Unleashing Potential

The blazing sun hung overhead, staining Ten-Thousand Horses Fort's broken walls and ruins with a bleak, vivid red.

The remnants of the Supreme Alliance had fled without a trace, leaving behind only devastation and a blood stench so thick it could not be dispelled.

Zu Hao stood alone in the middle of the fort courtyard, slowly closing his eyes as he carefully sensed the earthshaking changes within his body.

Stepping into the Innate Realm was like opening a door to a new world.

The most immediate sensation was the subtle connection he had formed with the world around him.

Threads of spiritual energy from heaven and earth were no longer as difficult to grasp as they had been in the acquired realm. Drawn in by some unseen force, they slowly seeped into every part of his body on their own.

Not only was his cultivation speed far beyond what it had once been, but when he attacked, he could also draw upon a trace of the power of heaven and earth, causing a qualitative leap in the might of his techniques.

Though he had only just entered the Innate Realm, the fully mastered Nine Yang Divine Skill had laid an incomparably solid foundation for him.

At that moment, the Nine Yang True Qi in his dantian was as vast as a sea, surging without end. Its sheer depth far surpassed that of an ordinary early-stage Innate Realm martial artist and was not inferior even to some seasoned mid-stage Innate Realm experts.

His endurance far exceeded that of martial artists at the same level. So long as he did not exhaust all his true qi in an instant, it would be nearly impossible for him to run out of strength.

What delighted him even more was that the tendon-transforming, marrow-cleansing effect brought by mastering the Nine Yang Divine Skill had fully erupted at that moment.

He could clearly feel that his muscles, bones, skin, even his internal organs had undergone a deep tempering, becoming tougher and more vigorous.

A faint golden protective aura flickered beneath his skin. It remained hidden under normal circumstances, but once he was attacked, it would activate automatically. Not only would blades and swords struggle to harm him, it could even rebound part of the external force.

With a thought, his personal attribute interface appeared in his mind:

[Host: Zu Hao]

[Identity: Teacher]

[Punching Force: 8 tons]

[Speed: 120 meters per second]

[Telekinesis: Object-control limit, 36 tons]

[Martial Cultivation: Early Innate Realm]

Feeling the vast true qi within him, surging as though it would burst forth and never run dry, Zu Hao felt the weight in his chest vanish, replaced by a heroic spirit that looked down upon the world.

If there was a drawback, it was that after the Nine Yang Divine Skill reached mastery, his true qi had become as steady as a rock. This meant its tendency to lose control and leak away had completely disappeared.

To Zu Hao, that was actually "bad news," because the [Negative Reversal System] could no longer be triggered by the side effects of the Nine Yang Divine Skill.

It was time to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Shift!

Zu Hao made up his mind.

This supreme art, originating from the Persian Ming Cult, focused on uncovering and wielding the immense energy hidden within the human body. It was an exceptionally profound method of exerting and applying force.

For that very reason, its requirements for the practitioner's internal energy were exceedingly harsh.

In the Heavenly Sword World, Zhang Wuji had mastered it in half a day precisely because he possessed incomparably abundant internal energy and the fully mastered Nine Yang Divine Skill.

Zu Hao had held himself back and remained patient until now, waiting for the Nine Yang Divine Skill to reach completion and clear the way for cultivating the Heaven and Earth Shift.

However, there was something more important to deal with first: filling his stomach.

He had eaten almost nothing since crossing over more than half a day ago. After the fierce battle, he was already ravenous.

Zu Hao turned around and swept his gaze across the surviving members of Ten-Thousand Horses Fort. "I'll trouble you all to properly handle these corpses and let them rest in peace."

When a person died, their debts ended with them. Leaving corpses exposed in the wilderness was not only inhumane, but could also easily cause an epidemic.

Naturally, Zu Hao had no need to handle such menial work himself.

The people of Ten-Thousand Horses Fort whom he had saved immediately agreed and began organizing men to dig pits and bury the bodies.

