Strength to Uproot Mountains, Qi to Cover the World!

Li Changqing's body trembled violently. He braced himself against the table, a wave of intense dizziness washing over him.

A heavy drowsiness, like a tide, surged forward.

Blood Essence flowed within his body, continuously nourishing his spirit through his physical form. However, this recovery was like a drop in the ocean compared to his previous exertion.

After all, this was an item personally created by a High-Rank Martial Artist, meant for Mid-Rank Martial Artists to contemplate, temper their will, and refine their Artistic Conception.

If Li Changqing hadn't gained a few points of willpower during his breakthrough, he wouldn't have been able to withstand the mental impact of this painting.

The intense dizziness assaulted Li Changqing's will. Just as he was about to collapse.

[Willpower +1]

Like timely rain after a drought, the energy consumed by contemplating the Overlord Lifting Cauldron Diagram was instantly replenished. The surplus power surged into Li Changqing's unrefined will, continuously strengthening his spiritual foundation.

"Kid, what's wrong?" Chen Danqing, standing nearby, noticed something was amiss.

"Grandpa, I'm fine," Li Changqing's consciousness returned, and he quickly stepped back, waving off the worried Chen Danqing.

"It's just that this painting is so good, I got completely absorbed."

"Really?" Chen Danqing looked skeptical.

"Come, let me see your eyes."

"Grandpa, I'm really fine." Li Changqing turned his head, his eyes clear.

Eyes are the windows to the soul. Just like someone who stays up late often has cloudy pupils, it's obvious at a glance.

Seeing that Li Changqing seemed genuinely fine, Chen Danqing finally relaxed. He reached for the painting on the table, intending to put it away.

He tugged, but it wouldn't budge.

Chen Danqing's lips twitched. He looked up to see Li Changqing staring at him with a sincere expression, his right hand firmly pressing down on a corner of the painting.

"What are you doing?" A bad premonition suddenly arose in Chen Danqing's heart.

"Grandpa, if I told you I was an artist, would you believe me?"

Chen Danqing: ...

After staying at Grandpa Chen's and having another meal, Li Changqing left, satisfied.

The moon hung high above the branches.

He cradled an ancient scroll in his arms and ambled into the apartment building.

Upon returning home, Li Changqing's first action was to go to his bedroom, take out his toolbox, and hammer a nail into the wall above his bed.

Then, with great solemnity, he unwrapped the package and hung the scroll on the wall above his bed.

The bold ink lines flowed, outlining the mighty physique of Hegemon Xiang Yu.

Strength to Uproot Mountains, Qi to Cover the World.

Pure power, an invincible aura that seemed to leap off the paper.

Li Changqing looked inward at himself.

[Artistic Conception (Overlord Lifts Cauldron): 0%]

He stared at the painting for several minutes, but this time he wasn't as lucky. The Overlord Lifting Cauldron Diagram failed to resonate with him again.

This was also why Chen Danqing agreed to lend him the painting. The personal works of High-Rank Martial Artists were not easily contemplated; without sufficient spiritual power, one couldn't even pass the threshold.

He would try again tomorrow.

Li Changqing turned and walked back to the living room, looking at the 500-pound dummy standing on the floor.

He stepped forward, gently placing his right arm under the dummy's base. With a surge of strength, powerful Blood Essence erupted from his Dantian.

Embracing the Core and Returning Strength.

He condensed all his Blood Essence into one point, unleashing it in an explosive burst that twisted his entire body's power into a single force.

He didn't even need to employ Tai Chi Soft Strength; Li Changqing effortlessly lifted the dummy directly over his head.

The moment it left the ground, the Liquid Metal inside the dummy sloshed.

Listening to Strength, Great Accomplishment.

Before the metal could even shift, Li Changqing applied a subtle force, supporting the dummy with one arm. The top remained steady, unmoving.

The dummy, designed for Martial Arts Apprentices, was far too light for him now.

"Need to add weight."

He released his grip, and the dummy plummeted. Just before it hit the ground, Li Changqing hooked it with his left foot.

Tai Chi Soft Strength, transforming motion into stillness.

The dummy landed silently.

Li Changqing turned back to his room and pushed out a cart filled with weights.

This was the accompanying equipment that came with the dummy.

He opened the hidden clasp in the middle of the dummy and poured a large amount of Liquid Metal into it. Li Changqing paused, then added several standard weights inside the dummy.

The buckle locked tight.

Considering he could now wrestle a 500-kilogram brown bear, Li Changqing, in a fit of madness, set the dummy's gravity to 750 kilograms.

Add to that the unstable liquid metal.

The difficulty increased exponentially.

After placing the last quarter of the parts back, Li Changqing reattached the pulleys to the dummy.

This kind of gravity couldn't be practiced at home.

Disturbing the neighbors would be a minor issue; if he smashed through the floor, he wouldn't have the money to pay for it.

The community garden.

In a deserted open space, Li Changqing removed the pulleys from the bottom of the dummy, his Embracing the Core and Returning Strength Blood Essence spreading throughout his body.

Allowing his strength to stack layer upon layer like a surging tide, ceaselessly.

Li Changqing hugged the dummy with both arms.

He didn't exert force directly. Instead, he swayed the dummy slowly, his perfected Listening to Strength skill instantly grasping the dummy's center of gravity.

The next second.

"Lift!"

Tai Chi Soft Strength erupted.

Li Changqing's feet were rooted, his strength originating from the ground. His Blood Essence, flowing like waves, layered the force, converging from all over his body to his waist, abdomen, and arms.

Crack-crack—

The soles of his shoes made a creaking sound under the immense pressure. The dummy swayed slightly but didn't leave the ground.

Hoo—

Li Changqing's chest expanded. Spirit Turtle Breathing Technique!

