Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 103: Breakthrough
In the room.
Hu Qi placed a piece of Exotic Beast Meat from the plate before him into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.
His gaze focused forward.
’Crimson!’
Hu Qi recited silently in his mind.
In the next moment, a hazy light, like a blood-red mist, slowly materialized before his eyes.
The light then gradually coalesced, and a semi-translucent, blood-red panel seemed to tear itself from the void and appear before him.
——————
[Spiritual Eagle Posture (Perfection) Trait: Rapid Speed]
[Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Entry-Level) △]
...
Modification Points: 10 (23%)
Over this period, he had already raised his Spiritual Eagle Posture to the Perfect Realm.
Right now, the Qi and Blood in his body had become unimaginably dense.
Although the Qi Blood Ball in his chest hadn’t grown much larger than before, the Qi and Blood it contained was far more potent.
During this time,
Hu Qi had used it once, and the resulting enhancement had far surpassed his previous attempts.
At this thought, he held out his palm.
WHOOSH!
In the next instant, a crimson flame erupted, enveloping his entire arm.
Although it wasn’t as dense as what Helinta had demonstrated, it was unmistakably a flame of Qi and Blood.
However, Hu Qi felt no burning sensation, because this so-called crimson flame was nothing more than his own Qi Blood Power, concentrated to its absolute limit.
At this moment,
he could release his Qi and Blood externally whenever he wished.
This scene
completely shattered what Helinta had said—that only a Martial Arts Family could release their Qi and Blood externally.
The reason he could do this was simple.
He had cultivated all five Pile Skills to the state of Perfection.
According to the information he had, the person who had historically cultivated the most Pile Skills was a member of a certain School a thousand years ago, and even they had only managed to cultivate three Pile Skills to Perfection.
For someone like Hu Qi to achieve this... it might not be unrepeatable, but it was certainly unprecedented.
With his current profound foundation, he could attempt the breakthrough to the Martial Arts Family level at any time, even without Crimson’s help.
However, the thought of the grave consequences of failure made Hu Qi frown slightly.
’Logically speaking,
the stronger my Qi and Blood, the greater my chances of breaking through to the Martial Arts Family level. But there are always exceptions.’
’Forget it. I’ll give it a try first. If it doesn’t work, I’ll use Crimson immediately!’
he muttered to himself. After all, saving some Modification Points was always a good thing.
Then,
he closed his eyes and began to mobilize the Qi Blood Power within his body.
The Divine Treasure that a Martial Arts Family must open is called the Essence Element Divine Treasure.
The Essence Element Divine Treasure.
As its name suggests, it is the wellspring that governs the body’s foundational substances and energy, which both constitute and sustain life.
According to the description in the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts, its location is in the chest, in the second intercostal space, about two inches from the sternum—right next to the heart.
During the breakthrough process,
the slightest mistake could cause the heart to rupture, resulting in instant death.
This was why a failed breakthrough to the Martial Arts Family level was so likely to be fatal. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Hu Qi calmed his mind, focused his spirit, and guided his Qi Blood Power, circulating it along the path prescribed by the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
Soon, the vast Qi and Blood within him began to compress and condense.
It receded from every corner of his body, shrinking and gathering at the location of the Essence Element Divine Treasure in his chest.
Outside his body,
a layer of red Qi and Blood enveloped Hu Qi, forming a giant cocoon.
Lifelike, twitching red veins even appeared on the cocoon’s surface, a truly miraculous sight.
At first, Hu Qi felt relaxed and at ease during this process.
But as his Qi Blood Power was continuously compressed, his mind came under increasing pressure.
The next moment, as his Qi and Blood condensed further,
CRACK!
A sharp cracking sound suddenly echoed within his body.
It sounded just like a shattering eggshell.
There, at the location of the Essence Element Divine Treasure, a dark red point of light manifested.
Its color was much darker than the rest of his Qi Blood Power.
The instant it appeared, a tremendous repulsive force surged through his body, causing his Qi and Blood to roil and burn with scorching heat.
It was like molten magma.
Reacting to this,
Hu Qi immediately took out a black object—it was the skull fragment.
The moment he grasped it in his palm,
a wave of Cold Yin Energy spread up his arm, and the scorching sensation subsided slightly.
However, this didn’t even last for a few seconds.
CRACK!
The skull fragment in his hand suddenly developed several cracks, then crumbled into a pile of ashes that sifted through his fingers.
"Hm?"
Hu Qi’s previously calm expression flickered as he registered this.
’According to the Inheritance Secret Martial Arts and Helinta’s descriptions, this repulsive force shouldn’t be so powerful,’ he thought. ’The main difficulty in breaking through to the Martial Arts Family level, and the primary cause of failure, is usually insufficient Qi and Blood. Aspirants either lack the power to open the Divine Treasure or their control over their Qi and Blood isn’t refined enough, causing them to fail at the final hurdle.’
’Could it be because my Qi and Blood is *too* powerful?’
The realization dawned on Hu Qi.
’Stronger Qi and Blood does indeed accelerate a breakthrough. But when one’s Qi and Blood is overly abundant—reaching an extreme where it can be released from the body, just like a Martial Arts Family—then when opening the Divine Treasure... compressing such a massive amount of Qi and Blood becomes an incredibly difficult task.’
Sensing the powerful, almost unbearable repulsive force within him,
Hu Qi knew that if he didn’t do something, this breakthrough attempt would most likely end in failure.
But he wasn’t flustered by the situation.
’I have a cheat system, so what’s there to fear! If my own effort isn’t enough, I’ll just have my cheat make up the difference!’
’Crimson, use Modification Points to enhance the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map!’
As the thought formed, his Modification Points were consumed, transforming into a special, cool stream of energy that flowed into the location of the Divine Treasure in his chest.
The surging repulsive force instantly vanished, and the dark red point of light abruptly swelled.
Immediately, a terrifying suction force erupted from it.
Under this force, the vast Qi Blood Power in Hu Qi’s body was like a flood that had finally found an outlet, continuously converging and rushing toward the point of light.
As time passed, fed by the infusion of Qi Blood Power, the dark red point of light began to expand at a visible rate.
It grew from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a soybean, and then to the size of a coin.
As its volume continued to increase, the suction force grew even more terrifying.
An unknown amount of time passed. When his Qi Blood Power was completely depleted, Hu Qi felt a faint sense of emptiness, as if he had been wrung dry.
Inside him, the spinning vortex came to a halt, solidifying into a fist-sized, dark red ball of light that nearly enveloped his heart.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Suddenly, a deep, powerful beat emanated from within his body.
With each beat, Hu Qi’s body trembled almost imperceptibly.
In the next instant, streams of incredibly dense, dark red Qi and Blood surged forth from the Essence Element Divine Treasure, instantly flooding every inch of Hu Qi’s body.
This Qi Blood Power, now refined by the Essence Element Divine Treasure, was far more concentrated than before.
If his previous Qi Blood Power, though immense, was like scattered sand,
then what he had now was solid stone, or even refined steel.
Nourished by this new power, his fascia, bones, organs, and flesh all began to change, constantly being strengthened.
’Is this... Qi Blood True Strength?’
Back in the room,
Hu Qi, who had been sitting cross-legged and motionless, opened his eyes.
As he moved, the semi-translucent, dark red cocoon that enveloped him began to emit a series of CRACKLING sounds,
