One Year, Blood Qi Perfection!

Jiang Hao had just begun practicing the Fierce Tiger Fist, and he was extremely serious about it, repeating the set more than a dozen times in succession.

Although every stance and move was perfectly standard, the effect was far inferior to Zhao Heita's.

Unable to hold back, he asked, "Master, why can't I produce an Explosive Sound like you?"

At this, a smile appeared on Zhao Heita's face.

"Hehe, A Thousand Gold Cannot Buy an Explosive Sound. That is the gap in the level of strength."

"To produce an Explosive Sound, you must first cultivate force. In other words, you need to break through to Ming Jin before you can make such a sound."

"Ming Jin?"

Jiang Hao fell into thought.

He was only in the Blood Qi Realm now. Only by breaking through the Blood Qi Realm could he reach Ming Jin.

"However, the Fierce Tiger Fist is somewhat special. As long as you can cultivate the Fierce Tiger Fist to perfection, grasp its true intent, and unleash its True Intent Secret Move, you can also produce an effect similar to Ming Jin."

"True Intent Secret Move?"

"Martial Skills are divided by proficiency into beginner, proficient, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and perfection. Some more exquisite Martial Skills actually possess True Intent Secret Moves, but only when a Martial Skill reaches perfection can one comprehend its true intent and thereby master its True Intent Secret Move."

"True Intent Secret Moves are tremendously powerful. Once mastered, they can even allow one to fight across levels. However, bringing a Martial Skill to perfection is also exceptionally difficult. Without years upon years of practice and extraordinary Comprehension, it is very hard to reach perfection."

"Even I have practiced the Fierce Tiger Fist for forty or fifty years, yet it has only reached Major Accomplishment and has remained unable to attain perfection."

Jiang Hao's heart tightened.

Was Martial Skill perfection really so difficult?

Even forty or fifty years of practice could not bring it to perfection?

He knew his master was very strong.

The Fierce Tiger Fist ought to have been merely a basic fist art.

It certainly could not be considered particularly profound.

After all, even those in the Blood Qi Realm could practice it. How profound could it be?

Yet even for such a not-so-profound basic fist art, Zhao Heita had practiced for decades without being able to bring it to perfection.

"Do you think the Fierce Tiger Fist is simple? Practice it and you will know. Beginner and proficient stages are relatively easy; given enough time, anyone can reach proficiency."

"But the Fierce Tiger Fist becomes harder and harder the further you go. Especially Minor Accomplishment and Major Accomplishment—those cannot be achieved merely by piling up time."

"If one's Comprehension is insufficient, one might not even reach Major Accomplishment in a lifetime."

Zhao Heita actually left one sentence unsaid.

Comprehension was innate. At the Blood Qi Realm level, one could sometimes still rely on resources and Great Medicine to break through.

But Martial Skills could only rely on Comprehension. No amount of effort could make up for it.

In the Huangtian Sect, only those who cultivated a Martial Skill to perfection and mastered a True Intent Secret Move could be considered geniuses.

Of course, the prerequisite was that one's Bone Quality could not be too poor.

As for Bone Quality, Zhao Heita knew Jiang Hao's was excellent.

But as for Comprehension, Zhao Heita did not know.

That would take a long time to reveal even a hint of.

"Jiang Hao, you must practice the Fierce Tiger Fist, but you must practice the Great River Blood Nourishing Technique even more."

"In the future, you may practice more than one Martial Skill. There may also be Movement Techniques, Martial Skills requiring weapons, and many others. They will take up much of your energy. How to balance them, or how to choose between them, requires great wisdom."

"A person's energy is limited. Most people specialize in one or two Martial Skills rather than trying to master a broad range of them."

Zhao Heita advised him earnestly.

Jiang Hao nodded. Naturally, he understood this principle.

Cultivation was the foundation!

But Martial Skills were also indispensable.

Perhaps this was the fundamental reason geniuses and ordinary people gradually pulled apart.

Given the same time and the same energy, true geniuses could master many Martial Skills, even cultivate them to perfection, while their cultivation still advanced by leaps and bounds.

Ordinary people, meanwhile, might exhaust their entire lives practicing one Martial Skill and still fail to bring it to perfection.

Under his master's guidance, Jiang Hao diligently practiced the Fierce Tiger Fist and circulated his Blood Qi.

A day passed.

Jiang Hao returned home.

The first thing he did was inspect his own data.

Cultivation: Blood Qi Realm First Layer

Bone Quality: 6.8

Comprehension: 2.5

Spirit: 1.7

Fierce Tiger Fist: Beginner

The Fierce Tiger Fist had indeed reached the beginner stage.

However, Martial Skills likewise became more difficult the further one progressed.

Beginner and proficient stages were relatively easy.

But reaching Minor Accomplishment was difficult.

"To bring the Fierce Tiger Fist to Minor Accomplishment, I must comprehend the Tiger Form—grasp its form, then comprehend its spirit."

Jiang Hao sank into thought.

The Fierce Tiger Fist was exceptionally fierce and overbearing.

But during the beginner and proficient stages, it could not truly display the characteristics of the Fierce Tiger Fist.

Only after comprehending the Tiger Form would the Fierce Tiger Fist's power surge dramatically.

"Comprehending the Tiger Form will definitely require Comprehension. My Comprehension is only 2.5 right now, just somewhat stronger than an ordinary person's. I am afraid I will find it difficult to comprehend the Tiger Form in a short time."

"However, I can visualize the Blood Moon to rapidly improve my Comprehension. My Bone Quality is already very strong, so there is no need to devote all my efforts to visualizing the Great Sun. I should spend more time visualizing the Blood Moon."

