Escalation

End of May, 1187.

The Zhen Ding Wang rebelled, leading an army of 300,000, claiming 500,000, and established his own territory encompassing three provinces.

The Right Army Lord of the Snow Rainbow Pavilion went to negotiate but was beheaded and his head displayed to the public.

The Ling Ting was shaken and dispatched Spirit General to lead a large army to suppress the rebellion.

War broke out again.

Sky Peak Cave.

Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly as he listened to the information relayed by Sun Chaoyue.

He wasn't very familiar with who the Zhen Ding Wang was, but if you changed the name, he would remember it vividly.

Zhen Ding Wang was the father of Princess Yongxiang.

He was also one of the Six Kings of the Great Ling.

"I never imagined that Princess Yongxiang's affair had such a connection behind it all," he sighed.

He didn't know what this Great Ling would become in the future.

Deep within the Ling Ting, countless Spirit Guards and Spirit Vein surround and protect it, while Spirit General stand majestically above, overlooking all living beings.

The Gods and Buddhas are hidden in deeper places, their intentions unknown.

Ordinary people are treated like pigs and sheep, being raised and driven around. "Sometimes, perhaps finding a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains to live a secluded life is not such a bad thing," he said softly.

Sun Chaoyue remained silent below.

The more you understand this world, the more you realize how difficult such a life is.

They had thought this way when they were fleeing from place to place, but what was the result?

The people from the Snow Rainbow Pavilion were determined not to let them go.

The same applies to Dao Child Zhang Ying.

As a core member of the Great Dao Sect, even if he wanted to live in seclusion, it wasn't a decision he could make on his own.

Friends, teachers, enemies—these threads bound him firmly to his spot, preventing him from escaping.

"Alright, I got the news. Go practice your martial arts first." Zhang Rongfang waved his hand.

"Yes." Sun Chaoyue got up and left.

Zhang Rongfang was left alone, sitting in the cave.

He suddenly remembered his Elder Sister and Brother-in-law's family, who were far away in Wushan Prefecture, as well as his first master, Zhang Xuan, who had been missing for a long time.

And finally, the Eastern Sect Heavenly Maiden who disappeared in Great Capital.

Ordinary people are powerless to resist Spirit Vein.

This is also the fundamental reason why countless Righteous Army in Great Ling have failed.

No matter how a rebellion breaks out, as long as the Spirit Guard Spirit Vein are mobilized, the final outcome is always the slaughter, with the rest scattering and fleeing.

The people felt as if dark clouds were pressing down on them, and they could see no hope whatsoever.

Now, he and the Rebel Sect have mastered the method of killing Spirit Guard and Spirit Vein while being ordinary people.

Therefore, regardless of his wishes, once it is discovered that he is of the Eastern Sect Human Seed and possesses such Secret Art, the final result will inevitably be that he will be silenced.

Standing up, Zhang Rongfang glanced at the new attribute that had appeared on his Attribute Panel.

Adding the previous two points, he immediately focused all three on the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training.

Hiss. In an instant, a subtle tightening sensation spread throughout the body.

The skin is thicker, and the muscles are visibly tightened, no longer as swollen as before.

He raised his hand and looked at his arm; the skin on his hand had already turned a faint grayish-white, like rock.

A sense of power, like a tangible flow of water, surged within my body.

At the same time, he felt that his heart, one of the last three weak points, was slowly changing, as if several layers of extremely thick cowhide had been added to his heart.

He pressed down gently; the skin on his chest was tough and thick, much stronger than before.

Clearly, this was one of the three weaknesses, but it was mitigated as his martial arts skills improved.

After that, only two other weaknesses remained.

At the same time, a large number of memories about practicing the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training entered Zhang Rongfang's mind.

In his memory, he practiced his Hard Skill day and night, and there were even some Black-Clad Man whose faces he couldn't see, who kept hitting and hammering his body with heavy objects.

Fortunately, it was just an upgrade to the Breaking Limits, and the memories were not many, so they quickly faded away.

Just then, a brand new comment slowly appeared on the Attribute Panel.

Zhang Rongfang – Lifespan 100-100 (Strength, agility, and endurance have reached the limits of human genes)

The parenthetical content that suddenly appeared after the life was like writing in blood, carrying a warning and reminder, hanging there, somewhat shocking.

"Is this the limit?" Zhang Rongfang sighed. No surprises.

This Breaking Limits in upgrading his grade brought him almost no overall improvement.

The only enhancement is in terms of Hard Skill, specifically the skin and flesh's defensive capabilities.

As for strength, explosiveness, and speed, there's no room for further improvement.

The heart, the other internal organs, muscles, skin, blood vessels, bones, bone marrow—everything seemed to have reached saturation. It could go no further.

So he wasn't surprised to see this message in the Attribute Panel.

He stood up, walked out of the cave, and with a light touch of his toes, easily climbed up the rock wall, soon reaching the top of the mountain.

A Daoist priest sits here in meditation and guarding.

Upon seeing him arrive, he quickly stood up and bowed.

"No need for formalities," Zhang Rongfang replied, then sped off towards the bottom of the cliff.

He had a strong feeling in his heart.

At this moment, we have reached the limits of human endurance.

