With a thought, the blue spring within the Marrow Cleansing Pearl was instantly released. Guided by Yang Heng's will, it surged endlessly toward the barrier like a stream, splashing with a rushing sound.
"Break!"
Yang Heng's gaze turned stern as he let out a low shout.
The moment his words fell, a ripping sound suddenly came from within his body. The Blood Strengthening Realm barrier was as thin as paper, and Yang Heng pierced straight through it.
Yang Heng felt somewhat dazed. He had not even exerted himself, yet he had broken through the bottleneck with ease and stepped into the Blood Strengthening Realm.
Didn't the fist manual say that breaking through to the Blood Strengthening Realm carried certain risks and difficulties?
That was it?
He burst out laughing.
Yet before he could experience the power of the Blood Strengthening Realm, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain inside his body.
During the breakthrough, the blue spring had consumed very little energy. It was still flowing through his body, carrying out Marrow Cleansing and Bone Scouring and remaking Yang Heng's physique.
Unlike the warm milky-white jade marrow from last time, the blue spring was icy cold—so cold that it even pierced to the bone.
Yang Heng shivered from head to toe, frost covering his eyebrows as though he stood amid a world of ice and snow.
Fortunately, he had just broken through to the Blood Strengthening Realm. His body had become stronger and could better withstand the cold.
If he were still in the Blood Brave Realm, he would very likely have been frozen senseless, perhaps even fainted.
Yang Heng was cold, yet happy.
Marrow Cleansing and Bone Scouring had never been simple. Without undergoing a round of tempering, the impurities in one's body would be hard to expel.
If one wished to become strong, this much suffering had to be endured.
Only after enduring the bitterest bitterness could one become a High Person. Though those words were meant to fool ordinary people, in this world, on the Martial Path, they still held some truth.
The Martial Path was destined to be filled with hardship—brambles everywhere, temptations upon temptations, difficulties piled atop difficulties. Without an unyielding will, it was difficult to keep walking.
What was a little cold?
If they could obtain a chance to be reborn from the marrow outward, countless martial artists would scramble to do it even if they had to climb mountains of blades and descend into seas of fire.
Yang Heng naturally understood this principle and knew how precious it was.
Thinking of this, he no longer took the cold within his body to heart. He shut his eyes tightly, emptied his mind, and stopped thinking about it.
He stood ramrod straight, like a spear or a pine tree. Even as bone-piercing cold raged within him, slicing through him like knives, he remained calm and unruffled, still as a mountain.
It was as though nothing in the world could stir his mind.
About half an incense stick's time later, the energy of the blue spring flowing through his body was exhausted and vanished. The cold disappeared without a trace as well.
Yang Heng suddenly opened his eyes. A brilliant gleam flashed within them, and his face shone with vigor.
He began to sense the powerful energy contained within his body.
With a light stomp of his foot, the ground abruptly began to tremble. Broken stones scattered across the ground shook incessantly, thumping and rattling.
When he threw a punch into the air, the sonic boom thundered like a storm, deafening to the ears as white waves rolled forth.
Yang Heng stood quietly, then suddenly exhaled a breath of turbid air. With a whoosh, a streak of black qi cut across the sky and struck a large tree ten meters away.
"Thud!"
At the point where the black qi struck, a notch three inches deep appeared. The area around it was charred black and emitted black smoke, with the faint smell of burning drifting out. It was as though the tree had been struck by heavenly lightning.
Yang Heng lightly shook his body, and crackling sounds rang out without end.
The bones throughout his body erupted in a series of popping sounds, like firecrackers going off.
After carefully feeling things out, Yang Heng discovered that he was now frighteningly powerful. His energy overflowed, his vitality flourished, and he was like the sun at seven or eight in the morning, brimming with life.
Every gesture he made carried an invisible majesty that spread outward. This was the Martial Artist's Pressure he had always longed for!
To test the might of the Martial Artist's Pressure, he swept his gaze around. The large tree struck by his turbid breath earlier came into view again.
Yang Heng's body flashed like a ghost, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived before the tree.
