Second Layer of Transformation: Hardness and Softness in Harmony, Receive and Release at Will

Wind howled past his ears, and his robes snapped in the air.

Hair whipping wildly, Hong Yuan raced across rooftops and courtyards, swift as a tiger or leopard, nimble as a spirit ape.

In just a few breaths, Hong Yuan left all the screams and anguished cries of the Huang Mansion behind.

He still did not stop running.

He even kept to a straight line, cutting through streets and alleys, bounding over eaves and roof ridges, leaping down from high places.

Even when he encountered the towering walls of wealthy households, over ten feet high, he merely pushed off the wall with his toes. His body shot upward like an arrow, and with a light touch of his palm on the top, he landed nimbly inside the courtyard.

If anyone happened to be there, Hong Yuan sprang onto the eaves and raced away before they could react.

To ordinary eyes, he was nothing but a gray-black ribbon flashing past, his appearance impossible to make out.

Before long, the city wall loomed into view.

Qingxu County's city wall stood roughly twenty feet high.

Hong Yuan hurtled straight toward it like a gale, seemingly about to crash headfirst into the wall.

Whoosh!

His body abruptly rose, turning parallel to the ground.

The wall instantly became an open road. He raced up it in two or three strides, this time not even needing to grab anything for support, and reached the top as though walking on level ground.

The guards on this stretch of wall were merely two old soldiers with graying temples, still dozing.

Without breaking stride, Hong Yuan spread his arms like a great bird opening its wings for flight and suddenly leaped into the sky.

He looked up. Gentle sunlight poured down, its shimmering glow filling his eyes.

A cool breeze swept through him.

In an instant, his whole body felt clear and unburdened.

Hong Yuan laughed heartily. At last, he understood why so many people in his previous life loved parkour, why even disability and death could not deter those who followed.

The feeling of having a road beneath his feet, of seemingly being able to go anywhere, was truly wonderful.

And in this world, there was also "force," which raised the human limit by an untold degree.

As his body fell, tiny words like drifting gnats appeared before Hong Yuan's eyes, moving with his gaze.

Thud!

Hong Yuan landed on both feet. Still racing forward, he spared a little attention to examine the sudden information.

(Slaying a sworn enemy cleared your heart and tempered your will... comprehension +1 wisp.)

(Fighting a fierce battle and cutting down a wicked foe tempered your sinews and bones... root bone +1 thread.)

In an instant—

An inexplicable warm current flowed through his body.

A cool breath rushed straight to the crown of his head.

All at once, Hong Yuan felt as though he had undergone a cleansing, from his body to the depths of his soul, and fresh vitality blossomed within him.

Blood and vital energy surged inside his body, ready to burst forth.

The rhythm of Hong Yuan's breathing changed.

The Tiger Roar Breathing Method began governing the blood and vital energy within him.

He regulated them with the breathing method and sensed an opening approaching. His feet never stopped, while trees and wild grass flashed past on either side.

Soon, he had run more than ten li, and a rumbling sound suddenly reached him.

Not far away, the Yudai River surged onward.

This was a stretch of rapids.

Years of scouring waves had formed a small sandbar in the middle of the river. Water struck it from both sides and was driven back, waves crashing against waves in a violent tumult.

Amid that thunderous pounding of waves, something seemed to break through a thin membrane. Hong Yuan barked a shout, abruptly stopping his headlong sprint. His palm became a claw, all five fingers curved like hooks.

Rip! Rip!

The trunk of a large tree beside the river split open as his five fingers pierced it, leaving five deep holes.

With another wrench, great sheets of bark peeled away.

Hong Yuan exhaled a wisp of white vapor. His swift claw strike grew soft and yielding, his clawed fingers becoming a drifting palm that slowly pressed against the trunk.

The trunk remained entirely undamaged, but when the fierce river breeze blew over it—

Fluffy wood dust swiftly flaked away from the spot Hong Yuan had struck, soon revealing a palm print roughly an inch deep.

Hardness and softness in harmony!

Hong Yuan had actually reached the second layer of force transformation: receive-and-release-at-will!

Smiling, he took the wine flask from his waist and drained it in great, gulping mouthfuls. Then, with a complete lack of manners, he tossed it away, sprinted several dozen paces, and leaped into the air.

Splash!

Amid a spray of water, he plunged headfirst into the raging river.

As his body sank beneath the water, Hong Yuan immediately felt fierce currents pressing in from every direction. Some carried powerful force, battering him and threatening to sweep him away.

Others tugged at him in endless, overlapping waves.

Still others were spinning currents that flowed around his body, carrying him along and trying to drag him into a whirlpool.

Hong Yuan relied solely on his powerful physique to tread water and keep his body balanced.

Amid waves fraught with danger for ordinary people, his mind remained utterly calm.

True Person Li mentioned in his notes that hardness and softness push against each other to produce change...

Thus, hardness and softness were the foundation of all transformations of force.

Whether air-piercing force, bone-penetrating force, silk-winding force, vajra force...

Or even the Tiger-Subduing Sect's Tiger-Baleful Mountain-Splitting Force...

Their essence was a derivation of the transformations of these two forces: hardness and softness.

Above receive-and-release-at-will lay subtlety. Usually, only after reaching subtlety could one begin cultivating forces such as air-piercing, bone-penetrating, and spiral force.

The reason was simple.

Compared with hard force, air-piercing force, spiral force, and the like involved transformations that were far too complex.

One had to control the blood and vital energy within one's body to form force, then strike outward with it to injure an opponent.

Without subtlety-level control, the ability to "guide force as though drawing out silk," that force might fail to leave the body at all and instead explode inside it!

Before injuring anyone else, one would injure oneself, throwing away one's own life.

If the Tiger-Baleful Mountain-Splitting Force had been complete, Hong Yuan could simply have cultivated it by following the path his predecessors had laid down.

First, he would reach subtlety in force transformation, then cultivate those forces.

Unfortunately, True Person Li had died suddenly, and the core secrets of the Tiger-Baleful Mountain-Splitting Force had been lost.

If they're lost, so be it...

Hong Yuan felt only a little regret. As his skin sensed the sucking and pulling of the surrounding currents, he could not help sighing.

Nature was the greatest master in this world. Within this river, fine streams of water gathered together, becoming hidden currents that formed whirlpools. Was that not another form of "spiral force"?

If one day his strength could rival this "spiral force," perhaps he truly could become invincible beneath heaven?

Hong Yuan let his thoughts roam as he soaked in the river. Only when he had exhausted his held breath did force erupt beneath his feet, stirring up a wild surge that propelled him out of the swirling currents.

After swimming ashore, Hong Yuan shook himself, scattering water across the ground. Suddenly, his expression shifted.

No, that's not right. Other martial artists have to grasp subtlety-level force transformation before they can cultivate forces like spiral force and silk-winding force. But I seem to be able to try ahead of time.

Even when other martial artists practice external arts, they only temper their sinews, bones, skin, and membranes. They can't train their insides. Their foundations lie on the surface, terribly shallow...

But I've built myself up one solid step at a time by adding points!

Every increase in root bone strengthens my entire body—not just flesh, sinews, and bones, but even my organs and meridians.

My foundation is utterly solid!

With that thought, Hong Yuan examined his information.