’I’m about to break through to the Muscle Forging Realm!’
Su Yu’s heart trembled. He immediately severed all distracting thoughts from his mind, his eyes half-closed as he focused inward, concentrating completely on guiding the rampaging Qi and Blood within his body.
The first things to transform were the body’s major acupoints.
Within Su Yu’s inner vision, a piercing crimson light suddenly flared up in the void-like darkness at the very tip of his tailbone.
The crimson light solidified from illusion into reality, like a great star hanging in the boundless night sky within his body, radiating a dazzling and brilliant glow.
This acupoint was none other than the Dragon Gate Acupoint, the most mysterious nexus in the human body!
A fragmented ancient Daoist medical text, the *Jade Axis Yellow Court Scripture*, once said: "One and two-tenths of an inch above the coccyx lies the Sea of the Gate of Life, also called the Dragon Gate. This is the pivot where the body’s ultimate yin transforms into ultimate yang. It is where qi gathers and the dragon lies dormant. If one can open this acupoint and guide Qi and Blood to flow upward against the current, it is like a carp leaping to become a dragon, shedding its mortal coil."
"OOM—"
The moment the Dragon Gate Acupoint lit up, it was like a monarch suspended high above, instantly triggering the qi mechanism throughout his body!
In that instant, all the major fleshy acupoints in Su Yu’s body lit up one after another, as if answering the call of some ancient power.
Tianquan, Yinmen, Huagai, Qihai...
The numerous major acupoints shone in harmony within his body, linking together to form a profound star chart!
The phenomenon accompanying this breakthrough far surpassed any before. Illuminated by this star chart, the vast, ocean-like Qi and Blood in Su Yu’s body began to boil completely.
His blood no longer flowed; it was like lava erupting from a volcano, letting out a low rumble as it converged madly toward the Dragon Gate Acupoint in his tailbone with unstoppable, destructive force.
"RUMBLE!"
The Qi and Blood surged and roared like a million-strong army. Wherever it passed, meridians were forcibly widened, and his flesh and blood were repeatedly crushed and refined. His entire essence, qi, and spirit experienced a volcanic surge at this moment.
From the Skin Tempering Realm, to the Flesh Refining Realm, and now to the unification of acupoints to assault the Muscle Forging stage... this was an all-encompassing qualitative transformation, the result of accumulating his Martial Arts foundation to its absolute peak!
However, this process should have been fraught with peril, a nine-in-ten chance of death!
The Qi and Blood converging at this moment was unprecedentedly violent.
While the body’s flesh and blood, reshaped through the Skin Tempering and Flesh Refining Realms, could withstand the impact, the tendons hidden deep within were a different matter. Fragile and inelastic, they were simply incapable of enduring such a savage scouring.
Take the body’s core, the thickest Great Dragon Tendon along the spine, for example.
At this moment, the violent Qi and Blood slammed into it like an enraged dragon. Su Yu felt his back suddenly arch as the Great Dragon Tendon was instantly stretched to its limit, like the string of a powerful bow pulled taut to the breaking point, emitting a dangerous "CREAAAK."
If any other Martial Artist had dared to do this, their Great Tendons would have already snapped inch by inch. At best, they would be crippled; at worst, they would die on the spot!
According to Su Yu’s understanding, when an ordinary Martial Artist broke through to the Muscle Forging Realm, they required the aid of an expensive external item—the so-called ’Dragon Tendon’!
Moreover, the breakthrough process had to be carried out with extreme caution.
Step one: Dissolve the Dragon Tendon. Swallow the external Demon Beast’s Dragon Tendon and use one’s boiling Qi and Blood to smelt it into a soft, jade-like essence.
Step two: Pin the Dragon Tendon. Endure the pain in the tendons and firmly "pin" this soft, jade-like essence into the Dragon Gate Acupoint.
