Chapter 28: Qi and Force United, One Hundred Thousand Catties!

Qi flows through the entire heavenly cycle! A thick, coiling force, like a dragon or serpent, surges rapidly through his body; though this was his first time performing it, the rich memories in his mind made him feel as if he had practiced this art for decades— the moment his body mobilized the force, he slipped into a state of instinctive action.

A faint rumbling echoed within his meridians as a major channel was opened by the force; once the channel was cleared, the force flowed unimpeded, circling rapidly within it—sixteen heavenly cycles in a single breath!

Li Hao then performed it a second time, more skillfully, his body gradually syncing with the memories.

Thirty-eight heavenly cycles per breath.

The third time, fifty-two heavenly cycles per breath.

The fourth, fifth... until the seventh time ended, one hundred heavenly cycles per breath! The Hundred Dragon Body was also called the Hundred Cycle Body because, when perfected, it precisely reached one hundred heavenly cycles! At this moment, Li Hao glanced at his panel and saw his cultivation base was no longer Foundation Establishment Tenth Layer, but Heavenly Cycle First Layer—he had officially entered the Heavenly Cycle realm. He felt the force surging through the major channel, taut and vibrant; compared to before, it was as if a new spine had been inserted into his body, making him stand tall.

He could now effortlessly channel heavenly cycles in motion, unleashing power far exceeding his former strength! While rejoicing inwardly, Li Hao immediately activated Tai Chu.

Following the memories, he advanced from the Second Layer, Star Body, to the Third Layer, Penetrating the Nether! As he practiced, the force within him surged even more ferociously, like a raging river in flood.

Li Hao realized the Penetrating the Nether Body also contained a qi-circulation method, no less formidable than the Hundred Dragon Body—indeed, even more terrifying! Li Mu had not told him, likely because the old man had no deep understanding of this martial art; after all, it was a body-refinement technique, and a fragmented version at that. The old man probably never considered having Li Hao train it.

As he repeated the practice and grew more familiar, Li Hao’s body underwent drastic changes—within him, a second major channel slowly opened! This new channel was exceptionally thick and sturdy, capable of holding far more force than his first major channel. This channel, the core of the Penetrating the Nether Body, was the Yin Channel. From the technique’s description, Li Hao learned this Yin Channel had another name in martial arts: the Taiyin Channel. He checked his cultivation base; though he had opened the second channel, he remained at Heavenly Cycle First Layer, with no advancement.

This Taiyin major channel was like a hidden channel, not counted among the other major channels.

The Hundred Dragon force previously circulating in the first channel now flowed into the Taiyin Channel, cycling between the two; the Hundred Dragon force, nearly filling the first channel, appeared like a small stream within the Taiyin Channel, unable to even clash against its inner walls.

Roars like thunder and tiger’s howls echoed within Li Hao’s body, as if a dormant beast had awakened and slowly opened its eyes.

The external force radiating from his surging qi scattered the dust around him, leaving a three-foot radius utterly dust-free!

His insight from the Third Stage of the Body Dao granted Li Hao profound understanding of both techniques; he immediately sensed overlapping and intersecting points between their qi-circulation methods.

He focused his mind and activated both techniques simultaneously; soon, the two qi-circulation methods intertwined, splitting the force into two streams that raced through the channels like twin dragons chasing each other.

As Li Hao practiced more and grew more proficient, the two streams of force entwined and merged.

This was an interaction and fusion of the techniques!

The overlapping sections were overwritten, the intersecting points fused into one, causing his qi-circulation speed to increase further.

From one channel at one hundred cycles, it rose to one hundred thirty-two cycles! An increase of thirty-two cycles!

This already surpassed Li Family’s supreme qi-circulation technique, the Hundred Battle Heavenly Cycle Scripture.

Remember, outside the imperial family, this was among the pinnacle qi-circulation techniques in Great Yu, something all martial artists across the land yearned for.

As the force now flowed through the Taiyin Channel, Li Hao sensed a peculiar, supremely yin and icy power circulating within his body; if he cultivated techniques like Ice Palm or Ice Soul Body, his progress would double! After finishing his training, Li Hao planned to research what the Taiyin Channel truly was.

But next, he continued practicing the third supreme body-refinement technique: Dragon Cicada Void Body.

However, compared to the previous two, its third layer was slightly inferior.

The Shell-Leaping Body also contained a qi-circulation method, but only seventy-two heavenly cycles—meaning, even if practiced alone, it could help Li Hao break into the Heavenly Cycle realm.

Shell-Leaping, using qi to control force, allowed brief aerial suspension.

Remember, aerial suspension was a power only attainable at the Soul Continuation realm.

Yet the suspension distance of Shell-Leaping Body could not match that of Soul Continuation; it only offered tactical advantages in special combat situations, with minimal boost to direct combat power.

But the second layer of Dragon Cicada Void Body was quite powerful. When Li Hao was at Body Dao First Stage, he had only reached minor mastery of the second layer; now, at the perfected level of the second layer, Dragon-Subduing Body, he gained monstrous, dragon-elephant-like strength—a pure increase in physical power, at least twenty thousand catties! Li Hao estimated his current raw physical strength alone was around fifty thousand catties.

