Lesser Pure Yang

At nine that night, Chen Jue saw Pei Qingying off, and the five-person family chat immediately came alive.

"Oh, this Jue Jue is such a wimp! Your old uncle gave you a chance, but you were useless... gave you a chance, but you were useless!"

He Yuanshan was the first to speak, vehemently condemning Chen Jue for his inaction.

"Ah, enough, enough. At least I watched sweet romance dramas all night. This auntie's girlish heart is satisfied."

"Young master! You'll regret this! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Madam He slammed the table.

"Cousin, can you even do it? Qingqing is such a great girl, and you still didn't make a move? Are you even a man?"

Chen Jue stared at the messages with black lines all over his forehead, then reached out to squeeze the soft persimmon. "He Tangtang, shut your mouth! At such a young age, you're already talking about this stuff like an expert... Tell me! Are you dating early at school?!"

"?!" He Yuanshan.

"!" Chen Yun.

"Brother! You're too cruel! I only wanted to urge you to get married, but you actually want me dead!" He Tangtang instantly cowered and left the chat.

"Enough. Don't gossip about that young lady behind her back. If you damage her reputation, that wouldn't be appropriate."

Chen Jue typed out those final words to shut them up, then returned to his study.

Before cultivating his internal art, he followed his usual routine and swallowed the second High-Grade Qi-Nourishing Capsule of the day.

Yet the response was lackluster.

There was neither the warm current from when he had taken one that morning nor the faint heat spreading through his body.

Surprised, he flipped through today's Diligence Rewards Log and discovered that after his vitality and blood had climbed to 120%, then digested the spirit meal Pei Qingying had brought him, it had shot up like a Sky-Piercing Monkey to 135%.

And once his vitality and blood had reached such a terrifying level, taking another High-Grade Qi-Nourishing Capsule resulted in its efficacy being cut off at the knees. The 0.4% increase in vitality and blood per capsule had abruptly fallen to 0.1%.

Chen Jue tried one of his homemade vitality-and-blood pills as well. Before the two bottles of pills could even show their power, their original increase of nearly 0.6% in vitality and blood was forcibly compressed to a mere 0.2%.

I expected the medicinal effect to diminish. I just didn't expect this day to come so quickly.

Chen Jue sighed inwardly, but he was not disappointed.

He sat cross-legged, palms facing upward in the five-heart-to-heaven posture.

From eleven at night until one in the morning was when water-aspect spiritual qi between heaven and earth was at its most active. Circulating the Flowing Water Essence Gathering Technique at this time could slightly increase the rate at which he absorbed water-aspect spiritual qi.

However, perhaps because his vitality and blood had increased too much today, the number of river carts in the Foot Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian responsible for transporting water-aspect spiritual qi surged sharply when he circulated the Flowing Water Essence Gathering Technique.

As a result, a large number of vitality-and-blood river carts that could not receive any spiritual qi continued spinning idly through his meridians. Instead, they affected the efficiency of the normal river carts transporting spiritual qi, and even created the spectacular scene of local traffic jams in his meridians.

Chen Jue was greatly startled. Inspiration flashed through his mind, and he hurriedly transferred all the excess vitality and blood from his Foot Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian into his Foot Reverting Yin Liver Meridian.

This way, he could simultaneously circulate the Azure Wood Life-Gathering Art and draw in a certain amount of wood-aspect spiritual qi from the outside world, sending it into the dantian furnace.

I really am a martial arts genius with astonishing comprehension. Once vitality and blood become strong enough, I can actually circulate multiple internal arts within my body at the same time...

And if 135% vitality and blood is enough to run two internal arts at once, then once my vitality and blood breaks through 240%, won't I be able to make five river carts operate at once, as easily as cultivating a single internal art?!

Chen Jue was briefly stunned by his own wild idea, but reality promptly slapped him in the face.

In the past, he had only circulated one internal art through one meridian. Even if he cultivated for twelve hours a day, it would not drain his own vitality and blood.

But now, with two river carts operating, it was like drawing blood from two meridians at both ends. On top of that, the red point at the center of the furnace was incredibly hot; no matter how much spiritual qi came in, it could refine it all directly.

As a result, Chen Jue's vitality and blood were being consumed at a terrifying rate. In just two and a half hours, signs of dual depletion of qi and blood began to appear.

Chen Jue had never imagined that after achieving martial arts Foundation Establishment, there would still come a day when his vitality-and-blood recovery could not keep up with his consumption.

