Creating the Ninth Layer

As a member of the City Guard, he had no way of leaving with them. In fact, it was difficult not just for him, but for his entire clan to leave. That his parents, wife, and children could leave was entirely thanks to Lin Zheyu helping him through the Chen clan's connections. "It was no trouble at all. Being able to help you, Senior Brother, is my duty," Lin Zheyu said. Han Mo had helped him tremendously in the past; looking after his senior brother's parents, wife, and children was no great burden. "It's been a while since we last sparred. Let me see how your Six Harmonies Saber has been progressing." Having eaten and drunk their fill, Han Mo stood up and said those words. "Alright. Senior Brother, please guide me!" Lin Zheyu replied. He picked up a blunt practice saber and assumed the stance of the Six Harmonies Saber. "Make your move. Use all your strength—I've already broken through to the Qi and Blood Realm, so you won't hurt me," Han Mo said confidently. Lin Zheyu smiled slightly without arguing. If he truly went all out, let alone his senior brother, not even Master Liang Song could withstand a single blow of his Mountain-Shattering Palm if he returned. Of course, he would not use his full strength. Lin Zheyu pushed off with his right foot and charged straight forward without using any leg techniques. After learning the Mountain-Shattering Palm, the Six Harmonies Saber Technique had become somewhat dispensable. Even so, Lin Zheyu did not plan to abandon this saber technique outright. Reaching perfection in the Six Harmonies Saber would make it far easier to pick up a more powerful saber technique in the future if he ever obtained one. Clang! Clang! Clang! The ringing clash of metal echoed through the courtyard. Lin Zheyu capped his strength at the Bone Tempering Peak. Relying on his profound martial realm, he traded blows back and forth with Han Mo on equal terms. When strength and speed did not create an overwhelming gap, combat awareness and technique played a decisive role in determining victory. 'Junior Brother's comprehension is terrifying—he has almost caught up to me in his saber mastery! 'What's more, his combat sense is astonishingly sharp, frightfully so. Even when I bring greater force to bear, I still can't defeat him!' Though Han Mo appeared calm and composed on the outside, shock was roaring in his heart. He was already exerting strength at the Viscera Tempering Realm, yet facing Lin Zheyu's attacks, he actually felt himself being pushed to the defensive. After sparring for more than half an hour, Lin Zheyu drew back his saber and took a step back. "Thank you for going easy on me, Senior Brother," Lin Zheyu said with a smile, cupping his fists. Han Mo had already reached great accomplishment in the Six Harmonies Saber. By sparring with him, Lin Zheyu was able to absorb many subtleties of blade work, which was of immense help in improving his own technique. "Your saber technique has progressed astonishingly fast. You'll probably catch up to me in just a few months. "Talent and comprehension like yours are truly enviable. Compared to you, I feel like I've wasted the past twenty years of my life," Han Mo said with a rueful smile. "You don't need to belittle yourself, Senior Brother. Your talent and comprehension are also exceptional—just a fraction behind mine. "By the way, when you used the Ten Thousand Armies Steps earlier, your force generation was slightly off. A few areas could use refinement. "For instance, just now when I slashed horizontally, you tapped the ground with the ball of your right foot and detonated power from your calf. The way the muscle erupted there was incorrect, which caused..." Lin Zheyu pointed out the shortcomings in Han Mo's execution of the Ten Thousand Armies Steps. Han Mo's expression turned serious upon hearing this. He who mastered a skill was the teacher; he felt no discomfort at receiving pointers and instruction just because Lin Zheyu was his junior brother. Under Lin Zheyu's guidance, Han Mo followed his advice and began practicing the Ten Thousand Armies Steps right there in the courtyard. 