Pinnacle!

"Gang Leader Zhao is righteous and honorable. This Li is endlessly grateful!"

When Li Chengfeng heard Zhao Lie's words, his expression turned moved. He cupped his fists to him and spoke with sincere feeling.

"Poor martial artists like you and me, with no family origins and no background, ought to watch over and help one another. Brother Chengfeng, there's no need to be polite. I imagine that if one day I were in danger and it was within your power to help, Brother Chengfeng certainly would not stand by and watch me come to harm."

Hearing this, Zhao Lie smiled openly and spoke. After he finished, he cupped his fists to Li Chengfeng and rose from his chair. "Since that is the case, then this Zhao will not disturb Brother Chengfeng's cultivation. I wish Brother Chengfeng a smooth breakthrough!"

"Thank you for your auspicious words, Brother Zhao Lie!"

Li Chengfeng also hurriedly stood and spoke to Zhao Lie.

Zhao Lie smiled and cupped his fists, then turned and left.

Li Chengfeng rose and saw him out to the courtyard gate. Only when Zhao Lie's figure had vanished did he turn back, his face filled with emotion.

"To think that in the end, the one who extended a helping hand to me was actually a gang leader of this sort."

As Li Chengfeng sighed with feeling, he thought again of all that Zhao Lie had said just now. His expression shifted slightly as he mobilized the qi and blood within his body, gathering it in his right arm.

With a brief sensing, he already felt that the power of his qi and blood had filled half of his right arm.

"In the past, when I cultivated, I had only a scant few qi-and-blood medicines and merely supplemented them with meat, yet I could still accumulate it to this extent. From now on, with Blood-Qi Pills assisting me every day, perhaps within half a month, I'll be able to accumulate my qi and blood to the degree of an entire arm."

Li Chengfeng's heart stirred. Thinking of Zhao Lie's astonishment after hearing that he was confident he could accumulate enough qi and blood within two months, he guessed that his cultivation speed at his current level was definitely far beyond that of ordinary people.

After all, under the effect of the proficiency panel, every time he cultivated once, he would definitely be able to refine out a wisp of qi and blood.

And under the triple proficiency effect of the Taiji Great Spear, every time he cultivated once, he could refine out three wisps of qi and blood!

This rate of progress, displayed on the data panel, might merely seem like taking one step at a time, leaving one footprint after another, but compared with ordinary people, it might be so fast as to be called unimaginable!

It was precisely because of this that Li Chengfeng had the confidence to accumulate his qi and blood to the degree of an entire arm at an extremely fast speed.

As thoughts surged through him, he also thought of what Zhao Lie had said about qi and blood tempering the body.

"To reach the degree of dragging an ox backward using pure physical strength alone, without mobilizing qi and blood—this requires a brilliant body-tempering method."

Li Chengfeng pondered in his heart. Looking at the skill panel for his Taiji Fist, undercurrents stirred within him.

"Right now, the effect of my fist skill is Clear Power. I wonder if, after cultivating it to the next level, it can give birth to a body-tempering skill effect?"

Li Chengfeng thought of Hidden Power. In his previous life, he had read many novels and had also practiced martial arts, so he naturally was no stranger to the saying of the four realms: Clear, Hidden, Transformation, and Core.

At this moment, the unique power of Clear Power on the panel made him think of this involuntarily.

He even thought of mystical body-tempering methods from legend, such as Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound tempering the body.

In his heart, he naturally could not help guessing that raising Taiji Fist to the next level might produce such an effect.

"Perfect. Right now I'm still lacking qi and blood, so I'll first cultivate and accumulate qi and blood. Perhaps by the time my qi and blood has finished accumulating, my realm will have broken through as well."

Thinking to this point, Li Chengfeng put away the foot arch he was practicing, comforted Liu Yuniang, who had heard some movement from inside the house, simply wiped the sweat from his body, then lay on the bed and fell into a deep rest.

In the afternoon, Li Chengfeng got up, swallowed a pill, and continued to cultivate the Taiji Great Spear fiercely.

"Crash, crash~"

The qi and blood within his body rolled and circulated. Spear after spear, Li Chengfeng tempered his Taiji Spear technique. Under the effect of the Blood-Qi Pill, without stopping for even a moment, he refined his martial art and extracted qi and blood.

