White Ape Stance Perfected

The night was still as water.

In a secluded little courtyard at the northwest corner of Chen Family Fort.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Lu Yun stood beneath a willow tree, gripping a spear in both hands and wielding it swiftly.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The sharp sounds of air splitting were particularly piercing in the tranquil night.

He seemed to have entered an ethereal state. Since the afternoon, he had been practicing with his spear here without pause.

The barrier standing between him and mastery of his spear technique was being battered again and again, ready to break through at any moment.

No one knew how much time passed.

Pfft...

Lu Yun thrust his spear forward. A point of cold light flashed, instantly piercing a fallen leaf drifting on the wind. It was nearly twice as fast as before.

"I finally broke through."

Lu Yun withdrew his spear and stood still, slowly exhaling a breath of stale air.

With a thought, he opened the panel.

A blue screen of light appeared in the air before him.

Host: Lu Yun.

Age: 21.

Remaining Lifespan: 32 years.

Realm: None.

Cultivation Method: White Ape Stance [Beginner] (Upgradeable)

Martial Skills: Basic Spear Technique [Mastery], Basic Footwork [Beginner] (Upgradeable).

Strength: 180 jin.

Status: Severe Deficiency of Qi and Blood (Recoverable).

Note: Lifespan can be used to improve or deduce martial arts and skills. After several cultivation methods reach mastery, the fusion function can be unlocked. Any item containing the primordial energy of heaven and earth can be absorbed to increase lifespan.

Seeing the changes on the panel, Lu Chen's eyes went blank.

"Isn't this just paying to cultivate martial arts?"

"As long as I have abundant resources and spiritual treasures, my lifespan will be limitless."

"Wouldn't I be able to easily pile every kind of martial art and cultivation method to the limit?"

Lu Yun clenched his fists, his heart surging with excitement.

An ordinary martial artist had to painstakingly temper their qi and blood to increase their strength, while also fighting countless other martial artists for that tiny sliver of opportunity.

But him? He did not need to cultivate diligently at all.

Then, he lightly tapped the status recovery button.

"Lifespan -1 year."

At once, the color returned visibly to Lu Yun's face.

The muscles on his body gradually filled out as well. His whole body felt as though it had been soaked in a hot spring, warm and comfortable.

Status: Good.

"Good, good... One year of lifespan completely made up for my body's deficit."

Lu Yun felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his body, with strength he could not exhaust.

Next, he turned his gaze toward the martial cultivation method known as the White Ape Stance.

Previously, in order to activate the panel as quickly as possible, Lu Yun had completely neglected this martial art.

As the saying went, practice martial arts without cultivating inner strength, and you would have nothing to show for it in old age. Any means of attack required strength and qi and blood to support it; otherwise, it was a castle in the air.

Of course, he understood this principle.

Now was the time to improve the White Ape Stance.

"I wonder whether my remaining lifespan can raise it to mastery?"

Naturally, Lu Yun also needed to save three years of lifespan for emergencies.

Otherwise, if something went wrong by accident, he would be left helpless.

He hesitated no longer and immediately tapped the plus sign behind White Ape Stance.

In an instant.

His lifespan began to burn away frantically.

"Lifespan -1, Lifespan -1..."

He felt as though he had entered a strange illusory realm.

His entire body was rapidly practicing the White Ape Stance within that space.

With every punch and stance, he moved like an agile ape, ceaselessly leaping and spinning through the space.

Countless flashes of insight spontaneously welled up in his mind, gradually converging into a torrent of knowledge.

Lu Yun quietly entered a state of enlightenment.

At the same time.

His body was undergoing earth-shaking changes. His strength and cultivation technique soared as though riding a rocket.

White Ape Stance [Minor Mastery], White Ape Stance [Major Mastery] (50%)...

Strength 220 jin, 290 jin, 380 jin...

An endless stream of energy surged from within his body, beginning to fill his qi and blood.

A few breaths later.

Lu Yun slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam shooting straight into the void.

"Strong—stronger than ever before."

"A total of ten years of lifespan consumed?"

At this moment, he felt as though he could kill a wild bull with a single punch.

This was no exaggeration. The abundant qi and blood within him had left him feeling slightly swollen; it was a sign that his vital essence had surged dramatically.

He opened the panel.

Host: Lu Yun.

Age: 21.

Remaining Lifespan: 21.

Realm: Nourishing Qi Perfection.

Cultivation Technique: White Ape Stance Perfection (Low Grade) [Can Be Derived and Fused].

Martial Skills: Basic Spear Technique Perfection (Low Grade), Basic Movement Technique (Low Grade) [Beginner].

Strength: 1000 jin.

Status: Good.

Looking at the dramatically changed panel attributes, Lu Yun immediately felt confidence well up within him.

A full thousand jin of terrifying strength was enough to let him tear apart savage beasts with his bare hands.

Not to mention the boost from his perfected Basic Spear Technique. If he donned armor and entered the battlefield, he would be capable of charging in and out of a formation of a thousand soldiers seven times over.

Generally speaking, mastering a skill to perfection required at least several years, if not a decade, of arduous training.

His Nourishing Qi Perfection cultivation, combined with the amplification of his spear technique, had increased Lu Yun's strength dozens of times over.

At that moment, Lu Yun looked at the Derive and Fuse buttons, and a thought stirred in his heart.

Fusion was easy enough to understand from the name alone, but he only had one cultivation technique right now, so there was no way to test it.

He decided to try the Derive button.

Just as he was about to press it, an intense sense of danger suddenly rose in his mind.

It was as though something would go wrong the instant he clicked it.

"No, my lifespan is clearly insufficient."

He gave up immediately.

"Looks like deriving something from nothing consumes far more."

With only a little thought, Lu Yun understood the key to it.

Fusion should offer far better value than derivation, after all, it had a specific cultivation technique to use as a reference.

Next, he turned his gaze toward the Basic Movement Technique.

Speed held an equally important position in a martial artist's battles.

Generally speaking, one could only know a martial artist's true strength after exchanging blows.

The decisive factors were strength, speed, and defense.

Of course, some secret arts and life-risking methods could also amplify one's strength.

Lu Yun intended to take the path of a hexagonal warrior, so speed and defense naturally could not be neglected.

Strength in every aspect was true strength.

As his finger lightly tapped, he once again sank into an ethereal state.

A figure began moving swiftly beneath the moon. Gradually, it grew faster and faster, leaving behind one afterimage after another.

A few breaths later.

Skill: Basic Footwork Perfected [Can be fused and upgraded].

He glanced at the lifespan consumed—five years had been deducted.

It took five years to cultivate a basic martial skill to perfection, while a cultivation technique required ten.

Though the technique appeared to consume twice as much as a martial skill, he felt it was reasonable.

After all, qi and blood did not arise from nothing; they were burned from lifespan. Naturally, the cost was greater.

Cultivation realm was the foundation of a martial artist.

Remaining lifespan: 16 years.

Seeing that he still had so much lifespan left, Lu Yun did not panic in the slightest.

This lifespan was enough for emergencies.

"Seven days? Black Wind Stronghold?"

Thinking of this threat, he gave a cold laugh.

He actually began looking forward to their arrival. He wanted to see what sort of trash the martial artists of Black Wind Stronghold were.

Could they withstand him, with his Nourishing Qi Realm perfected and both his spear techniques and footwork perfected?

Based on the intelligence he had gathered over the past few years, Black Wind Stronghold only had Nourishing Qi martial artists. Those in the Inner Strengthening and Bone Forging realms were impossible to find there.

Such experts could live comfortably in a large city. Who would stay in some third-rate Black Wind Stronghold?