Chapter 36: Chapter 33: Iron Armor Steel Fang
Mu Chen glanced up at the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit playing by itself in the air. ’Ti for step one,’ he thought. He then lay on his side, drawing a puzzled look from the little creature. As soon as he activated the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi that had just scattered rushed back toward him, faster than ever.
"Hrm?"
The Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit couldn’t sit still when it saw the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi surging toward Mu Chen as if it were a tangible substance. It smacked its lips a few tis and hopped over to Mu Chen’s side. After a quick glance at him, the spirit opened its tiny mouth and took a big gulp. A small wisp of the Qi gathering around Mu Chen imdiately broke away and flew into its mouth.
Mu Chen was only guiding the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to gather around him; he hadn’t truly entered a state of ditation. Seeing the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit devour the Qi just as his Master had described made him happy, and he began to think about how he should spend the ti ahead.
He had passed the Body Refining Stage of a Martial Disciple. He hadn’t expected to break through to the Martial Artist realm so quickly—he hadn’t even used the final one-thousand-jin Black Iron Block. He removed the Black Iron Lock Chain from his left hand, placed it in his Storage Ring, and began to ponder his next steps.
’I’ve already achieved Great Success in Thunderous Fist, the first part of the Furious Thunder Force’s "Thunderous Roar" attack technique. I’ve also mastered the first part of its "Movent" body technique. This ans I can start practicing the second parts for both: Thunderbolt Fist and Mist Step.’
He nodded. With a plan in mind, Mu Chen wouldn’t feel like he was wasting ti in the coming days. After turning a blind eye and letting the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi for the duration of an incense stick, Mu Chen decisively stopped the circulation of his Extre Spirit Chaos Technique.
"Hm? Woo woo woo!"
The Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit, which had been blissfully devouring the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi with squinted eyes and its little mouth open, suddenly noticed that the Primordial Qi it was inhaling was missing its delicious flavor. Confused, it tentatively took two more sips. This ti was even worse—it couldn’t sense any Primordial Qi at all. The spirit’s squinted eyes shot wide open, and it cried out at Mu Chen in protest.
However, Mu Chen didn’t even spare it a glance, his inaction making it clear that its protest was futile.
"Whimper... whimper..."
Seeing that Mu Chen was ignoring it, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit’s head drooped. It smacked its lips, as if still savoring the mory of the delicious Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.
Mu Chen couldn’t help but smile. ’This Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit really is intelligent,’ he thought, ’and I have to admit, it’s adorable.’ But he didn’t have ti to play with it now. With a single thought, information about the Furious Thunder Force’s Combat Skills surfaced in his mind.
"Thunderbolt Fist: A swift and fierce fist technique that attacks enemies with speed and formidable explosive power. When speed and explosive power are combined, the resulting force is several tis greater than that of Thunderous Fist, and its latent explosive power will also gradually increase. When practiced to Great Success, the sound of thunder fades. Due to the extre speed of the fist, friction with the air generates arcs of electricity that travel across the knuckles, making it look like a rushing thunderbolt. Hence the na, Thunderbolt Fist."
"Building upon Deceptive Step, the sound of thunder is gradually eliminated. Similar to Thunderbolt Fist, it uses speed and powerful explosive power to achieve instantaneous acceleration. When cultivated to Great Success, the ferocious speed will generate intense friction with the air, creating arcs of electricity that travel beneath the feet, making it appear as though one is controlling thunder itself, moving at extre speeds. Mist Step: In motion, illusory; in stillness, real. Between motion and stillness, the real and the illusory blur. This is the essence of Mist."
After completely grasping the descriptions of Thunderbolt Fist and Mist Step, Mu Chen found himself yearning for these techniques even more. He loved the feeling of unleashing power in an explosive, instantaneous burst. Below the descriptions were the cultivation thods for both, which included so annotations from previous practitioners. Though incomplete, they would help Mu Chen avoid many pitfalls.
*Phew...* ’It’s true. It’s not about having more Combat Skills, but about how well you master them.’
He let out a long breath, pulling his thoughts back to the present. Mu Chen knew that even with the annotations, it would take him at least six months just to reach the Beginner level of Mist Step. Mastering it would be even harder. His earlier ideas now seed incredibly naive.
Since he had to stay here for the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit, he might as well focus on practicing the second level of Furious Thunder Force. As soon as the thought occurred, he resolved to do it. Mu Chen realized the Sun and Moon Pool was actually a good place to practice his step technique. While a five-hundred-ter-diater space wasn’t big enough for him to run everywhere, it was sufficient for his training needs.
It suddenly occurred to him that although he had broken through to the Martial Artist Realm, he hadn’t yet tested his new strength and speed. He glanced around before settling on the jade wall in front of him. The Primordial Power in his body instantly condensed, and a red ring materialized beneath his feet.
’So this is Primordial Power... and this is a Martial Ring...’
Feeling the Primordial Power flowing through his body and seeing the red halo beneath his feet, Mu Chen was thrilled. He gathered his Primordial Power into his left fist and suddenly threw a punch.
"Thunderous Roar!"
"RUMBLE..."
"BANG."
"CRACK... CRACKLE..."
The punch flew out with a peal of thunder. The solid jade wall let out a series of sharp cracking sounds as a fist-sized dent appeared, with fine cracks spreading out from its edges.
Suddenly, a burst of Qi Force erupted from within the cracks. An instant later, the Qi Force blasted out shards of jade, which fell to the ground with a series of TINKLING sounds.
