The Strongest Has Already Entered the Arena!

City 079.

Morning, seven o'clock.

Jiang Zhe was woken up abruptly for the first time, listening to his uncle explain what had happened at the War God Palace in the early hours.

His uncle patted him on the shoulder. "From now on, your public safety will be guaranteed. There won't be any more assassination attempts."

Jiang Zhe did not think much of it.

With the Black God Set, plus his rapidly soaring strength, why would he need to worry about assassinations? Unless the one carrying out the mission was Hong, the number one assassin.

What made him frown with some dissatisfaction were the decisions Hong and Thunder God had made regarding this incident.

Jiang Chengbai noticed his nephew's expression and advised him to take it in stride. "The Wang Family can't possibly be wiped out in one stroke. Neither Hanxia Nation nor the global economy could withstand that kind of upheaval."

"We can only use a dull knife to slice away at their flesh!"

"Heh heh, after this, our Jiang Family will gain quite a few more commercial resources. Save up for a while, and we'll be able to buy more Dragon Blood and Jade Marrow."

A scholar could be poor, but a martial artist had to be rich—what could make a murderous man like Jiang Chengbai happy, naturally, was the massive amount of Cultivation Resources about to arrive.

He might not need them himself, but the Jiang Family had The Little Five crying out to be fed!

And there was also the "bug" before him, who seemed likely to consume several times the usual resources.

Jiang Zhe nodded, yet still muttered, "It feels like it started strong and ended weak..."

Jiang Chengbai said, "Once we return to the Base City, Jia Yi will bring representatives from the Wang Family to apologize in person. We can collect another batch of their 'sincerity' then."

Jiang Zhe did not press the matter further.

But he had already made a note of it in his heart. It was inconvenient to deal with the Wang Family for now, but once Earth connected with the universe in the future, there would be plenty of ways to handle them.

Jiang Zhe changed the subject. "What about those two King Level Monsters?"

"You're worried about that? With two councilors surrounding and killing one King Level Monster, isn't it as easy as taking something from our pockets? Besides, we got another Black God Set last night. You don't need to worry about our safety at all."

Tsk tsk, that Randolph had given them Jade Marrow and a Black God Set. A true international friend!

Jiang Zhe asked curiously, "By the way, Uncle, you woke me up so early just to tell me this?"

"Get up for Morning Class!"

"Huh?"

Jiang Zhe was puzzled. Morning combat training?

Sure enough, he had not seen the old man. Had he really gone to catch the Kui Ox this time?

Jiang Chengbai reminded him, "You don't think you've learned the entire 'Xingyi Style,' do you?"

Jiang Zhe froze. Only then did he remember that he was still missing one final piece. The additional question his grandfather had mentioned—Thunder Sound from the Xingyi Six Arts—had yet to be taught.

"Come on, follow me to the rooftop. Morning is the perfect time to learn Thunder Sound, to expel the old and absorb the new!"

On the rooftop terrace of the luxury apartment building.

Facing the rising sun and the September morning autumn breeze, Jiang Chengbai demonstrated the mysteries of Thunder Sound, one of the Six Arts.

He calmed his mind and steadied his breath, sealing his lips shut as his chest and abdomen swelled and contracted.

Gurgle—rumble—

It was a technique seemingly mixed with ventriloquism, producing a purring sound usually heard only from felines.

It was as loud as muffled thunder!

He suddenly snorted and glared at Jiang Zhe, signaling him to watch carefully.

Gene Primordial Energy surged fully into motion, causing Jiang Chengbai's chest and abdomen to bulge into a ball, making him resemble a humming giant toad.

His overall appearance was much like those masters in films and television dramas cultivating Toad Skill.

As someone skilled in Body Cultivation, Jiang Zhe analyzed the force involved and felt that his uncle's technique was a process of "charging up—then releasing."

He hurriedly controlled the Black God Set, making it spread upward along his cheeks and plug his ears.

Sure enough.

A hint of amusement appeared in his uncle's eyes. He suddenly opened his mouth and roared.

Ha!

