Chapter 68: Superior Bone Structure, Hammer Technique Perfected

Train the body to resemble the White Ape's form!

Beneath the night sky, Li Yuan rose to his full height, his bones and tendons emitting crisp crackling sounds as if every joint in his body was trembling and adjusting.

Bang, bang~!

Li Yuan kicked and swung his arms; his great tendons stretched and snapped back, actually producing a sound like a bowstring vibrating.

Whether it was speed, strength, or the flow of blood qi within his body, all had increased significantly; moreover, his external hardening had made considerable progress.

The Seven Stars External Hardening Body is just a little short of reaching the Proficient level.

His eyes shone bright; he felt completely refreshed, with every pore on his body opening up:

Refreshing!

The more painful the process of tempering the bone structure, the more refreshing Li Yuan felt at this moment; it was as if all chronic ailments had vanished, his body instantly becoming light, lifting his mood to be incredibly cheerful.

Thud!

Li Yuan exerted force from his feet, kicked up the training hammer, caught it with one open hand, and struck it out carrying the sound of wind.

His hammer technique had long since reached the Great Perfection stage; now that his bone structure had changed and his ape-like arms extended, he felt it was even more fluid and refined, his body spinning like the wind, controlling power with microscopic precision; after completing the eighteen forms without a single pause, the power could still continuously stack and rise.

The White Ape Cloak Hammer has already reached Perfection!

"Ape arms and a bee waist, superior bone structure!"

At this time, dawn had broken; inside the room, Li Yuan tore off his tattered short clothes and stood before a mirror, his eyes bright and a smile on his face.

In the less-than-clear bronze mirror stood a youth of slender build, with broad shoulders and long arms.

Strong but not bulky, thin but not frail; muscles all over his body clung tightly to his skeleton, with lines that were fluid and full of power, the whole person radiating an aura of sharpness and danger.

Satisfied, very satisfied.

Gazing at the bronze mirror, Li Yuan immediately felt his suffering had not been in vain.

The alteration of the bone structure had continued for over two months, with changes accumulating bit by bit, yet this night seemed to have crossed a critical node, with changes greater than the previous two months combined.

The external changes indicate that the internal changes were even more drastic.

Skin, muscles, bones and tendons, and even the internal organs, all seemed to have undergone changes, good changes.

"No wonder every family values bone structure; the gap is indeed huge."

Flexing his arms and ten fingers, Li Yuan truly felt the gap; under equal conditions, superior bone structure is naturally stronger by more than a notch.

Martial arts progress is faster, fewer pills are needed, the absorption of medicinal power is stronger, and the physical quality is even better...

No matter who it was, they could not ignore this.

However...

"If we really compare, talent seems even more important, right? Once Wu Gong is practiced to Great Perfection, one can alter the bone structure..."

Li Yuan was not entirely certain.

Zhang Ben was an excellent master, but he only mastered the art of forging; Li Yuan's confusion regarding Wu Gong could only be explored by himself, half-practicing and half-guessing.

Such as talent and bone structure, and also internal force, as well as body tempering and internal strengthening that Zhang Ben had mentioned before.

If he hadn't obtained the Fundamental Diagram, he wouldn't have known that Wu Gong at Great Perfection could actually alter bone structure; if he hadn't obtained the Soldier Dao Combat Hammer, he would have had no way of knowing that blood qi also has a Great Circulation...

"No wonder so many people want to join the Divine Weapon Valley; a systematic lineage is too important. Exploring on one's own is not only dangerous but also wastes time..."

Fortunately, he possessed the Commanding Register.

The personal experience was far clearer than his previous guesses; Li Yuan slightly closed his eyes:

"The hammer technique reaching Great Perfection references the Fundamental Diagram; reaching Perfection allows one to attempt a breakthrough on their own; reaching Great Perfection will definitely cultivate internal force!"

After the blood qi shifted from the Small Circulation to the Great Circulation, the core point also shifted from the waist and abdomen to the heart.

And at this moment, he could vaguely feel that as his heart beat, something seemed about to burst forth.

Blood qi generates force; this is called internal force.

【White Ape Force: Human strength has limits; by taking pills and medicine, one increases blood qi to cover the four limbs, reaching the limit of human power... Cultivating the White Ape Cloak Hammer to Great Perfection allows one to nurture a wisp of White Ape Force from the waist and abdomen...】

The third Command of the Fundamental Diagram

Its effect could also be felt after the bone structure alteration.