Zu Hao returned to the relatively intact front hall, where an enticing aroma of food had already spread through the air.

A large table stood in the center, covered with a dazzling array of dishes.

The braised lion's head meatballs glistened red and smelled irresistible; the steamed perch was white and tender, garnished with shredded scallion and ginger, light and elegant; there was also a bowl of Wensi tofu soup, its knife work exquisite and broth rich...

There were several delicate stir-fried dishes and pastries as well, enough to make anyone's mouth water.

Liu Yiyi was carrying over the final dish. When she saw Zu Hao enter, a bright smile immediately bloomed on her face as she asked expectantly, "Big Brother Zu, hurry and see whether it suits your taste."

Zu Hao did not stand on ceremony. Once seated, he began eating with great enthusiasm.

It had to be said that while Liu Yiyi's "saintly" habit could be irritating, her culinary skill truly stood at the pinnacle.

Every dish had been cooked to perfection and seasoned just right, bringing out the ingredients' most exquisite flavor. Her skill was on par with Liu Angxing and Stephen Chow.

This meal was undoubtedly the best Zu Hao had enjoyed across all the worlds he had traveled through, including the real world.

There were no modern industrial "technological tricks and chemical nonsense," only natural ingredients paired with almost miraculous cooking techniques, creating a feast of flavor that struck straight at the soul.

He even felt that state-banquet-level chefs in the real world would likely still fall somewhat short before Liu Yiyi's almost fantastical cooking.

After eating and drinking his fill, the work of collecting and burying the corpses outside was also nearing its end.

At Liu Yiyi's enthusiastic invitation, Zu Hao traveled with them to Food God Residence and took up lodging at a quiet inn nearby.

The moment he entered his room and set up a simple warning perimeter, Zu Hao impatiently began cultivating the Heaven and Earth Shift.

He had long since memorized the cultivation formula by heart.

He sat cross-legged, calmed his mind, and guided the ocean-like Nine Yang True Qi within him along the circulation route of the first level of the Heaven and Earth Shift.

Just as he had expected, the process went even more smoothly than he had imagined.

The first level took only a few minutes!

The second level took ten minutes!

The third level...

The fourth level...

Zu Hao's body, optimized by the T-virus and repeatedly tempered by the Nine Yang Divine Skill, had already accumulated potential unmatched by anyone in the world. It simply had never before been systematically developed or guided.

At that moment, the Heaven and Earth Shift was like a key that instantly opened the doors to his treasury of potential.

The hidden power within Zu Hao erupted like a mountain flood, unstoppable and overwhelming!

True qi surged and roared through his meridians, circulating with methods and efficiency unlike anything before.

Beneath his skin, countless tiny streams of golden energy seemed to dart about. It was a sign that his potential was being unleashed and his physical body was being further strengthened.

After mastering the fifth level, Zu Hao felt that every ounce of his spirit and strength could be directed at will, released when he wished and withdrawn when he wished. Everything followed his intent, and every part of his body felt incomparably comfortable.

The sixth level took a little over an hour to master as well.

At that moment, Zu Hao's control over his own strength had reached an entirely new realm. Every gesture could contain multiple changes in force, and redirecting or shifting an enemy's strength came as naturally as moving his own arm.

If he used telekinesis for Sword Telekinesis, he could wield eight swords at once.

Anyone who knew anything about the Heaven and Earth Shift would wisely choose to stop after fully mastering the sixth level.

That was because the seventh-level cultivation method had been deduced through the extraordinary imagination of its creator. Much of it was forced speculation and ambiguous nonsense; it had already gone down the wrong path.

If one stubbornly pursued perfection and insisted on reaching the seventh level, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance of suffering qi deviation at the final stage.

Yet as Zu Hao looked at the seventh-level cultivation method, filled with both temptation and danger, a burning determination flashed in his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, he began circulating his true qi according to the seventh-level method.

Sure enough, before long, tearing pain spread through his meridians. His true qi began to run wildly out of control, and countless illusions sprang up in his mind—the unmistakable signs of qi deviation!