Chapter 377: Condensing Seven Hearts, Infant Phoenix Swallows Dragon

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

"Name: Zhou You.

Qi and Blood: 2400.

Lifespan: 112.

Profession: Martial Master.

Experience Points: 230,800.

Level: Primary Martial Master (Tiger-Crane Dual-Action Fist), Primary Martial Master (Seven Step Poison Sand Palm), Primary Martial Master (Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record).

Skills: Tiger-Crane Dual-Action Fist Lv41, Seven Step Poison Sand Palm Lv11 (Attributes: Corrosion, Stealth, Zhangduhuaxue), Ice Marrow Finger Lv2, Zhou Family Fist Lv3, Basic Lightness Skill Lv10/Lv10, Pipa Lv3, Seal Script Lv17, Totem Lv3, Medicine Refining Lv31.

Techniques: Tiger-Crane Jiaodie Technique Lv11 (Silver), Boneless Heart Method Lv11, Secret Art of the Profound Heart Outside the Transformation Lv1, Heaven-Supporting Yuan-Nurturing Technique Lv2, Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record Lv11.

Ultimate Moves: Triple-Layer Technique Lv2, Tiger Fiend Lv6, Poison Fiend Lv4, Feather Gang Lv2, Primordial Iron Garment Lv3.

Talent: Hunger Lv2.

Armory: Void Mask (Flesh Magic Treasure) - False Identities: First Lu Zhigang, Second Yan Ping, Faceless Copper Puppet (calculating), Baile Tianluo."

Zhou You twitched his brows slightly; the impact brought by the increase in Qi and Blood was not as expected.

He had gained a massive amount of Experience Points from his trip to Gongliang City and had assumed he could at least promote to an Intermediate Martial Master.

Consuming Experience Points to exchange for an increase in Qi and Blood resulted in little change to his body, and there was no trend of 'softening'.

The problem arose: was Qi and Blood not a necessary condition for a Martial Master's promotion? He would continue to test...

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

"Experience Points -10,000, Qi and Blood +100."

In the blink of an eye, his Qi and Blood value surged to the 3000 mark in one go, yet the path to the Intermediate Martial Master realm remained unmoved.

He could already feel the Qi and Blood within him so abundant it was overflowing; even burping caused smoke to rise.

However, there was still no sign of a breakthrough.

The transition from Primary Martial Master to Intermediate Martial Master is a process of going from extreme hardness to softness, turning from the strongest and hardest to the softest and most supple.

This transformation involves penetrating the mysteries of the physical body, a deep mastery of the organization and operation of micro-structures, down to the most minute detail.

He had assumed that once the quantity of Qi and Blood reached a bottleneck, it would naturally fall into place, with quantitative change triggering qualitative change.

Now it seemed, that was not the case at all?

Hmm, the matter of the breakthrough could be set aside for now; let's talk about Qi and Blood.

3000 Qi and Blood was not the limit; the question was, where was the limit?

He continued to use Experience Points to exchange for Qi and Blood, and the sound of "... +100." kept ringing in his ears.

Finally, when Qi and Blood reached 3700, it could no longer rise.

Not only could it not rise, but his entire body felt stuffed to the point of bursting, every cell filled with excessive Qi and Blood.

Zhou You thought, this is bad!

Through the panel's enhancement, the upper limit of the Qi and Blood in his body now far exceeded his current Primary Martial Master realm; if he could not arrange it properly, he feared he would end up torn to pieces on the spot.

"Profound Heart Outside the Transformation, condense."

A portion of Qi and Blood separated, rotating to condense a second Profound Heart Outside the Transformation; this secret art leveled up to Lv3.

So, adding one heart levels it up by one; that was how the Secret Art of the Profound Heart Outside the Transformation calculated its levels.

Condensing a Profound Heart Outside the Transformation only provided a moment of relief; the problem of excessive Qi and Blood had not been thoroughly cured.

A third, a fourth, a fifth...

He condensed 6 Profound Hearts Outside the Transformation in one breath before the trend of his Qi and Blood swelling and pushing outward was alleviated, and his distended skin calmed down. The problem was, how to arrange 1 original heart and 7 Profound Hearts Outside the Transformation?

The sound of heartbeats in Zhou You's ears was like a symphony, rising and falling, becoming increasingly noisy and rapid, as if urging his death.

