Burning Pulse Breakthrough Technique

Watching Zhao Zonglin's corpse lying prone on the ground, Chen Jing did not approach immediately. Instead, he walked to the side in silence, bent down, and picked up a rock the size of a fist.

Then, BANG!!

Chen Jing smashed it down without a moment's hesitation.

Zhao Zonglin's head jolted violently, blood splattering everywhere.

Chen Jing didn't even blink, picking up another rock.

BANG!

BANG!!

Only when Zhao Zonglin's skull had caved in and deformed, blood oozing from the fractures and brain matter faintly visible, confirming he was dead beyond any doubt, did Chen Jing toss the rock aside. He calmly brushed off his hands, stepped forward, crouched down, and began to expertly search the body.

Before long, Chen Jing retrieved the money pouch he had handed over earlier. Beyond that, he found ten taels of silver and a small, crumpled notebook tucked against the man's waist.

After looting everything, Chen Jing first used a blade to hack at the wounds, then found a patch of relatively soft earth nearby. He dug a shallow pit with his bare hands and shoved the corpse inside.

He covered it with dirt and withered grass, then used his feet to trample the ground until it was uneven, doing his best to make the area blend in with the surrounding terrain.

The area was desolate; buried here, Zhao Zonglin would essentially never be found.

Even if he were discovered, who would ever suspect that a kid who had just become a First Blood Martial Artist could take down a long-renowned head constable?

With everything done and having confirmed the scene was free of footprints, bloodstains, or suspicious items, Chen Jing picked up his things and left at a brisk pace.

Emerging from the wasteland, Chen Jing did not return to the slums immediately. Instead, he circled around to the Cold River, stripped off his clothes, pinned them under a rock, and plunged into the bone-chilling water.

The scent of blood, sweat, and mud was quickly washed away by the icy current.

After cleaning himself, Chen Jing changed into dry clothes and followed the stone path along the river back to the slums.

The night wind felt like a blade, yet Chen Jing felt an unprecedented sense of calm in his heart.

First, Brother Tiger and his two lackeys, then Xie Chong, and now Zhao Zonglin.

Before he knew it, his hands were already stained with the lives of five men.

No wonder that Yan Peng felt nothing when he beat me to death back then.

Now that I am only a First Blood Martial Artist, I have already begun to view human life as nothing more than grass.

Feeling the shift in his own mindset, Chen Jing couldn't help but sigh.

When Chen Jing reached his front door, he froze.

The lamp inside his house was still lit.

One had to know that candles in the slums were exorbitantly expensive; in the past, Chen Sanwu and Chen Chunmiao would never have dared to light one at night.

The fact that it was lit now meant something was clearly wrong!

At this thought, Chen Jing's heart tightened. He quickened his pace and pushed the door open.

As he stepped inside, he saw Chen Sanwu and Chen Chunmiao sitting in their chairs, their expressions anxious.

"Little Brother, are... are you alright!"

Seeing Chen Jing enter, Chen Chunmiao stood up immediately and rushed to his side.

Chen Sanwu, sitting nearby, didn't speak, but his eyes were filled with worry for Chen Jing.

"I'm fine."

Chen Jing waved his hand casually, his tone as steady as if he had just gone out to buy groceries. "He asked a few questions and let me go. Then he went off to find someone else."

Hearing this, Chen Sanwu and Chen Chunmiao let out a collective sigh of relief.

"As long as you're fine... as long as you're fine..."

Chen Chunmiao patted her chest, her complexion finally softening.

Chen Jing then looked around the room and suddenly spoke up, "Father, I have money now. Why don't you change jobs? Pulling a cart is too tiring and dangerous. These slums aren't safe, either... Once I collect my pay next month, we'll move out and rent a better place."

Chen Sanwu was stunned by these words. After a long silence, he gave a bitter laugh. "Change jobs? I've been pulling carts for half my life; what else could I possibly do?"

"Anything would be better."

Chen Jing said earnestly, "I've already become a martial artist, and I can go hunting. The silver I earn each month will be enough for the whole family to eat and drink. You don't have to suffer like this anymore."

Chen Sanwu fell silent for a long time before nodding gently. "I'll think about it... but we should move, that much is true."

Chen Sanwu had already heard the full account of Zhao Zonglin kicking down their door from Chen Chunmiao.

If they hadn't been living in a place like this, the man wouldn't have been so arrogant.

