Chapter 28: Qi and Strength United, One Hundred Thousand Jin!
The qi flowed through the Zhoutian meridians!
Like the coiling of a giant flood dragon or a mighty serpent, the powerful qi coursed rapidly within Li Hao's body. Although it was his first time performing this technique, the abundant knowledge in his mind made it feel as though he had immersed himself in this practice for decades. The moment his body mobilized the qi, he instinctively entered a state of natural action.
...
Faint thunderous sounds echoed through his meridians as the qi power opened and cleared one major meridian. With the breakthrough of the meridian, the qi surged forward unimpeded, rapidly cycling through it in sixteen full circulations in a single breath!
Li Hao repeated the technique, his movements becoming increasingly proficient. Gradually, his body synchronized with the knowledge in his memory.
In the second attempt, thirty-eight circulations per breath.
By the third, fifty-two circulations per breath.
By the seventh, one hundred circulations per breath!
...
The Hundred-Serpent Body was also known as the Hundred-Circulations Body because, at its peak, it enabled exactly one hundred circulations per breath!
At this moment, Li Hao glanced at his status panel and noticed that his cultivation realm had shifted from the tenth level of the Tongli Realm to the first level of the Zhoutian Realm!
Having officially stepped into the Zhoutian Realm, Li Hao felt the qi surging within the newly opened major meridian. It carried an unprecedented tension and vitality. Compared to before, it was as if his body had suddenly gained an additional spine, causing him to feel more upright and grounded.
With each movement, he could seamlessly guide the qi through the Zhoutian circulations, unleashing power far beyond his previous capabilities!
Li Hao was overjoyed and immediately began practicing Primeval. Following the sequence in his memory, he progressed from the second layer of the Star Battle Body to the third layer, the Hidden Dragon Body.
As he practiced, the qi in his body surged even more violently, like an enraged river. He discovered that the Hidden Dragon Body contained a unique method for controlling qi, which was no less remarkable than the Hundred-Serpent Body—perhaps even more terrifying!
...
It became clear to Li Hao why Li Muxiu had not informed him about this. The elder likely hadn’t delved deeply into this martial art since it was a body-refining technique and a fragmented manual at that. Li Muxiu probably hadn’t considered letting Li Hao cultivate it.
With each repetition, Li Hao’s familiarity with the technique grew. Gradually, his body underwent significant changes, and a second major meridian began to take shape within him.
This second major meridian was exceptionally sturdy and robust, capable of accommodating far more qi than the first one!
This meridian, the core of the Hidden Dragon Body, was known as the Phantom Vein.
From the descriptions within the manual, Li Hao learned that this Phantom Vein had another name in martial cultivation: the Taiyin Vein.
Although Li Hao had successfully developed this second meridian, his cultivation realm remained at the first level of the Zhoutian Realm. The Taiyin Vein, as a hidden meridian, wasn’t counted among the ordinary major meridians.
The Hundred-Serpent qi, which had almost filled the first meridian, now flowed into the Taiyin Vein. Yet within this vast meridian, the once-dominant qi resembled a mere trickle, incapable of even striking its walls with any force.
...
Thunderous and tiger-like roars resonated from within Li Hao's body as if a dormant ferocious beast was slowly awakening and opening its eyes.
The external force emanating from the surging qi caused the dust around him to scatter. Within three feet of his body, the area became utterly devoid of dust!
With his insights into the third stage of the Body Dao, Li Hao gained a profound understanding of both techniques. He immediately sensed overlapping and intersecting aspects between the qi circulation methods of the Hundred-Serpent Body and the Hidden Dragon Body.
With a single thought, he performed both techniques simultaneously. The two qi circulation methods began interacting with one another, dividing into two streams that chased and intertwined like twin flood dragons within his major meridians.
As he repeated the practice, his mastery grew. Gradually, the two streams of qi fused together.
This was a fusion of martial techniques!
The overlapping aspects were merged, and the intersecting parts unified, resulting in an even faster qi circulation.
The speed increased from one hundred circulations per breath to one hundred and thirty-two!
An improvement of thirty-two circulations per breath!
...
This surpasses the Li family’s top-tier qi circulation technique, the Hundred Battles Zhoutian Technique.
To put it into perspective, aside from the Imperial Clan, this technique is one of the most sought-after and top-tier qi circulation methods within the Great Yu.
As the qi surged through the Taiyin Vein, Li Hao noticed the emergence of a special Taiyin Extreme Cold Power circulating within his body. If he were to cultivate cold-element techniques like the Frost Palm or the Ice Spirit Body, his progress would undoubtedly be twice as fast!
Once his practice session concluded, Li Hao planned to research this Taiyin Vein further.
...
He then began practicing the third top-tier body-refining technique: the True Vacuum Dragon Cicada Body.
However, compared to the previous two techniques, the third layer of this one was slightly inferior.
The Leaping Shell Body contained a qi circulation method of seventy-two circulations. In other words, even cultivating this technique alone would allow Li Hao to break through to the Zhoutian Realm.
Through Leaping Shell, one could wield qi to support physical strength, enabling brief periods of suspended flight.
Bear in mind, hovering is a power typically available only to those at the Soul Fusion Realm.
However, the aerial distance achievable with the Leaping Shell Body was far from comparable to the flight capabilities of the Soul Fusion Realm. Nonetheless, in certain unique battle situations, this could prove quite effective, though its direct combat benefits were limited.
That said, the second layer of the True Vacuum Dragon Cicada Body was remarkably powerful. When he had been in the first stage of the Body Dao, Li Hao had only managed to reach the second layer’s Minor Accomplishment. Now, at the Full Accomplishment level, he had achieved the Hidden Dragon Body.
