Chapter 49: Fourth Aunt
Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Fourth Aunt
Entering the Time Stop Domain once more, Fang Chen first quickly browsed through those ordinary Martial Skills. With his current perspective of True Martial Realm Transcendence, the improvements brought by these ordinary Martial Skills were already microscopic. However, his goal was not to master them all, but to draw upon their strengths and absorb some of their essence. What he truly spent his energy studying were the True Martial Level Combat Skills.
However, during his cultivation, Fang Chen quickly discovered a crucial problem—when it came to Martial Skills, more was not necessarily better. This was especially true for Combat Skills that strengthened the same part of the body; their True Qi circulation routes and power generation concepts could even conflict with one another.
A True Martial Level Palm Technique named *Soft Water Transformation Force* focused on overcoming hardness with softness, deflecting and guiding force. Its True Qi circulation method ran almost completely contrary to the unparalleled fierceness and pursuit of extreme hardness of the *Iron Wall Strike*. Forcing himself to cultivate both simultaneously not only resulted in slow progress, but he even felt that the cultivation of *Soft Water Transformation Force* faintly interfered with the purity of the *Iron Wall Strike*. When channeling the *Iron Wall Strike* into his palm, that rock-solid texture developed a barely noticeable sluggishness, affecting its maximum strength.
He realized in his heart, "It seems biting off more than I can chew is a bad idea. Specializing in one path, or cultivating Combat Skills of different styles in different parts of the body, is the right way."
But not all Martial Skills repelled each other. Fang Chen also discovered some Combat Skills that perfectly complemented his own system, and could even be fused and elevated.
For instance, a True Martial Level Palm Technique called the *Thousand Waves Palm* had a core profoundness where Palm Power acted like ocean waves, surging one after another in endless, overlapping layers. Fang Chen attempted to integrate this "overlapping waves" concept of power generation into the *Mountain-Shattering Sound*. He no longer pursued a single ultimate sonic boom destruction, but instead tried to blend the technique of overlapping Dark Force onto the terrifying eruption of the *Mountain-Shattering Sound*.
He created the *Thousand Waves Mountain-Shattering Sound*.
BOOM! BUZZ!
With a single punch, there was first the deafening, mountain-shattering roar. But following that immense boom, low buzzes and continuous tremors echoed from within the target! Several hidden streams of power only detonated continuously in second and third waves after the initial eruption! The destructive power was deeper and more absolute!
Repeating the process, Fang Chen integrated the essence of certain Finger Techniques and Leg Techniques that focused on "Piercing" and "point-breaking" into the *Armor-Piercing Drill* and *Finger-Tapping Divine Techniques*, elevating their Piercing power to another level.
Through this fusion, Fang Chen increased the overall might of his core Combat Skills by about thirty percent! When the usable supplies within the Time Stop Domain were almost depleted, he decisively chose to End Time Stop, resetting the domain. Then, he activated Time Stop once more and entered!
This time, his targets were two True Martial Level Combat Skills—the *Profound Tiger Wind-Breaking Sword* and the *Phantom Illusion Step*. The concepts of these two Combat Skills were entirely in line with the *Lingxi Swordsmanship* and *Gale Step Technique*, allowing him to learn them with half the effort for twice the result.
Four years of bitter cultivation passed.
The *Profound Tiger Wind-Breaking Sword* and the *Phantom Illusion Step* were successively cultivated to the Perfection realm! His strikes roared like a Profound Tiger, tearing through the air and bringing about a shrill, wind-breaking sound that was ruthless and swift! When he executed his Step Technique, his speed vastly exceeded his time using the *Gale Step Technique*!
And relying on the insights gained from cultivating these two more profound Combat Skills to Perfection, which nourished his foundation, his understanding of the original *Lingxi Swordsmanship* and *Gale Step Technique* instantly skyrocketed into sudden enlightenment! Naturally, these two Basic Martial Skills also broke through the barrier of Perfection in one fell swoop, stepping into the Realm of Transcendence!
Channeling the Transcendence Realm *Lingxi Swordsmanship*, Fang Chen felt a flash of inspiration as the tip of his longsword trembled lightly!
HUM!
A formless, intangible, yet incomparably fierce transparent Sword Qi shot out. It slashed across several meters, silently slicing a distant tree in half with a cross-section as smooth as a mirror!
