Chapter 376 : Chapter 376

Chapter 376: Body Cultivation Energy and Martial Dao Runes

"Alright, Senior, I don't think you're here to offer any guidance; you're here to have some fun, aren't you?"

Mid-way through the second incomplete set, I was forced to interrupt my practice.

Originally, they were just talking, but now they were about to get hands-on.

If I didn't stop them, was I supposed to let them grope me?

If it were the past, maybe I would have been amused, but now I was not happy at all.

Perhaps... I should establish my authority.

The faint smell of blood here had already pointed me in one direction: you couldn't appear too weak, because trouble likes to take the easy route.

"How could I be?"

The senior student whose hand I had smacked away didn't show any anger at being exposed.

Instead, she continued to walk towards me with a grin.

At this moment, I calmed down.

The moment I said that, I knew my emotions had been stirred up again.

While my goal was to completely master my emotions and not be swayed by external factors, this didn't mean I had to suppress my emotions when being taken advantage of.

Appropriate guidance and release were also part of emotional mastery.

"Senior, I don't know what your strength is, but you're getting in the way and wasting my time by pointing fingers."

I smiled, squinting my eyes.

I silently slipped off the ring on my right hand and tightly clenched it into a fist.

I was afraid I might break it when I took action later.

"Oh what a temper, hey? But I like it. I've been practicing Physical Arts for several years now, oh Even before enrolling, I was the type who often went to the gym. That Body Forging Ring on your hand seems to be a very old model. Do you want me to give you a new one? As for the price..."

"No need. Also, I have a girlfriend. Stop bothering me."

"Ah? You have a girlfriend?"

The leader was stunned upon hearing my words.

They had been planning to 'turn' the first-year girl or something for fun, but unexpectedly, she was already... and already had a girlfriend.

"Has a girlfriend? Hehe Doesn't that make it even more interesting."

After a brief moment of shock, their faces immediately burst into even more joyous smiles.

Since this was a first-year girl who had already experienced the fun between girls, it was even more exciting!

"Hehe..."

I sneered.

Sure enough, I guessed correctly; it was time to fight.

Although the other party claimed to have been practicing Body Cultivation for several years, Spirit Vision told me that she wasn't a true Body Cultivator.

She was likely a practitioner in the technical aspect of Physical Arts.

I admitted that her physical fitness was much higher than mine, as that was the benefit of time accumulation.

With a Body Forging Ring, practicing diligently from the primary to advanced levels could generally lead to this kind of physique.

However, up until now, her every movement failed to bring about a natural resonance with the surrounding energy.

In the parlance of Body Cultivation, she lacked Body Cultivation Energy.

One must know that before reaching Transcendent status, the physical body had a so-called limit.

Without Transcendent-level enhancement, pure physical strength was merely lean meat for a predator.

As for people with Body Cultivation Energy, the only person close to me who had a faint aura of it was the senior student with the water bottle earlier.

That characteristic "resonance" between the body and the surrounding environmental energy was almost impossible to conceal from me.

I hadn't paid attention to the people farther away.

After all, if they didn't bother me, I wouldn't bother checking their background.

"Then why don't you guess why my girlfriend is so at ease letting me come here alone?"

I gripped my right wrist with my left hand, clenching and slightly rotating my fist, as if warming up my muscles.

"Oh? Are you going to use your little fist to punch my chest? Go on then."

The senior student saw my movement and provocatively unbuttoned the first button of her top, puffing out her chest in a display.

She wasn't the only one; the others around her did the same.

It seemed this group were habitual offenders.

Their movements were so practiced.

Why didn't they film suggestive videos and upload them to the academy network to benefit all the lonely and frustrated seniors?

"Wait! Hold on, everyone, give me some face..."

At this moment, Coach Live, who had been standing nearby for a while, quickly stepped forward to intervene, but before she could finish her sentence, the words died in her throat.

Because... at that moment, I tightly clenched my fist.

The stirred-up emotions found an outlet, while only a faint smile remained on my face.

A surge of Body Cultivation Energy swirled around me.

The moment I took an attacking stance, this aura rose, and my body spontaneously resonated with transcendent energy.

Without any unnecessary moves, it was just a straight punch.

As the fist shot out, it created a loud air-breaking sound.

A simple wind-up and punch—two movements.

The instant I wound up, the smile on the other party's face, which she hadn't managed to suppress, froze.

They only felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation converging in front of them, and their bodies sensed the danger faster than their brains could process.

