"Body Cultivators" Were Reliable in Every Version

Time flew by, and another two months quietly slipped past Mingdu's city walls.

During this time, undercurrents stirred among the Empire's upper ranks. Secret expansion and rearmament plans for several of the Empire's main legions were being carried out at full speed.

Vast resources were silently mobilized and consolidated, all because of a project issued by the Hall of Worship, codenamed "Cornerstone."

One trainee after another who practiced the "Body Forging Method" had been promoted from ordinary soldiers to Instructors, quietly beginning to reshape the physical condition of the Empire's Low-Level Soldiers.

Naturally, all this information circulated only within the innermost circles. The outside world remained as calm as ever.

Within the training grounds of the Kong Family Residence's Backyard,

"Ming'an... Will drinking this really make us stronger?"

"Guaranteed."

Kong Ming'an looked at Meng Hongchen, who held the potion before him, and Xiao Hongchen in the distance, whose expression was equally conflicted. He answered with a light smile.

A month ago,

Jing Hongchen had suddenly sent these two over to Kong Ming'an under the pretense of "exchanges among peers and mutual improvement."

With barely a glance, Kong Ming'an had seen through Jing Hongchen's intentions. He was trying to build connections.

At first, Kong Ming'an had been somewhat puzzled. Logically speaking, his Grandfather should have turned down such a request for him.

Yet unexpectedly, his Grandfather had not refused. He had even personally brought Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Jing Hongchen, who had become somewhat like an accessory, to tell him about it. There had even been a certain solemnity in his words.

That left Kong Ming'an completely baffled.

Of course, after seeing the look in his Grandfather's eyes, he understood.

His Grandfather was afraid that he would develop problems from shutting himself in the Laboratory every day, so he wanted him to get to know a few more friends his own age.

It was also for the sake of his mental health.

With that being the case, he naturally had no reason to refuse and agreed.

Looking at the two before him, Kong Ming'an smiled and said,

"This potion can improve the cultivation efficiency of the 'Body Forging Method' to a certain extent, so don't waste it."

As he spoke, he picked up his own portion and drained it in one gulp, as if demonstrating.

"Tch..."

The effect was genuine, but the taste was truly indescribable.

After silently complaining to himself, Kong Ming'an walked to the center of the grounds. Without another word, he took a deep breath, assumed his stance, and began that day's Body Forging Method training.

Horse Stance... Opening and Closing Palm Push... Lunge Punch... along with all manner of strange postures that stretched, twisted, and compressed the muscles and bones...

His movements were not flashy. After all, the postures were merely supplementary. What mattered was the stimulation from the Soul Power circulating within his body.

As his Soul Power began stimulating the Acupoints throughout his body, his skin visibly turned crimson.

Threads of scorching white vapor rose from the pores all over his body, gathering into a hazy cloud of steam that shrouded his figure.

The scorching aura spread outward, and for a moment, the temperature within the grounds seemed to rise by several degrees.

Off to one side,

Xiao Hongchen watched the muscles and fascia beneath Kong Ming'an's skin writhe and tighten like coiling dragons, while faint yet dense crackling sounds came from his bones.

Xiao Hongchen took a deep breath. As though he had made up his mind, he abruptly threw back his head and gulped down the potion in his hand.

"Together!"

Feeling the bitterness in his mouth and the burning heat that traveled from his throat into his stomach, Xiao Hongchen gritted his teeth and spoke.

Without making another sound, he walked to Kong Ming'an's side, assumed his stance, and began practicing the Body Forging Method as well.

"..."

Was this something they had to compete over too?

Meng Hongchen did not quite understand her Brother's strange train of thought, but seeing that both of them had drunk theirs, her little face immediately fell.

With her eyes shut and her nose pinched, Meng Hongchen wore an expression of resignation as she guzzled down the potion too.

"Ugh... So bitter! So spicy! And sour too..." Tears nearly streamed from Meng Hongchen's eyes. Her little tongue stuck out as her small hands fanned frantically before her face, making her feel as though her entire body were on fire.

