The various medicines Old Jin gave them, mostly Chu Xue since he was impressed with him. It was a shame he ran out of resources to give to Leroy and still hadn't found a Manual to give the oldest student. If not for the fact the room that was assigned to Leroy had so many Techniques already to study it would have been a real disservice.

Of course, it was to be expected that he focused more on Chu Xue and not Leroy for his age and Victoria since she had a Flame Martist Dantian the same as Leroy but not a mutated type. At least that was what the other Teachers and Masters would say if anyone asked.

'I need to find something to give to make up for this.' Old Jin felt bad since he wanted to treat his students fairly but just didn't know what to do to fix the situation. 'I will have to bug the Principal to advise the situation.'

"How did you cultivate so fast?" Old Jin asked. Wanting to know if he had some outside help in some way. Putting it off till later, he rather focuses on teaching for now. "Chu Xue, since you have reached the Qi Refining Realm, come practice as well."

'Did he really cultivate to the Peak of the 1st Rank so soon with just the resources Teacher Jin gave us?' Victoria was troubled as she thought to herself. Her eyes wander over to Leroy who made direct eye contact with her. Flustered she looked away back towards Chu Xue. 'How did he know just from the breath that the other broke through?'

"Do I have something on my face?" Leroy asked surprised at her flustered look.

"Oh, no no!" Victoria just wanted to hide away at this point. She fretted to start practicing.

.

Training Field-

.

The four walked over to the area. Several wooden poles scattered about in the shape of people. Standing straight up over a stone surface. Old Jin started to instruct them on what to do. Which was unwarranted for Leroy after the past few days really allowed him to use what he gained from the Corpse Pit.

Especially a lot of the Body Tempering Realm Qi Refining Techniques that were good. Supinglsy enough it was the knowledge from a member of the White Rouse Family that gave him the best understanding of basic Qi fighting.

As he started to talk, Leroy already gathered Qi into his fist.

'I was going to tell them to gather it into their hand but that is just as good. Such strong and precise control.' Old Jin was actually impressed. Making a mental note to pay a little more attention to Leroy. Which is what he wanted anyway to have resources allocated to him, this would give him a good excuse to have the others remove some restrictions on the older cultivator. "Alright, do as I say. First Gather your Qi from your Dantian and secondly, wrap it around your hand."

*Woom! Woom!* Victoria Qi pulsed around her palm a little out of her control. Her concentration was a little off. Still bothered by what happened a few minutes ago. Sweat dripped down the side of her face as she prepared to strike.

"You should follow the instruction before you get in trouble." Leroy said to Chu Xue. He continued to let small traces flow from his Dantian into his finger. While also circulating his Flame Vortex Core Qi to see what would change. 'How peculiar, it wants to supplement the other Qi. But that might be a bad idea right now. I rather not lose my finger on a mistake.'

It would also suck to reattach it.

"Once the Qi reaches its peak, in one move, punch with all your might." Old Jin said. Eyes moved to Chu Xue that did not start. Before he could say anything, energy fluctuations pulled his interest over. "Hmm!?"

*Bam!* Victoria punched first making a solid impact. The wooden humanoid had a pretty big dent in it. As well as several cracks from her losing control when attacking. The edges of her knuckles had some burn marks.

*Fwish!* Leroy poke out with his finger instead of punching with all his might. His finger pierced a hole all the way through to the other side. Leaving slight scorched marks at the end. The hole is no bigger than the length of the finger used.

*Bzzt!* A small trace of static clung to the wood. Which was odd as hell to see.

"Ouch." Leroy mumbled as he rubbed his finger to subdue the rampant Qi Despite his efforts, a tiny bit of the Core Qi linked in still. "Yup definitely need to watch out for that."

Old Jin gave a look at the hole in detail before making any statements.

"Splendid, you two damaged the wooden puppets to such an extent. Nice display of Flame Martial Arts. Victoria .." He moved over to observe her closer. "Your mind must be calm when practicing. In battle, so much can happen that it is wise to develop a calm approach first." She gave a nod understanding her faults.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Yes, Master!"

"As for you Leroy.." Old Jin was surprised that his fingertip was the only thing scorched from the energy he felt. Looking at the through and through hole, however, left much to consider. "..acting on the side of caution is good, but do not become timid. The puppet should have exploded on contact if not for your firm hold on your qi control."

"I understand." Leroy nodded. Not too proud or humble. More than anything, he knew his body best. Cultivation be damned! His mind told him very explicitly, do not put it in your hand! Then his whole hand would have been scorched or worse considering more of the Core Qi might have mixed in. "I need to strengthen my body more."

"As for you Chu Xue.." Old Jin turned to his third disciple. If he entered 1st Rank and was close to the 2nd Rank then he definitely would have done some damage to the puppet. ".. be honest, did you cultivate fully? Did you consolidate your Realm correctly?"

