Day One.
Lin Feng headed straight for the nearest C-Rank Rift within the Sixth Defense Line's jurisdiction.
The rift was numbered C03 and directly controlled by the military. Normally, only squads of Martial Masters were allowed to enter.
At the entrance, the guards checked his Sergeant Major badge and hesitated for two seconds.
"Alone?"
"Alone."
The guard didn't stop him.
The whole defense line had heard about how he'd cleared six rifts by himself last time.
On the first level of the rift, three Dark-Scaled Giant Lizards were sprawled across the passage.
Mountain Splitter flashed from its sheath. One slash per beast.
The penetration effect, combined with the A-Rank War Blade's material, meant the C-Rank Exotic Beasts' armor couldn't stop it at all.
[Killed C-Rank Exotic Beast: Dark-Scaled Giant Lizard ×3, gained 1,500 Martial Path Points] [Steel of the Blade: 321/500]
On the second level, there were five Iron-Spined Earth Dragons.
Lin Feng charged in. Lost Trace Step left afterimages as his true self circled to the flank of the pack. Mountain-Breaking Slash sent a Gale Wind sweeping across them, piercing three. He chased down the other two and finished them off with two slashes.
[Killed C-Rank Exotic Beast: Iron-Spined Earth Dragon ×5, gained 4,000 Martial Path Points] [Steel of the Blade: 326/500]
The third, fourth, and fifth levels.
Crimson Flame Horned Rhinos, Dark Gold Beetles, Poison Mist Giant Spiders... He plowed straight through, killing whatever he encountered.
Mountain Splitter barely had a moment to rest.
He cleared the entire C-Rank Rift in six hours.
[Current Martial Path Points: 24,300] [Steel of the Blade: 354/500]
He didn't rest.
He went straight to the second rift.
Day Two.
Two C-Rank Rifts.
He went in before dawn and didn't come out until midnight.
His body was smeared with the blood of seven or eight kinds of Exotic Beasts. It dried, got wet again, then dried once more.
He wolfed down two ration bars along the way and drained a canteen of water.
[Current Martial Path Points: 48,600] [Steel of the Blade: 397/500]
While switching between rifts, Lin Feng leaned against a dead tree and spent some points.
"Realm."
[Consumed 5,000 Martial Path Points] [Realm increased: Martial Master Fifth Stage → Martial Master Sixth Stage!] [Consumed 6,000 Martial Path Points] [Realm increased: Martial Master Sixth Stage → Martial Master Seventh Stage!] [Consumed 7,000 Martial Path Points] [Realm increased: Martial Master Seventh Stage → Martial Master Eighth Stage!]
Three surges of heat rushed through him at once, and his bones crackled like firecrackers.
The Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art had greatly improved Lin Feng's physique, significantly reducing the side effects of breaking through.
Lin Feng gritted his teeth and endured it. Then he got to his feet and stretched.
Martial Master Eighth Stage.
His strength had risen another notch.
[Remaining Martial Path Points: 30,600]
No need to rush. He'd save them.
Keep grinding.
Day Three.
One C-Rank Rift and two D-Rank Rifts.
The intensity inside D-Rank Rifts was no more challenging to him than chopping vegetables.
With the physique of a Martial Master at the Eighth Stage, his penetration talent, and an A-Rank War Blade, even D-Rank Exotic Beasts gave him a wide berth.
Some of the smarter beasts caught the killing intent on him and retreated to the deepest parts of their caves, too scared to come out.
Lin Feng dragged them out one by one.
Not a single one got away.
[Killed D-Rank Exotic Beast: Shadow Blade Leopard King ×2, gained 400 Martial Path Points] [Killed C-Rank Exotic Beast: Blazing Horned Rhino ×4, gained 2,000 Martial Path Points] [Killed C-Rank Exotic Beast: Dark-Scaled Giant Lizard ×6, gained 2,400 Martial Path Points] ... [Current Martial Path Points: 41,400] [Steel of the Blade: 438/500]
Time to spend points.
