Battling Enemies, Cognition Points +30...

Dawn was about to break.

A light breeze suddenly drifted into the small grove.

Li Yun felt a chill of coolness and immediately opened his eyes.

The moment his eyes opened, a sharp glint burst forth.

"The second stance and third stance have been elevated!"

"I've obtained the Plum Blossom Intent and Cloud Water Intent!"

"This once again proves that improved aptitude helps with comprehending martial arts. If I still had Fifth Grade aptitude instead of Fifth Grade Middle aptitude, I could at most have elevated the third stance tonight."

"Unlike now—before dawn, I might even fully elevate the fourth stance!"

"Tut, tut..."

"There's still time. I'll rest a little first, and test out the newly comprehended True Intents while I'm at it..."

With a nimble flip,

Li Yun directly assumed the second stance, the Plum Blossom Stance.

Sure enough, True Intent flowed through him.

It was another wholly different sensation from the Green Pine Intent. It was as though he had arrived in the depths of winter, where the earth lay buried beneath ice and snow and all living things had withered away. Yet atop the mountain peak, a single plum blossom bloomed, unafraid of the bitter cold.

Threads of icy aura entered his body with every breath.

It felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar, yet he could distinctly sense subtle changes taking place within his body.

Next, he changed his stance and shifted into the third stance—the Cloud Water Stance.

The sensation was even stranger.

A dreamlike yet strangely tangible current flowed through his physique, as though his entire body were immersed in a deep pool. Every pore across his body opened, greedily drawing in some kind of spiritual aura. His body actually became lighter, giving him the feeling that he was about to rise from the depths to the surface.

It felt incredible!

"Sure enough, every one of the Twelve Basic Stances contains its own mystery!"

"Whoever created such foundational martial arts—and made them suitable for everyone—was absolutely no ordinary person. Their comprehension of the Martial Dao must have reached an extraordinarily profound realm."

Li Yun quietly immersed himself in the experience.

Suddenly, an unusual sensation surged up.

A tremendous force appeared from nowhere within his body, and his blood and qi began to thunder through his veins.

"Body Tempering Fourth Layer!"

"Damn, my cultivation actually rose another level?"

Li Yun was somewhat pleasantly surprised.

He tried throwing a few punches, immediately sensing that his fists carried more force as they blasted through the air. Faintly, there was already the whistle of a fist wind.

"My strength is at least four hundred jin now!"

"Add five perfected Martial Skills to that, and tut, tut... even those old disciples who have reached the Body Tempering Fifth Layer or Body Tempering Sixth Layer would probably be beaten to death by me!"

Li Yun threw punch after punch, using the Thunderclap Fist taught by Huang Huazong. Every punch was like a thunderbolt crashing down, centered on a fierce, swift, and domineering fist force.

The more he fought, the more invigorated his whole body felt.

Yet he soon stopped, a trace of hesitation appearing on his face.

"I still couldn't unleash that lightning force Elder Huang mentioned. It leaves me wanting more... Should I elevate this fist technique first?"

"Anyway, it will take at least another two or three days to fully comprehend all the True Intents within the Basic Stance Cultivation. That's enough time for me to get more Martial Cognition Points. I'm not afraid of the Thunderclap Fist draining them all away!"

Once the thought took hold,

Li Yun stopped caring about anything else.

He simply closed his eyes and directly chose to elevate the Thunderclap Fist.

Whoosh!

In an instant, 100,000 Martial Cognition Points vanished.

The system activated, and his mind trembled.

In that instant, Li Yun felt as though his entire being had fallen into a dark Void. A bolt of lightning blazing with brilliant white light abruptly appeared.

Like it had torn apart the dark heavens, it came crashing down with savage force.

An aura capable of destroying heaven and earth instantly left Li Yun utterly shaken.

This feeling was completely different from when he had elevated the Basic Stance Cultivation. Those previous elevations had given him a tranquil, peaceful sensation.

