Chapter 330: Chapter 203: Piercing Through the Two Bridges of Heaven and Earth, Gang Force Achieved!

The pine wind brushes beneath the eaves, verdant mountains reveal the Academy, spring brings forth the resounding voices of books.

"Qingxuan, have you gained any insight from this journey?" The old master, clad in simple scholar’s robes white as snow, sat with eyes closed like a meditative monk.

The youth in azure washed away the dust from his body, then sat upright and solemn.

"Much insight has been gained. In this world, there is not only Ancient Qingzhou County, not only peace and prosperity; some cannot cover themselves, and the roads are littered with the bones of the frozen. This disciple can save two or three, but one’s strength is meager... Passing through a small county in Canglan South County, I was gifted a poem by a kindred friend. May Master take a look."

The old master unrolled the scroll, seeing it was a poem praising plum blossoms. His gaze grew deep, a slight frown at the first line—there are many poems on plum blossoms, and this first line could only be considered barely middle grade.

"From afar, I know it’s not snow?"

The old master’s gaze lit up, tapping the rhythm and sighing in admiration.

"What a fine ’for its hidden fragrance comes’...Such a brief twenty words capture the spirit of the plum, a talent worthy of passing down the ages... Qingxuan, whom did you receive this poem from?"

"This disciple knows not; that person seemed but a few years older than I."

"To write such lines at that age, remarkable indeed. Poems reveal one’s heart, and this poem is fated for you, Qingxuan—you must remember it all your life."

"Disciple humbly obeys your teachings."

"Now that you return from your travels, settle your heart to your studies, and prepare for this year’s academy exam."

Hearing this, Qingxuan’s heart stirred with joy; years ago, he had already passed the county exam, earning the rank of tongsheng, but his master forbade him from pursuing the academy exam, sending him out from the Academy to wander instead.

"Disciple, I shall go prepare at once."

"Wait." The old master halted his hasty disciple. "That impatience still hasn’t left you. One more thing—your youngest uncle-master seems to have taken a disciple and should return to the Academy soon. Prepare yourself."

"What, youngest uncle-master accepted a disciple? Disciple heard the Yang Family produced a literary genius, and the Zhong Family a talented lady—could it be one of them? Is it a young uncle-disciple or a young aunt-disciple?"

Qingxuan fired off three questions. His youngest uncle-master was ever proud, hardly thinking much even of Li Qingxuan, and had never before taken on a disciple. The youth in azure was truly shocked at this news.

"Why not the Li Family?"

Li Qingxuan’s face betrayed a trace of pride; the old master nodded secretly. "Wait until your youngest uncle-master returns, and ask him yourself."

...

A wanderer in a foreign land.

Leaving Cang River, traveling north along the tributaries of Canglan River, crossing a thousand desolate and chaotic miles, finally drawing near to the bustling Commandery City. This much could be perceived from the martial artists met along the way and their strength.

Yan Xiaolan stopped in a small town called Bijiang Town on her journey.

Along the way, Eighth Grade Bone Forger Martial Artists in the town were not rare. In the town’s Martial Arts Halls and local powers, there were even several Seventh-Grade Martial Artists. Such power might not count for much in the Qingyun Three Counties, but it would surely hold rank.

Yet upon inquiry, Yan Xiaolan learned that even with several Seventh-Grade Martial Artists, such a force near the Commandery City was but a third-rate power.

"The world beyond Qingyun is truly vast. Powers able to settle in the Commandery City surely have Sixth Grade, or even stronger Martial Artists presiding. Perhaps ordinary Sixth-Grade Martial Artists must still rely on factions to live comfortably in the city... However, with ability like Elder Li’s, perhaps such need not apply."

Yan Xiaolan’s journey broadened her horizons, stirring both amazement and a newfound vigilance within her.

She realized her own Seventh Grade Muscle Changing Realm, once leaving Qingyun Three Counties, counted for little—superior to commoners or wandering Jianghu folk, but not enough to act freely even in small towns. To live at ease, greater strength was necessary.

Yan Xiaolan stayed a few days in Bijiang Town before setting forth again for the Commandery City.

