Story

Bam!

Lu Ming struck the Puppet Stake with a Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability palm. The stake trembled slightly, then was shoved backward, crashing into the stake behind it.

Crack! A crisp sound rang out before it came to a halt.

Lu Ming's eyes lit up. It really worked!

And with remarkable ease.

He glanced down. The Puppet Stake had scraped up a trail of dust as it slid, carving a shallow path in the dirt.

That meant the part of the stake buried underground had also been displaced. This gave him a deeper understanding of the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability—the "mountain" it referred to included what lay beneath the surface.

Moreover, if the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability worked on a Puppet Stake, it should also work on an Iron Stake!

There were two difficulties in penetrating deep into the Iron Stake Area.

First, resisting the oppressive aura of the Iron-Scaled Python Demon.

By training three hours daily in the Iron Stake Area and sparring with Feng Qingzhu, he could now withstand the pressure alone and reach the fifteenth stake.

But if he had to strike the Iron Stakes along the way while resisting that pressure, he only managed to reach the twelfth.

That was the second difficulty.

However, if he could use the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability to seize a precise moment—the instant before the stake was pushed but not yet moved—and tap it lightly to make it ring, he would effectively bypass the second problem.

Then he only needed to endure the Iron-Scaled Python Demon's pressure and push as deep as he could, nearly ignoring the step of ringing the stakes!

Lu Ming's eyes flickered. He stepped forward to the Puppet Stake, intending to practice the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability further.

Just as he was about to move, a wave of soreness washed over his entire body. He came back to his senses—he had just finished training today and was too exhausted.

He would have to stop for the night.

That night, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, he woke up refreshed and stepped out of his room, feeling his energy fully restored. He immediately went to the Puppet Stake.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Perhaps because he was pushing a light Puppet Stake rather than a mountain, he used the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability over a dozen times before feeling fatigued.

Yet his spirit was soaring. After those attempts, he finally grasped the timing—the ability to execute the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability to the brink of pushing without actually pushing.

But he couldn't expose his divine ability.

So he went around the courtyard, testing it on various objects—a large tree, a stone table, and so on—practicing the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability on different surfaces.

In the end, he was confident he could make any object "on the verge of being pushed" without actually moving it. Since this required only a slight use of the ability and little force, it consumed very little stamina.

Thus, objects would vibrate and produce sound without being displaced, keeping his ability hidden.

He used the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability to restore some objects to their original positions, then left the courtyard with confidence, heading to the Martial Arts Arena.

That day, he secretly tested it in the Iron Stake Area. As he had expected, he could use the Mountain-Pushing Divine Ability to make the Iron Stakes ring without shifting them.

To an outsider, it looked exactly like Lu Ming striking the stakes with palm force—no trace of divine ability.

Lu Ming was secretly delighted. This way, he wouldn't have to struggle with ringing the stakes like everyone else.

But for now, even at his best, he couldn't obtain a Red Token. So he didn't reveal his "progress" yet, instead continuing to temper his martial will.

In the Martial Arts Arena, since evolving the second palm divine ability required 1,000 experience, he temporarily stopped practicing the Nine Palaces Palm.

If he focused on training the Cloud-Piercing Finger, he could gain 300 acupoint experience per day, speeding up the evolution of his third acupoint divine ability.

[Evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (4392/10000)...]

[Evolving...]

[Evolving Acupoint Divine Ability (4542/10000)...]

After three hours, Lu Ming was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

Looking at his acupoint experience reaching 4,542, his eyes flickered. The total required was 10,000, and each session only added 4 points—still too slow.

Now that his Cloud-Piercing Finger had reached the Beginner level, if he could learn a new finger technique, he could increase the acupoint experience gained per session.

Creak~

The gates of the Martial Arts Arena closed. Lu Ming followed the crowd to the Public Kitchen, ate lunch, and then headed to the woods behind the small courtyard area.

There was an open space there. Feng Qingzhu leaned against a large boulder, both hands holding a green bamboo staff behind her head, gazing at the drifting clouds in the sky.

These days, to avoid their sparring sessions cutting into training time, Lu Ming and Feng Qingzhu had agreed to move their practice to after lunch.

Feng Qingzhu came here after eating to wait for him. Hearing footsteps approach, she rose, green bamboo in hand. A breeze stirred her hair, revealing her cool, striking face.

Hum!

Without a word, she swung the bamboo staff toward Lu Ming, the air along its path trembling with a resonant sound.

Lu Ming felt Feng Qingzhu's aura spike sharply, and his expression turned grave.

Over the past few days, Feng Qingzhu's aura had been strengthening daily. He guessed it was due to taking Qi-Enhancing Pills and training in the Iron Stake Area.

Feng Qingzhu was likely on the verge of a breakthrough.

"Phew~" Half an hour later, the sparring session ended. Lu Ming was slightly out of breath, his blood boiling, and he sensed a faint improvement in his spirit, energy, and vitality.

Seeing Feng Qingzhu turn to leave, his eyes flickered, and he suddenly spoke:

"Senior Sister Feng, I heard an interesting story these past few days. Would you be interested?"

Feng Qingzhu stopped and turned her head. "What story?"

Lu Ming's heart stirred. There was a way in!

He had been coveting the Green Bamboo Gang's Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms, so he'd been quietly observing Feng Qingzhu lately.

He found that aside from martial arts, she had almost no other interests. Even Liu Yiyi, who appeared to be her friend, was merely a casual acquaintance.

However, through his persistent observation, he finally discovered that she seemed to enjoy listening to stories.

Several times, when disciples of the Military Service Bureau were telling fantastical tales, she stopped to listen.

These disciples wore both white and gray training uniforms, indicating she wasn't interested in a particular person but truly loved the stories.

Today, he tested the waters, and Feng Qingzhu was indeed intrigued.

Perhaps he could approach her from this angle and learn the Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms.

He began, "Once upon a time, there was a legendary female warrior. Every day, she went into the mountains to teach disciples martial arts..."

At this point, Feng Qingzhu frowned at him, turned, and walked away.

Lu Ming inwardly cried out in alarm. It seemed Feng Qingzhu didn't like stories that mirrored her own life, or at least not ones set in the present scene.

He quickly changed his tune: "Overseas, there is a famous mountain called Flower Fruit Mountain. At the very top of that mountain lies a celestial stone. This stone is three zhang, six chi, and five cun tall, and two zhang and four chi in circumference..."

Feng Qingzhu stopped again, her eyes brightening slightly as she turned to look at Lu Ming.

Journey to the West truly was a masterpiece!

Lu Ming silently praised it, then continued, recounting the story of the young Great Sage on Flower Fruit Mountain.

He went on until the Handsome Monkey King left to seek immortality. Feng Qingzhu was listening intently, and Lu Ming smiled:

"If you want to know what happens next, listen to the next installment!"