Azure Waves Temper the Heart, Born from Facing Death

The lake was deep.

As his body was submerged, the noisy sounds from the lake's surface were instantly cut off.

The light around him dimmed, his heartbeat amplified, as if he were the only person in the world.

A sudden sense of isolation, disconnected from the world, washed over him.

For many people with aquaphobia, the main reason was that the water could block out surrounding sounds. In such extreme quiet, it was easy to feel panic and fear.

However, for Li Changqing, the cold, lonely depths held no sense of alienation.

Entering the state of Heaven-Man Resonance, everything in nature became his friend, his aid.

His powerful five senses allowed him to clearly perceive the movements around him, even enveloped by the water.

He opened his eyes, and his Blood Essence surged, forming a thin membrane that blocked the encroachment of the lake water.

Three meters underwater, countless fish, their scales shimmering with iridescent colors, darted through the water.

They showed no fear of Li Changqing. After the recent transformation of his breathing technique, Li Changqing's aura had merged seamlessly with the surrounding lake water.

He had perfectly concealed the aura of a predator at the top of the food chain.

Ten meters underwater.

This depth was the limit for most ordinary people.

Underwater, for every ten meters gained, the pressure on the body increased by one atmosphere.

At this depth, one would feel difficulty breathing, and their ears might even experience slight pain.

But Li Changqing completely ignored this level of change and continued to descend.

Twenty meters, thirty meters.

He continued downward. As the light from above grew dimmer, Li Changqing finally reached the lakebed.

He raised his wrist and checked his watch.

Depth: 42 meters.

Water pressure: five standard atmospheres.

His Blood Essence circulated through his body without any issues. This much pressure was nothing to Li Changqing.

Humans in the old era could dive 100 meters without equipment. With his Physique, 40 meters of water pressure was a trivial matter.

What Li Changqing truly needed was the immense volume of lake water to aid his cultivation.

And the terrifying anaerobic environment.

He had no intention of surfacing to breathe.

Legend had it that ancient Martial Artists could even achieve a full internal circulation, allowing them to remain underwater for several hours.

Why couldn't he?

Li Changqing moved his hands in arcs, and as soon as he adopted a boxing stance, he noticed the difference.

Before, when he practiced boxing, the water level was at most waist-high.

It was incomparable to the environment at the lakebed.

Water was over 80 times denser than air. Compared to using the wind as leverage when practicing on land, it was far more difficult to borrow strength from the dense flowing water.

Even though he had comprehended the Flowing Water True Meaning before, it was still difficult to completely eliminate the resistance.

Most crucially, the oxygen he had stored was being rapidly consumed as he practiced his boxing.

At this rate, the oxygen stored in his Blood Essence would be depleted before long.

This sudden predicament seemed to transport Li Changqing back to the time when he first started practicing martial arts.

It was just as difficult, just as painful.

But the growth that came from overcoming it was enough to make him forget all the pain.

A smile touched Li Changqing's lips. He laughed silently at the bottom of the lake.

"Yeah, this kind of pressure is what martial arts is all about!"

His bones and muscles rang out.

Buzz!

Tiger Roar Thunder Sound.

He didn't hold back his boxing at all, putting his full strength into every move.

Would he relax his requirements just because of the difficulty? Impossible.

His eyes were sharp, his hands weaving yin and yang. As his fists moved, the Blood Essence in his dantian condensed into a ball and then returned as force, also evolving with yin and yang energies. Their collision generated terrifying power.

Boom!

It was as if thunder exploded underwater.

While mobilizing his entire body's Blood Essence, Li Changqing gritted his teeth and directly reduced his oxygen consumption by more than half.

He didn't have enough oxygen, so he forced himself to use less, to not use it at all.

An unnatural flush spread across his face in an instant.

The lactic acid produced by anaerobic respiration was distributed throughout his body by his Blood Essence, rapidly breaking down.

In his mind, the Tai Chi formed from the Tai Shang Gan Ying Pian slowly rotated, and subtle inspirations welled up in his heart.

[Tai Chi (Heaven-Man Resonance): 15%]

As expected, the immense pressure yielded remarkable results.

Li Changqing's pupils gleamed, illuminating the dark lakebed like two red jewels.

