Strength After Enlightenment

Yangzhou City, Mingyue Residential Area.

After an excited night, Xia Zhi spent half the morning comforting his grandfather. After separately calling the Hall Master and Supervisor to let them know he was safe and thank them, he headed alone to the small lake in the residential area.

Standing beneath a willow tree by the lake and feeling the cool breeze, he felt exceptionally comfortable all over.

"Wind is agile and formless. This time, while comprehending the Origin Laws, my understanding of wind was the strongest. It must be because my movement technique broke through before, giving me a trace of insight."

Back in City 012, when he charged into the herd of savage bulls, Xia Zhi's movement technique had broken through to the Microscopic level in that life-threatening moment, allowing him to glimpse a trace of the profound meaning behind Perfect level movement technique.

To master Perfect level movement technique, one needed to reach the Grandmaster realm described in Huaxia's ancient culture as "Oneness of Heaven and Man."

In truth, it meant that a martial artist had begun to comprehend a trace of the universe's laws, borrowing the power of nature and heaven and earth for their movement technique, allowing themselves to merge with their surroundings.

After crossing that threshold, as one continued cultivating and deepened one's comprehension of the laws, one would gradually begin to comprehend a domain.

Across the entire universe, even super geniuses generally only began coming into contact with domains at the Star level. Ordinary cosmic humans only comprehended domains when breaking through from the Cosmic level to the Domain Lord level.

Naturally, domains differed vastly in power depending on one's level. However, in the original novel, only Hong, who had spent years studying Earth's philosophical thought, had managed to comprehend a domain at the Planetary level.

For Xia Zhi to begin comprehending the Origin Laws of the universe while still at the Apprentice level, the Cosmic Pole Enlightenment Art passed down directly by the Supreme Being was simply too heaven-defying.

"It's so early that there probably won't be anyone at the martial arts hall. I'll go test my current strength and see what these twenty days of enlightenment have brought me."

With that thought, Xia Zhi turned and headed toward the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

Very few people came to the Limitless Martial Arts Hall in the early morning.

Xia Zhi went straight to the sixth floor, which was provided for Wargod level martial artists.

As a hall prepared for the daily cultivation and training of the martial artists in the residential area, it had extremely comprehensive facilities.

"Before I entered the Wilderness Zone for the first time last month, my results were a speed of 143 meters per second and a punching force of 14,050 kilograms. With the Hidden Strength burst of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade, I could reach 39,200 kilograms."

Xia Zhi loosened up slightly. "Over the past month, I experienced twenty days of enlightenment. I wonder how far my physical fitness has broken through now!"

Xia Zhi turned on the punching force testing machine, and its screen instantly lit up.

"I'll first use normal force without the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade's force-generating method."

Xia Zhi adjusted his breathing slightly. Then, like a violent ape charging forward, his entire right shoulder and arm carried an imposing force as they drove ahead. His fist spun like a drill as it shot out.

Bang!

A deep impact rang out. The Punch Target shook violently, and a line of numbers immediately appeared on the punching force testing machine's screen—39,981 kg.

"Oh, that's quite an increase."

Seeing the number, Xia Zhi could not help smiling happily. "Last time it was 14,050 kilograms. In one month, I went from the Beginner General level to the High-level General level, increasing my punching force by more than 25,000 kilograms."

In fact, this figure was within Xia Zhi's expectations. After fighting in the Wilderness Zone and then undergoing twenty days of enlightenment, his physical fitness had now broken through to the High-level General standard.

The lower limit for a High-level General's punching force was 32,000 kilograms, with a speed of 200 meters per second. Xia Zhi's punching force had already surpassed that value.

Smiling, Xia Zhi gathered strength once more.

This time, he intended to use the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade's Hidden Strength method. "Let's see how much the fifth level of force can reach!"

"Ha!"

Xia Zhi let out a low shout, his breath shooting from his mouth like a sharp arrow. As he shouted, his right arm instantly sliced through the air. In that brief instant, it accelerated repeatedly, directly breaking the sound barrier and producing a terrifying sonic boom. His heavy fist, like an iron hammer, smashed straight into the Punch Target.

"Bang~~"

The Punch Target swayed violently and toppled backward before rebounding.

"Awesome."

Xia Zhi looked at the display screen.

The screen paused slightly before showing a line of numbers—188,652 kg.

"Haha, just as expected! Five layers of Hidden Strength plus my own layer of force makes six layers in total. In the end, it can reach 4.8 times my own punching force."

Xia Zhi was very satisfied with that figure. A punching force of 187,200 kilograms was terrifyingly powerful.

That was the strength of 180 tons in a single punch!

What kind of concept was that?

A truck only weighed a few tons. One could imagine how heavy that punch was.

