The moment the panel popped up, Jiang Tian jolted all over.
A power unlike anything he had ever felt surged from the deepest marrow of his bones, like an ancient savage beast slumbering in his blood suddenly opening its eyes.
The bones throughout his body began to crack and pop, the sounds crisp and dense, like a string of firecrackers going off inside him.
Every bone grew denser and tougher, as if an invisible hammer were repeatedly forging them, squeezing out the impurities bit by bit.
His meridians expanded, like riverbeds parched for a thousand years welcoming their first flood.
His blood boiled.
Every heartbeat pounded like a war drum, pumping that newborn strength into every corner of his body.
This time, too, there was no pain.
Only the exhilaration of being reborn.
It was as if he had once been a caterpillar trapped in a cocoon, struggling in the dark for countless days and nights.
And now, the cocoon had broken.
Light poured in.
Jiang Tian slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his hands.
A faint sheen glimmered across his skin, like fine mutton-fat jade lit from behind by candlelight—warm and subdued.
He clenched his fist, and the air in his palm burst with a crisp pop.
"Martial Dao Sacred Body..."
He murmured to himself.
He rose and loosened his limbs.
His joints crackled in a rapid series of pops, like a string of firecrackers exploding inside him.
He had grown quite a bit taller. By the units of measurement from his previous life, he was now close to 1.9 meters.
His shoulders were broader, his back straighter. Standing there, he was like a spear, exuding a mountain-like, weighty pressure.
He drew a deep breath and settled into his fighting stance.
[Beep! You have a Martial Dao Sacred Body and Heaven-Defying Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +33!]
"Hm?"
Jiang Tian looked at the prompt that appeared and paused.
After the comprehension trait had upgraded to red, his proficiency gain had risen from 9 points to 23, an increase of 14 points.
The boost from the Martial Dao Sacred Body was 10 points, raising it from 23 to 33.
A difference of 4 points.
But he quickly accepted it.
The further one advanced in martial arts, the more important comprehension became—it determined a person's limits.
Root Bone determined how quickly you could advance; comprehension determined how far you could go.
At this rate, he might reach the threshold of Transformation Energy within two days.
Outside Blackwater County, in the camp of the garrison troops.
Candles blazed in the main tent, stretching two figures long across the tent wall like two twisted old trees.
A tall, stubbled middle-aged man sat in the seat of honor. He wore dark iron armor, its plates gleaming with a cold, dim light in the candle glow.
His hands were clasped over his abdomen, his gaze fixed heavily on the tabletop. He said nothing.
He was Zhang Wei, the garrison's Thousand-Household Official in Blackwater County.
A middle-aged man in brocade robes sat to his left. His features were square, but a barely concealed ferocity showed between his brows.
His eyes were red, the whites threaded with blood vessels, as if he had gone several nights without sleep.
He was Li Yuanhao, head of the Li Family.
He had just suffered the loss of his son.
"Zhang Wei," Li Yuanhao rasped. "My son was surely killed by those Martial Arts Hall masters conspiring with the county magistrate. Who else could have beaten him into such a state, if not those Transformation Energy masters?"
He paused, his voice hardening. "It's time to act. Now that the Poison Wolf Gang has weakened their forces for us... it's time to act!"
Zhang Wei said nothing.
His right index finger tapped lightly on the tabletop—"tok, tok, tok." The sound was faint, yet especially clear in the stillness of the main tent.
Seeing that Zhang Wei remained unmoved, Li Yuanhao added fuel to the fire. "The county magistrate is still half-unconscious, and the county is leaderless. We should seize control at once! Those willing to submit can join our ranks. Those who refuse—kill them all."
On the surface, all seven Martial Arts Hall masters stood with the county magistrate.
After this period of winning them over and sowing division, three had already switched sides. Four remained.
The original plan had been to spend a little more time picking those four off one by one.
But now, Li Yuanhao couldn't wait.
His finest son had been beaten to death in the street, his death agonizing.
The killer had to be either the county magistrate or one of those four Martial Arts Hall masters. He had to take revenge.
Seeing Zhang Wei still unmoved, Li Yuanhao drew a deep breath and lowered his voice, though he spoke faster. "The Poison Wolf Gang now has the White Lotus Sect backing them, and they've taken in a large number of refugees. Their strength is visibly growing. If you don't use this time to turn Blackwater County into an iron wall, what will you use to hold back the Poison Wolf Gang?"
The tapping on the table stopped.
Zhang Wei fell silent for a long time.
The night wind howled outside, making the tent flaps snap and flutter.
At last, he spoke slowly, his voice low, as if ground out from his chest. "Three days from now. Drunken Wind Pavilion. You'll handle the invitations."
