Chapter 116: Steel Qi (Seeking monthly votes)

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone found a place to sit in the courtyard. Liu Qian reminded them: "If you go to the black market recently, it's best to be careful or find someone to go with you.

I heard from my older brother that robberies have been occurring frequently at the black market recently. Several people died last night, two of whom were outer sect disciples."

Hearing that two outer sect disciples had died, everyone was shocked.

Xu Yang felt a stir in his heart. Was last night's incident that big?

He had killed one, and someone else had killed another. Hopefully, it wouldn't reach the sect.

"Who is so bold? Robbing for money is one thing, but to dare to kill Purple Sun Sect disciples?" Chen Jiang said.

He had planned to go to the black market in a while to get some cheap Qi-Nourishing Pills, but now he felt a bit hesitant.

Qin Ze sneered: "Although there are people from Qingyun City at the black market, most are still outer sect disciples of the Purple Sun Sect. I'm afraid it's our own people doing it."

"Our own people killing our own people? That's too ruthless. Doesn't the sect care?" a disciple of the Crane Cry Fist Hall said.

Yue Gui smiled: "Naive. Killing someone in the deep mountains and forests—who would know who did it? Even if they wanted to care, they couldn't. Besides, if someone wants to seek death, who can they blame? The sect didn't tell you to go to such a dangerous place as the black market."

If an inner sect disciple had died, the sect might have investigated the killer with all its might, but who would care about outer sect disciples, those beasts of burden?

Not staying in the sect properly at night—isn't it their own fault if they die?

Liu Qian said: "Actually, the sect does care, but they send people to the scene to check, and if they can't find information related to the killer, it just ends up being dropped."

Xu Yang was startled; it was fortunate he had handled the traces of the Surging Waves Fist.

However, he quickly realized that he wasn't the only one who practiced the Surging Waves Fist, so it would still be difficult to trace it back to him.

And it might just be for show anyway.

"Big news, big news!" Suddenly, a figure ran over in a hurry from outside.

Qin Ze stood up and said: "Junior Brother Zhou, what happened?"

The person Qin Ze called Junior Brother Zhou said: "The latest news: Kong Yu has refined qi into steel."

Wow!

Once these words were spoken, it was like a giant stone being thrown into a calm lake, instantly causing huge waves. Many people had expressions of shock on their faces.

"What? Kong Yu has refined qi into steel?"

"This is too terrifying. How does he cultivate?"

"Is there a mistake?"

Many people simply thought they had misheard, but Junior Brother Zhou was certain that Kong Yu had refined qi into steel.

"As expected of a genius with Grade A-minus root bones, third on the Ten Heroes List, to have refined qi into steel so quickly." Yue Gui looked shocked.

It had been less than a month since Kong Yu was reported to have reached the perfection of Qi Gathering, and he had already broken through.

And overall, Kong Yu had only been practicing martial arts for a year.

"Lu Ren and him are simply not on the same level," Liu Qian sighed.

Lu Ren had reached the perfection of Qi Gathering about a month earlier than Kong Yu, but Lu Ren still hadn't broken through.

Qin Ze said: "In the past, Master said that resources are the most important thing for practicing martial arts, but now I feel that talent is the most important. Resources and effort really don't count for much in the face of talent."

Although he had refined qi into steel, only he knew how long he had been stuck at this realm. He had already reached the perfection of Qi Gathering when he was still in Qingyuan.

For a moment, the joy of the breakthrough was diluted, and he couldn't help but feel a bit dispirited.

The group discussed for a while before ending, still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

Liu Qian reminded: "Brother Xu, be careful."

Xu Yang nodded: "I understand!"

He didn't really care. Even if Kong Yu had refined qi into steel, so what? He had just broken through, and his cultivation hadn't even been consolidated. Even if it were consolidated, it would be difficult for someone who had just entered the realm of refining qi into steel to kill him, even if he couldn't defeat them.

Besides, he would also break through soon.

"You shouldn't have refused the Heroes' Gathering!" Yue Gui sighed.

The few spoke cryptically, and others didn't understand, but they all knew about Kong Yu's plan to take revenge on Xu Yang.