Step three, the most dangerous: Temper the Dragon Tendon. As the rampaging Qi and Blood surged upward from the Dragon Gate Acupoint, this external Demon Beast essence would be carried throughout the body, seeping into the Martial Artist’s own Great Tendons, coating them in a tough "protective film" and holding them firmly in place!
Only under the protection of this external object could a person’s Great Tendons barely withstand the initial baptism and stretching from the Qi and Blood without snapping.
But Su Yu’s breakthrough required none of this.
He could feel a mysterious, mighty power that had transformed into a pair of invisible hands, gently protecting all the Great Tendons in his body.
No matter how the Qi and Blood scoured them, his Great Tendons not only didn’t snap, but instead grew tougher and more astonishingly elastic through this intense tempering!
「Another hour passed.」
With a crisp "TWANG" from within his body, like the vibrating of a bowstring, the life-altering transformation finally came to a close.
Su Yu slowly opened his eyes and sensed the changes in his body.
He discovered that the Great Tendons throughout his body had not only more than doubled in thickness, but their surface was now glowing with a faint, glass-like golden light! Looking closely, he could even see traces of golden threads flowing within the semi-transparent tendons.
This was the phenomenon of "Great Tendons giving birth to gold," signifying that his Great Tendons had been refined to a new level. The breakthrough was a complete success!
"Just as I thought. My Realm breakthrough doesn’t need the help of any external Dragon Tendons at all!"
Su Yu let out a long cry and exhaled a three-foot-long plume of white, turbid qi that was as solid as a sharp sword.
After two years, he had finally grown from an ordinary apprentice into a master of the Muscle Forging Realm!
He was in high spirits, and the long cry was full of satisfaction!
He stood up and stretched his muscles and bones slightly.
"CRACKLE! POP!"
A series of crisp cracks instantly erupted from the bones and Great Tendons throughout his body.
He could feel that the greatest change was not just the increase in his total Qi and Blood, but his terrifying explosive power!
The body’s Great Tendons are like the string of a powerful bow, and the muscles are the bow’s limbs. Now that the string had been replaced with peerless Divine Gold, what terrifying power would be unleashed once it was plucked?
Su Yu’s gaze focused, and he strode toward the Martial Arts Arena in the front courtyard.
He just barely flexed the Great Tendon in his right leg.
"BANG!"
The bluestone tiles beneath his feet instantly fractured into a spiderweb of cracks, while Su Yu’s figure left an afterimage in its place!
When he reappeared, he had already crossed several zhang of distance, as if he had teleported, standing without any warning in front of the Ironwood Stake in the center of the Martial Arts Arena!
This terrifying, sound-barrier-breaking speed was entirely generated by the inhuman propulsive force of the Great Tendons in his legs.
"Time to test its power!"
Su Yu took a deep breath, the Great Tendons in his waist twisting sharply as they transferred power layer by layer to his right arm.
"White Ape Asks for the Way!"
"BOOM!"
There were no fancy flourishes, only violence refined to its purest form!
When he threw this punch, it even caused the air to explode, creating a piercing sonic boom. The naked eye couldn’t follow the trajectory of Su Yu’s fist at all; one could only see a dark red fist shadow flash through the air.
This fist shadow was actually a scorch mark left by the Ape Demon Evil Qi rubbing against the air!
The next moment, his fist smashed into the Ironwood Stake, which was as thick as a thigh. This century-old Ironwood Stake was exceptionally hard; someone in the initial stage of the Muscle Forging Realm couldn’t possibly damage it.
"CRACK..."
But at this moment, the indestructible Ironwood Stake couldn’t even hold out for a single second!
Starting from the point of impact, terrifying cracks instantly spread across its entire surface. Then, under the ferocious impact, it directly "CRACK CRACK CRACKED" and burst apart, leaving several deep fissures.
Su Yu slowly retracted his fist and nodded in satisfaction.
"The explosive power of this punch has definitely reached the destructive force of the mid-stage Muscle Forging Realm. If an ordinary initial-stage Muscle Forging Realm practitioner got close to me, I could heavily injure them with a single punch!"
