Don't Come Again

When the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance transformed the first wave of Treading Snow Without a Trace's side effects, Song Ankang found it exhilarating.

When the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance transformed the second wave of Treading Snow Without a Trace's side effects, Song Ankang still found it exhilarating.

But when the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance transformed the third wave of Treading Snow Without a Trace's side effects and woke Song Ankang from his sleep, it no longer felt quite so exhilarating.

When the fourth transformed wave of side effects woke the sleeping Song Ankang again, he began to feel that this might be happening a little too often.

The sensation was great, but even great things became unbearable in excess—especially when they disrupted his normal rest. He couldn't possibly start timing his sleep down to the minute in the future, could he?

But he had already cultivated Treading Snow Without a Trace, and its side effects were proving so potent. He couldn't just abandon it, could he? Abandoning it would also deal a heavy blow to his cultivation realm.

Even with the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance, Song Ankang confirmed something once more: Treading Snow Without a Trace truly was a demonic martial skill.

Left with no choice, Song Ankang could only keep enduring wave after wave of pleasure from Treading Snow Without a Trace. Gradually, he began to feel that he might have chosen the wrong movement technique.

Thinking of the anticipation and smug delight he had felt before cultivating Treading Snow Without a Trace, Song Ankang now had the urge to beat himself senseless.

All the pleasure he had suffered after cultivating Treading Snow Without a Trace was water in his brain before he had cultivated it.

Under such intense side effects, Song Ankang's mastery of Treading Snow Without a Trace soared all the way upward, and by the next day, he had advanced to the Minor Accomplishment Realm.

After reaching Minor Accomplishment, the side effects finally became somewhat less frequent, though their intensity increased instead. Whenever an episode struck, Song Ankang had to find somewhere to hide, lest he embarrass himself in front of others.

Even so, he was too slow once. He cried out in front of Qiushi, startling her into fleeing with her face covered. She thought Song Ankang was hinting at something.

This left Song Ankang rather embarrassed, and he began practicing how to endure the sensation without showing it.

But whenever he thought about it now and then, the sensation really was quite nice.

With Miss Lilac's warnings, Song Ankang's days ahead became exceptionally fulfilling. He practiced the cultivation method by day and its combat application by night, cultivated the Heaven Concealing Earth Absorbing Art whenever he had time, and occasionally had Jiang Yunhe spar with him. His combat experience and fighting techniques advanced by leaps and bounds.

With the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance assisting him as well, Song Ankang soon raised his strength to the peak of the Bone Tempering Realm and prepared to break through the bottleneck shackling the Inner Refinement Realm.

"Bone Injury Fist!"

"Bone Injury Fist!"

After throwing three consecutive Bone Injury Fists, Song Ankang did not look at the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance's prompt. He consumed the prepared ten-year ginseng medicinal cuisine, began circulating the cultivation method of the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture, waited for the feedback from the side effects, and then launched his assault on the Inner Refinement Realm.

Although Song Ankang could still throw another punch, or even two, then directly pass out and wait for the side effects to take effect, the Inner Refinement Realm involved vital organs such as the five viscera and six bowels. Breaking through while unconscious could easily lead to an accident.

Therefore, rather than frequently taking shortcuts by using unconsciousness to break through as he had at the Outer Forging Fourth Layer, Song Ankang endured the pain inflicted by the Bone Injury Fist head-on.

Feeling as though his bones were about to shatter, Song Ankang's mind and will had never been clearer. He continuously circulated the Bone Tempering Fist, repairing his damaged bones so that more side effects could be fed back to help him charge into the Inner Refinement Realm.

The transition from Outer Forging to Inner Refinement was a major bottleneck. Once one stepped through it, one became a Second-rate Warrior—a minor expert in the martial world. Tongxin Town had a population of several thousand, yet its strongest expert was only at the Inner Refinement Second Layer. That showed how rare Inner Refinement warriors were.

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

Several hours later, the side effects transformed by the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance arrived as promised. Since the damage to his bones had already been healed by the ten-year ginseng, all these transformed side effects gathered before the dam of the bottleneck and, under Song Ankang's control, surged toward it.

The path of cultivation went from outside to within, advancing layer by layer. Outer Forging came first, and only then could one enter Inner Refinement. The experience accumulated over tens of thousands of years was no mere decoration.

Having advanced to the peak of the Bone Tempering Realm, the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood within Song Ankang had reached the utmost limit in both purity and abundance. It could break through the bottleneck dam and penetrate deep into the five organs, tempering and strengthening them without side effects.

The bottleneck dam was quickly breached. Next came the key: allowing the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood to enter the five organs smoothly without harming them in the slightest.

Fortunately, the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood had reached an extremely high level of purity and smoothness, and Song Ankang's control over it was sufficient. Carefully guiding it, he sent threads of Seven Injuries Qi and Blood into the five organs, beginning with the heart.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

As the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood entered, his heart began beating much faster, yet it did not suffer the slightest injury.

Only then did Song Ankang let out a breath of relief. He pushed the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood forward with even greater care, tempering the heart little by little.

The heart was the center of the five organs and the main hub of all the blood vessels in the human body. Through the blood vessels, it transported qi and blood throughout the body. It also governed consciousness and was the center of spirit, awareness, and thought, occupying an immensely dominant position within the human body. Thus, the tempering of the five organs began with the heart.

As his heart was tempered and strengthened, Song Ankang could clearly feel his body growing more powerful and his mind and will becoming increasingly active. When this sensation reached its peak, it meant that Song Ankang had broken through to a new realm and stabilized it.

Inner Refinement First Level: Refining the Five Organs!

Once the five organs were tempered, one could breathe deeply and endure for long periods. "Walking like a galloping horse, leaping like a soaring bird"—that described this realm.

Though he had only just begun tempering his heart, Song Ankang's endurance had nearly doubled, and his other attributes had improved as well. The Seven Injuries Qi and Blood in particular had nearly doubled.

In terms of overall strength, Song Ankang could now defeat more than two of his former selves. One could well imagine how much entering the Inner Refinement Realm had increased his power.

Forget ten people—even if twenty or thirty people charged at him together, Song Ankang could easily knock them all down without even raising a speck of dust.

His strength had approached two thousand jin, his speed had reached one hundred meters in a few seconds, and his reactions were swift enough to slash out several times in an instant... Calling him a minor superhuman would not be an exaggeration.

Back on Earth, Song Ankang would never have imagined that he might one day possess such formidable strength. It felt like a dream.

If he could return to Earth with such power, most sporting events would be child's play to him. He could take championships with ease.

Even if he were sent to play for the men's national football team, Song Ankang was confident he could lead them into the World Cup final. The reason was simple: once one's physical abilities reached a certain level, many sports became like children's games.

Unfortunately, this was the Xuanhuang Continent, and Song Ankang could no longer return to Earth. There were far too many beings here stronger than him; Song Ankang was merely a minor character.

Although he had successfully advanced into the Inner Refinement Realm, Song Ankang had not been happy for long before thinking of something that left him rather troubled.