This layer alone granted him a terrifying strength akin to that of a dragon-elephant, an augmentation of sheer physical might. The power it brought to his body amounted to at least twenty thousand jin!
Li Hao estimated that, based solely on brute physical strength, he could exert around fifty thousand jin.
Yes, it was indeed this overwhelming.
Now, at the third stage of the Body Dao, Li Hao no longer needed a physical trial to gauge his power; he could intuitively sense his bodily state.
If he combined his qi with his physical strength, their union would unleash a force close to one hundred thousand jin!
Every circulation of qi was equivalent to the strength of one cauldron.
With his current speed of one hundred and thirty-two circulations per breath, this translated to one hundred and thirty-two cauldrons’ worth of force per meridian. With his two meridians, this meant two hundred and sixty-four cauldrons!
Since each cauldron equaled two hundred jin, the total reached approximately fifty thousand jin of power.
Such force was more than sufficient to shatter an ordinary Zhoutian Realm practitioner with a single punch.
Typical martial artists who reached the Zhoutian Realm’s peak, having cultivated ten meridians with ten circulations each, fell within the lowest tier of this realm. For most, reaching the Soul Fusion Realm was nearly impossible, as their qi only amounted to one hundred cauldrons, roughly twenty thousand jin.
In contrast, at the first level of the Zhoutian Realm, a single meridian with ten circulations would merely add two thousand jin of force. While this was nearly double that of the Tongli Realm’s three thousand six hundred jin of qi, a Divine Bloodline Practitioner could reach seven thousand two hundred jin by doubling that amount. Even at the peak of the Tongli Realm, they could defeat an average martial artist in the Zhoutian Realm’s initial stage!
This difference marked the inherent advantage of Divine Bloodline Practitioners.
And this didn’t even include enhancements from martial techniques and cultivation methods.
After all, what martial artist didn’t have a technique or two to rely on?
Moreover, given the Divine Bloodline Practitioners’ prestigious backgrounds, it was impossible for them to lack high-grade martial methods. The disparity between them and ordinary practitioners was vast. Most Divine Bloodline Practitioners in the peak of the Tongli Realm could easily overwhelm Zhoutian Realm martial artists in the second or third level.
Exceptional prodigies among them could even cross four to five levels in combat!
Upon reaching the Zhoutian Realm, the advantages conferred by high-level techniques and cultivation resources led to even greater disparities in both strength and cultivation speed.
In the Li family alone, mastery of both their top-grade qi circulation and meridian-clearing techniques could result in a peak Zhoutian Realm strength of one million jin!
Meanwhile, at the low end, practitioners might only reach twenty thousand jin—a staggering fifty-fold difference!
...
Nonetheless, it was rare for a typical Zhoutian Realm martial artist to cultivate only the weakest qi circulation technique of ten rounds. That was the lowest standard.
Every individual had some degree of fortuitous opportunity, and even without it, through sheer persistence and exploration, one could eventually gain access to middle-grade qi circulation methods and meridian-clearing techniques, especially by joining the military. The Yuan Battalion of the Li family, established by an ancestor, recruited only the strongest warriors, who were allowed to cultivate top-grade qi circulation methods and meridian-clearing techniques. Each warrior was considered elite in their realm, and the ten thousand troops of the Yuan Battalion could outmatch an average army of a million!
Li Hao felt the torrent of qi surging within him and smiled.
The terrifying boosts from these techniques vastly outclassed the power of Divine Bloodlines. After all, Divine Bloodlines merely doubled the Tongli Realm’s baseline force of three thousand six hundred jin, but techniques went far beyond that.
To him, an increase of three thousand jin was now hardly worth mentioning.
“Without even considering enhancements like Tiger Pressure, Flying Slash, or other attack-specific abilities, and disregarding techniques like Boundless Sea Sword Technique, just relying on my physical strength alone, I could effortlessly crush a typical Zhoutian Realm martial artist of the tenth level with no background. But when compared to warriors in the Yuan Battalion who have reached the peak of the Zhoutian Realm, I still have a long way to go,” Li Hao thought to himself.
The warriors of the Yuan Battalion were known as the Great Yu Tigers. Within the northern territories of Yan, they were a name of dread among the demonic races.
Whenever the Yuan Battalion’s banner was raised, monsters and demons trembled in fear. The reason was simple: at the peak of the Zhoutian Realm, these soldiers wielded fifty thousand jin of force!
An army of ten thousand such warriors—what an awe-inspiring sight that would be!
And the Zhoutian Realm was merely the lowest level within the Yuan Battalion.
“At present, I might be able to spar against Yuan Battalion soldiers in the third or fourth levels of the Zhoutian Realm. But with their extensive battle experience, there’s no guarantee I’d be able to win.”
Despite his significant improvement, Li Hao’s heart remained humble.
He continued to practice the third-layer qi circulation method of the True Vacuum Dragon Cicada Body, merging and refining overlapping aspects. His qi speed increased once more, reaching one hundred and forty-three circulations per breath!
Exceeding the Hundred Battles Zhoutian Technique by an additional fifteen circulations, each of his meridians now operated at fifteen circulations beyond this technique, a difference that would compound substantially when he reached the peak of the Zhoutian Realm.
However, he still fell short of the Imperial Clan’s All-Heavens Zhoutian Technique.
Li Hao proceeded to practice the remaining middle- and lower-tier body-refining techniques, performing several rounds of each until his memory and physical movements were perfectly synchronized.
As a result, his physical strength received yet another increase, reaching approximately fifteen thousand jin. Additionally, every part of his body gained considerable enhancements—his vision, hearing, and even skin sensitivity improved several times over.
In battle, these enhancements would have a profound impact on the outcome.
Following this, Li Hao began searching through the records in the building, hoping to find more information regarding the Taiyin Vein.