Chapter 23: Special Training

Tang Tian finally experienced what it felt like to become rich overnight.

The Iron Mud Finger had already been exchanged for Eagle Claw Technique. Alongside them were Empty Wooden Post, Eight Steps Pursuing the Cicada, Shattered Shadow Palm, Little Collapse Fist, and Chain Technique—six silver Soul General cards, all neatly arrayed before him, shimmering with a dazzling silver glow that nearly blinded him.

“This is what life should be!” Tang Tian exclaimed, intoxicated by the moment, gazing up at the sky in rapture.

“Basic Tang, you’ve fallen,” Amory said with a look of utter disdain.

“Fallen?” Tang Tian turned to him, his expression righteous. “Ox Fly, you’re underestimating a youth touched by the divine! Do you think a mere six silver cards could corrupt a youth like me? Hmph!”

Amory grinned, “That’s more like it, Basic Tang. You can’t betray your warrior’s heart. Only by becoming the strongest man will you be worthy of your dreams…”

Tang Tian raised both arms, looked skyward, and declared with a solemn face, “It would take at least six gold cards to make a youth like me fall!”

Amory’s words were abruptly cut off.

Tang Tian began stroking his chin, pondering, “Which one should I learn?”

Just then, Old Wei’s voice suddenly sounded behind them: “Well, well, the young master’s struck it rich! That silver glow was blinding even from a distance.”

Old Wei leapt in front of them, circling the six silver cards with curiosity. “Where did you two rob someone to get these?”

Amory animatedly recounted the day’s battle to Old Wei.

Old Wei gave a grunt of surprise. “You two had to join forces to barely beat Shen Yuan?”

He stroked his chin and muttered to himself, “I should’ve known better than to make threats. That guy got serious. Hm, looks like I’ll have to give you two some special training.”

Tang Tian and Amory exchanged glances, a sudden sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.

Old Wei turned to them with a wide grin. “You’ll miss these last two months!”

Tang Tian and Amory’s hearts skipped a beat.

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Shen Yuan and Yang Yong stood with their heads bowed before the principal, their faces pale.

The principal’s face was thunderous. “Very good! Excellent! It seems my orders have not been clear enough. You still have the energy to skip class and stir up trouble.”

In the corner, Assistant Xu silently thought, “This is bad.” The principal was rarely this angry, and his heart leapt into his throat.

“For this incident, all students involved will be strictly punished,” the principal said expressionlessly. “From today until the Starwind Martial Assembly, any student caught skipping class again will be expelled! Yang Yong and Shen Yuan, two months of secluded training as punishment!”

Assistant Xu jumped in shock; the principal was truly furious this time. He looked at Shen Yuan and Yang Yong with a trace of sympathy. Shen Yuan remained calm, but Yang Yong looked ashen.

The principal suddenly turned to Assistant Xu. “Go tell the discipline office: if they can’t do their job, they’re not needed.”

Assistant Xu hastily replied, “Yes!”

“All of you leave. Shen Yuan, stay behind,” the principal said coldly.

Yang Yong and Assistant Xu hurried out.

The principal fixed his gaze on Shen Yuan, giving a cold snort. “Did you win or lose?”

“Lost.” Shen Yuan lowered his head. “Tang Tian disguised himself as a passerby and led us on. Yang Yong was ambushed first, then Tang Tian and Amory teamed up on me. I lost as well.”

Surprisingly, the principal did not get angrier at the news of their defeat. He only said calmly, “Tell me more.”

Shen Yuan looked thoughtful. “Amory was a bit… hesitant at first. But then he suddenly became very determined and fought fiercely. But Tang Tian was even more noteworthy.”

“Tang Tian?” The principal was slightly surprised.

“Yes, Tang Tian’s main practice is Flash Fist, but he was able to use it to unleash a fist aura!” Shen Yuan said.

“Flash Fist can create a fist aura!” The principal’s eyes widened in shock. He muttered, “He actually gave Tang Tian that Soul General card! Tang Tian has actually mastered…”

“Mastered what?” Shen Yuan couldn’t resist asking.

The principal’s expression hardened. “Continue.”

Realizing he’d overstepped, Shen Yuan quickly went on: “Tang Tian is extremely brave and relentless in his attacks, unafraid of injury. If his opponent’s strength is close, I think very few could beat him.”

“Go to your retreat,” the principal said, his voice deep. “Your talent in Tianjing isn’t the best, but your temperament is excellent. You’re calm and steady. I have high hopes for you—don’t let me down.”

“Yes!” Shen Yuan replied respectfully.

“Go on.”

As Shen Yuan left, the principal muttered to himself, “Crane Qi Technique… he actually mastered it…”

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Standing before the rumbling quarry, Tang Tian and Amory were both dumbfounded.

