Breakthrough

More than a month had passed since the battle to lure and kill the winter wolf. William's injuries had fully healed, and aside from a few mindless beasts wandering nearby, their days could be described as peaceful and uneventful.

For Mishaer, a sunny winter day without monsters was the happiest of times. She could play in the village clearing with her brother, building snowmen, having snowball fights, and playing games of knights and princesses. She would also sit to the side, watching with great interest as her eldest brother, William, performed strange poses and movements time and again, sometimes steaming with heat or spitting flames a foot long from his palms. Occasionally, her second brother, Alos, would show off his own specialty, igniting thumb-thick flames at his fingertips or conjuring bright orbs of light in the night.

There was only one thing she truly loathed: her eldest brother made her drink a little warm deer blood every morning. Although her body felt very warm after drinking it, the taste was pungent, salty, and fishy. Every time, she would end up with teary eyes, looking for all the world like a child being bullied. She thought to herself that it would be much better if it were all given to Alos to drink.

Mishaer rested her chin on her hand, sitting on a wooden stump. After months of nourishment, her rosy little face had grown slightly chubby. Her large eyes gazed longingly at William as he practiced his martial arts in the clearing. The crystalline Horn of Kor was pinned to her fiery red curls, and she bobbed her little head while muttering to herself, secretly planning how to escape the "punishment" of drinking deer blood tomorrow.

William, currently in the middle of his practice, did not notice the little one's secret thoughts. He was busy trying to control the blood and qi that were nearly running wild within him. Since arriving in this world, after nearly three months of tempering, the heat flowing through his bloodline had grown increasingly powerful. With every cycle of this heat, while it tempered his body, the flow itself slowly strengthened. William could now unleash his Palm Flame ten times in a row, and his control over the heat after four uses had become much smoother. If not for the fact that he lacked the "qi gathering in the dantian and circulating through the eight extraordinary meridians" found in martial arts novels, he would have almost thought he was practicing internal energy.

Whenever a person exerts force, it must start with the intent, followed by the movement of the abdominal muscles, and finally the limbs to complete the action. Thus, people believe that martial arts techniques originate from the dantian and circulate throughout the body, leading to the summary of the three power sources: the upper, middle, and lower dantian. In reality, these so-called three dantian refer to the three vital points of the human body—the three most vulnerable areas: the brain, the chest organs, and the viscera. These are the most important parts of the human body; damage to any one of them can lead to the collapse of bodily functions and death, yet they happen to be the most delicate.

During the evolution of the human body, the brain is protected by a hard skull, and the chest organs are surrounded by a broad ribcage. Only the viscera, slightly tougher than the former two, are protected merely by soft skin and muscle. When a person exerts force, the abdominal muscles react first to protect the vulnerable viscera from injury during intense movement; this is an instinctive protective reaction of the human body.

If a person who does not exercise often suddenly runs vigorously, they will inevitably suffer from abdominal pain, especially children. This is because the abdominal muscles are suddenly unable to fully protect the viscera.

The so-called path of martial arts is to improve the anti-exertion capability of these three vital points, adapting to stronger and more intense physical activity. What is blood and qi? It is the energy for human movement. We all know that changing motion is doing work, and completing work requires energy. Human movement generates energy through the chemical reactions of muscle cells. "Moving blood and qi" is simply controlling the use of this cellular chemical energy, from coarse to refined, from macroscopic to microscopic. Tendon changing, bone forging, and marrow washing improve human strength while corresponding to the enhancement of the protective layers of the three vital points, while viscera training and blood changing strengthen the points themselves. This is the greatest mystery of martial arts cultivation and the path of evolution beyond human limits summarized by countless predecessors.

However, the heat within William's body did not follow the body's instinctive movements; it was a special type of energy-based ability generated at the genetic level. It did not inherently improve his physical constitution, nor could it increase his explosive power like moving blood and qi.

But as a form of energy, it could replace the role of blood and qi, greatly accelerating William's tempering of his body and increasing his base strength and toughness. Moreover, controlling it served as excellent training for controlling his body's blood and qi, which was why William's strength had grown so rapidly in just a few months. This energy belonged to an elemental type; after circulating, it would inevitably leave residues in William's body, and this volatile, scorching energy was even constantly affecting his mind.

Fortunately, William had met Phinia. As a half-giant of the cold-subspecies, the cold energy of the opposite nature that entered his body during their intimacy gradually neutralized the residual heat toxins.

This was William's good fortune.

The essence of martial arts practice places the greatest importance on equipment. Among weapons, the spear has the art of "shaking the great spear," and the saber has the method of "twisting the blade." Both are practices to train physical explosive power and familiarize oneself with the nature of the weapon. Reaching a deep level allows one to train "listening energy," a sensation that perceives the opponent's force changes and center of gravity upon contact. The best way to practice listening energy is with a human dummy.

William had originally focused on the saber, with occasional forays into the great spear, but there was a problem with practicing the saber: to reach a high level, one needed a specially crafted, high-quality blade.

"A month for the staff, a year for the saber, a lifetime for the spear." The shaft of a great spear is usually made of high-quality wax wood, which is flexible and hard to break; even if it breaks, replacing it with similar wax wood has little impact. The saber is different. Practicing the saber, like the sword, pursues the unity of man and blade. The saber relies on chopping and slashing, making it prone to damage during combat. If one's saber technique is to progress, it cannot be separated from real combat, and changing blades easily disrupts one's performance.