Yes, it was that absurd.

At Body Dao Third Stage, even without testing, Li Hao could sense his body’s state. When he combined qi and force, he could unleash roughly one hundred thousand catties of power! One complete cycle of qi circulation equaled one ding of force.

Now, with one hundred thirty-two cycles, that was one hundred thirty-two dings; with two channels, two hundred sixty-four dings!

Each ding equaling two hundred catties, totaling roughly fifty thousand catties.

This power was enough to easily punch through a typical Heavenly Cycle Perfect realm martial artist.

A typical Heavenly Cycle Perfect with only ten channels and ten cycles was the lowest tier of Heavenly Cycle, with virtually no hope of advancing to Soul Continuation, possessing only one hundred dings—around twenty thousand catties.

At Heavenly Cycle First Layer, one channel with ten cycles meant only an additional two thousand catties of power; though this was nearly double the Foundation Establishment’s baseline of three thousand six hundred catties, a Divine Blood cultivator could double his Foundation Establishment strength to seven thousand two hundred catties and still defeat a typical Heavenly Cycle First Layer cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfect! That was the power of Divine Blood.

And this didn’t even account for additional enhancements from techniques or scriptures.

After all, which martial artist didn’t know at least two signature techniques?

Moreover, Divine Blood cultivators came from powerful backgrounds—their techniques could never be low-tier, widening the gap further; a typical Foundation Establishment Perfect Divine Blood cultivator could easily defeat Heavenly Cycle Second or Third Layer martial artists using techniques alone.

Some prodigies could even fight across four or five levels! By the time one reached Heavenly Cycle, the gaps from techniques and cultivation resources would create even greater disparities in combat power and cultivation speed.

Simply by mastering Li Family’s two supreme qi-circulation and channel-opening techniques to perfection, a Heavenly Cycle Perfect cultivator could reach one million catties of power! The weakest, at only twenty thousand catties, was a fifty-fold difference!

Yet, typical Heavenly Cycle Perfect martial artists rarely trained only the weakest qi-circulation method of ten cycles—that was the absolute bottom limit.

Everyone had some opportunity; even without fortune, through sheer effort and struggle—even by joining the army—one could obtain a mid-grade qi-circulation technique and a mid-grade channel-opening martial art.

Li Family’s Yuan Battalion was the unit once led by their ancestor; any warrior selected for the Yuan Battalion could train in high-grade qi-circulation and channel-opening techniques, making them all strong peers in their realm. Thus, the ten thousand soldiers of the Yuan Battalion surpassed a typical million-man army!

Li Hao felt the surging force within him and smiled.

The terrifying boost from techniques far surpassed Divine Blood, for Divine Blood merely activated and doubled the Foundation Establishment’s baseline of three thousand six hundred catties, while techniques offered far more.

For him now, a mere few thousand catties of increase was negligible.

“Without accounting for Tiger Press, Flight Segment, or other attack traits, or the Sea Without Shore Sword Art, merely in bare-handed combat, I should now easily defeat a Heavenly Cycle Tenth Layer martial artist with no background—but compared to the Heavenly Cycle Perfect warriors of the Yuan Battalion, I’m still far behind,” Li Hao thought inwardly.

Those Yuan Battalion warriors were all Great Yu’s tigers; in Yanbei’s demon tribes, the Yuan Battalion was synonymous with death.

Whenever the Yuan Banner was raised for battle, demons and monsters fled in terror, because their high-grade qi-circulation and channel-opening techniques granted them fifty thousand catties of power at Heavenly Cycle Perfect.

What terror would ten thousand such warriors unleash in battle? And Heavenly Cycle was merely the weakest rank within the Yuan Battalion.

“Right now, I can barely spar with Yuan Battalion warriors at Heavenly Cycle Third or Fourth Layer, but their combat experience is immense—I might not even defeat them.”

Though his improvement was immense, Li Hao’s heart remained unswollen.

He then fused the qi-circulation method of Dragon Cicada Void Body’s third layer; by eliminating overlapping and redundant sections, his qi-circulation speed rose again, reaching one hundred forty-three cycles per breath—fifteen cycles more than the Hundred Battle Heavenly Cycle Scripture. A gap of fifteen cycles per channel would accumulate into a massive difference by Heavenly Cycle Perfect.

Yet, compared to the imperial family’s Celestial Heavenly Cycle Scripture, it was still far inferior.

Li Hao next practiced numerous other high-, mid-, and low-grade body-refinement techniques several times each, achieving perfect synchronization between memory and body.

This further boosted his physical strength to around fifteen thousand catties, the cumulative result of dozens of techniques intersecting; moreover, every part of his body was greatly strengthened—his vision, hearing, and skin sensitivity all enhanced several-fold.

In combat, these would significantly affect the outcome.

Afterwards, Li Hao searched the building for materials on the Taiyin Channel.

(End of Chapter)