"Good!" Li Yuanhao agreed at once, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
The next day, Jiang Tian came to the Martial Arts Hall and began his usual training.
It hardly mattered whether he came to the Martial Arts Hall anymore. He had learned all there was to learn; the rest was simply a matter of painstaking practice.
But his home was small, with little room to move. The Martial Arts Hall courtyard was spacious, letting him move freely without disturbing his family's rest.
[Beep! You have a Martial Dao Sacred Body and Heaven-Defying Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +33!] [Beep! You have a Martial Dao Sacred Body and Heaven-Defying Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +33!] [Beep! You have a Martial Dao Sacred Body and Heaven-Defying Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +33!]
Every punch he threw stirred a low roar of wind, as if some enormous beast were prowling through the courtyard.
The bluestone slabs beneath his feet trembled faintly. Dust rose and settled around him, sending out one ripple after another.
After several days of recuperation, Yuan Long had nearly recovered from his injuries.
But lately, his mind had been unsettled. He often sat alone in his grand chair, lost in thought, his brows tightly furrowed as if trying to work out an impossible sum.
How could he not know what Zhang Wei, the garrison's Thousand-Household Official, was plotting?
Only the county magistrate still clung to any hope of him.
With a great enemy at their gates and the Poison Wolf Gang having grown so powerful, Zhang Wei had still been playing these petty tricks behind their backs while they were suppressing bandits.
What a pity. The Five Animals Martial Hall now had only him as a Transformation Energy master.
If they had one more, he could at least feel a little more confident.
His best option was to send his daughter and Jiang Tian to Prefecture City while he stayed in Blackwater County to guard the foundation they had built.
His gaze wandered aimlessly over the disciples practicing in the courtyard, passing across one young face after another.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted.
Manifest Energy!
The aura Jiang Tian gave off was unmistakably Manifest Energy!
And... he had mastered at least three kinds of momentum!
His punches flowed like water and clouds, perfectly natural. Transformation Energy seemed almost within reach.
"Good lad!"
Yuan Long cried out softly, a trace of shock flashing in his eyes.
Three kinds of momentum—he himself had only mastered four!
He lightly pushed off with his toes, his figure drifting soundlessly away like a falling leaf.
When he appeared again, he was already beside Jiang Tian.
He struck out with a palm straight toward Jiang Tian's chest. A strange ripple clung to his hand, his force held in reserve, like a hidden current surging beneath the water's surface.
Jiang Tian, in the middle of practicing his punches, felt his heart tighten.
The palm came too fast—so fast his eyes couldn't catch it in time. But his body reacted faster than his mind. Almost instinctively, he threw a punch.
He melded [Tiger in a Cage] and [Bear in the Cave], combining the two kinds of momentum.
His punch roared like a tiger in the mountains, while a bear raged across the wilderness.
This was a technique Jiang Tian had mastered yesterday, after upgrading his comprehension trait to "Heaven-Defying Comprehension." He had discovered that combining two kinds of momentum in a single punch could unleash far greater destructive power than either one alone.
It wasn't one plus one equaling two, but one plus one equaling three—or even four.
"Boom!"
The instant fist and palm collided, an invisible shockwave surged outward like a tide, sweeping up the dust on the ground and bursting into a ring of smoke around them.
Jiang Tian's arm went slightly numb, and his feet carried him backward several steps. Each step left a shallow imprint in the bluestone.
He was faintly startled.
He had sensed danger in that punch and instinctively struck with all his strength.
By the time he realized it was Yuan Long, it was already too late to hold back.
Besides, he had read the probing and instructive intent in Yuan Long's eyes, and hadn't planned to hold back anyway.
But he hadn't expected Yuan Long not to budge at all, even against his full-power punch, which combined two kinds of momentum.
He had been driven back four or five steps, his entire arm numb.
"Master Yuan." Jiang Tian cupped his hands. His expression was calm, but inwardly he was estimating the gap between Transformation Energy and Manifest Energy.
"Mm."
Yuan Long nodded calmly, discreetly hiding his slightly trembling hand behind his back.
His fingertips trembled faintly inside his sleeve, while a storm raged in his heart.
How had that kid just done that?
He had only meant to use thirty percent of his strength in that palm, to test Jiang Tian's depth.
But when his palm touched that fist wind wrapped in two kinds of momentum, his heart gave a violent lurch. Almost instinctively, he had used his full strength.
A Transformation Energy master testing a junior at Manifest Energy had been forced to use his full strength.
And what was even harder to believe was—
After taking his full-force palm, Jiang Tian had only staggered back a few steps, with a numb arm.
That was all.
Yuan Long looked at the calm young man before him and suddenly felt his throat go dry.
He was fifty-seven years old. He had seen countless prodigies and taught countless disciples.
But someone like Jiang Tian...
He had never seen.
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