Breakthrough and Leaving the Pass

Fourteen years. A full fourteen years.

In those fourteen years, Gu Han had long since lost count of how many times he had attempted to break through to Blood Tempering Perfection and Organ Refining, nor did he remember how many times he had failed.

He only knew that after each failure, he would always discover some deficiency within his own body, allowing him to fill the gaps, summarize his experience, and learn from his mistakes to avoid repeating them.

It was only today, after these fourteen years of unbroken failure, that he had finally completed his accumulation and truly understood the two realms of Blood Tempering Perfection and Organ Refining like the back of his hand.

Now, regarding his depth of understanding of these two realms, Gu Han was confident that even Inner Qi masters—or even the second-rate and first-rate masters of the real world's Yue Kingdom—were far inferior to him. Only those so-called pinnacle martial artists, the Innate Masters, could perhaps still surpass him.

Gu Han speculated inwardly.

This was his confidence, his affirmation of the fruits of over a decade of relentless study.

"Hah! Let's begin!"

With his mind settled, Gu Han wasted no more time. He let out a light breath, closed his eyes once more, and began to assault the Blood Tempering Perfection and Organ Refining realms with practiced ease.

Rumble!

The moment his intent stirred, the formidable blood energy within him—as fierce as an ancient tyrannosaur—erupted instantly, surging like a great river, scouring every part of his body.

The secret of Blood Tempering in martial arts lay in using blood energy to wash over the entire body except the five viscera, until the blood energy permeated every corner of the flesh. Only then could one be considered to have formally broken through to Blood Tempering Perfection.

Organ Refining, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. It used blood energy to scour the five viscera themselves, rendering them completely translucent like crystal. Only then was one considered to have formally broken through to Organ Refining.

This was precisely why the martial arts of this world and the real world complemented each other so perfectly. Gu Han estimated that only when a martial artist had simultaneously reached both the Organ Refining and Blood Tempering Perfection realms could the true power of the fusion of these two worlds' martial arts be unleashed.

Boom!

Sounds like rushing floodwaters echoed within Gu Han's body as bottleneck after bottleneck was shattered, obstacle after obstacle was uprooted.

In Gu Han's view, so-called bottlenecks were nothing more than various blockages and stagnations within the human body.

From the moment a person left the womb, they were tainted by the world's turbid air. After growing teeth and eating the five grains of the world, impurities and toxins would gradually accumulate within the body.

These were the barriers that prevented a martial artist's blood energy from reaching every part of the body, and the root cause that held back countless Muscle Tendon Strengthening martial artists—and Gu Han himself—from advancing further!

Those with good talent accumulated very few impurities and toxins, or almost none at all, making it easy for them to break through the Blood Tempering bottleneck.

Those with poor talent, however, had a great many impurities and toxins accumulated in their bodies, making it extremely difficult for their blood energy to scour every part of their flesh and five viscera. Naturally, breaking through was a struggle.

Without a doubt, Gu Han belonged to the latter category, and even among them, he was among the worst. Through years of attempting breakthroughs, he had long discovered that the impurities within his body were nearly inexhaustible.

With a body like this, even if the Minor Return Pill were available, or even if Treasure Pearl Temple produced the Great Return Pill—which could help a martial artist break through to Inner Qi—it would still be nearly impossible for him to break through.

Such was the terror of poor aptitude. Only because Gu Han's blood energy was so powerful—though his realm was merely at the peak of Muscle Tendon Strengthening and Bone Forging, his actual blood energy rivaled that of Blood Tempering Perfection—did he have a sliver of hope.

If it were anyone else, even if they studied for fourteen years, or a hundred and forty years, or even a thousand four hundred years, they would never break through. There would be no other way but to start over!

Thump, thump, thump...

Though his mind wandered, the blood energy within Gu Han's body cut through bottlenecks like a scythe through grass. In just a few breaths, it had already scoured nearly a tenth of his entire body.

And as time passed, the scouring speed did not slow. It pressed forward with unabated momentum.

This was the fruit of his fourteen years of research. This was his perfect, exquisite mastery of the mysteries of these two realms. Even if he were multitasking—eating, drinking, or even fighting—he could easily scour his entire body with blood energy.

Boom!

Dozens of breaths later, a sudden gale arose within the cave, kicking up countless grains of sand and gravel.

This was not a natural phenomenon. It was the surge of air stirred by Gu Han as he abruptly rose to his feet.

"So strong. Such terrifying speed. I never imagined that breaking through to Blood Tempering Perfection and Organ Refining would bring such a massive increase in strength—far greater than I had anticipated. I am now more than ten times stronger than before the breakthrough!"

In the cave, Gu Han clenched his fists, feeling his already transformed yet still strengthening body. A flicker of excitement shone in his eyes. Then, as he moved his palms, he began to execute a set of techniques—the "Seventy-Two Demon Subduing Palms."

Over these past ten-plus years, aside from researching how to break through his own bottlenecks in Blood Tempering Perfection and Organ Refining, Gu Han had also spent his spare time cultivating the martial arts he had learned.

For example, the Blood Tempering realm technique "Seventy-Two Demon Subduing Palms" and the movement technique "Moon Chasing Steps."

Fortunately, though his physical aptitude was poor, his comprehension was astonishingly high. Even though he had only practiced casually over the years, he had still managed to cultivate both the "Seventy-Two Demon Subduing Palms" and the "Moon Chasing Steps" to their highest level.

Swish, swish, swish!

Sounds of air being torn apart rang out as Gu Han's fists and feet moved freely, shredding the air around him. The resulting gale swept up countless small stones, which coiled like a swimming dragon, dancing through the cave along with his movements.

Finally, as the palm technique came to an end, Gu Han halted his movements. The countless stones lost their buoyancy and clattered to the ground in a heap.

"Good! Not bad. It was worth all the painstaking effort I put in over fourteen years to break through. Now my physical strength has soared, and my speed and power have increased beyond measure. I'm probably stronger than an ordinary Inner Qi Minor Completion martial artist. But I wonder how I'd compare to an Inner Qi Major Completion?"

After thoroughly sensing the increase in his power once more, Gu Han felt satisfied. He finally took a step forward, crossing several meters in a single stride, and walked out of the cave where he had spent over a decade in seclusion.

Trapped in cultivation for more than ten years, as if cut off from the world, now the dormant dragon had risen from the abyss. With few rivals left in the world, it was time to step into the mortal realm and stretch his limbs!