Chapter 8：Making Things Difficult On Purpose

One gust, two gusts, three gusts, four gusts…

More than ten gusts of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy flooded the fourth acupuncture points continuously. Because of Ji Mo's effort, a boom resounded within his body and he vibrated. The fourth acupuncture point was finally open and Ji Mo managed to achieve the fourth tier of body tempering.

Right now, the red glow under Ji Mo's skin became more obvious. The Celestial Devil Power hidden within his flesh and blood had reached deep into his bones. In the Celestial Devil Tempering Art, this occurrence was known as the Celestial Devil Bone Refinement which allowed him to use the Celestial Devil Power to reinforce his bones and make them as tough as Celestial Metal.

As long as he could channel the Celestial Devil Bone Refinement, the Celestial Devil Power within him would reach deep into his bones and find the source of all power. It would then help to nourish his body.

After using up ten Purple Spirit Fruits, Ji Mo had not just leveled up his capability, but he also successfully flushed his fourth acupuncture point open and achieved the fourth tier of body tempering. This result pleased Ji Mo. Had his first three acupuncture points not been flushed open, Ji Mo might have only leveled up to the second tier with his current supply of Purple Spirit Fruits.

After all, flushing an acupuncture point open required a huge volume of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. Ji Mo managed to level up so quickly to the third tier because he had saved the Spiritual Energy used for flushing acupuncture points to strengthen his own body instead.

Swoosh!

Ji Mo held up a fist and felt that he had become unusually strong. This was the benefit of having a Celestial Devil's physique. Although the Celestial Devil's Body had not been successfully cultivated, Ji Mo could already utilize the Celestial Devil Power. At present, strangling a tiger would have proved no problem to him. 

As he walked to the courtyard and took a deep breath, Ji Mo stood before a massive boulder and clenched his fists, channeling the Celestial Devil Power deep within his flesh and blood. He released a punch and a surge of immense power exploded from the edge of his fist. This violent surge of energy was like a dangerous Celestial Devil charging out from the depths of Hell.

Bang!

His fist did not even touch the boulder in front of him. The mere surge of energy penetrated the two-feet-thick boulder and bore a hole as large as a bowl in its center.

"Hiss!" Ji Mo sucked in a deep breath and stared at his own fist in disbelief.

Undoubtedly, the Celestial Devil Power was terrifying. This boulder was no ordinary rock. It was made for practice and was reinforced by special minerals, thus it was particularly solid. Usually, Ji Mo was lazy and did not use the boulder for practice, but he was aware of how much force was needed to leave a hole on the boulder. 

During the process of body tempering, cultivators underwent a transformation in their bodies. Each time this happened, their strength would be increased by fifty kilograms. Therefore, to measure how strong they had become, cultivators would see how many kilograms they could dish out in a single punch. Of course, with advanced-level Body Tempering Arts, cultivators could gain fifty or so kilograms of strength with each transformation.

Taking Nan Hao as an example, he cultivated the Dragon Elephant Tempering Art which was an advanced-level Body Tempering Art. His cultivation base was on the eighth tier of body tempering, yet he could dish out a blow that weighed around 1500kg. Each time he underwent a transformation, he would gain about 200kg of strength. 

On the contrary, cultivators who cultivated regular Body Tempering Arts could only gain fifty to one hundred kilograms of strength.

Ji Mo was only on the fourth tier of body tempering, but the punch he dealt earlier bore a hole through the practice boulder. This practice boulder could sustain a force of approximately 750kg, which meant that Ji Mo's current strength had surpassed 750kg.

This result greatly surprised Ji Mo. He was only at the fourth tier, yet he had a strength of over 750kg. What on earth?!

Suddenly, Ji Mo felt a tad bit smug.

"So many days have passed, yet I didn't even feel the passing of time during my cultivation. However…why do I feel that something hasn't been done yet? How strange." Ji Mo took a deep breath and looked at the sky. It was almost noon.

This time, when he altered his body in isolation, he had spent several days. During this period, he never went to Tianyuan Academy. However, someone like Ji Mo was used to laziness. In spite of his absence, no one would talk about him or blame him.

Firstly, it was to give face to Ji Mo's clan. Secondly, the senior management of Tianyuan Academy had given up hope on people like Ji Mo. They simply waited for the right time to expel him from the academy. Everyone could only remain at Tianyuan Academy for three years. Once the three-year limit was up and the disciple was still not recruited by the Tianshan Sword Sect, he would be expelled.

'I'd better head for the academy. After all, it's a special period right now. Aside from maintaining my capability, I mustn't let anyone notice anything amiss about me, especially not Nan Hao,' Ji Mo thought to himself as he pushed the door open. He exited the courtyard and walked towards Tianyuan Academy.

There were not many special lessons at Tianyuan Academy that day. Apart from certain necessary lectures, most of the time, the disciples of the academy cultivated independently or ventured outside to gain experience. Thus, apart from days when there were lectures, Tianyuan Academy was mostly quiet.

Only a handful of disciples were left.

Ji Mo walked towards the archive. Although the Celestial Devil Tempering Art made him more powerful, he still lacked knowledge of practical martial arts, so he wanted to look for some suitable martial arts techniques in the archive. 

Cultivators at the Acupuncture Point Unblocking Phase did not know how to use divine powers and lacked magic, so it was useless to give him a copy of 'A Guide To Divine Powers'. Therefore, a cultivator at this boundary could only rely on martial arts to defend himself and display what his body was most capable of. Martial arts might not be as mighty as divine powers, but solid martial arts skills could deal significant damage too.

Two Tianyuan Academy disciples, a man and a woman, were standing at the entrance to the archive, chatting to kill time. The archive was an important part of Tianyuan Academy and must be guarded. 

"Hello there. Aren't you going to take a break?" Ji Mo moved forward and greeted them with a smile.

The two disciples stopped talking and directed their gaze upon Ji Mo. One of the disciples cast a jeering look at him. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?"

Ji Mo was familiar with these two. One of them was Dong Hao and the other was Xia Jiaojiao. Like him, both of them came from well-known clans. They had been sent to Tianyuan Academy in hopes that they would one day be recruited by the Tianshan Sword Sect and make a name for themselves. As a result, their clans' influence would also soar.

After all, having a cultivator in the clan would enhance the clan's force.

Dong Hao and Xia Jiaojiao regarded Ji Mo with disdain because they knew what kind of person he was. He was a waste of space at Tianyuan Academy after having cultivated for two years and only achieving the third tier of body tempering. No one would respect that sort of individual.

"Hehehe, I want to enter the archive to have a look. Please excuse me." Ji Mo grinned.

"Enter the archive? What are you going to do there?" Dong Hao gazed at him with contempt.

"Of course, I'm going to read up on martial arts. What else would I do there?" 

"You? Read up on martial arts? What a surprise. Since when does someone like you know how to be diligent?" Xia Jiaojiao sneered.

"Come on. I'm pleading both of you nicely. Why must you treat me like this?" Ji Mo was annoyed. As they said, certain lines were not to be crossed even when scolding someone. Why did these two fellows have to make fun of his shortcomings?

"Ji Mo, the archive is only for high-achieving disciples. You're not fit to enter this place yet." Dong Hao smirked.

"I'm not fit?" Ji Mo frowned. "Do you think I'm a newcomer? I know the rules. Disciples who have been at Tianyuan Academy for two years are allowed to enter the archive. Why am I not allowed to enter?"