When the Battle Armor fit him perfectly, its body—frozen in its twenties—felt so real that as its knuckles brushed his side, he had the illusion of touching the soft skin of a young maiden fresh from a floral bath.

"..."

Xu Yunfan’s eyes snapped open. He scanned his surroundings, then his gaze locked onto the white-clad woman who had appeared before him, and he let out an exasperated laugh.

In the valley shrouded in morning mist, a creek gurgled over a pebble-strewn shore.

The hundred-year-old ginkgo tree Xu Yunfan leaned against was shedding brilliant golden leaves, as if someone were scattering flecks of gold into the air.

The white-clad woman stood on a rock on the opposite bank. Half of her body was dyed orange-red by the morning sun, while the other half remained steeped in gray-blue shadow. The creek water splashed at her feet, forming a small rainbow on the hem of her dress.

Xu Yunfan’s gaze slowly drifted upward. ’This damned woman really is as beautiful as a lotus on autumn waters; a sight you could never tire of.’

The wrists peeking from her snow-white sleeves were more delicate than the finest mutton-fat jade. Her eyebrows looked as if they were lightly sketched with an ink brush, and yet her eyes held the warm glow of amber.

A smoky-blue crêpe sash cinched her waist, making it seem even more slender and supple than a willow branch in spring.

Beneath her simple dress, made somewhat translucent by the sunlight, stood two perfectly rounded, long legs.

"Defeat me, and I will let you go."

It was the damned woman’s usual opening line. But in the next instant, a flicker of spiritual life sparked in her puppet-like eyes, revealing a hint of surprise.

"Your Martial Dao Body Refining progress seems a bit too fast."

"Fast? I think it’s a little slow. Everyone else thinks I should be in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm by now."

Xu Yunfan tossed out a casual lie as his body trembled. His muscles bulged, and veins popped out across his skin like a network of tangled roots. He even grew several inches taller.

"You’re certainly persistent. And here I thought I’d get a peaceful night’s sleep."

The moment the words left his mouth, Xu Yunfan stomped down hard. The ground beneath his feet instantly collapsed, forming a large crater.

He swung the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, producing a sonic boom like muffled thunder. The intricate patterns on the hammerhead, forged from Thunder Pattern Steel, glowed like molten iron. Wreathed in a dark-red wave of air, the hammer’s afterimage burned a charred, fan-shaped gash into the morning mist.

The creek water within ten zhang was thrown into the air by the powerful gust, splashing loudly.

A low roar, like a dragon’s cry, rumbled from his throat. The muscles in his arms split with fine, bloody lines the instant he swung the hammer.

In the upward arc of the hammer, three century-old pine trees were snapped in half at their trunks. At the break, charred smoke and wood splinters rained down like a torrential storm.

The ground swept by the hammer’s wind peeled back inch by inch. Bowl-sized pebbles hopped and burst in the shockwave like popping beans.

At some point, a Fine Steel Long Sword had appeared in the white-clad woman’s hand.

She tapped her sword and retreated, the blade’s edge scraping blinding sparks from the hammer’s face. Her clothes fluttered as her body moved like a swimming dragon.

Xu Yunfan’s eyes narrowed. The Heavy Hammer in his hands suddenly felt much heavier.

’This time she’s actually using a Body Technique to deal with me, not just raising her hand and unleashing Sword Qi that could split mountains and shatter steles.’

The moment the woman’s toes touched the ground, the shaft of Xu Yunfan’s hammer swung at her horizontally, like the tail of a venomous dragon.

The Heavy Hammer roared, its shockwaves causing rocks to rain down from the cliff face. Just as the woman leaned back gracefully, the hammerhead grazed the tip of her nose. It flew past her and slammed into the ginkgo tree behind her—one so large it would take ten people to encircle—obliterating it in a cascading waterfall of golden leaves and splinters.

He missed.

Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged. As he channeled his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength, fine, worm-like bloodlines began to writhe beneath the skin of his back. They eventually coiled around his arms and waist like blood-red flood dragons. The Heavy Hammer in his hands stirred up a murky white wave of air, and the Strength bursting from its head transformed into a surging Qi Force that shot toward the damned woman.

