Pulse-Opening Realm!

Li Jinshui led Monkey and Er Gou south for several dozen yards, then suddenly stopped.

A short distance behind them, a deafening boom rang out!

"BOOM—!!!"

It was followed by the Di soldiers' screams, shrill and piercing, audible even from far away.

Monkey shuddered. "What happened?!"

Li Jinshui looked back in that direction—it was where Yun Ruoxi had been chased off to.

The explosion's shockwave shook leaves from the trees, and dust billowed high into the air.

His eyes lit up.

There's a chance.

"You two go on ahead," he told Monkey and Er Gou. "Keep running and find somewhere to hide. I'll catch up soon."

Monkey stared at him. "What about you?"

Li Jinshui didn't explain. He just gave him a shove. "Go! Quit wasting time!"

Monkey and Er Gou exchanged a glance. Not daring to delay, they turned and ran.

Li Jinshui drew a deep breath, crouched low, and crept toward the explosion.

The woods were littered with signs of battle—broken trees, scorched earth, and deep trenches.

The farther he went, the faster his heart beat.

Suddenly, Li Jinshui spotted—

A Di soldier lay in a thicket, a huge hole blasted through his chest. His body was charred black, clearly thrown here by the explosion.

His breathing was so faint it could stop at any moment, but he was still clinging to life.

Mid-stage Pulse-Opening Realm.

Li Jinshui's pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he plunged his blade into the man's heart.

[Slain Northern Di mid-stage Pulse-Opening Realm, points +150]

[Current points: 213]

He pulled out his blade, wiped the blood on the corpse, and continued forward.

As he circled around a dense patch of woods, the sounds of fighting drifted faintly from up ahead.

He crouched behind a large boulder and peered out—

In a clearing between the trees, three people were locked in a fight to the death.

Yun Ruoxi was covered in blood, leaning against a broken tree as she swung her sword wildly.

Facing her were two Di People of the Pulse-Opening Realm—one early-stage, the other mid-stage. Both were badly wounded, but they still clung to her relentlessly.

There were no bodies on the ground.

What about the third Di soldier? He was probably the one who'd been blasted away just now.

Three had chased one. Now only two remained, and Yun Ruoxi herself was nearly at her limit.

Li Jinshui narrowed his eyes and quickly assessed the situation.

The mid-stage Pulse-Opening Realm fighter was the worst off. Several wounds covered his body, blood pouring nonstop, and his movements had already slowed.

The early-stage Pulse-Opening Realm fighter was in slightly better shape, but his breathing was still weak.

And Yun Ruoxi? She could barely hold her sword. She was fighting on sheer ferocity alone.

The corner of his mouth slowly curled up.

An opportunity.

A heaven-sent chance.

He silently circled around behind the mid-stage Pulse-Opening Realm fighter.

The man was focused on attacking Yun Ruoxi and didn't notice anyone behind him.

Li Jinshui plunged his blade into the man's back!

[Slain Northern Di mid-stage Pulse-Opening Realm, points +150]

[Current points: 363]

The Di soldier's eyes went wide, and he fell face-first to the ground.

The early-stage Pulse-Opening Realm fighter whipped around. When he saw Li Jinshui, he roared and lunged at him.

Li Jinshui immediately darted to Yun Ruoxi's side,

Yun Ruoxi saw Li Jinshui too, and a flicker of delight passed through her eyes.

"Li Jinshui! Quick! Kill that Di!"

Panting, Yun Ruoxi said, "Let's attack together. He can't hold on much longer! Once he's dead, I can protect you..."

Suddenly, a blade tip burst through Yun Ruoxi's chest!

Her whole body stiffened.

She lowered her head and stared at the blade tip protruding from her chest. Blood ran down the blade, dripping onto the ground one drop at a time.

Her mouth opened as if to speak, but all that came out was a mouthful of blood.

"You... you..." Her eyes widened as she stared fixedly at Li Jinshui, disbelief filling them.

