Chapter 15: Expert’s Image, Titan’s Strength

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Phew! That was close!”

Upon returning to his bedchamber, Zhao Mu let out a long sigh of relief.

He sat on the bed as he tried to calm his emotions.

“With my hundred years of internal energy, hundred years of true Qi, coupled with Huo Rulie’s will of martial arts at the Spiritual Transformation Stage, it’s not hard to masquerade as an expert.”

After his tracks were exposed by Daoist Chang Yun, Zhao Mu improvised on the spot and managed to worm his way out of it.

The master of Truth Monastery was at the fourth Mortal Stage, Circulation Stage.

He had acquired the ability to connect the energy within his body and focus his strength into one location.

Furthermore, he had a deep pool of true Qi and a fearsome palm technique.

It would be easy for him to mold metal like mud and break rocks.

If it were any regular martial artist of the third Mortal Stage, Unblocking Aperture Stage that met with Daoist Chang Yun, they would most likely be captured on the spot and handed over to the royal guards.

However, Zhao Mu had cultivated the Divine Sun and Moon Scripture.

All his apertures and acupoints had Primordial Yang Qi within them that was extremely domineering like an all-engulfing flame.

According to the categorization of the 10 Mortal Stages, only a Qi Refinement Expert that achieved unity would be able to emit one’s true Qi to manifest a Qi weapon.

Such a weapon would be able to take another’s life while staying thousands of feet away.

However, the Divine Sun and Moon Scriptures were not the same.

Primordial Yang Qi and Mysterious Yin Qi were hidden within one’s apertures and acupoints.

Once those points were connected, emitting Qi outside the body was not an issue.

Sometime earlier, Zhao Mu had demonstrated his ability to light a candle across the room by shooting a line of fire out of his hand.

Hence, when Daoist Chang Yun attacked him with his palm, Zhao Mu used his Primordial Yang Qi to protect his body. It was like a formless true flame that formed a layer outside his robes.

Daoist Chang Yun’s 30 years of painstakingly cultivated power was helpless when faced with an incomparable abomination of the likes of Zhao Mu.

Under the might of the Primordial Yang Qi, that little bit of true Qi was like firewood before the sun.

Before it could even reach his body, it was completely burnt away.

After the first successful step, he then used Huo Rulie’s experience in martial arts to lecture the other party regarding the flaws of his martial arts, perfectly creating a facade of a mysterious expert.

He avoided a direct confrontation that would attract the royal guards, which could result in a rather awkward situation.

“Speaking of it, the eighth Mortal Stage of Spiritual Transformation is truly a divide in martial arts cultivation.”

Zhao Mu thought about it carefully. Earlier, he imitated Huo Rulie’s will of martial arts and executed the same technique of Wuding Mountain Splitter.

Daoist Chang Yun was enraptured by it and lost his will to retaliate.

One should know that he was only an amateur and not a true expert of the Spiritual Transformation Stage.

Just by borrowing a shred of mental power from Huo Rulie, he was able to intimidate a second-rate expert of the fourth Mortal Stage.

From that, one could conclude that once the spirit had gone through a transformation and condense all of one’s knowledge on martial arts into a powerful will, then the martial artists would go through a qualitative change and enter a broader and wider world.

“Hiding one’s tracks and masquerading before others are not the traits of a gentleman.

“However, I have no other choice. My strength is still lacking. If I can cultivate an unrivaled art, why would I need to hide my identity?”

Zhao Mu lamented while he opened his right palm.

The dark golden elixir was rolling as it floated before him.

True to its name, the Nine Aperture Golden Elixir had nine tiny holes on its surface that resembled the apertures on a human’s body.

It contained an air current that would constantly flow in and out, behaving just like a living being.

With just the slightest whiff, the refreshing scent of herbs filled his nostrils.

“Divine elixir! It’s definitely a divine elixir!”

Zhao Mu ditched his disappointment from before and turned abnormally excited.

This trip to the Truth Monastery was worth it!

Just by holding it in his hands, he could already feel the strong vitality coming from it.

It seemed to be breathing. It was definitely not an inanimate object refined from rare herbs.

Zhao Mu even had a feeling that if he placed the Nine Aperture Golden Elixir in a blessed land and nurtured it for several decades, it might even gain sentience and come to life like those stories in fantasy novels.

“No wonder this divine elixir is hard as still. It’s not meant to be ingested, but used externally instead.”

Zhao Mu focused his attention slightly to have the mysterious stone dial provide the details.

“The only way to use it is to fuse it into the body and wash over it with Qi. With that, one would achieve the effect of transformation and rewrite fate.”

He grabbed hard on the Nine Aperture Golden Elixir and realized that it was just like a smooth and round metal ball that was difficult to crush.

If a normal person ingested it, it would probably pierce through the intestines and damage their internal organs, leading to them dying from hemorrhage.

Even if an expert achieved the state of unity and refined their bone marrows, it would still be difficult to digest such a hard metallic object.

“However, would one live with a hole in the chest?”

Zhao Mu’s hesitation only lasted for a moment.