'Senior Brother, I hope you can survive this,' Lin Zheyu thought silently as he watched Han Mo immerse himself in practicing the steps. If the rebel army truly attacked, Han Mo would have to take to the battlefield. A Qi and Blood Realm martial artist was formidable within Songyi City, but on a chaotic battlefield, he would be nothing more than a slightly stronger ant. If he could master the Ten Thousand Armies Steps, his odds of surviving would increase substantially. Time passed slowly. The situation in Songyi City grew increasingly tense. Clashes broke out repeatedly on Feihong Gang's territories outside the city, resulting in heavy casualties. Jia Yanyong, Xie Jiang, Ning Hui, and others were all transferred out to provide reinforcements. Lin Zheyu, however, remained inside Songyi City the entire time, overseeing the gang's territories within the city walls. Xu Jingwu took great care of Lin Zheyu and did not send him outside to take risks. In Xu Jingwu's view, regardless of whether a genius like Lin Zheyu would join the Xu clan later on, offering a bit of help while he was still weak would yield handsome returns for the Xu clan once he grew powerful. And to the Xu clan, this modest support during his modest stage cost practically nothing; they had no shortage of a single Bone Tempering Peak fighter anyway. It had to be said that Xu Jingwu was exceptionally adept at interpersonal maneuvering. Lin Zheyu acknowledged the favor. If the Xu clan ever faced trouble, he would not stand idly by. The tense atmosphere in Songyi City had little to do with Lin Zheyu directly. When the Xing clan previously sent men to track him, they had lost quite a few operatives, but they seemed to believe that Lin Zheyu was merely in the Bone Tempering Realm and incapable of causing such waves. The deaths of those men were assumed to be linked to Feihong Gang and the Xu clan backing him. Consequently, the Xing clan did not target Lin Zheyu himself, choosing instead to strike at Feihong Gang's holdings outside the city. In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days passed. Lin Zheyu's life was extremely routine; every day was dedicated to diligent cultivation and raising his strength. Over these twenty-odd days, Han Mo often visited Lin Zheyu's courtyard to consult him on cultivating the Ten Thousand Armies Steps. The technique suited Senior Brother Han very well, and his progress was remarkably swift. After more than twenty days, he had already reached the second layer. In the courtyard, sunlight shone brightly. Lin Zheyu had his right hand submerged in a wooden basin filled with the medicinal herbs of sixteen doses of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction. By now, the medicinal efficacy within was completely depleted, without even a trace of herbal fragrance lingering in the air. Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes, a glint flashing across his pupils. "The eighth layer of Golden Goose Skill is finally perfected!" Boom! With a sudden shift of his frame, Lin Zheyu channeled the qi and blood power in his body into his right palm. Unleashing the Mountain-Shattering Palm, he struck heavily against a wooden training post made of iron birch. A muffled boom like rolling thunder rang out as Lin Zheyu's palm sank deeply into the post. A dense web of fissures radiated outward, centered on his palm. Crack, snap— The sound of splintering wood crackled through the air. The moment Lin Zheyu pulled his palm back, the entire wooden post burst apart into fragments. "Not bad. I can finally shatter the post completely." Lin Zheyu looked at the shattered fragments, thoroughly pleased with the strike's power. Now that his strength had risen to the Qi and Blood Four Transformations, the might of his Mountain-Shattering Palm had climbed another notch. If he faced the living corpse in Mount Daba again, he should be able to leave a shallow palm print on it with a single strike. [Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Origin Power: 1 Skills: Mountain-Shattering Leg (Perfection) Six Harmonies Saber (Perfection) Golden Goose Skill (Eighth Layer 100%) Turtle Breathing Art (Third Layer 6%) 'One unit of Origin Power left. Should I keep advancing?' Lin Zheyu wondered as he looked at the figures in his consciousness. Over twenty-odd days of bitter cultivation, he had raised the Golden Goose Skill to perfection in the eighth layer and mastered the Six Harmonies Saber to perfection as well. Among the arts he had learned, the only one not yet at perfection was the Turtle Breathing Art. Oh, and the hidden Poison King Body, whose progress still sat at layer one, zero percent. Advancing that technique was exceedingly troublesome. While its demand for Origin Power was not great—likely only two or three units to reach perfection in the second or even third layer, out of five layers in total—the Poison King Body was far too expensive. Unless a day came when he had more money than he knew what to do with, Lin Zheyu had no intention of upgrading that art. 'There's no need to display these two perfected arts in the data; I can just hide them. 