After returning to the martial arts academy, Li Yuan and Wu Si'an reported their safe return to Qi Zhengyang. The two also briefly described what had happened during the mission.
Because Zong Lin had previously instructed them not to leak anything about the Corpse Demon, neither of them mentioned it. Fortunately, Qi Zhengyang did not ask too many questions. As long as they had returned safely, that was enough.
After seeing Qi Zhengyang, Li Yuan and Wu Si'an went their separate ways. The journey there and back had left them exhausted, so they each returned to their quarters to rest.
After returning to his own quarters, Li Yuan washed up before immediately beginning to study the martial art he had just obtained.
The Special Capture Division's martial arts could only be exchanged for contribution points and could not be passed on to others. Anyone discovered doing so would be severely punished by the Special Capture Division. Li Yuan sat at the table in the small courtyard, took out a copy of the Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method, and began studying it.
The booklet was very thin. Inside was a meditation formula and two meditation illustrations. One was called the Water Dripping Meditation, and the other was called the Condensing Ice Meditation. The artistry in both drawings was extraordinary. On closer inspection, one could even sense a unique spirit contained within them.
After flipping through the little booklet once, the system prompt rang out at just the right moment.
New martial art discovered Learned [Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method] (Not Initiated)
Just by reading through the martial art manual once, Li Yuan had learned the Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method. His level of mastery was very low, merely at the lowest level of Not Initiated.
But that did not matter. His mastery level would rise very quickly!
Li Yuan sat cross-legged in the small courtyard and calmed his mind with his eyes closed. The two meditation illustrations were continuously sketched in his mind, gradually becoming clearer. At the same time, he circulated the corresponding inner force formula, and soon, Li Yuan felt something different.
The Water Dripping Meditation contained the meaning of water droplets gathering into a river. The growth of mental power lay in this accumulation, drop by drop and inch by inch.
The Condensing Ice Meditation, meanwhile, drew on the meaning of water droplets freezing into ice. It used chilling intent to temper mental power until it became hard and resilient like a solid block of ice.
An increasingly powerful chill appeared deep within Li Yuan's mind. This chill was so profound that it continuously strengthened both Li Yuan's body and spirit.
Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method cultivating... Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method broke through to Initiated! Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method broke through to Proficient! Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method broke through to Mastered!
Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method broke through to Perfected!
Li Yuan continuously practiced this meditation method, quickly raising it to the realm of perfection.
You mastered inner force... Ice Force! You comprehended Martial Dao True Intent... Ten Thousand Ranks Cold Pool!
After a period of cultivation, Li Yuan had once again mastered two entirely new powers.
Ice Force was a type of inner force, brimming with the power of ice.
Li Yuan raised his hand and pressed it against the ground. Frost surged from his palm in sheets, the power of ice spreading continuously across the earth until a patch of frozen soil covered in white frost appeared.
Li Yuan had frozen a patch of land three paces across with merely one-tenth of the Ice Force in his body. If he used more of the power of ice, he could even freeze the entire small courtyard into an ice sculpture.
The Martial Dao True Intent he had just comprehended, Ten Thousand Ranks Cold Pool, manifested outside his body as well. Behind him, one could clearly see a frozen lake!
Above the lake stretched ten thousand miles of ice, its surface smooth enough to reflect a person's face.
Beneath the lake lay a ten-thousand-rank abyssal pool, terrifying chill continuously radiating from the depths of the lakebed!
After comprehending this Martial Dao True Intent, Li Yuan could clearly feel his mental power being tempered further and further. It grew increasingly condensed and solid, as if it were a block of ice that had endured ten thousand years!
He had made the right choice in cultivating this technique. If he encountered that Half-step Blood Robe again, the other party's illusions would have no effect on Li Yuan whatsoever. On the contrary, with merely a glance, Li Yuan might even be able to freeze the Half-step Blood Robe's consciousness into a block of ice!
After finishing his cultivation of the Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method, Li Yuan began practicing the Ground Rolling Fist. It was only a low-grade martial art, with a very low cultivation difficulty, and Li Yuan quickly raised it to the realm of perfection as well.
