Chapter 128: Astonishing Transformation
Li Yuan's deep sleep lasted until about two in the afternoon, when his consciousness gradually cleared. His eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes slowly opened.
"Huff!" Li Yuan's awareness quickly returned. "I endured the pain of 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' and finally lost consciousness?"
The recent ordeal flooded back into Li Yuan's mind. The intense pain that seemed to penetrate his bones and soul was so horrifying that just recalling it made Li Yuan involuntarily frown. It was truly terrifying. The pain from five rounds of 'Washing the Marrow of the Spirit' was child's play in comparison. Now, the pain had completely subsided, but Li Yuan's subconscious didn't want to remember it.
"Bang~" Li Yuan reached out to get up, only to feel a prickling pain all over his body. However, this level of pain only made him frown slightly before he sat up, undeterred.
It was then that Li Yuan noticed his skin was covered with a thin layer of gray-black grime. He wiped it off with his hand, and it fell away like a snake shedding its skin, revealing smooth, jade-like skin underneath, brimming with vitality.
"Awake?" a cheerful voice called from nearby. Li Yang walked over.
"Teacher, I'm sorry you had to see that," Li Yuan said slowly, standing up. He recalled his near-suicide attempt under the unbearable pain. It showed that his willpower wasn't strong enough.
"What's there to be sorry about? Do you think it's shameful to feel so much pain that you wanted to die?" Li Yang laughed. "You did very well. At seventeen, enduring ten minutes is impressive. There's probably no other student in the entire school who could do that."
"This 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' is a heavenly treasure and a rare marrow-cleansing item of great value. But in reality, it's often used as a means of torture," Li Yang explained. "For high-value prisoners, just one pill can make a normal source warrior wish for death. After one pill, they'd spill everything."
"And you?"
"You took ten pills! That's a whole unit. In terms of willpower, most high-level source warriors can't compare to you," Li Yang remarked with admiration. He didn't say it out loud, but he wasn't sure he could handle it better than Li Yuan.
Li Yuan listened quietly, without showing much joy. He was more introspective, realizing that not being able to endure it meant he was still weak and shouldn't blame the pain.
Weakness requires more training.
"Don't be too hard on yourself," Li Yang said, noticing Li Yuan's expression. "Willpower and mental strength complement each other. When your mental strength grows stronger, you'll be able to endure more pain."
"For example, if you had a mental strength of level 29, you could probably withstand this pain with your willpower alone."
"If your mental strength was comparable to a flying warrior, you could easily suppress this pain."
Li Yuan nodded slightly. Mental strength and willpower were like physical fitness and martial skills. Strong willpower could maximize mental strength, but weak mental strength couldn't be compensated for by willpower alone.
"Secondly, no one is born with strong willpower," Li Yang shook his head. "Like comprehension, it's influenced by innate factors, but many experiences and insights can reshape a person's understanding, even leading to a transformation. This is why we say some people mature late."
"Willpower is the same."
"Most people strengthen their willpower through experiences. However, some people, after experiencing life changes and major setbacks, may weaken their willpower..." Li Yang looked at Li Yuan. "You're so young and already have such strong willpower."
"You'll only get stronger in the future. Believe in yourself," Li Yang encouraged.
He could see that Li Yuan had always been confident in his willpower and didn't want him to doubt himself now.
"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher," Li Yuan said respectfully.
"So, are you going to use 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' again?" Li Yang asked tentatively. "Or will you wait until your mental strength is stronger?"
"No."
"Teacher," Li Yuan smiled with a hint of determination in his eyes, "I'll try again in a month."
Afraid?
It would be a lie to say Li Yuan wasn't afraid. Who would want to endure such hellish torture? But Li Yuan knew better. To temper one's will, the most important thing was to face one's weaknesses, pain, and psychological shadows head-on.
If he gave up using 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' because of the pain, it would become a psychological weakness over time, possibly growing into a heart demon.
He had to overcome it.
"Are you sure?" Li Yang asked again.
"I'm sure," Li Yuan nodded firmly. "Next time, I'll do my best to avoid thoughts of suicide."
"Alright." Li Yang nodded, not pushing further. He could see that someone with Li Yuan's willpower at such a young age was usually extremely determined. Once he decided on something, his mind was not easily swayed.