Boom—!

A deafening air blast exploded along the direction of the fist, and the force of the punch caused ripples in the air.

The not-so-well-ventilated indoor gym was instantly engulfed in an air vortex.

The senior student who faced my punch directly... her face contorted for an instant under the terrifying air pressure, and even her hair was scattered by the displaced air current.

Until it was all over, her expression was nothing but dazed.

Her hair was casually draped behind her, and her clothes were disheveled by the strong airflow.

The punch was incredibly forceful.

However, only I knew that no Body Cultivation Energy had been channeled into the punch.

Otherwise, I would have given this senior student a free plastic surgery.

After all, my goal was to establish my authority and create a visual impact.

I certainly wouldn't injure her, or else I would have to pay for the healing magic power, which wouldn't be economical.

Just scaring her so she wouldn't bother me again was enough.

"Just now, you told me to use my little fist to hit where?"

After retracting my fist, I massaged my wrist again, as if I still hadn't had enough after that single punch.

Seeing the other party's expression change from dazed to terrified, I was quite satisfied.

At least the effect was excellent.

"I... you..."

The senior student clearly hadn't recovered from the shock.

Her legs were visibly trembling, and the next moment, she collapsed directly onto the floor.

The senior students who were watching from afar were also stunned.

What did they just see?

Body Cultivation Energy!

How embarrassing was this for them, who were still practicing Physical Arts techniques?

This wasn't a newcomer; this was a powerhouse!

At least in the field of Body Cultivation, this was definitely a powerhouse!

They felt they must have been crazy to witness a powerhouse come here to "fish in a stocked pond," and the key was that someone had actually walked right into it.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the senior student who had just finished adjusting her posture and was about to take another sip of water was so choked by the sight that she spat out a mouthful of water...

"Pffft... cough cough... Sigh, what a waste..."

She wiped the corner of her mouth and sighed slightly, then immediately got up and walked toward the scene.

She had actually misjudged the situation earlier.

But... a first-year girl who had mastered Body Cultivation Energy coming here to practice the Primary Ritual Battle Dance?

What was she thinking?

She subconsciously looked at her right hand.

When she clenched her fist, a faint Body Cultivation Energy dispersed, but clearly, she knew she couldn't replicate the powerful punch just now.

At this moment, when my gaze swept across the onlookers, they sensibly backed away, and the one who had provoked me was already being dragged away miserably by her best friends.

My gaze settled on the figure who hadn't managed to leave yet.

"Coach Live, thank you for your earlier reminder, but I've already solved the trouble myself, so don't worry about it."

I said with a smile.

After all, I had heard what the coach shouted in that instant.

Although it might not have been useful, the thought counted.

"No, I didn't help much... haha. Um, I'm going now."

Live scratched her head awkwardly and was about to turn and leave.

But internally, she was frantically complaining.

Was this just "a slight foundation in Physical Arts"?

She was here to "fish in a stocked pond," wasn't she?

Seeing that no one was bothering me, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed the deterrent power of Body Cultivation was quite strong.

However, the fact that I scared the other party until her legs gave out and she collapsed was something I hadn't expected.

After all, based on my assumptions about the senior students, their strength shouldn't be that weak, should it?

Moreover, for a witch, Physical Arts wasn't everything.

Even if all her energy was focused on Physical Arts, the confidence brought by the Spellbook shouldn't have allowed her to be scared by this extent.

But I was too lazy to think about all this.

I didn't need to compare myself to these people.

After all, the people around me were meant to put pressure on me and urge me to improve, not for me to find a sense of superiority.

If I could do better, why would I be complacent about the current environment?

That would be complacency.

Now that no one was bothering me, I could focus on my own practice.

I felt like I had just gotten a handle on this ritual battle dance.

Being forced to interrupt earlier almost broke my train of thought.

Now was a good time to resume.

First, the starting posture of the ritual battle dance...

Just as I started trying, I caught a glimpse of the senior student who had advised me earlier.

She was still standing quietly nearby, holding her almost-empty large water bottle, maintaining a considerable distance.

This time, she didn't say anything, just watched.

After confirming that the other party wasn't going to offer any advice, I closed my eyes and ignored her.

Instead, I focused on practicing the ritual battle dance.

It was naturally better to practice the ritual battle dance with open eyes, ideally facing a mirror, to constantly correct one's movements.

But as a Self-Awakened Body Cultivator, my control over my body had already surpassed the need for visual correction.