Although the Ground Rolling Fist was only a low-grade martial art and had limited potential, any martial art that could be cultivated to perfection would undergo a qualitative transformation in power. It could still possess tremendous might!
That was because bringing a martial art to perfection was extremely difficult.
The martial path was easy to learn but hard to master. Even the simplest low-grade martial art was not so easy to cultivate to perfection.
Besides, how many martial artists would stubbornly cling to a low-grade martial art, spending an enormous amount of time and effort to raise it to perfection?
Only a freak like Li Yuan, who possessed Divine Wisdom, could accomplish such a thing with ease.
Having mastered two more martial arts, Li Yuan's strength surged by a large margin. He was confident that he was no weaker than anyone in the Inner Force Realm. Even if a True Qi Realm martial artist stood before him, Li Yuan was confident he could clash head-on without falling behind!
At this stage, Li Yuan's puzzle of strength had already taken shape. There were no obvious weaknesses left.
For offensive combat, he had the Cinnabar Palm and Poison Dragon Palm.
For fleeing and pursuing enemies, he had Shocking Step.
For mental attacks and reinforcement, he had Dragon's Bloodshed and Ten Thousand Ranks Cold Pool.
For saving his life, he had the Ground Rolling Fist.
As long as his opponent was not at the level of the True Essence Realm, taking him down would not be easy.
The most important thing next was to advance to the True Qi Realm.
There was a major barrier between inner force and True Qi. It was called Forcefully Breaking Through the Mystic Pass.
What did Forcefully Breaking Through the Mystic Pass mean?
Ordinary people possessed mortal bodies, with their hundred meridians obscure and blocked. If they could learn inner force, use it to open the first acupoint in their bodies—the Qi Sea Acupoint—and condense Martial Arts True Qi, they would step into the True Qi Realm.
That was Forcefully Breaking Through the Mystic Pass: formless force transforming into tangible qi.
Afterward, one could continuously use True Qi to open new acupoints and meridians within the body. Once the acupoints and meridians throughout the body were linked together, perfecting the heavens within one's body, True Qi would reach great accomplishment.
True Qi Realm martial artists not only possessed combat power far beyond that of Inner Force Realm martial artists, but their lifespans could also increase dramatically. Living past two hundred years was easy for them.
When a True Qi Realm martial artist broke through to the True Essence Realm, it became even more terrifying. With a lifespan exceeding five hundred years, they could be called earthly immortals.
But that was still too far away. What Li Yuan was considering now was breaking through to the True Qi Realm. The rest could wait until later.
He glanced at his system panel, which had already undergone tremendous changes.
Name: Li Yuan Talent: Divine Wisdom Realm: Late Inner Force Realm Martial Arts: Cinnabar Palm (Perfected), Poison Dragon Palm (Perfected), Water Dripping Condensing Ice Meditation Method (Perfected), Ground Rolling Fist (Perfected) Martial Dao True Intent: Dragon's Bloodshed, Ten Thousand Ranks Cold Pool
Li Yuan's strength was now at the late stage of the Inner Force Realm. The inner force in his body was incomparably profound, and he could Forcefully Break Through the Mystic Pass and enter the True Qi Realm at any time. However, he was not in a hurry to do so.
True Qi all originated from one's own body. The stronger one's physique, the stronger and higher-quality the True Qi condensed after opening the Qi Sea would be, and the greater its potential.
Li Yuan's body was still in a period of growth and had not reached its peak. He had recently gone to the martial arts academy to test himself, and his strength was already approaching the three-thousand-jin mark. He decided to temper his body to its limit before attempting to break through to the True Qi Realm.
In the days that followed, all of Jiujiang Commandery gradually settled down. No one mentioned the Corpse Demon anymore, as though everyone had forgotten about it.
Li Yuan practiced martial arts all day long, constantly tempering his body. His physique grew increasingly powerful, and he drew ever closer to that limit.
Just then, something major happened at the martial arts academy. Qi Zhengyang summoned all the academy's disciples.
The disciple assessment had begun.
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