Clearly, the chakra whip he'd just used had been so crude that a large amount of chakra had leaked out and gone to waste.
The floor cracked again as a result.
"So the qualitative change happens at the Fourth Gate?"
Nara Dan's expression was resolute. Up to this point, he had grasped the secrets of the first three gates in an instant. They were no different from his previous Taijutsu studies in that they brought no qualitative change.
"Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain—open!"
After opening the first three gates, his sense of pain should have become extremely dull, since the gates had to disable the body's protective mechanisms.
But Nara Dan still clearly felt something tearing inside his body—even with his physique.
"Sure enough, the Fourth Gate is where the real danger begins."
"Theoretically, if your physique isn't sufficiently trained and can't fully adapt to the side effects of the first three gates, then at this gate—"
"the uncontrolled torrent of chakra will tear you to pieces."
"But that's only the surface."
Nara Dan watched the torrent of chakra around him rapidly shift from blue to green, the color of life.
"If the first three gates merely open the body's protective mechanisms one by one—like gradually shrinking the holes in a fishing net—"
"then the Fourth Gate really is like electrofishing!"
"The essence of the Fourth Gate is that it directly burns your life force!"
At that moment, every pore on Nara Dan's body had opened. But instead of drawing in energy from outside, they were continuously pouring out his own life force!
A green energy, the very essence of life, poured outward like it had been released from Pandora's box!
Even Nara Dan's Sixth Sense kept warning him that this was an extremely dangerous, life-threatening act—something "Release" could never do.
Nara Dan could clearly feel his life force weakening by the moment.
If the side effects of the first three gates or "Release" amounted to nothing more than direct physical damage—
things like pulled muscles, injured meridians, or ruptured organs—
then thanks to his purple Metal-Devouring Entry, recovery was only a matter of time. He could even recover without any lasting harm.
But the Fourth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates was different. It traded life itself for power.
Even if Nara Dan only used it repeatedly over a long period, he would probably shorten his life and die young, with no way to reverse the damage.
"But..."
Nara Dan wasn't disappointed in the Eight Inner Gates, nor was he panicked by the loss of his life force. Instead, he was filled with joy at discovering the essence of life.
"Though the loss of life force makes me feel weak, I've never felt the essence of life so clearly!"
"The pulsing of every capillary, the work of every organ, even the cooperation between cells—"
"as my life force burns, in the space between life and death, it's all clearer than ever!"
"Like the lines in the palm of my hand!"
At this thought, Nara Dan looked at his Cheat System.
At last, the Taijutsu Mastery Entry had completely and slowly turned a pure purple!
(Purple) Taijutsu Expert: Between life and death, you understood the mysteries of life. The human body holds no more secrets from you. In some worlds, you could be called a Sea Emperor; in others, an expert. But the most fitting title is— God-Seeing Indestructibility!
Then, at the very instant the Entry changed, the life force that had been pouring out of Nara Dan's body abruptly stopped.
But it wasn't because Nara Dan had closed the Eight Inner Gates.
Rather, guided by an ineffable intuition born between life and death, Nara Dan directly took control of his life force and stopped it from running wild.
In other words, Nara Dan had maintained his current strange state, as if he and Heaven had become one, and had gained complete control over the essence of his life!
"Or perhaps God-Seeing Indestructibility is more fitting."
"Could this be what the Daoists mean by 'swallowing a Golden Elixir into your belly, so that your fate is yours to command, not Heaven's'?!"
The Golden Elixir might refer to the body's life force, the very essence of life.
Nara Dan could barely contain his joy and excitement.
This was an elevation of his realm, an elevation of his very essence—a great joy, a great exhilaration of life!
If he hadn't still had some self-control, Nara Dan might have laughed without stopping!
Nara Dan quietly savored this moving experience of life. Not only had his insides undergone earth-shaking changes, but so had his outward appearance.
His body rapidly shrank, like a punctured balloon.
Compared to his previous hulking, bodybuilder physique, after shrinking Nara Dan could only be called lean and muscular.
But unlike the strength of life force he'd displayed before, his body was now like a diamond stripped of its impurities—clear and sparkling.
Even his bones, not just his skin, gleamed with a crystalline sheen.
Every scar on his skin and every callus he'd earned through training fell away like autumn leaves.
Correspondingly, his now-gathered life force actively nourished old injuries and strains he hadn't even noticed before, while strengthening his organs and bone marrow!
"That's what it means to break through after being broken. A great opportunity between life and death is just like this."
He felt that his immense life force was completely under his control, and that its loss had been reduced to a minimum. His pores had all closed, and his fine body hair had fallen away; he no longer radiated heat.
This was the Daoist practice known as closing the pores and Subduing the White Tiger!
"Now I can live to a hundred with vigorous vitality and undiminished strength, just like those Sea Emperors and experts!"
"If I want, I can even enter a 'false death' state at any time without losing life force."
"Just like that scummy Sea Emperor."
"That's what God-Seeing Indestructibility in the Entry means: controlling your body like a god—that's God-Seeing."
"Healing your injuries down to the finest detail, as a god would—that's Indestructibility!"
At this thought, Nara Dan flashed into motion, appearing a hundred meters away in an instant.
That was the top speed he'd previously needed "Release—Limit State" to reach! But now he could move like he was Shrinking Ground to an Inch, without the slightest trace of effort.
He raised his arm slightly. With almost no visible preparation, his long, callus-free hand gently pressed against the boulder in front of him, as if merely caressing it.
The instant Nara Dan's hand moved away, the several-meter-tall boulder collapsed with a roar!
It hadn't shattered or exploded. Instead, it turned to dust, as if it had already been ground down by a machine.
The result of force taken to the extreme and chakra control refined to the finest degree, striking from within the boulder as if it were tangible.
Nara Dan stared at his palm for a long time, speechless.
"It's far more powerful than 'Release—Limit State.'"
"Or rather, they aren't even on the same level."
Before you continue