Qin Tianlong watched Ye Wudao advance to the Houtian Realm and said softly, "Go wash up by the river and get used to fighting in the Houtian Realm over there. Then we'll head back!"
Ye Wudao nodded, then followed Qin Tianlong to the river and washed himself clean. After that, he casually picked out a Sharp-Mouthed Deer.
He didn't use a blade, attacking only with his fists.
With one punch, Penetrating Power pierced straight through the Sharp-Mouthed Deer's body, sending all his strength into its organs.
Just one punch was enough to make blood pour from the deer's mouth. It let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground.
That punch left Qin Tianlong, standing nearby, staring in stunned silence.
"P-Penetrating Power?"
The only force capable of piercing a body and transmitting power to the organs was Penetrating Power.
He was completely dumbfounded!
Ye Wudao had already overturned so many of his expectations, but those had all concerned cultivation techniques and martial skills.
This time, however, Ye Wudao had overturned his understanding of the Martial Path itself.
As far as he knew, Penetrating Power was a force that only someone at Houtian Peak could master. Ye Wudao was only at Houtian Initiation Realm, so how could he possibly use it?
At Houtian Initiation Realm, his body shouldn't even be able to withstand the way Penetrating Power was applied!
Ye Wudao, who had just killed the Sharp-Mouthed Deer with Penetrating Power, also realized something was wrong.
After throwing just one punch, he was already in unbearable pain. The muscles in his arm in particular felt as if they were on fire, and his joints ached.
He understood that these were the aftereffects of his body being unable to withstand the way Penetrating Power was applied.
After thinking for a moment, he glanced at the blade in his left hand and muttered, "I wonder if I can send Penetrating Power through a weapon!"
With that thought, he looked toward a Long-Claw Leopard some distance away, raised his blade, and charged.
This time, he changed how he applied his strength. Instead of making his body bear the force of Penetrating Power, he shifted it into the blade.
To test how Penetrating Power worked, he didn't strike with the edge or the back of the blade. Instead, he slapped the leopard with its flat.
"Vmm..."
The moment his force reached the blade, the great blade let out a buzzing sound.
The next instant, the blade slammed hard into the Long-Claw Leopard's back.
"Ugh..."
The Long-Claw Leopard gave a plaintive cry, and blood began pouring from its mouth.
Its legs started to buckle. It swayed unsteadily, then finally fell to the ground, unwilling to accept its fate.
"Crack..."
The moment the Long-Claw Leopard fell, the great blade in Ye Wudao's hand suddenly shattered without warning.
"This..."
Ye Wudao stared blankly at the blade in his hand.
He was certain that he had indeed sent Penetrating Power into the blade.
Just now, all the strength in his body had passed through the great blade and into the Long-Claw Leopard.
He just couldn't understand why the blade, which had been made of Refined Steel, had broken apart after withstanding a single application of Penetrating Power.
Watching Ye Wudao from a distance, Qin Tianlong stood with his mouth agape, his face full of shock.
"P-Penetrating Power leaving the body!"
He stared at Ye Wudao in disbelief, his voice trembling.
Penetrating Power leaving the body!
This wasn't simply using Penetrating Power. It meant channeling it through an object.
This method of applying force could greatly reduce the damage it did to the user's body.
But it wasn't something just anyone could figure out.
Some Houtian Peak martial artists had mastered Penetrating Power, yet still couldn't pull off this technique.
There were even Xiantian Realm powerhouses who couldn't use it.
For Penetrating Power to leave the body, one needed an extremely profound understanding of it, as well as the ability to sense how it changed within the body.
Only then could it be channeled into a weapon.
But Ye Wudao was only at Houtian Initiation Realm!
At that moment, Qin Tianlong felt that Ye Wudao had truly turned his understanding of the Martial Path upside down.
It was one thing for someone at Houtian Initiation Realm to master Penetrating Power, but he had even managed to make it leave his body!
He was now certain that with this technique alone, Ye Wudao could hold his own against even someone at Houtian Peak.
An ordinary Houtian Peak martial artist who hadn't mastered this technique had to touch an enemy with his body to release Penetrating Power.
Someone who had mastered it could channel Penetrating Power through a weapon.
It was like pitting your bare fists against someone with a blade. The one holding the blade had a natural advantage!
