Outside the side room.

Xiao Zuiji lay like a puddle of mud before the steps, his entire face beaten into swollen lumps—even his own mother probably wouldn’t recognize him.

Two hours!

Jun Changxiao had been beaten for one hour and already lost the will to live, let alone him with no cultivation base.

Of course.

The Muscle Sculpting Chamber conducted rigorous, scientific tempering based on different martial artists’ physiques, and wouldn’t cause death from using excessive force.

“Junior brother, what happened to you?”

“Who beat you like this? They were way too harsh!”

“I heard the Sect Leader is conducting special training on Junior Brother Xiao.”

Passing disciples cast sympathetic glances.

Jun Changxiao came over and sat on the steps, saying, “How do you feel?”

“Pain…” Xiao Zuiji said weakly.

Jun Changxiao patted his shoulder and said, “As I said before, when Heaven is about to bestow great responsibilities upon someone, it must first make their heart suffer, make their muscles and bones toil.”

Xiao Zuiji didn’t speak, his eyes full of dejection.

Being beaten by the sculpting chamber only hurt his body, but being unable to condense spiritual power even with a divine-grade mental cultivation method—that pain pierced his heart.

“Sect Leader, I really am trash, useless trash…” Xiao Zuiji seemed to have accepted his fate and became even more despondent.

In this world, how does one become stronger? Only by absorbing spiritual power!

Unable to absorb it himself, unable to strengthen himself, unable to open blocked meridians—what difference was there between that and being trash?

“Xiao Zuiji.”

Jun Changxiao looked at him and said sternly, “Remember this—Tiegu Sect has no trash!”

“Sect Leader, I…”

“Say no more. Starting tomorrow, you’ll come here for four hours of sculpting every day.”

Four hours…

Xiao Zuiji’s limbs sprawled out as he turned into mud once again.

……

The next day.

When he opened his eyes, he discovered not only did his body not hurt, his muscles had also undergone obvious changes compared to yesterday.

“What’s going on?” Xiao Zuiji looked completely bewildered, but still followed what the Sect Leader said and came to the side room again, entering the Muscle Sculpting Chamber.

Jun Changxiao had already set it up in advance—as soon as he entered and closed the door, it would automatically activate with a sculpting time of eight hours.

This time was really long.

After it ended, Xiao Zuiji became a pile of mud again, and was also ravenously hungry.

After eating the meal Liu Wanshi made and sleeping, the fatigue and pain disappeared, his muscles became even stronger, and he excitedly headed to the sculpting chamber.

“Huh? Junior brother seems happy today?”

“No way, after being beaten by the Sect Leader for two days, he’s been beaten into ecstasy?”

The disciples all shook their heads.

If they knew the sculpting chamber could rapidly strengthen the body and muscles, they would definitely be fighting to get beaten.

……

Xiao Zuiji was beaten during the day, Jun Changxiao was beaten at night—the two actually staggered their time.

Speaking of which, why not let other disciples come for tempering? After all, establishing a good physical foundation would be very helpful for the future.

Jun Changxiao’s reasoning was simple: since Xiao Zuiji couldn’t absorb spiritual power, he would first undergo special training to temper his body to the extreme, thereby establishing confidence in cultivating the martial path.

And wouldn’t you know it.

After three days of training, Xiao Zuiji tested himself repeatedly on the testing machine, his strength slowly rising from the previous twenty or thirty pounds to one hundred pounds!

Due to having no opened meridians and his aptitude, although the improvement was slow, it let him see hope of becoming stronger. In his previously despondent eyes, the light of hope flickered.

“Sect Leader, this disciple wants to increase the time!”

“How much?”

“Six hours!”

“Approved.”

After Xiao Zuiji left, Jun Changxiao rested his chin on his hand and said, “Should I buy another Muscle Sculpting Chamber?”

This item had a monthly purchase limit of five units.

“Ding!”

“Li Fei delivered a letter to Niu Family Village and completed a sect mission.”

“Ding!”

“Sect Contribution Points: 84/100.”

“Sect Achievement Points: 71/100.”

During the three days Xiao Zuiji tempered his muscles, disciples had successively completed missions, with both values increasing by thirty points each.

Jun Changxiao said, “There are still over twenty missions not yet issued. If they’re all completed, the achievement points will be full, and the contribution points will overflow by then.”

“Buying it.”

“Ding!”

“Host consumed 20 contribution points to obtain Muscle Sculpting Chamber x1, already delivered to spatial ring.”

“Ding!”

“Sect Contribution Points: 64/100.”

