Tiger Eyes Golden Pupils, Steel Muscles and Iron Bones

Did the single-pronged Vajra Scepter turn into a three-pronged one?

It really upgraded?!

Li Cunxiao looked at the changes in the Vajra Scepter with surprise. Although he had imagined something similar before, when it actually happened, his anticipation was tinged with a hint of apprehension.

Was this change good or bad?

Fortunately, the process of the Vajra Scepter's transformation was very short, so short that its changes were completed while the marrow cleansing and body refinement of his physical body was still ongoing.

The upgraded Vajra Scepter turned dull gray again, and at the same time, a piece of information naturally appeared in Li Cunxiao's mind.

Enduring the tingling and burning sensation of his body's transformation, Li Cunxiao eagerly closed his eyes to meditate. After a moment, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

After the single-pronged Vajra Scepter became a three-pronged one, the first change was the number of times the Obstacle-Breaking Power could be accumulated. Previously, it was only once. If it was full, it had to be used, otherwise, the Malevolent Qi would be wasted.

Now, it had increased from once to three times. This meant that as long as Li Cunxiao could hold back, he could accumulate three opportunities to break through obstacles. When needed, he could advance three levels consecutively. However, this function was temporarily unusable.

It wasn't for any other reason than the fact that after breaking through to the Muscle Realm, the Malevolent Qi required to accumulate the Vajra Scepter once would definitely be more than before. Perhaps the charging interval would be extended to a month or even longer. It would be impossible to accumulate it.

Therefore, Li Cunxiao actually valued another function more – the Vajra Scepter's Obstacle-Breaking Power could replace the Demon Seduction Method!

No longer needing a unique grand elixir or a special ritual, as long as he had the visualization method of the fundamental diagram, Li Cunxiao could directly cultivate low-grade martial arts!

Most directly, with the Pure Yang Sixteen Hands he held, he no longer needed the "internal and external attack" or a virgin maiden, nor did he have to suffer the pain of Stopping at the Brink.

He only needed to cultivate it to the perfected realm. Then, he could use the Vajra Scepter's Obstacle-Breaking Power to directly implant the Filthy Heart Silver Fox within his body, obtaining a new demonic and monstrous power!

In addition, the upgraded Vajra Scepter seemed to have other functions, but he couldn't identify them for the time being and could only discover them slowly later.

"This is great! Doesn't this mean I can collect martial arts from various schools and learn from their strengths? If I can master multiple demonic and monstrous powers simultaneously, let alone being invincible among peers, even fighting across realms might not be a fantasy."

Li Cunxiao was feeling happy when suddenly, a pain like a knife scraping came from the depths of his bone marrow. He even bit down on the sandalwood piece he had placed in his mouth, cracking it—

The breakthrough to the Muscle Realm had reached its most critical juncture!

For a moment, Li Cunxiao felt pain all over his body. His bones felt like red-hot irons, and his flesh and blood were growing and entangling on these bones that felt like scorching copper pillars.

The more painful it was, the more tightly his flesh, tendons, fascia, and bones combined. He could even hear the sound of meat sizzling on a red-hot furnace, with high temperatures causing large amounts of steam to dissipate from his pores.

In a haze, Li Cunxiao's eyes felt sore. He didn't know if it was blood or tears flowing down his cheeks, but his copper-bell-like eyes gradually began to emit a golden light, reflecting like those of a nocturnal feline.

In the quiet room, the crackling sound, like popping beans, continued incessantly. The shadows under the lamplight expanded and swayed, sometimes resembling people, sometimes tigers, constantly shifting in size, as if demons were transforming into humans.

After about half an hour, the room finally fell silent. The burly man, covered in scabs, lay curled on the ground, emitting a low snore from his chest and abdomen.

Li Cunxiao suddenly opened his eyes. His golden pupils had a speck of black, cold and indifferent, as if they were swallowing all the light that entered.

He slowly got up. As his thick, powerful arms stretched, the scabs and dirt on his skin fell off. With the stretching and contracting of his skin and flesh, his muscles outlined sharp, chiseled lines.

His chest was broad like a city wall, his trapezius muscles bulged like armor, and his latissimus dorsi spread out like a ghost face, pulling taut the dark green tendons that resembled pythons.

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

Li Cunxiao reached out his palm and clenched it lightly. His five fingers, like a crane with a noose, easily gripped the solid wooden bed frame weighing over a hundred pounds in the room, steadily lifting it a foot off the ground.

"Is this the Muscle Realm?"

Li Cunxiao glanced at the oil lamp beside him, took a slight breath, and then exhaled sharply. A white stream of Qi shot out, extinguishing the oil lamp a foot away, plunging the room into darkness.

But in his eyes, his surroundings only flickered slightly. He could see almost as clearly as in daylight, just that the colors were slightly dimmer.

"Tiger Eyes Golden Pupils, that's night vision. No wonder Shen He had the courage to pursue alone when we were attacked at night."

"And that Steel Muscles and Iron Bones..."

He drew out the short knife that the blacksmith owner had gifted him when he was forging his chainmail. After thinking for a moment, he flipped the knife and forcefully chopped down on his forearm—

Clang!

The half-finger-thick back of the knife collided with his flesh, but it produced a sound like metal striking metal. Li Cunxiao, using his night vision, examined the short knife and was surprised to find that the point of impact had a noticeable indentation.

Steel Muscles and Iron Bones?

Good!

Although he wanted to test his other abilities again, it was already past midnight. Not only would it cause a commotion, but the small courtyard was also insufficient to test the limits of his abilities. He decided to wait until tomorrow when he met Zhang Lishi to unleash them fully.

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

Li Cunxiao followed the breathing rhythm taught by Zhang Lishi. His breathing suddenly became peculiar, and the sound in his abdomen, which resembled a tiger's purr, immediately became as distinct as rumbling thunder.

Thunder rolled and agitated his entire body. In his mind, countless blood flames flew out from all his limbs and joints, converging into a crouching Fierce Tiger.

As soon as the Blood Tiger appeared, a sense of heat surged within him. When Li Cunxiao "met the gaze" of this inner demon, the scenes of slaughtering the Green Snake Gang and battling demons played out in his mind like a movie.

His killing intent gradually surged. The Tiger Demon seemed to gain nourishment, expanding and growing stronger. Its ferocious and violent aura turned into flames that coiled around its body. Meanwhile, his external physical body also began to show various signs of "tigerization."

Using the visualized demon in his mind to stimulate his physical body a second time, entering a state of brief outburst, this was the secret to the power of Muscle Realm martial artists.

The near-demonic appearance Shen He displayed that night when the caravan was attacked was precisely like this.

However, something unexpected happened halfway through.

The process of visualizing the demon was smooth at first, but shortly after the Tiger Demon appeared, Li Cunxiao was surprised to find that the three-pronged Vajra Scepter hanging high above suddenly vibrated, then rapidly enlarged, like a Mount Sumeru suspended in the air, suppressing everything in his mind and consciousness.

He himself felt no discomfort, but the Tiger Demon seemed to be subjected to immense pressure. It roared, growled, and wailed, eventually even showing a look of fear, its body beginning to tremble and collapse.

When another piece of information came from the Vajra Scepter, Li Cunxiao couldn't sit still.

'Do you wish to Refine Demonic Entity?'

Thanks to the great patron Shaanxi Qing Tang for the reward.

Happy New Year, everyone!