Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

After that, Xu Yang focused solely on his cultivation. He spent money like it was water, and his Cultivation rose steadily.

Whenever he saved up enough points, he would use them to enhance his Root Bone and Comprehension.

Time trickled by. Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong started spending more of their time with Jiang Ping, Gu Fang, and the others. They rarely came to interact or spar with Xu Yang’s group of three, and their relationships gradually grew distant.

Even the ever-diplomatic Zhang Hong rarely came to chat.

Of course, it wasn’t as if they’d had a falling out. They still greeted each other warmly whenever they met, and no cold or sarcastic words were exchanged.

It was simply that the two had entered Jiang Ping’s social circle. Hanging out with Xu Yang’s group now seemed a bit low-class, wasn’t good for their future prospects, and besides, they no longer had the time.

Qiu Wenjie was rather indignant about it, but Wu Yongfeng was actually happy to see it happen.

After all, their old friendship still stood. If Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong succeeded, it could only benefit him. Should he ever run into trouble, he’d have a well-connected friend to give him a hand.

Xu Yang, however, was indifferent. As far as he was concerned, they were his friends whether they were successful or not, and he didn’t blame Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong for not wanting to revolve their lives around him.

「Half a month later.」 Lu Ren, who had been recuperating, returned to the Martial Arts Hall. His injuries weren’t fully healed, however, so he couldn’t cultivate for the time being.

「Another ten days passed.」 Lu Ren announced that he had fully recovered from his injuries. He swore an oath to break through to Qi Gathering Great Success within half a month.

On this day, the True Qi in Xu Yang’s body stopped increasing. His Dantian and meridians were filled to the brim.

’I can make a push for Qi Gathering Great Success.’

He knew he had hit the barrier to the Qi Gathering Great Success realm. Only by breaking through could his True Qi continue to grow stronger.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he left Weiyuan Hall and headed straight home. After telling Xu Qing not to disturb him, he entered his room, bolted the door, and began his assault on the barrier.

At that moment, the blood and qi within him surged like a tide, crashing against his muscles, bones, and skin.

Under the control of his Heart Spirit, the pure and tyrannical Vajra True Qi circulated faster and faster through his meridians. Xu Yang felt a piercing pain wrack his body, as if he were being sliced by countless knives.

The Vajra True Qi was simply too tyrannical. Even though his body had been constantly tempered by it, his meridians struggled to withstand such high-speed circulation.

Xu Yang gritted his teeth, holding his breath and focusing his mind. The rapidly circulating Vajra True Qi charged recklessly onward, forging paths through meridians he had never accessed before.

’These meridians are irrelevant. I have to break through the Ren and Du Meridians to achieve Qi Gathering Great Success.’

His Root Bone was now at B+, and with his condensed, tyrannical Vajra True Qi, breaking through the Ren and Du Meridians themselves wouldn’t be difficult. The real challenge was finding them in the first place.

An unknown amount of time passed before he finally sensed a location in his body. Whenever his Vajra True Qi reached this point, it felt as if an invisible barrier was repelling it.

’I’ve found the Ren and Du Meridians.’

Xu Yang’s spirits soared. He immediately gathered every last wisp of his True Qi and slammed it into that location.

BOOM!

As the full force of his gathered Vajra True Qi struck, a colossal bang echoed through Xu Yang’s mind. He let out an involuntary grunt as the rebounding True Qi surged back, feeling as though his meridians were about to burst.

He couldn’t help but hiss, sucking in a sharp breath. The pain was so intense his vision went black.

’Lin Cheng always said money was the most important thing for cultivation, but natural talent is just as crucial. Otherwise, every wealthy family in Qingyuan County would be overflowing with masters at the Qi Gathering Great Success realm.’

’If even I, with my Root Bone, Comprehension, and the Vajra Skill, couldn’t succeed on the first try, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for everyone else.’

After calming his churning blood and qi and stabilizing his chaotic True Qi, Xu Yang rested for a moment before launching a second assault.

This time, he steeled himself, gathering his strength for a long while before unleashing all of his True Qi in another strike.

CRACK!

He had braced himself for the backlash, but to his surprise, the second attempt effortlessly pierced the invisible barrier. The Vajra True Qi drove straight through, meeting only a faint tremor of resistance.

It was as if he had pushed open a door into a much vaster world; the invisible shackles were gone.

A new, even more torrential surge of True Qi materialized from thin air. It merged with his own, roaring as it continued to smash forward.

CRACK!

With another sharp crack, Xu Yang felt as if his entire body was about to float away. His Heart Spirit entered an ethereal state.

Yet another stream of True Qi appeared from the void, merging into the roaring torrent and establishing a completely new cycle with his original qi.

RUMBLE...

His meridians and Dantian trembled, rapidly widening as if they had shattered their former limits. The Dantian and meridians, once filled to bursting, suddenly felt vast and empty.

Before his mind’s eye, the progress of his Vajra Skill shot upward. His blood and qi churned powerfully, and the strength of his physical body skyrocketed.

’The True Qi is beginning to nourish my physical body.’

A breakthrough in one’s Cultivation Realm brought more than just an increase in True Qi. A series of crackling pops echoed from his bones and tendons, and a faint luster seemed to flow beneath his skin.

With each new circulation, his True Qi grew a bit larger and more condensed, and his Physique strengthened in turn.

After forty-nine full Circulations, the turbulent True Qi gradually subsided, settling into a slow, automatic cycle.

’I’ve finally reached Qi Gathering Great Success. My True Qi has entered a state of automatic circulation. From now on, my cultivation will grow even if all I do is sleep.’

Xu Yang opened his eyes, his entire body feeling unbelievably light, as though he had just shed a heavy carapace.

Within a ten-zhang radius, he felt he could even hear insects crawling on the floor. By the light of the moon, every detail in the room was laid bare before his eyes.

’My reserves of True Qi have at least doubled, and the density is even more astonishing.’

He finally understood why Zhang Tong, who was also at the Qi Gathering Great Success realm, had been so arrogant.

Someone at Qi Gathering Great Success fighting a person at Qi Gathering Minor Achievement... you might not be able to kill them with a single casual strike, but it would be over in two or three moves. And that was for someone who had just broken through. Once he accumulated a bit more True Qi, he really could kill them with a wave of his hand.