Earth's Strongest Gymnast

Hearing the townsfolk's discussion, Song Ankang was astonished. Only then did he learn that Jiang Yunhe was actually an Inner Refinement Fourth Layer expert. That was already the pinnacle of Second-rate Warriors; just one step further, and he could enter the Earth Gate Realm and become a first-rate expert.

No wonder he could beat that Female Ghost like a grandson. Looking at Miss Lilac, who no longer resembled a human shape, Song Ankang finally let out the breath he had been holding.

That had truly been too dangerous. He had come within a hair's breadth of being killed by that Female Ghost. He had thought Tongxin Town would be safer in broad daylight, yet even a place with so many people was this dangerous.

It seemed he would have to cultivate diligently from now on and raise his strength as quickly as possible. Only then could he preserve his own life. Otherwise, who knew when he might encounter another sudden danger like this?

The Profound Desolate Great World was truly an extraordinarily unfriendly world for humanity. Outside, the Merman Race, Angel Race, and others watched like tigers eyeing their prey; within, Demonic Creatures and Ghosts ran rampant. When would there ever be peace?

"Pfft..."

At that moment, Jiang Yunhe punched Miss Lilac apart, leaving only Ghost Dust scattered across the ground. Jiang Yunhe collected it, then walked toward Song Ankang.

Yet Jiang Yunhe's gaze upon Song Ankang was rather strange, filled with surprise, shock, and doubt. "Son-in-law, did you truly only advance to the Muscle Tempering Realm with the help of your earlier enlightenment?"

"Didn't Instructor Jiang already confirm it? I really am only at the Muscle Tempering Realm." Song Ankang's heart skipped a beat, but he answered without changing expression.

"Unbelievable!" Jiang Yunhe was shocked by Song Ankang's reply. "Son-in-law, do you know how powerful that Female Ghost was just now? She was already comparable to an Inner Refining First Layer warrior. Yet with the aid of her illusionary power, even ordinary Inner Refinement Fourth Layer warriors could do nothing to her, let alone a warrior at the Outer Forging Second Layer like you."

"To escape that Female Ghost's illusion under such circumstances, and even severely injure her—Son-in-law, your practical combat ability is truly extraordinary, and your mental will far surpasses that of ordinary people."

"Uh..." Song Ankang was dumbfounded. Only then did he realize how powerful that Female Ghost had been. She could even kill Inner Refinement Fourth Layer warriors. In that case, his narrow escape had truly been incredibly fortunate.

Song Ankang, who had thought that even after cultivating bitterly for several days he was still weak as a chick, finally gained a little confidence. Once again, he realized how terrifying the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance was.

After thinking it over, Song Ankang still explained with a bitter smile, "Instructor Jiang flatters me. The reason I was able to break free from the Female Ghost's illusion wasn't through my own power. It was because that Female Ghost exposed a tremendous flaw, allowing me to shake off the illusion for a short time."

Song Ankang explained what had happened at the time, leaving Jiang Yunhe, Qiushi, and the others somewhat speechless.

"I never expected even a Female Ghost... even a Female Ghost to be charmed by Son-in-law!" Jiang Yunhe's expression was rather odd, but the doubts in his heart finally faded.

Qiushi snorted. "I never expected even a Female Ghost to covet my Son-in-law. How shameless."

The surrounding shop owners looked at Song Ankang's face, handsome enough to seem inhuman, and each of them sighed in admiration.

"One can only say that Great Filial Son Song possesses the bearing of a celestial being. That is why he could enchant a Female Ghost and turn disaster into fortune. It seems that Female Ghost wasn't blind either."

"Great Filial Son Song is not only first-rate in character, but first-rate in appearance as well. Being able to meet Great Filial Son Song is truly the honor of our lives."

"Great Filial Son Song, have you eaten? Why not let me treat you at noon? We can go drink at the best Tongxin Restaurant in town."

