Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone, Tenfold Force Stacking

At the moment he broke through to Bright Force, new words surfaced in Xu Qing's mind—

[Three Talents Stake (Minor Mastery): 1/200]

[Breakthrough Trait: Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone, Tenfold Force Stacking]

A breakthrough trait? Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone?

Xu Qing was stunned at first, then overjoyed.

So the golden finger had traits like this too!

He closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and carefully felt the changes within his body. They were not subtle changes, but earth-shattering ones, as if someone had dismantled him and put him back together from scratch.

His sinews were vastly different from before his breakthrough.

When he exerted force in the past, his sinews were like hemp ropes. Once taut, they would tremble, shake, ache, and hurt. Tug them a few times, and they would go limp.

Now, they were different.

It was as if his sinews had been replaced. From coarse hemp ropes, they had become true "dragon sinews"—thick and tough, elastic and taut, like bowstrings drawn to their limit and stretched over his bones, brimming with power.

He tried tensing his arm. He could clearly feel the sinews bulging beneath his flesh, strand after strand, like little dragons crawling from his wrist all the way to his shoulder, impossible to tear apart.

Then he relaxed, and the sinews withdrew again, lying quietly against his bones. That strength had not vanished; it had merely gone dormant.

His bones had also undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

He had once heard old fishermen say that ancient sea turtles had shells so hard that blades could not chop through them. Now, he felt that his own bones were even harder than an old turtle's shell, as though they had been cast in molten iron—heavy and dense.

He tried knocking his shin with his fist. Thud, thud. It sounded like striking an iron block. His bone did not hurt, but his hand went a little numb.

He knocked it again. The sound was the same—solid and muffled, without the slightest hollow ring.

Sinews like dragons, bones like tigers.

True Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone!

Then what did Tenfold Force Stacking mean?

His gaze sharpened, and he threw another punch into the air. A Crushing Fist.

Crack!

The wind from his fist exploded, blasting a ripple visible to the naked eye through the morning mist.

Immediately afterward, he felt a strange tremor rebound from his fist. The force had not dispersed. Instead, it began to stack.

One layer, two layers, three layers... More and more fist force followed, like waves piling atop waves, each layer driving the next onward, rising higher and striking fiercer until they merged into a monstrous tidal wave.

One punch was like throwing ten punches!

No, it was not ten punches. It was one punch containing the stacked force of ten punches!

Xu Qing's hand trembled slightly, not from fear, but from excitement.

Didn't that mean he had gained ten times the fighting strength out of thin air?

He threw another punch!

Crack!

The fist wind roared, louder and crisper than the first punch, its force surging without end!

Xu Qing wanted to laugh.

At last! At this very moment!

He finally possessed a measure of strength to protect himself.

Xu Qing took a deep breath and suppressed the restless excitement in his heart.

It was still not enough!

He still had to train! Train until he reached Hidden Force, until he reached Force Transformation, until no one could ever bully his family again, until he could straighten his back completely and live standing tall!

When Xu Qing broke through to Bright Force, his joints crackled like exploding firecrackers. The sound carried far, drawing all the senior and junior brothers from the outer courtyard out.

"Junior Brother Xu?!" Chen Wang's voice came from the crowd, carrying several traces of disbelief. "You... you broke through? Bright Force?"

Xu Qing smiled and nodded.

Chen Wang's mouth fell open wide enough to fit an egg inside.

He stared blankly at Xu Qing.

Bright Force in twenty days! At that speed, not to mention in the martial hall, even across all of Qinghe County, he was the first of his kind! He was ten days faster than Senior Brother Ning Yun had been back then, and five days faster than Chu Sheng, who was rumored to have injured their master before entering a sect early!

In truth, if he had had enough food and medicinal supplements, Xu Qing could have broken through to Bright Force even faster.

Ordinary meat and Blood-Qi Soup once every seven days could no longer meet the demands of his training. It was like using a tiny spoon to carry water to irrigate a parched field—useful, but far too slow.

