The inverted ripples of the Li River abruptly froze on his retinas.

The woman’s movement, forming a blade with her fingers, was deconstructed into seven hundred and twenty frames, the trajectory of the Sword Qi tearing through the air rendered in minute detail.

Xu Yunfan unconsciously placed his right palm over his chest, feeling the Pure Yang Inner Breath roiling beneath his skin, vibrating with some ancient rhythm. Every inch of his muscle and sinew resonated with a chorus like a Brahma Sound.

The syllables rolling from his throat resonated with the very world around him.

His vital energy and blood, once boiling like lava, suddenly froze. The knotted muscles of his back smoothed out like a receding tide, and his bulging veins transformed into faint blue-green patterns beneath his skin.

He raised his hammer, his movement as he assumed the opening stance of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique so precise it was frightening. The vertebra at the base of his neck and his tailbone formed a perfect plumb line, and the spacing of his five fingers on the hammer’s haft was exact. Even the gravel crushed beneath his boots was distributed with such uniform force that it formed a tidy pattern.

For the first time, the woman halted her advance.

"The Linn Character Technique?"

A glimmer of realization finally touched her face. For the first time, her impassive expression, as still as an old well, shifted, and her voice came alive.

"So you were using the Linn Character Technique all along. To think you’d use it so poorly... a pale imitation. It seems I misjudged you."

"..."

The moment Xu Yunfan raised his gaze, all sound waves within a ten-zhang radius collapsed into his pupils.

He could hear the proliferation of new blood cells deep within his marrow and perceive the micro-vortexes his Pure Yang Inner Breath formed at the mouth of every pore.

The Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, held horizontally before his chest, felt utterly weightless. The eyes of the qilin carved on its head suddenly wept bloody tears of molten gold.

"Thousand-Pound Style: Coiling Dragon Armor."

As he initiated the hammer strike, all 206 of his bones rang in unison, a sound like great bells and chimes.

The woman’s ten-zhang Sword Qi had yet to fully coalesce, but Xu Yunfan had already pinpointed the weak point—the slight stir caused by the three-thousand-six-hundredth wisp of energy along the blade’s spine.

The next instant, Xu Yunfan stomped down on the river, the water beneath his foot erupting as if from a bomb blast. His Heavy Hammer, wreathed in violet lightning, smashed into the Ice Sword’s vital point. As the recoil shot up the handle and into his arm, the muscles of his forearm suddenly collapsed inward three inches, redirecting the devastating aftershock of the Sword Qi down into the soles of his feet.

BOOM!

Amidst the dust and smoke from the crumbling green peak, Xu Yunfan closed the distance, his Yhu Step precise as a ruler.

Under the Linn Character State, each of his muscle fibers became an independent soldier. His deltoids worked to dissipate the aftershocks of the Sword Qi, his psoas major converted the recoil into propulsive force, and even the angle of his toes gripping the ground underwent thirteen micro-adjustments.

The arc of his Heavy Hammer was as straight as if drawn with a ruler, and each impact with the Ice Sword was timed precisely for the instant the woman had to exhale.

For the first time, scorch marks appeared on the hem of the woman’s plain white dress.

Her sword fingers trembled slightly. The Ice Sword, condensed from the frigid waters of the Li River, was now covered in a web of cracks.

Deep within Xu Yunfan’s impassive pupils were reflected seven hundred and twenty of the woman’s energy nodes—vital points that it seemed even she herself was unaware of.

"Break."

The Heavy Hammer dissolved into a thousand afterimages as the small cycle of Pure Yang Inner Breath within his flesh and blood began to course through the major meridians of his limbs.

Stepping from the Kun position and lunging into the Zhen Palace, Xu Yunfan pushed his physical body to its absolute limit. The burst of Thousand Jin Power was compressed to the width of a single hair, and the violet lightning burning on the hammerhead abruptly turned pure white.

The woman’s hastily conjured Nine-layered Ice Shield shattered one layer after another. When the tip of the hammer was just three inches from the point between her brows...

CRACK!

The world of absolute reason constructed by the Linn Character State shattered violently.