When he had a break, he picked up the bow and cultivated Archery.

"..."

Time passed. The stir caused by Li Chengfeng breaking through to the Qi-Study Realm, becoming a martial artist, and being registered in the rolls gradually faded away in Green Mountain City.

He devoted himself wholly to cultivation, and before he knew it, seven days had passed.

At noon that day, Li Chengfeng shot another arrow.

[Archery proficiency +1]

As the panel information popped up, wave after wave of information surged like a tide from within his heart, causing his mastery of Archery to grow rapidly.

By the time he had digested this enormous mass of information, before his eyes, on the skill panel, the skill level of Archery also leaped upward.

[Skill: Archery]

[Level: Peak Mastery (1/10000)]

[Effects: Stability increased by 80%; Accuracy increased by 60%; Arrow speed increased by 30%; Stamina saving increased by 20%; Penetration increased by 10%; Twin Arrows Fired Together (you can fire two arrows at the same time, and both will hit the target)]

"Peak Mastery!"

Li Chengfeng felt the profound wonder of this level, as well as the massive increase in his comprehension of archery.

Most importantly, there was a newly born instinct he had never had before—the instinct to simultaneously grasp the trajectories of two arrows and make them hit together!

This brand-new sense of control made his eyes shine.

"Archery has finally broken through perfection. For now, it's already enough to use."

Li Chengfeng's heart leaped. Afterward, he could not help drawing out two bamboo arrows. He nocked them both on the bamboo bow, pulled the bowstring, aimed, and then loosened his hand.

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

With a soft sound, the two bamboo arrows shot out together and struck the bull's-eye at the same time!

"Now I can practice flying knives to fill my hand."

A smile appeared on Li Chengfeng's face, a soft thump stirring in his heart. Seeing that the time was about right, he immediately set down the longbow, went back, and rested in good spirits.

"..."

Evening.

Li Chengfeng finished his final round of practicing the Taiji Great Spear and stood there with spear in hand, panting once or twice. Liu Yuniang's call came from behind him. He told her to wait a moment, then could not help looking at the panel before him.

[Skill: Taiji Fist]

[Level: Skilled (2399/2400)]

[Effects: Whole-Body Power; Clear Power]

"Still just a little short!"

Li Chengfeng drew a deep breath, then calmed his heart and stilled his qi. He wrung out the last thread of his strength and once again practiced a full set of the secret-transmission Taiji Great Spear.

After completing that round...

[Skill: Taiji Fist]

[Level: Proficient (0/4800)]

[Effects: Whole-Body Power; Clear Power; Hidden Power (Blood-qi tempers the bones, using the strength of the skeleton to unleash Hidden Power, fine as ox hair, fiercely penetrating, striking a man like needles stabbing)]

As information flashed across the panel, Li Chengfeng instantly felt layers of mist arise in his heart. The condition of the bones within his body, as well as the method for mobilizing skeletal strength, appeared one after another in his mind.

Most important of all, a unique secret art for tempering the bones throughout the body with Clear Power also surfaced in his heart.

"Tempering the bones throughout the body with Clear Power."

A strange light appeared in Li Chengfeng's eyes. Feeling this profound information in his heart, his pulse quickened. "A method that can temper the bones even without meeting the standard for blood-qi power!"

"Gurgle~"

Just as he was about to try it despite himself, an extremely intense hunger came from his belly. His expression changed, and he decisively swallowed another Blood-Qi Pill.

"Gulp~"

After the Blood-Qi Pill entered his stomach, before long, the hunger throughout his body receded like the tide—and that entire Blood-Qi Pill had actually been completely digested!

"Hidden Power!"

Once the medicinal power of the Blood-Qi Pill was digested, Li Chengfeng immediately felt that the skeletal strength throughout his body had also grown noticeably. He could not help clenching his fist, his gaze flickering.

Only when he heard Liu Yuniang calling did he suppress his emotions, turn around to eat, then hold Liu Yuniang and kiss her fiercely.

"What's happened? Why are you so happy?"

"Heh heh, your man's about to break through!"