Chapter 50: Only a Step Away from Piercing Through the Six Unions

Bang!

As his flexing five fingers clenched together, a muffled sound rang out, and scalding blood Qi seemed about to gush from his fingertips.

Li Yuan pushed up his soaking-wet sleeves; both his hands were a sheet of crimson, much larger than usual, every vein swollen, brimming with explosive power.

"It's connected!"

Rolling-hot blood Qi flowed from feet to hands, forming an 'X'-shaped circulation between his limbs, waist, and abdomen.

Li Yuan could feel that, under this blood Qi circulation, it was as if another layer of 'inner membrane' had been linked together beneath his skin, his defensive power greatly increased.

Besides that, relying on the blood Qi circulation, he could gather the strength of his waist, abdomen, hands, and feet into one place and erupt it in an instant!

After practicing martial arts for over eight months and popping pills worth more than a hundred taels of silver, he had finally pushed his blood Qi to Great Completion; he was only a step away from piercing through the Six Unions to break through to Internal Force!

"No wonder in the dense forest, when I stacked over a dozen hammers of tremendous hammer force, that Nian Jiu elbowed me once and tore my Hukou open, the heavy hammer slipping from my grip—

the gap between Minor Completion and Great Completion is already this obvious; Internal Force is bound to be even greater!"

Drenched all over, sweating heavily, Li Yuan clenched his empty fist again and again, flexing his five fingers, his mood excellent.

What books wrote and what others said were both far inferior to what he had personally experienced!

At this moment, blood Qi circulated between his limbs; he only felt that beneath his skin it was as if a layer of cowhide had been layered on, and moreover, the strength of his hands and feet had grown large enough to feel!

"This feeling is really too awesome!"

Feeling no pain at all, only a kind of pleasure from being pent up for a long time and suddenly flowing through unobstructed, Li Yuan nearly threw his head back and let out a long howl; the impulse was extremely strong, and he barely managed to suppress it.

Confidence surged along with it.

Slap!

Clenching both fists and pressing them together before his chest, Li Yuan's gaze was fiery, unable to hold back his eagerness to try: "Now, can I go up against Qin Xiong?"

Turning this thought over in his mind, Li Yuan let out a long breath, and the slight worries from before were swept away.

"From Internal Force, I'm only a step away from piercing through the Six Unions!"

Among the dozen-plus factions of the inner and outer cities, including the City Guard Army, there actually weren't that many at Great Completion of blood Qi—four or five per faction at most, and for the City Guard Army, at most twenty-some.

These martial artists were the mid-level pillars of each faction; at the very least they were elite squad leaders, qualified to live in independent courtyards, with monthly pay starting at one tael and up, each of them well-off.

"The elite squad leaders of the various factions, inner-disciple big brothers like Yue Yue Yunjin, are generally only at this level, and piercing through the Six Unions, breaking through to Internal Force…"

Many faction leaders of the outer city were only at this level; only a handful like Sanhe Gang's Wang Dong, Fishing Gang's Xia Hou Liang, Li He, and so on could reach 'Body Tempering.'

As for Internal Strengthening, as far as he knew, Gao Liu County only had two people; now, there was probably only Cao Yan left.

"The Outer Three Unions and Inner Three Unions, I've already pierced through both; with the blessing of a Perfection-level Hammer Method, my progress is faster than anyone who has learned the Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer in the over two hundred years of the Weapon Forging Shop!"

All who have learned the Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer in the over two hundred years of the Weapon Forging Shop!"

Li Yuan squinted, feeling comfortable in his heart:

"No wonder the old man in the previous life was always thinking about receiving a Talisman Registry; pity, the second-tier Weapon Master Registry still isn't enough to be granted a second Talisman Registry; I wonder if the third tier will work?"

In fact, not long after receiving the Weapon Master Registry, he had secretly tried to perform Ji Ji Tian again; unfortunately, he got no feedback, but he had kept it on his mind.

Sensing the unranked and ranked weapons within the Weapon Master Registry one by one, Li Yuan's thoughts were very active.

The might of different Wielding effects paired together, he had felt it personally.

Weapon-type talent, Long-Weapon Mastery, Perfection Hammer Method, Great Perfection Forging Art, paired with the long-handled melon hammer—that was the reliance that had let him slay Nian Jiu.

"Still need to gather more weapons…"

Li Yuan mulled it over.

Before the Weapon Master Registry advanced to third tier, the pairing of the Saber-Sickle and the Great Craftsman's Hammer was the best, but there might well be something better, like that scroll of the Root Tracing Diagram.

