Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 179: Small Rod Energy

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

"Uuuaaaaghh! I can’t take it anymore!"

Letting out a desperate cry, Han Xuhan sprawled on his back on the grass, staring at the evening sky with vacant eyes, chest heaving up and down.

A layer of sweat covered every exposed inch of his skin. And the ground beneath his body was so soaked with it that it looked like someone had upended a bucket full of water there.

A large shadow fell over Han Xuhan, and Han Xuhan’s blurry vision fell on the honest-looking face scrutinizing him from above.

"What? It’s too difficult, okay?"

"You performed that move only three times, Brother Xuhan."

"So what? It took me five minutes to get the movement and positioning right each time. Don’t you know how painful it is to hold a stable stance for five minutes? You used to be a beginner like me in the past. Have mercy on me, brother Wu!"

Xiao Wu shook his head stubbornly.

"It can’t go on like this. At first, you kept ditching the stances I chose for you with the excuse that they were too difficult. The stances you chose in the end have such narrow usage that you can combine them into only one offensive and one defensive move.

"And now, you’re struggling to practice even that simple offensive move. How will you harness vital energy inside your body if you can’t even execute these moves regularly during every practice session?

"Four stances, two moves, and one breathing cycle, you have to master these as soon as possible to truly step into the Martial Path. What you’re doing right now is a waste of time and resources."

"Why are you talking like you never struggled to learn a move of your martial art manual? Do you think I’m a kid? I can clearly see that you’re underselling my efforts and my progress so far!" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Xiao Wu grabbed him by the neck like a chicken and forced him to stand back up on his feet.

"I struggled to master killing moves and special combinations, not a simple punching technique. Don’t disgrace yourself, Brother Xuhan. Come on, punch that wall."

Han Xuhan morosely looked down at his fists, both of which had become red and swollen, the skin near the knuckles ready to be ripped apart.

If the ’wall’ Xiao Wu was talking about wasn’t a special apparatus made for the convenience of practicing offensive moves, even his bones might have turned into a paste by now.

This apparatus was a simple strength testing device for cultivators pursuing the peak of the Physique Transformation realm, giving them a rough insight into the rate of their growth.

It consisted of a large, square-shaped plate made of unknown materials, behind which, six horizontal rods spread out, each of them a little over a meter in length.

The plate was the most magical part of the apparatus. It not only dulled the pain to a tolerable level while punching and kicking without holding back strength, it also transferred the power of attacks from the plate to the rods behind it, converting it to another form of energy.

These rods had the capability to absorb this energy and temporarily shrink in response. The higher the exertion of force, the more they would shrink. The degree of shrinking was their base of measurement.

For example, a beginner like Han Xuhan, who hasn’t even mastered a single martial move, could lash out with little more power than an ordinary human. So when he struck the plate, the rods behind shrank by three to five centimeters.

The change in length was barely noticeable. It almost felt like an insult. Xiao Wu claimed that he felt motivated to work harder when he compared his length to his fellow martial artists. But Han Xuhan did not.

A cultivator at the second or the third phase of the Physique Transformation realm, like Xiao Wu, could make the rods shrink by half a foot. And if they cultivated a martial technique that focused on killing moves, they could double the degree of shrinking.

However, past the halfway length, shrinking the rods became increasingly difficult, and even the qualitative growth of a cultivator could not keep up with the steep upward curve.

Only a cultivator at the peak of the Physique Transformation realm, having fully mastered the most potent killing moves in the Martial world, could actually make them shrink by more than 90%.

On the other hand, cultivators like Han Xuhan, whose martial art did not have killing moves and did not focus on generating extra powerful strikes in combat, even if they reached the peak of their martial art, they could not shrink the rods by more than 75%.

This difference in the length of their rods created two classes of martial artists. Even when their progress in martial cultivation was in the same phase, one class could boast about having smaller rods than the other class, which signified superior strength and more powerful outputs.

However, Han Xuhan was destined not to be a part of this group. His martial art did not have ’small rod energy’.

As for why this phrase made him laugh uproariously when Xiao Wu said it for the first time, he refused to explain.

Having learned about this absurd scale of measurement, he had indignantly asked,

"Why not build the rods in a way that enables a peak Physique Transformation realm cultivator to shrink it entirely? Why leave 10% of its length untouched? It’s going to totally ruin the satisfaction of grinding for so long!"

Xiao Wu wagged his finger with a supercilious smirk on his face, happy to show off his knowledge.

"You’re forgetting something big, Martial Brother Xuhan. What comes after the peak of the Physique Transformation realm?"

"The Soul Reformation realm..."

"No, no, no, I’m referring to the Physique Transformation realm’s heavenly tribulation. As a martial artist, you will get opportunities to further refine your body under the tribulation with pure heavenly energy.

"This means your physique will undergo a final qualitative leap, allowing even the most mediocre martial artist to obliterate these strength-testing apparatuses."

"What about the small rod group? Will we be equal to them?"

"Of course not," Xiao Wu said proudly. He himself was a part of this group as he was cultivating a high-quality martial art.

"We will get a far better opportunity! We will be able to extend our martial art’s potential into the Soul Reformation realm!"

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