"By the way."
"I applied to Dean Hai, and he approved," Li Yang smiled. "From now on, your monthly free resource quota will increase from 2 million to 4 million Blue Star Coins."
"You can decide what resources to apply for."
"If it's still not enough, you'll have to find a way yourself," Li Yang said.
"Understood." Li Yuan nodded. In the school, or rather the national system, the 'resource quotas' for students of different levels had limits.
For normal students at Kunlun Martial University, improving their physical fitness mainly relied on high-level cultivation methods. The resource quota was mostly used to buy nourishing potions and a few first-level vitality potions, which was sufficient.
But for Li Yuan, if he wanted to maintain his rapid improvement, even a monthly quota of 4 million Blue Star Coins was far from enough.
...
After seeing Li Yang off, Li Yuan immediately took out a portion of 'High Source Spirit Springs' from the rest area. The crystal bottle held about half a liter, and upon opening it, a rich fragrance wafted out.
It was like a starving person suddenly smelling food. He couldn't suppress the urge to drink it.
"One portion costs 1 million Blue Star Coins?" Li Yuan murmured.
That's really expensive!
He quickly swallowed it.
Soon, a surge of source power coursed through Li Yuan's limbs, impacting every inch of his muscles and bones. Li Yuan gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and felt his whole body, sensing every part of him greedily absorbing the source power. His physical fitness continued to improve.
"'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' is indeed effective. My body feels pure, and the source power flows without any obstruction," Li Yuan thought.
'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' was indeed painful, but its effect was extraordinary.
"Huff!"
Li Yuan began practicing the 'Rock Practice Method' to maximize the effect of the High Source Spirit Springs. As he practiced, the soreness in his body quickly dissipated, and he gradually returned to normal.
After more than an hour.
"[Your life level has increased from 12.8 to 12.9]," a subtle prompt flashed on the Divine Palace panel.
Half an hour later, Li Yuan finally stopped.
"12.9 already?" Li Yuan glanced at the Divine Palace panel, his eyes showing a hint of joy. "At this rate, I might reach level 14 in about two months."
Without high-level cultivation methods and without microscopic skill techniques, Li Yuan's physical fitness improvement rate was already terrifying.
"Keep pushing!"
Li Yuan resolved, then ordered six servings of nutritional meals and took a shower.
Tonight, he had a practical training session with Teacher Jiang Lun.
...
Thus, after meeting Dean Hai, Li Yuan broadened his horizons and received the boost from 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows.' His training state changed once again.
Every day, he started training with visualization techniques from early morning.
For the past year, Li Yuan had been practicing the visualization technique for about two hours a day, mainly to enhance his mental strength without intentionally honing his willpower.
But starting from August 9th, he began to pursue another extreme of the visualization technique.
While practicing 'The Great Sun and Starry Sky Sutra,' Li Yuan would try to approach the scorching sun in his mental imagery, subjecting his consciousness to more intense burning pain.
"Previously, my strong willpower was mostly honed passively," Li Yuan thought crazily. "But subconsciously, my main goal was to enhance my mental strength and minimize pain."
Previously, the goal was to enhance mental strength, and honing willpower was secondary. After all, who would want to get beaten up every day if they didn't have to?
"But it turns out my willpower isn't strong enough," Li Yuan's eyes were filled with determination. "So, let's actively hone it."
"Just strengthening mental power isn't enough. My willpower needs to improve faster too."
With this change, the process of practicing the visualization technique became increasingly painful for Li Yuan.
'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' mainly targeted the body, while the 'scorching sun' visualization technique targeted the soul and consciousness. Passing out wasn't an option; at most, his consciousness would collapse repeatedly.
Tempered through a hundred trials!
Li Yuan intended to forge his mental willpower into something indestructible and unshakeable!
...
During the day, Li Yuan attended general courses diligently.
"Yuan Ge, why do I feel like your eyes are different?" Gu Qianghan noticed a change in Li Yuan.
"Really?" Li Yuan smiled.
"Yes. Brother Qiang is right. Big Brother, your eyes seem sharper... your aura... right, it's like a spear, getting sharper," An Nong also noticed.
They both sensed subtle changes in Li Yuan's demeanor.
