Chapter 86: Full Attributes Maxed Out, Blasting Open the Qi and Blood Barrier

"Force ripens like a melon falling from its vine; Qi and blood arrive as water flows into a channel."

Zhou You closed his eyes to experience the changes within his body; wisps of force gathered like clouds, and with a single thought, infinite variations emerged.

At times, it condensed at his fingertips, emitting a piercing power sharper than an iron awl; at other times, it spread across the surface of his skin, forming a tough, horny layer.

With his force now mature, he could manipulate it as he pleased, and its power was unlike anything before.

Zhou You immediately stepped down to the field and performed a set of Tiger-Subduing Fists; by drawing analogies, he actually grasped new mysteries.

"Tiger-Subduing Fists lv16 → lv17, Experience Points +170."

Next was the Wind-Chasing Triple Technique...

Boom! The force of Zhou You's three stacked strikes landed in the empty void, yet it actually blasted out a shockwave that made the ground tremble.

The transition between moves was even smoother, and the stacked power was increased by more than three times.

If this were back at the Shan Shen Miao, this single move alone would have been enough to blast the Second Master into pieces, leaving no corpse intact.

"Wind-Chasing Triple Technique lv1 → lv2, Experience Points +100."

Facts proved that the improvement of force was interchangeable; although different fist styles had their distinctions, the development of physical fitness and the improvement of attributes were roughly the same and not far off.

The Yanxing Quan was raised to lv20, driving a comprehensive improvement in strength, which also indirectly fed back into the Tiger-Subduing Fists.

Zhou You's current Jinli Level was quite unique; following the Yanxing Quan path, he was at lv20 and just breaking through the Qi and blood barrier, but switching to the Tiger-Subduing Fists, he was only at the lv17 level, still lacking some refinement.

This was not a bad thing for him.

The progress of his main study, the Tiger-Subduing Fists, was too fast, making it easy to attract trouble.

From first entering the realm of force to breaking through to Intermediate Force, it had only been a few short months, and now he had suddenly risen to mature force.

Breaking through too quickly, once discovered and attracting attention, would be detrimental to his philosophy of developing in a low-profile manner.

An object surfaced in Zhou You's mind; it was precisely the breakthrough method left behind by Senior Brother Wu.

This breakthrough method had massive flaws, coming at the cost of damaging one's foundation; even if one became a Qi and blood martial artist, they would be of the weakest tier.

It was hard to say what Senior Brother Wu's intentions were in leaving it to him.

With the assistance of his panel, Zhou You looked down upon a breakthrough method with such massive flaws, but thinking of it now, he would treat it as a reference.

"Pulling up seedlings to help them grow, weak root systems, massive hidden dangers; use with caution, use with caution."

"Force is like a germ, Qi and blood are the branches and leaves; if the germ is not strong enough, how can it produce branches and leaves?"

"This method takes a dangerous, unorthodox path, forcibly extracting the essence of flesh and blood to break through to Qi and blood, damaging bone marrow and internal organs, leaving endless disasters."

Zhou You carefully read the content of the breakthrough method, and with his perfect reading comprehension, he understood it on the spot.

From force to Qi and blood is a process of growing and strengthening step by step, where quantitative change triggers qualitative change.

Taking Secret Medicine is like fertilizing, and practicing martial arts is like weeding and loosening the soil, acting as a catalyst for this process.

Only when force is perfected, and both strength and technique meet the requirements, can one break through the Qi and blood barrier.

However, everyone has their own circumstances, and not everyone can cultivate to the point of mature force.

If the conditions cannot be met, one can only waste away their years, attacking the barrier bit by bit with persistent effort.

How many people are trapped before the threshold their entire lives, unable to break through even at the moment of death, leaving behind so many regrets and bitter events.

Among them are not a few alternative geniuses who thought of this breakthrough method, self-mutilating to seek a breakthrough.

"The key still lies in natural talent and aptitude."

Zhou You also saw that those who walked this path were all desperate people who had hit walls everywhere and had nowhere else to turn.

Relying on overdrawing their future health and prospects to obtain a temporary breakthrough was better than living a mediocre life and dying in obscurity.

Once a martial artist passes the age of fifty, their bodily functions begin to decline, and their force decays accordingly.

Only by breaking through to Qi and blood and regulating the body can one achieve the effect of prolonging life.