Penetrating Power leaving the body was an absolute stomp against Houtian martial artists who only knew the four kinds of force!
Although all four kinds of force cultivated during the Houtian stage could leave the body and be channeled through a weapon, Penetrating Power was by far the strongest. It was the equivalent of Xiantian True Qi leaving the body in a different form.
Inch Power, Hidden Power, and Neutralizing Power could only affect an enemy's surface when sent out of the body.
Penetrating Power, on the other hand, could pierce through an enemy's body and injure their organs.
Mastering the ability to make Penetrating Power leave the body was practically the same as being halfway to the Xiantian Realm.
Put simply, the Xiantian Realm was about cultivating Xiantian True Qi, which could leave the body and be used for ranged attacks.
Although Penetrating Power had to be channeled through a weapon, it was more than enough to let its user run rampant among Houtian martial artists.
After all, the range of Xiantian True Qi leaving the body for someone at the entry level of the Xiantian Realm was only about ten meters.
If Ye Wudao could channel Penetrating Power through a spear, then he really would be halfway to the Xiantian Realm!
A spear was about five meters long. Wasn't that half the range of someone at the entry level of the Xiantian Realm?
He watched Ye Wudao walk toward him, unable to calm himself for a long time.
He'd seen plenty of geniuses, but Ye Wudao was the first freak of his kind he'd ever encountered.
Ye Wudao approached Qin Tianlong, holding nothing but the bare handle of his blade, and said softly, "Great Master, my weapon broke!"
He felt a little wronged, too!
Qin Tianlong had rented him the great blade using points, and he was supposed to return it later.
Now all he had left was the handle. How was he supposed to return that?
He didn't know how they'd make him pay for the damaged weapon, either.
Hearing Ye Wudao's tone, Qin Tianlong smiled. "If it broke, it broke. It's just a Refined Steel Blade. It's not worth much!"
"The important question is, do you know why it broke?"
Ye Wudao thought for a moment, then replied, "Most likely because I applied Penetrating Power to the blade, and it couldn't withstand my strength, so it shattered!"
Qin Tianlong nodded. "Exactly!"
"At the peak of the Body Forging Realm, your strength is about five thousand kilograms."
"But the moment you reach Houtian Initiation Realm, your strength shoots up to ten thousand kilograms, more than the force of a small excavator."
"Actually, once you reached Houtian Initiation Realm, you should have started using a Titanium Alloy Blade."
"When you throw a punch, it's like unleashing ten tons of force. Ordinary blades can't withstand that kind of power."
"On top of that, you've mastered the technique of making Penetrating Power leave your body. That means ten tons of force have to pierce through the blade, with every point of it bearing the full ten tons. I doubt even a Titanium Alloy Blade could withstand that."
"Next time we enter the Rift World, I'll rent you a Meteorite Great Blade."
"Or a Meteorite Spear would work, too!"
"Now that you've mastered Penetrating Power leaving the body, you'll have the true advantage of an inch more reach, an inch more strength!"
Ye Wudao nodded thoughtfully. So the method of applying Penetrating Power to a weapon was called making Penetrating Power leave the body.
Ye Wudao asked, "Great Master, should we head back now, or wait for Second Master and Third Master?"
Qin Tianlong glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Let's head back first. We won't wait for them!"
With that, he turned and started up the slope.
Ye Wudao followed Qin Tianlong, and together they returned to Cell No. 1.
Over the next two days, he rested during the day and entered the Rift World at night to hunt monsters.
He also switched weapons, replacing the great blade with a black Meteorite Spear.
On the second day, he advanced to Houtian Minor Achievement, and his strength surged to twenty thousand kilograms.
At the same time, both of his cultivation techniques reached the realm of mastery.
Seeing that both techniques had reached mastery, he knew it was time to fuse them.
He was eager to find out whether the fused technique could break through the limit of 160 technique proficiency points per minute.
If it could, then the new technique he created would most likely let him cultivate beyond the Grandmaster Realm.
Although he was only at Houtian Minor Achievement now, he knew that sooner or later, he would reach the Grandmaster Realm.
He was deeply drawn to this realm, which had never before appeared on Blue Star.
If he could advance beyond the Grandmaster Realm, he would be the greatest figure in Blue Star's Martial Dao World in over a hundred years.
Just thinking about it made him a little excited!
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