However, shock attacks on the internal organs are extremely effective against these horizontal training martial artists, whose internal organs are delicate.
Xu Yunfan felt a pang of regret. If he had a heavy hammer in his hand right then, he could easily have killed Yang Gan on the spot.
Suddenly, Xu Yunfan, with a sudden thought, turned and dove into the cave. Grabbing the pickaxe, he quickly climbed out and charged at Yang Gan.
Yang Gan, panting heavily, stared at Xu Yunfan, who was about to charge. His eyes widened. He raised his hand and shouted, "Wait, as fellow horizontal training martial artists, we need at least a thousand rounds of fighting to determine the winner. You..."
Before he could finish his words, Xu Yunfan, without a word, swung the pickaxe and struck him fiercely. Yang Gan took a deep breath, mobilizing his internal energy and blood. Instantly, his muscles bulged, and his veins bulged, like a series of green pythons entwined across his body.
He said in a deep voice, "It's useless. Ordinary swords and weapons will at most leave a white mark on me. Even my skin... Ugh!!!"
Before he could finish his words, the iron pickaxe, inlaid with fragments of the purple gold earth-shattering hammer, suddenly approached.
The pickaxe tip, like slicing through the softest tofu, penetrated his chest without resistance, heading straight for his heart.
Yang Gan's eyes widened with panic and disbelief, nearly popping out of their sockets.
The excruciating pain in his heart was like a thousand steel needles piercing him simultaneously, shaking every cell in his body.
He instinctively thrust his hands forward, pressing down on the pickaxe with all his strength, as if that would stop the deadly weapon from advancing any further.
"How is it possible... My Horizontal Training Body was shattered by just this pickaxe!"
Yang Gan's heart surged with shock and rage. He couldn't believe that the Horizontal Training Kung Fu he had painstakingly cultivated for years, the very thing he was so proud of, could be so vulnerable.
The muscles in his arms bulged, veins throbbing wildly beneath his skin like enraged snakes, as he fought with all his might against the pickaxe, which still attempted to penetrate deeper.
Xu Yunfan's muscles were also bulging, each one a small hillock of power.
The blood and energy within him surged like boiling magma, surging and surging.
As his energy surged, his muscles continued to grow in size, layer after layer expanding wildly. From a distance, he looked like an inflated demonic muscle man, emitting a terrifying aura.
"I already know the extent of my strength!"
Xu Yunfan's voice was deep.
The martial arts advancements enabled by the attribute panel, controlled by his proficiency, allowed him to achieve ever-improving mastery as his skills advanced, a feat far beyond the reach of ordinary martial artists of his level.
"Wait, wait, wait, I know what's buried beneath Ninggu Pagoda. I can share it with you. Also, I have a chest of gold and silver treasures, all of which I can give you. Wait, wait!"
Under Yang Gan's utterly horrified gaze, Xu Yunfan remained silent, slowly exerting force. The muscles in
his arms tensed like steel, each inch unleashing boundless power. The pickaxe, driven by his thrusts, continued to sink inch by inch into Yang Gan's chest, steadily piercing his heart.
Yang Gan's body stiffened, then his bulging muscles instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.
His hands drooped limply, and as if losing all support, he slowly fell backwards.
His eyes remained fixed on Xu Yunfan, the light in them gradually dimming until the last spark of life faded, and he was silent.
Xu Yunfan exhaled and single-handedly pulled the pickaxe from Yang Gan's body.
He glanced at the fragment of the purple-gold earth-shattering hammer embedded in the pickaxe's tip, awestruck
. He hadn't imagined that such a tiny fragment could so easily break through the defenses of a martial artist who had mastered the art of skin training and specialized in horizontal training. This divine blade was truly a formidable asset.
With Yang Gan's death, Xu Yunfan felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Back in the mines, Yang Gan's gaze had made him extremely uncomfortable. Often, the mere thought of Yang Gan's cold, slightly murderous gaze had kept him awake.
Now, at last, he could finally relax.
He glanced at the information displayed on his screen, and notifications for the Bronze Body Skill upgrade were flooding the screen.
"Fists and kicks rain down upon you, and you feel the energy of the Bronze Body Art surging through your body, increasing your proficiency in the art."
"The opponent's punches and kicks are heavy, and though you're being knocked back, you sense the heat of the Bronze Body Art flowing through your limbs. Your proficiency in the Bronze Body Art increases, and your physique becomes even stronger." "
..."
In a short period of time, his proficiency increased by thirteen points. If Yang Gan hadn't wanted to kill him, he would have spared his life to hone his skills and improve his proficiency.
In this kind of intense combat, proficiency in the Bronze Body Art increased rapidly.
"If the Purple Gold Earthshaking Hammer were intact, it would have surpassed the level of a sixth-tier treasure weapon, reaching the level of a seventh-tier divine weapon."
Li Haomiao slowly moved out of the large hole, speaking as he looked at Yang Gan, who lay lifeless on the ground. He sighed, "In the entire Great Zhou, there are only a few divine weapons, and how many are there?"
Xu Yunfan glanced at Fang Mushan, who was still charging nearby. Seeing that Fang Mushan was already gaining the upper hand, he casually called out, but after Fang Mushan decisively refused and needed help, he averted his gaze.
"If a divine weapon can easily break the horizontal training martial arts, what's the point of practicing horizontal training?"
Li Haomiao heard this, gazing into the distance at Fang Mushan, who was not far away, spear in hand, moving with the wind.
"What a formidable general! With time, he might be as famous as his father in the future."
He sighed in admiration before adding calmly, "In the past, there was an unknown old monk in Mituo Temple who practiced the Mituo Golden Body Sutra. He emerged from the temple's destruction and withstood two divine weapons, his body remaining undestroyed. In that era, this was truly astonishing."
"Are you trying to say that whether it's divine weapons or martial arts, it all comes down to the person?"
Li Haomiao nodded, "That's right." Xu
Yunfan frowned, "Why beat around the bush and just say it? "Rotten wood can't be carved."
Li Haomiao sighed helplessly, "A rotten tree cannot be carved."
Xu Yunfan didn't bother to discuss this with Li Haomiao, simply feeling the power of the Bronze Body Skill after perfecting his skin.
The attribute panel didn't indicate that he couldn't level up further, which meant that once he reached the maximum proficiency of 5,000, he should be able to achieve the golden skin Li Haomiao had described.
Golden skin, jade veins, vermilion blood, silver essence.
"If you take the Bronze Body Art to perfection, you should be able to achieve golden skin, right?"
Li Haomiao glanced at Xu Yunfan, whose blood and qi hadn't yet recovered and whose skin still had a coppery sheen.
"If you practice the Bronze Body Art to its fullest, you can achieve it, but..."
Li Haomiao shook his head and said, "Striving for perfection, even with the majority of true blood, is not enough. It's a waste of time. How many geniuses in this world have spent decades pursuing perfection and still failed to achieve it? They could have climbed to higher heights in the martial arts, but in the end they ended up as mere martial artists. You, what are you doing?"
(End of this chapter)