Mountain Shaking Fist Mastered

Gao Yanshi waited outside for a long time but did not see Fifth Prince Zhao Hongming. He felt rather disappointed, yet held no resentment. He continued to diligently carry out his duties.

Early the next morning, he arrived outside Zhao Hongming's room well in advance to await orders.

He happened to encounter Zhao Hongming carrying out his customary morning reading, each line of recitation drifting out from the room.

"What the people desire, Heaven will surely grant."

"Heaven sees through the eyes of my people; Heaven hears through the ears of my people."

Outside, Gao Yanshi's spirits lifted. He pricked up his ears and listened intently.

Each time Zhao Hongming read a line, he silently repeated it outside.

He had an excellent memory. Though he did not yet understand the meaning of these words, he instinctively felt that this was a rare opportunity. He had to remember them, had to learn them.

Once he had committed them to memory, he could slowly ponder the truths within later.

"Nothing is more visible than what is hidden, nothing more manifest than what is subtle. Thus, the gentleman is watchful over himself even in solitude!"

Zhao Hongming had no idea that a Little Eunuch outside his bedroom was secretly learning from him.

Having finished the final line of the classic, he set down the book whose pages had been thumbed to tatters and rose from his bed.

These were all classics the Crown Prince had sent him before. He recited them once every day.

He had maintained this habit for several months straight.

As a prince, he had no idea how many people around him were watching and listening on behalf of others. Thus, he had always been cautious and circumspect within the palace, paying close attention to his conduct.

He did not relax his standards in places where no one could see or hear him, nor did he neglect propriety over minor matters.

"Someone, attend This Prince's washing and grooming."

"Yes!"

After receiving Zhao Hongming's summons, Gao Yanshi, who had been waiting outside, swiftly contacted the other Little Eunuchs assigned to miscellaneous duties. Then he pushed open the door and entered, joining them in tending to Zhao Hongming's appearance.

Gao Yanshi worked with great care and earnestness, as though he wished to arrange every strand of Zhao Hongming's hair one by one.

He knew that, born lowly as he was, the only person he could rely on in the palace now was the Fifth Prince before him. He had no choice but to serve him with all his heart.

As early as when he had entered the palace, he had heard the old Eunuchs speak of it.

They Eunuchs were all of lowly birth and incomplete bodies. Those Martial Arts Forces and Noble Families would not even spare them a proper glance.

Only the Imperial Family gave them opportunities and resources, allowing them the possibility of becoming great Martial Arts masters.

They had to seize this opportunity.

People like them were an important means by which the Imperial Family balanced the forces within the court. They were grasshoppers tied to the same vine as the Imperial Family.

Thus, the Imperial Family needed them, and they needed the Imperial Family.

If they Eunuchs left the Imperial Family, the Martial Arts Forces would not tolerate them, the Noble Families would not tolerate them, and they would find it hard to gain a foothold under Heaven.

And if the Imperial Family lost them, it would lose a means of checks and balances, making it difficult to contend with those ministers and Martial Arts Forces.

Therefore, before they had risen to power, they could not harbor the slightest disloyal thought. Serving the Imperial Family wholeheartedly was the proper path.

Zhao Hongming noticed that this newly arrived Little Eunuch behind him was quick and deft with his hands. He arranged his hair swiftly and well, prompting Zhao Hongming to glance at him a few more times.

More than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Hongming, seated cross-legged on his bed, exhaled a breath of stale air and ended his cultivation.

As the Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique steadily improved, the amount of sleep he required greatly decreased.

He roughly calculated that he now needed only three to four hours of sleep each day to remain full of vigor, with no adverse effects on either his body or mind.

With that in mind, he devoted most of his time to cultivating the Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique and practicing the Mountain Shaking Fist.

Zhao Hongming glanced at the Martial Path Attribute Panel in his vision.

