Blood-Qi Sublimation, Entering the Path Through Body Tempering

Yang Ning was like a lazy tiger now, limbs planted on the ground as he performed a strange four-legged walk.

Throughout that languid motion, Yang Ning felt every bone in his body crack in a peculiar rhythm.

Through this method, he could move each section of his cervical spine and its related parts.

He kept up this targeted training, and in the blink of an eye, a week passed.

Yet in that brief week, Yang Ning underwent earth-shaking changes.

His back, once stiff, had become extraordinarily flexible!

"Let's see how effective it is."

This time, when Yang Ning exerted force, not only did his waist and stance become one, but his spine also tightened and stretched like a great dragon, each segment linked through!

In the most efficient way possible, it transmitted the force generated by his stomping foot and twisting waist up into his upper body.

Bang!

The wooden stake was already teetering on the verge of collapse.

[Tiger Soul Fist (Body Tempering 61/100)]

"Good!"

The progress recorded on the cultivation technique chart before Yang Ning's eyes had finally broken through sixty, and he was overjoyed.

"Blood and Qi travel along the spine, passing through segment by segment like dragons and snakes. No wonder martial artists often believe the spine is a hidden great dragon!

No wonder this hurdle is called the Dragon Bone Barrier!"

"The core lies in linking every section of the spine, transmitting the force of the lower limbs pushing off the ground to the upper limbs, thereby unifying one's strength!"

Having reached a new milestone, Yang Ning gained a sudden realization.

By now, the first four steps—courage, lower stance, lumbar vertebrae, and back—had all been linked together.

That vast Blood and Qi continued to grow ever denser and stronger. So long as Yang Ning cultivated diligently, he would surely achieve something.

Once he connected the final hurdle, which manifested in his hands, Yang Ning would be able to completely transform his Blood and Qi and enter the Body Tempering realm.

By then, it was already past noon.

After cultivating all day, Yang Ning was ravenously hungry, so he set off for home.

After half a day of exhaustion, it felt as though he had trained bitterly for half a year. Yang Ning was already starving.

He quickly returned home. Gently pushing open the door, he headed straight for the food storage and found something to eat before preparing to return to his room.

But as he passed his brother and sister-in-law's room, he heard the voices of his elder brother Yang An and sister-in-law Liu Ying coming from inside.

His sister-in-law, who had only just left, had already returned home. But why was his brother, who was usually always outside the city, at home at this hour?

Yang Ning slowly moved closer to the room.

"Ying, did you take Ning to meet Sister-in-law Qi's daughter?"

"I did. Sister-in-law Qi and He Xiang seemed fairly satisfied when they first met Ning, so I left with Sister-in-law Qi and let the young people spend some time alone."

"Ning isn't young anymore. It's time for him to marry. I just wonder whether the two of them can make any progress."

"What about you? Why did you come back so early today? Don't tell me..."

"Mm. As I told you before, I didn't go into the mountains today. I went... I went to Hundred Herb Hall!"

"You went again? You went to beg Fei Yan again?

I told you not to go, yet you insisted!

Why are you so stubborn?"

"Calm down, Ying.

I still work under him. When one is beneath another's eaves, one has no choice but to bow one's head."

"Beneath another's eaves? No choice but to bow one's head?

Back when your father was at the Porter Guild, he took such good care of him, and his conscience was clear in every respect!

And what about him?

Over all these years, have I ever seen that manager, now basking in the spring breeze of success, offer our family any help?

Back then, he called your father 'Brother Yang' at every turn. And now? You took mountain ginseng to see him—I saw what you looked like when you came back.

You were simply deceived by him!"

Yang An remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking.

"Actually, after dealing with Fei Yan over these past few years, I gradually came to understand what kind of person he is.

Back when my father was a leader at the Porter Guild and rode high on the spring breeze, he looked after Fei Yan in many ways.

When Father had only just passed away, Fei Yan was still fairly respectful and took decent care of me.

Otherwise, I would have left from the very beginning.

Over these years, everything had gone smoothly for him. After breaking through the five minor hurdles, he successfully entered Body Tempering and became a manager.

The more he saw, the more he encountered, the more complicated his thoughts inevitably became.

My father once said that Fei Yan was originally timid and insecure, but after gaining success overnight, he gradually headed toward another extreme.

He increasingly looked down on the relationship between my father and our family, which had begun when they were both insignificant.

Today, I did not go mainly to see him.

I merely wanted to sound things out. Though he still mocked and ridiculed me, I knew it was actually his revenge for having once lived beneath my father's shadow.