The reason Su Yu was so powerful stemmed from his numerous trump cards.
After reaching the Muscle Forging Realm, the martial arts buff from the Black Stone Body Forging Skill only provided a 10% combat power boost. After all, the Muscle Forging Realm relied on the explosive power of tendons, not the simple accumulation of Qi and Blood.
But Su Yu was different. He held two major trump cards: the White Ape Extreme Stance and the Ape Demon Evil Qi!
When Martial Artists of the Muscle Forging Realm fought, they relied on two things: the explosive power of their muscles and bones, and their comprehension of "Stance". The perfect combination of these two was the reason for a qualitative leap in combat power.
’My two Stances both came from Breaking Limits. The moment I grasped them, they were already at the Perfection Realm. I don’t need to comprehend them at all!’
’Other ordinary experts in the Muscle Forging Realm would probably have to immerse themselves in this Realm for years, or even decades, just to comprehend a single Stance to Perfection. But I’ve only just entered the Muscle Forging Realm, and my Stances are already at the peak!’
This was an absolute gulf!
Understanding this, Su Yu gained a clearer perception of his future path in Martial Arts.
’From now on, I don’t need to painstakingly comprehend Stances like everyone else. I just need to follow the plan and grind my Skill Levels, continuously strengthening this physical body, and my combat power can increase indefinitely!’
’And if I need to comprehend a new Stance, I’ll just keep Breaking Limits!’
Next, Su Yu summoned his panel to check his latest information.
[Martial Arts]: Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Fist (Perfection)
[Martial Arts]: Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber (First Layer) (Great Success 8888/10000)
[Martial Arts]: Vajra Fearless True Sound (Minor Achievement 640/1500)
[Martial Arts]: Seven Fiends Thunder Collapse Step (Perfection)
[Martial Arts]: Bibo Fish Dragon Skill (First Layer) (Perfection)
[Martial Arts]: Black Stone Body Forging Skill (First Layer) (Broken Limit 1 time) (Traits: Formless Flowing Gold)
[Martial Arts]: Lingxi Beast Taming Technique (Broken Limit 1 time) (Traits: Spirit Rhinoceros Blood Contract)
[Martial Arts]: White Ape Long Arm Fist (Broken Limit 3 times) (Traits: White Ape Extreme Stance - Instant Shadow Thousand Strikes)
[Martial Arts]: White Ape Six Transformations (Broken Limit 3 times) (Traits: White Ape Saint Body)
[Martial Arts]: Money Tossing (Broken Limit 1 time) (Traits: Spiral Armor-Breaking)
[Skills]: Casting Net (Broken Limit 3 times) (Traits: Listening Wave Positioning)
[Skills]: Reading (Broken Limit 2 times) (Traits: Five Senses Divine, Shattering Illusion and Revealing Truth)
[Breakthrough Points]: 1 point (Progress 56%)
...
Su Yu scanned the increasingly luxurious panel, a trace of anticipation flashing in his eyes.
’Another one of my main Martial Arts has reached Perfection. The only ones left to grind on the panel are the *Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber* and the *Vajra Fearless True Sound*. It’s rare to have a bit of downtime.’
’Next, I’ll grind my saber technique to Perfection first and max out my killing power. Then, I’ll make a trip to the Martial Arts Hall to ask Master for a High-tier Cultivation Technique. Also, it’s about time to start the second layer of the Black Stone Body Forging Skill!’
’But my breakthrough was too fast this time. I should still hide my true strength and not appear too shocking. Although there are many even more monstrous geniuses in this world, they probably have even more powerful backers.’
’Right now, on the surface, I can only rely on my Master for protection. If an expert from the Profound Bone Realm were to target me, it would probably be a huge hassle.’
’Sigh, I’ve already broken through to the Muscle Forging Realm. I wonder if Master will be able to return to the Profound Bone Realm!’