But now, it was nothing but violence—a flavor of annihilating everything.

He even had the illusion that without the system's support, the slightest lapse in his mental will might have caused him to be destroyed beneath that lightning.

All he could say was that everything about it was tyrannical beyond compare.

Fortunately, this realization ended very quickly, far faster than elevating the Basic Stance Cultivation.

From beginning to end, it took roughly only a quarter of an hour.

Li Yun regained his senses as though waking from a great dream. His eyes still held lingering fear from the shock, an instinctive dread of Heaven-Earth Might.

But in the next second, a radiant smile bloomed across his face.

As he smiled, a flash of lightning seemed to flicker and vanish within his eyes.

"Thunderclap Fist Intent!"

"Using the spirit as a guide, condense the lightning aura between heaven and earth, transform it into lightning power that I can control, and fuse it into fist force to kill enemies!"

"How much power this Fist Intent can unleash depends entirely on the strength of my spirit. With my current spiritual strength, I can only unleash the Thunderclap Fist Intent three times a day. Any more, and I'll be injured!"

"But that's enough!"

"I'm not some arrogant braggart who goes around stirring up trouble, and I'm in the Celestial Martial Sect, where sect rules restrict everything. I'm afraid I might not even get a chance to fight for months..."

Li Yun was happily thinking to himself when the smile on his face abruptly froze.

At some unknown time, two figures had appeared in the grove. They were even dressed in black and masked. With an outfit like that, even an idiot would know they were up to no good.

His first thought was that Zhao Chuanfeng had sent them.

Could it be that Zhao Chuanfeng thought a single Reverse Fate Art was not enough to frame him, so he had simply sent two people to finish him off?

"Run!"

Without a second thought, Li Yun turned and ran.

If they had been sent by Zhao Chuanfeng, he did not believe he had any ability to resist them.

Yet his sudden flight angered He Tingfeng and Xu Youwu, who had only just arrived in the grove.

"Look at this guy—he's actually this alert!"

Without another word, the two gave chase. With their Body Tempering Ninth Level strength, the speed they unleashed was clearly far greater than Li Yun's.

In the blink of an eye,

He Tingfeng caught up from behind, leaped over Li Yun's head, and threw a punch at him, forcibly blocking his mad dash.

"Huh, he's not as strong as I imagined?"

"These don't seem to be people Zhao Chuanfeng sent?"

His path blocked, Li Yun was not alarmed but delighted.

Pretending to stumble back in panic, he angrily demanded, "Who are you? Why are you attacking me? Aren't you afraid of the Celestial Martial Sect's rules?"

"Pah! The Celestial Martial Sect's rules are worth shit!"

"People like you, who have only just entered the sect yet act high and mighty by relying on Inner Sect connections—we can't stand the sight of you! We came specially today to teach you a lesson!"

He Tingfeng deliberately lowered his voice and roared, looking as though he bore some deep-seated grudge against Li Yun. Then he charged at Li Yun and immediately launched a vicious punch!

Got it!

They weren't sent by Zhao Chuanfeng. If Zhao Chuanfeng had sent them, they would know I don't actually have any Inner Sect backing—and they certainly wouldn't be this weak!

Facing He Tingfeng's fierce, rapid punch, Li Yun sneered inwardly as his footwork suddenly shifted.

The perfected Soaring Star Steps flashed.

His body nimbly evaded He Tingfeng's fist. He slid sideways directly to He Tingfeng's right, then followed up with a swift, vicious Eagle Claw Technique that tore savagely toward He Tingfeng's right shoulder!

Riiip!

In a single strike, he tore open the night clothes over He Tingfeng's right shoulder. His five fingers also ripped several bloody gashes across his upper arm, and a palm-sized chunk of flesh was torn straight off!

"Ah..."

A miserable scream instantly rang out!

At that moment, the system trembled.

Battling a Body Tempering Ninth Level martial artist, Cognition Points +30