Energy flows through the body!
The energy, as thick as a giant python, raced around inside. Even though it was the first time trying this, the memories in his mind felt as if he had been practicing for decades. The moment he activated the energy, it felt like he was moving on instinct.
He could hear a faint rumbling, like thunder, echoing through his veins as a major channel opened up. With this channel clear, the energy flowed smoothly, cycling rapidly within it, completing sixteen circuits in a single breath!
Then, Li Hao tried again, this time with more skill, syncing his body with his memories.
In one breath, he completed thirty-eight circuits.
On the third try, he reached fifty-two circuits.
By the fourth and fifth tries… all the way to the seventh try, he hit one hundred circuits in a single breath!
The Hundred Jiao Body is named so because when fully cultivated, it can achieve exactly one hundred circuits!
At this moment, Li Hao glanced at his status panel and saw that his cultivation level was no longer at the tenth level of the Energy Realm, but had entered the first level of the Zhou Tian Realm!
Having officially stepped into the Zhou Tian Realm, he felt the energy surging through the major channel, full of tension. It was as if a new spine had suddenly appeared in his body, making him feel upright and powerful.
He could now easily channel energy during movements, unleashing strength far beyond what he had before!
Feeling elated, Li Hao continued to practice Tai Chu.
Following the memories, he moved from the second layer of the Star Body to the third layer of the Tong You Body!
As he practiced, the energy within him surged more fiercely, like a raging river!
Li Hao discovered that the Tong You Body also contained a method of channeling energy that was just as powerful as the Hundred Jiao Body, even more terrifying!
Li Mu Xiu hadn’t mentioned this to him, likely because the old man hadn’t researched this martial art deeply. After all, it was related to body refinement and was an incomplete text, so he probably didn’t consider letting Li Hao practice it.
As he practiced repeatedly, Li Hao’s body underwent a significant transformation, slowly opening up a second major channel!
This new channel was incredibly thick and strong, capable of holding much more energy than the first one!
This channel was the core of the Tong You Body, known as the You Mai!
From the descriptions in the techniques, Li Hao learned that this You Mai also had another name in martial arts, the Tai Yin Mai!
He looked at his cultivation level again. Although he had opened up a second major channel, he was still at the first level of the Zhou Tian Realm, with no increase in level.
This Tai Yin Mai was like a hidden channel, not counted among the others.
The energy from the first major channel flowed into the Tai Yin Mai, cycling back and forth between the two. The energy that had nearly filled the first channel now flowed in the Tai Yin Mai like a small stream, unable to even stir the walls of the major channel.
Sounds like thunder and tiger roars echoed within Li Hao, like a dormant beast slowly waking up.
The energy surging forth created a force that scattered the dust around him, leaving a clear space within three feet!
His understanding of the path of the physical body allowed him to grasp both techniques deeply, and he quickly sensed overlaps and intersections in the methods of channeling energy.
With a thought, he activated both techniques at the same time. Soon, the two methods intertwined, dividing the energy into two streams, like two dragons chasing each other in the major channel.
As Li Hao practiced more, he became increasingly skilled, and the two streams of energy began to merge together.
This was the fusion of techniques!
The overlapping parts were covered, and the intersecting areas became one, leading to a faster flow of energy.
From one channel completing one hundred circuits, he reached one hundred thirty-two circuits!
He had increased the speed by thirty-two circuits!
This already surpassed the Li family's top energy technique, the Hundred Battle Zhou Tian Jue.
It’s important to note that, aside from the royal family, this was one of the top energy techniques in the Great Yu, something all martial artists aspired to.
At this moment, as the energy flowed through the Tai Yin Mai, Li Hao felt a special force, extremely cold and yin, circulating in his body. If he practiced certain techniques like the Ice Palm or Ice Soul Body, he could achieve twice the result with half the effort!
After finishing his practice, Li Hao planned to look into what the Tai Yin Mai really was.
But next, he continued practicing the third top body refinement technique, the Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body.
However, compared to the first two techniques, the third layer of this technique was slightly weaker.
The Jump Shell Body also contained a method of channeling energy, but only reached seventy-two circuits. In other words, practicing this alone could also help Li Hao break into the Zhou Tian Realm.
The Jump Shell technique allowed the user to float briefly in the air.
To note, floating was a power only available in the Soul Continuation Realm.
However, the distance one could float with the Jump Shell Body couldn't compare to the Soul Continuation Realm. It could only be effective in special combat situations, providing little enhancement in direct combat.
Yet, the second layer of the Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body was quite powerful. Previously, when Li Hao was at the first stage of the physical body, he had only reached minor success in the second layer. Now, he had achieved full mastery in the second layer of the Fulu Dragon Body!
This granted him terrifying strength, like that of a dragon, purely enhancing his physical power by at least twenty thousand jin!
