[Transformation complete!] ["Turtle-Snake Stance" → "Panwu Great Strength True Art"!]
Thud!
A tremendous boom exploded beside his ears, blackening Lu Sui's vision and nearly knocking him unconscious.
His head buzzed wildly, and drops of blood seemed to drip from the tip of his nose.
Xiaohuan and Xiaotang, who were watching beside him, paled in fright.
"It's nothing. My Qi went astray while I was practicing."
Lu Sui waved a hand to reassure them.
The drastic change came quickly and passed just as quickly, swiftly settling into calm.
"Did it... work?"
Lu Sui steadied his breathing and closed his eyes slightly.
The shrine belonging to the Turtle-Snake Stance blazed with such dazzling light that he could barely look at it.
Only after a full half an incense stick's time did the light gradually recede, revealing what lay within.
"It's grown!"
Lu Sui held his breath and looked closely.
The shrine seemed to have "grown taller" by several inches. No longer merely palm-sized, it encompassed much more.
Then there were the little turtle and little snake-their forms were utterly different!
The first thing Lu Sui saw was a pool as black as ink, without a ripple, its stillness almost heavy.
Above the water, a "mountain" slowly emerged.
It was an enormous turtle, dark all over, its shell rising high. Faint, mysterious patterns crisscrossed it, like a towering mountain.
The great turtle stood upon the water on all four feet, its head held high, as though treading upon rivers. What a magnificent sight!
Then a one-horned azure flood dragon poked its head out from beneath the water, its fine scales opening and closing as it swam slowly.
It coiled around the great turtle's shell, extending half its body.
The serpent's head and the turtle's head stood side by side at the front, their forms entwined, bearing an imposing majesty that seemed capable of suppressing all things!
"Treading water, bearing a mountain! Panwu Great Strength!"
Lu Sui's eyes flickered.
"They transformed along with it and changed their forms!"
The information previously recorded suddenly changed, as though erased and rewritten.
-[Panwu Great Strength True Art (Precious)] [Aptitude: High-grade] [Imprints: Tempering, Sea Absorption] [Inscription: Throw a million punches, and mighty strength will arise of itself; fill the bottomless pit, and a treasured body will form of itself] [Guidance: Practice once a day for long-lasting Qi and great strength; consume medicines and pills for dragon sinews and tiger bones]
"A million punches? What year of the monkey and month of the horse will I have to keep punching until?"
Lu Sui's face twitched. After advancing to precious grade, the Panwu Great Strength True Art had also become more demanding.
Neither imprint was easy to handle. One required ceaseless practice, the other nonstop ravenous eating.
"After transforming from ordinary grade to precious grade, its enhancements should be more tangible?"
Lu Sui speculated. If Luo Dongsheng had not taken the initiative to deliver that wisp of Calamity Qi, completing a martial art transformation would have been anything but easy.
In the Land Beyond the Pass, who did not pale at the mention of calamities?
Without genuine ability, encountering a demon calamity or an evil calamity meant a certain nine chances of death to one of survival!
"Thank you for your gift, Brother Luo."
Lu Sui offered his utterly insincere thanks, then looked at the thicker, longer stick of green incense that had appeared out of thin air.
Its smoke drifted faintly, so thin it seemed a gust of wind would scatter it.
"How could a mere insight compare to experiencing it myself!"
Lu Sui impatiently left the ancient temple, intending to experience the Panwu Great Strength True Art for himself.
He opened his eyes, but before he could rise, circulate the art, and stir his Qi and Blood-
An indescribably immense force enveloped his entire body!
As though he were carrying a mountain, his body suddenly grew heavy, compressed and ground against itself, cracking loudly!
"Fuck!"
Lu Sui let out a muffled grunt, nearly unable to hold back a torrent of curses.
The force surged ferociously, causing his Qi and Blood to erupt like a river released through floodgates, rushing through his limbs and every bone.
Wherever it passed, veins bulged beneath his skin, as though he were covered in crawling earthworms. It was rather terrifying!
"Uncle Wen said practicing martial arts was like stoking a furnace-the hotter you burned your body, the better.
"Right now... I feel like I'm about to explode from the heat!"
Lu Sui braced both hands against the writing desk, his face slightly contorted, wisps of white vapor rising from his body.
Currents of heat like boiling water surged through him, stimulating the thick sinews deep beneath his flesh, as though stretching them forcefully inch by inch!
It was as though an invisible hand had gripped every thick sinew in his body, slowly twisting them tight, then slowly releasing them, over and over!
"This hurts so damned good!"
A complicated expression appeared on Lu Sui's face, both comfortable and pained.
Each thick sinew was like a drawn bowstring, pulled to its limit before abruptly snapping back with a series of twangs!
"Long sinews mean great strength, and punches that hurt!"
