Breakthrough: Body Tempering, First Heaven

A moment later.

Ding! Tiger Fist proficiency increased by one.

The notification sounded, accompanied by deeper insights into the Fierce Tiger Fist surging through his mind.

As he refined the medicinal power, he incorporated those insights into every detail of the stance technique and fist forms.

Wang Clan Martial Hall, Green Mountain Town.

Inside a single-person residence, Liu Teng sat by the bed, wiping down a refined iron saber.

The blade reflected his rugged, sharply defined face. He was two years younger than Tiger Liu and looked five or six parts alike, his face likewise covered in heavy flesh.

Only, his build was even more muscular and sturdy, the veins on his forearms knotted like twisted dragons, his knuckles covered in hard calluses worn from martial training.

Crack!

The door was pushed open from outside, and a gaunt middle-aged man in his fifties entered. The wrinkles on his face looked as though they had been carved with a knife.

It was Liu Ma, an old resident of Green Mountain Village and Liu Teng's distant uncle from a separate branch of the family.

He had come all the way from the village, and a layer of sweat still beaded his forehead.

Liu Teng looked up, frowned, and set the saber on the table. "Uncle Ma, what happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Liu Ma stood at the door, his lips trembling twice. The words twisted around in his throat several times before finally emerging. "Xiao Teng, your father... your father is dead!"

Liu Teng shot to his feet, sending the chair flying into the wall with a bang!

The flesh on his face tightened as he stared fixedly at Liu Ma. "What? My father is dead? How is that possible?!"

Liu Ma sighed. "It's true. The village chief really is dead. His head was cut off, and your mother went with him. Their bodies are lying in the courtyard, and no one dares collect them."

Liu Teng's body shook. The color drained from his face in an instant, only for furious red to flood back into it.

He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his cheeks twitching. "What exactly happened? Uncle Ma, tell me everything. And where's my elder brother?"

Liu Ma looked troubled.

To be honest, if he had not shared the Liu surname, and if the young and strong men of the clan had not often received Liu Dagang's care—getting two extra mu of good farmland, paying thirty percent less grain tax, and even following him in several unspeakable dealings—

he truly would not have dared bring this news.

But with this incident, he was afraid too. Afraid that whoever had settled Liu Dagang would come for them next.

That was why he had rushed here to have Liu Teng step forward.

Lowering his voice, he poured out everything he knew. "Zhao Laosan discovered it this morning. The door wasn't bolted. When he pushed it open, the courtyard was covered in blood. Your father's head had been separated from his body, and your mother had fallen beside him."

"The house had been ransacked, though no one knows what was taken. As for Tiger Liu..."

He paused and glanced at Liu Teng. "Tiger Liu, Xiao Er, and Xiao San came to town the day before yesterday, but they still haven't returned. The village asked around, but no one saw them."

Liu Teng's expression changed several times in just a few breaths!

First came thunderous rage, then disbelief, and finally a calm, almost sinister savagery.

He slowly sat back down by the bed, his knuckles clenched white.

After a long silence, he raised his head. "I understand, Uncle Ma. But I can't leave right now. The martial hall has something for me to do. It was assigned by Master, so I can't refuse. Once I'm finished, I'll return at once."

Though he said he could not leave, the killing intent in his eyes was so thick it was nearly spilling over.

Liu Ma could not help taking half a step back. He nodded. "All right, Xiao Teng. Hurry up. I'll look after things in the village first."

Liu Teng said nothing more. He reached out and picked up the refined iron saber on the table, its edge reflecting a snow-bright cold gleam in the window light.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed.

Inside Feng Chen's room, the sunlight outside the window shifted from golden-white at noon to warm yellow in the west, then gradually sank lower.

He maintained the Fierce Tiger Fist Stance Technique without moving. Sweat soaked through his clothes and dried again, leaving a thin layer of salt frost on the coarse cloth across his back.

Supported by three portions of High-Grade Blood-Qi Medicinal Herbs, the medicinal power within him continuously supplied energy. That warm current raced endlessly through his veins, every wash making his muscles and bones denser and stronger.

He could clearly feel his body growing stronger bit by bit.

