Chapter 255 - 134: Physical Limit, the Purest Gang! Advancing a Top-Tier Outer Gang Scroll, Master Duan... Has Fallen?

Chapter 255: Chapter 134: Physical Limit, the Purest Gang! Advancing a Top-Tier Outer Gang Scroll, Master Duan... Has Fallen?

Inside the Ji Residence.

The cold snap had passed.

Ji Xiu, wearing a single layer of robes, pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth. His chest and organs rose and fell in rhythm. If one listened closely, they could hear a faint, trembling sound, like the roaring of tigers and wolves.

A ZZZZ sound emanated from his fascia, which were coiled as tight as steel wires.

Ji Xiu’s entire Spinal Dragon was vibrating rapidly, emitting the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound.

He was alone in the courtyard pavilion.

Ji Xiu’s knees were slightly bent, one leg extended forward in a half-stance. He practiced the Six Martial Stances, moving back and forth through the forms. One moment his palm was open, the next his fingers were pointed; then he formed a claw, clenched a fist, struck with his palm, or threw a kick...

With every form he executed, a phantasmal shadow seemed to drape itself over his broad shoulders.

The images were of a Cloud Crane, an old ape, a falcon, a white tiger, a Wild Flood Dragon, and a giant elephant!

Six overlapping images!

All manifesting upon his body!

’The Cloud Crane is gentle, which allows it to shed Force. The first layer of essence I grasped was known as Dragon Unarmored. It lets me borrow an opponent’s Force or Gang and use their own strength against them.’

’But now that I’ve fully mastered Ye Longxiang’s Head, I can even see a fleeting moment of Initiative when I use it!’

’As long as their martial arts mastery doesn’t completely overwhelm mine, the moment I strike, my opponent will be riddled with openings. It’s like the saying, "The cicada senses the autumn wind before it blows."’

The young man bathed in the gentle breeze, his eyes lowered. As these thoughts ran through his mind, he performed an open-palmed strike, light and agile, as graceful and traceless as a crane dancing in the heavens.

’By the same logic, the other Martial Stances...’

’...are the same.’

Ji Xiu slightly raised his eyelids, his hand movements never ceasing. A probing finger like an ape’s, a grasping claw like an eagle’s, a clenched fist like a tiger’s...

At times clever and adaptable, at others sharp and piercing, or fierce and powerful, or solid and heavy...

Finally, the six aspects transformed into a single dragon’s cry!

As if a pupa were becoming a butterfly, his Force gave rise to another kind of power from within his Blood Marrow. This power, combined with his Secret Martial art, actually broke free from his physical body and his Qi and Blood, striking out through the air!

In that instant, it pulverized a massive boulder several yards away!

"This is..."

"’Gang?’"

Ji Xiu had been immersed in the profound state of having mastered his martial arts ahead of schedule, still carefully savoring the feeling.

But this sudden change, this breakthrough that shattered the limits of the physical body, jolted him awake!

He stared intently, then opened his hands—hands that had undergone a transformation, becoming as lustrous as jade. They had even shed their calluses once and had long since become as hard as iron. He froze.

Because on these broad palms, which had been flawless and free of calluses ever since their transformation during the Jade Skin stage...

...a type of Qi was swirling.

It was as if it had been born from thin air, manifested from within the great Secret Treasure of his physical body, having been circulated and wrung from every pore and every drop of Blood Marrow to the absolute limit!

It was simply unbelievable!

Ji Xiu clenched his fist instinctively.

The Outer Gang, evolved from Inner Force, erupted from his palm with a PFFT, tearing the air on either side with an explosive crack!

This fierce, extraordinary power, capable of even making the air explode and tearing fissures in space...

...was countless times superior to the Skillful Force generated by merely stretching the major tendons!

Inner Force is merely the key for a Martial Artist at the Power Barrier.

But Outer Gang...

...is a Divine Power that only emerges when a Martial Artist has tempered their Flesh, Bone, Skin, and Membrane—and even their five viscera and six organs—to the absolute limit, when there is no further they can go, when they have reached the Transformation Realm!

The Qi of a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster and the intent of the Titled Martial Dao are both born from this. Even with Secret Techniques for tempering and refining, 99 percent of ordinary Martial Artists are stopped at this stage.

But this time, Ji Xiu...

...had shattered these Shackles using only his physical body!

’I once heard Master Duan say,’

’that only the most elite Martial Artists, those who cultivate their Divine Soul and Secret Martial arts from an early stage, advancing on all fronts, can possibly generate Outer Gang without relying on external aids or Secret Techniques.’

’This type of Gang Qi is also called the Purest Gang. It is one of the three most important foundations for achieving Qi Sea First Grade and reaching the Absolute Peak in the future!’

’In other words, I’ve...’

’...already succeeded?’

Joy slowly bloomed in Ji Xiu’s heart.

Qi Sea First Grade!

Even his master, Duan Chenzhou, was only at the Second Grade, lacking some of the necessary foundation.

According to the old man, there were three conditions to achieve a First Grade Qi Sea.

First, a Titled Level Qi Dao True Skill to build an unparalleled foundation!

Second, breaking through the Three Limits of Flesh, Bone, and Skin in succession to obtain the key of the Treasure Body!

And finally...

...refining the Purest Gang!

At first glance, this last step seemed the simplest.

The previous conditions—a Titled True Skill, breaking the Three Limits, consolidating a Treasure Body—were each more heaven-defying and more difficult than the last.

For anyone who wasn’t a True Sect Disciple or one of the Vassal Towns’ Nobles, it was nothing short of a fantasy.

But refining the Purest Gang was not much simpler!

Consider Ji Xiu. Aided by the Primordial Daoist Talisman, how many Cultivation Techniques and Secret Manuals had he practiced along the way that would seem priceless to outsiders?

The Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake and Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate—one a Secret Inheritance of a True Sect, the other a Dragon Lord True Method.

And then there was the Divine Soul Visualization Atlas from the Celestial Dao Lineage of the Ten Thousand Laws Sect—a work written with Eight Hundred Dao Seals, meant to build an unparalleled foundation for its True Inheritances!

Even so,

it was only after he had completely mastered the Grandmaster Level Secret Martial art, Ye Longxiang’s Head, and integrated the Six Martial Stances...

...that he had barely touched this threshold, finally achieving a natural breakthrough.

The process had been so arduous that even if it was slightly less daunting than the first two demanding conditions...

...it wasn’t far behind.

According to legend,

many people, unable to achieve a natural breakthrough with their physical bodies, would repeatedly undergo Scattered Gang Reincarnation during the Strength into Gang stage, all in pursuit of that single breath of Purest Gang!

To be honest,

Ji Xiu himself had no idea how many Earth Treasures, Great Pills, and ultimate Secret Medicines from various sects it would take to forge a foundation comparable to his own.