“Old Wei, why did you bring us here? Don’t tell me you’re actually a child labor trafficker?” Tang Tian pointed at Old Wei, wearing a look that said, “I see right through you.”

Old Wei ignored him and strode toward a burly man, shouting from afar, “Hey, Old Shi!”

The burly man turned at the call. Seeing Old Wei, he broke into a wide grin and headed over.

When the man turned around, both Tang Tian and Amory inhaled sharply. To be honest, Amory’s physique was already exceptional, but compared to this man, he was like a child.

Every muscle on the man’s body was sharply defined, dark and gleaming as though forged by countless trials. His arms were so thick that Tang Tian estimated they were larger than his own thighs.

The iron hammer in the man’s hand made Tang Tian and Amory swallow nervously.

“Old Wei, what brings you by today?” the man said in a deep voice.

“I’ve brought these two kids for a bit of training here. That okay with you?” Old Wei asked carelessly.

“What’s the problem? There’s nothing here but stones.” The man laughed heartily, giving Tang Tian and Amory a kindly look and praising, “They’re both promising.”

Old Wei immediately preened. “Of course! My eye for talent is never wrong!”

The noise drew over several other workers from the quarry.

Soon, Tang Tian and Amory felt a wave of inferiority.

Everyone here was tall and broad, with waists thicker than barrels and bodies of bulging muscle as though cast from bronze and iron. The hammers in their hands were enormous, yet they wielded them with effortless ease.

Tang Tian and Amory always prided themselves on their physiques, but standing among these men, they felt like tiny bean sprouts.

“Not bad, Old Wei! These two look the part!”

“The kids are promising!”

“A bit of training and they’ll turn out great!”

Old Wei beamed, his eyes crinkling with delight. Tang Tian and Amory, meanwhile, were shivering inside, feeling utterly intimidated as this group of bare-chested, tower-like men commented on them.

Forcing a smile, Tang Tian and Amory did their best to look shy and modest.

Stone waved a hand. “Alright, disperse, don’t scare the kids.”

With a round of good-natured laughter, the crowd drifted away.

Old Wei said to Stone, “This is Amory, my successor, and this is Tang Tian—he’s aiming to become a close-combat specialist.”

“Oh? A close-combat specialist?” A glint of surprise flickered in Stone’s eyes as he gave Tang Tian another appraising look. “Ambitious!”

“They’re all yours,” Old Wei said, entirely unconcerned.

Stone nodded crisply, wasting no words.

Old Wei turned to Tang Tian and Amory. “From today, Stone is your special training instructor. Whatever he tells you to do, you do it.”

Tang Tian and Amory nodded sensibly; Stone’s presence was simply too intimidating.

“I’ll be off, then.” Old Wei waved and strode away with a flourish.

“Come with me,” Stone said to Tang Tian and Amory.

They hurried after him into the quarry. It was an open-air site, with mountains of massive granite blocks everywhere.

At a place where stone was piled, Stone fetched a heavy iron blade.

The blade was blunt, thick, and weighed over fifty pounds, but in Stone’s hand it was as light as a feather. He grabbed a slab of stone the size of a door from the pile.

Seeing this, Tang Tian and Amory went pale. It was true—there was always a bigger mountain. Amory, the raging bull, was but a grasshopper before Stone.

Setting the slab before him, Stone said to Amory, “Your daily task is to split bricks, like this.”

With a swift motion, Stone cut off a chunk of stone the size of a bamboo basket. A few quick chops, and a perfectly square brick lay before them—its faces smooth as mirrors, its edges sharp and neat as if measured by a ruler.

Tang Tian and Amory were dumbfounded. This was granite—hard enough to shatter steel!

Stone tossed the heavy blade to Amory. “Here, one hundred bricks like that each day for the next ten days.”

Leaving the ashen-faced Amory behind, he led Tang Tian to another corner.

Tang Tian’s face was a little pale.

“What are you practicing now?” Stone asked.

Tang Tian carefully explained the Soul General cards in his possession. Stone nodded. “Then practice the Little Collapse Fist. Plenty of people here use that.”

“Really…” Tang Tian felt his expression stiffen, his heart pounding.

“Mm. The Little Collapse Fist is great for smashing up stone.”

Stone led him to a pile of stone, picked up a chunk the size of a bamboo basket, and struck it with his palm.

The rock flattened like tofu, becoming a stone cake.

With a wipe of his hand, Stone revealed a pile of rubble before Tang Tian. All the fragments were nearly identical in size—about as big as soybeans.

“Hm. At first, I won’t be too strict. Each fragment shouldn’t be bigger than a chestnut. Five hundred pounds of this rubble every day.”

Staring at the heap of stone fragments at his feet, Tang Tian was left utterly speechless.

Peerless Tang Sect