"Master, I did it!"
Feeling that he could control every ounce of his body's strength, Hong couldn't help shouting in delight, even though he was usually very composed.
"Haha, excellent!" Teng Qingshan walked over and happily patted Hong on the shoulder. "You grasped the Tiger Form Fist so quickly. You really are very perceptive."
"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I wouldn't have been able to break through so quickly without it." Hong was overjoyed. He had long dreamed of reaching the realm of an Internal Martial Arts Grandmaster, and he hadn't expected to achieve it so soon.
"Becoming a Grandmaster is only the beginning. There are many more challenges ahead," Teng Qingshan said with a smile. "Let's test your punch strength. Don't use the Force Application Technique; just test your body's raw strength."
"Yes, Master." At that, Hong walked straight over to the Punch Strength Tester.
He exhaled, then inhaled.
Before their eyes, Hong's body quickly swelled as bulging muscles emerged, straining his previously loose black training clothes.
Having built up his strength, Hong drove out his right fist.
Bang!!!
The target on the Punch Strength Tester instantly swung wildly from side to side.
Beep~
A number appeared on the screen: 920 kg.
"Not bad. You've already reached the 900-kilogram threshold," Teng Qingshan said with a smile. "Now that you've reached this point, I can teach you the next stage of cultivation."
"Thank you, Master!"
At the thought of soon learning a more advanced method of cultivation, Hong remembered how his master, Teng Qingshan, had shattered a boulder as tall as himself with a single punch.
He had long yearned for power like that.
Back in the villa's main hall,
Teng Qingshan first taught Hong the simplest Five Hearts Toward Heaven Method.
It was a simple meditation posture, and Hong mastered it after watching once. He quickly learned the breathing rhythm he needed to adjust as well.
Once Hong had learned the method, Teng Qingshan continued, "Now you can try to sense Cosmic Energy and draw it into your body to refine Genetic Origin Energy. Once you manage that, I have another surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Learning how to refine Cosmic Energy was already more than enough to surprise Hong. He hadn't expected an even bigger surprise to come afterward.
"Yes, Master!" Hong immediately returned to the quiet meditation room and began adjusting his state of mind as Teng Qingshan had taught him.
Once his mind had settled into a state of perfect calm,
Hong assumed the Five Hearts Toward Heaven posture, then opened his mind completely and tried to sense the energy drifting through the universe.
An hour passed as he continued sensing.
Just as Hong was about to drift off,
suddenly,
a thread of cool energy streamed in through the palms of his hands, the soles of his feet, and the Baihui point at the top of his head.
Sensing something unusual,
Hong abruptly woke from his meditative state, unable to hide his delight. "That cool energy must be Cosmic Energy. Keep going!"
Hong quickly calmed his mind again, and before long he had returned to his meditative state.
With the experience of his first success,
this time Hong focused his entire mind and quickly sensed the energy in the room. Then, following Teng Qingshan's instructions, he began to form the intention to "draw it in."
The Cosmic Energy drifting all around immediately surged toward Hong.
Next,
Hong guided the Genetic Origin Energy produced by his cellular mitochondria and consciously used it to strengthen every part of his body.
This was also an advantage of being an Internal Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Because they could control every muscle in their bodies, they didn't waste a single bit of energy when strengthening themselves.
Sensing the Cosmic Energy fluctuate around the room where Hong was meditating,
Teng Qingshan knew that Hong had successfully sensed it and begun absorbing and refining it.
"I wonder how much punch strength my disciple will gain from his first time cultivating Genetic Origin Energy. Two thousand? Or three thousand?"
Teng Qingshan glanced toward the meditation room, then walked out of the villa's main hall and began practicing his fist techniques in the backyard while waiting quietly for Hong to emerge.
At Teng Qingshan's current level, cultivation was mostly a matter of slow, steady progress.
He had to gradually improve his physical fitness, slowly gain a deeper understanding of Earth Attribute Energy and Fire Attribute Energy, and advance further in his mastery of domains.
All of this took an enormous amount of time.
And once he reached the limits of the Apprentice level, Teng Qingshan would face the question of how to break through to the Planetary Level.
As for that,
the visions transmitted from the Little Cauldron did not show a complete method for breaking through.
Teng Qingshan didn't dare casually try any of the scattered techniques for advancement.
Only after finding a reliable, proven method would he consider breaking through to the Planetary Level as a Martial Artist and Spiritual Telekinetic.
But he was still far from reaching the limits of his physical strength and Telekinesis, so there was no need to rush.
On the lawn,
Teng Qingshan slowly practiced the Earth Element Fist Technique. The ocher energy covering his fists grew thicker and more defined.
On closer inspection, the energy even seemed to be taking the shape of a fist guard as it flowed around them.
As Teng Qingshan swung his fists, the guard continued to solidify. It seemed it wouldn't be long before it took shape completely.
Time passed especially quickly when he was immersed in cultivation.
By the time the sun was about to set,
Hong finally emerged from the meditation room.
Seeing Teng Qingshan practicing his fists beneath the evening sun, with mysterious streams of ocher energy wrapped around his fists,
Hong couldn't suppress the admiration in his eyes.
Sensing that Hong had come out, Teng Qingshan stopped practicing. After nearly a whole day of training, he had gained a deeper understanding of the Earth Attribute Energy between heaven and earth, and his resonance between mental power and energy had deepened as well.
The visible progress had left Teng Qingshan deeply immersed in his cultivation.
If he had nothing else to do, he could have practiced his fist techniques for days on end without tiring.
But in this era of transformation, how could he remain absorbed in cultivation forever and ignore everything else?
The moment Teng Qingshan stopped practicing, Hong hurried over.
"How did it feel, your first time cultivating Genetic Origin Energy?" Teng Qingshan asked with a smile, seeing how radiant and delighted Hong looked.
"It feels incredible! Thank you, Master, for teaching me such a miraculous method of cultivating Source Energy." Hong suppressed his excitement as he spoke. "After that session, my physical strength at least tripled!"
"As long as it worked, that's what matters. Go test yourself now. Afterward, I'll teach you some other cultivation methods." Teng Qingshan wasn't surprised by Hong's progress.
At the Punch Strength Tester, Hong took a deep breath, then suddenly swung his right fist.
Bang!!!
A muffled boom, several times deeper than the one that morning, rang out.
The target shook violently, as though it might come loose.
A string of numbers appeared on the screen: 4251 kg!
"Four thousand kilograms of punch strength. Excellent!"
Teng Qingshan said happily. It wasn't as much as the five thousand kilograms he had gained from his first cultivation session with Genetic Origin Energy, but it was still very impressive.
After all, gaining more than three thousand kilograms on his first try made Hong a genuine prodigy.
When Hong, who was only eighteen, saw how much force he had unleashed with a single punch, he first looked incredulous, then sprang excitedly into the air. "Roar, roar, roar~"
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