"Taking pills and medicine to increase blood qi, breaking the limit to nurture force. The limit of the human body, a thousand jin of force? When internal force erupts, only then can bare hands split stone and snatch weapons from empty hands..."

Li Yuan could feel that, along with his heartbeat, the White Ape Force was about to burst forth, it was just slightly lacking.

One or two more Spirit Fishes should be about enough, I suppose?

Spirit Fishes are highly nourishing; apart from lacking the effect of strengthening bones and tendons, they are better and more gentle than the Leopard Fetus Muscle-Transforming Pill and the Bone-Strengthening Pill.

The taste is of course much better as well.

The sky had not yet fully brightened; Li Yuan, in excellent spirits, changed into a clean set of clothes, only to find that the clothes bought just a few months ago now seemed too small.

"Tsk! I need to buy another set of clothes."

Li Yuan smiled.

The Grand Market lasts only three days, but many people do not leave after three days; often there are a few days of lingering aftermath.

Li Yuan passed by the stall selling the booklet on hidden weapon throwing techniques from yesterday; from a distance, the stall owner called out to him:

"Young master, five qian of silver, just to make a friend?"

"At most two qian."

Li Yuan glanced at him and made a move to leave.

"Fine, two qian it is!"

The stall owner gritted his teeth, regretting it immensely; if he had known, he would have sold it yesterday.

The booklet was very thin, but the name was quite interesting, called 'Sleeve-Swung Arrow'; simple and clear, hidden weapons, after all, can't be called hidden weapons if they are used openly?

Stuffing the booklet into his chest, Li Yuan did not bargain further: "Stall owner, do you have anything similar?"

"It's gone."

The stall owner replied irritably: "If it weren't for the fact that many people who got this hidden weapon technique back then, do you think I'd sell it?"

Li Yuan just asked casually, and was about to leave when the stall owner lowered his voice and said:

"I do know a place that might have it, even the complete Wu Gong manual... it's at the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple... hey, hey, hey?"

Why don't you just mention the Divine Weapon Valley?

Li Yuan's face was speechless; he turned and left.

Market gossip wasn't very credible, and the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple wasn't one to be trifled with — he had no interest in provoking them.

Finding an early breakfast stall, Li Yuan sat down, took out this little booklet and began flipping through it.

The booklet was thin, but the words were plentiful, with both text and illustrations; although the drawings were very abstract, the explanations were thorough enough, and it wasn't complicated.

After flipping through it a few times, Li Yuan had memorized most of it.

"Quite interesting. It looks like a hand technique, but the force has to engage the whole body — heart to hand... hmm, for me, no difficulty at all..."

After flipping through it a few times, Li Yuan had already memorized it.

He had long since mastered the Six Harmonies; where the heart reaches, the hammer reaches. A little practice and he could master this hidden weapon technique, and his aim wouldn't be off either.

As for the sleeve arrows, he decided to switch to flying knives.

He still had a first-tier flying knife sitting on Dingxin Dingxin Shitai, which required entry-level flying knife technique to wield.

"Perfect, I need to get a piece of clothing made anyway. Leaving a few pockets in the sleeves isn't much trouble..."

His two fights with Nian Jiu and Qin Xiong gave Li Yuan a profound realization: it wasn't the case that just because your realm was higher and your Wu Gong better, you could win everything for certain.

Wild hammer blows could beat a veteran master; hidden weapons might just do the same!

"Hmm, best to also quench it in some poison? Forget it, it'd be a hassle if I stabbed myself..."

"Make it as long as possible; second, sharpness — make it as sharp as possible!"

Outside the forging room, Li Yuan spread out the blueprint as Liang Liang Ashui stated his requirements — unexpectedly simple.

It really did seem like he just wanted a harpoon forged.

"... Well then, bring me the iron materials you need."

Li Yuan was naturally happy to have it easy, and put away the blueprint.

Liang Liang Ashui nodded, picked up his fish basket, and headed out of the city.

"A top-grade harpoon — could Liang Liang Ashui be planning to hunt some rare spiritual fish?"

Li Yuan's mind wandered with random thoughts. Returning to the forging room, he took the initiative to mention this matter to Zhang Ben.