Left with no choice, he could only give up on continuing his internal art cultivation and instead practice the Six Directions Saber Art, refusing to waste even a moment.

The ripples of midnight arrived right on time.

[Over the past day, you meditated for 10 hours, practiced the Six Directions Saber Art 20 times, used Setting Sun Blood Reversal 5 times, refined pills once, consumed two High-Grade Qi-Nourishing Capsules and two homemade vitality-and-blood pills, and ate one first-rank high-grade spirit meal...]

[Today's evaluation: Rise at the crow of the rooster and dance; strive to grow stronger. Diligence Reward Index: 2 (3).]

[Reward settlement]

[Additional true qi gained from 20 hours of meditation (calculated according to the optimal "dual-channel" state), True Qi Realm Level One (28% → 38%)]

[Additional vitality and blood gained from four pills (Qi-Nourishing Capsules + homemade vitality-and-blood pills), vitality-and-blood value (135.3% → 136.5%)]

[Additional vitality and blood gained from two first-rank high-grade spirit meals (with diminishing returns), vitality-and-blood value (136.5% → 162.5%)]

[Additional experience from performing the Six Directions Saber Art 40 times, proficiency increased to (2320/10000)]

[Additional experience from using Setting Sun Blood Reversal 10 times, completion increased to 7.5%.]

[Additional experience from refining vitality-and-blood pills twice, Basic Alchemy Art proficiency increased to (30/10000).]

Even though Chen Jue had been mentally prepared, seeing the seven spirit stones in his hand shatter one after another still made his heart pound wildly.

It was known that the Diligence Reward Talent required one-tenth of a spirit stone to replicate a wisp of five-element true qi.

From this, he could deduce that replicating the benefits of two first-rank high-grade spirit meals had consumed a full six spirit stones!

Bathed in a golden rain of light, Chen Jue felt as if his entire body was about to burst apart from the vitality and blood continuously spreading within him.

Fortunately, ever since awakening his martial arts talent, he had become accustomed to this kind of swelling in his numbers.

With practiced ease, he guided the vitality and blood throughout his body into the dantian furnace, again and again.

Inside the pill furnace, the blood-red glimmer that had originally been no more than a tiny speck gradually became a fist-sized crimson orb beneath the continuous infusion of abundant vitality and blood, endlessly radiating astonishing light and heat.

If vitality and blood continue growing without limit, a sun will surely be planted within the vitality-and-blood furnace...

Once his vitality and blood calmed, Chen Jue looked inward at his dantian. Seeing the crimson orb suspended in the center of the furnace, he could not help falling into deep thought.

After a long while, he searched the internet for answers with his questions in mind.

In a post titled Special Physique Rankings, he found the answer he sought.

Vitality and blood far exceeding that of ordinary martial artists, along with the ability to nurture a glowing, heat-emitting "little sun" within the dantian furnace, was a special physique known as "Pure Yang."

Among them, those whose vitality and blood exceeded that of normal martial artists by 1.35 to 1.99 times were called the Lesser Pure Yang Physique, ranked thirty-sixth on the Human List.

This level of formidable vitality and blood would not affect a martial artist's normal cultivation of true qi. It would even grant an additional "innate divine strength" BUFF, allowing them to crush martial artists of the same realm who possessed no special physique.

When vitality and blood reached two or three times that of ordinary martial artists, they were respectively called the Pure Yang Body and the Pure Yang Divine Physique.

The former ranked twenty-fourth on the Earth List and could cultivate thunder- and fire-aspect true qi; the latter ranked twelfth on the Heaven List and could only pump iron, following the path of pure body cultivation.

Yet none of these three Pure Yang physiques was common. Netizens strongly advised their possessors to seek refuge with the government or powerful clans in exchange for the meticulous nurturing of great powers.

Chen Jue forgot that advice as soon as he read it.

The government and powerful clans were not kind-hearted men and charitable institutions. For every ingot they invested in an outsider, they were already calculating how to demand back a hundred ingots in the future.

Want to resist? Then ask whether the swords in their hands were sharp enough.

Still, it looks like I've bugged the system again.

I cultivated five-element true qi before my vitality-and-blood value reached 200%. Once it reaches 200%, won't that break the iron law that the Pure Yang Body can only cultivate thunder and fire true qi?

Chen Jue reached out and touched the standard-issue saber at his bedside.

At this moment, the brute strength within his body was ready to burst forth. He had no idea what level it had reached.

The standard-issue saber in his hand felt as light as a toothpick.