Once he was prepared for the training, Shi Mu’s chest began to heave, and wisps of real qi started slowly flowing out of his dantian, circulating Qi through all the veins in his body before returning back to his dantian. This process was repeated over and over again, and during its circulation, his real qi kept drawing heavenly energy in from the environment, which then joined the real qi in his body and gradually strengthened it.
As the cycles went on, the speed with which his real Qi was flowing continually gained momentum. Eventually, it finally grew to the point that it was like a massive river was surging through his veins. At this time, Shi Mu was cloaked in a thin mist, his skin moistened and red, and his veins all standing out, like earthworms that appeared to be trying to break free from his body.
Shi Mu’s eyes were glinting in great pain as every one of his muscles protruded, attempting to break the blockade that was his skin. Meanwhile, the flow of real Qi in his body had reached its highest speed! He did not hesitate and grasped the jade bottle at his side, pouring out the Wall-Breaking Pill and swallowed it. Immediately, he felt as if a cold polar ice had plummeted down to his stomach, and the pill’s coldness soon spread to his torso and limbs.
Shi Mu trembled and felt his blood freeze, while his face turned abnormally pale. The flood of real Qi came to a sudden halt, and was forced by the coldness to compress and become denser.
As time went by, his real Qi was finally condensed to a thin wisp. But the next moment, without warning, it suddenly exploded and turned into the wild flood again.
A thunderous noise reverberated through his body, and his heart throbbed fiercely at the impact. Simultaneously, a undescribable force rushed out from his dantian.
He felt as if his skin had suddenly broken, like a piece of thin paper pricked open. All of a sullen, a great deal of the heavenly energy around him flooded into his body. Just like a prisoner who had not seen the sky for years, Shi Mu felt that the air was indescribably fresh - a freshness that he had never tasted throughout his young life, and that every pore of his skin had been bathed in a comfortable coolness. At the same time, the mist that had been curling up his body lifted, his body also recovered its normal look. Shi Mu tried clenching his fists, elated to find himself full of energy, and his force one-level stronger than before.
So he had finally succeeded in breaking into the fifth stage of the Art of the Heavenly Elephant! The bottleneck was like a high wall before he took the pill, but now it had melted down, like a piece of thin paper. No wonder it was named the Wall-breaking Pill.
Hardly able to contain his excitement, he stood up, throwing his fists into the air and stretching his body. To his surprise, his movement created a strong wind, accompanied by the sound of explosion as his fist or foot thrust into the air.
Shi Mu was so excited that he drew his black blade and began to practice the Thirteen Series of Gale Force Blade Art. A beam of black light floated distinctly in the air near his body, and the glint of his blade suddenly divided into six or seven shadows at either side, simultaneously striking a spot in the air from both sides.
He played with his sword, like a young boy presented with a toy for the first time, and was reluctant to stop until an hour later. He then went to his stone bed, sat on it, and sank into a deep contemplation, his eyes glittering like the surface of a pond under the moon.
At the time when he reached the fourth stage of the Art of the Heavenly Elephant, he had tried to practice the Art of the Great Ape, but failed, due to his lack of real Qi.
But he had not been idle since then. From that failure, he knew that he would have enough real Qi in his dantian to resist the corroding force of Devil’s qi as long as he made it to the fifth stage of the Art of the Heavenly Elephant.
......
Twelve blood-red moons were suspended in the dark grey sky.
In a yellow valley laid a small pool that was just two meters in diameter. Its red water seemed quite vibrant in such a grey world. Fragments of skeletons lied disorderly around the pool, and, judging from the number of bone pieces, there were enough bones here to make 5 skeletons.
Right now, the clamor of weapons clashing disturbed the water, making it quiver a bit. Three skeletons wearing bone armors had besieged a skeleton in broken bone armor. The one with the broken bone armor was Silk. Through her broken armor, broken ribs with numerous fissures could be seen, and three of them were missing. Her upper body was trembling from the imbalance.
Silk swept with her bone blade and repelled two blades that striking at her from the front, but the impact made her body shake more violently. Just then, a white bone spear stabbed from another side at her vertebra. If the spear did hit its target, Silk may have been smashed to peices, and there was no way she could duck, given her present condition. But she had her ways. Without warning, the black formula sealed in her soul inside her skull suddenly shone! In no time the green gleams in her eye sockets gained alarming brightness, and, with a strange movement, she flashed to the saide, the spear missed her bones and stabbing at empty air. Then she stepped forward, effortlessly cutting down one of the skeletons with her bone blade.
But, again, the other two blades launched their attacks with air-piercing sounds. Silk suddenly knelt down to duck the attacks, and the blades missed.
