For the next half month, after delivering medicine each day, Yang Heng went to a secluded, deserted clearing to practice Vajra Fist.
Over the half month, Yang Heng's Vajra Fist improved noticeably.
He could now perform every move of Vajra Fist in its entirety, each stance and strike flowing like drifting clouds and running water, pleasing to the eye.
Whether it could be used in actual combat, however, remained to be seen.
His breathing technique also gradually entered a fine state and began to show results.
While practicing Vajra Fist and breathing according to that special method, Yang Heng could clearly feel his body heating up, with a faint current of qi wandering through him.
Wherever that qi went, the flesh, blood, and organs in that area grew slightly hot and tingled, as though they had been tempered.
Yang Heng guessed that this was the qi and blood recorded in the fist manual!
For now, he could only vaguely sense the existence of qi and blood, and even that required him to focus with all his might; sometimes he got it right, sometimes he did not.
The day Yang Heng could sense qi and blood at will would be the day he stepped through the gates of martial arts and became a Blood Brave Disciple.
On his day off, Yang Heng hurried out of the medicine shop early in the morning, his face brimming with excitement.
The Marrow Cleansing Pearl was fully charged!
Before long, Yang Heng arrived at the place where he usually practiced Vajra Fist. After sweeping his gaze around, he found nothing unusual.
He calmed himself and shut his eyes tightly.
After the Marrow Cleansing Pearl filled with energy, it looked utterly different from usual.
At that moment, it was like a dewdrop hanging beneath a leaf at dawn—crystal clear, glittering, and extraordinary.
Misty vapors drifted around it, rising and falling in hazy swirls, like a white jade Divine Pearl displayed within the High Heavens Palace.
Jade marrow flowed slowly within it, sacred, noble, and pure.
At the sight, Yang Heng's heart began pounding wildly, and his breathing grew much faster. Excitement, exhilaration, and joy tangled together in his chest.
He was utterly captivated, staring blankly as light shimmered across the surface of the Marrow Cleansing Pearl.
Only after a while did Yang Heng slowly come back to himself. He took a deep breath and calmed his agitated heart.
He gazed calmly at the Marrow Cleansing Pearl and silently said, "Begin."
As though it possessed intelligence, the Marrow Cleansing Pearl understood Yang Heng's command and began to act.
In an instant, Yang Heng clearly felt his navel grow hot. Then a warm current surged forth from there and flowed through his limbs and bones.
At once, Yang Heng felt warm all over, as though he had been immersed in a hot spring. His entire body relaxed, and he felt incomparably refreshed.
The warm current filled Yang Heng with comfort. He felt as though he had returned to childhood, lying in his mother's arms, free of all worries, his spirit relaxed and his mind clear.
At the same time, a radiant smile spread across his face.
He felt as though he had left the world behind and stood alone, sprouting feathers and ascending to immortality.
At this moment, Yang Heng distinctly felt that he was truly about to become immortal.
Comfortable!
Transparent!
After a long while.
The warm current vanished.
Yang Heng awoke from his intoxication, feeling wonderfully relaxed all over, light in a way he could not describe, as though he had just finished a sauna and cast off dozens of pounds of weight.
Yang Heng opened his eyes and examined his body from top to bottom, wanting to see what changes the warm current's washing and tempering had brought him.
One look left Yang Heng stunned.
A layer of black filth covered his skin, sticky and reeking unbearably.
"Uh..."
Yang Heng's face instantly turned green.
Without the slightest hesitation, he took off running toward the river.
Only after a while, when he could no longer smell even a trace of odor, did Yang Heng stop scrubbing.
Yang Heng moved toward the bank. Out of the corner of his eye, he inadvertently caught sight of his reflection in the water.
He stood there dumbfounded, completely motionless.
The figure in the water had eyes shining with divine light, a rugged face, bronze skin, a sturdy build, knotted muscles, and a lean, capable air from head to toe that made others dare not underestimate him.
Staring at his body, as strong as a tiger and leopard, Yang Heng could scarcely believe it.
He could clearly feel just how healthy and powerful this body was, how it contained astonishing strength and boundless potential.
The Marrow Cleansing Pearl truly lived up to its name: cleansing marrow and scouring bones, remaking one's constitution.
Yang Heng slowly bent down and assumed a running stance. With a fierce stomp of his right foot, there came a crack. Water splashed violently as his body shot skyward like a cannonball. He leaped two zhang and landed steadily on the bank.
It was effortless and natural, without the slightest strain.
No matter what he had done before, Yang Heng could never have pulled off such a move. Yet now he accomplished it with ease, as simply as drinking water and eating a meal.
From one glimpse of the tube, one could see the leopard within; Yang Heng's body had undergone earth-shaking changes.
And this was not the end.
Yang Heng closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them. In his eyes, the world became clearer still.
Suddenly, a swarm of flies drifted leisurely through the air before him, buzzing away in utter merriment.
The sound irritated Yang Heng. His hands swept before him at astonishing speed, then instantly withdrew. The entire motion flowed like drifting clouds and running water, completed in the blink of an eye.
When he spread open his hands, a shocking sight appeared.
Yang Heng had ten fingers in total, and a fly was caught between every pair of adjacent fingers—four in each hand, perfectly symmetrical.
Accomplishing this was extraordinarily difficult.
It tested one's eyesight, hand speed, and grasp of timing to the extreme.
Catching one fly might be possible after a few attempts.
But catching eight flies at once with both hands, with one fly between every pair of adjacent fingers—not one too many, not one too few, without the slightest error.
Just thinking about such difficulty was enough to make one gasp. In modern society, the chances of achieving it were practically zero.
Yet in this other world, any martial artist could accomplish it.
Even a very small number of Blood Brave Disciples could achieve such a feat.
And Yang Heng had done it before even stepping through the gates of martial arts. He was truly monstrous!
After some testing, Yang Heng gained a rough understanding of the changes that had occurred within him.
After changing into a clean set of clothes, Yang Heng returned to the training ground, eager to practice Vajra Fist and test how greatly his cultivation talent had changed.
After completing one set of Vajra Fist, Yang Heng was utterly stunned. His mouth hung so wide open that it could have fit a duck egg.
He had performed the entire fist routine with incredible fluency, without the slightest pause in the middle, flowing like drifting clouds and running water, free and unrestrained.
Every move and stance looked immensely powerful, brimming with tiger-like might. Most people who saw it would have to cry out in praise.
Yang Heng could hardly believe it, as though he were in a dream.
All of a sudden, had he become a genius?
To answer his doubts, Yang Heng decided to perform the routine once more.
Yang Heng walked to the center of the clearing, spread his legs, lowered himself slightly, assumed the opening stance of Vajra Fist, and began practicing.
Sure enough, everything that had happened just now was real. He was not dreaming.
Under the sunlight, Yang Heng looked like a Vajra guardian of the Buddhist faith, imposing in form. Every punch contained tremendous force, and when it struck the air, a trembling hum rang out.
His fist wind was fierce enough to make even the surrounding air quiver. Dust flew, and sand and stones scattered in every direction.
In an instant, the field became a scene of flying sand and rolling stones. A figure emerged from the heart of the dust, striding with the gait of a dragon and tiger.
Yang Heng's face was covered in smiles, his mouth split wide with joy.
Before the smile could fade, Yang Heng's body suddenly shook.
Vaguely, he felt a stirring rise within him. The sound of rushing water echoed by his ears, as though a river were flowing through his body.
This was... the opportunity to sense qi and blood!
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