Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone, Tenfold Force Stacking

The moment Xu Qing broke through to Bright Force, new words surfaced in his mind—

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

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

Breakthrough trait? Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone?

Xu Qing froze for a moment, then was overjoyed.

So his golden finger had traits like this too!

He closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and carefully sensed the changes within his body. They were not subtle changes, but earthshaking ones, as if someone had taken him apart and assembled him all over again.

His sinews were utterly different from before the breakthrough.

When he exerted himself in the past, his sinews had been like hemp rope—quivering, shaking, aching, hurting when drawn taut, going limp after only a few pulls.

Now, they were different.

It was as though his sinews had been entirely replaced, transformed from coarse hemp rope into true "dragon sinews"—thick and tough, springy and taut, like bowstrings drawn full over his bones, brimming with power.

He tried tensing his arm. He could clearly feel the sinews bulging beneath his skin and flesh, one after another, like little dragons crawling from his wrist all the way to his shoulder, impossible to snap no matter how hard they were pulled.

Then he relaxed, and the sinews shrank back, lying quietly against his bones. That strength had not vanished. It had merely gone dormant.

His bones had also undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.

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

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

He knocked it again. The sound was the same—thick, dull, 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 Crashing Fist.

"Crack!"

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

Immediately after, he felt a strange tremor transmit back from his fist. His force did not dissipate. Instead, it began to stack.

One layer, two layers, three layers... an endless stream of subsequent fist force followed, like wave upon wave piling atop one another, each layer pushing the next, rising higher and fiercer until they converged into a towering tidal wave.

One punch was like throwing ten punches!

No, it was not ten punches. Rather, a single punch contained the combined force of ten punches stacked together!

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

Didn't that mean his combat strength had multiplied tenfold out of thin air?

He threw another punch!

"Crack!"

The punch wind roared, louder and crisper than the first, its force flowing forth 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 restlessness in his heart.

It was still not enough!

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

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

"Junior Brother Xu?!" Chen Wang's voice came from the crowd, carrying a trace 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.

He stared blankly at Xu Qing.

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

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

Ordinary meat and the once-every-seven-days blood and qi soup could no longer satisfy his training needs. It was like using a little spoonful of water to irrigate a parched field—useful, but far too slow.

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

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

Chen Wang suddenly snapped out of it. The other senior and junior brothers came to their senses as well. The training ground instantly erupted into a buzz of discussion, humming like a swarm of hornets.

"Bright Force in twenty days... is that real? Is he really of middle-low bone talent?!"

"Of course he is! Could Master have been wrong when he felt his bones?"

"Bright Force in twenty days... even superior bone talent couldn't do that, could it?"

"What do you know? The senior brothers from the inner courtyard said his physique is special, perfectly suited to our martial school's stake forms 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 that much potential. Once it's used up, it's gone."

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

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

"Running water does not contend to be first; it contends to flow without ceasing. We can still flow, but he's about to run dry. A well can be dug as deep as you like, but if there's no water below, it's all for nothing."

Some shook their heads, some sighed, some wore mocking expressions, while others had smiles of relief at the corners of their mouths.

Xu Qing had run too fast, so fast that it made them uneasy. But they knew he could not run far, and so the hearts hanging in their throats naturally settled back down.

"Junior Brother Xu, congratulations!" Qin Liang's face blossomed with a grin.

Sun Ping also sincerely offered a quiet but earnest, "Congratulations."

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 school, Sun Ping's bones had also been assessed by their master. He had middle-high aptitude.

Judging purely by bone talent, he had better prospects than Xu Qing of breaking through to Dark Force.

Yet after hearing that Xu Qing's "physique suited the martial school's stake forms and fist techniques," he had not mocked Xu Qing like the other senior and junior brothers. 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 progress even on horseback.

These past days, he had always stayed with Xu Qing and Qin Liang—practicing stake stances and fists together, eating together, and eventually even moving into Xu Qing and Qin Liang's room.

Xu Qing smiled at the two of them and nodded.

Then he turned around and continued practicing his stance and fists.

In the shadows at the entrance to the inner courtyard.

Ning Yun wore a smile. There was surprise in his eyes, joy as well, and a trace of... gratification. As he watched Xu Qing, it was as though he saw a sapling he had watered finally put forth its first branch.

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

As daylight brightened, Chen Wang reckoned their master had awakened. He straightened his clothes and entered the inner courtyard.

Zhao Yan was sitting in a grand master's chair, drinking tea, with Ning Yun at his side.

"Master." Chen Wang bowed, unable to conceal 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 this..."

Zhao Yan raised his teacup and took a sip, his expression unchanged.

"I know. Tell him to come here."

Chen Wang was somewhat surprised to see his master so calm, but he did not think much of 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 though he were lost in thought.

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

Before Chen Wang had arrived, he had already told Zhao Yan about Xu Qing reaching Bright Force. His voice had been calm when he spoke, 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 and qi soup in the courtyard helped, but not 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 can't put it that way. Without the meat and medicinal soup you provided, Junior Brother Xu would not have withstood such training. His foundation was weak and his body depleted. That ruthless drive alone could not have sustained him for many days."

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

After another pause, he added, "Master, what do you plan to do next?"

He spoke softly, expectation in his eyes. He already knew the answer in his heart and was simply waiting for his master to say it.

Zhao Yan fell silent for a while.

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

He knew full well that Xu Qing's rapid progress was due to his special physique and exceptional comprehension.

But the potential of a special physique was limited. By the time he reached Bright Force, most of that impetus would be spent. The threshold of Dark Force would be 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's inner mechanism had changed.

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

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

With middle-low bone talent, Bright Force was normally the limit. The hope of breaking through to Dark Force was slim. Continuing to feed him meat and medicine would only waste silver. After all, a martial school was not a charity hall. He ran a martial school 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 faintly lame, a teapot in hand with 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 story behind Xu Qing killing Chen Jiang. Ning Yun had said that this Junior Brother Xu of his was someone who valued loyalty and repaid kindness.

Earlier, when he had explained the stake forms and seen the state Xu Qing was in upon returning from home, he had known at a glance. The boy had seen blood. Not the blood of killing fish, but the blood of killing people. His eyes were different, his essence, qi, and spirit were different. His entire being was like iron tempered in fire—harder, heavier, no longer the soft lump of raw iron he had once been.

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

A ruthless heart was not necessarily a bad thing. Back then, his own heart had not been ruthless enough. He had spared Chu Sheng, and that led to everything that followed. That punch had struck his body, and the injury had long since healed, yet it had ached for ten years, like a thorn embedded in flesh that could never be pulled out.

Zhao Yan sighed, so softly that Ning Yun almost did not hear it.

"Keep giving it to him." He spoke in an even tone, revealing no emotion. "The meat and medicinal supplements will continue as before."

Ning Yun's eyes brightened.

Zhao Yan picked up his teacup and took a sip of the tea, now 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 the bony fingers of an old man. Sunlight filtered through the branches, scattering fragments of gold across the ground.

When the wind blew, those fragments of gold swayed and swayed, as if they had come alive.