Immortal Path to Heaven

Before Ou Yangming practiced martial arts, General Chen mentioned that he was rich in Qi and blood, and was truly a beginner in embryo¹. It was later proven that his performance did not disappoint Chen Yifan. When he first did stake standing, he displayed a strong talent and cultivated a hint of inner breath.

Chen Yifan gasped in amazement and praised him for his achievement.

Nevertheless, the last time they met, there was a change in Chen Yifan’s attitude, and it was because he noticed a decline in Ou Yangming’s Qi and blood.

Based on Ou Yangming’s age, though he could still practice martial arts, it was necessary for him to be abundant with Qi and blood if he wanted to reach the peak. If the Qi and blood that moved Chen Yifan disappeared, naturally, he would not spend too much time on Ou Yangming.

In actual fact, without Zhang Yinfan and his nephew, Ou Yangming might not actually bother with Chen Yifan. After all, he had Old Craftsman to support him and was totally immersed in the usage of the Military Fire, thus his desire to learn martial arts was not as strong as before.

However, he could not lower his guard since Zhang Yinfan was still in the military camp. It was a matter of life or death for him.

Other people might make guesses, but Ou Yangming knew very well that he was definitely not a remarkable talent in martial arts. The only reason he was previously rich in Qi and blood was that he used a broken saber to kill Zhang Hanyu.

By killing a domestic pig with a treasure saber, he verified that the richness of his Qi and blood were related to the killing of Zhang Hanyu. No, it was probably related to the devouring attribute in his treasure saber.

The devouring attribute was strange and unpredictable as it could devour a person and a pig completely without leaving anything behind, as well as transform the devoured energy into Qi and blood for his body. Had he not experienced it first hand, he would not have believed it.

Nonetheless, when he thought about it, this peculiar devouring attribute actually came from the cylinder carried by Zhang Hanyu.

The fellow had reaped what he sowed, and it benefited Ou Yangming instead.

Ou Yangming frowned when he sensed his Qi and blood stirring in his body. He noticed that they were plentiful but far from being as full as the previous time.

He stomped his feet and decided since he had already killed one, to not go easy on the pigs anymore.

He left the pigpen carefully, then went to another pigpen.

Similarly, he killed the biggest fat pig without leaving a trace due to the devouring attribute. Additionally, since the pigs had been tamed and were not wild, they did not attack him even though they feared him.

Ou Yangming quickly sensed around him again, then went to the third pigpen, and went after a third pig.

Only after that did he finally feel that his Qi and blood were full to the brim.

He was rather shocked because each fat pig killed weighed roughly 500 to 600 kilograms, which amounted to around 1500 kilograms.

Despite that, he realized that the Qi and blood gained from the three fat pigs were not much different from Zhang Hanyu’s, which made him fearful.

Zhang Hanyu was definitely a martial arts powerhouse, much more powerful than Ou Yangming. It was terrible luck to have been killed by Ou Yangming.

Since Ou Yangming had replenished his Qi and blood, he was not going to stay in this place much longer. He used his Military Fire to draw the frightening devouring attribute, and as it disappeared from the saber, the red words in brackets beside the item’s name disappeared as well.

Following that, he returned the way he came, which was a path he had taken many times. Throughout his journey, he was not noticed by many people.

Once he returned to his room, he washed up to remove the odor on his body and changed into clean clothes before he was finally at ease.

After calming himself down, he began cultivating the martial-art squat taught by Chen Yifan and instantly felt the surge of his Qi and blood. They flowed in an unimaginable speed through his meridians, then slowly transformed into his power.

The richer his Qi and blood were, the easier it was for him to cultivate.

A strong man who wielded a meteor hammer could easily swing it around, but if a skinny, disabled person were to use it, it would be more like a suicidal tool than a martial tool used to sweep millions of enemies away.

Ou Yangming felt the same when he did the martial-art squat. Starting out was great, but as his Qi and blood slowly transformed into his own power, dissipating over time, the obvious result was that his cultivation eventually reduced to around the same as a normal person’s.

When he did the squat again, he no longer felt the strong pleasure he felt during his first cultivation. A substantial amount of Qi and blood turned into energy in his body, and he could not stop even if he wanted to.

