Chapter 45 - 42: Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method

Chapter 45: Chapter 42: Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method

Victor patiently beat Yin Zhen for three days, giving her a thorough taste of his ferocity and the sheer, hard strength that existed outside of Extraordinary Power.

Every punch he threw made Yin Zhen feel like she had been hit head-on by an armored vehicle. The sound of breaking bones echoed from her chest cavity up into her skull, leaving her brain BUZZING. Once the blood source element was injected, her broken bones and damaged organs would rapidly heal. This process felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing a blunt knife into her flesh, making it equally excruciating.

Yet, Yin Zhen neither conceded nor begged for mercy. Instead, her anger only grew with every setback, fueling her fighting spirit! In this regard, she and Lucia were strikingly similar.

Victor stood in the center of the arena like an iron tree nailed into the ground, completely motionless. Every time Yin Zhen felt she was about to hit him, he would launch a counterattack in less than half a second. His reaction time and striking speed were unimaginably fast.

His body was as hard as an alloy. Yesterday, acting out Lucia’s signature short-tempered desperation, Yin Zhen had suddenly pulled out a tactical dagger mid-fight. Victor hadn’t dodged. The blade sliced through his clothes but only left a faint white mark on his skin.

Yin Zhen seriously suspected that her maximum speed looked like an elderly person practicing tai chi to Victor, and her maximum Strength was nothing more than a kitten’s scratch.

After being sent flying so many times, Yin Zhen began to learn how to feel with her body. Even before Victor’s fist landed, her ribs would tighten—her body had memorized the sensation of pain. By the third day, she was finally able to dodge his first punch, then his second, and retreat to a safe distance before the third could land.

Victor stopped to look at her, the light in his eyes gradually brightening.

"Not bad," he said. "The overall stats of S717’s body are indeed weaker than your original one, and it lacks an Attack-type Extraordinary Ability. However, you can consider this a fresh start—one that allows you to value your physical strength once more."

Covered in blood and panting heavily, Yin Zhen scoffed at his words. Victor sat cross-legged on the ground and motioned for her to do the same. She spat out a mouthful of blood and casually sat down beside him.

"Thirty years ago, before the Blood Plague existed," Victor slowly began, reminiscing about the past. "I went to the East and studied Martial Arts for ten years. The Martial Arts cultivators there used breathing techniques to mobilize their bodies’ vital energy and blood, supplementing their muscles and bones with energy.

"The Blood Clan does not breathe, but our blood possesses a Special power. After the Blood Plague, I spent over a decade constantly experimenting and verifying before I successfully integrated the characteristics of Eastern Ancient Martial arts with those of the Blood Clan, creating my own Cultivation method."

Victor looked up, meeting Yin Zhen’s gaze. "I call it the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method."

Yin Zhen’s heart gave a violent leap. She tried hard to maintain Lucia’s arrogant facade, pulling the corners of her mouth down as if she had little interest. But her overly bright eyes betrayed her. Victor saw it, though he didn’t expose her.

"The Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method is divided into four levels. The first level is Blood Echo."

Victor closed his eyes. Yin Zhen suddenly sensed a bizarre quietness—not a silence in their surroundings, but a stillness emanating from Victor’s body. He sat there like a pool of stagnant water, like a stone, like absolute nothingness.

"You must sink all your attention into your body and listen to the sound of your blood flowing," Victor explained. "The Blood Clan has no heartbeat, but our blood is more active than that of humans. It is still flowing—from head to toe, from your fingertips to your heart. Every single drop of blood makes a sound. You must hear it."

He opened his eyes. "The second level is Blood Tide." Victor clenched his fist, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged slightly. "Once you can hear the echo of your blood, you can make it accelerate or decelerate. Draw the blood to your fists, and your punches will be heavier. Draw it to your legs, and your speed will increase. By drawing blood away from a wound, you can temporarily stop the bleeding. Focus it in your brain, and your reflexes will become sharper.

"The third level is Blood Resonance. The rapid flow of blood puts extreme pressure on your bones. At that point, your bones will emit a sound. It isn’t the sound of fracturing; it’s a HUMMING. The frequency of every bone is different, just like the strings of a piano. You have to find that frequency—the deepest, most primal rhythm of your entire skeletal structure."

Victor stood up. "Then, at the exact moment of your attack, you make all the bones in your body hum simultaneously. In that instant, your punch is no longer just a simple punch. It is the absolute limit of your entire body’s Strength, erupting at the same moment, on the exact same point!"

Victor threw a punch into the empty air, hitting nothing, but Yin Zhen heard a low HUMMING that seemed to resonate from deep underground, making her chest tighten with its vibrations.

Simply put, if both had a baseline Strength of 10 points, an ordinary person’s punch could only exert the power of 8 points. Victor, however, could unleash a force of 15 or even 20 points. Similarly, he could push normal agility and Constitution stats to exert extraordinary power.

"The fourth level is Willpower Breakthrough! When your body has reached its absolute limit, you still have your will. Willpower won’t give you an extra muscle, but it will allow you to hold on for one more second. On the battlefield, one second is enough. I once had both my arms broken; I clamped down on the hilt of my blade with my teeth and slaughtered my way through an entire squad of the Fallen Species.

"It wasn’t because I was an exceptional fighter, but simply because I refused to fall. As long as you refuse to fall, no one can make you fall. You can lack Talent, but you cannot lack willpower. Talent is given by the gods, but your will is entirely your own."

The training ground was completely silent. Yin Zhen slowly sat up straight, her mind echoing with Victor’s words.

"Do you want to learn?"

Yin Zhen almost nodded, but keeping in line with Lucia’s arrogant personality, she merely scoffed and turned her head away. "Teach me or don’t! It’s up to you!"

Victor wasn’t angry; instead, he chuckled. Lucia had been like this since she was a child, using rebellion to garner attention. She never voiced what she wanted, only waiting for others to present it to her. This was all because her mother had passed away early and her father didn’t care about her. It was the classic manifestation of having immense pride while being starved of love.

"You’ve passed all your physical examinations. Next, you will return to the Guard Team and complete the mission you failed to finish previously."

Yin Zhen stood up. The mission Victor was referring to was exterminating the Mutants on the West Coast—the very place where Lucia had been injured. Yin Zhen opened her mouth, her mind flashing to those tentacles, the slime, and the gigantic monstrosities crawling out of the sea...

"I..."

"You have to overcome your fear. This is also my test for you! Return to the laboratory every three days and have Ian examine you. Don’t make me come and ’invite’ you myself."

With that said, Victor turned around and walked away.

"What about the tracking chip?" Yin Zhen chased after him and asked.

"You haven’t pushed me back yet," Victor replied without even turning his head.

"Victor, you bastard! I curse you to Hell!"

The training ground doors closed, cutting off the sound of Yin Zhen’s furious cursing. A slight smile tugged at the corners of Victor’s mouth, but his expression instantly reverted to its usual sternness the moment a subordinate came jogging toward him.

"Vice Commander, that guy keeps crying and screaming that it’s not that he refuses to talk, but that he literally can’t speak of it. We couldn’t get a single thing out of him. Apart from him, we’ve also received several reports from citizens over the past two days, claiming that the people around them are acting out of character, as if they aren’t their original selves anymore."

Victor’s aura darkened. Three days ago, the illegitimate son of the Cavendish family had died suddenly and violently. The attacker from when Lucia underwent her consciousness transfer experiment had vanished without a trace, and then there was S704’s bizarre Defection...

Lately, it seemed Night City had gained quite a few ’uninvited guests.’

"Arrest them all and bring them back. Then, have the Cavendish family send an interrogator over!"

"Yes, sir!"