"One-time skill: Seedling-Pulling Breakthrough Method. Usage conditions: Strength -10, Speed -10, Defense -10. No other aftereffects; reduced attributes can be replenished with Experience Points or Secret Medicine."

The panel detected the breakthrough method and, after evaluation, provided the above prompt content.

Three attributes -10; this price was too high, even for Zhou You it was quite tragic.

He had the panel, so the lost attributes could be replenished; others did not, and it would inevitably leave permanent damage to their bodies.

For example, Senior Brother Wu, after breaking through to Qi and blood, regularly took the Shan Jun Life-Swapping Pill, plus other medicines, but it had no great effect, barely extending his life.

Comparing it to Senior Brother Wu's plight, he realized more and more the importance of the panel. After Zhou You obtained the panel, he had already embarked on a path to the heavens different from ordinary people.

"Experience Points -100, Strength +10."

"Experience Points -100, Speed +10."

"Experience Points -100, Defense +10."

A cold glint flashed in Zhou You's eyes; the force around his body switched to the Yanxing Quan mode, operating at the peak state of lv20.

"You have used the one-time skill Seedling-Pulling Breakthrough Method, Strength -10, Speed -10, Defense -10."

"Conditions for breakthrough met, force transitioning from mature to Great Perfection state, breaking through..."

"You have completed the force breakthrough of Yanxing Quan, opening the Qi and blood barrier."

"Re-evaluation as follows..."

"Name: Zhou You.

Strength: 65.

Speed: 65.

Defense: 65.

Experience Points: 18.

Occupation: Martial Arts Apprentice.

Level: Mature Force (Tiger-Subduing Fists), First Stage Qi and Blood (Yanxing Quan).

Skills: Great Poison Sand Palm lv1, Tiger-Subduing Fists lv17, Yanxing Quan lv20, Basic Lightness Skill lv2, Soul-Chasing Seven Steps lv2, Pipa lv0, Alchemy lv6."

Ultimate moves: Wind-Chasing Triple Strike lv2, Tiger Aura lv2.

Talent: Hunger.

Armory: Void Mask (Flesh Magic Treasure) — False identity: Lu Zhigang.

Trial Project One (Two-Star): Break through the Qi-Blood barrier and become an Inner Court Disciple of Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall.

Trial Project Two (Four-Star): Perfect the Basic Lightness Skill.

Trial Project Three (Two-Star): Master the technique of imbuing objects with Tiger Aura.

Trial Project Four (Two-Star): Successfully refine one Heart-Protecting Pill.

The scattered force within Zhou You's body seemed to be summoned, condensing into a powerful surge, roaring like a waking dragon.

In an instant, the force broke through its cocoon and was reborn, transforming into a higher level of Qi-Blood.

The skin on Zhou You's body trembled slightly, emitting a faint red light; this was the unique sign of Qi-Blood.

A goose cry rang in his ears, his Qi-Blood vibrated, and the pores on his arms rose, as if invisible feathers were growing out.

Zhou You's body became increasingly light, surrounded by a breeze that lifted him into mid-air, where he hovered for two or three breaths.

"After the Qi-Blood transformation, the body undergoes a subtle baptism."

Zhou You felt his muscles twitching and his blood rushing to wash away impurities within his body, while his bones were also being purified.

Qi-Blood is a higher-level form of force, born from flesh and blood, which in turn regulates and optimizes the body's state.

It is said that martial artists with high-level Qi-Blood achieve the effect of prolonging their lives by optimizing themselves.

Now, Zhou You had just crossed the Qi-Blood barrier and begun to touch upon a brand-new realm.

"This is the correct method for using the breakthrough technique."

Zhou You broke through to Qi-Blood using Yanxing Quan, without any hidden dangers or internal injuries.

Because he had raised his three-star attribute to 75 in advance, even with a -10 penalty, he still landed on the 65 threshold of the Qi-Blood barrier.

As long as your blood is thick enough, the flaws of forcing growth do not exist.

This is somewhat bullying!

The fundamental reason others use the forced-growth breakthrough method is that their power level is insufficient; if they had an attribute value of 75, equivalent to the power level of the Qi-Blood barrier, would they still need to take such extreme measures?

Zhou You used the panel to increase his attributes, blasting open the barrier with physical strength so abundant it overflowed, leaving no side effects.

(End of chapter)