Chapter 5 A Marvelous Body (Part One)

Since Zen had taught Darren a lesson the evening before, the steward didn't show up in the morning. Several of his accomplices, however, came to dress Zen in the customary leather armor before escorting him to the Martial Arts Hall.

As usual, a group of children from the Luo Clan were practicing. Despite the morning mist and chill, they concentrated on their lesson at the Martial Arts Hall.

They didn't wear any protection on their arms as they beat a row of stone men in the corner with their fists. Despite how hard the stone men were, these children smashed their targets with great power and precision.

The slaves stood on the other side of the Hall. Gloom and hopelessness reflected in their expressions as they watched the force being used by the children.

The never-ending cycle of being hit and kicked every day and night made their life really unbearable. Most nights, they lay in bed, tossing and turning. As they writhed in pain, sleep would elude them. Unfortunately, they had no freedom at all. They had been bought by the Luo Clan and they had no choice but to bear the beating.

"All slaves get ready!" Corey, the trainer shouted.

All the slaves snapped out of their contemplation when they heard Corey. He was a cruel trainer. If he noticed any of the slaves making even the slightest of mistakes, he would lose his temper and whip them. Corey's whip was not an ordinary whip, and a thin-skinned person could easily have their skin peeled away with one strike of the whip.

The Luo children were familiar with this part of their routine. Quietly, they made their way to the slaves and began selecting. A strong teenager named Melvin Luo chose Zen.

Other slaves glanced at Zen with sympathy-filled eyes.

Melvin Luo's talent was ordinary since he was still at the skin refining level. However, his inner divine strength was powerful, and his strength was equal to anyone at the meat refining level. He was ferocious and brutal, and several slaves had died or been seriously injured by him. To be chosen as Melvin's punchbag was indeed, unfortunate.

Melvin Luo shook his fist and moved his body a little bit before looking at Zen. His eyes gleamed with excitement. Death row inmates had been difficult to procure in recent times. Their number dwindled even more as other families were also competing to buy them. Human punchbags used by the Luo Clan were deprived of adequate supplements. Therefore, slaves were a scarce resource in the Luo Clan.

Beating a slave not only exercised their bodies, but also helped the children to vent their feelings. Another reason why Melvin Luo felt excited was because his punchbag was once the young master of the Luo Clan.

The young master was at a much higher level than Melvin, and now Zen would be begging for mercy under Melvin's fists. The thought pleased Melvin.

Zen frowned. Melvin was known for his strength. Zen had suffered gravely from his beating the last time. Zen had taken half a month to recover from the internal injuries he had sustained.

However, having spent two years of his life as a human punchbag had taught him how to calm himself in any situation. He quickly took a few deep breaths and then arranged his leather armor before facing Melvin Luo.

Melvin Luo came toward him with all his strength. He had been practicing a very fierce form of boxing, called Bullish Punch, and he was eager to test it on his human punchbag.

Melvin Luo came at Zen like a raging bull. His first punch landed straight on Zen's chest. Everyone watched wide-eyed as a burst of wind enveloped Zen.

In the face of this momentum, Zen took a deep breath, and stiffened his chest so that he could use the protection of the leather armor to counteract the power of this punch.

"Puff!"

Although the thick leather armor helped slow down the power of Melvin's fist, Zen still felt pain explode throughout his body. The strength with which Melvin had hit Zen made him feel as though he had been struck on the chest with a huge hammer. At this moment, he quickly exhaled the air from his chest and let his chest flatten as much as possible.

"Unload power!"

With the air quickly expelled from the chest, it formed a buffer zone, which offset the opponent's power. This was Zen's secret of survival during his two years as a human punchbag.

However, Melvin Luo's fist force was too intense, and after the second offset, Zen felt as though the pain was unbearable. Zen forced a bitter smile as his whole body trembled with the impact. Like a broken kite line, Zen flew back suddenly.

As Zen lay on the ground, he let the dizziness he was feeling overtake him. He thought it was over. He was afraid that this punch had caused serious internal injuries. However, he was surprised when a moment later, he realized that he was not feeling any pain.

In fact, Zen felt nothing. Then a strange warmth emerged from his chest. As soon as those warm currents flowed through him, Zen's body reacted. He felt as though his body was like a hungry wolf, swallowing that warmth greedily.

The warmth then spread across his whole body, right down to the smallest cell. Enveloped in this warmth, Zen felt comfortable.

'What is going on?' Zen thought as he felt the warm currents on his flesh!

Although Zen was a slave, he was once a young master of the Luo Clan. The knowledge he had gained during that time had been immense. He knew that this was no ordinary reaction.

Pills that could refresh one's body were very rare, just like the Magical Pills that the Luo Clan had. It was said that the pills could cause various effects on the body. However, the ingredients for the Magical Pills were rare to come by. That explained why it had taken hundreds of years for a family as rich as the Luo Clan to procure only two of these pills. They were precious, indeed.

Their effect on the body was a rare phenomenon as well. Zen lay on the ground thinking for a while. Soon he linked his reaction to the strange experience he had endured the night before.

'Use the flesh as a weapon. Use your body as the soul, temper and practice thoroughly, clean the body for great vitality ...' Zen remembered part of what he had learned the previous night.

Was this what it meant by 'temper'? He needed to be beaten?

Just as recorded in the piece of gold foil, his body had become a mysterious weapon. Refining a device was perhaps, part of the process. Was tempering a process that refined the top mysterious weapons?

Through the beating he had sustained, Zen's body had produced the warm current required to wash the flesh of his body! It seemed that being beaten was equal to taking the Magical Pills constantly.

Thinking of this, Zen's mind became a chaotic mess. He felt excited and his heart beat faster at the implications.

In order to confirm his theory, Zen stood up.

Although he was not injured, and Melvin Luo's punch had helped him, he still pretended as though he were in pain. It looked as though Zen was struggling to stand and even trembled to avoid other people from wondering why he hadn't been hurt.

When Melvin Luo saw Zen stand, his expression turned to one of surprise. He had thought that his punch would kill or cripple Zen. However, Zen was still able to stand, which embarrassed Melvin Luo.

"Hey, no wonder you are at the peak of the flesh refining level! You are resistant to attacks! That's great. Now I get to hit you again!" Melvin Luo rushed forward to punch Zen.

"Boom!"

Zen was hit hard again. This time he flew back and rolled on the ground as though he were a man-shaped sandbag. Zen was secretly thrilled when instead of pain, he felt the warm currents again. The warmth spread throughout his body, constantly revitalizing his organs. The warm currents turned into small snakes crawling into his internal organs, his veins, constantly refining his flesh body and refreshing his organs.