The Perfection Realm

Clang!

After bringing the final blow crashing down, Tian Hao set down the sledgehammer. Ignoring his trembling arms, he stared at the hammer on the ground, his bold brows furrowed in dissatisfaction.

He had indeed worked out a knockoff version of the Wild Wind Hammer Technique, which could use the recoil from each strike to stack up force, but its efficiency was far too low.

The first strike converted and added thirty percent of its force, but that proportion gradually dropped afterward. Eventually, he could no longer convert and stack any more at all. By the thirty-sixth blow, his force had only increased threefold, far below his expectations.

"Forget it. I can slowly improve it later. Forging black iron mainly relies on inner force anyway, so raw strength isn't that important."

He quickly adjusted his mindset. After all, this was a martial art he had only partly created himself, using the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand as its foundation. Being able to stack his force to three times its original strength was already quite good.

Once he obtained more martial arts that borrowed an opponent's force and turned it against them, such as the Heaven and Earth Great Shift, Star Shift, and Tai Chi Fist, and incorporated them into it, his knockoff would surely catch up to the original, or even surpass it.

Of course, strength was only secondary when forging black iron. The key lay in inner force.

After all, black iron could rival diamond in hardness. Yin Kexi had verified that in the Divine Condor story-even a Diamond Drill had struggled to leave a scratch on the black iron heavy sword.

Its properties already lay beyond the periodic table of his previous life, carrying a faint touch of the mystical. Ordinary methods could not forge it.

Otherwise, if strength were all that mattered, he would have cobbled together a drop-hammer pile driver for the job long ago. Why would he need to train so hard in Embrace Origin Force?

"Hao'er, did you create that hammer technique yourself?"

Seeing Tian Hao stop to think, Ning Zhongze could not resist asking, her heart brimming with excitement.

Although he had not created it from nothing and had instead adapted it from another martial art, Tian Hao was only eighteen this year. He had only been truly practicing martial arts for a little over three years.

Yet he could already partly create a powerful martial art of his own. That showed just how monstrously gifted his comprehension was.

"I just changed the moves of the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand, added a little accumulation and use of momentum, and worked in Embracing the Origin Inner Force. That's all."

Tian Hao smiled modestly, not considering it anything remarkable. Yet his words made everyone present's expression change dramatically. Their gazes grew even more fervent, filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"Mother, didn't he just create a hammer technique? Didn't Eldest Senior Brother and I create the Chongling Swordsmanship too?"

Not understanding the subtleties involved, Yue Lingshan could not see why her mother valued that fellow so highly. She and Eldest Senior Brother had created the Chongling Swordsmanship together, yet her mother had never lost her composure like this over it.

"You call that Chongling Swordsmanship of yours swordsmanship?"

Ning Zhongze rolled her eyes at her daughter and replied irritably.

She knew her daughter and Chong'er were creating a sword art, but their so-called Chongling Swordsmanship consisted of only a few sword moves riddled with flaws. It did not even have an accompanying formula. How did that qualify as swordsmanship?

Perhaps they could gradually perfect it over a decade or several, but their pace could not possibly compare to Tian Hao's current progress.

She then turned to her husband beside her. Tian Hao had once again proven his monstrous comprehension through his actions. They had to improve his treatment further.

Yue Buqun barely steadied his surging emotions before explaining, "The practice of martial arts is generally divided into three stages: entry, minor achievement, and major achievement. Once you reach major achievement, you are considered to have taken that martial art to its peak.

"But most people don't know that above major achievement lies another stage-the perfection realm."

"The perfection realm?"

Tian Hao was taken aback. This was the first time he had heard Old Yue mention such a thing.

Stroking his long beard, Yue Buqun continued, "Rather than saying we train in martial arts, it would be more accurate to say that martial arts train us.

"The martial arts we practice all came from our predecessors, but our predecessors were different from us. Differences in our surroundings, physique, cultivation, the properties of our internal power, and even our personalities and temperaments all affect our martial arts.

"That means that even if we practice our predecessors' martial arts, we cannot cultivate them to their absolute limits.

"This is the principle behind the saying: those who transform what I am will live, those who break beyond me will advance, and those who merely resemble me will perish.

"There are two paths to the perfection realm. One is to change yourself, drawing ever closer to the predecessor who created the art so that you fit the martial art you practice. But that path has limited potential and cannot truly reach the ultimate peak. After all, we can never actually become the predecessor who created it. It is a dead end.

