Different Ways of Exerting Force

In the days that followed, Chen Yuan began an indiscriminate slaughter within County-level City No. 0247 to cultivate the Gale Sword Art. Whether it was a lone monster or a pack of beasts, once discovered, they could not escape the fate of becoming ghosts beneath his blade.

Furthermore, Chen Yuan killed day and night. When hungry, he ate monster meat; when his body felt fatigued, he found a safe spot to enter Deep Sleep. This not only restored his energy but also allowed him to absorb cosmic energy for cultivation—killing two birds with one stone.

Five days and five nights passed, and Chen Yuan had swept through more than half of the entire city, with the number of monsters dying by his sword exceeding two thousand.

This did not mean that Chen Yuan could only kill this many, but as he slaughtered more and more monsters, the scent of blood accumulating on his body grew increasingly pungent, allowing many monsters to smell this dangerous aura from far away.

Many monsters possessed intelligence, and upon sensing the approach of this "God of Slaughter," they fled in haste. The monsters that remained for Chen Yuan to find were either poor in perception or overly confident in their own strength.

However, regardless of the type of monster, as long as they encountered Chen Yuan, there was only one outcome—they transformed into the Kill Points in his hands, becoming stepping stones on his path of cultivation.

Of course, this was also because County-level City No. 0247 was not very large. The monsters gathered here were basically "Beast Soldier Level," and those that could become Advanced Beast Soldiers were already considered top-tier existences here. Yet, even these standouts had no power to fight back in front of Chen Yuan.

Another morning arrived. After waking up from Deep Sleep, Chen Yuan did not immediately go looking for monster tracks, but instead opened his panel to check the data that interested him:

Strength: 4712.77 kg
Speed: 102 m/s
Hibernation Method: Crystal Meditation: Cultivation-type secret technique, Grade B, Current Progress: Proficient (25.67%)
Gale Sword Art: Combat-type secret technique, Grade Ultimate, Current Progress: Proficient (4.65%)
Technique: Micro Level (Conception)
Force Output Level: 2
Kill Points: 8004

Looking at this data, Chen Yuan revealed a smile: "Sure enough, after last night's intense battle with the beast pack, the Gale Sword Art has finally broken through to Proficient."

Swinging his sword casually, Chen Yuan clearly felt his sword speed increase by another 30%.

"With a 30% increase in sword speed, my movement speed should have the same boost. If I factor in the bonus from the Force Output Level..." Chen Yuan calculated quickly in his mind, "Theoretically, it should reach 198 meters per second. That is the extreme theoretical value, and the actual result shouldn't be that high, but it can still reach 180 meters per second."

This speed was already quite astonishing; one must know that Chen Yuan was currently only an Advanced Warrior, while the standard speed for an Advanced Warrior was only 60 meters per second.

A speed of 180 meters per second already surpassed an Intermediate War General! This was the qualitative change brought about by mastering force output and Conception.

Just as Planetary Level powerhouses mastered domains and could claim invincibility among their peers, Chen Yuan, having mastered the power of Conception early at the Advanced Warrior stage, could likewise claim to be invincible among his peers!

"But speaking of force output..." Chen Yuan looked at the Force Output Level of 2 on the panel, his brows furrowed slightly as doubt arose in his heart: "According to the descriptions in the original work, it should be a method similar to stacking dark energy, like the Thunder Blade, where each layer stacks 0.7 times the strength to increase the force output multiplier."

This was exactly what puzzled Chen Yuan. After these few days of high-intensity cultivation, the experience gained from the Spirit Wind Sword Art had allowed his proficiency in the Gale Sword Art to improve rapidly, and he had now mastered the technique for 2x force output.

But what Chen Yuan did not understand was that the force output techniques recorded in the Gale Sword Art were completely different from what he had seen in the original work.

Unlike the original work, which increased the force output multiplier through "stacking dark energy," the core of the Gale Sword Art's force output was a deeper level of control over the body.

In other words, by cultivating the sword art, it activated and controlled muscle groups in the body that were usually difficult to mobilize. When a sword was swung, it allowed more muscles to exert force in coordination, thereby erupting with greater power.

These were two completely different paths compared to the techniques mentioned in the original work: one increased strength through technique stacking, while the other excavated potential through body control.

"However, I remember the original work mentioned that when Thor came into contact with the Yunmo Planet martial artist manuals, he once lamented that he was 'wrong'." Chen Yuan recalled the content of the original work, his heart stirring, "Could it be that the path of using techniques to stack dark energy is actually wrong? Should true force output be about improving control over the body?"

Just then, a flash of inspiration struck Chen Yuan's mind, and a look of realization appeared in his eyes: "That's it! Although it wasn't explicitly mentioned in Swallowed Star, the original author did mention similar concepts in his later novels."

He recalled another book by Tomato, Cosmic Professional Player, and thought to himself: "In the same genre of cosmic martial artists, the control of power in that book wasn't about stacking dark energy, but about controlling the physical body—sensing the cells of the body through powerful consciousness, and then gaining even greater power by controlling those cells!"

One could see the whole by observing a part!

Although the world-building of the two books was completely different, some core philosophies were likely interconnected.

"If my guess is correct," Chen Yuan pondered, "the true direction for force output techniques in this world should be controlling the physical body. The technique of stacking dark energy might be used as a combat secret technique, but it is not the proper path for a martial artist."

In other words, this Gale Sword Art, optimized by the system, was very likely on the correct path regarding force output techniques.

"However, it is also because the information in my memory regarding this aspect is too scarce that the system could only optimize it to 5x force output." Chen Yuan thought to himself, "Unless I can obtain more information about force output techniques and perform another optimization, it will be impossible to raise the upper limit of the Gale Sword Art."

He quickly thought of one place.

"Ancient Civilization Ruin No. 9!" Chen Yuan's eyes lit up, "Luo Feng obtained the basic secret technique for Psychic Masters from there, and as a martial artist, I am very likely to obtain the basic secret technique for martial artists. It must contain detailed information about force output."

This thought made the goal of exploring Ancient Civilization Ruin No. 9 even more important to Chen Yuan. He secretly decided that once he broke through to the "War God Level," he must find a way to enter that place.

"But before reaching the War God Level, there is no need to consider this for now. After all, the 5x force output of the Gale Sword Art is enough for me to run rampant below the Planetary Level."

"The next goal is to continue honing my sword art and improving my strength." Chen Yuan packed his backpack, picked up the Streamer Battle Sword, and walked out of the temporary shelter.

His gaze turned toward the southeast of the city, which was also the only place where Chen Yuan had suffered a setback in the past few days.

"Before I leave, let's settle things with it." Chen Yuan thought to himself, gripping his battle sword tightly as he stepped toward the southeast.

About half an hour later, Chen Yuan arrived at his destination. He stood on high ground, looking out into the distance to observe the scene ahead.

It appeared to be a manor or ranch, with an open pasture in front and many trees planted along the edges.

Currently, this place was occupied by a pack of Lion Mastiffs. As a well-known pack-dwelling monster in the Wilderness Zone, the reputation of the Lion Mastiff was far greater than that of its close relative, the Tiger Mastiff.

Chen Yuan had explored this place before, but had been forced to flee in a panic by the more than one hundred Lion Mastiffs in the manor.

Of course, the factor that made Chen Yuan run away was not the number of those Lion Mastiffs, but the strength of their leader.

Intermediate Beast General Level!