As Sun Sheng departed, Li Changqing had no intention of staying any longer.
This waterfall was no longer suitable for Li Changqing's training. He needed a more extreme environment to press his body to its limits and break through them.
He needed an environment that could squeeze every last drop from his body, from the inside out.
He hoisted the half-ton boulder onto his back once more and began heading deeper into the nature reserve.
As he moved farther from the waterfall, the riverbed gradually widened.
The once babbling stream, guided by Blue Star's gravity as the terrain sloped downward, crashed against the riverbank rocks with a low roar.
"Still not enough. Too slow."
Li Changqing did not stop. His chest heaved, and his thunderous breathing was loud enough to drown out the river's roar.
Wherever he went, there was no sound apart from his breathing and the river's bellowing.
Insect chirps and bird calls—
They had all vanished.
Within the forest, every animal held its breath. Hunting wolf packs huddled together, brown bears hid beneath massive boulders near the riverbank, and clouded leopards curled up against tree trunks.
Only after the breathing gradually faded into the distance did the animals dare move slightly. Only once all sound had vanished from their ears did life return to the forest.
Through their actions, they expressed their reverence for life toward the being standing at the apex of the entire nature reserve's food chain.
He charged onward.
Li Changqing ran another three thousand meters, sweat streaming down his forehead and along his cheeks.
This was where he had broken through his limits last time, but now...
"Ha!"
The muscles in Li Changqing's legs exploded with force. Qi and blood gathered in his dantian before erupting violently.
He accelerated again.
Facing the direction of the river, he ran toward the increasingly deafening roar, crazily squeezing every ounce from his body.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
He strode like a shooting star. Every time his foot hit the ground, it left behind a trail of devastation in the riverbank mud, like a row of shell craters.
After four thousand meters—
The boulder on his back began swaying again. Just as he was about to reach his limit, Li Changqing suddenly held his breath and gathered all his vitality into his dantian.
He was delaying the arrival of his limit!
Like a spring—the harder it was compressed, the higher it rebounded.
At four thousand three hundred meters, his muscles began to ache, yet he still lowered his head and sprinted forward without a care.
At four thousand five hundred meters, deprived of vitality's nourishment, his brain received too little blood, and phantoms began appearing before his eyes.
At this point, the forest grew increasingly sparse. Amid the roaring water—
It seemed as if the Milky Way had fallen from the ninth heaven.
A cliff more than thirty meters tall appeared at the end of the river.
The former stream had expanded along with the riverbed, becoming a surging river more than ten meters wide. Under the force of gravity, the river poured downward, forming the largest waterfall in the reserve.
It was midsummer, the season of abundant rain. The waterfall's flow had reached its peak; even assault boats could not travel upstream against it.
The final five hundred meters. Sprint!
Staring at the raging river before him, madness flashed in Li Changqing's eyes.
He strode forward, carrying the half-ton boulder as he charged into the river.
His foot slammed into the bank, and the tremendous force directly shattered his training shoe.
Whoosh—
Li Changqing leaped into the air and exhaled a thick stream of white vapor. It was sword-like, yet rather than piercing the air before him, it formed a snow-white vortex like a rain cloud, hovering above the river.
Spirit Turtle Breathing Technique, Proficiency: 40%
Exhalation like a whirlpool, breath like a vortex.
As his Breathing Technique advanced, Li Changqing's vitality became ever more enduring. His stamina had already far surpassed that of Lower-Rank Martial Artists at the same level.
Boom!
The boulder fell from the sky and smashed brutally into the middle of the river.
Li Changqing descended from the heavens, landing in waist-deep water. The raging current cleansed body and mind alike. If he relaxed for even an instant—
He would be thrown into the bottomless abyss behind him. At such a height, combined with the jagged rocks below the cliff, one misstep meant not the slightest chance of survival.
Rumble—
The river roared.
