Metal-Dowsing Art

Too light!

Wang Yu tossed the two stone weights onto the ground beside him again, pulled his feet back out of the soil, and shook his head.

Since fully awakening his Iron-Eater Crocodile bloodline, his physique had undergone no further startling changes, but his strength and stamina had increased considerably over their half-awakened levels. Lifting six or seven hundred jin now felt like child's play. In Overclocking mode, his explosive strength could more than double again, allowing him to lift weights exceeding a thousand jin with ease.

Next, Wang Yu walked over to the weapon rack, drew a sharp wooden sword, and stabbed it hard into his own arm.

Crack!

The wooden sword tip shattered instantly.

He rolled up his sleeve, baring his entire arm.

The spot where the wooden sword had struck bore only a white mark. It had not even scratched his skin.

Wang Yu narrowed his eyes.

After his full awakening, his skin seemed to have become exceptionally tough. Never mind wooden blades-even a small iron knife would have had considerable difficulty cutting it.

Compared with his original body on Blue Star, this body felt like a humanoid tyrannosaurus. He could crush fierce beasts such as Blue Star's elephants and tigers with one hand.

In addition, his full awakening had significantly strengthened his mental power. Though the increase was nowhere near as dramatic as his physical gains, its upper limit had still risen by a full quarter. Yet these were not all the benefits his awakening had brought.

At this thought, a strange expression appeared on Wang Yu's face. He slowly closed his eyes and stood motionless.

Thump, thump.

In the soil at a corner of the courtyard, an egg-sized piece of dark gray rock began trembling on its own. As time ticked by, it shook ever more violently.

"Rise!"

Wang Yu gave a low shout and opened his eyes, staring fixedly at the dark gray rock. His pupils seemed to dilate slightly.

Whoosh!

The dark gray rock suddenly sprang out of the soil. After hovering briefly close to the ground, it began floating slowly toward Wang Yu.

Veins bulged on Wang Yu's forehead, and beads of sweat appeared on his cheeks, but he gritted his teeth and struggled to hold on.

Thud!

The dark gray rock wobbled the whole way. Half a meter from Wang Yu, it could no longer stay aloft and dropped to the ground.

Wang Yu plopped down on the ground, exhaustion written all over his face.

After half a year of experimentation, he had finally confirmed that the innate ability he had gained through awakening was neither Copper Skin and Iron Bones nor Stone Armor, but the Metal-Dowsing Art, which gave him a certain sensitivity to metal ores and metal objects.

The Metal-Dowsing Art was one of the Iron-Eater Crocodile's two rare abilities, and very few people awakened it. But just as Daoist Chongyun had said, it was like a chicken rib-little meat to eat, yet a pity to throw away.

He could only roughly sense metal objects within a hundred meters. Against metal deposits often buried several li underground, that paltry range naturally had no practical use.

Through his experiments, however, Wang Yu discovered that the Metal-Dowsing Art's sensing ability could also move nearby metal objects through the air, much like the telekinetic object-moving ability that Western countries on Blue Star had once hyped so heavily.

However, he could only sense metal objects, move them seven or eight meters, and control things weighing two or three jin at most. It also consumed an enormous amount of mental power.

Moving a piece of metal ore the size of the one from earlier just a short distance with the Metal-Dowsing Art had depleted most of his mental power. It was hard to imagine what use it could have in actual combat.

With his current physical capabilities, a casual throw could easily send something more than a dozen times farther.

Rather than the Metal-Dowsing Art, Wang Yu would have preferred to awaken either of the two common abilities, Copper Skin and Iron Bones or Stone Armor. Even the other rare ability, Blood Frenzy, would have been welcome.

The first two were clearly genuine lifesaving abilities, while the last could at least let him stake everything on one desperate struggle in battle.

At that thought, Wang Yu sighed and stood up again.

Training to control metal objects with the Metal-Dowsing Art consumed far too much mental power. Since awakening the ability, he had practiced it only a handful of times.

