At the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven, the physical body could draw a Three-Stone Bowstring. The power of one stone was about four jun, meaning three stones was the equivalent of twelve jun's power. In terms of pure physical strength, this was a massive force of about 220 pounds.
And that was just the beginning. If one could complete the cultivation of the first three layers of the Martial Dao, they could even possess the thousand-jin brute force needed to wrestle an elephant.
The power of a thousand jins—it was a horrifying amount of strength. One could uproot a weeping willow tree or hoist a Profound Yellow Giant Elephant. If concentrated into a single explosive burst, one could sever Hundred-refined Refined Iron with their bare hands.
Qin Feng was completely immersed in cultivating the Clear Wind Spirit Refining Stake. Over the next few days, cultivation replaced nearly everything else. If not for the need to eat and drink to replenish his vital essence and sleep to restore his spirit, he would have devoted himself to it entirely.
His essence, qi, and spirit seemed to embody the unseen clear wind, merging as one with the wind and bright moon as he grasped the very essence of the Clear Wind Spirit Refining Stake. He needed to achieve perfect, absolute control over his body's instincts and flawlessly master his cultivation at the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven.
He felt as if his Great Dragon Sinews and Bones were gaining a divine rhythm through this process. They transformed into a great, dancing dragon, soaring freely in the clear wind, becoming one with the God of Clear Wind. Day by day, they grew more pliable, undergoing a subtle and profound transformation.
RUMBLE!
"Gale Bone-Forging Fist!" Qin Feng threw a punch. His palm moved with the rhythm of clear waves, yet it conjured layers upon layers of a fierce gale. An aura like a raging storm enveloped him as he slammed his fist into the ancient locust tree in the courtyard with a BANG.
CRACK!
Incredibly, a large hole was punched through the massive locust tree, a tree so thick it would take two or three people to wrap their arms around it.
Late Peak of the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven. A trace of dissatisfaction appeared on Qin Feng's face. In just three days, he had recovered from being a good-for-nothing with no cultivation to the peak of the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven. Anywhere else, this would make him an undisputed genius, but in Qin Feng's eyes, the speed was still a bit slow.
'Too slow, far too slow. This cultivation speed is like a turtle's crawl. I've already completely comprehended the divine will of the Clear Wind Spirit Refining Stake and deciphered all its mysteries. The bottlenecks for this cultivation technique have been completely eliminated. Logically, I should have been able to reach the Martial Arts Second Layer Heaven in three days and break through to the Third Layer, the Blood Exchange realm, in ten to fifteen days!'
'Damn this body! That old beast from the Qin Family forcibly turned it into an Absolute Body. Even though the insidious poison has been extracted, the body has been weak for far too long and can't handle any drastic measures. I can only proceed slowly, like simmering a stew over a low flame, to replenish the Primordial Qi lost over the years and solidify my foundation!' Qin Feng frowned, a troubled look on his face. Suddenly, a glint flashed in his eyes as a new thought occurred to him.
'No, this speed is too slow. I have to get to the ruins sooner to obtain the Mystic Turtle Divine Pill, completely transform my aptitude, and increase my cultivation speed. The problem is, the Six Tripods Ancient Temple is on the outskirts of the Barbaric Mountain Range. The range is filled with hidden Fierce Beasts, and they often roam the outer areas. My current strength at the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven is not enough to charge in; it would be a suicide mission. I need at least the power of the Martial Arts Second Layer Heaven before I can even make an attempt!'
"Young Master, I'm back! I've gathered the many herbs you asked for from the mountains!" From a distance, the young maid returned, carrying a medicine basket on her back. The basket was filled to the brim with medicinal herbs: Earth Ginseng, Yellow Essence, Cyan Hemp, Gold and Silver Grass, and more.
"But, Young Master, what are you going to do with all these herbs? And this Purple Yin Grass is a highly toxic poison! You absolutely mustn't use it carelessly," the young maid asked, puzzled. As she spoke, she casually picked up a peculiar little plant with small, pale purple, sword-shaped leaves that emitted a fishy smell.
"Don't worry. I have read countless medical texts and am an expert in medicine and pharmacology. There are few in this world who can claim to surpass me in this field!" Qin Feng said with a look of utter confidence.
This was no empty boast. As a thousand-year-old monster who had been a half-step away from divine sealing, he had read countless secret manuals and ancient classics in his quest to break through. He had even used his enemies for experiments, creating countless oddities. He himself was a living fossil.
Medicine and pharmacology were merely things he had picked up to pass a thousand years of time. Although he hadn't intentionally set out to learn them, it didn't mean he wasn't an expert. After a millennium, even a pig, if it could survive that long, would turn into an Old Demon, to say nothing of a half-step Divine Sealing Demon.
His greatest expertise, however, still lay in the Dao of Mystic Array Prohibitions.
The young maid was bewildered, not knowing where her young master's confidence came from. But over the past few days, she had also discovered that although she didn't know why he knew so much, he had never once been wrong. Involuntarily, she had grown accustomed to trusting him.
Qin Feng casually ruffled the young maid's hair and said with a smile, ignoring her playful protest.
