Chapter 37: Lingbo Microsteps

There were thirty-two villagers from Qinghe Village following the Meng father and son, fifteen of whom were young and able-bodied, while the rest were old, weak, sick, or disabled.

The house Meng Dayong bought had eight rooms, each about fifty square meters; Meng Dayong and Meng Yifan used one room, and the remaining ones were for the thirty-two people to live in.

On average, four or five people lived in each room; although it was still somewhat crowded, everyone was already very content to have a place to stay within the city.

From the time they left Qinghe Village until now, everyone had either been traveling or selling Wild Beast furs; having been busy all day, everyone was very tired, so Meng Dayong let them eat some Wild Beast meat and then they all rested early.

Meng Dayong took Meng Yifan back into their room, and after closing the door, Meng Dayong excitedly took out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom; inside were three fingernail-sized, emerald-green pills emitting a faint, lingering fragrance—this was precisely the First Grade Breakthrough Pill he had dreamed of.

"Father, you go ahead and take the Pill, I will guard you," Meng Yifan said.

Meng Dayong nodded, sat cross-legged with his five hearts facing Heaven, and in order to bring out the maximum medicinal power of the Breakthrough Pill, he did not eat it immediately; instead, he held the Breakthrough Pill in his mouth, then began to circulate the Savage Bull Strength technique, mobilizing the True Qi within his meridians to perform a Great Heavenly Cycle along a specific route.

After the True Qi was mobilized at high speed, Meng Dayong attempted to direct the True Qi to circulate toward his skin, wanting to use the True Qi to quench his skin and reach the Second Grade Quenching Skin Realm.

However, the True Qi simply could not reach the skin from the meridians; it was always blocked by something invisible and intangible. This was the bottleneck of a First Grade Martial Artist, and he had been trapped at this bottleneck for over a dozen years, practicing bitterly every day, yet still unable to break through this barrier.

"Still not working." Meng Dayong tried, but the bottleneck remained as unbreakable as ever. He moved his tongue, and the First Grade Breakthrough Pill in his mouth was swallowed into his belly. Soon, he felt a warmth in his stomach as the Breakthrough Pill turned into streams of pure True Qi, causing the True Qi within his body to surge significantly in an instant.

Meng Dayong mobilized the True Qi in his body to strike at the obstruction between his meridians and skin once more. This time, under the effect of the Breakthrough Pill, the True Qi in his body became exceptionally active, its impact force even more powerful; the previously unbreakable bottleneck now appeared precarious under the impact of the True Qi.

Meng Dayong could already clearly sense that the bottleneck which had plagued him for over a dozen years was truly loosening, which made him incredibly excited, and he mobilized the True Qi without a moment's rest to continue striking the bottleneck.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes; within these three minutes, Meng Dayong launched six consecutive strikes, and the bottleneck had been opened by one-third, but when he prepared to continue mobilizing True Qi to break through, he discovered that the medicinal effect of the Breakthrough Pill had been exhausted.

At such a critical moment, it was certainly not the time to save on pills; Meng Dayong took out another Breakthrough Pill and swallowed it in one gulp. The Breakthrough Pill quickly turned into streams of pure True Qi again, and under his mobilization, it continued to strike the bottleneck.

After another three minutes, Meng Dayong clearly sensed that the bottleneck had been opened by two-thirds, but the Breakthrough Pill had been consumed again.

"Again!" Meng Dayong ate the last First Grade Breakthrough Pill, and after circulating the True Qi generated by the Breakthrough Pill through a Great Heavenly Cycle in his meridians, he mobilized the True Qi to charge fiercely toward the final obstruction when it was at its most active.

"Break for me!" Meng Dayong shouted in his heart, and the True Qi in his body accelerated instantly, slamming heavily against the final bottleneck.

"Boom!" Meng Dayong felt his body shake; the First Grade bottleneck was finally completely breached by the True Qi, and the connection channel between his meridians and skin was fully opened.

Wisps of True Qi merged into his skin cells, causing the cellular tissue to undergo a miraculous change, becoming increasingly tough, and his entire skin slowly turned toward a bronze color.

Ten minutes later, Meng Dayong slowly finished his practice, then opened his eyes, looked at his own skin, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Father, congratulations on breaking through to a Second Grade Martial Artist," Meng Yifan said. In this world, Meng Dayong was his closest person, and now that Meng Dayong's strength had improved, this made Meng Yifan feel genuinely happy.

"Yifan, I have also become a Second Grade Martial Artist." Meng Dayong clenched his fists, trembling slightly with excitement. No one knew how distressed his heart had been during the dozen years he was trapped at the bottleneck; having finally broken through at this moment, the sense of relief in his heart was truly incomparable.

"Mm, Father, don't be so excited; isn't it just a Second Grade Martial Artist? I believe you will definitely rise step by step in the future. Not to mention a Second Grade Martial Artist, even a Third-Grade Martial Artist, a Fourth-Grade Martial Artist, or even a Martial Saint is not impossible," Meng Yifan laughed.

Meng Dayong said: "You child, you only know how to talk nonsense. If I could become a Third-Grade Martial Artist in this life, I would be content; how could I dare to hope to become a Martial Saint? Do you know what kind of existence a Martial Saint is? That is an peerless powerhouse who can cause mountains to collapse and the earth to crack with a single punch. The entire Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty might not even have such a powerhouse; your father wouldn't even dare to dream of becoming a Martial Saint."

"That's not necessarily true." Meng Yifan had the Game Panel; as long as he killed monsters, he could level up. He had already made up his mind that once his own strength improved, he would fully support Meng Dayong in improving his strength. Right now, the Martial Saint realm seemed out of reach, but who could say for sure about the future?

The father and son chatted for a while longer, then Meng Dayong began to practice his cultivation again, while Meng Yifan took out two secret manuals and began to study them earnestly.

"Lingbo Microsteps" and "Liaoyuan Spear Technique" were both incomplete volumes of Mysterious-Grade Martial Skills. Meng Yifan first practiced "Lingbo Microsteps"; this was the Lightness Skill he needed most at the moment.

According to the training method in the "Lingbo Microsteps" manual, Meng Yifan stepped out eighty-one footprints one inch deep on the ground, and then he stepped on the footprints one by one, following a specific sequence to tread on the footprints on the ground.

"Difficult!" As soon as Meng Yifan began to practice, he discovered that just walking by stepping on the footprints on the ground in a specific sequence was a very difficult task.

Some footprints were very close together, requiring only a leisurely stroll to pass, while others were far apart, requiring him to use all his strength to jump over them; still others would be on the left one moment, and the next footprint would suddenly appear on the right. Many footprints were not continuous, as if they were deliberately making things difficult for the practitioner.

The first step in practicing "Lingbo Microsteps" was to walk these eighty-one footprints smoothly, to the point where he didn't need to deliberately look at the footprints, or even if he closed his eyes, he could ensure every step was correct.

Only after being able to do this could he then follow the cultivation route in the manual, mobilizing True Qi to coordinate with the footprints, so that his own speed and agility would be greatly improved.

Meng Yifan walked with great difficulty; let alone closing his eyes, even with his eyes wide open, watching the footprints on the ground as he walked, he still stumbled along. If he walked even a little faster, he would trip himself up several times.

Meng Yifan fell down once again and thought somewhat distressingly: "If only I could be like playing a game, where I could just tap a skill book and learn the skill."