Ten days later, the Commandery City was in sight.

The undulating silhouette of a mighty city appeared ahead, beneath the not yet brightened heavens, resembling an ancient beast sprawled upon the earth.

"Elder, may I ask what stirs such excitement ahead?"

"That’s the Pill Cauldron Pavilion recruiting disciples. If you join them, you’ll never worry for food or clothing your whole life."

The old man spoke without turning, while the foreign young woman’s bewildered eyes brightened—for she too was seeking somewhere to settle.

"Pill Cauldron Pavilion... why not give it a try?"

...

"Condense Pill Force, open the Heaven and Earth Bridge, transform Core into Gang!"

Su Mu silently chanted in his heart; this was the path to the fifth Refining Force deduced through the fate gained after quelling the Taiping Dao stronghold. He had not chosen to directly attempt the fifth Refining Force then, due to saving others.

Yet these days, he had continued to deduce and perfect the technique. With his dragon-and-phoenix-level comprehension, he had long since polished every subtlety of it in detail.

"Let it begin, then."

Returning to the Spring Breeze Street courtyard, Su Mu sat cross-legged in stillness beneath the pagoda tree. One breath out, his mind grew clear, brimming with confidence.

Puff!

Golden light flashed over every inch of Su Mu’s skin; flames rose from his very flesh as the Molten Fire Golden Body burst forth in an instant.

Whoooosh!

Within him, at his Dantian, surging Pill Force erupted, roaring like a mighty river and flooding into his chest. The Fire Sparrow Pattern on his palms instantly ignited, feathers of flame shimmering along his arms; the blazing Fire Sparrow Force and Molten Fire Force intertwined inside and out, becoming searing flames that consumed him.

Flesh and blood like a smelter’s furnace.

Su Mu’s mouth twitched—he felt as if sealed within a furnace of hellfire, his whole body enduring inhuman agony, as if every inch of flesh was to be burned through.

In that moment, Jade Bone activated on its own, compelled to operate in order to protect Su Mu’s body from being damaged during the process.

Torrenting with the power of a full twenty-one threads of Fire Sparrow Force, Su Mu’s insides became a sea of fire.

The Fire Sparrow raged and spread its wings, rising from the Dantian, then returning again to the Dantian, beginning to burn that nugget of Strength Pill which seemed cast of gold and stone.

True gold does not fear the flames, but even gold is melted if the fire is fierce enough!

Violent power leaked out, becoming a howling storm. Beneath the night, the courtyard centered on Su Mu seemed enveloped by a vortex—he sat at the eye of the storm, the very tempest formed of the Fire Sparrow Force burning away impurities from his power.

The commotion within the Spring Breeze Street courtyard instantly drew the attention of people from the Iron Fist Martial Arts Hall.

"Th-this... Could it be Elder Lin has returned? Quick, report to the Hall Master!"

Several Iron Fist disciples hurried off.

Soon, nearly all of Iron Fist Martial Arts Hall was deployed, sealing off Spring Breeze Street. Their Hall Master Li Lishi himself stood at the gate, standing guard for several days and nights.

"During this time, let no one approach the courtyard!"

This imposing movement soon alarmed the Qingshui Town Government Office. On learning it was Elder Lin in cultivation, they too joined in at once.

Only the residents of Spring Breeze Street were bewildered, having no idea what was happening in that storm-lashed courtyard to make both the Iron Fist Hall and the Government Office take it so seriously.

Outside was tightly guarded; within, beneath the pagoda tree, Su Mu’s figure remained seated, eyes shut in focus.

Everything proceeded smoothly, just as Su Mu had deduced.

Time ticked by, day turning to night and back again. At last, during a moment of introspection, Su Mu distinctly felt a crack appearing on the surface of the Strength Pill within his Dantian, then melting away.

The Strength Pill was all of Su Mu’s power condensed into one. The instant it cracked, he felt his strength rapidly plummet, like a dike bursting, uncontrollable!

The immense power within him began to drop precipitously; black smoke roiled as the Strength Pill was smelted away.

