The sudden resonance of Artistic Conception caught Li Changqing completely off guard.
He had not expected the Tai Shang Gan Ying Pian to resonate with this Artistic Conception Scroll.
Why was that?
No answer appeared in his mind.
The impact of the Artistic Conception came swiftly and vanished just as swiftly.
Li Changqing's body swayed sharply. He reached out to brace himself against the wall. The next instant, a cool invisible current flowed straight from the crown of his head into his Spiritual Platform, leaving his Mud Pill Palace utterly clear.
A rare improvement in willpower.
Other than his first breakthrough and the two times he had upgraded his Tai Chi technique, Li Changqing had found no opportunities to temper his will. Thus, he had no way to add points to it.
Outside the window, the greenery in the residential compound swayed in the wind. Among the locust trees on the far left, he could still see the one that had suffered at his hands that night.
Even from over ten meters away, the cracks in its trunk remained clearly visible.
Within his dantian, the vitality evolving Tai Chi yin and yang had condensed into an inner pill.
Li Changqing fixed his gaze on the sago palm outside the window, roughly ten meters away.
His vitality surged as he threw a punch through the air.
Li Changqing raised his right arm. His force twisted into a duality spiral, Yin-Yang Qi churning as it transformed into thunderous means.
Tai Chi, Thunder Division.
Vitality passed through his body, simulating overwhelming thunder. A faint rumble echoed through the room.
The projected vitality pierced through five meters of air in one continuous burst. Beyond that, the power of water without a source steadily faded away. As the first strand of vitality dispersed—
In an instant, the entire mass of vitality underwent a chain reaction. The final two or three meters seemed like an impassable chasm. When it struck the sago palm, it did not even make its branches tremble.
Five meters was currently Li Changqing's maximum effective range for an air-piercing punch. Once it exceeded five meters, the projected vitality, without replenishment, would collapse from lacking follow-through, and its power would plunge off a cliff.
Beyond ten meters, it posed no threat whatsoever.
"Five meters?"
Li Changqing parted his lips slightly and breathed long and deep, as though he intended to swallow the air of the entire room into his belly.
His eyes half-closed as he swiftly outlined that invincible man who looked down upon the world in his mind.
His horse trampled startling thunder.
The aura of one invincible beneath heaven rose from Li Changqing's heart. He assumed a boxing stance, and the invincible aura fused with him through the Artistic Conception.
Tai Chi, Thunder Division.
Boom!
Yin-Yang Qi collided, stirring up thunder with the force of ten thousand bolts.
The Overlord Artistic Conception unleashed, effortlessly tearing through the limits of Li Changqing's physique.
Powerful vitality burst out through his body.
The five-meter distance was pierced in an instant, yet this mass of vitality continued onward without slowing, showing not the slightest sign of dispersing.
Ten meters!
Bang!
The air-piercing fist force struck the sago palm. Wood as hard as iron was like tofu before it. The fist force only barely dissipated after piercing straight through the entire tree, leaving behind a transparent hole running from front to back.
Ten-Step Divine Fist!
A fist thrown across ten meters, its force rich and mighty.
Not even a six-star Martial Artist could possibly accomplish this.
Li Changqing's arms felt weak and sore. Using the Overlord Artistic Conception placed an enormous burden on him. Even now, he could only use it once within a short period.
He forcefully steadied his breathing rhythm, but his pupils gleamed with incomparable excitement.
It was not merely because he had thrown the Ten-Step Divine Fist. The most crucial point was—
This time, the windup required to prepare his Artistic Conception had been drastically reduced.
Three seconds!
He needed only three seconds to outline the Artistic Conception in his mind and obtain the Overlord's invincible aura.
Such preparation time had already reached the threshold for use in battle!
Compared to an increase in the Artistic Conception's power, the shortened preparation time delighted Li Changqing even more.
No matter how powerful it was, if there was no chance to use it, then even being able to defeat an enemy in one move was meaningless.
On a real arena, or even a battlefield, no one would give you time to prepare your ultimate move.
Unless, of course, your opponent was an idiot.
Ten-Step Divine Fist, Drawing a Knife to Cut Water.
Which of the two was stronger?
There was no single answer, but Li Changqing could be certain that, with his Artistic Conception active, he had already reached nearly the same level as Sun Sheng.
"When I can achieve this even without using Artistic Conception, once I use it again, Sun Sheng will definitely no longer be my match."
His goal was already within reach.
His gaze swept over the calendar on the wall.
At this moment, there were still twenty-three days until the Youth Cup.
There was enough time!
Slipping his backpack onto his shoulders, Li Changqing no longer hesitated. He leaped directly from the third floor.
The muscles in his legs surged, and his whole body turned into a bolt of lightning. He flew over the outer wall and raced straight toward Qingshan Nature Reserve.
The goal was no longer distant. He could already see the day when he stood shoulder to shoulder with Sun Sheng.
The path of martial arts was like rowing upstream; if one did not advance, one fell back. The mountain that had once seemed so immense now stood right before his eyes.
How could he suppress the urge to climb it?
Qingshan Nature Reserve.
The mountain forest, which had only recently become lively again, sank once more into cautious wariness.
Whether insects and ants, birds, wild rabbits, wolf packs, clouded leopards, or even brown bears—
Whether lowly herbivores or food-chain overlords that surveyed the mountains with pride—
On this day, they returned to their days of lowered heads and careful caution.
The king of the mountain forest had returned.
Li Changqing was familiar with every part of this place. He leaped over the waterfall where he had first comprehended the Dao and sped along the riverway.
The mountain forest was peaceful.
This time, upon returning, Li Changqing clearly sensed the difference.
Before this, he had merely been a passing traveler in the mountains, with not the slightest interaction with the nature around him, as distinct as the Jing and Wei Rivers.