A terrifying blast of air poured forth, while frightening sound waves rippled outward as though they had physical form.

The rooftop floor cracked apart. Concrete pipes, solar panel frames, and the stairwell structure were destroyed, sending dirt and stones flying everywhere!

Jiang Zhe, only a few meters from the point of eruption, bore the brunt of it.

Even wearing the Black God Set, he felt as though a massive hammer had smashed into his chest. His mind went blank, and his internal organs trembled violently.

He was hurled backward off the rooftop like a piece of straw swept into the sky by a storm.

Fine, Uncle. So this is how you want to play it?

Only after flying more than twenty meters and beginning to fall naturally did Jiang Zhe regain his senses. He used Psychic Power to support his Combat Suit and flew back onto the cracked rooftop.

After landing, Jiang Zhe asked in confusion, "How can Thunder Sound be a Sonic Attack technique?"

Jiang Chengbai patted his belly and said, "Haha, this is only a little trick I modified. The inspiration came from the Kui Ox."

Jiang Zhe understood. "Uncle, you hope I can gain something from the Kui Ox too?"

"Smart!" Jiang Chengbai gave him a thumbs-up. "With your talent and the Kui Ox's help, I believe you'll quickly get started with Thunder Sound."

After that, Jiang Chengbai stopped fooling around and began teaching the orthodox version of Thunder Sound.

"Thunder Sound, put simply, is this: Tiger-Leopard Thunderclap, unite the breath and strengthen the force!"

"Imitate the purring of tigers and leopards, integrate your own True Qi, increase your power, and guide your force through your entire body."

Jiang Zhe listened carefully. Without needing his uncle to explain, he automatically replaced "True Qi" with "Gene Primordial Energy."

Jiang Chengbai continued, "When felines rest, their throats often produce purring sounds. This sound originates from the Dantian and can massage and stimulate the bones and internal organs, accelerating metabolism and development, making them stronger."

"It can even be used to heal injuries and stimulate bone regeneration, with effects equivalent to humans using ultrasound to treat bone damage."

"Little Zhe, you should understand this well. Hsing-I Chuan is a form of biomimicry."

"Thunder Sound, one of the Six Arts, imitates felines and is closely connected with the tiger form's Empty Neck, Lifting Crown. It is used to massage the respiratory system."

"It can be divided into two forms: Internal Training and External Training."

"As for Internal Training, you first train the respiratory and vocal systems at a superficial level, then affect the entire torso. Open the chest! Open the ribs! Open the back! Then use increasingly deep, faint thunderous tones to vibrate the five internal organs, carry away waste, and increase force."

"You can treat it entirely as a Guiding Technique. The ultimate goal of the Gene Primordial Energy Cultivation Method is to enhance Physical Quality!"

Jiang Chengbai paused, then suddenly asked, "Little Zhe, do you know how to heal injuries?"

Jiang Zhe nodded. "When absorbing Cosmic Energy, controlling it to gather at the injured area is the best healing method for martial artists."

The old man had specifically taught him that when they had been traveling away from the regional military district.

Jiang Chengbai smiled. "You can do the same while practicing Thunder Sound. Control Cosmic Energy to gather around your internal organs. It can both increase their resistance to impact and further improve your Physical Quality."

"Now, learn from me."

Beneath the golden morning sun, strange "gurgle-gurgle" sounds rang out across the rooftop.

Aside from sparring with him several days ago, this was Jiang Chengbai's first time formally teaching his nephew. At last, he witnessed his nephew's terrifying talent in "Body Cultivation."

After only three demonstrations, Jiang Zhe had copied the "form," reproducing it almost perfectly without the slightest error!

If Jiang Wu had been there, he would definitely have poured out his grievances—Uncle, now you know how I felt back then, right?

—I stood before him and watched him draw inferences from one example, and I always felt like a stupid pig!