For Ning to make something of himself, become an inner hall disciple of Hundred Herb Hall, and cultivate martial arts—

I treated those filthy words as mosquito bites and simply let them pass.

I know Ning has not lived well. These years have truly been hard on him.

He was still so young, and our family had no connections, so he could only do hard labor at the Porter Guild.

He never told me over the years, but I knew he had actually lived a very difficult life...

But the world itself is unsettled now. What place truly lets people live good lives?

Hundred Herb Hall is the only place we know.

At the very least, we know its roots and background somewhat."

Liu Ying said worriedly,

"Then what should we do now?

Ning is cultivating martial arts all by himself.

I'm truly afraid...

I'm truly afraid. Cases of people dying because their Blood and Qi backfired due to careless cultivation are far too common.

If something really happened..."

"That is precisely why I went today.

I not only saw Fei Yan, but I also met some familiar faces from the hall's past."

"Brother An, then they..."

"There were some gains. After wasting away in the outer hall for so many years, this old face of mine is not entirely useless.

Before, there was always a hurdle in my heart. I did not want to beg this person or that, wanting to establish myself through solid, genuine achievements.

In truth, I merely wanted to save some face.

But for Ning's martial arts, begging someone is nothing. This face of mine is nothing either."

Having said this much, Yang An's voice became somewhat hoarse.

"All I can do is help him as much as possible...

One of my former brothers now manages a shop in the inner hall. I intend to spend some money and call in some favors, hoping to get Ning in there so he can be considered one of the inner hall.

An instructor comes to that shop every month and can look after him from time to time.

Yang Ning can practice martial arts after work as well. This is all I can do, but that silver..."

"Pawn my dowry and jewelry.

You also need to... in the outer hall..."

"In a few days, I'll have to enter the mountains again. This time, I'll go deeper, somewhere more dangerous.

I need to save up more wealth for Ning's martial arts training."

"You must be careful..."

Listening as his brother and sister-in-law's voices gradually fell, Yang Ning's emotions were complicated. Carrying his bowl of rice, he silently turned and returned to his room.

Yang Ning shoveled down rice in great mouthfuls, chewing without pause.

It was as though he were rapidly chewing his rice, yet also slowly chewing over the suffering forced upon his family.

After eating his fill, Yang Ning waved his hand and told his family he was going out for an evening walk to aid digestion.

Then he silently headed outside.

After walking briskly in small steps for a while, expressionless Yang Ning returned to the training room.

"Transform my Blood and Qi and achieve Body Tempering—today is the day!"

Yang Ning seemed to enter a state of self-forgetfulness.

His heart was crystal clear. Every punch he threw left a deep fist mark in the wooden stake!

Before the previous fist mark, over an inch deep, could recover, the next punch slammed into the same spot and deepened it further.

Bang, bang, bang...

The fist marks grew deeper and deeper, never able to return to their original state. Yang Ning seemed possessed, and the progress of his fist art surged wildly within that state of self-forgetfulness!

[Tiger Soul Fist (Body Tempering 62/100)]

[Tiger Soul Fist (Body Tempering 63/100)]

The more he practiced, the denser and stronger that immense Blood and Qi became, until it seemed to form a blood-colored garment around Yang Ning.

[Tiger Soul Fist (Body Tempering 98/100)]

[Tiger Soul Fist (Body Tempering 99/100)]

At this moment, the thick, heavy Blood and Qi around Yang Ning gathered together. That blood-colored gauze garment grew increasingly thick, like a massive barrier covering his body.

Suddenly!

A surge of courage came from the unseen, carrying faint threads of tiger roars.

At that moment, Yang Ning's mind, intent, and body became one.

Then he suddenly stomped. The force from his foot colliding with the ground erupted, twisting through his waist and crashing into his spine, then traveling upward through the great-dragon-like spine as it stretched.

Like a curved bow drawn to its full moon!

At the same time, the fist held at his waist was driven by the force of his waist, back, and spine, striking straight ahead with the fearless ferocity of a tiger!

Bearing the majesty and tyranny of a fierce tiger, it charged straight ahead!

ROAR!!!

With one punch, the Ironwood Stake was smashed directly into four pieces. Even the fragments exploded under the impact, nails and splintered wood flying everywhere.

The tyrannical blood-colored gauze garment wrapped around Yang Ning vanished, leaving only a man standing there as though he had returned to simplicity.

And one fist, from which blood streamed steadily.

Though he seemed injured, Yang Ning's eyes shone with a terrifying brightness.

Because...

Today, he had fully achieved the Body Tempering realm!