Li Hao estimated that his raw physical strength alone was around fifty thousand jin at this moment.
Yes, it was that exaggerated.
Now, with his physical body at the third stage, Li Hao could roughly sense his condition without needing to test it.
If he combined this with the energy flow in his body, he could unleash around one hundred thousand jin of power!
One cycle of energy equaled one ding of strength.
At this moment, with one hundred thirty-two circuits, that was one hundred thirty-two dings, and with two channels, it totaled two hundred sixty-four dings!
Each ding equaled two hundred jin, giving him about fifty thousand jin.
Such power was enough to easily shatter an ordinary Zhou Tian Realm completion with a single punch.
The typical Zhou Tian Realm completion with ten channels and ten circuits was the lowest level of Zhou Tian Realm, basically hopeless against the Soul Continuation Realm, with energy only around one hundred dings, or about twenty thousand jin.
At the first level of the Zhou Tian Realm, one channel with ten circuits only increased strength by two thousand jin. Although that was nearly double compared to the ordinary Energy Realm's three thousand six hundred jin, a Blood God would have doubled their strength in the Energy Realm to seven thousand two hundred jin, allowing them to fight against an ordinary first level Zhou Tian Realm!
This was the strength of a Blood God.
Moreover, this didn’t include the boosts from additional techniques and methods.
After all, every martial artist has likely learned at least two signature techniques, right?
Not to mention that a Blood God’s background and resources would be far from low, making the gap even larger. Generally, a fully realized Blood God could easily defeat martial artists at the second or third levels of the Zhou Tian Realm with their techniques.
Some prodigies could even fight four or five levels higher!
When one reaches the Zhou Tian Realm, the differences brought by techniques and training resources would create even bigger gaps in strength and speed of cultivation.
Just the two top energy techniques and channel-opening techniques from the Li family, when fully mastered, would yield one hundred thousand jin of strength!
While the weakest would only have twenty thousand jin, a difference of over fifty times!
However, it was rare for an ordinary Zhou Tian Realm completion martial artist to only practice the weakest technique with ten circuits; that was the absolute minimum.
Everyone has some opportunities, and even without them, through hard work, even joining the military could provide access to mid-tier energy techniques and mid-tier channel-opening martial arts.
For instance, the Li family’s Yuan Character Camp was led by their ancestors. Any soldier selected for the Yuan Character Camp could practice top-tier energy techniques and channel-opening martial arts. Thus, the ten thousand soldiers of the Yuan Character Camp were stronger than an ordinary army of a million!
Feeling the energy surging within him, Li Hao smiled.
The terrifying boost from the techniques far surpassed that of the Blood God. After all, the Blood God could only trigger a doubling of the basic three thousand six hundred jin strength in the Energy Realm, but the techniques provided much more.
For him now, an increase of just over three thousand jin in strength was negligible.
"Excluding attack features like Tiger Pressure and Flying Segment, and the Sea Without End Sword Technique, just in terms of physical combat, I should be able to easily defeat a background-less tenth level Zhou Tian Realm martial artist. However, compared to the fully realized warriors of the Yuan Character Camp, I still fall short," Li Hao thought to himself.
The warriors of the Yuan Character Camp were fierce, and the Yuan Character Army was known as the Grim Reaper among the demon tribes in Yanbei.
Once the Yuan Character flag was raised for battle, demons would tremble in fear because their top-tier energy techniques and channel-opening martial arts could yield five hundred thousand jin of strength at full completion in the Zhou Tian Realm!
What kind of terror would a thousand such soldiers bring to battle?
Moreover, the Zhou Tian Realm was just the weakest level in the Yuan Character Camp.
"Right now, I can barely spar with the third or fourth level Zhou Tian Realm warriors in the Yuan Character Camp, but their battle experience is rich. I might not even be able to win."
Despite the huge increase, Li Hao’s heart didn’t swell with pride.
He then fused the energy method of the third layer of the Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body, removing the overlapping parts. His energy speed increased again, reaching one hundred forty-three circuits in a single breath!
That was fifteen circuits more than the Hundred Battle Zhou Tian Jue. The gap of fifteen circuits in one channel would accumulate significantly by the time he reached full completion in the Zhou Tian Realm.
However, compared to the royal family’s various Zhou Tian techniques, he still fell short.
Next, Li Hao practiced various mid-tier and low-tier body refinement techniques several times until his memories and body movements were perfectly in sync.
This led to a significant boost in his physical strength, reaching around fifteen thousand jin, thanks to the combination of dozens of techniques. Additionally, all parts of his body were greatly enhanced; his vision, hearing, and skin sensitivity were all multiplied several times.
In a confrontation, these enhancements would greatly impact the outcome of the battle.
Afterward, Li Hao searched for information about the Tai Yin Mai within the building.
(End of Chapter)