Dark Force

Biodata

Power Progression

Realm Position

Characteristics

Internal Penetration

Dark Force is an intangible, needle-like force that bypasses a target’s outer defenses to damage flesh, bones, meridians, and internal organs directly. 7

• A Dark Force strike can enter through a blocked punch or redirected blow rather than relying solely on visible external damage. 7
• Its primary advantage is internal penetration, not necessarily superior physical strength or speed. 7
• Sufficiently abundant blood and qi can envelop, dilute, and disperse invading Dark Force before it spreads. 7
• Lu Fan was able to redirect much of Gu De’s force through borrowed momentum, though some Dark Force still entered his arm. 7

Force Core and Refinement

For Dark Force practitioners, refined force can be compressed within the Dantian into a Force Core. Lu Fan achieved this through the Tortoise Breath Formula. 13

• Compressing qi, blood, and force conceals a practitioner’s aura and can make them appear to be an ordinary person. 13
• Compression also purifies force; Lu Fan’s refined Dark Force shattered a jade pill bottle when injected into it. 13
• A more condensed Force Core improves the strength and control of Dark Force, allowing Lu Fan to contend with ordinary Late Dark Force practitioners while only at Mid Dark Force. 13
• A Force Core has limited capacity. At the Transformation Force breakthrough, Lu Fan deliberately shattered his core and replaced it with a Force Vortex and expanded Qi Sea. 27

Limits Against Transformation Force

Dark Force remains fundamentally inferior to Transformation Force despite refined force or exceptional techniques. 21 24

• A Dark Force practitioner cannot safely mobilize and release their entire reserve in one strike; attempting this would burst their meridians. 27
• Transformation Force possesses a much larger capacity for stored force, described as the difference between a pond and an ocean. 27
• Lu Fan’s exceptionally dense Late Dark Force allowed him to injure Li Xiao, but the clash still left him seriously internally injured. 20 21

Cultivation

Resources

• Meat and vitality-rich food — replenish blood and qi, accelerating cultivation; however, meat alone eventually became insufficient for Lu Fan to cross from Bright Force into Dark Force. 4 9
• Qi-Replenishing Pills — medicine valuable to Dark Force practitioners for restoring qi and blood. Lu Fan used one, amplified hundredfold, to break through from Bright Force. 8 9
• Tortoise Breath Formula — conceals aura while compressing and refining qi, blood, and Dark Force. 10 13
• Evergreen Formula — produces the abundant blood and qi that allowed Lu Fan to dissolve invading Dark Force and sustain prolonged combat. 7

Unstable Advancement

Dark Force gained through medicine may be weaker than properly cultivated power.

• Gu De’s Dark Force weakened with repeated use, fluctuated unpredictably, and left him increasingly short of breath during battle. 7
• Li Xiao later identified Gu De’s medicine-enhanced Dark Force as inferior to that of a genuine Dark Force practitioner. 8
• Artificial methods can produce rapid advancement, but an unstable foundation leaves a practitioner vulnerable to opponents with stronger fundamentals. 7 8

Known Practitioners

• Lu Fan / Chen Liu — advanced into Dark Force through a Qi-Replenishing Pill, later reaching Mid and Late Dark Force through pill refinement and the Tortoise Breath Formula. 9 13 15
• Gu De — a newly advanced, medicine-enhanced Dark Force practitioner whose unstable foundation was exposed during his battle with Lu Fan. 7 8
• Zhang Yao — entered Dark Force at age thirty and had reached Late Dark Force at least ten years before the Qin Household banquet. 4 9
• Li Xiao — formerly a Late Dark Force martial artist and hall master of Thunder Martial Hall before using a pill to enter Transformation Force. 6 17
• Liu Attendant — a Late Dark Force martial artist who reinforced the Qin Household during Li Xiao’s confrontation with Chen Liu. 20
• Ma Sheng — a Late Dark Force attendant of the Feng Household. 26

Notable Quotes

“Dark Force is nothing more than this.” 7

“All beneath Transformation Force are ants.” 15