I closed my eyes simply to mentally simulate the movements simultaneously, attempting to discern the runes that these movements interpreted.

Gradually, my body movements started to change shape.

They were still the movements of the ritual battle dance, but I was gradually correcting and attempting new possibilities, trying to trace the origin, using the rune ritual to articulate the meaning of the ritual with my body.

The senior student beside me naturally saw my movements deviating.

She hesitated several times, wanting to speak, but ultimately remained silent.

She no longer had the easy-going mindset of casually giving pointers to others as she did before.

Until, in her eyes, she saw an ethereal, fluctuating rune rise from behind my figure, pulsing in rhythm with my battle dance.

Seeing this, her pupils constricted!

At the same time, she was absolutely certain that her decision not to speak rashly earlier was correct.

Primary Ritual Battle Dance... performed to the point of achieving the sign of Body Cultivation mastery, the Martial Dao Rune!

Could a ritual dance that required the aid of an alchemy item, like the ritual battle dance, also be considered a form of Physical Arts?

She subconsciously swallowed.

Everything she was witnessing challenged her understanding... But she didn't care about any of that.

She only felt a warmth spreading throughout her body, because this was the level she had been striving for all along.

Coach!

She wanted to learn this too!

I naturally didn't care about the senior student's internal monologue.

I was only focused on trying new possibilities.

From the beginning, I never intended to practice strictly according to the book.

The book only provided concepts and frameworks.

Everyone's situation was unique, so I only learned the principles and methodologies.

The rest, I would complete using my extensive knowledge and my brain.

And the reality was exactly as I had expected.

I could feel the Body Forging Ring continuously absorbing my magic power and frantically feeding back the enhancement to me.

This was the greatest affirmation of my efforts. So, I tried it repeatedly, twice in a row, without stopping in between.

When I opened my eyes, I felt a transcendent power resonating around me.

This transcendent power seemed to be a "natural phenomenon" that spontaneously condensed after I modified the ritual battle dance, a product of the body's resonance with the environment.

After thinking and figuring it out, I stopped paying attention to it.

I would just treat it as a special effect when using the ritual battle dance.

After all, this kind of thing had no practical effect.

Checking my stamina consumption, I decided to stop my first attempt for the day here.

I knew better than to overdo things, and I had already practiced the ritual battle dance several times.

I also felt the improvement in my physical fitness.

It was very gratifying.

Even without channeling Body Cultivation Energy, the force of a punch now would be quite terrifying.

I wondered if there was a dynamometer here, but sometimes punch force didn't mean much.

After mastering Body Cultivation Energy, I clearly understood that if a Body Cultivator was still focused on comparing raw strength, it was fundamentally a limitation of their mindset.

It was like comparing the intensity of mental power in meditation, using mental power to form telekinesis to see whose telekinesis was stronger—meaningless.

Was that what mental power was for?

Mental power was never meant to be compared directly in terms of raw strength.

Spells based on mental power were far superior to mere strong mental power.

Similarly, with physical fitness, attributes like strength, agility, and reaction time were merely extensions of Body Cultivation.

The Body Cultivation realm was the foundation, and Physical Arts were the combat techniques one mastered—a pure art of fighting.

"Whew."

I breathed a slight sigh of relief, allowing my body to slowly return to its normal state from the previous intensity.

My gaze once again fell on the senior student standing nearby.

She seemed to have been standing there quietly for quite a while, not moving, and I wondered what she was doing.

I snapped my fingers.

The sweat on my body and my slightly damp clothes instantly dried up.

It was so convenient to use Lesser Spells now that I knew the technique.

I subconsciously looked around.

Since there was nothing to take with me, I clapped my hands and prepared to leave.

"Um... wait a minute."

Just as I was about to leave, I was finally stopped by the senior student.

I glanced at the senior student, thinking she was going to keep standing there, "Is there something you need, Senior?"

"Um..."

Being called Senior so suddenly caused a strange feeling to rise in her heart.

"I want to ask, how did you practice that? That... that was a Martial Dao Rune, wasn't it?"

"Martial Dao Rune... does this resonance special effect have a professional name?"

"Resonance special effect?! This... this is not a special effect. How could it be a special effect?"

She explained excitedly.

Even though she wasn't the one who achieved it, she seemed more eager than I was.

"Stop. Although I appreciate your advice earlier, can we not talk about this when you haven't even told me your name?"