The Ninth Heaven of Body Tempering

"Even basic martial arts, when cultivated to an extremely high level, can possess formidable power."

Clutching the Dragon Sparrow Sword in his hand, Shen Mo felt a surge of intense excitement.

But as this wave of exhilaration began to subside, a sense of emptiness welled up within him.

"Ugh."

He let out a muffled groan as a wave of soreness rapidly spread throughout his entire body.

The sudden onset of pain and weakness made it impossible for him to stand, and he collapsed onto the ground.

"That strike just now... it exhausted every bit of true essence in my body."

He performed an internal inspection, reviewed his current state, and gave a bitter smile.

While in the state of epiphany, he had successfully unleashed an unprecedented strike, causing the experience points of the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to skyrocket.

However, the true essence and spiritual energy required for this move were terrifyingly immense.

He had been nearly drained dry by a single swing.

It was only because he had been so exhilarated that he hadn't noticed the depletion within his body until now.

The side effects were manifesting quickly.

"Gulp!"

He hurriedly fished a large handful of the Qi Recovery Pills he had refined from his Qiankun Pouch and swallowed them whole, as if they were mere beans.

"Haa!"

As the medicinal power dispersed within him, gradually seeping like spring rain into his meridians, dantian, and internal organs, his body—previously exhausted from overexertion—began to regain its vitality.

"This sword move, while powerful enough to surpass even low-grade Profound-tier immortal arts, consumes an astonishing amount of energy."

"Until I reach the Qi Gathering Realm and can store vast amounts of spiritual energy within my body, using it each time is essentially overdrawing my own life force."

As Shen Mo practiced his technique to replenish his dried-up spiritual energy and true essence, he pondered silently.

Although the increase in proficiency for the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique could greatly boost his combat power and provide him with a devastating trump card, his cultivation level could not keep pace. Before reaching the Qi Gathering Realm, forcing himself to use it would leave him completely defenseless after a single strike.

It was fine for daily practice, but if he were in a dangerous situation, exhausting all his strength in one blow would undoubtedly be a path to self-destruction.

"Haa!"

As the effects of the Qi Recovery Pills took hold, the sense of emptiness in Shen Mo's body gradually dissipated.

Yet, he did not stop circulating the Heaven Origin Technique.

Because he felt that after this epiphany, the barrier to his cultivation realm seemed to have undergone some subtle changes.

For some time now, the Heaven Origin Technique had served as Shen Mo's foundational cultivation method, and he had long prioritized it as a key focus for grinding proficiency.

Although Shen Mo had not dedicated as much effort to the Heaven Origin Technique as he had to the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique, through daily practice, it had successfully reached the realm of mastery.

After entering this realm, the speed and efficiency with which the Heaven Origin Technique absorbed spiritual energy from heaven and earth were significantly faster than before.

With every breath, there was a faint, gluttonous momentum, as if he were swallowing the very mountains and rivers.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

As he breathed, his chest rose and fell rhythmically, and a low, dragon-like hum seemed to resonate within his body.

Invisible chains reached out, capturing the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth and channeling it into his body in a continuous stream.

"It's time to break through!"

As the spiritual energy surged in, Shen Mo's blood and Qi began to boil.

This was the sign that a breakthrough was imminent.

"Then let the breakthrough begin!"

He exhaled a long, stale breath, his eyes resolute, and began to guide the spiritual energy to strike at the barriers within his body.

Unlike in the past, his accumulation this time was incredibly profound; there was no hint of forcing growth.

Ever since he had broken through to the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm at the Zhao Family and received Chen An's warning, Shen Mo had been determined to lay a solid foundation, tempering himself through countless trials.

Therefore, even when he felt his cultivation had grown enough to begin challenging the realm barrier, he had not attempted it.

Instead, he had kept it suppressed, solidifying his foundation.

Only now, with his foundation stable and his cultivation no longer able to be contained, did he allow the breakthrough to proceed.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Within him, the surging blood and Qi, no longer suppressed by Shen Mo, began to boil over.

The vast power of his blood and Qi, freed from his deliberate restraint, surged like a breached Yellow River, unstoppable.

One by one, the barriers that had blocked Shen Mo's path were crushed and swept away by such intense, overwhelming momentum.

Muffled thuds echoed continuously from within his body.

Each sound signified that a previously blocked meridian in Shen Mo's body had been thoroughly cleared by the surging rush of his life force.

"I've broken through to the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm!"

As the tenth muffled thud faded, Shen Mo's entire body shuddered.

The strength already brimming within him surged once more, reaching a massive new height.

"Exhilarating!"

Feeling the boost in power brought by the breakthrough, his mind remained stirred and restless for a long time.

"Reaching this stage means I have arrived at the final phase of the Body Tempering Realm!"

"I only need to accumulate a bit more before I can attempt to condense my Dantian!"

A look of eagerness flickered in Shen Mo's eyes. "I heard Uncle Chen say that for a typical cultivator, reaching the ninth stage of Body Tempering with two thousand catties of strength is considered passing."

"I wonder how much I have now!"

Needless to say, with the blessing of his destiny and a period of profound accumulation, Shen Mo's strength was naturally far higher than that of ordinary experts at the same level.

However, he still needed to verify exactly how much higher.

"Talisman!"

He searched through his Qiankun Pouch for a moment, pulled out a pale cyan talisman, and activated it.

"Hum!"

The moment the talisman was activated, it transformed into a cyan curtain that descended before Shen Mo.

This talisman was known as a Strength Testing Talisman, one of the most commonly used talismans among cultivators.

Its primary function was to test the strength intensity of a martial artist.

"Bang!"

As soon as the curtain condensed by the Strength Testing Talisman appeared, Shen Mo struck out with his fist without the slightest hesitation.

The powerful force of his punch landed on the pale cyan curtain, sending ripples spreading across its surface.

At the same time, a number appeared at the very top of the Strength Testing Talisman.

[Strength: 3571 catties.]

"Over three thousand five hundred catties of strength." Shen Mo was quite satisfied with this figure. "In other words, my strength is nearly double that of a cultivator at the same level!"

The amount of this strength not only determined the raw power of his blows.

It also served as a side reflection of how well a cultivator had accumulated their physique and life force.

Shen Mo's data could already be considered outstanding.

"With this foundation, and the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit, it is safe to say that condensing two Dantians in the future is certain. If my luck is good enough, who knows? I might even have the chance to condense all three!"

At the beginning, Shen Mo's highest goal had only been to condense two Dantians, putting him one step ahead of other cultivators and creating a better starting line for himself.

But now, as his strength and accumulation gradually reached perfection, he couldn't help but have more expectations and ambitions for the future.

"I'll think about that later. For now, I need to eat something!"

After a bout of heart-pounding reverie, his thoughts returned to reality.

He rubbed his stomach, feeling a bit hungry.

Between the epiphany and the breakthrough in his cultivation, the entire ordeal had consumed a great deal of Shen Mo's energy.