Mighty Ox Strength

Boom!

Gu Yang's pupils suddenly contracted, and an incredulous expression appeared on his face.

"Th-this..."

In that instant, his Blood Qi began to churn again, the tremendous rumble loud enough for even him to hear.

His tendons continuously stretched, his muscles frantically swelled and compressed, and his bones crackled without pause.

At this moment, his strength rose once more, skyrocketing at a rate that far exceeded his expectations!

Boom, boom—

The fierce transformation continued within Gu Yang's body. The Military Rations Pill in his stomach rapidly shrank, turning into streams of warmth that his body absorbed. In mere moments, it was completely digested.

After that came the nutrients naturally stored within his body.

Gu Yang's expression changed. He immediately took the porcelain bottle containing Military Rations Pills from his robes, poured out another pill, and tossed it into his mouth.

Gulp.

He swallowed it in one mouthful. The moment the Military Rations Pill entered his stomach, it began to dissolve, transforming into currents of warmth that were absorbed throughout his body.

The transformation continued, but with the Military Rations Pills continuously supplying nutrients, this sudden change brought Gu Yang no trouble or inconvenience.

"Phew..."

After a long, long while, this transformation finally reached its end.

Gu Yang exhaled a breath of turbid air. The scorching stream of air rolled before his eyes, and upon meeting the cold air in midair, instantly condensed into droplets of rain.

As the droplets drifted down, a tiny rainbow miraculously appeared before him beneath the setting sun.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple...

Yet no matter how beautiful those seven-colored, dazzling lights were, they could not compare to the little words that flashed before his eyes once more.

Potential development complete. Talent 'Mighty Ox Strength' successfully manifested!

"Mighty Ox Strength!"

Clenching his fist and feeling the explosive power within his body, Gu Yang could not help muttering inwardly, This time, a talent that enhances strength has finally appeared...

Within the quiet Training Ground, Gu Yang stood still, his gaze deep as he silently sensed the changes in his body.

He did not immediately close his eyes to inspect the effects of this talent.

What one got from books was always shallow; to truly understand something, one had to put it into practice oneself.

Since he could sense the changes in his body right now, there was no need to look at the "correct answer" immediately.

Sometimes, when faced with a riddle, covering the answer and making one's own guess brought immense satisfaction if one guessed correctly.

At this moment, Gu Yang was amusing himself with precisely this little game.

Taking up the stance of the Azure Dragon Dance's Stance Training, Gu Yang stepped forward and threw a punch.

Boom!

The air exploded, and currents of wind surged.

The power unleashed by this punch far exceeded Gu Yang's expectations.

He knew that his strength had risen greatly, but that had only been a vague sensation. He had not possessed any precise understanding of it.

At this moment, he had never imagined that his strength would soar to such an extent.

"My punch has at least seventeen or eighteen hundred jin of force. No, it may have already surpassed two thousand jin..."

"And even with such a powerful burst of strength, my body doesn't feel the slightest discomfort. That means my tendons and bones have been strengthened as well!"

As his movements continued, every punch and kick Gu Yang threw stirred the surrounding air currents.

Whoosh!

His punch shot out like a spear. Gu Yang's full-force straight punch actually tore through the air around it, producing a piercing shriek at the edge of his fist.

"The increase in strength is simply too great..."

After half a quarter of an hour, Gu Yang finished the set of punches and stopped moving. As he calmed his breathing, he pondered inwardly.

"Normally, after breaking through from Strength Training to Blood Condensation, a swing of one arm should carry a thousand jin of force. But after manifesting the talent 'Mighty Ox Strength,' my power has doubled outright."

"So does this talent directly add a thousand jin of strength, or does it double my base strength?"

With his own answer in mind, Gu Yang closed his eyes and focused, looking inward.

Starlight glittered, radiant and brilliant.

In an instant, two lines of text quietly appeared.

Skill: Blood Nourishing Stance · Mastery (1/400); Azure Dragon Dance · Minor Mastery (95/1000)

Talent: Vitality Surge, Power Surge, Mighty Ox Strength.

As thoughts stirred in his heart, the "correct answer" immediately surfaced in his mind.

Talent Mighty Ox Strength: With the body of a man, harbor the strength of a mighty ox. Fists weigh like hammers, strength reaches a thousand jin. Most in the world call it: Overlord Lifting the Cauldron, Innate Giant Strength!

"Innate Giant Strength! Sure enough, it increased my strength by a thousand jin!"

A sharp light flickered in Gu Yang's eyes, and his spirits soared.

What was Innate Giant Strength? It meant one could beat a Qi Cultivation or Strength Training martial artist to death through sheer brute force without understanding martial arts.

Placed in any faction, such a person would be an excellent seedling for martial arts. They could directly skip the first two realms of Blood Qi and attempt Blood Condensation at once.

This was what was known as martial path talent and innate aptitude—the inborn differences between people!

Yet at this moment, this restriction rooted in the origin of life had been broken by Gu Yang.

At the age of fifteen, at the very moment his martial path cultivation broke through to the Blood Condensation realm, he had stimulated the potential within his body and manifested the talent Mighty Ox Strength.

Incredible!

The Mighty Ox Strength he had just manifested was far more miraculous than the two previous talents that assisted cultivation and battle.

It was equivalent to his innate martial path talent undergoing a change, transforming him from a mediocrity into a martial path genius!

He raised both hands high, interlaced his eight fingers except for his thumbs, palms facing downward, then exerted force through his body and stretched upward with all his might.

Crack, crack, crack—

A series of collisions from tendons, bones, and joints rang out.

As his fist forms unfolded, Gu Yang was seized by the mood and immediately began practicing the punches and kicks of the Azure Dragon Dance once again.

Boom, boom!

His fist wind howled, shaking all around.

Gu Yang practiced the Azure Dragon Dance over and over within this empty Training Ground.

His stamina was rapidly draining away. The Military Rations Pill that had not yet been completely digested earlier quietly shattered at this moment, turning into warmth that his body absorbed.

"Huff, huff..."

After seven or eight rounds, his stamina was in dire straits. Gu Yang finally stopped, braced his hands against his knees, and began gasping for breath.

Drip—

A bead of sweat fell from Gu Yang's cheek, striking the Bluestone Floor of the Training Ground and shattering apart.

Gu Yang stared fixedly at that small splash of water. His thoughts froze, and his mind went completely blank.

It had been a long time since he had experienced such utter exhaustion.

Still, practicing a Martial Technique with all his strength was not without benefits. At this moment, he had already gained a preliminary grasp of his greatly increased strength. He would basically no longer face situations where he picked up a cup to drink water, only to crush it in his hand.

At the same time, after practicing the Azure Dragon Dance's forms several times in one go, this skill's proficiency had also increased by eight points.

Raising his eyes to look at the bright moon that had risen without his notice, Gu Yang straightened up, adjusted his wrinkled martial robes, and left the Martial Academy, heading home.

Under the Nightfall, Gu Yang's shadow stretched long and narrow.

The street lamps glowed dimly, and a lone figure walked along the road.