Doing

private side jobs was common everywhere; the forging shop didn't prohibit it, but it required paying a fee — at least two taels of silver for a top-grade sharp weapon.

"A harpoon?"

Zhang Ben had also never seen anyone forge this kind of weapon.

But he didn't mind; he only handled the forging. Even if the customer wanted a one-legged bronze man, he'd just forge it according to the requirements.

More than that, he was more curious about Li Yuan:

"Why do you look so well today?"

At your age, how is your eyesight still so good?

Li Yuan muttered to himself, brushed it off with a few words, changed the subject, and asked about internal force.

"Internal force!"

Zhang Ben set down his forging hammer, somewhat wistful: "Your talent is better than mine, so you do have some hope of cultivating internal force. It wouldn't hurt to talk about it."

Mentioning internal force stirred quite some feeling in Zhang Ben:

"A body of flesh and blood has its limits. I've heard that even with top-grade bone structure, if internal force doesn't form, you have at most a thousand jin of strength. Cultivating force is also called 'Breaking the Limit,

breaking the limits of the flesh and blood body — only then is growth possible..."

Zhang Ben was somewhat wistful.

He joined the forging shop at nine, and only piled his blood energy to Great Completion at thirty-four, but his hammer technique only reached Six Harmonies at forty-one — he didn't qualify to access the fundamental diagrams.

Later, when his hammer technique reached perfection and his status rose, allowing him to access the fundamental diagrams, his qi and blood had already declined, leaving him no chance to attempt internal force.

"When I wielded the Green Essence Copper Hammer, my strength was far more than a thousand jin — does that count as Breaking the Limit?"

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly.

Without top-grade bone structure, before Breaking the Limit one might not necessarily lack a thousand jin of strength — the Leopard-Embryo Tendon-Changing Pill and Bone-Strengthening Pill both had effects of increasing tendons and boosting strength.

In other words, a very wealthy person with top-grade bone structure, before cultivating internal force, might well be able to pile their strength above a thousand jin.

"The internal force cultivated through the Bai Yuan Hammer is called Bai Yuan Force. This old man never managed to cultivate it in his lifetime, but he has seen those who did — when the force erupted, a bare palm could shatter green stone!"

Zhang Ben felt some regret that he couldn't cultivate internal force.

Li Yuan's focus, however, was: "Shatter green stone — wouldn't that hurt the hand?"

"... Why would the hand hurt?"

Old Zhang was somewhat speechless: "Internal force is like a needle, piercing out through the body — it's not striking with the hand. Of course it hurts if you strike with your hand!"

"I see?"

Li Yuan rubbed his chin.

He had once crossed realms to kill two martial artists who had cultivated internal force, but one was an ambush, and the other was also an ambush — he had never seen what an eruption of internal force looked like.

He shook his head, dismissing the idea of finding an internal force martial artist to test his skills against.

The spiritual fish Liang Liang Ashui had agreed to, plus the top-grade Origin-Supplementing Pill he still had, should be more than enough to cultivate Bai Yuan Force.

However...

"After nurturing the White Ape Force, would switching to other Wu Gong be a bit troublesome?"

Li Yuan thought a lot, and naturally, he asked it out loud.

"How long does it take to cultivate a Wu Gong until you nurture internal force? And you still want to switch?"

Zhang Ben scoffed, shaking his head repeatedly:

"If that Qin Xiong hadn't been delayed over a dozen years switching to cultivate Tiger Roar Saber, he might not have been beaten to death!"

Looks like there's no effect.

Li Yuan's heart eased.

"Enough, hurry up and forge! By year's end you'll probably have to follow along to Divine Weapon Valley, and by the time you come back it'll probably be next summer — still not going to seize the time?"

Zhang Ben picked up the forging hammer, and began striking iron with a clanging din.

"What if I just formally apprentice into Divine Weapon Valley?"

Li Yuan corrected him: "What if coming back again, it'll be three to five years."

"Every sect values root bone above all — you barely got into the inner courtyard back then, and you're still thinking about Divine Weapon Valley?"

Zhang Ben snorted a few times, no longer paying him any attention.

'My root bone now is certainly not bad!

Li Yuan laughed inwardly, but thought of Yu Zhen.

Not to mention Tiger Roar Saber, the root diagram of Green Serpent Spear should be on that venomous snake, right?

He very much wanted to try — after commanding other root diagrams, whether his root bone could still be altered...