"The second is to remain true to yourself and change the martial art you practice, bringing forth the new from the old, breaking free of its shackles, and turning it into an entirely new martial art that suits you.

"By comparison, the first path is easier, but its potential is limited. Your master and your martial uncles have all taken that path, and even so, we have found it exceedingly difficult.

"But Hao'er, your comprehension is exceptional. Without even realizing it, you have already stepped onto the second path, broken free of the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand's shackles, and begun creating a martial art of your own."

By the end, Yue Buqun was filled with emotion and excitement.

He had already recognized this disciple's peerless comprehension, but he had not expected another surprise.

After practicing the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand for only a few months, Tian Hao had not only reached major achievement but also broken its shackles and brought forth the new from the old, setting foot on the most perfect-and most difficult-path to perfection.

With such an outstanding disciple, why should he worry that the Mount Hua Sect would not flourish?

"Father, is there a big difference in power between martial arts at perfection and major achievement?"

Yue Lingshan asked curiously, deeply interested in the subject.

"Of course there is. It's even greater than the gap between major achievement and minor achievement."

Amused, Yue Buqun tapped his daughter's fair, delicate forehead, then looked at the disciple he had gained so easily and smiled. "Hao'er, try using the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand now. See how it differs from before."

Zhao Bulu and the others gathered around expectantly, eager to witness the might of a martial art truly at perfection.

Although they, too, were striving toward perfection, the limits of their comprehension had left them no choice but to take the easiest first path, a road half sunk in death.

Yet even that path was difficult to tread, and they had still not reached its end.

Tian Hao's comprehension clearly far surpassed theirs, and he had already stepped onto the second path to perfection in one martial art.

Although the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand was nothing special, it was enough to prove how monstrously gifted Tian Hao's comprehension was. With one perfected martial art under his belt, he would surely be able to bring other martial arts to the perfection realm as well.

His future prospects were limitless. He might even stand shoulder to shoulder with the Wudang Sect's True Martial Dao Venerable, Reverend Zhang!

"Little fellow, exchange a few moves with this old man."

A burly, one-armed elder stepped forward, eager to experience for himself just what made a martial art at perfection different.

"Martial Uncle Wu, please excuse me."

Tian Hao did not hesitate. After saluting, he stepped forward and charged.

Wu Buyi swung his right palm out as well, using Mount Hua's supreme art, the Primordial Chaos Palm-or, more precisely, the Primordial Chaos Palm Art.

Unlike his fellow disciples, his build made him ill-suited to the light, graceful Mount Hua Swordsmanship, so he had focused on the Primordial Chaos Palm Art instead.

Unfortunately, an arm had been severed during the Sword-Qi War, drastically reducing his fighting strength. He had been forced to retreat into the Qinling Mountains and quietly build himself up.

Yet he had never forgotten his goal of reviving the Mount Hua Sect. Even with one arm missing, he had continued diligently practicing the Primordial Chaos Palm Art.

Had he not been limited by his aptitude and comprehension, he would have broken through to the Houtian Realm long ago.

Still, years of bitter training had left him with considerable strength, especially in palm techniques.

His palm strike came without a sound, revealing not a trace of force or internal qi. Yet that made it all the more terrifying, for all its power was compressed within his palm. Once it erupted, it would shatter stone and startle the heavens.

Facing such a restrained palm strike, Tian Hao did not dodge or even use the throwing techniques of the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand. Instead, he punched out with a move from the Embrace Origin Force Fist Technique.

Although the move belonged to the Embrace Origin Force Fist Technique, he had incorporated the force-channeling methods of the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand.

This was a special ability he had gained after Aunt Dongfang's Innate Attribute enhancement allowed him to take his Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand training a step further.

Simply put, he had thoroughly comprehended the essence of the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand and adjusted it to suit himself. He could wield it more freely, even incorporating it into the moves of other martial arts.

Smack!

Fist met palm with a sharp, explosive crack. Tian Hao retreated half a step, while Wu Buyi's burly body swayed. Although the elder seemed to hold the upper hand, his stance had still been shaken.

Without pausing, Tian Hao hurled another punch, again using the Embrace Origin Force Fist Technique with the profound principles of the Eagle Claw Stele-Smashing Hand's force woven into it.