[Slain Yun Ruoxi (late-stage Pulse-Opening Realm), points +200]

Li Jinshui pulled out his blade and stepped back, watching as she slowly crumpled to the ground.

"Why..." Yun Ruoxi forced the words out of her throat, her voice as hoarse as a cracked gong. "Without me... how could you... how could you stand against the Pulse-Opening Realm..."

Li Jinshui looked down at her, the corner of his mouth curving slightly.

His smile was faint, yet it sent a chill through her to the bone.

"It's simple," he said. "I'll just reach the Pulse-Opening Realm myself."

Yun Ruoxi's eyes widened even further.

She stared at the young man before her, at the sudden surge of energy rising from his body—

It was the energy of a breakthrough!

The heavenly chasm between Inner Strength and the Pulse-Opening Realm was being crossed!

"You... you..."

Li Jinshui didn't look at her again. He simply murmured inwardly:

Add points. Green Emperor Indestructible Scripture, beginner level.

[Points: 563]

[500 points consumed. Green Emperor Indestructible Scripture reached beginner level]

[Green Emperor Indestructible Scripture: Not learned → Beginner (0/1000)]

[Host detected breaking through to the Pulse-Opening Realm. Realm advancing...]

BOOM—

The Evergreen Art inner force in his body, which had already reached perfection, suddenly began to churn wildly!

It no longer flowed gently. It surged like a river bursting its banks, like a volcano erupting, crashing through his body! Every meridian was forcibly widened, every acupoint violently battered!

Pain!

More pain than any breakthrough he'd endured before!

But Li Jinshui gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.

Because he knew this was a transformation.

The leap from Inner Strength to the Pulse-Opening Realm was the true dividing line for martial artists.

Inner Strength trained the five viscera and six bowels; the Pulse-Opening Realm trained the meridians throughout the body.

Once the meridians were open, inner force could leave the body, fly through the air, and kill a person from a hundred paces away!

He didn't know how long passed before the wild surge inside him finally subsided.

Li Jinshui opened his eyes.

The world was different.

He could see the wind flowing through the air, hear insects chirping a hundred yards away, and feel earthworms wriggling in the soil beneath his feet.

He raised his hand. At a thought, inner force surged from his palm, gathering without dispersing and dancing at his fingertips.

The Pulse-Opening Realm.

He had broken through to the Pulse-Opening Realm.

Yun Ruoxi lay on the ground, still drawing breath.

As she watched, the disbelief in her eyes slowly turned to despair, then to something complicated and hard to describe.

"You... you could've... broken through long ago..." she said haltingly. "You were waiting... the whole time..."

Li Jinshui looked down at her without speaking.

The corner of Yun Ruoxi's mouth tugged into a smile uglier than crying.

"I... I misjudged you..."

After she said that, her eyes slowly lost focus.

She was dead.

Li Jinshui turned away and charged at the Di soldier.

Soon,

[Slain Northern Di early-stage Pulse-Opening Realm, points +100]

[Current points: 413]

He put away his blade and stood there, looking at the bodies strewn across the ground.

Three Di soldiers of the Pulse-Opening Realm. One guest retainer of the late-stage Pulse-Opening Realm.

All dead.

And he had only just stepped into the Pulse-Opening Realm.

He clenched his fist, feeling the unprecedented power inside him.

The Pulse-Opening Realm. He had reached it.

But this was only the beginning.

He lifted his head and looked south.

North Plain City was still a thousand miles away.

The road ahead was full of Di soldiers and countless dangers.

But he wasn't afraid.

Because he was Li Jinshui.

He had crawled out of Death Squad Camp, fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and survived the pursuit of Pulse-Opening Realm fighters.

Now, he too had reached the Pulse-Opening Realm.

He turned and headed south.

After a few steps, he stopped and looked back at Yun Ruoxi's body.

"Lady Yun," he said softly, "rest in peace. I'll live on... and live well for you."

With that, he strode away.

Behind him, four bodies lay in pools of blood in the forest clearing.

The wind passed through, and leaves rustled softly, as if bidding farewell—or sighing.