In the classroom.
On the podium stood Ye Kai. Below, nine students were standing. Zhuo Xing glanced around, feeling a bit disheartened. There should have been more than 20 students in this classroom, but after Ye Kai’s introduction of the "Shrouding the Heavens Method" yesterday, more than half the seats were empty the next day. Except for Luo Feng, who had taken a long vacation, the others had all transferred to different classes.
Standing at the podium, Ye Kai took a look around. Compared to the full classroom yesterday, it now felt much emptier. The students who had left mostly came from families with elders above the Martial Master level, who could transfer them to better teachers. The remaining students, however, had no such family connections and poor qualifications. Even if they wanted to transfer, other teachers probably wouldn’t accept them.
In short, after introducing the "Shrouding the Heavens Method" yesterday, all the talented Practitioner candidates had left, and those remaining could be considered, quite frankly, the "rotten fish and shrimp."
Ye Kai remained calm.
With 100 days left until the martial arts exam, it was understandable that most parents weren’t willing to gamble with a dismissed professor and a newly introduced method. Only Ye Kai knew how much more powerful the "Shrouding the Heavens Method" was compared to the vitality cultivation method.
"Students, please sit down," Ye Kai said, gesturing for the students to take their seats. He spoke loudly:
"I believe after yesterday, you have a basic understanding of the 'Shrouding the Heavens Method.' Today’s lesson will officially begin with teaching you how to open the Sea of Bitterness."
Seeing that all four students were paying close attention, Ye Kai continued:
"In the vitality cultivation method, to become a Practitioner, one must first temper the bones and blood, gradually increasing strength until it reaches the threshold of 1,000 catties, at which point you become a Practitioner."
"But the 'Shrouding the Heavens Method' is entirely different. It focuses on tapping into the body’s latent potential. Opening the Sea of Bitterness is the process of unlocking this potential. Even by unlocking just a small amount, you can gain the strength of 1,000 catties."
As soon as the words were spoken, the students’ eyes widened in surprise.
A little Sea of Bitterness could do that?
Could the teacher really be exaggerating?
Though they didn’t fully believe him, Ye Kai’s words piqued their interest. Tapping into the body’s latent potential? This was the first time they had heard anything like this, and they were intrigued.
Ye Kai continued speaking eloquently, explaining the first step in practicing the Shrouding the Heavens method: how to open the Sea of Bitterness.
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"Everything has its source, containing the essence of the body, which we call the wheel of life..."
With Ye Kai’s calm and methodical explanation, time passed quietly. By the time the class was over, two hours had flown by. As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, Ye Kai instructed, "When you go home, you can try practicing on your own. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me."
As the school day ended, the students hurried home, eager to try the Shrouding the Heavens method.
"The location of the wheel of life is just below the navel, at the golden section of the human body..."
They sat cross-legged on their beds, recalling Ye Kai’s lecture and attempting to sense the wheel of life. But as time passed, late night approached, and still, they sensed nothing. Their frustration grew, and they began to doubt whether the "Shrouding the Heavens Method" was even feasible.
Initially, they had tried the method with the mindset of "what if it works?" During Ye Kai’s lesson, everything had sounded legitimate and not too far-fetched. But now, after trying and failing to get any results, they were starting to get angry. The looks they had received from other students as they left Ye Kai’s classroom flashed through their minds—those looks that silently called them fools. They were starting to feel like fools themselves.
Maybe they should never have believed in the Shrouding the Heavens Method from the beginning.
However, among the four students, there was one exception: Zhuo Xing.
He had sensed the wheel of life and successfully drawn out the essence within it, opening a small trace of the Sea of Bitterness.
At that moment, Zhuo Xing’s eyes were tightly closed, but he could clearly sense a tiny dark green spot of light below his navel. It was no bigger than a sesame seed, but it was glowing brightly.
Zhuo Xing opened his eyes suddenly, filled with a mix of excitement and disbelief.
"I really opened the Sea of Bitterness?!"
Despite his low qualifications in Martial Dao, Zhuo Xing had achieved this result on his first attempt at practicing the Shrouding the Heavens method. He could hardly believe it.
He closed his eyes and looked inward again. The "grain of sea" was still there, and he finally felt at ease. Then, a wave of joy filled his heart. If it weren’t so late at night, he would have shouted with joy to the heavens to release his excitement.
Gradually, Zhuo Xing calmed down and focused on testing his physical strength.
"Let’s see how much my physical strength has improved after opening the Sea of Bitterness."
He could feel a surge of vitality within himself, far stronger than anything he had experienced before. Grabbing the hand gripper, his eyes were full of anticipation. He slowly squeezed it.
The upper and lower parts of the grip quickly closed, reaching the limit before Zhuo Xing even realized it. He was stunned.
"This... how is this possible?!"
The limit of this gripper was 500 catties. Before, Zhuo Xing could only close the grip by one-third, equating to just over 100 catties. But this time, he barely applied any effort and had already reached the gripper’s upper limit.
In other words, his physical strength now far exceeded 500 catties! While he wasn’t quite at the level of a Practitioner, he wasn’t far from it.
Zhuo Xing took a deep breath.
"What the teacher said is actually true?!"
"Even just opening a small part of the Sea of Bitterness gives you immense strength?!"
"Does this mean... I’m almost a Practitioner now?!"
He recalled Ye Kai’s bold words from the day before: "The Shrouding the Heavens cultivation method is a method that can make everyone in the human race as strong as dragons, and even allow them to suppress all other races!"
"This isn’t madness, it’s truth!"
Meanwhile, in the teacher’s dormitory, Ye Kai was practicing when he suddenly felt his own Sea of Bitterness expand slightly. This wasn’t the result of his own cultivation but seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Opening his eyes, he smiled and said, "It seems one of the students has succeeded in developing their Sea of Bitterness. I thought it would take at least three days. Lucky me."