[Consumed 8,000 Martial Path Points] [Realm increased: Martial Master Eighth Stage → Martial Master Ninth Stage!] [Consumed 9,000 Martial Path Points] [Realm increased: Martial Master Ninth Stage → Martial Master Full Circle!]
Two waves of heat washed over his entire body.
The pain of having his bones reforged had become familiar. As the Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art circulated, it absorbed most of the side effects.
Martial Master Full Circle.
He was just one step away from Martial Ancestor.
[Remaining Martial Path Points: 24,400]
Day Four.
Lin Feng didn't go to any rifts.
He found a sheltered ravine in the Wilderness outside Base Camp and sat down cross-legged.
The leap from Martial Master to Martial Ancestor was different from the previous breakthroughs.
Before, whenever he leveled up, he'd just grit his teeth and endure the surge of heat. Once he got through it, that was that.
But this time, he could feel the qi and blood in his dantian had grown as dense as it possibly could, like a waterskin on the verge of bursting. It couldn't take another drop.
This was one of the greatest bottlenecks in the martial path.
Countless Martial Masters spent their entire lives without ever crossing it.
Lin Feng closed his eyes.
"Martial Path Points, pour them in."
[Consumed 10,000 Martial Path Points] [Breakthrough in progress...] [The Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art has been detected assisting with the breakthrough. Side effects reduced by 80%.] [Realm increased: Martial Master Full Circle → Martial Ancestor First Stage!]
It was unlike every breakthrough he'd ever experienced.
This time, there was no surge of heat. It was a storm.
A violent force exploded from deep within his dantian and tore through his meridians, rushing to every limb and bone in his body.
Lin Feng felt every bone being broken apart and reforged, every meridian stretched to its limit before contracting again.
A thin layer of bloody mist steamed from the surface of his body.
The shock wave sent the ravine's loose stones flying, and the ground cracked within ten meters of him.
The Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art circulated at full speed, shedding eighty percent of the impact.
But the remaining twenty percent still hurt enough to make him frown.
Three minutes.
The force settled.
Lin Feng opened his eyes.
He rose to his feet.
He clenched his fist.
His fist wind roared. Twenty meters ahead, a fist-sized hole suddenly burst open in a boulder.
He'd released his qi and blood.
He hadn't even touched the rock.
The qi and blood unleashed by his punch alone had shattered the stone from a distance.
Martial Ancestor.
He'd made it.
[Remaining Martial Path Points: 14,400]
Lin Feng didn't stop.
"Keep going."
[Consumed 10,000 Martial Path Points] [Realm increased: Martial Ancestor First Stage → Martial Ancestor Second Stage!]
Another complete remolding of his body.
When the final surge of power subsided, his clothes had been torn to strips, and the ground beneath his feet had sunk half a meter.
Martial Ancestor Second Stage.
He stood at the bottom of the crater and hefted Mountain Splitter.
The blade felt lighter.
It wasn't that the blade had grown lighter. His strength had grown.
Lin Feng didn't save his remaining points, either. He put them all into the Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art.
[Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art (4,400/10,000)]
His points were gone.
Day Five.
The final day.
Lin Feng changed into a clean Combat Suit, grabbed Mountain Splitter, and left Base Camp.
His target: two D-Rank Rifts.
D-Rank Rifts didn't yield as many points as C-Rank ones, but their lower-level Exotic Beasts were more densely packed.
He wasn't trying to level up. He just wanted to push Steel of the Blade a little higher.
At 438 layers, he was still 62 short of its ultimate effect at 500.
With the combat strength of a Martial Ancestor at the Third Stage, clearing a C-Rank Rift could be summed up in one word: satisfying!
Before, it took him several slashes to bring down a C-Rank Exotic Beast. Now, one was enough.
The range and strength of his released qi and blood had increased by more than one level. When he swung Mountain Splitter, its Gale Wind could tear through the air for more than ten meters.
He cleared both rifts.
[Current Martial Path Points: 4,000] [Steel of the Blade: 480/500]
480.
Twenty more layers to go.
When Lin Feng emerged from the rift, dusk had just fallen.
Five days.
From Martial Master Fifth Stage to Martial Ancestor Third Stage.
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