Xu Yunfan suddenly "saw" his own flesh and blood, unable to bear the strain any longer, disintegrating inch by inch.

His muscles, bones, and skin were cracking apart under the scouring force of his Pure Yang Inner Breath.

The price for surpassing his limits manifested as an all-consuming flame. At the last possible moment, he forced the hammer down, striving to make his final blow a decisive kill.

’It missed?! No, that damn woman switched positions!’

The wind from the hammer strike grazed the woman’s ear and flew on, snapping a green peak thirty zhang away—one that pierced the sea of clouds—clean in half.

The woman’s poised sword fingers finally came to rest against his throat.

WHOOSH!

Xu Yunfan shot upright. Seeing his own room come into view, his tense expression slowly relaxed. But when he looked down at himself, his face tightened once more.

The vest he had hidden in a secret compartment was now, somehow, tied onto his body, and the knots were perfect—far better than he had ever tied them himself.

"..."

He grabbed the Extreme Dao Relic Shell to rip it off, but his hands froze.

After a long moment, he finally let go, his expression turning contemplative.

’If a secret compartment can’t hold it, and it can just wrap itself around me on its own, then struggling is pointless.’

’It wants to use my body as a vessel to be reborn...’

A chilling look crossed Xu Yunfan’s face.

’We’ll see, then. Let’s find out if I break you, or if you manage to crawl your way out of me.’

After composing himself, Xu Yunfan checked his status. The Skill Level for his Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique had increased by at least seven points overnight. This was a Martial Art that was normally only trainable at the Flesh Refining Realm. By practicing it in his dreams, he didn’t have to worry about the powerful moves tearing his body apart. Being able to grind its Skill Level while still in the Outer Three Harmonies Realm was a massive, innate advantage.

The Linn Character Technique had also gained a point of Skill Level, which made him both slightly worried and somewhat pleased. He couldn’t help but feel an urge to fight that woman a few more times.

As for his Pure Yang Qi Skill, when he slowly circulated his energy, he found that, just as he’d expected, most of his Pure Yang Inner Breath was gone—just like yesterday.

’If I don’t replenish it in time, and it gets completely drained...’

Xu Yunfan didn’t dare to imagine what would happen.

After dressing, shouldering the Profound Steel Mechanism Box and then the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, Xu Yunfan stepped out of his courtyard, preparing to leave the city and find a mountain peak to practice his Pure Yang Qi Skill.

The mountains outside the city were more spiritually potent, allowing him to absorb a few extra motes of Primordial Spirit Qi and recover more of his Pure Yang Inner Breath. Naturally, he had to be diligent about it.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Fu Jin walking toward him.

Xu Yunfan was a bit surprised. "Senior Brother Fu, shouldn’t you be forging weapons right now?"

Fu Jin scratched his head, looking a little baffled himself. "Early this morning, Master dragged me aside and said he was going on a long journey to visit some friends. He told me to supervise your forging and make sure you don’t slack off and let your skills get rusty. Remember to come find me after you finish your training. We have to forge a Sharp Blade Level Weapon today. You can already make High-grade Mortal Artifacts, so if you just put in a little effort, I’m sure you can..."

A thought struck Xu Yunfan, and he tuned out the rest of Fu Jin’s words.

He had a growing suspicion that Zhan Yan had only set out on this journey because of his situation.

A warmth spread through Xu Yunfan’s chest, a mix of emotions welling up within him. He quickly interrupted Fu Jin’s rambling.

"Senior Brother, do you know where Master went?"

Fu Jin seemed unsure. "When I went over, I saw Master packing his bags. He even took out the Divine Weapon Ridge Token. He might be heading to the old site of the Qingzhou Divine Weapon Ridge, you never know. After all, it’s been so many years, it’s about time he took a moment to..."

Seeing that Fu Jin was about to start rambling again, Xu Yunfan, having learned what he needed, quickly said he was off to train and made a hasty retreat.

’I don’t know if Senior Brother Fu is getting old or what, but he’s really started to ramble lately.’

(Daily 10k update complete. Thanks for all the support!)