Kong Yu refining qi into steel gave everyone a sense of urgency. After chatting for a while longer, they dispersed.

Xu Yang returned to his courtyard and found that Zhang Yong and the others had also come over, chatting with Sun Tao about Kong Yu refining qi into steel.

After greeting them, he dove into his room.

"Kong Yu breaking through puts a lot of pressure on him," Zhang Yong sighed.

Even if they didn't know that the Li Rui'an incident was Kong Yu's doing, they knew that Kong Yu hated Xu Yang to the core.

During the Wu Ke examination, when Xu Yang beat Zhu Yang to death on the ring, Kong Yu and the others had almost been unable to hold back and jump onto the ring to fight Xu Yang to the death.

If given the chance, no one thought Kong Yu would let Xu Yang go.

As his fame spread and his momentum gradually built up, Kong Yu also began to have a bit of dominance.

"Xu Yang is finished!"

Many people had such thoughts in their minds.

Not to mention that Xu Yang was still somewhat inferior to Lu Ren; even Lu Ren was not worth looking at in front of Kong Yu.

Sun Tao's expression was very ugly, but he was powerless. Kong Yu's talent was too strong—refining qi into steel in one year.

For many people, let alone refining qi into steel, just reaching the great success of Qi Gathering was a hope for ascending the dragon.

Xu Yang didn't care about the words of Zhang Yong and the others. He locked the door, sat on the bed, and took out the Qi-Nourishing Pills to continue refining.

The elixir turned into a hot current that spread to his limbs and bones. Under the circulation of the major cycle, his true qi slowly grew stronger.

While growing stronger, the Diamond true qi was also nourishing and tempering his body, and that faint silver glow became increasingly rich.

One!

Two!

With the third Qi-Nourishing Pill, he felt his dantian begin to have a sense of saturation, as if it were full.

But he didn't stop and swallowed the last Qi-Nourishing Pill.

Half an hour later, his dantian and meridians finally felt saturated. The silver-white Diamond true qi filled his dantian and meridians, forming a strange automatic cycle.

"It's lunchtime."

Breakthroughs were important, but eating was even more important.

Without being full, where would he get the strength to break through the bottleneck?

Xu Yang wasn't in a hurry to break through. He pushed open the door and walked out; Zhang Yong and the others had already left, and Sun Tao was gone too.

The courtyard was somewhat quiet, just like his inner heart.

Refining qi into steel—he wasn't in a hurry.

Four months ago, he had obtained the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture and had been studying and comprehending it. He had long had insights into refining qi into steel; all that was missing was practical operation.

Stepping out of the courtyard, he happened to meet Sun Tao, who was returning.

"Junior Brother Xu, are you done cultivating?" Sun Tao spoke first.

Then, he showed an expression of wanting to say something but hesitating.

Xu Yang frowned slightly and said: "Senior Brother Sun, speak your mind."

Sun Tao sighed and said: "Lu Ren has refined qi into steel. I just came back from his place."

Xu Yang: ...

This was worrying about affecting his state of mind.

Unfortunately, he had no fluctuations in his heart. Lu Ren had announced his perfection of Qi Gathering nearly two months ago and had finally taken this step.

"This is a good thing. Does Senior Brother Sun think I'll be jealous or anxious?" Xu Yang smiled.

He was the psychological shadow of Lu Ren.

Upon hearing this, Sun Tao blushed, realizing that Xu Yang didn't care about this matter at all.

"Junior Brother, you go ahead. Senior Brother is going to cultivate. Seeing you junior brothers surpass me one by one, Senior Brother feels ashamed." Sun Tao ran into the courtyard in a flash.

Xu Yang went to the canteen and spent two taels of silver to have a good meal, even eating a bowl of strange beast meat.

He walked around outside for a while to digest some food before returning to his room and locking the door.

Come to think of it, the houses they lived in were specially built, with iron plates laid on the top, bottom, and four walls, making them more like iron boxes.

So, when breaking through, there was no need to worry about affecting the people around him, nor was there fear of being disturbed.