Jun Changxiao placed the two Muscle Sculpting Chambers side by side, then renamed this room the Training Room.

For the disciples who had successively completed missions, he also gathered them at an appointed time to publicly distribute Qi Gathering Powder and low-grade wooden swords as rewards.

……

With mental cultivation methods, formation arrays, a training room, and a professional top-tier culinary chef, the ninth-rate Tiegu Zhengzheng Sect was developing in a positive direction.

But Jun Changxiao knew the sect had only just started, and the road he had to walk was still very long.

“Sect Leader.”

Li Qingyang came to report, “The inner courtyard reconstruction is complete.”

“How much did it cost?” Jun Changxiao asked.

Li Qingyang said sheepishly, “Of the ten thousand taels the Sect Leader gave this disciple, over two thousand remain.”

The corners of Jun Changxiao’s mouth twitched as he thought, “He really was willing to spend.”

The more money spent, the better the results.

When he came to the inner courtyard and saw the rows of terraced pavilion buildings, he nodded with considerable satisfaction.

Li Qingyang pointed to a luxurious courtyard in the distance and said, “Sect Leader, this is your residence—an independent courtyard with a pond, back garden, and study.”

“Excellent, excellent,” Jun Changxiao said.

Li Qingyang continued, “To the north is the male disciples’ residence area, to the south is the female disciples’ residence area, each with a small training ground.”

“Sigh.”

Jun Changxiao said, “I forgot to remind you—the female disciples’ residence should be closer to this seat’s courtyard.”

Li Qingyang looked speechless.

“By the way.”

Jun Changxiao said, “Select several disciples with good aptitude and have them enter the training room in shifts to temper alongside Zuiji, one hour per person.”

……

“Senior brother, what is this thing?”

Li Qingyang brought Su Xiaomo and other disciples to stand before the two Muscle Sculpting Chambers—they could only stare at each other with wide eyes.

“Boom!”

Just then, Xiao Zuiji walked in and punched the strength testing machine, displaying the number three hundred pounds.

“This…” Li Qingyang and the others were dumbstruck.

Junior Brother Xiao hadn’t opened any meridians and had no spiritual power in his punch, yet he could hit numbers comparable to the second stage of Meridian Opening—simply terrifying!

“Junior brother.”

Su Xiaomo walked over and felt the solid muscles on Xiao Zuiji’s arm, exclaiming in shock, “Could you have natural divine strength?”

“No.”

Xiao Zuiji looked at the Muscle Sculpting Chamber and said, “It’s thanks to that.”

Saying this, he opened the door and crawled in. The Muscle Sculpting Chamber immediately began shaking, transmitting bursts of punching sounds.

Li Qingyang, Su Xiaomo, and the others leaned their ears close and heard the commotion inside, their facial expressions immediately becoming spectacular.

No wonder junior brother had been black and blue these past few days—he was being beaten inside!

“I’ll try.”

Li Qingyang entered the other Muscle Sculpting Chamber. Because Jun Changxiao had set it up in advance, as soon as the door closed it immediately activated.

One hour later.

Qingyang City’s number one genius slid out foaming at the mouth.

……

In the main hall.

Jun Changxiao was cultivating the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic.

These past few days, he had undergone sculpting for two hours every night without interruption. Not only had his strength increased, the muscles throughout his body had also developed beautiful definition.

“Hah!”

Jun Changxiao exhaled and said, “Hopefully I can successfully break through this time.”

Perhaps because of the muscle tempering, when he gathered spiritual energy to attack the blocked meridian, it was finally broken through!

“Whoosh whoosh!”

Vast spiritual power roared through his meridians like rushing floodwaters—that feeling was extremely enjoyable.

“Hahaha!”

“Finally succeeded, finally broke through!”

This meridian opening had extraordinary significance for Jun Changxiao, because he hadn’t relied on experience points or pills—he’d broken through completely through his own efforts.

“Ding!”

“Congratulations to the host for completing the hidden mission [Self-Reliance and Perseverance], reward: 10 contribution points!”

“Ding!”

“Sect Contribution Points: 74/100.”

Jun Changxiao murmured, “As expected, breaking through one meridian through my own efforts completes a hidden mission.”

“Ding!”

“Host has opened all twelve meridians, meeting requirements. Epic mission activated!”

Jun Changxiao was startled and hurriedly opened the data panel. Below the sect missions, he saw an additional epic mission with the following content: In ten days, Qingyang Prefecture will hold a sect martial competition. Bring five disciples to participate. [Incomplete]