"Sword Qi! It’s actually Sword Qi!" Fang Chen rejoiced in his heart. Although he now had the *Finger-Tapping Divine Techniques* for mid-to-long-range attacks, the lethal radius of Sword Qi within five meters was still significantly higher.
When the Transcendence Realm *Gale Step Technique* was executed at full strength, there was no new effect—it was purely just fast! He tried throwing his longsword, and without even using any True Qi, his speed could actually catch up to the blade!
"That’s enough!" Fang Chen sheathed his longsword and stood tall, feeling thoroughly satisfied. "I’ve used up my Time Stops, eaten all the food, and my Progress has stagnated. It’s time to return to the real world!"
***
"That longsword was really handy to use," Fang Chen sighed with emotion in his heart. "Unfortunately, items like that are destined not to be brought out."
Pushing his bicycle toward his home, Fang Chen was still reminiscing about the longsword he had borrowed from the Martial Arts Association to practice with in the Time Stop Domain. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the gate of his courtyard.
"Chen! You’re back!" his sister, Fang Min, ran out of the house holding a wooden stick that served as a longsword.
"Hehe! Chen, watch me!" Fang Min assumed a stance and swung the stick quite convincingly. "How is my *Lingxi Swordsmanship* now? Haven’t I improved a lot compared to before?"
Fang Chen stopped to watch, nodded, and gave an objective evaluation. "Yes, your stance is steadier, and your blade trajectory is clearer. Not bad. If you keep practicing with this momentum for another month, you should reach the Initial Glimpse stage."
Upon hearing this, Fang Min’s little face immediately slumped.
"Ah... Another month?" She put away the wooden stick and leaned close to Fang Chen. Looking up at him, her eyes were filled with adoration. "Chen, before I started practicing swordsmanship, I just thought you looked really good and handsome when you wielded a longsword! But only after I started practicing did I realize how incredibly hard it is!
"I feel like... without eight or ten years of bitter effort, I won’t be able to achieve your results at all!"
Hearing this, Fang Chen fell silent in his heart. "Eight or ten years? That sounds about right..."
In the Time Stop Domain, he didn’t need to go to school, didn’t have to worry about daily chores, and certainly didn’t need to do farm work in the fields. He could spend almost the entire day on cultivation; one day for him was equivalent to two or three days for anyone else.
He was just about to offer some guidance when he noticed that people seemed to be discussing something inside the house.
"We have a guest?" Fang Chen asked.
Fang Min nodded. "Aunt Dehui is here!"
"Oh? Aunt Dehui?" Fang Chen’s eyes lit up. He had always been grateful to his Aunt Dehui, so he quickened his pace and walked into the house.
Sure enough, Aunt Dehui was sitting on a chair in the main room. What mildly surprised Fang Chen was that she was clearly dressed up today. She wore delicate makeup and a pale lotus-colored dress that accentuated her exquisite figure, making her look much younger than her actual age. She was obviously getting ready to go to work at the nightclub.
The moment Aunt Dehui saw Fang Chen enter, she immediately stood up with a smile. Reaching straight into her small leather handbag, she pulled out a stack of cash and shoved it into Fang Chen’s hands.
"Here, Chen’Er, this is ten thousand yuan. Take it!"
Fang Chen felt the weight in his hands and furrowed his brows. Instead of putting it away immediately, he looked at his aunt and asked, "Aunt Dehui, where... where did you get so much money?"
Li Dehui patted the back of Fang Chen’s hand.
"Hehe, don’t worry! I’ve been lucky these past few days. A big boss came to the club, and he’s quite generous with his money. I’ve got him hooked!
"Watch me take advantage of this opportunity and bleed him dry! The old man is completely enchanted by me right now!"
Sitting to the side, his father, Fang Lin, who hadn’t said much until now, spoke up with worry and unease written all over his face.
"Dehui, I’m... I’m afraid this isn’t very appropriate, is it? Won’t it be dangerous?"
"Sigh! Don’t worry about it, Lin!" Li Dehui interrupted him, turning to Fang Chen with a reassuring tone. "Chen’Er, don’t worry. The registration fee is still short by a little, but we have time! Wait for my good news!"
As if afraid her brother would decline again, she quickly shoved the ten thousand yuan straight into Fang Chen’s jacket pocket, then grabbed her bag and walked out.
"Alright, alright, Lin, Chen’Er, I won’t stay for dinner. I still need to rush to work! I’m off!"