And yet, in the midst of rampaging Fire Sparrow Force, impurity after impurity was burned from the Strength Pill, all outer dross stripped away, until at the very core, it transformed into jade-like, pure force.

Su Mu silently endured the inhuman torment of refinement, closed eyes shining ever brighter, gathering strength within.

Until at last—

"The newly-born force is enough. Next: open the Du Meridian!"

Boom!

At Su Mu’s intent, the Fire Sparrow ravaging his Dantian shuddered with wariness. Suddenly, a wisp of force—delicate, but unmatched and flawless like jade—burst from the Strength Pill.

This force pierced straight through the Fire Sparrow Force, the sea of fire unable to harm it in the least—this was the embryo of Gang Force.

Crack!

The Ren Meridian is the sea of yin meridians, the Du Meridian the sea of yang. Uniting them is to cross the Heaven and Earth Bridge.

The Du Meridian begins at the lower abdomen. At Su Mu’s mental command, the embryonic Gang Force burst from the Dantian, blasting open the Changqiang acupoint at the base of the tailbone.

Then came the Yaoyangguan, Mingmen, and Xuanshu acupoints—Gang Force like an ancient beast, crushing one acupoint after another in its advance.

Amid a volley of crisp cracking sounds—

The embryo of Gang Force surged out from the perineum, climbed the spine upward with unstoppable momentum, reached the crown, crossed the forehead, and stopped at the Gum Intersection beneath the upper lip.

Boom!

At the instant the Du Meridian was opened, the Ren Meridian—formed at the perfection of Dark Force—resonated in answer. Yin and yang merged, unimpeded.

Crack!

At that moment, a clear snapping echoed in Su Mu’s mind, as if some porcelain vessel within him had shattered. Excitement surged in his heart; he knew the limit of the fourth Refining Force had been broken—what shattered was the bottleneck to Gang Force!

"Ren and Du Meridians open; Heaven and Earth Bridge crossed... The road to Gang Force begins!"

In that instant, the power within Su Mu raged and reversed for several breaths. The force, fast diminishing under the Fire Sparrow’s incineration, suddenly halted, then began to surge upward at a tidal pace.

After several breaths, yin and yang circulated through the Heaven and Earth Bridge, the conversion rate of Gang Qi multiplying by several times, even more terrifyingly so.

Meanwhile, Su Mu sensed his spirit cleanse anew—the dragon of spiritual power at his brow seethed and surged.

As his senses returned, Su Mu felt all five perceptions soar to new heights—awareness, control of his power became incomparably delicate; he could perceive every thread of force and every fine, intricate tendon within his body.

Having reached this step, the transforming force in Su Mu’s body arrived at a critical juncture. The embryonic Gang Force within the Heaven and Earth Bridge returned to the Dantian.

The Gang Force birthed at the core of the Strength Pill now resonated inside and out with the external Gang Force.

Bang!

The Strength Pill grew laced with cracks, finally shattering entirely.

The Fire Sparrow Force seized the opening, sweeping flame to utterly consume that once-impenetrable core.

The Dantian was now emptied, a void of pure emptiness.

Then, rebirth though fire.

Before the incineration, the Strength Pill formed from twenty-one threads of force was the size of a small clay pot; upon being reborn, the new ’Strength Pill’ was not even as large as a jujube pit.

Yet the change was unmistakable—the pill, shrunk tenfold or more, made even the Fire Sparrow forged by Fire Sparrow Force ever more wary and unable to match it.

What had been a golden stone-like Pill Force core now completely transformed, crystalline and radiant like a priceless Treasure Pearl carved from pure glass.

Tiny as it was, this pearl was unattainable by any common thing of gold or jade.

How can a grain of rice compare to the radiance of a star?

The difference is like heaven and earth!

When finally the last thread of Gang Qi was formed within the treasure pearl, its radiance blazed, filling the Dantian with clouds of iridescence.

"Huuuu-----"

Beneath the pagoda tree, Su Mu slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a breath thick with Gang Force impurities; his breath, dense and unbroken, instantly turned into a gale.

Rumble!

The garden wall a dozen feet away, under the force of that single breath, could not withstand it—splintered with a crash, and collapsed in ruins.