Five minutes later, Jiang Zhe had mastered how to properly train his respiratory and vocal systems;

Ten minutes later, he extended Thunder Sound's influence to his torso;

Twenty minutes later, he mastered the secrets of opening the chest, ribs, and back, reaching the threshold of mastery;

Twenty-five minutes later, after sitting in meditation and pondering carefully, he finally made the deep thunderous sound affect his five internal organs. Reaching Perfection, he stepped into major mastery;

At the twenty-seventh minute, Jiang Zhe suddenly stood up, drew in a fierce breath, and made his chest and abdomen bulge like a ball just as his uncle had demonstrated, producing a rumble like muffled thunder.

—His chest and abdomen were like bellows, his lungs moving like thunder!

Jiang Chengbai stopped the timer on his communications watch.

"Less than half an hour!" His tone was rather complicated as he sighed. "You achieved in less than half an hour what those Ancient Martial Arts Inheritors needed nearly twenty or thirty years of winter and summer to accomplish!"

"Uh, it didn't feel that difficult." Jiang Zhe shrugged. It was the truth.

An awkward smile tugged at Jiang Chengbai's lips as he continued on his own. "The reason the old man never taught Thunder Sound to you third-generation members was because it was too difficult and would waste a great deal of your time. And even if you mastered it, the returns would be slightly inferior to the other Five Arts and the two major stance training Guiding Techniques..."

"Inferior?"

Jiang Zhe immediately sat cross-legged on the spot and gave it a try.

He assumed the Five Hearts to Heaven posture, exerted force from his Dantian, and gradually produced thunderous sounds from his chest and abdomen as he absorbed Cosmic Energy and gathered it toward his five internal organs.

A unique numbness filled his chest and abdominal cavities. It was like the resonance from touching an engine, as his organs were tempered through vibration and showed signs of strengthening.

Over time, it could indeed improve the impact resistance of his internal organs!

Although he had practiced only briefly this time, he absorbed Cosmic Energy quickly. Coupled with his freakishly precise perception of his own body, he could sense tiny improvements.

Increasing strength and improving Physical Quality were indeed real effects.

"Uncle, shall we continue with External Training?" Jiang Zhe stood after ending his experiment, like a little wolf cub crying to be fed and hungry for new knowledge.

Jiang Chengbai nodded and continued the unfinished lesson.

"The external function of Thunder Sound is to coordinate vocalization with exertion, allowing force to erupt more smoothly and increasing the multiplier of one's power output!"

"Take me as an example. After integrating the Five Arts, my power output is 5.4 times. But if I add Thunder Sound, I can strike with six times the force!"

As he spoke, Jiang Chengbai threw a punch with a booming ha.

A sonic boom erupted instantly. The gale stirred up by the blow made Jiang Zhe feel an extremely terrifying output of power.

After savoring the sensation briefly, Jiang Zhe asked in surprise, "Bajiquan? Exhalation Technique?"

"Haha, that's right!" Jiang Chengbai gave him a thumbs-up. "Those Fist Scriptures you flipped through over the years weren't read for nothing."

"Hsing-I's Tiger-Leopard Thunderclap focuses more on internal cultivation, while Bajiquan's Exhalation Technique focuses more on external force generation. So when the old man compiled the secret manual 'Thunder Tone,' he took the strengths of both and merged them together. That is why there are the divisions of 'Internal Training' and 'External Training' that I mentioned earlier."

"So, for the External Training of Thunder Sound, we'll directly discuss Bajiquan's Exhalation Technique!"

Jiang Chengbai smiled. "Little Zhe, first learn how to vocalize with me!"

"When exerting little force or delivering hidden force, the exhalation is light, and only a small amount of floating air is expelled from the body. The nasal cavity alone is enough. Since the sound made by airflow passing through the nose resembles 'hmph,' martial artists call it 'hmph'!"

"Make the sound with me—hmph!"

Jiang Zhe said, "Hmph?"

Jiang Chengbai said, "??? You really only learned the sound? You didn't put even a bit of force into it!"

"Ahem, Uncle, I was just joking. I'll fix it right away!" Jiang Zhe chuckled, then made a proper "hmph" sound with force behind it.

Only then did Jiang Chengbai nod. "It's slightly lacking, but you're on the right track..."

Then he corrected several flaws in Jiang Zhe's vocalization.