Mu Chen stared at his fist in amazent. There wasn’t a single scratch on it. He knew exactly how sturdy jade was; even a slash from a normal sword might not leave a mark. And yet, with a single punch, he had not only shattered the jade wall, but the secondary burst of power had caused even more thorough destruction. A round hole, half a palm deep, was now clearly visible.
’So strong. This is Primordial Power. And that was only fifty percent of my strength. If I went all out, the damage would be even more incredible.’
Mu Chen was overjoyed. This feeling of wielding such power was amazing. Seeing his arduous cultivation pay off so spectacularly made his determination to grow stronger swell, filling him with motivation.
He took a step forward. A thunderous roar echoed as Mu Chen’s figure vanished, reappearing in another spot. After that, the cave filled with the continuous sound of thunder as Mu Chen’s monotonous training journey began anew.
In the days that followed, Mu Chen spent part of each day playing with the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit. Whenever he circulated the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique, he would intentionally siphon off a wisp of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to feed the little creature. Furthermore, ever since his breakthrough to the Martial Artist realm, his daily cultivation involved absorbing the even purer Primordial Power within Demon Crystals. Happily, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit grew increasingly dependent on Mu Chen during this period, to the point where they were practically inseparable.
Each day, when Mu Chen practiced his Mist Step, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit would voluntarily serve as his training partner, letting him try to catch it. It was only during their first chase that Mu Chen discovered the spirit’s speed was terrifying. More than a month had passed since that day, and Mu Chen still hadn’t caught it once.
Mu Chen had a feeling that every ti his Mist Step’s speed improved slightly, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit’s speed would also increase, always maintaining a pace just a little bit faster than his own. Because of this, Mu Chen was forced to constantly adjust his footwork, breaking through his own speed limits ti and again. He was constantly improving through trial and error, making breakthroughs from those improvents. As a result, in just over a month, Mu Chen had already reached the threshold of Mist Step.
Now, when Mu Chen executed his Mist Step, the sound of thunder was almost negligible. The only thing missing was the arcs of electricity under his feet. But Mu Chen wasn’t dissatisfied in the slightest; he felt he had already made enormous progress.
As for his progress on Thunderbolt Fist, while it wasn’t as rapid as with Mist Step, he was close to finding its threshold. He was confident that it wouldn’t be long before he reached the Beginner level in both Thunderbolt Fist and Mist Step, which would greatly boost his combat effectiveness.
"Ti to feed you."
Mu Chen, who had been in the middle of chasing the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit, suddenly stopped. He realized that over this period, he had grown genuinely fond of the little creature—so much so that he had completely forgotten about the deceptive plan Profound Old Ghost had told him about. With a faint smile, he let his body fall, landing on his side on the ground. The Extre Spirit Chaos Technique spun to life, and the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi ford invisible tendrils of smoke that drifted toward him.
The Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit let out a cheerful cry and appeared by Mu Chen’s side in a flash. After a month together, the two had developed a tacit understanding. A wisp of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi automatically split off from the energy around Mu Chen. The spirit opened its tiny mouth and began to greedily suckle on it.
In an instant, the cave was once again saturated with Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. Mu Chen, who was in the middle of absorbing it, suddenly felt sothing was off. His Dantian, which had been dormant for a month, suddenly erupted into turmoil. Imdiately after, the Dantian inside his body began to bob up and down along that mysterious trajectory again.
The next mont, tangible, white wisps of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi once again began to pour violently into Mu Chen’s body.
"Hrmm?"
The Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit beside him suddenly stopped absorbing Qi. It turned to look at Mu Chen, its eyes shimring, and let out a series of worried whimpers.
’Haha, I’m finally breaking through again!’
Mu Chen’s face lit up with joy. Having gone through an advancent once before, he rembered the feeling of a breakthrough clearly. Even though he knew it would be painful, that pain was insignificant compared to the joy of reaching a higher level.
"BOOM..."
It felt as though a barrier had shattered. The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi instantly poured into Mu Chen’s body, transforming into wisps of pure Primordial Power that were stored within his nine Dantians. A comfortable sensation spread through his entire being, and then... that was it.
’I broke through just like that?’
Staring blankly at his own hands, Mu Chen was utterly speechless. Not only had this breakthrough been completely painless, but it had actually felt incredibly pleasant. On top of that, it had been many tis faster than the last one.
He stood up to feel the changes in his body. Mu Chen mobilized his Primordial Power, and in the blink of an eye, a red Martial Ring materialized beneath his feet. It was imdiately followed by a second, larger red Martial Ring that appeared around the first.
’A Second Ring Martial Artist... it really is different. The Primordial Power in my body has at least doubled.’
Feeling the surge of Primordial Power inside him, Mu Chen was ecstatic. He gathered his power and threw a punch into the air. With a ZAP, a tiny spark of electricity flashed through the air.
This gave Mu Chen a start. He hadn’t realized that with his advancent in realm, his physical body and speed had also been enhanced. Naturally, the speed and explosive power of his Thunderbolt Fist were now on a completely different level.
’In that case, I should try using Thunderbolt Fist and Mist Step with my full strength.’
Circulating Primordial Power throughout his body, Mu Chen fixed his gaze on a spot and stomped his foot. ZAP! A nearly invisible spark of electricity flashed under his foot. In an instant, he had arrived at his target location, leaving a faint afterimage in his wake. The afterimage flickered for a mont before vanishing without a trace.
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