As a matter of fact, though the devouring effect was indeed terrifying, it consumed significant amounts of energy during the transformation of Qi and blood, the martial-art squat cultivation was similar. In a way, only ten percent of the energy that was devoured could be used.

In terms of price-performance ratio, it was an unfavorable cultivation method.

That said, it was a shortcut for Ou Yangming to increase his strength. Due to the enormous pressure from Zhang Yinfan, he dared not take it easy.

After a long time, when he stopped his training, a series of explosions were heard coming from his bones.

Later, a great deal of energy gathered in his dantian, forming a small light.

Ou Yangming was stunned for a while, then he concentrated on his mental conception to probe his dantian and immediately sensed the broad-bean-sized light.

He shivered a little as he was in disbelief and elated at the same time. Since he had been in the military camp for a long time, even though he had never cultivated martial arts, through hearsay from some martial artists, he knew a thing or two about martial arts cultivation.

The four martial arts boundaries were Force, Yin, Yang, and Extreme.

A Force Artist built one’s body to enrich Qi and blood, sensed the flow of aura, and gathered energies in the dantian.

A Yin Artist tempered Qi in the dantian to be endless, preparing for a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.

A Yang Artist moved into Yang upon reaching the extremity of Yin, such that one in the Yang Boundary could break a stele with bare hands, and was known as the enemy of a hundred people.

An Extreme Artist had reached the peak of martial arts cultivation, where the Yin and Yang energies in one’s body became one and would change endlessly, according to one’s heart desires.

Zhang Hanyu used to be a Force Artist, which was why he was so at ease when he fought Ou Yangming. Without the Military Fire and the sneak attack from the strange devouring ability of Ou Yangming’s broken saber, the final result would be the total opposite.

Ou Yangming also knew that the symbol of a Force Artist was powerful energies, which were accumulated in the dantian as light.

Yes, it was the light he sensed earlier. While the light was weak and small, like candlelight that was being blown by the wind, it was indeed Dantian Light. This meant that he had become a real martial artist after the cultivation.

Although he was only a Force Artist of the lowest level and had just entered the Force Boundary, which was far from the peak like Zhang Hanyu was, his status was completely different now.

Ou Yangming jumped up excitedly, then ran back to Old Craftsman’s barracks, but the old man was not there. He quickly realized the Old Craftsman was definitely at his smithing workshop.

Old Craftsman had been fully focused on smithing a suitable weapon for Chen Yifan.

Apart from giving Ou Yangming pointers, he paid attention to nothing else.

At the smithing workshop, Ou Yangming saw Old Craftsman touching an ore while deep in thought.

Normally, Ou Yangming would not have disturbed the old man, but he was so thrilled that he wanted to share it with someone, and Old Craftsman was the person closest to him. Therefore, he could not control his excitement. “Old Man, I did it!”

Old Craftsman was taken by surprise, so he scolded, “Little b*stard, why are you making such a big fuss?”

Ou Yangming giggled. “Old Man, I became a martial artist!”

“So what if you became a martial art… Eh? What did you say?” Old Craftsman was shocked when he realized what had happened.

Ou Yangming mentioned, “Old Man, General Chen taught me a martial-art squat technique to cultivate my energy, and I’ve been following it for a few days. I finally sensed Dantian Light just now!”

Old Craftsman was dumbfounded. A brief moment later, he reached his hand out to place it on Ou Yangming’s dantian.

Subsequently, his face twitched.

Even though he was old, he was still an excellent martial artist. While he could not be said to be on equal terms with Chen Yifan, he could identify Dantian Light.

‘A little more than ten days, it has only been a little more than ten days, yet he’s refined his Qi and blood, and gathered them into the light.’

When he thought about Ou Yangming’s talent in the Military Fire too, he felt dizzy.

After a long time, he finally collected himself, then glanced at Ou Yangming. “Young fella, go meet General Chen tomorrow morning.”

Ou Yangming was stunned. “Why?”

Old Craftsman explained, “He’s the one who passed you the martial art technique, so he must be informed if you succeed.”

Ou Yangming nodded and agreed.

Upon seeing Ou Yangming’s silly smile, Old Craftsman wondered. ‘Indeed, I’ve grown old, I couldn’t tell that he’s actually a martial arts genius.’