The next second, the two skeletons were cut into halves at the waist, and, with two clear sounds, they fell to the ground, followed by another two crisps sounds as their skulls crashed onto the floor. Silk did not hurry to stand up but quickly stomped on all the bones near the pool. Each bone piece would release a ball of green light when it was crushed, which would then flow into Silk’s mouth and strengthen her soul.
During the next few moments, she fumbled in the piles, looking for some solid bones to fit her missing parts. After a short while, her body was rebuilt, solid and sound, which delighted her very much. She cracked into a blissful smile, gazing at the red pool in front of her, the green fire in her eyes flickering.
After the first time she had bathed in such a red pool, she began to seek out similar pools subconsciously, and then a voice emerged from her soul, telling to her that the red pool would strengthen her.
Half-conscious, Silk walked down to the pool and slowly submerged herself in the water.
Before long, bubbles floated up.
……
Shi Mu was cheerfully walking along a path that lead toward the Rat Nest deep in the Xuan Ling Mountains.
He had just exchanged his feat points for a bottle of extremely pure Devil’s qi in the stronghold of Lan City, and also bought three bottles of ape blood.
He is excited about getting to see the body-strengthening effects of the Art of the Strong Ape, and he can’t wait to arrive at the stronghold and practice the art.
But when he had just turned around a corner, his face contorted in alarm while his legs involuntarily stopped moving. An extremely beautiful young girl in a golden dress was standing in the front of him with a charming smile on her face. It seemed that she had known he would come this way and had been waiting for him.
Who else could she be except Jin Xiaochai?
“Master Jin, it is an honor for your disciple Shi Mu to see you here.” Shi Mu suppressed the distress in his heart and steeled himself to step ahead and bow to her.
“You have fought together with me and we have known each other for so long, don’t be so polite... So, how are you doing in the Rat Nest?” Jin Xiaochai giggled and spoke in a sweet voice, meanwhile she stepped near Shi Mu, staring at him with great interest in her beautiful eyes and a passionate smile on her lips.
“I don’t dare not be polite! As for the stronghold, it is much better than risking one’s life in other places. Thanks to Master Jin for her recommendation!” Shi Mu could not help but step back to keep distance from her, his heart beating nervously. He had a bad premonition that this foxy woman had sought himself out as a target for some evil doing.
“I recommended you so that a genius of our sect could get more efficient training. It’s my duty, no need to thank me. Master Fang appreciates you very much and I have heard that you have been awarded a Wall-Breaking Pill. You seemed in a hurry, maybe you have some arts you want to practice? Trying to make another breakthrough again?” Jin Xiaochai stepped forward, licking her upper lip, and her beautiful eyes were still staring at Shi Mu enthusiastically.
Under Jin Xiaochai’s fervent eyes, Shi Mu retreated subconsciously and replied with his head bent down, “Your humble disciple really has an art at a bottleneck and was trying to seize this valuable chance to break through it.”
“I appreciate your efforts. Feel free to ask me if you have any problems in your practices.” Jin Xiaochai detected Shi Mu’s nervousness, so she stepped forward again, a small smile on her lips. A puff of delicate fragrance immediately filled his nose, and made his heart start trembling, so he stepped back another step. However, a coldness mercilessly pressed against his back, and he turned his head to find that he had already reached the base of a cliff.
“Master Jin had helped me a lot. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.” Shi Mu felt himself hopelessly cornered. Resourceless, he, at last, raised his head to meet Jin Xiaochai in the eyes and spoke frankly, hoping to end this ridiculous conversation as soon as possible.
“Why are you so nervous? Are you afraid of being eaten by me? You look so young and handsome, and I guess you must still be single. May I introduce a beautiful female disciple to you?” Jin Xiaochai did not stop her steps, and smiled even more charmingly.
“Thanks a lot for Master’s concern, but your humble disciple only wants to cultivate and practice the arts. Marriage is out of my concerns right now.” Shi Mu hurriedly waved his hand and refused in a determined tone.
“Hehe, which man would turn down the invitation of a beautiful woman? You can rest assured, the disciple I shall introduce to you is just like me, both in features and figure.” Jin Xiaochai threw a flirtatious smile. The next moment, Shi Mu was shocked out of his wits as she stepped even nearer, her bosom pushing against his chest. Completely flustered, Shi Mu tried to duck to the side, blood rushing to his head, but Jin Xiaochai’s right hand had stretched out to prop herself against the cliff, blocking Shi Mu’s way. Her soft body was completely pressed against him.
[TL: Haha, so you finally did it! Well done, Shi Mu!]