Completing the Divine Palm

As for Zhu Wu's secondary body, on the very first day after mastering the third stage of the Golden Bell Shield, he stopped going to the underground boxing arena after punching a peak ninth-rank martial artist until he vomited blood and collapsed, unable to rise.

There were only a handful of eighth-rank martial artists in Jincheng's entire underground boxing world.

Previously, when people watched Zhu Wu fight, although he won every time, he would more or less sustain some injuries.

That was why there were always people seeking to challenge him.

Now, he had defeated a peak ninth-rank martial artist in a single blow, while those eighth-rank martial artists had concerns over his identity.

Naturally, this extinguished their ambitions, and they no longer challenged Zhu Wu.

With no opponents left and no way to draw combat experience from battle, Zhu Wu found it dull and chose to leave the boxing arena.

To thank Zhu Wu for his contributions to the arena over this period, the arena owner, whom he had never met, specially issued him an electronic check for 200,000 Red Coins.

Together with his earnings from nearly twenty days of fighting in the ring, Zhu Wu had obtained more than a million Chizhou Coins in total.

As night fell, the lights were bright inside a residence in a residential complex beside the Yellow River in Golden City.

Chen Wu sat on the living room sofa, holding a secret manual in one hand while rapidly flipping through it with the other.

"Nirvana Spirit Body-Tempering Formula, upper-grade Profound rank. It truly is formidable. This time, I'll definitely be able to deduce the cultivation method beyond the sixth stage."

This secret manual was the body-tempering technique Gu Yuyue had originally planned to cultivate. However, after switching to the Golden Bell Shield and hearing that Chen Wu was completing its later cultivation methods, she gave the manual to him.

His sister was currently in seclusion. Perhaps once she emerged, she would be able to use the cultivation method beyond the sixth stage.

After reading through it once and committing the contents of the manual to memory, his three souls immediately began deducing what came after the sixth stage.

After more than an hour of deduction, Chen Wu received from his three souls the cultivation methods for the seventh through ninth stages of the Golden Bell Shield.

"Although I've only deduced it to the ninth stage, it's enough for now."

The Golden Bell Shield cultivated to the ninth stage would, by modern standards of classification, at least reach the level of upper-grade Profound rank.

With the deduction temporarily concluded, Chen Wu immediately began his charge toward the fourth stage.

After days of spiritual energy nourishment and tempering by Golden Bell Force, his body had already reached the limit of its current realm. It was time to break through to a higher stage.

At the fourth stage of the Golden Bell Shield, force would form a thin protective membrane over the surface of the skin. Ordinary sharp blades could not cut through it, the body would become as hard as iron, and its rebounding force would further increase.

Two hours later, golden qi force circulated throughout Chen Wu's body, gradually sinking beneath his skin.

Once the golden qi force had completely vanished, his aura abruptly surged before drawing back in.

"The fourth stage—concealing force within the body. Success."

"With the advancement of my body-tempering realm, both my divine sense and Origin Seed have received feedback and improved. The Dao-Demon Battle Diagram has also benefited greatly; the figures of the red-clothed Daoist and white-robed Demon General within it have both become much more solid."

"No wonder martial artists place more and more emphasis on cultivating life and fate together as they advance. A breakthrough in any one path can aid the advancement of the other two. Next comes the eighth transformation of Tempering Origin."

Chen Wu then turned his attention to breaking through the Tempering Origin realm.

With Dual Qi Flow as his foundation, the True-Absorbing Divine Formula drew in the qi of heaven and earth. An unprecedented vortex appeared above his dantian, crazily devouring and absorbing spiritual energy, transforming it into the purest true qi and continuously injecting it into the Origin Seed.

The Origin Seed swelled rapidly. Empowered by an unending stream of highly condensed energy, it broke through its limits.

The originally enlarged true qi Origin Seed suddenly contracted sharply, reverting to its initial state.

The eighth transformation of Tempering Origin was complete.

"The eighth transformation is complete. Next, I only need to wait for the next body-tempering session."

Based on his own condition, Chen Wu estimated that his body would need at least a month to adapt to the breakthrough and consolidate its foundation.

There were only ten days left until the start of his new semester.

That was just enough time to complete the remaining eight forms of the Dragon-Subduing Divine Palm.

The night passed without incident. After getting up and dressing, Chen Wu deliberately checked on his sister Gu Yuyue before breakfast.

Under the perception of his divine sense, he found that his sister's aura was slowly strengthening.

Afterward, he checked the visualization diagram.

The figures on the Dao-Demon Battle Diagram had become more solid than they had been the previous night. The expressions on the faces of the leading Daoist and Demon were already clearly visible.

After finishing all this, he immediately began a new round of move deduction.

The palm force of the Dragon-Subduing Divine Palm was incomparably powerful and consumed an enormous amount of strength. If force was applied improperly, little of one's own strength could be recovered. Thus, the essence of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms lay in the method of exerting force and the use of strength.

To practice this palm technique, one first had to understand how to control the weight, hardness, and softness of palm force at will, achieving the ability to release and withdraw it freely. Next came comprehending how to blend hard force and soft force into one.

Because the last eight forms were missing, the Divine Palm had more than enough ferocity but insufficient variation.

Combining memories from his previous life with the experience he had gained fighting others some time ago, Chen Wu began the final completion of this palm technique.

The eight forms were, in order:

"The eleventh form—Treading Frost, Ice Follows. At first, it appears soft and powerless, but should the enemy dare to press their attack, it is like a sudden blizzard, with endless follow-up force. This move perfectly illustrates how the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms can contain softness within hardness."

"The twelfth form—The Overreaching Dragon Repents. The strongest ultimate move of the Dragon-Subduing Divine Palm, its tyrannical force is unmatched in the world. Its brilliance lies in the fact that even when the move is exhausted, it still retains spare strength, leaving it unafraid of an enemy's desperate final counterattack."

"The thirteenth form—Left-and-Right Divine Dragons. The left and right palms contend like twin dragons, their forces twisting together and fiercely battling within the enemy's body, wreaking havoc and causing severe internal injuries."

"The seventeenth form—Dragon Roams Heaven and Earth. The palm momentum comes and goes unpredictably, its force capable of changing the color of wind and clouds. It is suitable for deflecting, defending, and skirmishing alike."

"The eighteenth form—Dragon Soars Across the Five Peaks. This move gathers momentum before erupting, its force divided into five layers. If the enemy takes one palm strike, it is as though they have suffered five blows, condemned beyond redemption."

During the deduction of the last eight forms, Chen Wu encountered a considerable bottleneck and achieved nothing for five entire days.

For this reason, he specially downloaded the full text of the Book of Changes online to search for inspiration.

After all, regardless of which version of the Divine Palm it was, its moves, mental methods, applications, and the rest were all derived from the Book of Changes.

Studying it might allow him to devise the later moves.

As it turned out, he truly did draw inspiration from the hexagrams.

Not only did he rapidly complete the final eight forms, he also created an additional ten palm techniques.

"Perhaps Leaping in the Abyss: Take an empty step and crouch low, receive things with softness, sweep both palms upward—gather above and attack below."

"Six Dragons Whirling: This move counters an opponent's middle-level sweeping kick. Lower the center of gravity with a prone stance, then strike the opponent's leg with both palms along the motion, causing them to lose balance."

"Dense Clouds Without Rain: This is a throwing technique. Accumulate strength, then throw the opponent with the flow of momentum. Do not strike first—dense clouds, yet no rain."

"Ram Strikes the Fence: Counter a strike aimed at the upper side by raising one palm to neutralize it, while the other palm rises from below, seeking an opening to attack a vital point. Its momentum is inexhaustible."