He hadn’t even fully executed the seventh form of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, yet the sonic boom from the hammer’s head had already sent spiderweb cracks across the rock wall a hundred feet away. With his every move, the Pure Yang Inner Breath inside him churned frantically.

This technique ranked first among the Taoist Sect’s Outer Three Harmonies. In an age when the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit was abundant, it would undoubtedly have been a superior Qi Cultivation Skill. Without the resurgence of the Primordial Spirit Breath, this Cultivation Technique probably couldn’t unleash any of its true power.

Even with the Attribute Panel, all he could do was perfectly integrate the forces of muscle, bone, and skin. He would have been unable to cultivate Pure Yang Inner Breath.

"Not enough... Again!"

A low roar rumbled from Xu Yunfan’s throat as his muscles swelled and veins bulged. If he were to cast off his Dragon Scale Armor, one could clearly see the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength flowing like lava beneath his skin, churning between the fibers of his taut muscles.

He simply released the constraints on his Pure Yang Qi, then unlatched the Mechanical Box at his waist to reveal the Ginseng Child’s head. Before the Ginseng Child could react, Xu Yunfan took a long, deep breath and shoved the still-dazed creature back inside.

The searing Qi of Ginseng shot into his lungs. As a massive amount of Ginseng Qi-Refining Spirit Marrow washed through him, the intense pain actually stimulated his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength, causing it to go berserk. Fissures appeared on the surface of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body, only to be rapidly healed by a wash of Primordial Spirit Qi.

When he pushed the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength into its forty-ninth circulation, a sudden change occurred.

Xu Yunfan’s eyes turned blood-red as he uncontrollably executed the seventeenth form of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer: Eight Desolates Return Stream.

’So that’s it... The True Intent of the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength is to bear an immense weight, yet move as if coiling around a mountain to shake its very foundations. In the end, all three cultivation methods are just about using strength to shake a mountain.’

Panting heavily, Xu Yunfan knelt on one knee. Before him, the wind from his hammer had carved a thousand-foot-long gully into the scorched earth.

The surface of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body was covered in a web of fine cracks, but they healed at a rate visible to the naked eye, nourished by the Primordial Spirit Qi.

He suddenly broke into a wide grin and, with a backhanded motion, swung the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace, which weighed over a thousand pounds, into a blur. This time, there was no sonic boom. All the Strength was condensed into a single thread of Hidden Force. Three hundred feet away, a rock wall silently disintegrated into dust.

A message from the panel appeared in his vision again.

’You seem to have grasped some of the intent of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique. Skill Level has increased significantly.’

Fifteen Skill Level points!

Xu Yunfan was stunned. He looked out at the land of natural and spiritual grace before him, a place for Seeking Dragon and Distinguishing Veins that had been shaped by mining. He could even see wisps of Spiritual Mist drifting over the peaks where the terrain’s ley lines converged.

Compared to the valley where he stood, this new place made it pale in comparison.

After packing his things, he strapped the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer to his back, securing it with the Armor Leaves. Once he confirmed it was stable, he hesitated no longer.

He took a shallow breath and stretched his limbs.

Xu Yunfan was eager to test just how fast he could run at full tilt.

The instant the fascia in the arches of his feet boomed like a thunderclap, the entire slab of rock beneath him shattered.

The muscular striations of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body bulged beneath his skin like a topographical map of Earth Veins. The sound of his 206 bones locking into place drowned out the howl of the mountain wind.

His spine, burdened with the 350-pound Thunderfire Qilin Hammer and the 60-odd-pound Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace, arched like a full moon. His shoulder blades slammed together like colliding tectonic plates, the recoil launching his body forward like a crimson Crossbow Arrow.

His Dragon Scale Armor reacted to his movements, its Armor Leaves adjusting to help him slice through the air. Fiery exhaust jetted from its seams, leaving a hundred-foot trail of fire in his wake. Each time his toes tapped the ground, a bowl-sized crater exploded in the rock.

As the Coiling Dragon Sea-shaking Strength surged through his fascia, it roared like a raging river. His twelve major tendons jumped like taut bowstrings. The Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength erupting from his back was pumped into his legs at a terrifying speed. He crossed a hundred-foot chasm in just three steps. As his third step shattered the cliff face for leverage, the flying debris filled the air like a swarm of stone locusts, peppering the surroundings with THUDS.