Jiang Hao considered it.

His Bone Quality was already sufficiently strong. In the future, he only needed to visualize it step by step as usual.

His Comprehension stat was comparatively low, so he could shift his focus toward Comprehension.

Yet Bone Quality remained the foundation. Even if he reduced the time spent on it, he could not stop improving it.

Thus, after weighing the matter again and again, Jiang Hao decided to visualize the Blood Moon for ten months and the Great Sun for the remaining two.

This way, his Comprehension would increase by 1 each year, while his Bone Quality would also increase by 0.2.

Jiang Hao had already formulated his plan.

From then on, Jiang Hao followed that plan in his Visualization.

Ever since Jiang Hao had entered the Black Tower Martial Arts School to practice martial arts, he had stopped writing poetry.

As time passed, fewer and fewer people mentioned his title as a Child Prodigy.

Some even said he was a Shang Zhongyong, that his talent had run dry.

Jiang Hao naturally did not care.

From the beginning, he had only spread the name of "Child Prodigy" in order to expand his reputation and hopefully attract a powerful martial artist to accept him as a disciple.

Now that he was practicing martial arts, he naturally no longer needed the title of Child Prodigy.

Although Jiang Hao no longer had the name of Child Prodigy, his reputation within the Black Tower Martial Arts School grew greater and greater.

His name even became increasingly well known throughout the martial artist circles of Cang City.

One Day Blood Nourishment, One Month Blood Qi Second Layer, One Year Blood Qi Ninth Layer!

What a terrifying speed of martial cultivation was that?

The entire martial artist circle of Cang City knew that the Black Tower Martial Arts School had produced a peerless genius.

Many martial arts schools regretted it bitterly.

When Jiang Dahai had once searched everywhere for a famous master for Jiang Hao, many martial arts schools had turned him away. Who could have imagined that Jiang Hao himself was a top-tier martial cultivation genius?

However, Jiang Hao now had his own troubles.

A year had passed, and Jiang Hao was now more than seven years old.

Cultivation: Blood Qi Ninth Layer Perfection

Bone Quality: 7

Comprehension: 3.5

Spirit: 1.7

Fierce Tiger Fist: Proficient

After a year of martial cultivation, Jiang Hao had advanced at a tremendous pace.

His Bone Quality had finally reached 7.

His Comprehension had also surpassed 3.

His cultivation had reached Blood Qi Ninth Layer Perfection.

Whether it was Bone Quality, Comprehension, or cultivation, Jiang Hao was extremely satisfied.

Only the Fierce Tiger Fist left Jiang Hao dissatisfied.

In fact, half a year ago, Jiang Hao's Fierce Tiger Fist had already reached the proficient stage.

Yet after all this time, the Fierce Tiger Fist remained at proficiency.

Jiang Hao even felt that the Fierce Tiger Fist could advance no further.

Even after his Comprehension had reached 3.5, it was still the same.

For the first time, Jiang Hao experienced the "frustration" of martial cultivation.

He also understood that he had encountered a bottleneck.

All martial artists had bottlenecks.

Some bottlenecks could trap someone for three to five years, while others could trap someone for an entire lifetime.

Jiang Hao had never expected that, despite his Comprehension not being low, the Fierce Tiger Fist would encounter a bottleneck. He remained unable to reach Minor Accomplishment, without even the slightest clue why.

That day, Jiang Hao sought out his master, Zhao Heita.

"Master, this disciple's Fierce Tiger Fist has encountered a bottleneck. I have been unable to reach Minor Accomplishment."

Jiang Hao humbly sought guidance.

Zhao Heita smiled faintly. "Your Fierce Tiger Fist has already improved very quickly. You reached proficiency in half a year, and this bottleneck has only trapped you for half a year. There is no need to rush."

"As long as the opportunity arrives, the bottleneck will naturally be broken through."

"When a Martial Skill encounters a bottleneck, simply let nature take its course. Cultivation is the foundation. Your cultivation has already reached Blood Qi Ninth Layer Perfection, correct?"

Jiang Hao nodded. "This disciple has reached Blood Qi Ninth Layer Perfection."

"Mhm, not bad. Reaching Blood Qi perfection in one year exceeded my expectations."

"Once Blood Qi reaches perfection, under normal circumstances, one must cultivate a Ming Jin Technique to give rise to force. However, this kind of force has certain limitations, as it will be influenced by the breakthrough technique. For example, if you break through with the Blazing Fire Force, the force you produce will more or less be as violent as fire. It will become very difficult to cultivate certain yin and soft martial arts in the future."

"There is another method: Purify Blood Qi. When you continuously purify your Blood Qi, one day, force will naturally be born from it. This kind of force embraces all things. You can cultivate any martial art without being affected in any way."

"The first method produces force relatively easily. With your talent, as long as you practice a Ming Jin Technique, you will probably produce force in a few days and break through to become a Ming Jin Martial Artist. The second method takes longer. Perhaps several months, perhaps a year, or perhaps even longer before you can produce force."

"Which method of breakthrough do you wish to use?"

Hearing this, Jiang Hao weighed the matter in his heart.

The first method was undoubtedly more certain.

He could break through very quickly.

But Jiang Hao also had concerns about its limitations.

The second method, Purify Blood Qi, would definitely require time.

Yet its foundation would be solid, allowing for more choices in the future and perhaps enabling him to walk farther along the martial path.

"I choose the second method: Purify Blood Qi and allow force to naturally arise from my Blood Qi."

Jiang Hao did not deliberate for long before immediately choosing the second method.

His Bone Quality had now broken through the threshold of 7, and it could grow even stronger in the future.

Even if he purified his Blood Qi, how much time could it really delay him?