Chapter 397: Chapter 233: Invalid Gamble, 33 Strands of Vast Qi!

...

At the same time, deep within Qifeng Mountain.

The land of white mist lay quietly over the earth. A handsome man sat cross-legged beneath an ancient tree, muttering incantations and occasionally shifting his posture as he recited, two orbs of luminous white light revolving around his body, one bright, one dim, flickering radiantly.

"Within man lies the Vast, surging forth to fill the azure vault."

"The imperial road must be clear and tranquil, containing harmony and uttering clarity to the bright court."

Time trickled by moment to moment, and with each verse recited, that dim orb of light slowly grew, right as it solidified and approached the brightness of the first orb—

Buzz!

The young man beneath the ancient tree shuddered; an invisible bottleneck was shattered at that instant.

Nurturing Vast Qi (Great Success 1%)

Comprehension: 143 (Dragon-and-Phoenix Level)

In this month, apart from using the White Tiger Martial Momentum of the white mist land to weaken the blood-colored mark and temper his Martial Momentum, Su Mu focused on deepening his study of Nurturing Vast Qi.

Tonight, the first Confucian Cultivation Method Su Mu grasped advanced from Small Success to the Great Success Realm. In introspection, Su Mu found that the five wisps of Vast Qi at the dantian before entering the Qifeng Mountain Range had soared to a full twenty wisps.

Each wisp was far more condensed and refined than before, transforming from mere white smoke to nearly translucent strips of white silk.

The two orbs of white light that appeared on his body earlier were each formed from ten wisps of Vast Qi.

With the breakthrough in Comprehension, a warming current flowed within; all of this Su Mu fed to the Vast Qi at his dantian, and within a few breaths, the twenty-first wisp of Vast Qi was refined.

Then came the twenty-second, the twenty-third, and a white vortex of qi swirled around Su Mu. Soon, a third orb of white light began to take shape, swiftly growing before his very eyes.

Soon after, a fourth orb of Vast Qi manifested, stabilizing only when it reached a third the size of the regular light orbs.

The handsome man beneath the ancient tree exhaled softly, his slowly opening eyes glittering in the darkness, Vast Qi surging within—deep and spirited.

"This time, I gained thirteen more wisps, reaching thirty-three wisps of Vast Qi... Not bad!"

Su Mu’s lips curled slightly, though even with thirty-three wisps after reaching Great Success in Nurturing Vast Qi, they were still feeble compared to the Gangjin Pill spinning endlessly to the side.

Nevertheless, his progress in Confucian Cultivation was evident; the Vast Qi was now ten times stronger than before he climbed the mountain.

With a thought, the Vast Qi at his dantian surged.

"Vast!"

Su Mu raised his right hand, two fingers joined, slowly pointing to the heavens, then crossing before his chest. White brilliance flickered at his fingertips as he slashed horizontally through the void.

In an instant, Vast Qi transformed into a gentle white sword light that swept through the sky. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Ssssss——"

The seemingly gentle sword light swept across a clump of weeds several feet away, and instantly, the weeds erupted in roaring flames, turning into pitch-black charcoal within a dozen heartbeats.

"Confucian Cultivation is indeed slow..."

Witnessing this, Su Mu thought to himself. With his terrifying Dragon-and-Phoenix Level Comprehension, in just one month he’d taken Nurturing Vast Qi to the Great Success Realm, and with the infusion of the warming current, his Vast Qi had grown to thirty-three wisps.

Yet the power of these thirty-three wisps still fell short of his expectations; at least, this amount of Vast Qi gave him almost no increase in strength.

Yet Su Mu did not feel disappointed; to him, Nurturing Vast Qi was merely something to pass the time while he wore away the blood-colored mark.

At this, Su Mu removed his shirt. The blood-colored mark on his chest was now much dimmer than a month ago, but in recent days Su Mu had found the effect of further weakening it with the White Tiger Martial Momentum had greatly diminished.

Additionally, all three bottles of Calm Spirit Pill in his possession had been completely used up.

His prodigal use of Calm Spirit Pill, aside from wearing away most of the blood-colored mark, had also resulted in significant advances in his Martial Momentum—his control over Fist Momentum became more skillful, and his own Fist Momentum more condensed.

Su Mu glanced around, then fixed his gaze on a strange, bull-headed rock half a meter away standing shoulder-high; his five fingers clenched at once.

Crack, crack, crack.

Suddenly, an invisible, domineering force pervaded the air; the layered atmosphere congealed and compressed, merging into Su Mu’s fist as he casually struck out before him.

Rumble!

Rippling white waves exploded outward from his fist, warping the sky, the surging air carving out a hidden passage in emptiness.

After the rumbling, a soft ’puff’ sounded as the bull-headed stone—far harder than ordinary Refined Iron—instantly shattered inch by inch, flying into pieces and, across a half-meter gap, crumbled into dust from one punch.

In this punch, Su Mu hadn’t activated Jiao Tendon Jade Bone, hadn’t employed any Fist Technique, nor tapped into Gang Force—yet a single blow shattered the shoulder-high, rock-hard boulder into powder across the air. What a terrifying punch!

"Compared to the blood-colored mark, my Fist Momentum’s improvement is even more pronounced... Since ascending the mountain, both my mastery and the lethality and explosiveness of Fist Momentum have increased by twenty percent."

"In matters of life and death, there lies great opportunity—only by trading blows with the strong can one progress!"

There was a gleam in Su Mu’s eyes. The gains of this month could not be denied. Turning back to gaze at the land of white mist, after so many days of attrition, the White Tiger Martial Momentum there seemed completely undiminished. This sent a chill through Su Mu’s heart; with his present strength, it was clear he found it hard to cross that land of white mist.