The great dragon of his spine popped, joint by joint, like a chain of thunderclaps. The twist of his waist and hips tore visible ripples into the air.

Far from being a burden, the Heavy Hammer on his back was like a heavy, armor-piercing bolt nocked in a powerful crossbow. Every muscle in his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body became a tightly coiled spring, brimming with Strength.

In the instant he flashed past the ancient pine forest, the branches sheared off by the wind of his passing hadn’t even hit the ground, yet his figure had already smashed through seven layers of mist to reach the mountainside.

The Gang Wind atop the summit cut like a knife. Xu Yunfan stood bare-chested upon Broken Dragon Rock.

The patterns in the thousand-foot rock formation beneath him aligned with the flow of the Earth Veins. When he activated his Pure Yang Qi Skill, the white vapor he exhaled condensed into a visible arrow of air that shot out for thirty meters before slowly dissipating.

He pressed down suddenly with his right foot, sinking it three inches into the rock. The fascia on the sole of his foot rippled like an Earth Dragon Flipping Over. As he swung the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer, the resulting sonic boom ripped through the air, scattering the omnipresent Spiritual Mist.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Yunfan used his Pure Yang Inner Breath to draw the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spiritual Energy into his body through his mouth and nose. He immediately assumed the Barefoot Mountain Stake stance, activating the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength latent in the core muscles of his back. The power flowed throughout his body, spiraling up the great dragon of his spine.

Before long, Xu Yunfan’s muscles felt like strands of red-hot steel cable twisting together. The sweat seeping from his pores evaporated into white mist before it could even touch the ground.

’You have absorbed several motes of Primordial Spirit Qi. Your Skill Level in the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique has increased.’

Just as he was about to end his practice and regulate his breathing, a deep, rumbling vibration, like muffled thunder from within the mountain itself, reached his ears.

Xu Yunfan turned his head toward the sound, his pupils contracting. Seventy-five feet away, at the edge of the cliff, five rock pillars burst apart in succession. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

A giant, white-furred palm reached out from the dust cloud. Bone fragments embedded beneath its nails scraped against the stone, striking sparks.

It was a white-haired old ape, standing ten feet tall, its entire body covered in fur as stiff as steel needles and packed with gnarled muscle.

At this moment, it was glaring fixedly at Xu Yunfan on the summit with a pair of blood-red eyes.

As the old ape shattered the last rocky barrier and hauled itself onto the summit, Xu Yunfan pushed off his toes, retreating more than ten meters.

This white ape’s fur was as hard as steel needles. The remnant of a broken Bronze chain hung from its shoulder, and its empty right eye socket was overgrown with dark red, fleshy nodules.

Most terrifying of all were the Profound Iron chains wrapped around its fists. Tied to the ends were thousand-pound stone pillars, which gouged deep furrows in the ground.

A Demon Fiend!

Xu Yunfan’s pupils trembled. ’I can’t believe I’d actually run into a Demon Fiend here.’

’This Secret Realm isn’t as peaceful as I thought.’

CRACK!

Without warning, the old ape swept the stone pillar on its left fist horizontally. In the same instant, Xu Yunfan bent backward in an iron bridge maneuver, precisely inserting the Armor-Piercing Awl on the end of his hammer’s handle into a gap between the chain’s links.

The Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength erupted, spiraling along the bones of his arm as he tried to yank the Demon Fiend off balance.

But unexpectedly, the muscles in the old ape’s right arm suddenly swelled to triple their size. As the chain snapped taut, the resulting shower of sparks was enough to knock the hammer’s head six inches off course.

The webbing of Xu Yunfan’s hand went numb, but he expelled a breath of Blood Qi, and the feeling vanished.

He noticed an old, sunken injury on the Demon Fiend’s right knee.

’This Demon Fiend must have suffered a grievous injury at some point,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, with a Demon Fiend’s Life Force, there’s no way it wouldn’t have healed completely.’

His Heavy Hammer suddenly changed tactics, shifting to a "Mountain-Lifting" strike. The hammerhead scraped along the edge of the stone pillar in a diagonal upward slash.

CLANG!

The old ape cried out in pain and stumbled back three steps, black blood gushing from the old wound on its right knee.

Pressing his advantage, Xu Yunfan didn’t let up. The fascia in the arch of his foot trembled continuously like an Earth Dragon Flipping Over. His Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body twisted at an impossible angle as the wind from his hammer split into nine afterimages of a Red Flood Dragon, sealing off all avenues of escape.