Of the dozen or so taels of silver he had obtained, he had returned three taels to his younger aunt's family, given three taels to his own household, and secretly used the remainder to buy two Blood-Qi Pills.

Without those two Blood-Qi Pills to support him, he reckoned it would have taken him several more days to break through to Bright Force.

Chen Wang abruptly came back to his senses. The other senior and junior brothers did as well. The training ground instantly erupted in commotion, buzzing with discussion like a swarm of hornets.

"Bright Force in twenty days... Is that real? Is he really of middling-to-poor bone aptitude?!"

"Of course he is! Could Master have gotten it wrong when he examined his bones?"

"Bright Force in twenty days... Even superior bone aptitude couldn't manage that, could it?"

"What do you know? The senior brothers from the inner courtyard said his physique is special and perfectly suited to our martial hall's Stake Training and fist techniques. That's why his progress is so fast. But he'll reveal his true colors soon enough... A special physique only has so much potential. Once it's used up, it's gone."

"That's true. What use is being fast? What matters is going far. With his middling-to-poor bone aptitude, Bright Force is his limit. He won't be able to take even one more step forward."

"Exactly. My bone aptitude is better than his. I may be slow now, but I can reach Hidden Force. Can he? He doesn't even know which way the door to Hidden Force opens."

"Running water does not fight to be first; what it fights for is an endless torrent. We can still flow, but he is about to run dry. No matter how deep a well is dug, if there's no water below, it's all for nothing."

Some shook their heads, some sighed, some wore mocking expressions, and some had relieved smiles hanging at the corners of their mouths.

Xu Qing had run too fast, so fast that it unsettled them. But knowing he could not run far, the hearts they had held suspended naturally settled back down.

"Junior Brother Xu, congratulations!" Qin Liang's face blossomed into a smile.

Sun Ping also sincerely offered his congratulations. His voice was quiet, but utterly earnest.

Sun Ping and Xu Qing both came from Blackwater Bay. They had known each other for a long time, though they had not been close.

After coming to the martial hall, Sun Ping had also had his bones examined by their master and was judged to have above-average aptitude.

Judging only by bone aptitude, he had more hope than Xu Qing of breaking through to Hidden Force.

However, after hearing about Xu Qing being "suited to the martial hall's Stake Training and fist techniques," he had not mocked Xu Qing as the other senior and junior brothers had. Like Qin Liang, he believed Xu Qing could make it. At the very least, no one in the courtyard could catch up to Xu Qing's current rate of progress even if they whipped their horses.

These days, he had always stuck together with Xu Qing and Qin Liang. They practiced stake stances and fists together, ate together, and had even moved into Xu Qing and Qin Liang's room together in the end.

Xu Qing smiled at the two of them and nodded.

Then he turned around and continued standing his stake and practicing his fists.

Within the shadows at the entrance to the inner courtyard.

Ning Yun had a smile on his face. There was surprise in his eyes, joy as well, and a trace of... gratification. Looking at Xu Qing, it was as if he had seen a sapling he had watered finally grow its first branch.

He turned and returned to his room, his steps several degrees lighter than usual. His left leg still limped, but there was a rare ease in that uneven rhythm.

The sky brightened. Guessing that their master had already woken, Chen Wang straightened his clothes and entered the inner courtyard.

Zhao Yan sat in a grand chair drinking tea, with Ning Yun at his side.

"Master." Chen Wang bowed, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. "Junior Brother Xu Qing has reached Bright Force! He broke through this morning! Only twenty days, and he's already at Bright Force! Master, you said that this..."

Zhao Yan lifted his teacup and took a sip, his face expressionless.

"I know. Tell him to come see me."

Seeing his master so calm, Chen Wang was somewhat surprised, but he did not dwell on it. He bowed and withdrew. When he reached the door, he glanced back. His master remained in the same posture, holding his teacup, his gaze resting on the tabletop as if lost in thought.