Instead, he had devoted most of his mental power to his daily spiritual energy breathing exercises.

Thanks to his greatly expanded spiritual sense and the daily assistance of Spirit-Gathering Liquid, his cultivation of the Yin Water Art had advanced at tremendous speed over the past half year. He could already feel the bottleneck of the second level.

Unfortunately, he had recently used up those few bottles of low-grade Spirit-Gathering Liquid and the Yin Spirit energy. His cultivation speed had immediately plummeted, leaving him with nothing but tedious, painstaking practice.

After loosening his arms and legs, Wang Yu bent down and planted both his hands and feet on the ground, resembling a four-legged beast in mid-run. This was none other than the Four Wolf-Running Forms.

After practicing this method for so long, he had found that the Four Wolf-Running Forms seemed particularly effective at improving his reflexes and agility.

This was also the main reason he had been able to use the Four Wolf-Running Forms to dodge his opponents' attacks so easily in his previous battles.

With his current physical toughness, Blood-Refining Soup no longer had much effect. The Four Beast Diagram's Body-Tempering Method, on the other hand, could still steadily strengthen his body as long as he practiced it every day.

Moreover, the bottle of Stone Essence Milk Yin Linglong had given him, still well over half full, was good stuff indeed. After each session practicing the Four Beast Diagram's method, just a tiny sip would immediately restore most of his stamina, bringing him back to full strength so he could keep training.

If he had the chance, he would definitely acquire more. It was simply too useful for practicing a Body-Tempering Method.

Wang Yu had become thoroughly proficient in the Four Wolf-Running Forms, and before long, he finished a full round.

Rather than resting or starting the Four Wolf-Running Forms over again, he raised his head and drew in his chest, spread his straight legs apart, curled both hands into claws, and opened his mouth. He resembled a vicious tiger rearing up, ready to pounce and devour someone.

It was the first form of the Tiger Pounce Diagram!

When half-awakened, he had barely been able to practice the Wolf-Running Diagram. Now that he was fully awakened, his body could finally withstand practicing the Four Tiger-Pouncing Forms.

The instant he assumed this stance, he felt the blood throughout his body begin rushing faster of its own accord. At the same time, the tendons in both arms began tingling intensely, his ten fingers started twitching rhythmically on their own, and his heartbeat alternated between fast and slow...

Ten or so minutes later, Wang Yu's skin had reddened slightly, and faint waves of heat rose from his body.

His posture suddenly changed. He arched backward, whipping his spine forcefully back like a great spear, while drawing both shoulders back as far as possible and clasping his hands together...

Two hours later.

Huff.

Huff.

Wang Yu lay on the ground in the middle of the courtyard again, panting in great, forceful gulps. Sweat drenched his entire body, and a faint layer of white vapor seemed to shroud his skin, lingering without dispersing. Only after quite some time did it slowly fade away.

Just what was the origin of this Four Beast Diagram's Body-Tempering Method? Even with the physical toughness of someone whose bloodline had awakened, I could only practice the first eight forms.

He had attempted the subsequent Bear Embrace Diagram just once while in Overclocking mode, only to retreat, grimacing, before the difficulties. The final Ape Roar Diagram was even further beyond him.

Wang Yu pondered this silently.

According to the calculations of his supercharged thinking in synchronization mode, his physical toughness would have to increase at least three- or fourfold before he could barely complete the four forms of the Bear Embrace Diagram.

Even so, the effects of practicing the Four Tiger-Pouncing Forms were clearly superior to those of the Wolf-Running Diagram. The improvement in his wrist strength and the strength of his ten fingers was downright astonishing.

After recovering some stamina, Wang Yu raised an arm and examined his seemingly ordinary palm. Suddenly, he curled his five fingers into claws, turned his hand over, and thrust it hard into the nearby ground before lifting it again.

A dirt-covered gray brick was forcibly pulled out of the soil, his five fingers sunk more than halfway into it.

Crack!

As his fingers clenched, the gray brick burst apart from the middle, scattering a pile of fragments across the ground.