Since his injuries had yet to heal and he was still waiting to absorb the side effects, Song Ankang declined the enthusiastic shop owners. Riding in the carriage provided by the cloth shop owner, he soon returned to Chaoyun Manor a few li away.

The moment he returned to the manor, Song Ankang used the excuse that he needed rest to send Qiushi and Jiang Yunhe away, then went to the Training Room to await the feedback from the side effects.

The Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance has accumulated sufficient energy and is beginning to take effect... Your injuries have healed, your qi and blood are rising, and the tendons throughout your body are strengthening!

Soon, surging waves of warm currents flooded in, rapidly restoring Song Ankang's injuries while strengthening his tendons at an even faster pace.

Song Ankang could clearly feel every tendon in his body becoming more supple and more resilient. After absorbing this wave of side effects, he could not help doing a split.

Effortlessly, without the slightest obstruction. His force had grown more ferocious as well.

Then came a full split, touching his navel with one hand behind his back, aerial jumps... none of them posed any problem. These were signs that his tendons had been tempered to a certain degree. With Song Ankang's current skills, he could easily take on ten opponents by himself.

Every gesture and movement of his likely contained nearly a thousand jin of immense strength. On Earth, he would have been a minor Superman.

Moreover, unlike other warriors who cultivated the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture, the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood within Song Ankang was dense and abundant. Its tempering of his skin, flesh, and tendons was flawless, and his foundation was incomparably solid. His future was bound to be limitless—where was even the slightest hint of the side effects that should have come with the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture?

With the assistance of the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture, Song Ankang's mental will had also reached a level far beyond ordinary people. This would be enormously useful when he later resisted the illusions of Demonic Creatures and Ghosts.

His narrow escape in Tongxin Town had made Song Ankang keenly appreciate the benefits of a powerful mental will. It was something that could save his life. He would place even greater importance on it in his future cultivation.

Over the following days, Song Ankang obediently remained in his small courtyard, continuing to cultivate diligently, so absorbed that he lost track of time.

With the large amount of Medicinal Herbs he had just obtained from the storehouse to assist him, Song Ankang spent most of the daytime practicing the training methods of the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture. At night, he repeatedly performed its combat techniques, pushing the side-effect-converting Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance to its limits. His strength rose at an unimaginable pace.

Not even warriors cultivating orthodox techniques could catch up to such speed if they rode their horses to death. Even warriors practicing demonic arts could not compare. It was practically a bug-like existence.

Song Ankang was equivalent to taking Spirit Pills with no side effects every day, improving at every moment. Before long, he had cultivated to the peak of the Muscle Tendon Realm.

At this moment, Song Ankang's flexibility far surpassed that of Earth's Olympic gymnastics champions. All manner of difficult movements came naturally to him—Ma Yanhong Dismount, Mo Salto, Liu Xuan One-Arm Giant Swing, Li Xiaopeng Vault... none of them posed the slightest difficulty for Song Ankang.

If Song Ankang returned to Earth now, he could sweep nearly every championship in men's gymnastics and become the greatest gymnast of all time.

Of course, the tempering of his tendons had also greatly enhanced Song Ankang's strength, speed, and reactions. Every movement erupted with fierce power, and his extensions and contractions were immensely forceful, far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Cultivating a supreme demonic art like the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture naturally allowed a warrior to possess combat strength far beyond others of the same level. Fighting opponents across realms was also easy.

Under normal circumstances, warriors who cultivated the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture to the peak of the Muscle Tendon Realm could sweep through the Outer Forging Fourth Layer. Song Ankang had absorbed the side effects as well. Forget sweeping through the Outer Forging stage—even against some weaker Inner Refinement warriors, Song Ankang had the strength to fight.

That night, Song Ankang unleashed four consecutive Tendon Injury Fists and began charging at the bottleneck shackling the Bone Tempering Realm!

Some esteemed readers have asked why Earth is so often used for comparison. It is written this way to make things easier to visualize, so everyone has a concrete frame of reference in mind. After all, we are all handsome men and beautiful women from Earth, so please forgive me.