Ning Yun refilled Zhao Yan's tea and said with a smile, "Master, what do you think?"

Before Chen Wang arrived, he had already told Zhao Yan about Xu Qing reaching Bright Force. When he spoke of it, his voice had been calm, but he could not hide the light in his eyes.

"Twenty days. Even faster than I expected." Zhao Yan's gaze shifted slightly. "The little meat and Blood-Qi Soup in the courtyard were useful, but not by much. He relied on his own ability."

Ning Yun understood that Zhao Yan was referring to Xu Qing's special physique.

He smiled, his voice gentle yet serious. "Master, you cannot put it that way. Without the meat and medicinal soup you provided, Junior Brother Xu could not have endured that kind of training either. His foundation is weak and his body depleted. That ruthless drive alone could not have sustained him for more than a few days."

He paused, then slowly continued, "That bowl of meat and that bowl of medicine you gave him pulled him back from the edge of a cliff. Without you, it would be hard to say whether he could have continued training at all."

He paused again, then added, "Master, what do you plan to do next?"

When he said this, his voice was very soft, and there was expectation in his eyes. He already had an answer in his heart; he was simply waiting for his master to say it.

Zhao Yan fell silent for a while.

His fingers lightly tapped the tabletop, once, twice, then again.

He knew perfectly well that Xu Qing's rapid progress relied on his special physique and exceptional comprehension.

But the potential of a special physique was limited. By the time he reached Bright Force, that momentum would be nearly spent. The threshold of Hidden Force was very, very difficult to cross through comprehension and physique alone.

It was like a key that could open the first lock but not the second. It was not that the key was inadequate, but that the lock core had changed.

He picked up his teacup, then set it down again.

He had considered this question long ago: after Xu Qing broke through to Bright Force, should the medicinal supplements and meat continue?

With middling-to-poor bone aptitude, Bright Force was normally the end. There was little hope of breaking through to Hidden Force. Continuing to give him meat and medicine would merely waste silver. After all, the martial hall was not a charity house. He ran a martial hall and accepted disciples, not to scatter silver across the streets.

He raised his head and glanced at Ning Yun.

Ning Yun stood there quietly, his left leg slightly lame, a teapot in his hands, fine wisps of white steam still rising from its spout. He said nothing, but Zhao Yan knew what he was thinking.

Zhao Yan recalled what Ning Yun had told him—the full chain of events behind Xu Qing beating Chen Jiang to death. Ning Yun had said that this Junior Brother Xu of his was someone who valued bonds and repaid kindness.

Earlier, when he had taught Stake Training, one look at Xu Qing's state after returning home had told him everything. That child had seen blood. Not the blood of killing fish—the blood of killing people. His eyes were different, his spirit and bearing were different. His whole person was like iron tempered in fire: harder, heavier, no longer the soft, flimsy pig iron he had been before.

This disciple of his valued bonds, repaid kindness, and was ruthless enough.

Being ruthless was not necessarily a bad thing. Back then, he himself had not been ruthless enough. He had spared Chu Sheng, and only then had everything that followed happened. That punch had struck his body; the injury had long healed, but it had ached for ten years, like a thorn buried in flesh that could never be pulled out.

Zhao Yan sighed, so softly that Ning Yun nearly failed to hear it.

"Continue giving it to him." When he spoke, his voice was flat, without any readable emotion. "Meat and medicinal supplements, as before."

Ning Yun's eyes lit up.

Zhao Yan lifted his teacup and took a sip of tea that had already gone cold. He said nothing more.

Beyond the courtyard wall, the old locust tree had long since shed all its leaves. Its bare branches stretched toward the sky like an old man's withered fingers. Sunlight filtered through the branches, painting scattered gold across the ground.

When the wind blew, that scattered gold swayed and swayed, as if it had come alive.