"Good!"
Sun Nian was clearly delighted.
He raised his right hand slightly. "Get up."
Once Yang Ning stood, Sun Nian smiled and said:
"You and your Senior Brother Gong have different temperaments.
He lets his edge show, tempering himself through battle.
You keep your edge sheathed, building strength before you unleash it.
But both of you are fine jade, exceptionally gifted."
The look he gave Yang Ning now held the expectations and regard of a master gazing upon a prized disciple:
"You're only twenty, yet you've already reached the pinnacle of Body Tempering and touched the threshold of Tendon Changing. Your talent is even a little better than your senior brother's was at the same age.
Given time, you'll surely become a pillar of our lineage."
"Since you've become my disciple today,"
Sun Nian changed tack, his tone brisk and decisive:
"Your master will first give you a gift to mark the occasion."
"Since you're already on the verge of a breakthrough, I'll personally guide you today across the threshold of Tendon Changing, so you can awaken your own 'force'!"
"Come,"
Sun Nian walked to a more open part of the Hidden Room and beckoned to Yang Ning:
"Let's trade a few moves.
Don't hold back. Show me everything you've understood about the Tiger Soul Fist."
"Yes."
Yang Ning drew a deep breath and stilled his mind.
His feet settled into a stance neither wide nor narrow, like a tiger crouched on a mountainside. His waist and back arched slightly, his spine linked together joint by joint, with a faint rumble of thunder.
His blood and qi surged faster at his will. The moment he moved, he pounced forward.
He held nothing back. Every insight gained from fighting in the Martial Arena and training day and night flowed into that pounce.
He moved like a fierce tiger breaking out of its cage, lunging straight at Sun Nian!
His fist tore through the air, the blazing, unyielding force of his blood and qi gathering at his knuckles. This strike had already surpassed the peak of his fight against Wang Teng!
Yet faced with this ferocious pounce, Sun Nian's expression didn't change. He didn't even assume a fighting stance.
He merely raised his right hand casually, fingers slightly spread, and pressed forward with a light push.
The movement was unhurried, utterly free of any hint of effort.
But just as Yang Ning's fist was about to touch his palm, something changed!
An invisible yet mountain-heavy "qi" abruptly formed around Sun Nian's palm.
Yang Ning felt as if his unstoppable punch had slammed into an invisible wall of qi—or plunged into a bottomless mire.
His violent power was effortlessly absorbed and dispelled, and his forward momentum came to an abrupt halt!
Even more startling to Yang Ning was the strange warmth that flowed from Sun Nian's palm.
It wasn't attacking force born of blood and qi. It carried an indescribable spirituality, coursing along the meridians in his arm and spreading through his entire body in an instant.
Where it passed, his surging blood and qi, on the verge of bursting through, seemed to be combed and guided by an unseen hand.
Under the "guidance" of that warm current, they began to circulate on their own along a more efficient, more profound path!
[Tiger Soul Fist (Tendon Changing 753/1000)] [Tiger Soul Fist (Tendon Changing 763/1000)] ...
"Hm?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Sun Nian's eyes:
"What an uncanny instinct for circulating blood and qi... He can adapt to and imitate my guidance so quickly?
He truly is born for the martial path!"
What Sun Nian didn't know was that this wasn't entirely due to Yang Ning's talent. The Destiny System, "Heaven Rewards Diligence," had also been subtly influencing him, nudging him toward the rightmost and most effective path!
Now, under the personal guidance of Sun Nian, a master of the martial path, that talent was being drawn out to its utmost!
Yang Ning was suddenly struck by inspiration. He completely let go of conscious control and sank his mind into his body.
He followed the path of that spiritual warmth closely, sensing every subtle change as force was born, circulated, and gathered.
[Tiger Soul Fist (Tendon Changing 823/1000)] [Tiger Soul Fist (Tendon Changing 833/1000)] ...
Sun Nian's voice rang out at just the right moment. It wasn't loud, but every word was clear, striking straight into Yang Ning's mind:
"Tendon Changing isn't merely about stretching and strengthening the muscles.
At its root, it means nourishing, connecting, and transforming the great tendons throughout the body with blood and qi, making them resilient and springy like bowstrings. They can then bind more deeply with blood and qi, giving rise to 'force.'"
"Force is the sublimation of blood and qi.
It is power drawn together, and will made manifest!"
