He An slowly exhaled. A wisp of white breath, condensed almost to solidity, escaped his lips and stretched over a foot through the air before dissipating. As his mind settled into lucid emptiness, a drifting strand of primordial energy quietly gathered at his fingertip.
The primordial energy passed from intangible to tangible, from scattered to condensed, finally becoming a nearly invisible speck of light that shimmered at the tip of his finger.
"Extinction Finger..."
The thought had barely stirred in his mind when that speck of light scattered like a bird startled by a bowstring, leaving nothing he could grasp.
It was a feeling mysterious beyond mystery. He An tried to recapture the trace of Dao resonance he had touched while forming the Extinction Finger, but it was like fishing for the moon in water. His mind lay empty, unable to find even the slightest clue.
One thought arose, and all things were born; one thought perished, and all things ceased.
Frustration and impatience sprouted like weeds in his heart. He An abruptly rose and threw a furious punch. Surging true qi roared with the wind of his fist, making the entire stone chamber tremble faintly.
His figure flashed, fists blurring as he threw dozens of punches in succession. Only when the pent-up heaviness in his heart had eased a little did he sit cross-legged again.
He An knew perfectly well that although he had mastered the Cloud-Riding Hand and broadened his meridians far beyond those of ordinary people, enough to recover everything the Immortal-Slaying Finger consumed within three breaths, he still could not cross the threshold of the strongest technique, the Extinction Finger. With only the Spirit-Shocking Finger and Immortal-Slaying Finger, he would ultimately fall short against a true supreme expert.
After briefly regulating his breathing, He An took