Fish Dragon Path

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Ye Zhen casually tossed around a 1,500-pound Stone Lock.

With an 1,800-pound Stone Lock, after lifting it more than a dozen times in a row, Ye Zhen's face was not red, nor was he out of breath.

Only the 2,000-pound Stone Lock made Ye Zhen breathe slightly harder.

The 2,300-pound Stone Lock had still not reached Ye Zhen's limit.

In a single night, Ye Zhen's strength had soared to 2,400 pounds.

Under the moonlight, on Hundred Pine Peak's Martial Arts Arena, Ye Zhen looked at his hands, overwhelmed with delight.

In the Qi Yun Sect, a Menial Disciple breaking through to Blood Refining Second Level had two markers.

First, the Blood Qi Art had to break through to the second layer, causing blood qi to surge throughout the body and reach the internal organs. Second, one's strength had to surpass 2,000 pounds.

In other words, judging purely by strength, Ye Zhen's cultivation had already broken through to Blood Refining Second Level.

Yet this was precisely the strange part. By strength, Ye Zhen had already broken through to Blood Refining Second Level, but by the Blood Qi Art, not only had he failed to break through to Blood Refining Second Level, his cultivation had actually fallen back to the middle stage of Blood Refining First Level.

Blood Refining First Level cultivation, yet Blood Refining Second Level strength—this bizarre situation left Ye Zhen somewhat bewildered.

He had spent nearly a year in the Qi Yun Sect and heard of plenty of strange things, but he had never heard of a case like his own.

"Or perhaps this strange situation is the heaven-defying aspect the Mirage Dragon Pearl spoke of?"

Thinking of the abnormal changes when the Mirage Dragon Pearl fused with him, including the layer of foul-smelling grime that had seeped from all over his body, Ye Zhen became increasingly certain of it.

He just did not know its specific use. Still, Ye Zhen believed that given enough time, drop by drop and day by day, he would eventually uncover the Mirage Dragon Pearl's secrets.

What surprised Ye Zhen, however, was that he did not need to wait for time to accumulate. Over the next five or six days, he basically figured out the Mirage Dragon Pearl's effects.

Once he started paying attention, Ye Zhen discovered that whenever he cultivated the Blood Qi Art these days, the blood qi driven by the art always passed through the pearl upon reaching the Shanzhong Acupoint, as though the Mirage Dragon Pearl and his Shanzhong Acupoint had become one.

Something strange happened. After the abundant blood qi generated through cultivation passed through the pearl, it shrank by one-third or even more.

Yet when Ye Zhen carefully sensed it, the reduced blood qi emerging from the Mirage Dragon Pearl had become extraordinarily condensed. Even its color had turned a vivid crimson.

Not only that, Ye Zhen discovered that after the blood qi shrank, it circulated through his meridians faster and with greater force.

This change was reflected very directly in the transformation of Ye Zhen's physical condition.

After almost every night of cultivation, Ye Zhen's strength and speed increased markedly.

While taking Marrow Spirit Liquid, Ye Zhen's strength could increase by fifty or sixty pounds in a single night. After four or five days, once his cultivation had returned to the state of Blood Qi Filling the Meridians, his strength had actually reached 2,600 pounds.

One had to know that even Sha Fei, who shared a room with him and had already reached the peak of Blood Refining Second Level, possessed only 2,700 pounds of strength.

In other words, Ye Zhen had the blood qi of Blood Refining First Level, yet the capabilities of Blood Refining Second Level.

Furthermore, after several days of continuous study, Ye Zhen discovered that the effects of taking Blood Origin Soup were exactly the same as before he possessed the Mirage Dragon Pearl, yet the increase in blood qi volume had decreased by one-third.

The results of all these observations and studies finally allowed Ye Zhen to confirm one thing—the heaven-defying effect of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

It was tempering!

Whenever he cultivated, it automatically tempered his blood qi cultivation, making it more condensed.

To put it plainly, if blood qi cultivated through the Blood Qi Art under normal circumstances was iron, then the Mirage Dragon Pearl tempered Ye Zhen's blood qi into steel.

At the same cultivation level, it allowed his blood qi cultivation to strengthen his body to a greater extent.

The fact that he possessed Blood Refining Second Level strength despite having Blood Refining First Level cultivation was the best proof.

Unfortunately, although Ye Zhen had confirmed that the heaven-defying effect of the Mirage Dragon Pearl was tempering, he had tried to study the first level of space within the unsealed Mirage Dragon Pearl for a long time, yet had failed to discover the slightest clue.

This left Ye Zhen forever harboring a trace of doubt and anticipation toward the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days passed. There were only three days left until the Qi Yun Sect's annual assessment.

During these twenty-odd days, after finishing his daily chores, Ye Zhen spent nearly all his remaining time cultivating.

Because his cultivation had surged, chores that had once required five hours every day could now be completed in only four.

With the time he saved, Ye Zhen practiced in a hidden spot within the pine forest the only fist art the Qi Yun Sect taught its Menial Disciples—the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist.

It was an entry-level fist art used by Menial Disciples to hone their strength, muscles, and bones.

Strangely enough, when Ye Zhen had previously practiced the three moves and nine forms of the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist, he could complete them smoothly, but every move and every form had always felt stiff.

Yet after that night, after a layer of foul-smelling grime seeped from all over Ye Zhen's body, his mastery of the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist had advanced greatly. His fists howled through the air, flowing like clouds and running water, without the slightest trace of sluggishness.

Especially after more than twenty days of bitter training, Ye Zhen's Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist was now even better than Sha Fei's, despite Sha Fei having entered the sect two years earlier.