The three of them chatted for a while longer before Chen Sanwu and Chen Chunmiao went to bed.

The room gradually grew quiet.

Moonlight filtered through the cracks in the window, casting a faint glow upon the table.

Chen Jing sat under the lamp, spreading out the small notebook he had found on Zhao Zonglin to examine it carefully.

The first page of the notebook was densely packed with a bizarre and peculiar technique: the Burning Pulse Breakthrough Technique.

The more Chen Jing read, the more alarmed he became.

It turned out the core of this technique involved using a special method to agitate one's internal energy, forcibly burning the potential of one's own meridians.

So-called meridian potential was the foundation upon which a martial artist continuously grew stronger.

A normal martial artist's meridians were like riverbeds that would gradually widen and reinforce over decades, allowing qi, blood, and true power to flow without end.

Yet this technique sought to ignite the meridians that would only naturally widen over the next few decades all at once, burning away all potential and forcibly squeezing out everything—both usable and unusable—into the present moment.

This was done to achieve a temporary, extreme enhancement, thereby breaking through a bottleneck.

It was equivalent to walking a lifetime's journey in a single day.

The cost was also clearly written: once the meridian potential was burned away, there would be no possibility of further expansion for the rest of one's life.

After the breakthrough, one's realm would be locked forever, with no further progress possible.

As Chen Jing flipped to the final page, he suddenly realized the truth.

No wonder Zhao Zonglin had been unable to break through to the Second Blood realm after reaching the First Blood Martial Artist level.

His meridian potential had been completely burned dry.

It stood to reason that he had spent three months to break through to a First Blood Martial Artist only by using the Burning Pulse Breakthrough Technique to force the breakthrough.

Without this technique, given Zhao Zonglin's circumstances, he might never have been able to reach the First Blood realm in his entire life.

Thinking of this, Chen Jing gripped the small notebook tightly, his eyes shining with a terrifying intensity.

"So that's how it is..."

"To others, this is drinking poison to quench thirst, but for me, I've struck gold."

Because for others, burning their pulses meant their progress would stop for a lifetime.

But for Chen Jing, it was different.

Because Chen Jing had the Exemption Bead!

As long as the cost was exempted, this technique would become a divine skill for damage-free breakthroughs.

At this moment, Chen Jing's heart beat faster and faster, and his breathing became involuntarily heavy.

"This technique... can directly help me break through my bottleneck."

"One step to the goal, forcibly stepping into the Second Blood realm."

Under normal circumstances, even a genius would need to carefully prepare for a breakthrough to the Second Blood realm.

Ordinary people might even need to prepare four or five times, spending vast amounts of resources and accumulation to have a chance at breaking through to the Second Blood realm.

But what about him?

He only needed to circulate this technique once to break through.

He could even theoretically use the same method to charge through to the Third Blood realm in the future!

At the thought of the potential future, the blood in Chen Jing's body seemed to boil, and an unprecedented ambition and desire exploded in his chest.

Chen Jing then took a deep breath, set the small notebook aside, and lowered his head, memorizing the technique's pathways, key formulas, acupoint sequences, and circulation rhythms into his mind, word by word.

Only after he had memorized it completely did he slowly sit cross-legged and begin to attempt the first circulation.

As soon as the Burning Pulse Breakthrough Technique was activated, Chen Jing immediately felt his meridians tighten violently.

It felt as if countless branding irons were burning through his body, with numbness and tearing pain erupting simultaneously.

"Hiss..."

Chen Jing broke into a cold sweat instantly from the pain.

This was not the pain of normal cultivation, but the scorching pain of burning potential, originating from the depths of his bone marrow.

If it were anyone else, they would likely have stopped immediately from the pain the moment they started the circulation.

But Chen Jing did not stop; he pressed all his focus into the depths of his mind, toward the Exemption Bead quietly suspended there.

"Exemption Bead..."

"Grant me the exemption!!"

The next instant, the Exemption Bead vibrated gently.

Hum!

A faint light spread out from the bead.

In an instant, a warm, spring-like power diffused from his chest to his limbs and bones, erasing the scorching pain, the tearing, and the consequences of burning his meridian potential layer by layer.

It was as if someone were gently stroking his meridians, causing the injuries from the burning to be reversed and neutralized the moment they formed.

The most lethal cost of the Burning Pulse Breakthrough Technique was, in this instant, completely exempted!