Jiang Zhe once again displayed his freakish talent. In less than ten minutes, a single "hmph" vocalization went from passable to the threshold of mastery, then to Reaching Perfection.

Jiang Chengbai had already gone numb to it. Once he felt it was more or less enough, he hurried on to the next stage.

"When exerting greater force or fully releasing your power, the exhalation becomes heavy, and much more floating air is expelled from the body. The nasal cavity is narrow and clearly insufficient for the task. At that point, the mouth must supplement it, or even become the main channel, ensuring the exhalation is completed smoothly. Most of the high-speed airflow passes through the mouth, making a sound similar to 'ha,' which martial artists call 'ha'!"

"Make the sound with me—ha!"

He had been dragged up for Morning Class at seven. Before eight-thirty, the lesson was over.

It was over in the deepest sense of the word. He had learned every last bit of the lesson, as though every bamboo shoot on the mountain had been stripped away.

Before the Great Nirvana, things that many martial arts masters needed twenty or thirty years to grasp had been crammed into Jiang Zhe in less than an hour and a half.

Jiang Chengbai was feeling a little withdrawn, as though he had been wrung dry. He remained alone on the rooftop to catch the wind.

If Jiang Wu had been there, the uncle and nephew would certainly have had plenty to confide in each other about.

Jiang Zhe returned to the Safe House and used the Punching Power Tester to test his results.

—"36022 kg!"

That was his normal punching strength.

The three portions of Jade Marrow might still have some medicinal effects hidden within his body. After another four or five hours of cultivation, he had still made obvious progress.

After adjusting his breathing, he pushed his force generation to the limit, coordinated it with the secrets of Thunder Sound, and threw a heavy punch!

Ha!

—"432979 kg!"

Jiang Zhe rubbed his eyes, stunned by the bright red number on the display.

"433 tons?"

"12 times force amplification!"

"I've actually reached the normal strength range of a peak Greater War God!"

He punched again.

This time, it was a series of punches, using the force-generation secret of "Thunder Sound—hmph."

Hmph!

Hmph!

Hmph!

—"394035 kg"!

—"399871 kg"!

—"400345 kg!"

—"400692 kg!"

"400 tons?"

"Excellent. The power of my consecutive punches can actually remain at 11 times force amplification. That effect is terrifying!"

"This means I don't need to charge up or adjust, and it will be difficult for anything to interfere with me. I can maintain my combat strength steadily around 400 tons for a long time."

"This is all thanks to the two sounds, 'hmph' and 'ha.' Vocalization guides force generation, raising and stabilizing one's normal level!"

"Thunder Sound, one of the Six Arts, truly cannot be underestimated!"

Counting them up, he had now mastered three vocalization techniques in total.

The first was Tiger-Leopard Thunderclap, with his chest and abdomen rumbling like thunder, used for Internal Training to strengthen the internal organs;

The second was the "hmph" sound, used to release continuous "small force."

The third was the "Ha" sound, unleashing full force.

"None of this is too difficult."

Jiang Zhe sighed, shut off the machine, left the Safe House, and flew back to the rooftop terrace.

"What level have you reached?" Jiang Chengbai asked curiously when he saw his nephew return.

"10+2. Twelve Times Force Amplification," Jiang Zhe replied casually.

Even as a Councilor-level powerhouse, an uncrowned king of Earth, Jiang Chengbai could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

Terrifying!

That monstrous talent of his was practically overflowing!

Even Thunder God, the best in the world at exerting physical force, had been utterly crushed by his own little nephew!

"Good! Good! Excellent!" Jiang Chengbai was so excited he could barely contain himself. "I truly look forward to seeing the Ultimate Secret Manual you compile!"

"Uncle, I'll wait a little longer. It's not time yet." Jiang Zhe waved him off.

He still lacked the relatively important Defense Amplification, and there were many other omissions and flaws. There was no point in creating such an incomplete Power Emission Technique.

"That's true. Little Zhe, focus on your cultivation first. Think about writing books and founding schools after you advance to the Councilor Level."