Droplets gathered into a river, and the impact generated by such terrifying speed nearly suffocated Li Changqing.
Physique +3 Vitality Concentration: 9%
The five-thousand-meter mountain forest charge while carrying a half-ton boulder had allowed him to break through his limits once again.
Just as his old strength was depleted, the river's scouring brought newly born, even greater strength flooding into Li Changqing's body.
Using the Physique increase gained from surpassing his limits, Li Changqing steadied himself.
He did not wait for his body to recover. Right there, he began practicing his fist techniques against the riverbank.
Old Technique, Tai Chi.
Double Peaks Pierce Ears!
Li Changqing lowered himself into a bow stance, swung his hands in arcs, and slammed them fiercely against both sides of the boulder.
Fine powder drifted down, but the boulder itself remained utterly unharmed.
This was granite formed when magma cooled at the surface, one of the hardest rocks in nature.
Human finger bones were nowhere near as hard as a half-ton boulder. Even if his strength was sufficient, Li Changqing could not bring it fully into play, because before he could break the rock, his fists would shatter first under the overwhelming force.
His first attempt had failed.
Li Changqing was not discouraged in the slightest. Planting his feet firmly, he stood in waist-deep water and unleashed his fist technique again.
Tai Chi Single Whip!
Bang!
He could still only knock off a few fragments. Every strike required Li Changqing to consume a great deal of vitality to protect his finger bones, naturally leaving much less for the force of his attacks.
As his qi and blood continued to drain, Li Changqing lost his footing. His body slipped, and he immediately slid backward.
At that moment, he was less than a meter from the cliff.
To live after being placed in the land of death.
That was Li Changqing's plan.
Break the cauldron and sink the boats; fight with his back to the river.
Only when faced with a crisis of life and death could a person's potential be fully unleashed.
"This isn't right."
Li Changqing realized that every time he threw a punch, colliding with the river before reaching the boulder consumed much of its force.
How could that work?
His experience from charging through the mountains earlier surfaced in his mind.
Tai Chi used softness to overcome hardness. If I wield my fists with the Flowing Water True Meaning, how could the river become my resistance?
Li Changqing raised both arms and once more engaged in a physical battle with the raging current.
"Block and Deflect Hammer!"
His waist drove his arms. This time, he employed the Flowing Water True Meaning, and sure enough, the resistance of the upstream current was greatly weakened.
Bang!
The boulder shook violently.
Tai Chi Soft Strength, Proficiency: 39%
Through the Flowing Water True Meaning, not only did Li Changqing's fist technique gain tremendous power, its proficiency also rose.
It worked!
He stepped forward with his left foot, his vitality following the path of his punch.
"Skimming Body Hammer!"
His right palm drew back beneath his ribs. Until the instant before he punched, his muscles remained relaxed. Then, one second before impact, Inch Force spread through his meridians. His muscles contracted, and he blasted the boulder fiercely.
Like flowing water, it had no constant form and no fixed shape. He mobilized the power of his body to the utmost.
Tai Chi Seven Hammers—this was a technique Li Changqing had developed by combining the various Tai Chi Combat Techniques he found online with Old Technique Tai Chi.
It likewise used Tai Chi Soft Strength, coordinating with throwing techniques to deliver a heavy blow before destroying an enemy's balance.
As Li Changqing continuously performed his fist techniques, the Flowing Water True Meaning flowed through him, and Tai Chi Soft Strength's proficiency rose rapidly.
"Seven-Star Hammer!"
With his final punch, Li Changqing stepped in the seven-star step. The raging river could no longer obstruct him.
Where previously every punch required him to fight against the flowing water, now the current had completely become Li Changqing's aid.
Boom!
A fine crack appeared on the boulder.
Tai Chi Soft Strength, Proficiency: 50%
The Flowing Water True Meaning had become fully integrated. Li Changqing no longer needed to struggle against the river at all.
The water was no longer an obstacle, but assistance.