His powerful irises gathered and reflected light, allowing Li Changqing to see even at the bottom of the lake.

Continue!

His fist techniques evolved with each repetition. The greatest use of Heaven-Man Resonance was to borrow from nature and adapt to it.

To be completely submerged in the lakebed and expect his fist techniques to disperse the water flow without any impact on himself was simply impossible, a fantasy.

And Li Changqing had no intention of doing so.

He came to the lakebed to temper himself. Without resistance, how could he temper himself?

Since he couldn't dissipate the water's resistance with his fist techniques.

He would do the opposite!

The next moment.

Li Changqing's demeanor shifted abruptly. His internal Force surged, and instead of manipulating the water flow, he used his Blood Essence to thoroughly agitate the hidden currents at the lakebed.

As his fist techniques changed, the resistance he faced not only didn't increase but actually decreased.

Boom!

Under the effect of his Force, a vortex several meters in diameter formed at the lakebed.

"This is the effect!" Li Changqing's eyes shone brighter.

He continuously adjusted his fist techniques.

The scope of the vortex kept expanding.

Five meters, eight meters, ten meters...

Finally, as his Force began to circulate at the lakebed.

The entire lake was stirred up by him.

A vortex over 10 meters in diameter was agitated by his Tai Chi Force, greatly increasing the pressure. Li Changqing stood at the center of the vortex.

The Tiger Roar Thunder Sound echoed within him, vibrating his bone marrow. Transmitted into the lake water through his body, the resulting vibrations caused the vortex to churn the water, pressing down on his body.

It complemented and reinforced the Tiger Roar Thunder Sound emanating from Li Changqing's fist techniques, tempering his Physique together.

In an instant, the water flow that had originally obstructed Li Changqing once again became his aid.

He didn't need to dissipate the resistance; at this moment, Li Changqing even wished the water flow would be heavier, more urgent.

The heavier the water flow, the better the tempering effect on him.

This was the true purpose of his "flowing like water."

To temper his Physique with the weight of the lake water.

Li Changqing closed his eyes and began to grasp his state of Heaven-Man Resonance.

He threw punches again and again. Gradually, his Force began to reach a state of perfection, no longer spreading outwards wantonly.

The vortex began to shrink, and the turbulent surface of the lake calmed down once more.

At the lakebed, a perfect spherical vortex took shape.

The surging water flow surprisingly emitted a thunderous sound.

The Force cycled back and forth, forming self-sustaining waves that continuously tempered Li Changqing, who was at the center.

Under Li Changqing's Tai Chi fist techniques, the lake's water flow was finally driven by him, circulating endlessly and becoming a complete aid in tempering his body.

[Physique +3]
[Vitality Concentration: 24%]

He hadn't broken through his limit; for Li Changqing now, breaking limits was incredibly difficult.

The tempering of his body, achieved naturally, also granted him Physique points.

His body grew stronger, and the surge of vital energy actually dispelled his discomfort from lack of oxygen. His muscles, fatigued from anaerobic respiration, returned to their peak.

Li Changqing's eyes lit up. He used the replenishment gained from the increase in Physique to practice his fist techniques again, even allowing his already depleting Blood Essence to surge out of his body, frantically taxing his physical form.

Agitated by the Blood Essence, the hidden currents at the lakebed became utterly wild, expanding once more.

Fifteen meters in diameter!

The rushing water turned into countless small hammers, striking Li Changqing's every inch of flesh with force.

Internal refinement, external tempering.

His body, cleansed by the Tiger Roar Thunder Sound, had become a natural alchemy furnace.

It grew ever clearer, ever more translucent.

Suddenly, Li Changqing's boxing stopped.

The Yin and Yang energies within his body churned, while the lake's undercurrents surged outside. As he practiced his fists, they in turn helped temper his body.

"Heaven and Earth as the furnace, Creation as the craftsman, Yin and Yang as the fuel, and all things as the bronze."

My body is precisely that peerless divine weapon within the furnace.

Using the Yin and Yang Blood Essence in his dantian as the furnace fire, natural Creation as the craftsman, and wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and all things as the bronze, he tempered himself.

A profound enlightenment dawned in his heart, and a powerful resonance reflected in his boxing.

Heaven and Earth as the furnace, Yin and Yang as the fuel.