Besides that, Ye Zhen went to the Cliff Secret Cave every night at midnight.

Every midnight, two drops of Marrow Spirit Liquid fell from the Stone Shoot within the Cliff Secret Cave.

These two drops of Marrow Spirit Liquid truly deserved to be called Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures capable of mutating an ordinary gray rat. Their effects were immense; every dose caused Ye Zhen's cultivation to surge by a large margin.

In just over twenty days, even with the Mirage Dragon Pearl's tempering, Ye Zhen not only broke through to Blood Refining Second Level, but even reached Late Blood Refining Second Level.

As a result, Ye Zhen's strength had also reached a terrifying 4,000 pounds.

However, Ye Zhen feared that someone might discover the cliff secret realm, so he had concealed things carefully. His explosively increased cultivation had not yet been discovered.

"Ye Zhen, the Annual Assessment is in three days. Get up quickly and do morning practice." At dawn, while the sky was still dim, Sha Fei, who had awakened earlier, gave Ye Zhen a shove.

Ye Zhen sprang out of bed, washed up as quickly as possible, then found an open spot with Sha Fei at the very edge of the Martial Arts Arena and began their morning practice.

The morning practice of the Qi Yun Sect's Menial Disciples was to practice the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist and hone their strength, muscles, and bones.

As soon as he set his opening stance, Ye Zhen let out a low shout, suddenly stretched his waist, and threw a punch. A rapid series of crackling bone explosions instantly rang out.

Lazy Bear Stretches Waist!

Bear King Emerges from Cave!

Smack!

Ye Zhen slashed one palm through the air, like a whip viciously lashing empty space, producing sharp hissing bursts in the air.

With every move and form, the fist wind Ye Zhen generated grew fiercer. When he reached the final move, Bear King Shoulders the Mountain, his fists even carried faint golden winds.

The faint golden winds around Ye Zhen's fists startled Sha Fei, who was practicing beside him.

"Amazing, Ye Zhen! Your fists carry golden wind. I've practiced for so long and still can't do that—how did you manage it?" Sha Fei's face was full of astonishment.

"Wasn't I forced into it? The Sect Grand Examination is about to come around again. If I fail, I'll be driven out of the sect.

"If the Qi Yun Sect throws me out, my father and mother will definitely be disappointed and heartbroken. Not only that, I'll have to endure endless ridicule and mockery within the clan. My life will basically be over.

"So I have to risk my life!"

Ye Zhen withdrew his fists and stood calmly, neither flushed nor breathless. After his cultivation entered Blood Refining Second Level, his wave-like blood qi could deeply nourish his five internal organs and six viscera, making them strong and powerful under its nourishment, while his breath became far more enduring.

If it had been before, after completing one round of the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist during morning practice, Ye Zhen would have been panting like an ox and sweating like rain. But now, even if he performed it three times in a row, his breathing would not be disturbed in the slightest.

That was the benefit of strong internal organs and long-lasting breath.

Sha Fei nodded sharply. "That's right, to avoid being driven out of the sect, we have to risk our lives!

"I've been stuck at the peak of Blood Refining Second Level for almost a month without breaking through. As long as I risk my life, I can break through to Blood Refining Triple Layer and gather qi into a pearl!"

After saying that, Sha Fei no longer looked at Ye Zhen. He wholeheartedly practiced the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist, his fist wind whistling.

Clang!

The sound of a gong signaled the end of the day's morning practice.

"Come here, all of you. I have something to say." When the voice of Steward Zhao, Hundred Pine Peak's menial steward, rang out, the Menial Disciples who had been cultivating immediately stopped what they were doing and swarmed around Steward Zhao, who carried a bronze gong.

"Three days. In three more full days, it will be the annual Sect Grand Examination. What I want to say is this: even if some of you will be driven out of the mountain gate three days from now, not the slightest bit of your chores can be neglected during these three days."

Steward Zhao's gaze casually swept across Ye Zhen and the others, carrying a clear warning.

Clearly, in Steward Zhao's eyes, Ye Zhen was certain to be one of those driven away this year.

Yet Ye Zhen did not lower his head under that stare as he normally would. Instead, his eyes blazed as he stared directly at Steward Zhao without giving an inch.

His rapidly increased cultivation had given Ye Zhen sufficient confidence.

With a dissatisfied snort, Steward Zhao continued, "The second matter I want to discuss is this peak's seed candidate."

Steward Zhao cupped his hands toward Qi Yun Peak, the tallest peak of the Qi Yun Sect. "By sect decree, after the Sect Grand Examination, the Fish Dragon Path will be opened once. The first ten people to pass through the Fish Dragon Path, regardless of cultivation, may directly become Outer Disciples."

After a pause, Steward Zhao added, "However, our Qi Yun Sect has hundreds of thousands of Menial Disciples. At that time, only the seed candidates of the various menial peaks will be qualified to attempt the Fish Dragon Path."

At this point, Steward Zhao glanced at Ma Yuanwu among the crowd. "This year, our peak's seed candidate is Ma Yuanwu. If any of you refuse to accept this, you may challenge Ma Yuanwu during daily morning practice while I am present, or after three days, once the Imperial Envoy presiding over your examination arrives.

"Whoever wins, and is not defeated by anyone else, may become this peak's seed candidate."

Having said that, Steward Zhao carried his gong away.

"Anyone who wants to challenge me, come at me! Let's see if I don't beat him until he's scrambling around looking for his teeth!"

Among the crowd, Ma Yuanwu, who had been Hundred Pine Peak's strongest person last year, rolled up his sleeves, thumped his chest, and bared his teeth. His gaze swept over everyone one by one, full of warning.