Surging Strength

Leaving the Lu Residence,

Mo Chen led Liu Yuan all the way toward the city outskirts.

When they saw the city gates shut, Mo Chen turned awkwardly and said, "Steward Liu, look at this... how are we supposed to leave the city?"

Liu Yuan frowned as he held the horse's reins. "The thing is outside the city?"

Mo Chen nodded helplessly. "When I found that ledger, I didn't dare bring it into the city."

"Hmph! You'd better not be playing tricks, kid. Otherwise, I'll make sure you die without even knowing how..."

Liu Yuan shot Mo Chen a cold glance. After issuing the warning, he took a token from his sleeve and walked forward.

"By order of Magistrate Yu, I am leaving the city on urgent business. Open the gates at once!"

The guards recognized the token and raised no suspicions, shouting for the gates to be opened.

Magistrate Yu and the Lu Residence really are in cahoots!

A trace of mockery flashed through Mo Chen's eyes, though he was not surprised.

The city gates rumbled open.

Liu Yuan threw Mo Chen a threatening look, and Mo Chen shrugged before following him.

The two rode on a single horse.

They swiftly vanished into the night.

After roughly the time it took for one incense stick to burn,

Seeing that the area around them was deserted and so dark he could not see his fingers, Mo Chen's gaze suddenly turned cold as he issued an order in his mind.

"System! Exchange for fifteen years of Giant Ape Long Fist!"

Giant Ape Long Fist was a purely external body-tempering fist technique.

It had no internal cultivation method and required no astra to support it.

According to its description, this was a low-grade body-tempering fist technique with eighteen forms. Every movement was extremely difficult and placed high demands on one's bones and vital energy.

Mastering it could stretch the tendons, temper the bones, and increase one's vital energy.

The scene before him shifted, and Mo Chen's consciousness instantly entered the mysterious Eight Trigrams Martial Arts Arena.

[First year: You mobilized every muscle, tendon, and bone in your body and attempted to train. However, after deducing only seven moves, your tendons, bones, and vital energy could no longer endure it, and you were defeated.]

[Second year: You gained entry into Giant Ape Long Fist.]

[Third year: You persisted in harsh training, using Giant Ape Long Fist to hammer your tendons, bones, and vital energy. Whenever you threw a punch or stomped a foot, your bones itched unbearably, as though gnawed by white ants. The pain was unbearable. Giant Ape Long Fist broke through to Minor Mastery!]

[Eighth year: After years of martial training, the unbearable itch in your bones suddenly vanished on this day. To your delight, you discovered that you had unknowingly broken through to the Bone Tempering Realm!

At this point, the bones throughout your body had been strengthened like steel tempered a hundred times, and your strength had more than doubled! Giant Ape Long Fist had likewise entered a new realm: Major Mastery.]

"Bone Tempering Realm?" Mo Chen nodded inwardly.

"Not enough! Again!"

Giant Ape Long Fist had always been a body-tempering art meant to stretch the tendons, temper the bones, and refine vital energy.

Breaking through to the Bone Tempering Realm now brought Mo Chen no joy at all. It had simply come naturally.

Besides, perhaps because he had grown accustomed to the rapid deductions in the Martial Arts Arena,

Mo Chen's threshold for joy at breakthroughs in cultivation techniques was growing ever higher.

"Every move and form of this Giant Ape Long Fist requires me to exert my full strength. Whether it is the fierce movements or the necessary coordination of power, neither is something an ordinary martial artist can accomplish."

[Ninth year: You continued cultivating, slowly honing Giant Ape Long Fist. At the same time, you went hunting in the mountains and dug for ginseng deep in the wilderness to replenish the vital energy expended through martial training.]

[Thirteenth year: After years of dietary supplements, your vital energy greatly increased. You had trained Giant Ape Long Fist to a miraculous level, ingraining it into your bones and reaching the realm of Great Perfection.]

[Fourteenth year: As you continuously stimulated and tempered your blood through fist training, it gradually began to change. At this time, your blood became as thick as mercury, and great strength arose from your marrow. Blood Tempering Realm—breakthrough!]

[Fifteenth year: You had completed the five realms of body tempering, but were still one step away from perfect unity. You continued cultivating Giant Ape Long Fist and constantly honing yourself, but were unable to break through for the time being...]

The cultivation ended.

Mo Chen opened his eyes, felt the explosive power contained within his body, and clenched his fist tightly.

"So this is the Blood Tempering Realm?"

At that moment, it felt as though inexhaustible power was brewing between his blood and bones.

It seemed that in the next instant, he could punch apart the very heavens and earth before him!

"If I fought the Blackwind Stronghold's chief again now, I could probably blow his head apart with a single punch!"

After entering the Blood Tempering Realm, all of Mo Chen's blood had become like mercury slurry, and the speed at which his marrow produced blood far surpassed that of ordinary people.

He looked at his arm. The wound Lu Jianshen had cut open had already healed on its own and grown fresh flesh. Black impurities were also being expelled from his pores, as though he had been reborn.