Li Changqing's boxing suddenly changed. Beginning with the Flowing Water True Meaning he inherited, his style shifted towards the gentleness of water.

For the first time, a fundamental transformation occurred.

Blazing flames burned the sky, aggressive like fire!

Boom!

Li Changqing threw out a single whip with his right arm. His boxing was decisive, no longer possessing the continuous, unending flow of before.

No room, no retreat.

One punch, staking everything.

This was the artistic conception he sought: unrestrained like blazing flames, with no turning back!

The lake water was directly scattered by this punch.

Fueled by Blood Essence, the fist's power blasted through a massive vortex with a 15-meter diameter.

Violent water waves spread outwards. In the next instant, Li Changqing's left arm slowly drew inward.

His boxing underwent another earth-shattering change.

Shedding all masculinity, only the gentle Tai Chi boxing remained, effortlessly gathering all the dispersed water flow.

It collected the power of the water agitated by his fiery, masculine punch, and channeled it back to temper his body.

Transforming Yin and Yang with water and fire.

This move.

Li Changqing was not only tempering himself with his boxing and the lake; he was also utilizing the force he generated by punching the water to further temper himself.

Killing three birds with one stone.

[Tai Chi (Unity of Heaven and Man): 30%]

Upon hearing the Way, his boxing proficiency directly doubled.

Previously, Li Changqing's borrowing from nature had always been through the conversion of Tai Chi's gentle aspect.

Only today did he truly create the opposite of Tai Chi's gentleness: an aggressive, fiery, masculine boxing intent, supremely Yang and supremely strong.

He was now completely endowed with both Yin and Yang.

As he gained enlightenment, the limited oxygen within Li Changqing's body was about to run out.

Was he going to ascend now?

His gaze swept over his wristband.

Only half an hour had passed.

Now that his oxygen was nearly depleted, he still hadn't found a way to achieve an internal circulation.

[Physique +3]
[Vitality Concentration: 26%]

The lake's weight, the consumption from his boxing, his own internal strength.

Under this triple hammering, Li Changqing's Physique improved again. The replenishment of robust Blood Essence temporarily alleviated his oxygen crisis by restoring his stamina.

The strength gained from the Physique increase allowed Li Changqing to further expand the range of his disturbance in the lake.

20 meters!

A vortex with a 20-meter diameter exerted terrifying water pressure on him. The pressure on Li Changqing's body at this moment was far greater than that of a hundred-meter-deep water.

The enhanced fist power resulting from increased strength also acted back upon Li Changqing himself.

Back and forth, the speed of tempering his Physique accelerated again, but the oxygen, which had just been alleviated, once again faced a depletion crisis.

Without a method for internal circulation, he would have to surface sooner or later.

Boom!

Water, compared to air, was a better medium for transmitting force.

Li Changqing struck the water flow, which was equivalent to striking the strange rocks at the bottom of the lake.

Immense force churned continuously.

Boom!

Finally, the balance was broken.

The direction of the water flow changed abruptly, and the vortex Li Changqing had constructed with his own force was also interrupted by this sudden change.

He fixed his gaze and saw, within the angle of the lake beside him, a massive cavity had appeared.

The lake water poured in, and the immense pressure felt as if the entire lake was pressing down.

Even Li Changqing struggled to remain standing.

"This kind of pressure..."

He gazed at the gap at the bottom of the lake, a wild thought surging in his mind.

If one were to speak of extremes, what place could be more extreme than this?

The path of martial arts is indeed like this!

He relaxed the Blood Essence in his feet, and Li Changqing was swept away by the water flow, rushing violently towards the enormous hole.

Bang!

He planted his feet firmly in a horse stance, his feet sinking directly into the rocks at the bottom of the lake.

The surrounding water currents made it difficult even for him to stand steady.

Inside the vast cavity, the rocks were jagged and treacherous, and coupled with the powerful water currents, falling in meant certain death.

Now, even Li Changqing himself could not escape.

Under the scouring of the water flow, if he dared to slacken for even an instant, the merciless current would instantly drag him into the cavity.

Facing such a dead end, Li Changqing actually smiled.

"This is true cultivation!"

The ascent of martial arts should be like this.

Azure Waves Temper the Heart, born from facing death!