"Consume ten years of lifespan to simulate the martial art—Earth Coiling Art."
[Year 1, you began cultivating.] [Year 2, the Earth Coiling Art showed modest success.] [Year 5, your mastery became flawless, reaching the great completion realm.] [Year 7, the Earth Coiling Art reached perfection, adding another five hundred pounds of strength.] [Year 8, you attempted to integrate the Rock Steadiness Fist into the Earth Coiling Art.] [Year 10, you succeeded.] [The martial art was renamed: Stone Plate Fist Art] [That same year, you felt that this martial art shared a common artistic conception with the Mountain Splitting Palm and the Cauldron Origin Art.] [Perhaps it could be fused even further.]
The cultivation realm and training experience of the Stone Plate Fist Art merged into Jiang Yi's body.
His strength advanced another step!
Around him, an even heavier, more profound aura than before flickered in and out of sight.
Standing upon the earth, he was like an immovable boulder!
Indestructible, towering and unmoving!
"It can still be fused?"
Every martial art before this had been merged through matching artistic conceptions and complementary moves.
In other words, they merely worked in tandem. Separately, each remained an independent existence!
But fusion was different!
It meant reorganizing the martial arts anew!
Like massive chunks of iron, melted down one by one, gathered into a single furnace, then reforged into something new.
Keep the essence, discard the dross!
Draw on each other's strengths, make up for each other's weaknesses!
On the old foundations of the original martial arts, create an entirely new martial art!
This held no disadvantage for Jiang Yi!
After pondering for a moment, he made his decision.
"Consume ten years of lifespan to simulate the martial art—Stone Plate Fist Art."
[Year 1, this martial art had already reached perfection.] [But you believed there was still room for improvement.] [So long as you fused other martial arts into it, perhaps its power and even its grade could be greatly enhanced.] [Using the Cauldron Origin Art as the foundation, you attempted to integrate the Stone Plate Fist Art into it.] [Year 3, you made progress.] [Year 4, the martial arts had undergone preliminary fusion.] [Year 6, you continued refining and improving it.] [Year 7, improvements continued.] [Year 9, you succeeded and named the newly fused martial art Cauldron Origin Fist Art.] [Year 10, you attempted to incorporate the Mountain Splitting Palm into the Cauldron Origin Fist Art.]
"Consume another five years of lifespan and continue the simulation!"
[Year 13, you gained many ideas and decided to incorporate moves while supplementing the cultivation method.] [Year 15, you succeeded.] [A new martial art was created and renamed Cauldron Origin Mountain Splitting Art.] [The martial art was Yellow-rank, middle grade!] [Upon reaching great completion, one could cultivate Cauldron Origin Mountain Splitting Force throughout the body.]
It worked?!!
Using three Yellow-rank, lower grade martial arts and one unranked martial art, he had fused them into a Yellow-rank, middle grade martial art.
That also meant—
The upper limit of this martial art was enough to help a martial artist break through to the third minor realm of martial cultivation—
The Tendon-refining Realm!
Jiang Yi carefully sensed it, and his cultivation seemed to have improved slightly.
[Life Master: Jiang Yi] [Cultivation: Tendon-refining Realm] [Physique: None] [Cultivation Scriptures: Nameless Scripture (Incomplete), Eagle Claw Technique (Perfect), Cauldron Origin Mountain Splitting Art (Perfect), Tiger Roar Fist (Perfect), Cloud Snake Step (Perfect), Wrathful Blade Art (Perfect), Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art] [Lifespan: 107]
"It is time to begin working on this Profound-rank martial art!"
The Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art—the Tiger Demon was a ferocious beast from the ancient mountains and forests.
Its body was as massive as a mountain, black as ink from head to toe!
It was one of the great overlords of those ancient mountains and forests!
Legend had it that an extraordinarily ancient mutated bloodline flowed through its body.
Bloodthirsty and savage by nature, its strength was incomparably fierce!