"Although the insidious poison has been expelled from my body, it's still terribly weak and can't withstand much strain. I need to use these herbs to prepare decoctions for both external baths and internal use, proceeding slowly and carefully. These formulas are secret techniques that money can't buy. Their medicinal properties are gentle, capable of strengthening my sinews and bones, regulating my Primordial Qi from its very essence, and clearing my meridians. I've been using one decoction a day for the past few days, and my body has improved a lot. I expect it will be fully conditioned in another ten to fifteen days!"
After sending the young maid away, Qin Feng once again immersed himself in the world of cultivation.
The Gale Bone-Forging Fist was one of the Qin Family's most fundamental techniques, merely a Human Martial Level basic skill. It seemed quite ordinary, but few were ever able to master it to the stage of Great Success.
The power of a cultivation technique wasn't determined by its rank. While low-level cultivation methods certainly had their limitations, it was the cultivator who ultimately determined the might that could be unleashed.
Even an exceptionally ordinary cultivation technique could display incredible power, as long as the cultivator could comprehend its essence and master it completely.
The Gale Bone-Forging Fist emphasized the momentum of a gale. The user becomes like the wind, their every move like a heaven-and-earth-shattering storm, crushing all opposition, sweeping through armies, and annihilating everything in their path.
On the tree stump, Qin Feng's fist technique gradually began to change. He was already extremely proficient and skilled with this Fist Technique, but as he practiced it again and again, he slowly began to comprehend a sliver of the Gale Realm.
Slowly, as he threw his punches, a hot wind began to stir around him. It was as if this wind was blasting out from the forty-eight thousand pores of his body. As his chest heaved violently, the wind grew stronger and stronger until his final punch was like an all-encompassing gale, concealing a devastating, crushing power within.
CRACK! CRACK! Suddenly, all the bones in Qin Feng's body began to vibrate violently, like a set of ancient bells in a royal palace. They chimed with an indescribable rhythm, and a hidden power began to surge from within this resonance.
RUMBLE! Following the change in his bones, his fist technique transformed. He began to agitate the surrounding air, seemingly kneading the chaotic, scattered air into a ball, forming a gust of wind like a cannonball.
BOOM!
At that exact moment, Qin Feng abruptly transitioned from rapid-fire punches to absolute stillness. He shot out a punch like a bolt of lightning. A faint cyan glow was visible to the naked eye on his fist as he slammed it into the remains of the ancient locust tree in the center of the courtyard.
BANG!
A terrifying Qi Force, carrying splinters of wood, exploded outward. Before the young maid's dumbfounded eyes, the immense power of the punch blasted clean through the trunk that took three people to encircle.
With a final groan, the ancient locust tree could take no more abuse. It came crashing down, hitting the ground with a tremendous RUMBLE.
'Late Stage Perfection of the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven. Tendons drawn like a full moon, power channeled through the five fingers, capable of leaving an imprint three feet deep in solid rock!' Standing still on the stump, his chest heaving, information about the Late Stage of the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven flashed through Qin Feng's mind. He had just shattered a century-old locust tree with a single punch. His strength was far greater than that of an ordinary cultivator at the Late Stage of the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven! This was no longer power that a typical Martial Artist of the First Heaven should possess!
If he focused his power into his fingertips, he could easily shatter a three-foot-thick stone.
After achieving Great Success in the Clear Wind Spirit Refining Stake, he had now also cultivated the Gale Bone-Refining Fist to the stage of Great Success. Seizing this opportunity, he broke through to the Great Perfection of the Late Stage of the Martial Arts First Layer Heaven in one go.
With his current cultivation, he had already closed the gap with the other disciples of the Qin Family. In just three days, he had accomplished what took others nearly ten years of cultivation. This speed was enough to leave anyone utterly stupefied.
But in Qin Feng's eyes, this was all perfectly normal. Cultivation emphasized comprehension. As long as one grasped the essence of a cultivation technique, they could achieve twice the results with half the effort, drastically shortening the cultivation process.
The reason ordinary disciples had to spend so much time was that they needed to go through a process of adjustment, trial, and error to finally comprehend the essence and core principles of the fist technique.
But he was different. He had already thoroughly perceived the core principles of these fist techniques, even comprehending the conceptual realms that lay beyond Great Success. For him, cultivating them was naturally and exceptionally easy.
The only thing holding him back was the deficiency of his aptitude.
It seemed the trip to the Six Tripods Ancient Temple was now imminent.
Ten days later, Qin Feng's foundation was completely stabilized and perfected. No longer suppressing his power, he officially broke through to the Early Stage of the Martial Arts Second Layer Heaven, and his strength increased dramatically. After giving Honglian a few instructions, he left the small courtyard and headed toward the outskirts of the Barbaric Mountain Range.
Half an hour after he left, a furtive figure who had been secretly guarding the courtyard gate day and night and had witnessed his departure arrived at a hidden location. The figure whispered a few words into the ear of a person who had been waiting there for a long time. The person's eyes lit up. At their signal, several strong and powerful guards appeared from the surroundings. The group then silently followed in the direction Qin Feng had gone...