"Haha, maybe I didn't sleep well," Li Yuan offered a lame excuse with a smile. "Let's go to class."
Soon, the general course teacher arrived.
"Today, we'll further discuss the structural weaknesses of nine types of flying astral realm creatures. After the lecture, you can switch your combat targets to these star realm creatures in the 'Kunlun Nine Mountains' to practice," the teacher explained.
...
Apart from general courses, Li Yuan spent the rest of his time practicing his spear techniques and cultivating.
"Teacher Jiang! Faster! Push harder," Li Yuan shouted as he wielded his spear, fighting madly with Jiang Lun.
While battling, Li Yuan growled, "Teacher, I don't feel enough pressure. Hit me harder. Just don't kill me, but go all out."
His spear moved like lightning, heavy as a mountain, executing deadly moves from the Starry Spear Technique.
Seeing Li Yuan's fierce determination, Jiang Lun was taken aback. In his many years of teaching, he had never encountered a student as crazy as Li Yuan.
"Alright, after all these years, I finally found someone crazier than me," Jiang Lun smiled.
...
In Li Yang's class.
"Teacher, the microscopic power and full-body perception," Li Yuan asked, "what about 'unity of man and nature' in the fifth stage? If 'nature' refers to the external environment, does that mean body techniques will break through before spear techniques from the fourth to the fifth stage?"
"Body techniques are the integration of body and external environment."
"Smart," Li Yang smiled. "Before the fourth stage, body techniques usually lag behind spear and sword techniques."
"But from the fourth to the fifth stage, body techniques often break through first."
...
Time passed day by day, and before long, it was September 1st. Li Yuan had officially come of age.
Universities around the world were opening for the new academic year, and Li Yuan and his peers officially became first-year students.
The 'Blue Star Youth Ranking' and the 'Blue Star Youth Prodigy Ranking' had been updated.
Li Yuan's final ranking on the 'Blue Star Youth Prodigy Ranking' was global 16th and 4th in China.
This didn't necessarily mean the top 15 were stronger than Li Yuan, only that their rankings in the Starry Sky Combat Network were higher.
The new 'Blue Star Youth Ranking' now belonged to the new global high school seniors, marking the start of their own exciting journey.
...
On September 8th, Li Yang visited Li Yuan's villa again, bringing a new portion of 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows.'
"Have you thought it through? You can still opt out," Li Yang asked one last time.
"Teacher."
"You're already here," Li Yuan grinned, his eyes showing a hint of eagerness. "Today, I want to see if 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' can defeat me again."
"Alright."
Ten minutes later.
"Ahhh!" The terrifying pain swept through Li Yuan's body once more, driving him to madness.
He howled in pain, his entire body turning red, his teeth clenched so hard they almost bled. But his fists remained tightly clenched, his bloodshot eyes nearly bursting, yet maintaining a sliver of sanity.
Hold on!
Hold on!!
Hold on!!! Li Yuan's mind repeated this thought.
On the path to becoming strong, one can fail, one can lose. But one's spirit must never bow! Must never falter!
In terms of talent, Li Yuan wasn't particularly outstanding. But deep down, he had a craziness and determination to challenge everything.
Half an hour.
In Li Yuan's mind, it felt longer than the past year.
Finally.
The effect of 'The Withering of a Hundred Marrows' began to fade, and the hellish pain gradually lessened. Though still painful, Li Yuan felt a sudden comfort.
A soul-deep comfort.
It was almost enjoyable.
"Hahaha! Feels good!" Li Yuan laughed, lying on the ground, his body still twitching in pain, coughing and laughing at the same time. "It feels great!"
Li Yang was shocked.
He had been prepared to stop Li Yuan again.
But he never expected that after just a month, Li Yuan, who had previously nearly committed suicide and fainted from the pain, could now endure it.
The transformation in his willpower was simply incredible.
After a while, Li Yuan gradually returned to normal, lying on the ground resting.
"Impressive!" Li Yang thought to himself.
Geniuses are often envied.
But those with great determination and willpower are truly admirable.
"I, Li Yang," he thought with a smile forming on his lips, "in this lifetime, have the chance to teach such a disciple."
Although Li Yuan was his student and still very weak in terms of strength, at this moment, Li Yang was convinced that Li Yuan's future achievements would far surpass his own.