The medicine he gave would have kept anything bad from happening. Giving his student a good consolidation and healing any injuries from a hard life. But he didn't know what other medicines he could have taken in the absence of his presence.

"Master Jin, of course, I did!" Chu Xue answered quickly. "Unlike the others, I cannot really pay for the damage to the puppets. This is why I didn't strike after some consideration. If I break that expensive wooden puppet won't I have to pay for it?" He scratched his face awkwardly.

"Why would they have you pay for it, after instructing you to attack it?" Leroy sighed at the stupidy that was Chu Xue. He was also interested in his Qi output in case something was different about it. 'I need some surgery tools to check the damage to my finger. Or a technique that lets me see anyway.'

"No need to pay." Old Jin said to the boy. Seeing the happy expression on his face, the old man couldn't stop himself from speaking quickly. "No worries, do your best!"

"Pfft!" Victoria laughed. Forgetting herself for a moment, she became embarrassed when Old Jin and Chu Xue looked at her intently. "Excuse me!"

Taking a deep breath, Chu Xue prepared himself. With a quick exhale he struck out in full force.

"Hah!" The force of his punch rampaged out of his control. The wooden puppet was broken from the midsection up. The force-carrying all the way to the wall. 'That felt really good to let loose!'

*Bam!* The impact against the wall passed a second later. Lots of smoke in the area cleared away revealing a large hole.

"I broke it!" Chu Xue cried out in distress. "I broke the wall!" He moved about fretting like it was the end of the world.

It was just a bloody wall!

Leroy paid it no mind at al as he walked over to the wall. On the outer edges of the imprint, there was a murky type of Qi mixed in.

Master Jin walked over to calm the boy down. His thought mixed with awe and apprehension. Especially since the power used was more than a Qi Condensation II Rank.

"Hmm?" Victoria was bothered by Leroy. His unimpressed look just felt wrong to her. Walking over, she confronted him. "Leroy, it seems that Chu Xue strength has exceeded our own."

"Exceeded our own? Not likely." Leroy shook his head obviously not agreeing with the girl who already started to fall into a state of infatuation with a Child of Destiny. The character halo that existed around Chu Xue definitely fit. "You are not even looking at what happened on the surface, and not the after effects."

"Is it not obvious from the surroundings this is true?" Victoria pointed at the puppets one by one. "Next to his, I did the most damage."

"That is nice. But I was not looking for damage." Leroy shrugged which infuriated her even more. He marveled at the fact she was not overly foolish as before. "I want to test my control, which I failed at a little bit. Old Jin wanted to teach us a little yes, but did not do anything advance off the bat to keep from causing any issues."

Leroy circulated a little Qi into his palm without moving any of his Core Qi. Moving up to another puppet, he gave it a straight jab to the center. Keeping his control exactly as he needed it.

*Pat!* The palm strike went completely through the log leaving a scorch mark around the surroundings. A faint handprint appeared on the wall scorching it some.

Victoria's face was in a scowl. She could tell Leroy barely exerted himself. Which was worse, his mind was calm when he did it. Reminding her she had a ways to go still. Unlike herself and Chu Xue who were both exhausted from their Qi usage.

"Must not only look at the surface but also look at what else is going on brat." Leroy walked away holding his hand up. With a clutch of his fist, the log he hit made a crackle and then burst into blue flames. "He cultivated recently almost to the 2nd Rank but that does not change the fact he has no control. Rampant Qi will allow for more damage. Especially for A Life Martial Artist that shows more Antlife Qi."

"Clearly you can not admit your shortcomings." Victoria felt compelled to push back against him. "Clearly that's the talent of a genius that has room to devlop." Leroy gave her a smirk. That is when she realized her she may be making a mistake. "You sensed them as well yet his efforts are better than yours."

"A Life Martial Artist can only shine so brightly to you, because you have not seen many. In fact, I assume he is the only one you have seen maybe." Leroy moved away from her ready for old Jin to continue what else he had to teach them. "A Life Martial Artist.. can only go so far on his own. Now if he has a backer like yourself helping him..."

The insulation was small but enough to cause problems if certain people got wind of it.

"You aren't fooling anyone!" Victoria said heatedly. Loud enough that it caught the attention of Old Jin and Chu Xue who were oblivious to what they talked about. "Do not spread rumors!" It was best the subject was changed quickly to hide what the two discussed.

"Chu Xue's power is growing too fast, I'm afraid he'll get into trouble if he proceeds alone in this way. I will guide him personally for some time." Old Jin did know what the two talked about when the mentioning of Antilife Qi was mentioned, but Chu Xue's matter needed to be addressed first. Leroy's could be addressed later. "You two practice on your own as I taught you."

I knot formed in the old man's heart. One that feeds his Inner Heart Monster a little. Another instant of him showing favoritism to one student and not the others.

Leroy went to inspect his finger with his qi in detail. If he was able to circle qi to that area, it was safe to assume that he should be able to hold it there and use that as a waypoint to search for damages.