He crossed ten meters in a single step without using any movement technique. It was entirely the explosive power of his Blood Strengthening Realm body.
As the Martial Artist's Pressure burst forth, the tree before him suddenly swayed and rustled. Its upright branches drooped toward Yang Heng, as though submitting to him.
Seeing this, Yang Heng felt reassured. He immediately withdrew his pressure, and the tree returned to normal in an instant.
Only the leaves that fluttered down in showers and danced through the sky proved that something extraordinary had just happened here.
The Blood Strengthening Realm truly was extraordinary!
A martial artist's majesty was equally profound and mysterious.
Yang Heng clenched his fists and sighed inwardly, his deep gaze fixed on the distance.
Feeling the vast power contained within his body, Yang Heng could not help becoming immersed in it.
Once this power erupted, saying it could push mountains and overturn seas might be a little exaggerated, but uprooting a weeping willow or lifting an adult female elephant with one hand would be no problem at all.
At present, the total amount of qi and blood within Yang Heng's body was the size of a duck egg, while his strength was close to two thousand jin.
If his qi and blood and physical strength erupted together, the force would be unimaginably terrifying.
According to the fist manual, when most martial artists broke through to the Blood Strengthening Realm, their total qi and blood was roughly the size of a ping-pong ball, while their strength was around twelve hundred jin.
When Yang Heng recalled those figures and compared them with his own, he could not help becoming excited and laughing loudly.
He could no longer maintain his calm and unruffled posture.
At this moment, the total qi and blood in his body was equivalent to the combined qi and blood of three martial artists who had just entered the Blood Strengthening Realm.
But this was far more than a simple twofold difference.
Setting aside external factors such as martial techniques, relying only on qi and blood and his physique, he alone could deal with seven or eight martial artists of the same realm.
With the Vajra Fist at Minor Accomplishment added in, Yang Heng was confident he could defeat an ordinary Mid Blood Strengthening Martial Artist.
If he faced a Late Blood Strengthening Martial Artist, he did not know whether he could win, but Yang Heng felt that preserving his life would not be much of a problem.
Both his Lightness Skill and fist technique had reached Minor Accomplishment, and he had already traveled some distance along the path of Minor Accomplishment. Ordinary Mid Blood Strengthening Martial Artists simply could not achieve this. Only veteran Late Blood Strengthening Martial Artists could reach such a level in martial arts.
After breaking through to the Blood Strengthening Realm, Yang Heng suddenly felt as though the sea was vast and the sky boundless, and his mind no longer remained taut.
At this moment, he had the illusion that even the air entering his nose seemed much fresher.
Having entered the Blood Strengthening Realm, his ability to protect himself had greatly increased, allowing him to withstand greater risks.
As long as Yang Heng kept his head down and developed cautiously instead of taking the initiative to stir up trouble, he could still live quite comfortably.
In this remote region near Qinghe City, the highest realm belonged only to Viscera Refining Realm martial artists. Blood Strengthening martial artists held a certain status, and outsiders would not dare provoke them casually.
But if he wished to pursue the peak of martial arts and break through to higher realms, the road ahead naturally would not be blessed with fair winds and gentle rains. Flashes of blades and shadows of swords, blood rains and foul winds were commonplace.
Yang Heng had no intention of settling comfortably here and lording it over Qingyang Town.
He had greater dreams. He wanted to see the peak of martial arts.
He wanted to see just how the scenery atop the mountain differed from that below.
Besides, with a supreme treasure like the Marrow Cleansing Pearl in his possession, he held a greater advantage than other martial artists in reaching the peak of martial arts.
His talent and physique would continue to improve. One day, he would become the martial artist with the greatest talent in this world.
At the peak of martial arts, on the throne of number one under heaven, who but I could sit there!
Yang Heng thought so, filled with confidence.
Having broken through to the Blood Strengthening Realm in one stroke and greatly increased his strength, Yang Heng decided to celebrate. He would find a grand restaurant and enjoy a fine, expensive meal.
With that thought, Yang Heng shot out like an arrow loosed from its bow, racing toward Qingyang Town with a whoosh.
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