"I have long comprehended the Hunyuan Force and have been studying the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture for four months. I should be able to refine steel qi in one go." Xu Yang began to adjust his state of mind.

The first step of the Marrow Cleansing realm was to refine steel qi. Once steel qi was refined, one had stepped into the Marrow Cleansing realm.

Of course, refining steel qi did not mean one had started to change tendons and cleanse marrow.

Only when steel qi reached a certain level could it be used to change tendons and cleanse marrow.

In fact, most of the Marrow Cleansing martial artists in Qingyuan County were empty names; many were stuck at the realm of refining qi into steel and had not involved themselves in marrow cleansing.

Steel qi was the product of the unity of essence, qi, and spirit, so to refine steel qi, one's state of mind was very important. This was also the reason why Sun Tao had hesitated earlier about whether to tell him about Lu Ren's breakthrough.

[Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture Steel Qi Chapter · Not Initiated (0/200)]

Two hundred did not mean he had to practice the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture two hundred times to be initiated.

With good talent, one might skip over two hundred proficiency points at once; without enough talent, practicing two thousand times wouldn't be of much use. This value often represented a difficulty, or the exquisiteness of the martial art.

The more exquisite the martial art, the higher this value would be.

"Breakthrough... is today."

Kong Yu and Lu Ren had both refined qi into steel; it was time for him to break through.

Taking a deep breath, the various mental methods and formulas regarding refining qi into steel from the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture flashed through his mind. The silver-white Diamond true qi roared into operation, and the vigorous blood and qi followed.

The Diamond true qi was too overbearing. Even though his meridians had always been nourished by it, they now felt a tearing pain.

As the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture began to operate, his bones and tendons roared, his skin and membranes trembled, and a large amount of blood and qi surged out.

A roaring sound like a river surged within Xu Yang's body, his robes bulged, and on his exposed skin, that silver color became increasingly rich.

Refining qi into steel!

This "qi" referred not only to true qi but also to blood qi, and even more so to the invisible and intangible spirit.

True qi and blood qi, these two distinct things, were isolated by the meridians, but he had long since comprehended the Hunyuan Force. With just a thought, the true qi seeped out from the meridians and merged into the flesh, blood, tendons, and bones.

His mind sank into his body, merging into the true qi and blood qi, turning into an invisible hand to bring the three together.

In an instant, it was like throwing a wisp of flame into hot oil; it ignited at a touch and exploded upon ignition.

"Boom!"

Xu Yang felt as if his whole body was burning, and a sound like the creation of the world came from it. A terrifying force erupted from every inch of his flesh and blood, as if it were about to blow him into powder.

But under the ability of the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture, an invisible force pressed the exploding power back, making the three truly merge together.

In an instant, a more overbearing and pure power was born, sweeping through like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, as the three forces merged together like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

A true unity of internal and external appeared. It was no longer a short-lived unity of internal and external relying on techniques and the Hunyuan Force; this was a true blending of water and milk, a single Hunyuan, a trinity.

His understanding of his body no longer relied on perception or knowledge of meridians and acupoints; it was as if he had grown countless eyes and could see every inch of his flesh and blood.

He seemed to have entered a blood-red world, seeing his smooth-as-jade internal organs, seeing his meridians like river channels, and seeing many hidden injuries that the Turtle-Snake Great Stance had never repaired.

Wherever the steel qi reached, it was like his eyes being there; he could easily see everything in his body.

This was the realm of the mind entering the body and understanding the mysteries of oneself.

Only with this realm as a foundation could one complete the cultivation of changing tendons and cleansing marrow later.

The tyrannical power spread throughout his body, no longer divided into meridians and dantian. Xu Yang's whole body glowed with red light, his bones and tendons roared in unison, his flesh and blood vibrated, and his aura climbed step by step.

His body, which had been tempered by the Diamond Art to have the characteristic of being indestructible, now saw its strength soar again, and the silver glow became even richer.

After maintaining the operation of the Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture for an hour, the light on his body gradually dissipated, and his aura became restrained.

[Burden-Bearing Bear Scripture Steel Qi Chapter · Initiated (5/2000)]