Greedy Little Na

The Battle Armor was completed on the evening of the eighth day.

After Zhen Hua finished the final quenching process, he placed the finished product squarely in the center of the workshop.

The One-Word Battle Armor was deep black, its surface flowing with fine, interwoven gold and silver patterns. The fusion properties of Gold Water Intertwined had been brought to their fullest extent—the armor's every seam fit perfectly, while Soul Guidance Array Patterns extended from the center of the breastplate to the limbs, giving off a dark golden glow that pulsed like breathing. (The greatest difference between One-Word Battle Armor and Two-Word Battle Armor was the difficulty of achieving perfect fusion, so they generally only fused partially. Gold Water Intertwined happened to offset that.)

Zhen Hua stared at it for a while before saying two words. "It's done."

Li Chen stepped forward and pressed a hand against the breastplate. The cold touch of metal came through his palm, followed by a gentle current of Soul Power—the unique attribute-balancing effect of Gold Water Intertwined.

After his Reincarnation Law entered the Battle Armor, it was no longer as it had been before. Instead, it was wrapped by the armor and transformed into a far more stable state.

"Put it on and try it." Zhen Hua took the initiative to hand the Battle Armor over.

Li Chen put on the Battle Armor piece by piece. An unprecedented sense of power surged from within it into every part of his body.

He subconsciously released the aura of Fate Verdict. The jet-black Law of Death and pale-white Law of Life circulated through his body along the Battle Armor, without the slightest leakage or delay.

"The balancing effect of Gold Water Intertwined is even better than I expected." Zhen Hua glanced at Li Chen and nodded in satisfaction. "Your Laws of Life and Death are both extremely intense, but you happen to possess a new power that balances them out. If this had been Battle Armor made from ordinary materials, it probably would have been damaged before long. But this set is different—it will buffer your laws before releasing them, which is equivalent to adding an extra layer of insurance to your martial soul."

Li Chen raised his right arm and slowly clenched his fingers. The Battle Armor gave off a metallic sound with his movement. The golden patterns flashed for an instant before vanishing again. He solemnly bowed to Zhen Hua. "Thank you, Senior Zhen Hua."

Zhen Hua waved a hand. "The materials were yours, and you did the tempering yourself. This old man only helped with a bit of processing at the crucial moments. All right, Mu Ye can't wait any longer. Go on."

Li Chen left the association, and Mu Ye was indeed waiting outside. His arms were folded across his chest, his face caught between impatience and anticipation.

The moment he saw Li Chen's Battle Armor, his eyes lit up. He strode forward, raised a hand, and knocked on it. After listening to the echo, he grinned. "Not bad! It looks impressive enough. Now that the Battle Armor is done, it's time for the real business. Come with me. Today, I'll take you to cultivate the Body Secret Technique."

Li Chen followed Mu Ye out of Heaven Dou City and continued along the main road north of the city. The sky had already grown completely dark.

Mu Ye walked in long strides as he spoke. "The Body Sect's cultivation grounds are constantly changing. After our battle with the Clear Sky Sect back then, we gained the right to use their territory. It belongs to us now." (At its peak, the Body Sect crippled the Clear Sky Sect and seized it. The two beasts did not concern themselves with Clear Sky, but Tang Hao discovered it and began targeting the Body Sect at the martial soul level, ultimately leading to the Body Sect's current decline.)

"We're here. Cloud-Deep Unknown."

The mountain was not tall, but it was deep, its body blanketed by dense clouds and mist. Mu Ye led Li Chen along a narrow trail for nearly two hours before stopping before an ordinary-looking cliff face. He raised a hand and pressed against it. The rock beneath his palm lit up with a ring of dark red light, and a stone door silently slid open, revealing stone steps within.

At the end of the steps was a stone chamber roughly ten zhang across. There were no furnishings inside. At its center stood a circular pool carved from obsidian, filled with medicinal liquid whose surface was perfectly still.

Array patterns covered all four walls of the stone chamber. Their cores all pointed toward the central medicinal pool, continuously drawing the aura of a natural Soul Power spring within the chamber into the water.

"This is a core cultivation ground of the Body Sect. You're Elder Han's student, so you're not an outsider." Mu Ye took a jar from a recess in the stone wall, pulled out its stopper, and poured the medicinal powder inside into the pool. He then added seven or eight types of medicinal herbs and two unknown body-tempering liquids before beginning to stir.

Without turning his head, he called to Li Chen, "Take off your clothes and soak in there."

Li Chen removed his clothes and stepped into the medicinal pool. The instant the warm medicinal liquid reached his shoulders, he felt a scorching current surge up from the soles of his feet, spreading upward through his meridians and into every part of his body before rushing straight toward the crown of his head.

That was not the heat of Soul Power, but the bodily sensation produced as the medicinal effects penetrated his skin. Every pore on his body was being forcibly pried open, while his internal organs felt as if they were soaking in warm water. His heartbeat accelerated noticeably.

"This medicinal bath was passed down by the first sect master of the Body Sect. It's called Body Tempering Powder, and it is specially used to temper the physical foundations of Body Martial Soul masters." Mu Ye sat cross-legged beside the pool, took out a palm-sized notebook from his robes, and flipped to a page. "Your foundational cultivation method was taught to you by Martial Uncle Han, so your base is fine. But compared to the complete secret technique passed down through the Body Sect lineage, you're short by three stages. The first is called Wall Breaking. Your body and meridians can still only withstand the level of a Soul King. If their capacity is insufficient, then no matter how powerful your martial soul is, it cannot be fully unleashed—it's like fitting a reservoir with a thin water pipe."

Li Chen nodded, closed his eyes, and focused as he circulated the medicinal power within his body according to the guidance route of Mu Ye's Body Secret Technique.

"The second is called Bone Tempering." Mu Ye flipped to another page in the notebook. "The skeleton is the framework of a Body Martial Soul. Your bones are very strong, far stronger than those of others at your level. But the standard for a Gold-Grade Awakening is for every bone in the body to withstand the backlash from the Body Martial Soul's full release. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I generally do not recommend using it. The aftereffects are considerable."

"The third stage." Mu Ye closed the notebook, his tone several degrees heavier than before. "It is the core of a Body Martial Soul's Gold-Grade Awakening—Guiding. The first two stages are merely laying the foundation. A true awakening requires you to adjust all the meridians and bones in your body to their optimal state, then use your spiritual power as a guide to draw the martial soul's source power out of the soul rings and pour it back into your body. This step is extremely dangerous. With me guiding you at your side, it will be much safer."

The medicinal liquid in the pool continued to heat up. Fine beads of sweat seeped from Li Chen's forehead. He could vaguely feel his meridians being forcibly widened by the liquid, but the pain was not damaging. Instead, it felt like layers of long-standing rot were being peeled away.

Mu Ye had him soak for three consecutive days, once each morning, noon, and evening, for two hours each time.

On the morning of the fourth day, Mu Ye did not let him continue soaking. He had Li Chen sit cross-legged by the pool while he stood opposite him and pressed both palms onto Li Chen's shoulders. A deep, heavy current of Soul Power poured from Mu Ye's palms into Li Chen, traveling downward along his meridians and probing through them one by one before finally stopping at his dantian.

"The Wall Breaking stage is complete." Mu Ye withdrew his hands and clapped them together in satisfaction. "Bone Tempering will require two more days of soaking, but the guidance for Gold-Grade Awakening can begin at the same time. What I'll teach you next is the most core Guiding Technique of the Body Sect lineage. Learn it well."