External Martial Arts Generate True Qi

He paused when he passed the first cell.

Inside, a wolf-headed, human-bodied Demonic Beast sat cross-legged. Even bound by thick iron chains, the aura it exuded far surpassed that of the Blood Scale Demonic Beasts encountered earlier.

A Commander-level Demonic Beast, its strength comparable to a Human Race warrior in the Primordial Qi Realm.

The Wolf Demon seemed to sense his presence. It slowly opened its eyes, cast a casual glance at him, and then closed them again, as if Shen Che were merely an ant passing by, unworthy of its attention.

Shen Che didn't mind.

He wasn't interested in live Demonic Beasts for now.

He continued deeper inside.

Soon, in the corner of an empty cell, he found a demon corpse that had long since stiffened.

It was a Leopard Demon, with a massive piercing wound in its chest, clearly killed in a single blow.

Shen Che placed the black Demon Suppressing Token on it.

[Absorption successful, Time Value +400.]

Good.

Shen Che's heart rejoiced, and he continued forward.

The third floor was vast. Although there were many Demonic Beasts imprisoned here, deaths were not common.

He walked a long way before finding two demon corpses in another cell, locked in a struggle that resulted in mutual destruction.

[Absorption successful, Time Value +220.]

[Absorption successful, Time Value +230.]

Shen Che opened his status panel.

[Host: Shen Che]

[Time Value: 2500]

[Cultivation Techniques:]

[Black Tiger Saber Technique (Level 6) (Cannot be upgraded temporarily)]

[Golden Bell Shield (Level 13)+]

[Iron Shirt (Level 10) (Cannot be upgraded temporarily)]

Two thousand five hundred points.

Shen Che estimated that the Demon Suppressing Prison wouldn't yield much more profit in the short term.

It was enough.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly sensed an unusually dense demonic aura emanating from the deepest part of the third floor.

The demonic energy there had almost condensed into a black-red mist, churning restlessly.

As if compelled by an unseen force, he walked in that direction.

Passing through an open area, he saw a uniquely massive cage.

Inside the cage, an impossibly burly figure was bound to the stone wall by dozens of black iron chains, thicker than a man's arm, in a posture of extreme humiliation.

The figure stood two and a half meters tall, covered in dark scales. Even motionless, the terrifying pressure emanating from within caused the surrounding air to solidify.

Innate Realm!

This was a monstrous demon comparable to a Human Race warrior in the Innate Realm!

Just as Shen Che's mind was shaken...

The monstrous demon suddenly opened its eyes.

There was no killing intent, no anger, only a dead, silent crimson that seemed capable of devouring everything.

In an instant, a terrifying will, like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, crossed space and slammed violently into Shen Che's mind.

Shen Che's breathing stopped at that moment.

His soul trembled beneath that crimson gaze, as if it would be torn to shreds at any moment.

Too strong.

Ridiculously strong!

This is no longer a being of the same dimension.

Shen Che's internal alarm bells blared. He no longer dared to linger, turning and leaving with rapid steps.

He didn't notice.

After he turned, the monstrous demon, bound by chains, curled its lips into a silent arc and let out an almost inaudible whisper from its throat.

"Soon..."

"Very soon..."

"When that time comes, I will make this place run red with blood."

Back in his small courtyard, Shen Che locked the gate tightly behind him.

He opened the system panel, focusing his intent on the plus sign behind Golden Bell Shield.

"System, upgrade Golden Bell Shield!"

[Consuming 1000 Time Points, Golden Bell Shield begins upgrading...]

A warm current, unimaginably vast, exploded within Shen Che's limbs and bones out of thin air.

His body began an astonishing transformation.

His originally bronze skin became tougher, faintly emitting a jade-like luster.

His bones, with cracking sounds, became denser, a faint silver-white sheen appearing on their surface.

The most astonishing change occurred internally.

A thin, tough membrane, invisible to the naked eye, spontaneously formed on the surface of his internal organs, perfectly protecting them all.

Internal and external unity!

This was the true Golden Bell Shield!

It could not only defend against sword and saber slashes but also resist the shockwaves of heavy blows, and even possessed strong resistance to potent poisons.

[Golden Bell Shield (Level 14) (Currently cannot be upgraded)]

He had broken through the limit!

Shen Che clenched his fist, feeling the explosive power within his body.

He felt that his single-arm divine strength had at least increased by ten thousand jin!

If he combined it with the Iron Shirt technique, the strength of one hand would reach a terrifying twenty thousand jin!

What kind of concept was this?

A martial artist at the peak of the True Meridian Realm, who had opened all twelve True Meridians, might not even be able to match his pure strength.

He was now capable of crushing over ninety percent of True Meridian Realm cultivators!

Shen Che suppressed the excitement in his heart and his gaze fell back to the system panel.

Then, he froze.

[Iron Shirt (Level 10)+]

Behind Iron Shirt, which had previously displayed "Currently cannot be upgraded," a plus sign had actually appeared.

Was it because the breakthrough of Golden Bell Shield's limit had shattered the shackles, thereby triggering the breakthrough condition for Iron Shirt?

It could even be played like this?

"System, upgrade Iron Shirt!"

[Consuming 1000 Time Points, Iron Shirt begins upgrading...]

Another thousand Time Points vanished.

This time, there was no warm current, no infusion of power.

Shen Che only heard a deep, thunderous roar emanating from his flesh, blood, tendons, and bones.

It was as if something had been born in the deepest part of his physical body.

It was a boundless and extremely pure qi.

This qi flowed along his meridians, and wherever it passed, it not only further strengthened his bodily functions but also nourished his flesh, blood, and meridians.

Shen Che felt this brand-new power, entirely generated by his own physical body, and was completely stunned.

The path of martial arts was known to all.

Internal arts cultivated True Qi, external arts refined the body.

The two were clearly distinct, two entirely different paths.

But now...

He, someone who had practiced external body-refining techniques to the extreme, had actually generated True Qi within himself?

This was utterly preposterous!

[Iron Shirt (Level 11) (Currently cannot be upgraded)]

Shen Che looked at the panel and then felt the ceaseless True Qi within his body, his mind a complete blank.

This... this is True Qi?

Me, a practitioner of external arts, actually cultivated True Qi myself?!