Inside the carriage, Feng Xiu lowered his head and studied the silver cudgel in his hands.
The [watermark omitted]
The cudgel's pommel was shaped like a dragon sticking out its tongue. Its body was hexagonal, with a raised ring every three finger-widths. Faint, intricate hammer marks could be seen across its silvery-white surface.
Uncle Zheng had specially commissioned this silver cudgel to be made to fit Feng Xiu. With his immense strength, an ordinary Body Refining expert couldn't withstand even a few of his punches.
So, if Feng Xiu wanted to bring out his full strength, his preferred weapons were whips, cudgels, and other heavy arms.
Besides, in martial arts, the first strike could decide the fight. Feng Xiu had only ever handled a weapon when Han Che taught him to use a heavy cudgel to steady his stance.
Later, he'd also beaten the fish monster to death with a cudgel. Naturally, he'd grown extremely fond of this kind of weapon.
"Too bad I'm not surnamed Qin. If I were, I could cudgel my way through three provinces and six prefectures. Wouldn't that be impressive?" Feng Xiu couldn't help thinking.
Then he raised the silver cudgel straight up and gave it a few short swings, looking pleased.
"I'll call you Ten Provinces."
After setting Ten Provinces down, Feng Xiu opened the wooden chest. It held a full month's worth of cultivation supplies: more than a dozen kinds of medicinal herbs, all neatly arranged.
Three dark-brown wooden boxes sat atop several pieces of Blood-Vitalizing Bone.
He picked one up and opened it. A jade-green pill came into view.
The pill felt cool in his palm, its surface coated in wax. Even through the wax, a fresh, fragrant scent wafted out as soon as he opened the box, making Feng Xiu's whole body shiver.
A Blood Returning Pill!
Blood Returning Pills were worth a fortune and couldn't be bought on the market. Every pill consumed was one less pill in existence.
The reason was that one of their main ingredients had become extinct: the White Jade Blood Rhino, known for its body as white as jade and the blood-red horn growing from its head.
In Cloud Province, there was a saying: one rhino horn was worth ten thousand catties of gold.
However, the White Jade Blood Rhino hadn't gone extinct due to natural causes.
The previous Emperor Hui of Liang had scoured the realm for rare and exotic beasts, gathering them in the imperial palace's menagerie.
In other words, Blood Returning Pills were tribute, and high-grade tribute at that!
"Uncle Zheng once advised me to take this pill only when breaking through a stage, when it would be most effective. I've reached the peak of Body Refining. If I take it now, I'll surely break through to Blood Burning in one go!"
Leaning against the soft cushion behind him, Feng Xiu thought to himself.
"Of course, that advice is meant to help me draw out the pill's full medicinal power and reach a higher realm. But it also takes into account that my body might not be able to withstand that much medicinal energy."
"Uncle Zheng is right."
Back then, even the effects of the White Deer Pill had forced him to practice his punches several times before he could barely absorb them.
Despite its ordinary name, the Blood Returning Pill contained a tremendous amount of blood-and-qi energy—far more than a Body Refining expert could digest.
Feng Xiu put the Blood Returning Pill away.
Then he took a few Qi Gathering Pills from the pouch at his waist and popped them into his mouth, chewing.
Qi Gathering Pills were expensive too. Each one cost ten taels of silver to make, and even that price was only because the Chu Family Apothecary was doing Feng Ao a favor.
By his calculations, he'd spent more than five thousand taels just on martial arts resources over the past month.
Only the wealthy and well-established Feng Clan could afford to eat Qi Gathering Pills like snacks.
"I still need to keep building a solid foundation and prepare for the breakthroughs ahead."
Feeling the faint increase in blood and qi within him, Feng Xiu made up his mind.
For now, he'd keep looking for new martial arts techniques and strengthen and fill out his attributes.
It wasn't that Feng Xiu was deliberately holding back his strength. To him, reaching Blood Burning at twenty-six was absolutely something to be proud of.
