Chapter 167: Chapter 167: You’ve Reached Entry Level, and Attained Minor Achievement

Zhan Yan whipped out a manual from his robes; it was the annotated guide for the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

"These past few days were just a preliminary introduction, but I didn’t expect you to progress so quickly... Once you reach the introductory level, you can continuously refine the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength and integrate it with the Hammer Technique. Then, every inch of your flesh and blood will be able to store power, and your Hammer Force will penetrate thirty layers of armor."

"I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to rest. You keep practicing."

Before Xu Yunfan could say anything, Zhan Yan turned and left swiftly.

Xu Yunfan could only call out after him.

"Master, take care!"

Once Zhan Yan’s figure had vanished from sight, Xu Yunfan turned his gaze to the densely packed annotations on the diagrams.

He caressed the Armor-Breaking Hammer that Zhan Yan had personally forged for him. The patterns carved on its handle were all guides for channeling force according to the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

To an outsider, they might seem like mere decorations, but to one who had learned the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, it was undoubtedly an aid for enhancing efficiency.

The next instant, the shadow of the hammer moved like a waterfall.

Each of Xu Yunfan’s strikes carried a strange resonant frequency. The sound of wind and thunder from his swinging hammer gradually shifted from a piercing shriek to a deep, muffled rumble.

As night fell, his final strike landed. A large boulder in front of the mountain hollow went THUD. The hammerhead sank deep into the stone’s interior without causing the slightest ripple, like a steel needle sinking into tofu.

All of the Strength was twisted into a single strand, with none of it leaking out. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’You have successfully executed the first form of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, Star Falling into the Celestial River. You have reached the introductory level of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer.’

’Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, 0/500 (Introductory)

Effects: Mountain Spirit Body Forging, Pan Yue’s Body Grinding Technique, Jiao Qi Hundred Hails, Force-Relieving Armor, Thousand Jins of Collapsing Mountains First Rank, Hammering Technique Mastery’

In an instant, massive torrents of warmth surged through his body, coursing through his limbs and bones, and began to rapidly strengthen his frame.

Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan. He staggered backward as the wildly surging strength overflowed. Every step he took made the ground of the hollow tremble slightly.

His skin suddenly took on a rusty, gray-blue pattern, and his muscles bulged madly as if being repeatedly forged by an invisible heavy hammer.

The golden sheen that had appeared between his gnarled muscle fibers grew richer. The scale-like fascia over his ribs opened and closed with each breath, emitting the CLANG of scraping metal. His flat ribs constantly expanded outward and contracted as his body stretched.

A Nine-Linked Rings dragon’s roar erupted from the depths of his bones. His spine arched, section by section, like a Red Flood Dragon churning through the waves. If one could see beneath his skin, they would see that as qi flowed into his great dragon of a spine, a strange bronze-colored marrow seeped from the gaps between each vertebra, spreading into his flesh and blood.

Scalding, mercury-like mist spewed from the pores all over his body. The wisps of Inner Breath produced by the breathing technique of his Pure Yang Qi Skill began to rapidly revive within his flesh, strengthened by the massive torrents of heat that had appeared from nowhere, and started to merge with his Blood Qi.

As the Inner Breath merged with his Blood Qi, Xu Yunfan’s body jolted. The steaming Blood Qi above his head faintly coalesced into the shadow of a Red Flood Dragon. One could even faintly hear the roar of an enraged flood dragon from the grating of bone, tendon, and skin within his body.

The beat of his heart was like the pounding of war drums, each contraction shattering the bedrock beneath his feet.

Strange, wispy patterns faintly appeared where bone and fascia intertwined. The frequency, which secretly corresponded to the vibrations of the Ninefold Force, caused his muscles to tremble rapidly. This actually caused a layer of faint, invisible airflow to form around his body.

The Qi Armor, spontaneously formed by the activation of his Pure Yang Qi Skill!

If an ordinary bladed weapon were to touch his skin, it would likely be shredded into iron filings by the high-frequency Qi Armor.

The rapid changes within his body gave Xu Yunfan an irrepressible urge to let it all out. He opened his mouth wide. A blood-red core bulged high in his throat, and the sound wave he roared out was almost visible to the naked eye.

