Suppleness Realm

"Heh heh."

Fang Xuan grinned foolishly, wolfing down the fried fish in his hand.

"Delicious."

Zhao Xuemei's eyes brimmed with laughter, but her words were dismissive: "You're covered in sweat. I've already prepared hot water in your room. Go wash up. There are two more dishes, and you can eat once you're clean."

"Still, Mother dotes on me. Once I've made progress in my training, I'll earn you an Imperial Mandate," Fang Xuan declared loudly.

Zhao Xuemei tapped him on the forehead and said with feigned annoyance, "I don't ask you to earn any Imperial Mandate. I only ask that you stay safe. You're sixteen this year. Next year, I'll have the First Madam arrange a marriage for you, so I can hold a grandchild soon."

Fang Xuan's mouth twitched. You do know I'm sixteen, right? Starting marriage and kids at sixteen—isn't that a bit much?

But he knew better than to argue on this matter. Grabbing another fried fish, he stuffed it into his mouth and headed back to his room to bathe.

It was fortunate he was born into the Fang Family; otherwise, bathing daily would be a luxury. Water was easy to fetch, and firewood could be gathered.

The entire city housed over a hundred thousand residents, and the firewood consumed daily for cooking was incalculable.

After bathing and eating in one smooth sequence, he returned to his room.

Rest was out of the question. Stripping off his upper garments, he revealed a flawless physique. Every muscle seemed carved from marble, exuding harmony and strength.

The two maids, even after witnessing this scene many times, still blushed with shyness.

With practiced ease, they took a jar of ointment from a carved wooden box and began applying it to Fang Xuan's body.

The ointment, called Whale Leopard Balm, was refined from deep-sea whales, fire leopards, and hundreds of rare medicinal herbs. Rubbed over the body, it accelerated physical recovery and strengthened muscles.

This substance was extremely precious; even Fang Xuan could only receive one small jar every ten days.

As the balm was applied, Fang Xuan felt a fiery sting on his skin, followed by a surge of heat flowing through his pores into his body, accompanied by a wave of pain.

After a while, the heat faded. Fang Xuan felt his body brimming with strength, the fatigue from training completely gone. His whole being was wonderfully relaxed, like a full-body massage, leaving him feeling he could train for several more hours.

Glancing at the empty jar, Fang Xuan sighed. "Too bad it's so little. If I could apply it every day, I'd break into the Suppleness Realm within three months."

The Suppleness Realm—where hardness and softness merge, flexibility and coordination reach their limit. Moving like the wind, landing like an arrow, agile as a civet cat or an ape.

Checking the sky outside, Fang Xuan closed the doors and windows, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed his eyes to perceive the myriad Bright Points in his sea of consciousness.

"Time to give it a try."

It had been a year since he crossed over to the Profound Yellow Great World. Half a year ago, his Golden Finger had arrived, but at that time, Fang Xuan was still lingering in the Body Tempering Realm.

The Body Tempering Realm mainly involved running, weightlifting, jumping, striking sandbags, kicking, squatting, somersaulting, walking on plum blossom stakes, and hundreds of other methods to train the limbs, waist, and abdomen into full, powerful muscles, greatly surpassing ordinary people in strength and agility.

But that was all—merely surpassing ordinary people. For safety's sake, Fang Xuan had held back, only beginning to study his Golden Finger after entering the Technique Realm.

The myriad Bright Points in his sea of consciousness were worlds—some large, some small, representing their ranks. The larger the world, the higher its power level.

Fang Xuan could use these Bright Points to connect to the myriad heavens and enter them.

But the purpose of entering was to kill.

And what he killed was "himself."

Yes, himself.

On Fang Xuan's previous life's planet, there was a theory of parallel worlds. Legend had it that every parallel world held a version of oneself, and all these selves shared the total power. Thus, if all the parallel-world selves vanished, all energy would converge on the last one standing.

Half a year ago, when his Golden Finger first arrived, Fang Xuan was stunned by the information in his sea of consciousness.

Wasn't this the "Savior"?

Kill all the selves, gather all the power, and become the legendary Savior.

Of course, "Savior" was a joke in the Eternal Life Great World. But killing all the selves to converge power into one person could also be understood through another concept.

The Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

Converging timelines, gathering myriad powers into one body, achieving immortality and indestructibility.

This was also Fang Xuan's confidence in not clinging to Fang Han's coattails.

With a thought, Fang Xuan connected to the smallest Bright Point in his sea of consciousness, looking like a speck of dust.

When grinding monsters, you start with the smallest ones.

The next second, Fang Xuan's eyes snapped open.

He glanced to the side, where a drop of candle wax was just sliding down the candlestick.

"Time freeze? Truly wondrous," Fang Xuan murmured to himself.

In that instant, he had activated his Golden Finger to cross into a world—an ordinary one, like his previous life, with no trace of the supernatural, though technology had advanced somewhat.

Using the special connection between them, Fang Xuan easily found the doppelgänger. This world's version of himself was quite interesting—a gangster. Then, in the doppelgänger's shocked gaze, Fang Xuan snapped his neck with one blow.

Killing someone for the first time, and it being "himself," felt a bit strange.

The dead doppelgänger turned into a stream of energy flowing into Fang Xuan's body. It didn't directly enhance his strength but instead became his foundation.

How to put it?

A mouse and an elephant—both are lifeforms, but can you say their vitality is equal?

This is the difference in foundation.

At this moment, Fang Xuan felt somewhat different all over—his mind was clearer, and places he usually found hard to grasp now bloomed with the flower of wisdom, easily understood, while his body felt light and buoyant.

Without a moment's hesitation, he leaped up from the bed, strode out of the room, and stepped into the courtyard.

A small martial arts practice field had also been built in his own yard; though not as spacious as the Myriad Phenomena Garden, it was sufficient.

Fang Xuan wasted no time and began practicing the Pine Crane Longevity Fist.

His entire state was neither drunk nor sober, neither awake nor asleep, caught in an extremely mysterious realm. Many points he usually couldn't figure out or comprehend suddenly became clear in an instant, and images of the moves Fang Tong had taught him during the day for the "Giant Spirit Hand" kept surfacing in his mind.

Bang bang bang.

The various stances of the Pine Crane Longevity Fist flowed freely from his heart, power surging from the soles of his feet up the spine's great dragon, then spreading through his entire body.

Blood and qi churned within his sinews and bones, a faint wave of heat radiating outward, while a puff of hot air rose from the top of Fang Xuan's head.

One hour.

Two hours.

Fang Xuan tirelessly drilled every stance of the Pine Crane Longevity Fist, honing his skill. In the process, he felt as if he were a thousand-year-old pine, roots driven deep into the rock, yet when he struck, his power burst forth like a nimble crane.

One movement, one stillness.

Still as a maiden, swift as a startled hare.

Rising like the wind, falling like an arrow, agile as a cat or an ape.

Refining the body to take the crane's form, beneath a thousand pines, two sutra scrolls.

The fourth realm of the Body Tempering Realm, the Suppleness Realm, was achieved.