Barely suppressing her discomfort, Meng Hongchen looked at the two figures in the distance, red as shrimp in a steamer, and at the heat waves distorting the air around them. Her face turned slightly pale.

She was clearly supposed to be cultivating happily alongside a beautiful young man. Why had it turned into this instead?

At that moment, little Miss Meng was filled with enormous confusion.

But in the end, she still clenched her silver teeth and stumbled into the training as well.

For a time, the rolling heat waves within the grounds became even more scorching.

Time passed amid painful torment.

At noon, Kong Ming'an slowly withdrew his stance. The crimson color of his skin rapidly faded, and the rising steam gradually dispersed, leaving only a faintly hot body covered in fine beads of sweat.

He slowly exhaled, his breathing calm and steady, as though that furnace-like cultivation had been nothing more than a warm-up.

Meanwhile, the Hongchen Siblings were already drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, yet they still persisted.

Although the Hongchen Siblings had taken far less potion than he had, they still needed more time to digest it. This was the result of the difference in their Body Forging Method cultivation efficiency.

Still, with the potion's assistance, their cultivation efficiency could probably reach around forty percent of Kong Ming'an's. Compared to the usual twenty percent, that was effectively double.

After glancing at the Hongchen Siblings, who were still training, Kong Ming'an did not leave. Instead, he sat cross-legged at the edge of the grounds, closed his eyes, and controlled the Soul Power throughout his body to circulate along a specific route, sensing the condition of his meridians and physique.

Eight months.

It had been a full eight months since he awakened his Martial Soul.

The first three months had been spent painstakingly exploring, deducing, testing the limits of the Body Forging Method on himself, and making adjustments.

The latter five months had been spent enjoying the astonishing benefits brought by this pioneering method.

The results were naturally remarkable. Although the growth rate of his Soul Power Level remained unchanged, his Physical Strength was soaring at a frenzied pace far beyond his Soul Power Level!

Based on tests from precise Soul Tool instruments and his own sensory evaluation, his current overall metrics in pure physical strength, defense, speed, reaction, endurance, and other areas had already steadily reached the level of a level-twenty advanced beast Martial Soul Master under Martial Soul Possession!

This was achieved without attaching a First Soul Ring, when Soul Power provided zero enhancement to his physique.

Kong Ming'an estimated that, at his current efficiency, within the next year, relying solely on continuous Body Forging Method cultivation and deep excavation of his physical potential, his physique would have a chance to reach the Soul Ancestor level.

After that, the rapid advancement stage of the Body Forging Method would come to an end.

And with the roughly ten months left afterward, combined with the Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber he had already prepared, as well as several other Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that fortified the foundation, replenished vitality, and tempered the muscles and bones...

Before he reached the age of nine, around the time his Soul Power Level broke through level ten, he might be able to bring this body's strength to the threshold of a Soul King!

And this was the first step toward his attempt at a Ten Thousand Year First Ring.

What? A Ten Thousand Year First Ring was a bit outrageous?

Come on, with the resources of the entire Sun Moon Empire being funneled into it, and elite soldiers from several Soul Engineer Legions and Reserve Legions serving as a sample pool to constantly refine the Body Forging Method,

With such a double boost, was he supposed to attempt some hundred-year or thousand-year First Soul Ring instead? That would be far too embarrassing.

"Unfortunately... according to the current data, the effects of pure Body Forging Method cultivation begin declining at the Soul Ancestor stage. After Soul King, its effectiveness drops to one-fifth of its original level. At Soul Emperor, cultivation crawls like a turtle, and Soul Saint is the limit...

"Easy to learn... difficult to master. In the later stages, it demands talent even more than the Traditional Soul Master System... As expected, 'Body Cultivators' are still reliable."

Kong Ming'an complained inwardly, though he was not particularly disappointed.

After all... this was only the situation for now.