"You practice the Tiger Soul Fist, and your fist intent already carries the fierce, baleful presence of a tiger.
Your force must harmonize with that intent to unleash its full might."
"Picture the tiger in your fists. It is the king of the mountains—and it is also the Tiger Demon, breaking free from its shackles to devour gods and swallow demons!"
"The Tiger Demon's force must bear the demon's savagery and the tiger's baleful might. It must be unstoppable, shattering all before it!"
"Whoosh!"
With Sun Nian's guidance, Yang Ning's blood and qi and the force on the verge of taking shape seemed to have been infused with a soul.
The path of that spiritual warmth abruptly grew more aggressive, more violent!
Within Yang Ning, it was as if a fierce tiger, long imprisoned, had finally roared!
It was no longer a low tiger's growl, but a savage, ferocious roar, brimming with the demonic urge to tear everything apart!
His skin flushed an unnatural dark red, and the great tendons beneath it bulged, taut as coiling dragons.
An aura more concentrated and dangerous than before rose steadily from within him!
Gong Tian watched from the side, dazzled.
When he had broken through to Tendon Changing, his master had guided him too—but it had taken a long time. How could it compare to Yang Ning, who was on the verge of breaking through in one smooth surge, almost the instant he began?
"Now!"
Sun Nian's gaze sharpened, and the hand pressed against Yang Ning's fist gave a slight tremor.
"Boom—!"
Yang Ning felt as if a barrier in his mind had exploded!
[Tiger Soul Fist (Bone Forging 0/10000)]
Guided at last by that spiritual warmth, the blood and qi surging through his body and his great tendons suddenly contracted and gathered at his dantian, then burst forth with a roar!
A completely new power welled up from his dantian, coursed through every limb and bone, flowed along his great tendons, and finally converged in the fist still pressed against Sun Nian's palm!
This power felt as dense as steel and as scorching as fire, and it carried a ferocity that seemed ready to devour anyone in its path!
Tiger Demon Force, achieved!
"Vmm—!"
Where fist met palm, the air let out a groan as if it could no longer bear the strain.
Sun Nian easily dispelled the ferocious force on Yang Ning's fist, but that fleeting display of its might still drew a sidelong glance from Gong Tian.
Sun Nian withdrew his hand and took a step back. He looked at Yang Ning, who stood with his eyes closed, his aura surging violently as he stabilized his new realm. Stroking his beard, he smiled, his eyes full of satisfaction.
"Good! What a fine Tiger Demon Force!
It's only just been born, yet already so fierce. Once you've refined and mastered it, its killing power will surely exceed that of ordinary force at the same level by at least thirty percent!"
He looked at Gong Tian and smiled:
"Your junior brother is extraordinary.
Our lineage has someone to carry it forward."
Gong Tian smiled too. When he looked at Yang Ning now, his eyes held the warmth and approval one would show a junior brother of one's own.
A short while later, the aura around Yang Ning gradually settled.
The unnatural color faded from his skin, but his eyes, when they opened, shone brighter and deeper than before, with a faint glint that could unsettle anyone who met them.
Feeling the entirely new, ferocious force within him respond as readily as his own arm, he was overcome with excitement.
So this was the Tendon Changing realm! So this was force!
He bowed deeply to Sun Nian once more. This time, his gratitude came from the bottom of his heart:
"Thank you, Master, for helping me achieve this!"
Sun Nian accepted his bow calmly and said gently:
"This is the result of your own accumulation and talent. Your master merely helped things along.
Now that you've broken through, you must consolidate your gains.
Your Senior Brother Gong will explain the Jingan Bureau's rules and duties to you in detail."
He paused, his tone turning grave:
"As for the Blood Ape Gang, and the matter of your friend being abducted..."
Yang Ning immediately looked up, his gaze burning.
Sun Nian said coolly:
"Now that you've joined my sect, you're part of the Jingan Bureau.
Harming the family or friends of someone in our bureau is a provocation against the Jingan Bureau.
You needn't worry about handling this alone anymore."
He looked at Gong Tian:
"Gong Tian, I'm entrusting this matter to you.
Use your own judgment about how far to go.
Make sure certain people understand that they haven't yet reached the point where they can rule Kuishan County with an iron fist."
Gong Tian cupped his hands, a cold smile appearing on his face:
"I understand, Master.
I'll make sure to give you and Junior Brother a satisfactory answer."
Before you continue