It was not some vague feeling of having more strength, but a solid sense of transformation, like crude iron repeatedly hammered and tempered in a furnace, impurities driven out until nothing remained but refined steel.

Ding! Tiger Fist proficiency increased by one.

Ding! It has been detected that the host is cultivating diligently. Talent trait A Thousand Miles a Day has activated.

His cultivation speed suddenly surged under the talent's enhancement.

Every mystery of Tiger Fist was being stripped away thread by thread. The final barrier had become as thin as paper, ready to break at any moment.

Another hour passed.

Hum!

The currents in the air trembled faintly.

A notification louder than any before exploded in his mind.

Ding! Tiger Fist has reached the Perfect Mastery Realm. Please check it.

Ding! Congratulations, host, for successfully breaking through to the Martial Artist Realm, Body Tempering, First Heaven. Please check it.

A vast flood of insight surged through his mind like waters bursting through a collapsed dam.

Every layer of comprehension from Tiger Fist's entry level to Perfection was reorganized and connected in that instant, forming a complete system of fist principles.

At the same time, an entirely new experience flooded into his consciousness.

It was insight into Body Tempering, First Heaven.

At the instant he broke through the Martial Artist Realm, the Blood-Qi that had previously flowed loosely through his body was suddenly gathered together. It was no longer a scattered rabble, but an army with discipline.

A faint warmth arose at his Dantian, as though a tiny seed had been planted there.

His body was also changing rapidly.

The Blood-Qi driven by the medicinal power continuously surged throughout his body, seeping into every inch of muscle, bone, and meridian, remolding all his physical qualities from top to bottom.

His bones gave soft cracks, his muscles repeatedly tightened and relaxed, and his heartbeat became deep and powerful, each beat like a drumstick striking a great oxhide drum.

After a long while, Feng Chen opened his eyes.

A faint gleam flashed through his pupils, like flowing light gliding over a blade tempered in fire.

He lowered his head, slowly raised an arm, and clenched his fist.

The instant his five fingers closed, the muscles in his arm erupted. Muscle fibers twisted together like tightened steel cables, their smooth contours turning hard as iron and brimming with explosive force.

The veins on his forearm bulged slightly—thick blood vessels deeply buried beneath firm muscle, pulsing faintly with his heartbeat.

It was not only his strength. His five senses had grown far sharper as well.

Within range of his hearing, he could clearly hear insects skimming across the surface of the water jar in the courtyard, the dull sound of cured meat on the kitchen beam brushing against the wall in the wind, and even Lin Qing'er's steady, shallow breathing in the next room.

Everything he saw was clearer as well. Every edge of every hole in the window paper looked knife-carved, while grains of dust floated one by one through the sunlight.

Even his sense of touch had become extraordinarily keen. With his feet on the dirt ground, he could feel the faint rises and falls of the earth. He could sense shifts in the wind direction as air flowed past the hairs on his arms.

"So this is Body Tempering, First Heaven? It's simply worlds apart from before."

Disbelief appeared in Feng Chen's eyes.

He had thought Body Tempering, First Heaven was merely the beginning of the Martial Artist Realm, and should not differ much from an ordinary person.

After all, the books said that the Body Tempering Realm had nine heavens, and the First Heaven was only its most foundational stage.

He had never expected the gap after truly breaking through to be so enormous.

An impulse rose in his heart. He wanted to test his current limits.

Feng Chen bent his knees slightly and gave a light jump.

The power in his feet exploded, and his entire body shot upward like a pellet, his head easily touching the ceiling!

It was more than three meters high, yet he had not exerted himself at all. It had only been a casual leap.

When he landed, he knew that if he truly exerted force, he could jump even higher.

This physical strength was far too powerful.

A smile spread across Feng Chen's face as his mind sank into the attribute template deep within his Sea of Consciousness.

Rapid Mastery
Host: Feng Chen
Technique: Fierce Tiger Fist (Perfection)
Realm: Body Tempering, First Heaven
Skills: Basic Archery (Perfection), Basic Fist Technique (Perfection), Low-Level Hunting Skill (Perfection), Basic Blade Technique (Entry 15/100), Basic Movement Technique (Perfection), Basic Medicine (Not Yet Initiated 0/100), Eat, Drink, and Be Merry (Perfection)...