Dragon-Sighting Force Release

After settling down in the medicine garden, Lu Chen's daily life became extremely regimented.

In the morning, he took a Blood-Qi Powder and practiced the Coiling Dragon Stance to refine its medicinal power; in the afternoon, he trained the Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist to improve his boxing; at dusk, he drilled the Golden Ape Piercing-the-Forest Leg amid the snowy woods; at night, he soaked in a medicinal bath, then used the Coiling Dragon Stance to settle his qi and blood.

Others found such days tedious, but Lu Chen relished them as if they were sweet nectar.

Because not a single drop of sweat was wasted.

Every Blood-Qi Powder was turning into tangible qi and blood within his body.

Every punch, every stance, made him a little stronger than he had been the day before.

In these troubled times, every extra bit of strength meant an extra measure of confidence in staying alive.

And another possibility of holding his own fate in his hands.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and a heavy snow sealed off the mountains.

Beyond the medicine garden, the mountains and forests were a vast expanse of white. The distant mountain paths had long vanished from sight. Gale-force winds whipped snow grains against the wooden walls with crackling snaps, as though countless tiny blades were scraping across them.

Most of the people in the medicine garden had hidden indoors to warm themselves by the fire.

A brazier stood in the center of the dining hall, its charcoal burning red-hot. Several garden guards sat around it, bowls of hot soup in their hands as they breathed out white vapor.

Han Dashi, wrapped in a thick padded coat, poked his head out for a glance through the window. "In weather like this, even wolves would probably freeze to death if they came."

Before long, his gaze fell upon the center of the medicine garden again.

Amid the wind and snow, a figure stood in the open clearing.

It was Lu Chen.

He wore only a fitted martial outfit. His feet were planted in the snow, his hips lowered, his arms moving slowly as he practiced the Coiling Dragon Stance over and over.

Snow fell upon his shoulders, but the moment a thin layer gathered, the heat surging from within his body melted it into droplets. Before the droplets could slide down his clothes, they turned into wisps of pale vapor that curled around him.

From afar, Lu Chen seemed to be standing within a cloud of white mist.

The wind and snow howled, yet his figure remained as immovable as a mountain.

Han Dashi could only click his tongue in amazement.

"Chief Wang, Lu Chen's been training for nearly the whole morning, hasn't he?"

Wang Zhong was sitting beside the brazier, sharpening his blade. Without even raising his head, he answered, "Mm."

Han Dashi glanced outside again and could not help asking, "Doesn't he get tired?"

Wang Zhong stopped sharpening his blade and looked up at him.

"A minor-accomplishment martial artist has qi and blood within his body forming its own cycle, circulating through the heavenly circuit. Their endurance and recovery are far beyond you entry-stage martial artists."

"Training for one morning is nothing!"

"Even if he ran mountain roads for three days and three nights, he could still endure it!"

Han Dashi looked at Wang Zhong and, unable to keep his mouth shut, said, "Chief, I've never seen you train like Lu Chen does."

Wang Zhong's expression stiffened slightly. Then he put on a stern face. "What do you know!"

"I bear the responsibility of guarding the medicine garden. Where would I find that much time to train?"

He shot Han Dashi a glare, then added, "Once the snow stops, go patrol the northern slope twice."

Han Dashi's face fell. "Yes, Chief."

After saying that, Wang Zhong lowered his head and continued sharpening his blade.

Yet his gaze drifted toward the window from time to time.

Lu Chen was still training amid the wind and snow.

Again and again.

As though the cold, exhaustion, and loneliness outside could not shake him in the slightest.

Wang Zhong suddenly let out a faint sigh inwardly.

When he had been young, he had trained like Lu Chen too.

He had once believed that he could keep climbing, pass minor Blood Moving accomplishment, charge into major Blood Moving accomplishment, and perhaps even behold the scenery at greater heights.

But now that he was middle-aged, after training bitterly for so many years, he had made little progress.

He no longer held much obsession with the martial path.

That tiny spark of ambition from back then had ultimately been worn smooth by the years.

As he watched Lu Chen now, his gaze was somewhat complicated.

There was envy.

There was also gratification.