Name: Zhao Hongming

Cultivation Technique: Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique - Aperture Opening Seventh Grade (15/4500)

Martial Skill: Heaven and Earth Severing Slash - Seventh Layer (700/700), Eight Desolations Secret Travel (2100/X), Mountain Shaking Fist - Eighteenth Layer (180/180)

Martial Arts Available for Breakthrough: None

Today's Cultivation Time: 1 hour

Physique: Good

Talent Enhancement: 1.8

After these days of arduous cultivation, he had finally trained the Mountain Shaking Fist to mastery. At the same time, his cultivation had broken through once more, reaching Aperture Opening Seventh Grade.

Sitting on the bed, Zhao Hongming visualized his Heaven and Earth Bridge.

Once he visualized the Heaven and Earth Bridge, his Divine Soul formed an intense connection and resonance with his physical body.

A True Intent brimming with vigorous Life Force spread outward.

Zhao Hongming imagined himself standing atop the Heaven and Earth Bridge, then leaping forward.

An intense sensation of weightlessness immediately swept over him.

His Divine Soul seemed to leave its shell and merge into the void, while his senses seemed to expand severalfold.

The crawling sounds of countless insects and ants, the dust floating in the air, the faint, almost imperceptible scent of wood within the room...

He perceived them all.

He could even see the scene behind his own head with perfect clarity.

But this state could not be sustained.

After only a few breaths, his Divine Soul trembled, seized by a tearing pain. He visualized himself landing back upon the Heaven and Earth Bridge, ending the attempt.

"It seems I still need to reach the Innate Realm to stabilize my Divine Soul and truly let it travel beyond my body. But this is already extremely powerful. In the future, I'll be able to sense others' hostility in advance, further strengthening the sixth sense I had before."

"And with the Martial Skill Eight Desolations Secret Travel, I also possess the ability to conceal my aura. With Heaven and Earth Severing Slash and Mountain Shaking Fist added to that, I can attack when advancing and defend when retreating."

At last, Zhao Hongming felt a faint trace of peace of mind. He continually sensed the changes in his body, experiencing the wonders of the Martial Dao world.

Yet human strength had its limits. A person was, after all, flesh and blood. If he faced an army of Martial Warriors, he knew that this little ability alone would not be enough to contend with them.

The more Zhao Hongming cultivated these days, the more he understood just how difficult and despairing it was for Martial Warriors of this age to seek immortality.

With the boost of the Heaven's Reward Martial Arts Panel, his cultivation progress was already monstrous beyond monsters.

Even so, he was still some distance from the so-called Innate Realm, while the Creation Realm lay even farther away.

He did not even know what realms existed above the Creation Realm. Becoming immortal seemed indefinitely remote.

Shaking off these far-too-distant thoughts, Zhao Hongming went alone to the rear courtyard.

He had Gao Yanshi stand guard outside the courtyard and forbid anyone from disturbing him.

Zhao Hongming took his stance in the courtyard and circulated his True Qi.

Surging Qi and Blood, vigorous essence, and the vitality unique to the Eternal Life True Intent...

Everything that had originally been concealed by the Martial Skill Eight Desolations Secret Travel began to reveal itself.

Zhao Hongming assumed the opening stance of the Mountain Shaking Fist.

He clenched both hands into fists, focused his mind, and circulated his True Qi.

At that moment, densely packed blood specks appeared across the backs of his hands. The specks then fused together, changing from red to black, hard as solid iron.

This was the mark of the Mountain Shaking Fist having reached mastery.

His fists were heavy and sinking.

The latter half of the Mountain Shaking Fist emphasized the use of True Qi, and Zhao Hongming had already grasped its essence.

He unleashed move after move with both hands, his arms nearly transforming into two afterimages as they whipped up bursts of piercing whistles.

Every one of Zhao Hongming's punches seemed to carry the force of a thousand jun. If they landed on a person, they would surely injure the lungs and entrails deeply.

He used eight breaths to finish the entire Mountain Shaking Fist. Nourished by the Eternal Life True Intent, every muscle in his body felt only the slightest soreness and swelling, without the least hint of fatigue.

Like an untiring monster, Zhao Hongming immediately went on to perform a set of saber techniques...

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