His fist collided with the boulder, and the recoil sent Li Changqing's body slightly backward.
The massive cliff was less than two meters away.
Just then—
Rumble—
A smooth pebble rolled down with the current, striking the boulder that was already swaying from Li Changqing's punches.
With a crack—
Its center of gravity was lost, and the boulder slid over moss on the riverbed.
It charged straight at Li Changqing, pressing toward him with the threat of death.
Dodge?
At a distance where it was practically against his face, he had no time to evade.
Behind him was a bottomless cliff. Falling would mean being smashed to pieces.
A dead end!
Facing the boulder, Li Changqing slowly closed his eyes.
Waiting to die? Of course not!
The Overlord, gazing down upon all beneath heaven, appeared in his mind.
At that moment, the rushing boulder had already touched his palms.
There was simply no time for him to sketch out the image.
Rumble—
The tremendous force pushed Li Changqing backward. His toes dug into the riverbed, yet he still could not halt his retreat.
Three seconds later, he was less than a meter from the cliff.
There was no time.
The more critical the moment, the clearer Li Changqing's mind became.
In that instant, he decisively skipped over the cumbersome steps before it.
Memory Sketching!
There was no yellowed painting, no bold lines of ink.
Between life and death, Li Changqing's will broke free from its cocoon.
At last, he escaped the shackles of merely copying a cat from a tiger.
What mattered in Artistic Conception was the Overlord.
Not lifting the cauldron, nor the painting.
That sheet of paper was merely a vessel that could be discarded at any time. Nothing more.
Eight seconds later—
Li Changqing's heels touched the cliff's edge.
Within his mind, the invincible Overlord leaped from the nonexistent painting.
Artistic Conception (Overlord Lifts Cauldron): 2%
The Overlord's will descended, and that air of invincibility beneath heaven instantly tore apart his fragile physiological limits.
So what if his vitality was exhausted?
The lone Overlord, with but one man and one mount, could still charge through a hundred thousand Han soldiers!
"Up!"
The boulder weighing more than half a ton was violently lifted over Li Changqing's head.
The rushing waters?
They could not even shake his ankles!
"Ha!"
Powerful strength drove his arms. Li Changqing's muscles bulged, and he actually hurled the boulder high into the air.
His exhausted vitality tore through its barrier along with the Artistic Conception.
Li Changqing broke through his limits once more.
Physique +3 Vitality Concentration: 15%
A Two-Star Martial Artist!
Powerful vitality rose from nothingness, joining the raging river as strength surged from within and without.
Washing over Li Changqing's physique.
Vast Waves Cleanse Dust, a hundred refinements forged steel.
Under the nourishing warmth of vitality, his fragile bones took on a jade-like sheen.
Even within the raging river, which not even assault boats could travel against, a whirlpool centered on Li Changqing emerged.
This was the manifestation of his force permeating through his body.
Tai Chi Soft Strength was on the verge of great completion!
Rumble—
The boulder crashed back into the riverbed.
Li Changqing slowly stretched his limbs, and crisp crackling sounds rang out like beans popping in a pan.
His sinews and bones chimed in unison!
He drew a deep breath, and the Flowing Water True Meaning enveloped his mind.
The rushing river was no longer an obstacle. Li Changqing forcibly borrowed its immense power through the whirlpool.
Once again, his feet traced the seven stars, his right hand clenched into a fist, intense force surging like layer upon layer of towering waves.
"Tai Chi Seven-Star Hammer!"
Bang!
The force pierced through, and cracks spread across the boulder like a spiderweb.
Li Changqing's fist was smooth and rounded, and even his skin remained completely unharmed.
Stone chips rained from the half-ton boulder. Li Changqing's single punch had blasted a hole the size of a football straight through it.
His fist shattered stone, his sinews and bones chimed in unison.
Several days later.
He had finally broken through into the realm of a Two-Star Martial Artist!
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