The white-clad woman’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. With a light tap of her toes, she sidestepped it by a hair’s breadth.

When the Heavy Hammer missed for the seventh time, the veins on Xu Yunfan’s neck throbbed violently.

He suddenly spun and swung the hammer in a reverse grip. The Qi Force from his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength made the hammerhead leave a crimson afterimage in the air.

This time, the hammer’s trajectory changed before its momentum was spent. The Thunderfire-wreathed Qilin Head slammed down heavily toward the woman’s left shoulder.

The ground in a five-zhang radius collapsed three chi deep on impact. The flying debris chiseled honeycomb-like holes into the distant cliff wall.

The woman’s embroidered shoes tapped on the fracturing rock as she gracefully leaped back. The Lotus Hairpin in her hair was stirred by the hammer’s wind, its petals seeming to bloom layer by layer.

She tapped the tip of her sword on the ground to launch herself into the air just as Xu Yunfan’s hammer smashed into the spot where she’d been standing. A sickening crack echoed from the mountain as a three-zhang-wide fissure tore open where the hammer had struck. Suddenly, a spring gushed from the crevice, erupting into a ten-zhang-high column of water.

He missed again!

’I’m being humiliated!’

Rage flared in Xu Yunfan’s heart, and a shout like spring thunder burst from his lips.

"Lin!"

The True Word that exploded from Xu Yunfan’s throat echoed nine times in the canyon. The one-handed Linn Character Seal he formed moved in tandem with his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength.

His boiling rage, before it could even sear his organs, transformed into a clear, Cold Spring. The depths of his pupils became as still as a stagnant pool; even the rustle of the mountain wind against the hairs on his arm felt like a distinct, countable ripple.

Everything within a three-zhang radius appeared in his mind with perfect clarity.

"..."

-----------------

「The next morning.」

Xu Yunfan woke up in his bed and looked down at the Extreme Dao Relic Shell wrapped tightly around his body. He paused for a long time before finally letting out a slow breath and looking at the information prompt that appeared in his vision.

’You fought fiercely with a mysterious woman in your dream. Your mastery of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique has grown. Your Skill Level in the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique has increased.’

’...’

’Excellent. Forty points of Skill Level in a single night.’

’At this rate, my Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique might reach the Minor Achievement Realm in less than a month.’

In the days that followed, the weather grew colder. The maple leaves planted within Celestial Craft City turned from green to yellow.

The late autumn season always carried a touch of bleakness.

On this day, Xu Yunfan followed his routine. He absorbed a breath of the Qi of Ginseng from the Ginseng Child and practiced his Pure Yang Qi Skill, restoring and strengthening his Pure Yang Inner Breath. He felt the Inner Breath slowly convert into Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength, thanks to the ’Endless Life’ effect. With that done, he prepared to practice his Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

His Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique would reach Minor Achievement in another day or two. Just as he was about to begin his training, Xu Yunfan paused.

He raised his palm in confusion and studied it carefully.

’It seems... my palm is a little bigger than it was yesterday.’

Then it dawned on him. The Refining Flesh Realm was all about training one’s physique to be perfectly suited for the Martial Arts one was currently practicing.

Heavy weapons were only for Martial Artists with Innate Divine Strength and exceptionally powerful physiques. And now, the nearly four-hundred-jin Thunderfire Qilin Hammer was starting to feel a bit light in his hands.

’It seems I’m going through a second growth spurt.’

Before he could ponder it further, Fu Li burst through the courtyard gate, his voice filled with anguish and desperation.

"Junior Martial Uncle Xu! A message came from a disciple of the Giant Kite Team! Master... he’s about to be surrounded in Cangzhou!"

Xu Yunfan’s gaze flickered. He looked up at the sky and saw a giant kite—a mechanical wooden bird bristling with crossbow arrows—falling from the clouds toward the Celestial Craft Platform.

The situation in Yanbei Dao had collapsed in an instant.

-----------------

The Gang Wind of Yanbei Dao shrieked between the thousand-ren cliffs. Fu Jin’s tattered clothes whipped about, revealing the blood-soaked Profound Iron Armor underneath.