Lu Sui clenched his teeth as Tan Jingzong's words flashed through his mind.
Once he endured this, he could fight ten Deng Yuns the next time they sparred!
The hot current burned through his sinews and muscles, gradually seeping into his bones.
If the earlier sensation had hurt so good, this was pure torment!
Every bone felt as though it had been tossed into molten iron, then hammered section by section with a heavy hammer. The pain made Lu Sui see stars and gasp for breath.
The sounds of his bones rang out within him, joining into a continuous clamor, crackling like beans roasting over a raging fire, rumbling endlessly like muffled thunder.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
Lu Sui's hands squeezed cracks into the long desk made of solid wood.
The hard, flat blue-brick floor also crumbled beneath his feet.
An unknown amount of time passed. Outside, the night had deepened, and it was nearly the hour of the ox.
"Phew! That took half my life!"
The breath Lu Sui had held so tightly abruptly escaped, and he collapsed into his chair.
He was utterly drained.
"A complete precious-grade, high-tier martial art really is ferocious."
Lu Sui could feel that his sinews, bones, and physique, enhanced by the Panwu Great Strength True Art, had completely surpassed the level of Strengthening Qi and Blood.
They had reached a terrifying, unimaginable degree!
"Deng Yun and Liang Bao together wouldn't be enough for one of my hands!"
Powerful confidence rose in Lu Sui's heart. He felt he could challenge the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School's strongest disciple, Eldest Senior Brother Zheng Rong.
"Qi and Blood are condensed and undergo repeated refinement, nurturing Bone Aspects of varying strength.
"There's Iron Bones at the bottom, Silver Bones in the middle, Gold Bones at the top, and the rare Jade Bones.
"I should count as having Silver Bones now, each bone standing firm, its edges pronounced. Punching through several layers of cowhide would be nothing."
He had seen inner-court disciples at the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School use specially tanned cowhide as targets, striking them repeatedly to train their "bone strength."
After developing Silver Bones, one's punches and kicks became exceptionally sharp and could pierce five layers of cowhide!
"Young master..."
Xiaohuan asked timidly,
"Are you all right?"
The sight of Lu Sui practicing just now had truly been frightening.
He had looked as though he had been thrown into a furnace for tempering, steaming hot and red-skinned, with only the scent of cooked meat missing.
"I'm hungry."
Lu Sui slumped in the chair, unwilling to move even a finger.
"Xiaotang, see what's left in the kitchen and bring it all here. I'm hungry enough to eat an ox!"
Xiaotang answered,
"All right, young master. The kitchen stove's been kept hot. I'll have the cook make you some chicken, duck, fish, and meat!"
On the outskirts of Changle County.
This was a notorious mass graveyard, with desolate graves everywhere and ghost fires drifting about.
The gray-clad man carried a rolled straw mat on his shoulder, treading across withered grass as he entered.
He walked to the large pit he had dug during the day and gently lowered the straw mat into it.
Qiu Yu was inside.
"Senior Sister, you loved cleanliness most. I should have found you a place of clear waters and beautiful mountains..."
The gray-clad man's voice was hoarse.
"But that old dog Lu Yulin submerged you in a cesspit. If I hadn't acted, you would have died alive in that stench, rotted through while still living!"
"Killing you with a curse was the last thing your junior brother could do for you."
The gray-clad man crouched and lifted a corner of the straw mat.
It revealed a deathly pale face, its skin ulcerated, maggots breeding in flesh and bone, with none of its former beauty remaining.
Clang!
The gray-clad man drew the gold-inlaid saber and planted it beside him, then carefully and gently turned Qiu Yu over and measured against her back.
Then-
The tip sank in, cutting a line along her spine!
Hiss!
The treasured saber was sharp enough to slice iron like mud, producing only a soft sound like tearing silk.
Before long, the gray-clad man had stripped out a section of spine.
"Master taught me the Suppression Art, with only two methods, Suppression Object and Subjugation, but he taught you a whole five kinds of Witchcraft and Gu Art! All so you could keep me in check, Senior Sister!"
The gray-clad man spoke as he carefully worked the blade.
"But our venerable master didn't understand human hearts. He never expected us to fall in love... Senior Sister, once I inherit your Witchcraft and Gu Art, I'll use Five Poisons Divine Sand to master the Five Poisons Hex and curse Lu Yulin into a cripple. Then, before his very eyes, I'll slice that sickly young master apart alive and avenge you!"
Above the mass graveyard, old crows wailed and beat their wings in flight.
As though unable to bear the sight of this bloody scene.
A little under an hour later.
The gray-clad man held a complete spine in his hands as though he had obtained a priceless treasure.
The rolled straw mat in the pit was soaked through with blood.
"This is good too, Senior Sister."
The gray-clad man gazed at the pale skeleton and murmured,
"This way, you and I will never be parted."