But now, he had already merged into nature.
The moment Li Changqing set foot in the forest, he sensed the breathing of the trees, the frolicking of flowing water, the howl of passing clouds, and the joy of wind sweeping through the land.
Everything in nature was whispering, as if each wanted to offer Li Changqing reminders about martial arts in its own way.
He heard them.
Li Changqing stopped. Force circulated throughout his body, and in a daze, he once again entered a state of Heaven-Man Resonance.
The sound of wind, flowing water, and every animal in the mountain forest.
Nature flowed on, its rhythmic cadence like the rising and falling of tides.
This was nature's breathing!
Li Changqing's chest expanded. Air entered through his nose, long and unbroken.
The heaviness and slowness of the Spirit Turtle Breathing Technique quietly began to transform. As Li Changqing's spirit continued to merge with nature, his body gradually disappeared.
"Chirp?"
A squirrel hugged a pinecone and cautiously poked its head out from the treetop, tilting its head.
Where had the big guy gone?
Li Changqing had been too fast just now, able to maintain a speed of eighty kilometers per hour even through rugged forest terrain.
The squirrel had not even had time to flee. It could only hide in the tree and pray that the mountain forest's tyrant would leave soon.
It cautiously climbed down the tree step by step, its nose twitching.
The air was fresh. Even the scent left behind by that big guy had vanished.
The squirrel gradually relaxed. With a leap, it jumped onto a short tree.
Huh?
It suddenly realized that the tree beneath its feet was so soft—and even a little warm.
"Little fellow, what are you doing?"
A large hand caught the tiny squirrel. The abrupt change nearly made the little creature play dead.
Yet after being held in that large hand, the faint warmth felt like the nest it had built inside a banyan tree.
That was nature. That was the scent of home.
"Chirp?"
Li Changqing set the squirrel securely on his shoulder. It looked at the big guy before it.
After thinking for a moment, it extended the pinecone in its tiny furry paw, rubbed to a glossy shine.
Li Changqing smiled and took several peanuts from his pocket, handing them over.
The squirrel's eyes immediately sparkled like jewels. It hurriedly stuffed the peanuts into its mouth.
The next second, its entire face swelled up like a frog's.
"Hahaha—"
Li Changqing was amused. With a wave of his hand, he used precise gentle force to propel his vitality, sending the little squirrel straight onto a branch overhead.
"Goodbye, little fellow."
Li Changqing held his head high and chest out. With just one step, he appeared over ten meters ahead, then vanished from this mountain forest after several rises and falls.
His steps were swift and light. When he landed on the mud of the riverbed, he left no trace.
Treading Snow Without a Trace.
Li Changqing shifted through the forest. From time to time, birds descended from overhead and perched on his shoulders.
They seemed utterly unaware that beside them stood the terrifying overlord of the mountain forest.
By the riverbed, several antelopes drank water. Though their heads were lowered, one eye always remained alert as it watched the surroundings.
Li Changqing passed behind them, yet these prey animals, so vigilant that even tigers found them difficult to hunt, showed no reaction whatsoever to his passage.
The faint sound of wind mixed with the murmur of water. Nature's rhythm emanated from Li Changqing's body.
A closer look revealed that these rhythms, which had merged with nature, were actually the sound of his breathing.
Universe Breathing Technique (Heaven-Man Resonance), Proficiency: 50%
Li Changqing had not even deliberately raised the Spirit Turtle Breathing Technique's proficiency to 100%.
After entering the realm of Heaven-Man Resonance himself and comprehending heaven and earth, he naturally grasped an even more profound breathing technique.
The universe was heaven and earth.
The birth of this breathing technique had gathered the right time, place, and people.
The breakthrough in his breathing technique not only strengthened Li Changqing's physique, but also granted him greater aid in borrowing nature's power.
When used alongside the Tai Chi technique of Unity of Heaven and Man, his cultivation progress would yield twice the result with half the effort.
The thunderous roar of rushing water filled his ears.
Before long, Li Changqing once again arrived at the place where he had trained last time.
Standing at the cliff's edge, he looked down at the deep, shadowy pool below.
He did not hesitate again.
His powerful physique and meticulous skill gave him absolute confidence.
Stepping onto the cliff, Li Changqing leaped forward.
His feet struck the rock face, and he began sprinting down a cliff that was nearly vertical.
Running along eaves and walking across walls was nothing more than this.
As his vitality churned, he repeatedly struck through the air to slow his descent. The soles of his feet seemed to have suction cups, clinging tightly to the rock wall.
A height of over thirty meters.
It was no longer an impassable chasm.
The waterfall roared. Beneath the cliff lay an enormous lake.
At its other end, it turned into a rushing river. The water murmured onward—this was the Tuo River that ran through Rong City.
The final five meters.
Li Changqing pushed hard with both feet, launching himself into the air. He pulled off his backpack with one hand and threw it onto the lakeshore.
Then, while in midair, he stripped off his clothes, leaving himself in a pair of swimming trunks he had prepared in advance.
Splash!
The deepest part of this lake reached more than thirty meters. In some places, the surface of the water even appeared pitch-black.
The mountain wall broke off here, while the land ahead became an endless plain.
The opposite corner of the lake was especially hazy.
"This is the place."
Li Changqing took a deep breath. That single breath lasted a full two minutes.
As vitality surged within him, it stored vast quantities of oxygen throughout his body.
Under natural conditions, what place had pressure greater than deep water?
Once he had drawn in all the air he could, Li Changqing did not hesitate.
He plunged headfirst into the lake.
He would use the all-encompassing pressure of deep water, together with the extreme oxygenless environment, to temper his fleshly body.
Vast Waves Cleanse Dust, Azure Waves Temper the Heart.
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