"With my current cultivation, killing Liu Yuan, who is in the Bone Tempering Realm, would be like killing a chicken..."

In the darkness, Mo Chen's eyes suddenly blazed. He stomped off the ground, his body springing up like a giant ape in an instant.

Having prepared for this moment long ago, a massive silver axe suddenly appeared in his hand. Without any flourish, he chopped down at the figure ahead.

"Die!"

An ordinary iron axe, 90% strength bonus!

Black Iron Firewood Knife, 120% strength bonus!

Xuanhua Mountain-Cleaving Axe, 150% strength bonus! Shieldbreaker, effortless heaviness!

A total strength bonus of 360%!

As Mo Chen's power erupted, the second-tier Xuanhua Mountain-Cleaving Axe came crashing down as if it could split a mountain apart!

"How dare you?!" A furious, startled roar rang out.

Liu Yuan reacted swiftly. Almost the moment Mo Chen moved, he sensed that something was wrong.

Yet with the horse charging forward, he was still a step too late. He only managed to forcefully draw his saber. Just as he sprang into the air, he felt a gale howling toward him.

Caught off guard, Liu Yuan had no time to use his saber to block. He could only roar, tense both shoulders, forcibly raise his right arm, turn, and block.

The axe came down from above with immense force and speed, without the slightest pause, striking Liu Yuan's right arm.

"Ah..."

Liu Yuan let out a miserable scream. His right arm was severed on the spot, and the saber in his hand slipped free and fell.

Unfortunately,

Mo Chen gave him no chance to think. He swung his second axe up again and chopped down with all his strength.

With the bonuses from the three weapons, Mo Chen's strength had reached its peak.

When that axe fell, the sheer oppressive force alone was enough to make one's heart and liver tremble.

"Mo Chen!"

Liu Yuan seemed unable to understand why Mo Chen, who had been in the Sinew Tempering Realm, had suddenly gained such terrifying strength.

His right arm had been severed at the shoulder. His face twisted with pain, his whole body trembling as he fell from the horse and bolted away at full speed.

"You can't kill me!"

Liu Yuan's eyes were about to split apart as he nearly went mad.

Mo Chen, however, gave a cold laugh, lunged forward, and caught up with him in an instant.

"Can't kill you?"

"Why can't I kill you?"

"Damn it! I've wanted to kill you for a long time!"

"The moment you whipped me, your death was sealed!"

The axe came down viciously!

"You mongrel, the Second Young Master will definitely kill you..."

"Ah..."

A heart-wrenching scream tore through the sky.

Liu Yuan's body was chopped diagonally into two. His upper half slammed hard into the ground, twisting constantly in agony as blood sprayed everywhere.

Mo Chen's face was covered in blood. Looking down from above, he showed no mercy as he brought down a furious third axe.

"Second Young Master my ass!"

The screams stopped.

The entire world fell silent.

Liu Yuan's eyes were wide open. Until his death, he could not understand how Mo Chen had been able to kill him.

Why had Mo Chen's strength surged so suddenly?

"Whew—"

Mo Chen looked at Liu Yuan's severed head and let out a soft breath.

"That bastard is finally dead!"

Ever since he had transmigrated here, he had hated Liu Yuan to the bone.

Relying on his position as the Lu family's logistics steward, this man never treated servants like them as human beings.

Especially during the first half month after Mo Chen had transmigrated, Liu Yuan had whipped him almost every day.

At the time, his body had been covered in whip marks. The old wounds had barely scabbed over before fresh wounds arrived.

New injuries piled atop old ones, and the swelling never went down. He had suffered a fever for more than half a month and nearly lost his life again.

"Even if you were in the Bone Tempering Realm, you were still far too weak compared to me!"

Mo Chen reviewed the battle just now. He had not used any fist technique at all, relying purely on the strength bonuses from his equipment after breaking through to the Blood Tempering Realm.

"The combined strength bonus from three weapons is a full 360%. With such immense power, even martial artists in the early Condensing Astra Realm probably couldn't take it easily!"

His battle with Liu Yuan had just shown Mo Chen the extent of his combat strength.

In terms of strength alone, even ordinary Blood Tempering Realm martial artists would find it difficult to contend with him!

Such combat power was already comparable to that of some martial artists at the Great Perfection of body tempering.

If he replaced his equipped gear with higher-tier weapons, his combat strength would rise another level.

"If I equip three second-tier items, I should be able to contend with even an early Condensing Astra Realm expert, right?"

Having escaped danger, Mo Chen was in fairly good spirits.

Without lingering any longer, he quickly searched through Liu Yuan's belongings.

Liu Yuan had actually been carrying twenty taels in silver notes along with some loose silver. Not bad.

Mo Chen then picked up the first-tier Cold Pool Refined Steel Saber from the ground and smiled in satisfaction.

"This first-tier Cold Pool Refined Steel Saber is a fine item indeed!"

It granted a 120% strength bonus and possessed the property of cutting iron like mud.

Ordinary weapons could not withstand it at all.