Air rushed into his lungs at an incredible speed. As his Blood Essence flowed, it was like flowing water, ceaseless. It not only gathered all his strength but also transported oxygen to every muscle fiber in his body.

Inside the dummy, the liquid metal flowed, attempting to disrupt Li Changqing's exertion. However, under his perfected Listening to Strength skill, any disturbance was stifled before it could even begin.

Flowing Water True Meaning.

A rolling long river continuously appeared in Li Changqing's mind. Before the old strength faded, new strength was already born.

Finally, the dummy slowly lifted off the ground, but only by an inch. Li Changqing couldn't move it any further.

He had reached his limit.

Boom!

The dummy landed. Nearly a ton of weight fell onto a small area, directly cracking the park ground.

"Hoo—hoo—"

Li Changqing breathed deeply, his face, flushed from the condensed Blood Essence, quickly returning to normal.

"This weight is just right."

Anything heavier, and he wouldn't be able to lift it at all. Anything lighter, and the effect wouldn't be good enough.

"With my current Blood Essence and Physique alone, I definitely can't progress any further."

He closed his eyes slightly. In his mind, a painting, extremely blurry, began to materialize.

With Li Changqing's current mental strength, he could only visualize it at this level.

According to Grandpa Chen, only in his personal peak state could he perfectly visualize this painting.

Achieving this much meant the viewer's mental strength had reached the peak of a Mid-Rank Martial Artist.

However, this realm was too distant for Li Changqing.

He was merely a Low-Rank One-Star Martial Artist. Li Changqing only hoped to see if he could slightly tap into the True Meaning of this painting.

He embraced the dummy again, his eyes tightly shut.

At this moment, Li Changqing's mental strength couldn't be perceived by him. He decided to use a crude method.

Recall!

He continuously recalled the memory of his resonance with the Overlord Lifting Cauldron Diagram.

Using force, by squeezing, he commanded his brain to operate at maximum capacity.

Li Changqing wasn't worried about overexerting his brain. As long as he broke through his limits, any exhaustion could be replenished.

Yellowed paper, bold ink strokes.

He filled in the details of that moment bit by bit, his mental strength rapidly depleting.

As soon as he began recalling the brushstrokes, cold sweat slowly beaded on Li Changqing's forehead.

But his Blood Essence was abundant.

It was his mind that was weary.

It felt like being locked in a dark room for over a month, forced to solve advanced calculus problems without sleep.

His brain felt overloaded.

He bit his tongue lightly, forcing himself to stay awake.

Rough lines drifted through his memory, sketching out muscles built like granite, limbs stretched wide, a bronze cauldron held high.

The painting was complete.

But it was merely an ordinary painting.

No.

Something was missing.

Li Changqing reminded himself repeatedly.

The man lifting the cauldron was imposing and mighty, but at a glance, he knew it wasn't the Overlord.

This was just a strongman.

What was missing?

Li Changqing thought hard, but couldn't find any clues.

The night wind howled, and he stood alone in the center of the park.

Lonely, cold.

"Since I followed the Great King on campaigns east and west, enduring hardship and toil, year after year..."

A tragically beautiful female voice, indistinct. Peking Opera lyrics, clearly, drifted into Li Changqing's ears with the night wind.

The noisy lyrics, accompanied by the typical static of an old radio.

It was an old neighborhood, after all, so Li Changqing didn't mind.

He was about to continue sketching from memory.

Blood Essence flowed through his ears, and suddenly, he could hear everything from the surrounding residential buildings.

All sorts of sounds swirled around him, the most common being various kinds of music.

Li Changqing subconsciously recalled, only to find.

Among them were ancient tunes from his hometown.

The night wind was cold and desolate, the Songs of Chu from all sides.

Boom!

The sorrowful melody instantly tore through the last layer of window paper separating him.

Treading the night wind, listening to the Songs of Chu from Gaixia.

The Overlord, looking down on the world with arrogance and acting recklessly, broke through the encirclement, his horse trampling a hundred thousand Han soldiers.

Silver bottles shatter, water and pulp gush; iron cavalry breaks through, swords and spears clang!

A flash of inspiration swept through Li Changqing's mind.

He understood.

No, it wasn't that he understood the Overlord.

Rather, the Overlord, spanning a thousand years, treading through the Songs of Chu, had torn open the Ambush from Ten Sides.

He had performed the magnificent display of his Strength to Uproot Mountains, Qi to Cover the World in Li Changqing's heart.

The Overlord!

Li Changqing finally realized, he had forgotten.

Did lifting the cauldron matter?

It didn't matter!

A thousand-pound cauldron couldn't compare to an excavator or a dump truck.

So why didn't he visualize a dump truck crashing into a bridge?

Because...

In this painting, the important thing was the Overlord!

It was the Overlord who possessed Strength to Uproot Mountains, Qi to Cover the World, invincible in the human world!

In the Overlord Lifting Cauldron, the important thing wasn't the cauldron, but the person lifting it!

Ying Dang also lifted a cauldron, but could he be compared to the Overlord?

Boom!

The Artistic Conception enveloped Li Changqing's heart, and his condensed Blood Essence broke through its limits without any hindrance.

"Hah!"

Qi emanated from his body.

Li Changqing's shirt was torn apart by his muscles, his robust physique gleaming with the radiance of power under the boiling Blood Essence.

The 750-kilogram puppet, nearly a ton, was lifted from the ground.

It was held high above Li Changqing's head.

His movements were so swift, his presence so commanding, it was as if the object he held aloft was nothing more than a feather.

Strength to Uproot Mountains, Qi to Cover the World!

[Artistic Conception (Overlord Lifts Cauldron): 1%]