Days passed in a monotonous routine. Han Fei moved through the sect like a ghost, keeping his profile low while his body adapted to the new power.
He ate in the Outer Disciples' Dining Hall, swallowing the "Yellow Spiritual Rice" that tasted like stones and fibrous Bamboo Rat meat. For his new divine tongue, it was poison. His throat closed instinctively to reject the filth.
But his Blood Pearl devoured the toxins with joy, leaving only the nutritious Qi.
He visited the Martial Scripture Pavilion. It was a three-story pagoda guarded by Elder Mo, an old man who seemed to be sleeping in a rocking chair with a wine gourd.
Han Fei entered and searched among the low-level scrolls. He copied two functional manuals: "River Serpent Steps" (Basic Movement) and "Iron Bark Skin" (Passive Defense).
But his attention stopped on a book bound in black leather, moldy and cracked, in the corner of the "Incomplete/Dangerous" texts.
The title was barely legible: "Seismic Pulse Art."
He opened it. The diagrams were chaos to an ancient eye: lines of force bouncing inside the body. The margin notes, written in red by a furious elder, said: "Total capillary rupture and cardiac failure in the user. Suicidal trash!"
Han Fei smiled.
What the elder called "suicidal," I call Physics. The technique uses Qi to generate a resonance frequency. It turns your fist into a pneumatic hammer. The problem is that the recoil destroys a mortal body.
But I have the Immaculate Dao Body.
He approached the counter. Elder Mo opened a lazy eye, saw the black book, and let out a dry laugh.
"That book has crippled three disciples this year, boy. It requires an iron body and a mind capable of calculating... 'frequencies.' Nobody understands what the hell that is. Sure you want to lose a hand?"
Han Fei looked directly into his eyes.
"I'll take it."
He left the library with three techniques copied in his mind. He returned to his room and spent the night practicing.
The "Iron Skin" and "Serpent Steps" were easy. His Immaculate Dao Body didn't need to memorize texts; it only needed to do it. In two hours, he achieved what took local geniuses two years.
But the "Seismic Pulse Art" was another story.
He read the manual's main lines, then threw it into a corner.
"I'm not going to pull out paper and pencil and calculate wave frequencies. I'm not a physicist and I'm not going to waste more than three neurons figuring out a wave calculation. Pass."
He decided that the basics were enough. Simple. Brutal.
Days later, Han Fei presented himself at the Mission Pavilion. The wooden board was surrounded by shouting disciples.
There was a new mission nobody wanted to take:
"Iron Bristle Boar Hunt"
Objective: 5 Boar Tusks.Location: Gray Stone Forest.Difficulty: Medium-High (Level 2 beasts with extreme physical defense).Reward: 3 Spirit Stones + The beasts' meat.
Nobody wanted it because these boars' bristles broke common iron swords.
But my weapon is my body.
Han Fei took the tag.
Two hours later, he was in the Gray Stone Forest. Here the trees were petrified and the fog was thick.
CRASH.
A stone bush exploded to his right. An Iron Bristle Boar—the size of a small bull, red eyes, tusks like daggers—charged out. Its skin gleamed like polished metal.
It came straight at him at 60 km/h.
Han Fei didn't move. He let the mountain of flesh and metal come to him.
At the last second, his skin darkened, activating Iron Skin. He channeled force from his heel, rotating his hip.
BOOM!
The impact sounded like a war hammer hitting a giant bell. His fist met the boar's armored forehead.
The beast didn't fly back; it stopped dead. The kinetic energy traveled inward, bursting the capillaries in its eyes and turning its brain to mush instantly.
The boar fell dead at his feet without a single grunt.
Han Fei looked at his hand. Not a scratch.
I killed a Level 2 defensive beast with a single blow.
His Blood Pearl vibrated ecstatically. Before the blood could coagulate, he extracted it. A red mist emerged from the corpse and entered his chest, immediately restoring his Qi.
With this demonstration of strength, the next 4 boars weren't a challenge. They were cattle.
In less than an hour, he'd cleared the area.
Total Loot:
10 Tusks (The mission asked for 5).~100kg of Beast Meat.
Upon opening the belly of the last boar—the Alpha, larger than the rest—he found something stuck in its stomach.
A cheap Storage Ring, partially corroded by stomach acid, but functional. It probably belonged to some unfortunate disciple who ended up as dinner months ago.
Interesting.
That night, Han Fei prepared himself a feast. He roasted pieces of Boar meat over a smokeless fire. Each bite exploded in his mouth with warm, metallic energy.
His Immaculate Dao Body and the Blood Pearl worked in perfect synchrony, breaking down the bestial essence and injecting it into his veins.
He felt his limits swelling. The Qi in his Dantian was no longer a puddle; it was a small, turbulent lake.
He was at the peak of Level 2. Before him was the barrier of the Middle Stage (Level 3). Breaking this separated "cannon fodder" from "decent disciples."
He sat in meditation. The boar's energy roared in his blood, demanding to be released. He channeled everything toward the barrier. He broke through with ease.
[SUCCESSFUL BREAKTHROUGH!] [Qi Condensation: Level 3]
Han Fei opened his eyes. His power had increased several times over. Now he was stronger than Wang Hu, stronger than many "decent" disciples.
And nobody knew.