But more than anything, there was an indescribable sense of wistfulness.

There was still someone in this world charging forward, seeing for him the sights he had once wished to see but never could.

Outside, the wind and snow howled.

Within the boundless curtain of white, Lu Chen was like an Azure Dragon coiled between mountains.

He could not hear the wind, nor could he feel the cold.

All of his focus had sunk into his body.

His qi and blood flowed like a stream, circulating slowly along his sinews and veins, washing over his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones again and again. With every shift of his stance, his muscles subtly adjusted, as though every inch of flesh in his body were searching for the position that suited it best.

Suddenly, Lu Chen's body paused.

A transparent light screen abruptly appeared before his eyes:

[Coiling Dragon Stance Art: Perfect]

[Trait: Coiling Dragon Body · Dragon-Sighting Force Release]

In an instant, countless experiences of stance practice flooded into his mind.

He seemed to see an Azure Dragon coiled within a deep pool.

Great waves crashed against it, yet the Azure Dragon did not move.

Boulders fell upon it, and the dragon's body turned slightly.

All incoming force was guided away layer by layer through the gaps between its scales, diverted into the deep water, and ultimately dissolved without a trace.

Lu Chen's mind swayed for a moment.

Then, an indescribable force arose from deep within him, like an invisible giant hand beginning to reshape his muscles.

It was not tearing pain.

It was an ache of utmost depth, fineness, and heaviness.

His shoulders and back, waist and hips, legs and arms—all the sinews and muscles throughout his body trembled faintly. The once-scattered muscle fibers seemed to be combed anew, layered and interlocked, linked to one another.

Lu Chen lowered his head to look at his arm.

There was little visible change on the surface of his skin, but he could clearly sense that the muscles all over his body interlocked like dragon scales—loose on the outside, taut within, supple yet resilient.

Wind and snow struck his body. With every snowflake that landed, he could sense its faint point of contact.

It was as though his skin and flesh had gained another layer of perception.

His awareness of force had reached the point where he could foresee the slightest fraction.

"Coiling Dragon Body · Dragon-Sighting Force Release..."

Lu Chen fixed his gaze on the transparent light screen. The progress column for the Coiling Dragon Stance Art had vanished, replaced by a newly appeared martial trait.

After the Coiling Dragon Stance Art reached the perfect realm, it had fused perfectly with his body and produced a martial trait.

And with his mind connected to the panel, Lu Chen instantly grasped the function of this trait.

The instant an enemy's fists or kicks struck his body, the stance art would automatically generate a spiraling, entwining force. Rather than blocking head-on, it twisted and dispersed the incoming force layer by layer until it vanished.

Like a stone falling into a whirlpool, its impact would be dissolved by half in an instant.

Lu Chen's eyes lit up.

"It's equivalent to giving my muscles an extra layer of force-dispersing effect."

That way, when facing experts with powerful qi and blood, he would have room to maneuver instead of being slapped to death in one blow.

His ability to withstand attacks had risen by a great deal.

Without pausing for long, Lu Chen continued practicing his boxing.

His boxing was only a few points of progress away from breaking through as well.

Lu Chen threw a punch. Its gale swept up a great swath of flying snow, and within the endless white curtain, it seemed as though an Azure Dragon truly raised its head and tore through the wind.

After several more repetitions, the transparent light screen before Lu Chen changed again:

[Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist: Perfect]

[Trait: Azure Dragon Force]

In that instant, countless insights into the fist art flooded into his mind.

Before Lu Chen's eyes, the boundless wind and snow seemed to vanish, replaced by a rolling sea of clouds. Deep within that sea, an Azure Dragon had lain coiled for ages before suddenly opening its eyes.

The qi and blood within his body surged violently.

As though an Azure Dragon had awakened inside him.

Fist force coursed through his body like a dragon, traveled along both arms, and finally pounced into the edge of his fist.

He threw a punch instinctively.

"Roar!"

It was as though a dragon's cry exploded amid the wind and snow!

His fist tore through the snowy curtain, and the flying snow ahead suddenly burst apart, leaving the onlookers huddled inside the house staring in stunned disbelief.