'Next is creating the ninth layer of Golden Goose Skill and integrating the qi and blood burst technique of Mountain-Shattering Palm into it,' Lin Zheyu murmured inwardly. As his intent regarding the ninth layer of Golden Goose Skill took shape, the interface in his consciousness blurred for an instant before coming into focus again. Seeing the updated figures, Lin Zheyu showed a look that said "just as expected." [Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Origin Power: 1 Skills: Golden Goose Skill (Ninth Layer 0%) Turtle Breathing Art (Third Layer 5%) Only two arts remained in the data. 'Integrating the burst technique of qi and blood into Golden Goose Skill is entirely feasible. However, elevating the ninth layer to perfection will probably require an astounding amount of Origin Power,' Lin Zheyu thought to himself. The ninth layer of Golden Goose Skill did not involve raising his martial cultivation realm; it was purely to weave the qi and blood burst technique thoroughly into the movement art. Even so, the difficulty of the ninth layer was daunting. Lin Zheyu had trained hard for a month applying the burst technique to Golden Goose Skill, yet he still could not achieve flawless control even while running in a straight line. That was the simplest part, and mastering it was already so arduous, to say nothing of dodging, pivoting, and shifting his form as effortlessly and unpredictably as the Ten Thousand Armies Steps. The burst technique of qi and blood was exceedingly violent. When used in an attack, it was merely an instantaneous release that did not require extraordinarily refined control. But to blend it into Golden Goose Skill and deploy it like ordinary qi and blood power, one's mastery over the body's muscles, sinews, membranes, and blood flow had to reach a terrifying degree. To achieve that stage, the Origin Power required would be immense. Lin Zheyu estimated that he would need at least twenty to thirty units. 'I'll hold off on upgrading the ninth layer of Golden Goose Skill for now; the Origin Power needed is simply too staggering. 'By upgrading the Turtle Breathing Art, I can indirectly enhance my control over my body and qi and blood, and then tackle the ninth layer later. That should save some Origin Power,' Lin Zheyu reasoned. The Turtle Breathing Art was a wondrous technique. The master who created it had done so to prolong life, yet it possessed a potent effect of concealing one's presence. To extend one's lifespan as much as possible, one had to firmly lock in their essence, qi, and spirit to prevent them from leaking away. And to accomplish that, one had to command exceptional control over the physical body and qi and blood. After Lin Zheyu elevated the Turtle Breathing Art to the third layer, six percent, he could clearly feel that his bodily control had improved substantially. This improvement was comprehensive. His sensory perception had also sharpened considerably along with the advancement of the art. If he brought the Turtle Breathing Art to perfection first, his control over his essence, qi, and spirit would reach an unfathomable level. One had to realize that perfection in the third layer of Turtle Breathing Art was said to completely conceal one's cultivation even before a Martial Grandmaster. Just how keen was a Grandmaster's perception, and how discerning their eyes? If it could fool even a Grandmaster, one could imagine how formidable one's control over essence, qi, and spirit must be. With such peerless control, practicing the ninth layer of Golden Goose Skill would yield multiple times the results with half the effort. 'With my current strength, self-preservation is no longer an issue. Raising the Turtle Breathing Art first will maximize the value of my Origin Power,' Lin Zheyu thought, making his decision. He walked into the house and took out several packets of medicinal powder, planning to use Origin Power to further advance the Turtle Breathing Art. Thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump. Just then, a knock sounded at the door outside. "Lord Lin, the Gang Leader instructed me to inform you that Feihong Gang's second group will depart Songyi City in four days. Please prepare in advance. "This is the letter from the Gang Leader," a Feihong Gang subordinate said respectfully. Lin Zheyu took the letter. It was an official notice detailing the departure time, assembly point, and personnel in charge. 'I'm included as well? Perfect—I can ensure the safety of Senior Brother's parents, wife, and children. Once we reach Bafang City, it won't be too late to head back,' Lin Zheyu thought to himself. He changed into a fresh set of clothes, tucked the letter into his robes, and headed to Han Manor to inform Senior Brother Han.