The reason he achieved what he had and was no longer bound by the cold palace was because of the assistance from the mysterious stone dial.

No matter where it came from, or why it came to him, he decided to put away the pointless doubts within him before he could uncover the truth.

As long as he continued forward, he would eventually come face to face with the truth.

“Ah, the best in the world…”

Zhao Mu reaffirmed himself. First, he found some bandages and blood clotting powder just in case.

Next, he found a dagger and placed it on the desk.

With all the preparation complete, he took a deep breath.

How could he be afraid of getting hurt if he wanted to be the best martial arts grandmaster in the world?

The flesh on his chest was cut open and blood spurted out.

Zhao Mu grabbed onto the heavy Nine Aperture Golden Core and pressed it into the opening in his chest.

Gasp!

Throughout the ordeal, his forehead was filled with cold sweat as he could not hold back from gasping.

It was too painful!

It felt just like he was digging his heart out!

The moment the Nine Aperture Golden Elixir was washed over by his Qi as it entered his body, the elixir’s effects spread quickly.

Zhao Mu witnessed a miraculous scene. The horrible wounds on his body healed over rapidly.

The scarlet blood that flowed rapidly out of his body had also stopped quickly, leaving only a faint scar behind

Before he could complete one Qi cycle, Zhao Mu already felt it.

A refreshing feeling exuded from his pores.

His mouth also started salivating as his physical body was nourished.

It felt like he was turning into a feather and ascending to heaven. He was in absolute bliss.

“It feels like I have an extra heart.”

Zhao Mu pressed against his chest.

With each strong beat, it would activate the Qi within his body.

Whoosh! Whooosh!

Blood continually washed over it and eventually thickened to the point that it resembled quicksilver.

When it flowed, it created a clear sound.

“Transformation of the body is real! I can feel my strength growing with each breath.”

Zhao Mu finally experienced how it felt to grow stronger by just breathing.

He immediately sat in a lotus position on the bed and started cultivating.

Waves of heat stimulated his Qi circulation.

Zhao Mu felt like he was seated in a giant furnace, being continually tempered and refined.

The muscles in his body seemed like they were being compressed. The entire process was like processing raw materials into refined iron, then further refine them into steel.

At that moment, his sturdy body that perfected Form Shaping and Body Tempering reached a new height.

After several hours of cultivation, the Primordial Yang Qi in his apertures were filled to the brim.

Zhao Mu stopped his Qi circulation and swung his fist.

Boom!

It was like setting off a string of firecrackers. The air current exploded around him and created booming sounds.

His body seemed to be containing the strength comparable to that of titans. With just the slightest stretch, his movements would affect the air around him.

“If Daoist Chang Yun appeared before me now, I’m afraid I would kill him in a single punch.”

Zhao Mu used the first opponent he met ever since his cultivation as a unit of measurement for his strength.

Upon further speculation, he felt that in his current form, he should be able to take on four to five Daoist Chang Yun without any problems.

“I don’t have to worry about my voracious appetite and eating too much anymore.”

Zhao Mu’s heart was overjoyed.

The Nine Aperture Golden Elixir was sufficient to provide for his body’s needs.

Meanwhile, when compared to the potency, it was leagues stronger than ginseng and velvet antlers.

Having solved that major issue, then his future cultivation would be even faster and had no more worries.

He focused his thoughts and once again looked toward the mysterious stone dial in his mind.

[Zhao Mu]

[Two hundred years of internal energy.]

[Tiger Demon Bone Refinement Fist, Presence Concealing Mantra, Divine Sun and Moon Scriptures.]

“My internal energy went up by another hundred years…”

Zhao Mu felt helpless right after that.

He had already converted 100 years of internal energy into strands of Primordial Yang Qi, but then…

‘If this continues, I’m afraid I’ll become the world’s strongest martial artist in the third Mortal Stage!’ Zhao Mu thought to himself.

When others talked about internal energy, it would usually be counted in decades and obtained after painstaking cultivation.

As for him?

Each unit is measured by 100 years. They came to him just like that and it was never-ending.

‘If this continues…’ An image formed in Zhao Mu’s mind.

An Innate Grandmaster approached from the sky, and then—

Smack!

Slapped to death by his 3,000 years of accumulated internal energy!

“That’s going too far with the imagination. What kind of incredible physique would I need to house 3 thousand years of internal energy?”

Zhao Mu stopped his joking thoughts. After what he had seen in the Truth Monastery, he vaguely had an idea of what the 10 Mortal Stages are.

Daoist Chang Yun, who was one cultivation stage higher than him, looked to be normal and uninteresting.

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As for Eunuch Gao that he met even earlier, he was at the fifth Mortal Stage of Foundation Establishment.

However, Zhao Mu could not feel any sense of danger or apprehensive feeling from him.

“I’ve never truly fought a real expert before and have no idea what my level will be if I were to fight for real.”

Zhao Mu lamented and thought nothing more about it.

Instead, he continued to meditate and refine the Nine Aperture Golden Elixir within his body.