lock, staggered back a few steps, and fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

"Boom!" The stone lock landed on the ground in the training ground, splashing up a large amount of fine sand. Several disciples who were closest to Xiao Tianhu were caught off guard and had the fine sand hit their eyes, causing them to tear up in pain.

"Congratulations, Brother Banqiu, on the emergence of another outstanding disciple. With this, I'm afraid the clan will soon bestow rewards upon you, and we'll have to ask for a drink then." The other martial arts instructors clasped their hands in congratulations.

"sure."

After returning the greeting, Xiao Banqiu glanced at Shi Suo, then at Xiao Tianhu sitting on the ground, and nodded, saying, "Not bad. To reach the level of 'one drumbeat' before the age of sixteen is a bit of a stretch, but you can still be considered a genius. Go and rest over there."

Xiao Tianhu glanced back at the queue. His two younger brothers, Xiao Tianbao and Xiao Tianxiong, came out from inside and quickly helped him to the sidelines, feeding him a pill to restore his strength.

The quenching test continues.

In fact, among the many disciples of the sect, very few can pass the body tempering test before the age of sixteen; often, it takes several months to see even one.

One by one, the remaining disciples stepped forward to be tested, but none of them could lift the stone lock that weighed as much as a drumstick like Xiao Tianhu.

Those who showed improvement compared to last month's test were fine; although they weren't praised, they weren't subjected to any difficulties either. The fat guy was one of them.

Several disciples who performed poorly during the test were punished; they were all ordered to kneel in a row and remove their outer robes.

Xiao Banqiu walked past the disciples with a gloomy expression, his magic ruler flashing as he passed, tearing their clothes and leaving them with gaping wounds. For a moment, the training ground was filled with screams and howls, a truly gruesome sight.