If he had reached his limit before, he could still use life points to forcibly increase his upper limit and then strengthen himself by increasing his grade.

So now he has reached the genetic limit of the entire human population.

This feeling was so strong that he had a premonition that even if he continued to practice martial arts, he might be able to improve the hardness of his skin and muscles, but his strength, explosiveness, and speed would not be able to be improved any further.

Before long, his running figure suddenly stopped in front of a gray rock that was three meters long, four meters high, and nearly one meter wide.

He reached out and hugged him, using all his strength, and his feet quickly sank into the ground.

The entire rock trembled slightly, and soon it slowly levitated, as if he had lifted it up by force.

But this was the limit. Zhang Rongfang could clearly feel his blood flowing at a high speed throughout his body, and he had reached his limit.

Bang.

He put the rock down again, stood in the forest, and began to think about the future.

'I have Attribute Panel, and I keep pushing the limits of health points. Eventually, I've reached the limit of everyone's genes.'

So what's next? How should we move forward?

For ordinary humans, reaching this point represents the limit determined by their own genes.

In other words, there is no way forward.

The Spirit Guard, Spirit Vein, Spirit General still loomed ahead like towering mountains.

'No wonder the ultimate development of martial arts is towards skill, realm, and weaponry.'

Standing in the mountains and forests, Zhang Rongfang gazed at the full moon in the sky.

A wave of emotion washed over me.

Since his strength and speed have already reached their genetic limits, it means that no matter how much he increases his life points or forcibly cultivates martial arts to enhance his strength and agility, it will not be of much use in the future.

At most, it will only increase your skills, level of understanding, and experience.

But there has been almost no breakthrough for itself.

'I originally thought I could keep increasing my rank until I became invincible, but now it seems that was just wishful thinking.'

He reached out and gently touched the surface of the rock in front of him.

'Since strength, agility, and endurance have genetic limits, then Hard Skill, defense, and recovery must also have limits. If I keep improving, I should soon reach all the genetic limits of the human body. And at that time...'

He suddenly thought of Worship God.

'The essence of Worship God is actually more about transplanting external objects to enhance the human body. So, perhaps I could try to see if Worship God can control me.'

Wrong!

Suddenly, Zhang Rongfang closed his eyes, interrupting this dangerous thought.

He cannot entrust his safety to the idea of receiving charity from external sources.

Countless thoughts and ideas surged and collided in his mind.

'Life's adaptability is far beyond this limit.' He placed his hopes on the new talents and traits that would emerge after his health points increased.

'No rush, let's wait and see. If new talents emerge later, it means I can continue down this path.'

'If I can continuously increase my talent, perhaps I can create new top-tier martial arts techniques based on my new talents, just like before.'

Composing himself, Zhang Rongfang immediately began testing his overall abilities.

He had already tested the power.

As for his movement technique, he probably silently counted for a few seconds, calculated the distance, and figured out his maximum speed, which was about 100 meters in five seconds.

The Great Ling uses one zhang as three meters, so one hundred meters is a little over thirty-three zhang.

Moreover, due to his movement techniques, he can turn forward in a fan shape at any time, and can turn three times without slowing down, even with all his might.

While Zhang Rongfang was alone in the mountains pondering his future path.

It is located dozens of miles away from Sky Peak Cave.

Inside a damp and cold cave.

On the cave wall is carved a ferocious Statue with three heads and six arms, wearing many rings.

The upper body of the Statue is attached to the cave wall, while the lower body stands alone.

The man had a face like a lion, a thick mane around his neck, and wore a wide purple divine robe embroidered with the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers. Behind him floated black ribbons.

This is the Thousand Stone Sect, a branch of the Sensing Gate, which worships a subordinate god under the Moon God, named Sarukela. In the Great Ling Language, it means the god who governs the earth and rocks.

The Statue was over ten meters tall, and a tall figure was standing at its feet.

The figure wore a black mask, had gray hair, a majestic presence, and strong muscles, resembling a rock.

It was none other than Yan Shenjun, the left Protector of the Thousand Stone Sect Zhang Rongfang, who had just fought Zhang Rongfang.

Yan Shenjun looked up at the Statue and stood there quietly waiting.

The sound of dripping water came from somewhere inside the cave.

The voice was neither hurried nor slow, which only made people feel more irritated.

But Yan Shenjun seemed to have gotten used to it, standing still as if he were a statue.

Time passed steadily, and a full half hour went by.

Finally.

A faint sound of footsteps came from behind the Statue's thick legs.

Yan Shenjun lowered his gaze and looked in the direction of the sound.

But there was only darkness there, and nothing could be seen.

"Why were you in such a hurry to tell me to come back? Now you can tell me your reasons."

The person did not appear; he simply stood behind the Statue's thick legs and spoke directly.

"Sect Master, I have found the legendary Sky Peak Cave. And I have confirmed that it contains Treasure Medicine that were once planted by the Moon King."

So I sent people to investigate."Yan Shenjun directly altered the cause and effect.

It was Black Tiger Daoist first discovered it, and then Black Tiger Daoist notified his companions to come to their aid. They only notified him when they were unable to defeat him.

In his case, it became that he was the one who first discovered the Sky Peak Cave.

In this way, the credit for the first discovery fell to him.