Unfortunately…

…

As the sky gradually darkened, Li Yuan came downstairs; he had just fetched a basin of water and was preparing to wipe himself down when footsteps came from outside the courtyard, and the exhausted Li Lin pushed the door and entered.

"Third Brother, you're here."

Seeing Li Yuan, Li Lin's mood only improved slightly.

"How did Liu Jin die? I remember his injuries weren't that serious, right?"

Li Yuan wiped his face.

In the battle of Mount Mount Fajiu, nearly thirty people were killed or wounded; most of the faction leaders had injuries, but the most seriously wounded was Fishing Gang's leader Xia Hou Liang, who was heard to have been unconscious for six or seven days without waking.

And Liu Jin had ridden back on horseback himself; no matter how serious the injuries, how serious could they be?

"The vice leader and the others say it was an old injury flaring up, that he didn't make it through, but I heard the gang's guards say there were sounds of fighting in the leader's courtyard last night…"

Li Lin lowered his voice:

"It's probably the vice leader Zheng Kaishan; they've been fighting openly and covertly for many years. This time the leader was seriously injured, it's hard to say he didn't make a move."

"Sounds of fighting?"

Li Yuan dumped the dirty water, fetched another basin, but couldn't help stirring in his heart.

Hearing this news, his first thought was that it might be related to Qiu Long's death, but then he felt it wasn't very likely.

If his guess held, the factions of the inner and outer cities had all joined the encirclement and killing, so they were natural allies; if they secretly silenced someone, it would instead cause trouble.

"That has nothing to do with us, stop prying!"

Smelling the fragrance inside the room, Li Lin, who had long been starving, called Li Yuan inside.

A table of wine and dishes, chicken and duck both present, fish and meat both there; although the spices were insufficient, the three still ate very sweetly, and compared to the Li family's previous state, even New Year wasn't as bountiful as now.

Li Lin's capacity for liquor was quite poor; after a few cups he was getting tipsy, swaying his wine cup, face full of smiles: "Next year, our family will be adding a new member!"

"Why bring that up!"

Wang Juan glared at him, and Li Lin scratched his head with a foolish grin.

"Sister-in-law is pregnant?"

Li Yuan was startled, then smiled and offered congratulations.

In this life and the last, this was his first time being an elder, and he couldn't help but feel a little moved.

"Mm…"

His usually sharp-tongued sister-in-law was a little shy at this moment.

After the meal, Li Lin took the initiative to scrub the pot and wash the dishes, while Li Yuan went upstairs, didn't even take off his clothes, and leaned against the earthen wall by the bed.

Blood Qi wrapped around his body, as if he were soaking in a hot spring every moment; it looked like he was just leaning against the earthen wall by the bed in a shabby room, but in fact he was quite enjoying it.

"Blood Qi Great Completion, Six Directions Convergence, the Fundamental Diagram — this is the normal path to breaking through to Internal Strength. With my Perfection-grade Hammer Technique boost, and having memorized quite a few Fundamental Diagrams, it shouldn't be a problem — I'm only short of Six Directions Convergence!"

Li Yuan played with a flying knife in his hand, muttering to himself.

A martial artist breaking through to Internal Strength needs a Fundamental Diagram, but without one, even someone who has cultivated to Grandmaster can still break through.

After all, the very first person to practice martial arts certainly didn't have a Fundamental Diagram.

His thoughts wandered for a long while before Li Yuan finally calmed his boiling Qi and blood.

He refused to waste even a moment, and once again slowly executed the Soldier Body Posture with his hammer, listening to the grinding of his tendons and bones, feeling the consumption of his Blood Qi.

Once the Blood Qi formed a small circulation, it not only became purer and greater in total volume, but the same movements also took far less effort.

Simply put, his endurance had grown stronger.

"The Second Shopkeeper once said that Wu Gong is a killing art — facing off and fighting to the death is the fastest way to achieve Six Directions Convergence. But with my Soldier Register, I can grind it out slowly too."

Li Yuan slowly pushed through the Soldier Body Posture.

Six Directions Convergence sounds mystical, but at its root it's nothing more than practice makes perfect — running the technique through again and again until it becomes instinct.

It's just that in a life-and-death fight, a person's spirit is wound to the utmost, which can greatly accelerate this progress.

With the Soldier Register in hand, he wasn't considering the latter option, but…

Hoo!

After finishing a set of the Soldier Body Posture, Li Yuan felt his whole body flush with heat. He looked out the window — the sky was already pitch black, with dark clouds covering the moon, as if night rain were about to fall:

"Qin Xiong lives at the Firewood Fish Workshop most of the time — at his mistress's place, right?"

(End of chapter)