The Qi and Blood sensing between the different Profound Hearts, like magnets, had mutual attraction or repulsion, causing the Qi and Blood in his chest to churn.

Thump! Zhou You sat on the ground with a thud, knowing the situation was serious.

If he could not coordinate the balance between the 8 hearts, the massive Qi and Blood would instead become a burden, leaving him unable to even exert the strength of a Primary Martial Master, rendering him as useless as a cripple.

Trembling, he took out the crystal core of the Hidden Charm, as well as the Faceless Copper Puppet, interrupting its technique calculations.

"Come, cut in line and help me calculate a solution."

The Faceless Copper Puppet opened its mouth to swallow the crystal core, blinked its eyes, and began to calculate rapidly.

"Plan One: Connect prosthetic limbs to house the Profound Hearts Outside the Transformation instead of the main body, replacing them periodically to offset hidden dangers."

This one wouldn't work, pass; he did not like Alienation of his flesh, and he could not accept any prosthetic limbs.

Although with a Martial Master's powerful vitality, one could assimilate prosthetic limbs and refine them into part of the body, he could not accept it ethically.

"Plan Two: Break through to Intermediate Martial Master, control the changes of the physical body, and open up an alien cavity to accommodate the Profound Hearts."

This one wouldn't work either; distant water cannot put out a fire close by.

Zhou You's breakthrough to Intermediate Martial Master could not be achieved overnight, and even if he did break through, he could not open an alien cavity immediately.

The so-called opening of an alien cavity works on the principle of adjusting a part of the body to simulate the environment of the chest cavity to accommodate the Profound Hearts.

Only an Intermediate Martial Master, having gone from extreme hardness to softness, could perform such a high-difficulty self-switch.

"Plan Three: Honeycomb-style internal structure..."

Zhou You's gaze stopped.

The so-called honeycomb structure was a model inferred by the Faceless Copper Puppet, distributing the original heart and the Profound Hearts Outside the Transformation in a honeycomb structure; this way, they occupied less space and did not interfere with each other, and the existing space was sufficient to accommodate them.

More importantly, once the Qi and blood are stimulated, the 8 hearts fire in unison, and the vigorous Qi and blood flow like a surging, endless river.

The specific operation is not difficult either, because the Faceless Bronze Puppet makes deductions based on the fist techniques Zhou You has on hand.

"Honeycomb Heart Palace, contain the Profound Hearts, retract, retract, retract!"

Zhou You pinches a ball of blood-colored light in his palm, and the Profound Heart travels beneath his skin, finally converging at a certain location in his chest.

Then, the next one...

In just a short moment, the 7 Profound Hearts are all arranged in specific positions around the original heart, presenting the compact and precise arrangement of a honeycomb.

In this way, it not only solves the placement of the 8 hearts but also sets up additional defenses for the original heart.

Among fist techniques and weapons, there is no lack of killing moves that directly attack the vital point of the heart; even with special protection like a heart-protecting mirror, it is impossible to guard against everything. Zhou You has 7 External Profound Hearts surrounding his original heart, and at critical moments, he can employ the method of "plum tree replacing the peach tree," using an External Profound Heart to take a fatal blow in place of his own body.

In extreme situations, there are a total of 7 Profound Hearts to act as substitutes, which is equivalent to having 7 extra lives.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Zhou You exerts force from his waist and back, his arms drive his wrists to whip out, and a punch breaks through the air.

In his perception, the 8 strong sources of power in his chest are restless, ready to erupt the moment his thoughts move.

According to one Profound Heart erupting with the power of one Primary Martial Master, if he erupts with full force, it is equivalent to 8 Primary Martial Masters of the same level attacking.

The Faceless Bronze Puppet is also stuffed; with more than half of the Hidden Charm Crystal Core still undigested, it directly continues the original deduction progress.

The iron plates obtained from Golden Crane Mountain and the Five Birds are pieced together into one, missing only the piece from Kongque Laoliu.

Even so, more than eighty percent of the inheritance of Baiqin Laoren is already in hand.

Zhou You uses the Faceless Bronze Puppet to calculate how to quickly master the inheritance technique of Baiqin Laoren, "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix."

Relying on the massive Hidden Charm Crystal Core, the Faceless Bronze Puppet breaks through obstacles to deduce the remaining part.

A technique is freshly baked... "Ying Feng Swallows the Dragon Chapter."

(End of this chapter)