The real reason was that his four core attributes hadn't reached their limits yet!
[Life: 17] [Spirit: 7] [Strength: 12] [Agility: 7] [Technique Record: Eight Sections Vajra Skill (Mastered: Life +2, Spirit +2) Cannot be improved] [Five Force Fist (Mastered: Strength +5, Life +5, Spirit +2)] [Eight Trigrams Stance: (Mastered: Agility +5)] [Synthesis: Fully Mastered (Can be synthesized)]
He brought up the panel and studied the rows of tiny text on the screen, carefully working through the numbers once more.
"Based on what I've seen from practicing techniques before, a technique changes in some way once it reaches the Mastered level."
"So, suppose a technique focused on Life eventually stops increasing Life."
The longer Feng Xiu practiced, the more he felt that his Technique Record was practically made for those who trained diligently.
As long as he practiced, he was bound to gain something!
Feng Xiu lowered his eyes, mulling it over. "Martial arts are a transcendent power based on unlocking the human body's potential, but they still follow certain rules."
"Ultimately, martial arts begin with blood and qi. The more abundant they are, the greater one's strength."
"But without enough blood and qi, you can't deliver a proper blow. The same applies to the other attributes."
All in all, Feng Xiu didn't feel that he'd reached any kind of bottleneck. His four attributes should still be able to improve.
Only once he'd mastered a technique and it stopped increasing his attributes would he have truly reached "the great completion of Body Refining!"
Of course, that was only an idea. His actual cultivation plans would depend on what happened next.
The crisis facing the Feng Clan hadn't passed. Advancing to Blood Burning early would give him another sliver of protection.
"But this synthesis function..." Feng Xiu mused.
Then his gaze shifted to the highlighted word "Synthesis" on the screen. He licked his lips, tempted.
Martial arts synthesis was an unknown prospect, and he was eager to see how much it might change him.
They still had a long journey ahead before reaching Dendrobium Village. With nothing to do on the road, this was the perfect chance to try it.
Without hesitation, he sank his mind into the synthesis function.
In an instant, countless memories of practicing the Five Force Fist, the Eight Sections Vajra Skill, and the stance work that trained his lower body flooded his mind, jumbled together as if crammed in by force.
Feng Xiu's expression stiffened.
He hurriedly sorted through the movements and techniques. Then, suddenly, an upward-pointing arrow appeared beside the word "Synthesis."
Feng Xiu took a slow, deep breath, extended his thoughts toward it, and pressed down hard!
Boom—
Feng Xiu's heart lurched. The very next second, his blood and qi began circulating on their own.
They surged like waves, raging and violent, making the bones in his chest creak under the strain.
[Five Force Fist...] [Eight Trigrams Stance...] [Eight Sections Vajra Skill...]
The names of the three techniques slowly disappeared. At last, as his blood and qi compressed to the utmost and condensed, streams of energy gathered toward his arms and surged into them.
The bones in his forearms and upper arms cracked as if shattering. It felt as though his ulnae and radii were being crushed, his elbows remade, and the flesh and blood around them reforged.
Pain hit him in a violent rush. The flush in Feng Xiu's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he clenched his teeth.
He stubbornly held back every sound. His heart gave a violent thump, and a muffled groan of suppressed pain escaped his lips.
"Hang on. Hang on. The martial path is bright and glorious. I have to endure!" Feng Xiu trembled all over.
In a daze, only one thought remained in his mind. His body swayed unsteadily.
He didn't know how long it took. At last, the strange sensations in his body began to fade.
Feng Xiu gasped for breath, sweat beading on his forehead. It took him a while to recover.
[Life: 17] [Spirit: 7] [Strength: 12] [Agility: 7] [Synthesis: Not Fully Mastered (Unavailable)]
Now, aside from his four core attributes, all the progress for his martial arts had vanished from the panel, replaced by a single line of text.
[Supreme Attainment: Vajra Finger Blade]
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