Tiger Eyes Golden Pupils, Steel Muscles and Iron Bones (There'll Be Another Chapter Tonight)

The single-pronged Vajra Scepter had become a Three-pronged Vajra Scepter?

It had really upgraded?!

Li Cunxiao stared in astonishment at the changes to the Vajra Scepter. Though he had imagined something like this before, now that it had truly happened, his anticipation could not help but carry a trace of unease.

Was this change good or bad?

Fortunately, the Vajra Scepter's transformation was brief—so brief that while his body was still undergoing its cleansing and remolding, the change had already ended.

The upgraded Vajra Scepter dimmed once more. At the same time, a stream of information naturally surfaced in Li Cunxiao's mind.

Enduring the numb itch and searing heat of his body's transformation, Li Cunxiao impatiently closed his eyes and meditated. A moment later, delight appeared on his face.

After the single-pronged Vajra Scepter became a Three-pronged Vajra Scepter, the first change was that the number of times it could store Obstacle-Breaking Power had increased. Previously, it could only hold one charge; once full, he had to use it, or the Killing Intent would go to waste.

Now, however, it had gone from one charge to three. In other words, as long as Li Cunxiao could hold himself back, he could stockpile three Obstacle-Breaking Opportunities and rise three levels in a row when needed—though this function was temporarily useless.

For no other reason than that after breaking through to the Muscle Realm, the Killing Intent needed to fill the Vajra Scepter once would definitely be greater than before. The charging interval might stretch to a month or even longer. There was simply no way to save them up.

Thus, what Li Cunxiao valued more was another function—the Vajra Scepter's Obstacle-Breaking Power could replace the Demon Seduction Method!

He no longer needed unique medicinal elixirs or special rituals. As long as he had a foundational Visualization Method, Li Cunxiao could directly cultivate Low-grade Martial Arts!

The most obvious example was the Pure Yang Sixteen Hands in his possession. He no longer needed internal and external assault, nor did he need a sixteen-year-old virgin and suffer the torment of Stopping at the Brink.

He merely needed to cultivate it to the Perfection Realm, then use the Vajra Scepter's Obstacle-Breaking Power to directly plant a Filthy Heart Silver Fox within his body and obtain a new demonic power!

Beyond that, the upgraded Vajra Scepter seemed to possess other functions, but he could not identify them for now and could only slowly uncover them in the future.

"Excellent! Wouldn't that mean I can gather martial arts from every school and draw on their strengths to make up for my weaknesses? If I can wield several demonic powers at once, then not only would invincibility among those of the same rank be possible—even fighting above my rank might not be an empty dream."

Just as Li Cunxiao was rejoicing inwardly, a blade-scraping pain suddenly rose from deep within his bone marrow. He even bit the sandalwood block he had placed in his mouth beforehand until it cracked—

His breakthrough into the Muscle Realm had reached its most crucial moment!

For a time, Li Cunxiao felt pain in every inch of his body. His bones were like red-hot branding irons, while flesh grew and tangled around that blazing skeleton like molten bronze pillars.

The greater the pain, the tighter his flesh and tendons fused with his bones. He could even seem to hear chunks of meat sizzling in a red-hot furnace, while immense heat sent thick steam pouring from every pore of his body.

In the haze, Li Cunxiao's eyes ached fiercely. He did not know whether blood or tears were streaming down his cheeks, but in those bronze bells-sized eyes, golden light gradually emerged, reflecting like the eyes of a nocturnal feline.

In the silent room, crackling sounds like frying beans rang out without end. The shadow beneath the lamplight swelled and swayed, sometimes resembling a man, sometimes a tiger, constantly shifting between the two as though a demon were taking human form.

After nearly half an hour, the room finally fell quiet. The burly man, covered head to toe in blood scabs, lay curled on the ground, a deep purring rumble issuing from his chest and abdomen.

Li Cunxiao abruptly opened his eyes. Within his golden pupils was a point of blackness, cold and indifferent, as though it swallowed every ray of light that entered.

He slowly rose. As his thick, powerful arms stretched out, blood scabs and grime scattered from his skin. As flesh and muscle flexed, they outlined muscle lines as sharply carved as if by knives and axes.

His chest was broad as a city wall, his trapezius muscles rose like armor, and his latissimus muscles spread wide like a ghostly face, pulling dark blue-black tendons taut like pythons.

Even his height had increased from nearly 1.8 meters to nearly 1.9 meters.

Li Cunxiao extended a hand and gently clenched it. His five fingers became like a crane fitted with steel cables, easily gripping the solid wooden bed weighing over a hundred jin and steadily lifting it a foot off the ground.

"So this is the Muscle Realm?"

Li Cunxiao glanced at the oil lamp beside him, drew in a slight breath, then exhaled sharply. A white Qi Arrow shot forth with a hiss and snuffed out the oil lamp a foot away, plunging the room into darkness.

Yet in his eyes, the surroundings merely flickered faintly. What he saw was not much different from daytime, except that every color was somewhat dimmer.

"Tiger Eyes Golden Pupils—it is night vision. No wonder Shen He dared to pursue alone after that nighttime ambush."

"And Steel Muscles and Iron Bones..."

He drew the short blade that the blacksmith shop owner had given him when he made his chainmail. After thinking for a moment, he flipped the blade around and struck his forearm hard with its back—

Clang!

The blade's back, half a finger thick, collided with his flesh, yet the impact rang like metal striking iron. Using his night vision, Li Cunxiao examined the short blade and discovered, to his surprise, that the point of impact had a clear dent.

Steel Muscles and Iron Bones?

Excellent!

Though he wanted to test his other abilities, it was already the dead of night. Not only would making noise be troublesome, but the small courtyard could hardly test the limits of his strength. He might as well wait until tomorrow, when he visited Zhang Lishi, and unleash himself to his heart's content.

"However, there is one more thing I can try first."

Following the method Zhang Lishi had taught him, Li Cunxiao's breathing rhythm suddenly turned strange. The tiger-like purring in his stomach immediately grew as distinct as muffled thunder rolling across the heavens.

Thunder rumbled and surged through his entire body. Within his mind, countless blood flames flew out from his limbs and bones, gathering into a crouching ferocious tiger.

The instant the Blood Tiger appeared, a feeling of heat rose in his heart. And when Li Cunxiao "met eyes" with this Demon in the Heart, the scenes of slaughtering the Green Snake Gang and battling demons seemed to play through his mind like a film.

Killing intent gradually surged. As though fed with nourishment, the tiger demon swelled and grew, its savage brutality transforming into flames that coiled around its body. Meanwhile, his physical body began showing all sorts of signs of "tigerification."

Using the demon visualized within one's heart to stimulate the body a second time and enter a brief explosive state—this was the secret behind the power of Muscle Realm martial artists.

This was how Shen He had displayed that near-demonic form on the night the escort convoy was ambushed.

But halfway through, something unexpected happened.

The visualization of the demon began smoothly, but not long after the tiger demon appeared, Li Cunxiao was astonished to find the Three-pronged Vajra Scepter hanging high above suddenly tremble. Then it rapidly enlarged, like a floating Mount Sumeru, suppressing everything within the Sea of Consciousness.

He himself felt no discomfort, but the tiger demon seemed to be crushed by some immense force. It hissed, roared, and wailed mournfully. In the end, fear even appeared in its eyes, and its body began to tremble and collapse.

When another message came from the Vajra Scepter, Li Cunxiao could no longer remain seated.

Refine Demonic Entity?

Thanks to Lord Southern Shaanxi Clear Soup for the reward.

Happy New Year, everyone!