High-quality blades are forged through thousands of hammerings, and it is impossible for two identical blades to exist. Therefore, once a saber practitioner reaches a certain level, their blade often breaks and needs replacement, making further progress difficult. Thus, the skill level of most saber practitioners tends to plateau after a few years.

Unfortunately, William lacked these conditions. He had to make do with what he had and chose the great spear technique, which focused more on long-term tempering.

There was a type of pine tree in the Hidden Forest, no more than thirty feet tall, with a straight, pitch-black trunk as thick as a thigh and astonishing toughness. William had discovered it by chance during a hunt half a month ago. He had originally intended to break it to make a drag frame, but he found that even folding the ends together barely left a mark. Treating it like a treasure, he cut it down, removed the crown, and fashioned it into a super-sized spear shaft.

This super-sized spear, as thick as a thigh, seven or eight meters long, and weighing over four hundred pounds, was a behemoth to an ordinary person, but for William, whose divine strength was extreme, it was a mere trifle.

Shaking the great spear for half a month made William feel his muscle exertion becoming faster and more condensed, his entire body feeling smooth and clear. He had entered a state similar to the high level of "Ming Jin" from his previous life. The reason he called it "similar" was that William's physical talent was peerless; he had been able to achieve the effects of Ming Jin with brute force as early as a month ago.

Excited by his progress, William began to practice his Xingyi Quan forms. Each move was distinct, and his movements produced "pop-pop" sounds, drawing the curious little girl to watch from the side. When his technique reached its peak, William, immersed in the moment, suddenly let out a roar of "Wild Ox Force." This was a disaster; the energy inside him began to run wild, and his blood and qi surged, terrifying him and making his heart race.

Knowing that if he didn't quickly calm the internal chaos, he would inevitably suffer severe damage or even collapse from exhaustion, William desperately locked down his blood and qi, unleashing his Palm Flame step by step. The flames shot out two feet, and the "crackling" sound of his fist force breaking the air mixed with the "hissing" of high-temperature steam, causing the surrounding snow to boil and steam, with heat waves rolling outward.

By the time he exhausted his Palm Flame, the snow for several yards around had melted into water, leaving Mishaer, who was watching from the side, dumbfounded.

Once William had depleted his bloodline energy, his blood and qi became easier to control. He gradually slowed his punching speed, performing each move slowly, gradually gathering and calming the rampaging blood and qi. When the internal heat finally condensed, William threw a sudden punch with a "pop-whoosh" sound. He felt his blood and qi empty out, and with a damp sweat on his fist, he had actually achieved the effect of "An Jin."

Having escaped his predicament, William no longer had the strength to hold his skin and hair together. He sat on the muddy ground, drenched in sweat and exhausted, looking at his fist with a silent, wry smile. Life and death forge skill, and wealth is sought in danger; it was truly one step to hell, one step to heaven.

Seeing William stop his practice and sit on the ground in a daze, the little girl, who had been watching with her heart in her throat, ran over and threw herself into his arms. Her large eyes looked at him with curiosity as she said:

"William is so amazing! The fire just now was so cool! And the way you swung your hands, pop-pop! Pop-! Pop-!" Mishaer waved her little palms, mimicking the sound of William's fist force breaking the air. "I want to learn too! I want to learn too! Pop-pop-pop!"

William pinched her little nose and laughed, "Learning this is very hard, you know! Mishaer shouldn't learn it, okay?"

Mishaer shook her head, escaping his mischievous hand, and wrapped her little arms around William's neck, shaking him. "I want to learn! I want to learn! Please? Pretty please!"

"Alright, alright! You win! I'll teach you! I'll teach you! It's already very late today, let's start tomorrow!" William, feeling dizzy from being shaken, surrendered.

"Yay! Yay! We start tomorrow! Big brother is going to teach me 'pop-pop' tomorrow!" The little girl, sitting in her brother's arms, waved her little fists.

Standing up and carrying the little girl toward the cellar, William began to calculate what he should teach the little girl tomorrow.

Alos had gone into the forest with Phinia. With the giantess there, William wasn't worried about their safety, and it wasn't the first time the two had gone out. As his skill grew, William's appetite increased significantly, and with Phinia, the bottomless pit of a glutton, acting as a second food-drain, William estimated that their stored food would be hard-pressed to last until the coming year. He and Phinia had been taking turns hunting every day, and Alos, naturally lively and restless, didn't want to stay in the village all the time, so he often went out with them.

Seeing that evening was approaching, William prepared to make dinner. He had specifically rendered some fat from the deer meat and stored it in a small wooden jar, adding a little to every meal, which made the food much more fragrant than before. William used his dagger to cut the cleaned deer meat into the pot piece by piece. The sizzling of the meat in the hot fat rang out, and a rich, savory aroma rose up, filling the entire cellar.

The little girl bit her finger, looking longingly at the pot. William smiled slightly, picked up a piece of cooked meat left over from the morning, and handed it to her. The little girl beamed as she took the meat and chewed it with relish, her little mouth pouting in and out, looking incredibly cute.