Jiang Zhe did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Writing books and founding schools?

Who am I to be using words like that? I'm practically becoming a Sage.

Jiang Chengbai suddenly slapped his forehead, remembering something.

"Oh, right, Little Zhe. The Exhalation Technique isn't merely the application of 'Humph' and 'Ha' in exerting force. It has other uses too. I forgot to explain them just now."

"Go ahead, Uncle."

"Exhalation is a method of controlling breath unique to Bajiquan. It has four main effects: first, Stabilizing the Lower Body; second, Increasing Strength; third, strengthening the sinews and bones; fourth, promoting the Six Harmonies."

Jiang Zhe: (ー`ー)

To be honest, he really could not tell what was worth mentioning about those four effects. After hearing them, he had only one thought—Awu, the new era no longer has a ship that can carry people like you.

Ancient martial arts truly contained much valuable essence.

This land had once nurtured two peerless geniuses, Hong and Thunder God.

But that did not mean everything in ancient martial arts suited this current age of Gene Primordial Energy. It had to be inherited critically.

His uncle continued explaining in detail, and Jiang Zhe calmed down and listened.

"So-called Stabilizing the Lower Body means using exhalation to drive force downward. To be precise—it sends force from the Dantian through both legs and into the feet, then releases it downward through the Yongquan Acupoint, thereby stabilizing the lower body. This is the principle behind the saying, 'When qi sinks, one is steady; when qi floats, one drifts.'"

"This is the skill the older generation often called the Thousand Jin Drop!"

"Once you master it, it will be difficult for others to knock you down. It will also greatly enhance your movement techniques and spear techniques!"

Jiang Zhe considered it for a moment. It was easy to understand, and he could do it without much effort.

Mm... not entirely useless. It has some use.

Note!

Martial artists in Devouring World did have Dantians, but only after reaching the Planetary Level would they open up a special space to contain a Micro-Planet.

His uncle continued, "So-called Increasing Strength uses exhalation to mobilize the force of the entire body, releasing it from the points of exertion in the limbs. This increases the striking power at those points and allows the force to penetrate deeper into the opponent's body, injuring their internal organs."

Isn't that just hidden force?

Jiang Zhe nodded lightly. It was easy to understand. He could probably master it after a few attempts, but it was still nothing particularly impressive.

Useless!

Seeing Jiang Zhe's reaction, Jiang Chengbai explained the third point. "So-called strengthening the sinews and bones means that, at the instant of exhalation, every part of the body is filled with Gene Primordial Energy, like an inflated ball. It can both withstand blows and rebound them."

Jiang Zhe suddenly froze.

Did I just pick up on some keyword?

Jiang Chengbai continued giving examples. "When facing an attack you cannot evade, exhalation can prevent external force from penetrating the body, thereby increasing the body's resistance to blows. You can also use the rebounding force generated by exhalation to return the favor. The harder the opponent strikes, the worse they are injured."

Jiang Zhe: Everyone, after hearing that again, I didn't mishear it, did I?

Exhalation could actually increase defense?

"Little Zhe, before the Great Nirvana, when Bajiquan masters practiced body-striking techniques such as Back Against the Mountain and Leaning Against the Post, they would accompany them with exhalation. It could prevent injury to the internal organs and promote the growth of one's skill."

Jiang Zhe could no longer hear what his uncle was saying. There was only one thought in his mind—The strongest person is already among us!

"Uncle, stop for a moment. Can you demonstrate the marvelous use of the Exhalation Technique in strengthening the sinews and bones?"

"So-called promoting the Six—hm? Strengthening the sinews and bones?"

"Yes, Uncle. Strengthening the sinews and bones!"

"I demonstrated it when I first taught you Thunder Sound. I even told you that I got the inspiration from the Kui Ox."

I'll combine the two chapters and post them together; they can't be separated anyway.

Practicing secret techniques created by others was still practice, and practicing one's own was also practice. Better to highlight the protagonist's talent by having him create a hundredfold force amplification secret technique. This was the route I had planned from the start when setting up the Jiang Family's inherited secret arts.