No ordinary martial artist could stand against it!
The creator of this martial art had observed such a ferocious beast!
Comprehending its form and intent!
And thus created this martial art for tempering the fleshly body!
According to the martial art's contents!
The Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art was divided into five layers—skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and blood.
They happened to correspond to the four minor realms of the first Realm of martial cultivation, as well as the Blood Qi Realm of the second Great Realm.
Reaching the fifth layer meant great completion!
It could help a martial artist enter the Blood Qi Realm and develop the immense strength of a Tiger Demon.
The strongest person in all of Wushui Town seemed to be at the Blood Qi Realm.
If he broke through to that level!
Then throughout the entire town, he would be among that tiny handful standing at the very peak.
If he wanted to walk sideways, then he could walk sideways!
"Let's begin."
"More than a hundred years of lifespan should be enough to push this martial art to great completion, or even perfection!
"There should not be any problem!"
"Consume twenty years of lifespan to simulate the martial art—Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art."
[Year 1, you began cultivating.] [Year 2, since your own cultivation had already reached the Tendon-refining Realm, you quickly cultivated the first layer.] [Year 7, you cultivated the second layer, and your strength surged by one thousand five hundred pounds.] [Your strength reached ten thousand pounds!] [Year 17, after ten years, you successfully entered the third layer. Your tendons became tough as bowstrings, and Tiger Demon force was born within your body.] [Year 20, you continued cultivating diligently.]
"Not enough?"
Twenty years of simulated cultivation manifested upon Jiang Yi's body.
His skin and flesh swelled and churned, producing muffled booms!
The strength throughout his body surged explosively!
His blood and qi roiled like tidal waves, flowing violently as they washed through his flesh, bones, and tendons, continuously strengthening his physique.
It even faintly showed signs of bursting out of his body!
Meanwhile, an ancient, cruel, and savage aura seeped forth from his body!
It was as though a ferocious beast had possessed him, brimming with demonic might!
"Continue consuming twenty years of lifespan to simulate the martial art—Tiger Demon Body Tempering Art."
[Year 40, your tendon refinement reached great completion. Your tendons were tough, your force powerful, and all four limbs and hundred bones were fully connected.]
Twenty years to reach great completion in tendon refinement?
Jiang Yi only felt a series of crackling sounds erupt within his body, as though hundreds of massive bows hidden within him had simultaneously drawn their strings taut.
One tendon after another became tough and resilient!
Streams of force flowed through them!
His flesh was like steel, his tendons like bowstrings!
As he moved his body, that force gathered, ready to burst forth!
Jiang Yi felt his entire body overflowing with power!
If he faced that so-called Great Stronghold Master again now!
He was confident that even without using his trump cards, he could smash him to pieces with his bare hands.
Even against a martial artist who had only just entered the Blood Qi Realm, he could contend with them for a while.
If that was truly the case!
Then he had somewhat underestimated his own strength!
"Again!"
"Consume thirty years of lifespan and continue simulating the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Art."
[Year 45, you successfully tempered the first bone in your body.] [From then on, you entered the Bone-Tempering Realm.] [Year 70, you had tempered one-third of your bones, reaching seventy-six bones.]
"Continue!"
"Consume another thirty years..."
[Year 90, you entered perfection of the Tiger Demon's fourth layer. The Bone-Tempering Realm thoroughly reached great completion. One hundred and forty-six bones were as hard as mysterious iron, their vibrations roaring like a tiger's howl.] [Marrow gave rise to blood and qi, and your aura surged like a rainbow!] [Year 91, you cultivated diligently, replenishing your blood and qi as you attempted to temper the remaining sixty bones.] [Year 100, you tempered another fifteen bones.] [Your progress completely stagnated. You could not advance even an inch, as though you had reached the limit.] [Yet you could sense that you could break through into the second Great Realm of martial cultivation—the Blood Qi Realm—at any moment.] [You were only one step away from that Realm.] [You held yourself back!]
Before you continue