Innate Martial Bone

In a quiet corner of the mine, Xu Yuan naturally had no idea that people were waiting for him outside. All the items needed to add the trait were piled before him. He slowly adjusted his breathing, and only when he felt he had reached his peak condition did he silently speak in his heart.

"Confirm."

In an instant, both the spirit crystals and the two chunks of ore began to melt away at high speed, while the demon beast blood he had placed in a bottle started evaporating layer by layer.

About two breaths later, all the materials required to add the trait had been submitted. The next moment, ring after ring of light suddenly enveloped Xu Yuan.

The rings of light gradually tightened. In a daze, he seemed to see the moment of his birth. Amid primordial chaos, a stream of foreign clear qi suddenly merged into his body.

A miracle was born at this moment.

His skeleton began to change. An invisible force made minute adjustments to him bit by bit, making him better suited to exert force, more resistant to blows, and more suited to all martial arts under heaven.

His heart began beating with powerful force, and his blood circulation accelerated, rumbling like a waterfall pouring down. Nourished by it, Xu Yuan's formerly lean and frail body began to swell. Muscles bulged one after another, making him look like a little giant.

Yet after a short while, those changes gradually faded. His swollen muscles shrank again, leaving him only somewhat sturdier in appearance. However, compared to before, the density of his muscles had increased by far too much.

Then came his facial features, skin, even his teeth, nails, and hair. As the trait was added, Xu Yuan could feel every inch of himself changing within the rings of light. Everything was moving in a better direction.

About half an hour later, a plume of white vapor rose from Xu Yuan's body and dispersed into the air. Only then did his transformation come to an end.

When he looked at his information again, his current trait had become [Innate Martial Bones (Green)].

"So this is the power of a green trait?"

Slowly opening his eyes, Xu Yuan clenched his fist. His voice carried a trace of dazed disbelief. He felt as though an elephant had been locked inside his body, incomparable strength surging and roaring at every moment, waiting to burst forth in the next instant.

Rising to his feet, Xu Yuan took a cushioning step and suddenly arrived beside the rock wall. Then he swung his sandbag-sized fist and smashed it straight down.

With a thunderous boom, despite being flesh and blood, he punched a hole directly into the hard rock wall before him. His hand did not even bear a trace of blood.

Immediately afterward, Xu Yuan threw one punch faster than the last, transforming into a human-shaped tunnel-boring machine and forcibly punching out a passage half a zhang long.

"Exhilarating!"

With a furious roar, Xu Yuan seemed to vent all the frustration he had endured over the past year. From this day onward, he would no longer have to worry every day about his ore output, nor fear being squeezed dry and silently disappearing into some dark corner.

With such martial bones, why should he fear being unable to set foot upon the immortal path?

After venting, he sat down again, took out the cold flatbread on his person, and happily chewed away at it.

After finishing the flatbread, he still did not return. Instead, he began practicing the set of Long Fist taught in the mining district right where he was.

At this moment, he fully understood the true worth of being able to grasp all martial arts at a touch. The Long Fist that had once been so difficult to chew through—after practicing it only once, he had mastered every key point within it.

Overjoyed by his newfound strength, Xu Yuan did not stop after one round. Instead, he continued drilling. For a time, the entire mining area was filled with the fierce whistling of wind stirred up by his martial practice. It was only because this place was so well hidden that no one had noticed him long ago.

One hour, three hours, five hours—the time slipped quietly by. Only after a full nine hours did Xu Yuan finally stop, still wanting more.

Rolling his shoulders and loosening his limbs, Xu Yuan found that his qi, blood, and body had not strengthened much. But he suddenly threw a fierce punch forward. The force that had originally scattered condensed into a single line, and with a ripping hiss, it tore apart the wind before him.

Then Xu Yuan closed his eyes slightly. In an instant, his aura seemed to disappear completely, as though he had merged into the surrounding environment.

This was the change brought by bringing the Mining District Long Fist to perfection: more exquisite control over strength, and more powerful control over his aura.

With this, along with his Innate Martial Bones, Xu Yuan could confirm one thing—at least within this mining district, he could walk sideways.

"Time to head back."

After packing up his things, Xu Yuan slung the basket onto his back again and walked out of this even more secluded corner.

Meanwhile, in the mine tunnel where Xu Yuan had originally been, the vice president and Lou Fan were grunting as they mined away.

Seeing the two chunks of black iron ore his pickaxe had chiseled out, the vice president immediately tossed them happily into his basket.

"Hey, um..." At that moment, Lou Fan suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked toward the vice president. "We..."

"Cut the nonsense." The vice president waved a hand. "If you want water or food, go eat it somewhere else. Don't interrupt me while I'm mining."

"No..." Staring blankly at him, Lou Fan muttered, "Weren't we here to catch Xu Yuan?"

"This is called sharpening the knife without delaying the chopping of wood. You young people are all so impatient. Xu Yuan is in this mining district, and sooner or later he has to go home. Wouldn't it save us a lot of effort to catch him then? Better than us plunging headfirst into the mining district and searching everywhere like headless flies. With that time, we might as well mine some ore."

As he spoke, the vice president swung his pickaxe down again. "Finding someone isn't that simple. It's not like if I shout right now, he'll just..."

Before he could finish.

"What are you two doing?"

Xu Yuan's voice suddenly sounded from the entrance of the tunnel. He stared blankly at the two soot-covered men before him. He knew Lou Fan, but who was this burly man in front of him?

And what exactly were these two doing?

If they were looking for him, couldn't they be a little more serious? Why had they started mining instead?

"You're Xu Yuan?" Only then did the vice president finally put down his pickaxe, allowing Xu Yuan to see his face clearly.

Cold, hard, merciless—you could pile every dangerous word you knew onto that face. Just do not forget to stay far away from it.

He had begun practicing martial arts at twelve and strode alone beneath heaven at twenty-two. Beneath the shadow of the Hidden Moon Sect, he might be nothing more than a robust insect, but before these mining-district immortal slaves who had yet to grow their wings, his edge was truly terrifying.

The moment he raised his head, that powerful body sprang into motion. He twisted, stepped forward, and threw a punch. Behind him, Lou Fan tossed aside his refined iron pickaxe, with no intention whatsoever of stepping forward to help.

He had seen the vice president make a move before. That kind of speed and strength was simply not... huh?

The smug expression on his face suddenly froze, then turned entirely into shock. Lou Fan's eyes widened and his neck craned forward, making him look exactly like a startled duck.

Because right before him, at the instant the vice president closed in on Xu Yuan, his fist—which had seemed certain to land—simply stopped in midair.

Xu Yuan had caught it in his hand.