All the grass and trees within a ten-zhang radius were flattened.

’Your Pure Yang Qi Skill has reached Minor Achievement.’

’Pure Yang Qi Skill, 0/500 (Minor Achievement)

Effects: Pure Yang Purple Qi First Rank, Qi Armor First Rank, Endurance First Rank, Recovery Second Rank’

After adapting to the changes in his body and the cultivation memories that had been poured into his mind, Xu Yunfan was shocked to discover that his Pure Yang Qi Skill had actually been brought to the Minor Achievement realm by the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

The wisps of Pure Yang Qi hidden deep within his flesh and blood had been greatly strengthened by the massive flow of warmth generated by the Attribute Panel, and moreover...

Xu Yunfan immediately sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate according to the Pure Yang Qi Skill. To his surprise, a small cycle formed within his flesh and blood.

As Xu Yunfan closed his eyes and concentrated his spirit, he could feel a warmth like fine sand flowing through his flesh and blood.

The newly born Pure Yang Inner Breath no longer lay dormant deep in his flesh but slowly seeped along the grain of his muscles, tracing intermittent golden lines across his arms and back.

Occasionally, when the airflow brushed against his bones, it would emit a muffled thud, like a heavy hammer striking forged iron.

The warm current infused by the Attribute Panel had not dissipated; it was now carrying the Pure Yang Qi and coursing just beneath his skin.

When he tried to perform his breathing exercises, he discovered that his Inner Breath was spontaneously circulating among the muscles of his chest and abdomen.

Xu Yunfan couldn’t hold it in any longer and opened his eyes, which were filled with joy.

The ripples in his state of mind caused the Pure Yang Inner Breath, which had been flowing slowly through his flesh, to once again retreat deep within, becoming still and silent.

’This is... Inner Power!!’

Xu Yunfan was so excited he trembled all over, hopping on the spot for a good while.

Although this world’s Blood Energy Martial Arts could allow one to break through the limits of the human body, far exceeding what was humanly possible, one could only condense True Qi within a supremely powerful physique at the Ninth Realm.

But that was the Ninth Realm!

Although he had now used the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique to break through to the Minor Achievement realm in his Pure Yang Qi Skill, which in turn brought his Outer Three Harmonies to Minor Achievement...

He could practice the Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body and the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength, but it was still quite strenuous to use the techniques of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

To do it more easily, his flesh and blood needed to transform; his Strength had to penetrate deep into his muscles. This was only possible through Muscle Training.

However...

Although his Blood Qi hadn’t reached the Flesh Refining Realm where strength permeates to the tips of one’s hair, with these two consecutive breakthroughs, his physique had now far surpassed that of an ordinary Grand Martial Master who had reached Great Success in the Outer Three Harmonies.

’Just how strong have I become?’

He gave a light stomp. A surge of power shot from the great dragon of his spine, reaching the soles of his feet in an instant.

BANG!

The ground beneath his foot silently fractured into a spiderweb of cracks that spread in all directions, only stopping at the edge of the mountain hollow.

With such power, he was confident he could defeat Su Zhenhe within ten moves.

After returning to his courtyard in Celestial Craft City, washing up, and lying down in bed, Xu Yunfan was suddenly overcome by waves of exhaustion.

It seemed his nerves had been stretched taut by the recent series of events. If not for the Linn Character Technique, he wouldn’t have been able to hold out for so long.

Counting the days, Xu Yunfan realized that by relying on the nightly cultivation of the Linn Character Technique to boost his spirit, he hadn’t truly slept in nearly half a month.

’Today was a good day. I should definitely relax a bit.’

Xu Yunfan placed the Profound Steel Mechanism Box by his side and tightened the Extreme Dao Relic Shell, which was fashioned into a vest around his body.

Not only was this Extreme Dao Relic Shell’s skin incredibly tough—capable of withstanding even the Divine Gilded Mace—but he had also almost never taken it off, except when practicing his techniques.

(There should be another Chapter later, I’m furiously typing away at the keyboard)