According to physical fitness data, punching force between 32,000 and 128,000 kilograms all fell within the High-level General standard.

Yet even among High-level Generals, the barely qualifying 32,000 kilograms and the top-tier High-level General differed by four times in punching force alone.

With the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade's force-generating technique, if Xia Zhi slashed out with a blade now, he would definitely count as top-tier among High-level Generals.

Without considering technique, Beginner War God level martial artists only possessed about this much strength.

"A sonic boom?"

Xiang Zhonghua was sitting cross-legged inside a Quiet Room on the fifth floor of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

As the Hall Master of the Yangzhou City branch of the Limitless Martial Arts School, he often came to the hall.

After cultivating there all night, he was startled when he suddenly heard the sonic boom from the sixth floor.

"What expert came to the hall so early and actually produced a sonic boom?"

No longer bothering to speculate, his body became an afterimage as he rushed up the stairs and charged directly into the sixth-floor training hall.

The hall was empty. There was only one person—Xia Zhi!

At that moment, Xia Zhi was still standing before the punching force testing machine, considering his current level of strength.

"Huh?" Xia Zhi turned around. "Hall Master."

"Damn, you were the one who produced that sonic boom? Let me see how heavy that punch was."

Xiang Zhonghua was astonished to see that it was Xia Zhi.

But when his gaze fell upon the punching force testing machine's display and he saw that number, his eyes instantly widened. He cried out, "188,652 kg?"

After staring blankly for a long while, he turned to look at Xia Zhi as though he had transformed from a monster. "You hit this? Don't tell me you've already broken through to the War God level?"

It was no wonder Xiang Zhonghua said that. The strength range of a High-level General was 32,000 to 128,000 kilograms. Xia Zhi's 180,000 kilograms of punching force had clearly exceeded the very peak of the High-level General level.

"If I didn't hit it, then who did?" Xia Zhi said with a smile. "But my physical fitness isn't actually that strong."

"The Nine Heavens Thunder Blade?" Xiang Zhonghua immediately guessed it.

He had long known that Xia Zhi had bought the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade manual.

However, although plenty of powerful and wealthy martial artists had bought that manual, most of them could not even get started.

"Even if you cultivated the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade, it shouldn't be this outrageous." Xiang Zhonghua pressed, "What's your normal punching force now? And what level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade have you cultivated to?"

Xia Zhi answered with a smile, "My normal punching force is around 40,000 kilograms. I've cultivated the purchased Nine Heavens Thunder Blade manual to the third level. After my enlightenment during this time, I gained something new and can roughly use Hidden Strength techniques comparable to the fifth level."

Xia Zhi had no intention of concealing his speed in cultivating the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade. At only eighteen years old, his rapidly increasing strength was bound to draw some attention.

Revealing a few of his advantages would still be beneficial.

He could receive greater attention from the martial arts school, and it could also spare him much unnecessary trouble.

As for his identity as a Mind Controller, Xia Zhi would not reveal it for now.

On a global scale, Mind Controllers were far rarer than martial artists!

One more Mind Controller, especially one with extraordinary potential, could often upset the balance of power among various organizations. Until he possessed sufficient ability to protect himself, it was better not to reveal himself carelessly.

Moreover, having lived a second life, he knew well that one could only live long by keeping hidden cards in reserve. Once he entered the Elite Training Camp and truly left an impression at the martial arts school headquarters with Hong and the others, his strength would have risen as well, and he would no longer need to fear exposure.

"Freak. You're too much of a freak! A monster—you're practically a monster!"

When Xiang Zhonghua heard that Xia Zhi had mastered all three purchased levels of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade manual, and that this enlightenment had even allowed him to display power comparable to the fifth level, he felt completely dumbfounded. He kept muttering those same words over and over.

"A prodigy!!"

Thanks to Yuri and Ta4HfC5 for their tips yesterday. I'm uncultured, brothers—please don't mind it if I spelled your names wrong!

Thanks to DiableX, Fat Otaku, Ming Li Ling, Bu Qingyi, Meifei, Yue Junlin, Expert Professor, pengshi, Innate Sacred Spirit Dao Embryo, Junzi Cultivates the Dao, and all the others for your support. Thank you, thank you!

These past few days, I've been thinking about adding more interesting elements. What kind of sparks could the True Meanings from Lord Xue Ying and the Origin Laws from Devouring the Starry Sky create?

The main world will definitely be the Devouring the Starry Sky universe. Some of my favorite scenes from the original must be written. I also really like Lord Xue Ying, though not quite as much as Devouring the Starry Sky. I originally planned to write a Lord Xue Ying fanfiction later, but Infinite flow seems to favor fanfiction these days, so why not do them together? I've already planted foreshadowing in the previous chapters. Did everyone notice?