Chapter 11: Power

“You… you…” Tong San, the lion-man, stared in disbelief at the remaining skeletal frame of the monstrous beast. “Xueying, did you cut off all the meat from the monster and hide it? Where did you hide it?”

As he spoke, Tong San began scanning all around the dining hall, even kneeling to check beneath tables and cabinets.

“Copper Uncle, I really ate it all,” Dongbo Xueying replied helplessly.

“You ate it all? Over ten thousand jin of meat? You, such a small person, ate all of it?” Tong San widened his lion-like eyes. “How can I believe that? Not even a named knight could eat ten thousand jin in one sitting!”

Dongbo Xueying was helpless.

It was because of his recent leap in life’s essence—each cell was ravenous with hunger, demanding such an enormous intake. Later, even he himself wouldn’t be able to eat so much again.

“Copper Uncle, look,” Dongbo Xueying picked up a nearby silver tray. With a sudden press of his hands, the tray compressed and shrank. After squeezing it a couple more times, it transformed into a silver metallic sphere in his palm.

“This…” Tong San was stunned.

Dongbo Xueying grabbed the metal sphere with his right hand and squeezed again. The silver metal slowly oozed out between his fingers. Then, after rubbing his hands together a few times, it transformed into a silver metallic rod!

“How did you do that?” Tong San couldn’t believe it. He and Zong Ling were both incapable of such feats. He could smash a silver tray with one slap and deform a metal sphere, but to squeeze the metal until it flowed between the fingers, or even rub it into a rod—this was just too absurd.

“I told you,” Dongbo Xueying said helplessly, “that monster’s meat was indeed eaten by me. Do you believe me now, Copper Uncle?”

“Believe? Of course I believe you! Now I’ll believe anything you say. But how? How did you suddenly become so strong? This… this just doesn’t make sense at all!” Tong San was utterly confused. Strength was supposed to improve step by step—from Human Rank Knight to Earth Rank Knight, from Earth Rank to Heaven Rank, and then to Star Rank.

“You hadn’t even cultivated any Mana Rage (battle qi), you weren’t even a Human Rank Knight yet. How could you suddenly…” Tong San was at a loss.

“I am now!”

Dongbo Xueying stood up. “Copper Uncle, wait for me a moment.”

So, within the spacious dining hall, Dongbo Xueying began practicing his martial arts. Each move flowed like water, power surging throughout his body. The energy of the heavens and earth continuously flowed into him, and within his muscles and tendons, a mysterious force began to emerge—this was none other than… battle qi!

In fact, since he had devoured the monster’s meat, some battle qi had already begun to form within his body.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~” As Dongbo Xueying practiced the “Flame Three-Step Method,” the battle qi within his body grew increasingly abundant. His muscles and bones began to contain battle qi, even his skin and connective tissues, as the mysterious energy of the heavens and earth continuously poured in and transformed into battle qi. His body was like an endless abyss, absorbing the power of the world without limit.

Round after round of battle qi techniques.

At first, Tong San was confused, shocked, uneasy, and puzzled. But after an hour, he gradually calmed down. After two hours, he began to feel helpless.

“Why is he still practicing?”

“How long is he going to keep this up?” Tong San muttered in confusion, watching Dongbo Xueying.

After all, practicing battle qi techniques wasn’t a matter of quantity. Before becoming a knight, one usually practiced only two or three times at most in one session—because the body couldn’t absorb any more. And even after becoming a knight, the growth of battle qi was slow. Each day had a limit to how much could be absorbed, so the number of practice sessions was limited. For Dongbo Xueying to continue practicing beyond two hours was highly abnormal.

“Boom~~~” Dongbo Xueying felt the battle qi surging through every part of his body. Finally, the energy from the heavens and earth could no longer be absorbed.

“Unexpectedly, if I don’t break through, I won’t, but once I do, I’ve already reached Earth Rank Knight,” Dongbo Xueying mused inwardly. “Of course, my battle qi is at Earth Rank Knight level, but my actual strength far surpasses that category.”

Under normal circumstances,

the first wisp of battle qi forming within the body marked the beginning of a Human Rank Knight.

As the battle qi nourished the muscles and tendons, more and more parts of the body began to generate battle qi. When the entire musculoskeletal system was filled with battle qi, one became an Earth Rank Knight.

When the battle qi fully covered the body and condensed into a source within the lower abdomen—the Dantian Qi Sea (Dantian Sea of Qi)—one became a Heaven Rank Knight.

Once the battle qi within the Dantian condensed into liquid form, one became a Star Rank Knight. The liquid battle qi underwent a qualitative transformation, no longer as fierce and rigid as before, but capable of both hardness and softness. This balanced battle qi could form a tough protective layer on the body’s surface, allowing Star Rank Knights to ignore countless arrows. This protective layer had extremely high defensive capabilities. At the same time, the liquid battle qi could deeply nourish the body, enhancing its strength.

As the liquid battle qi further condensed into a semi-solid form, it became even more mysterious and powerful. Because of its softness, it could even permeate into delicate organs, further transforming the body. This was the Silver Moon Rank Knight.

As for Heaven Rank Knights?

They must achieve the state of unity with heaven and earth, and only then could they ascend to the Named Rank. The Named Rank was completely above the Silver Moon Rank, with an astonishing gap—capable of killing a Silver Moon Rank with a single strike. Representing the pinnacle of human potential, the Named Rank was so close to transcendence that only one final step remained between them and the realm of the extraordinary.

“My muscles and tendons are already perfect, so there’s no need for gradual nourishment. I can immediately advance to Earth Rank Knight,” Dongbo Xueying mused inwardly. “The next step is to open the source of battle qi, which will require gradual accumulation of sufficient battle qi.”

“Xueying, Xueying,” Tong San called out as Dongbo Xueying finally stopped.

“Haha, Copper Uncle, come with me,” Dongbo Xueying laughed joyfully. He exited the dining hall and leapt directly from the main building, with Tong San quickly following.

Soon,

the two arrived at the training ground. There were no servants present at the training ground at that moment.

“Xueying, why did you bring us here?” Tong San was somewhat puzzled.

“Don’t be in a hurry, Copper Uncle,” Dongbo Xueying said as he walked to the side and picked up a long spear he commonly used. The spear weighed fifty jin and was considered the best in Xueying Domain.

Dongbo Xueying held the spear, staring at the alchemical training dummy before him.

Tong San stood beside him, holding his breath, realizing that his nephew was about to display his strength. He wanted to see how fast and powerful Dongbo Xueying’s spear techniques had become.

“Whoosh!”

The spear moved, turning into a blur of shadows.

The spear’s shadow struck the alchemical dummy, which emitted a series of “puff-puff-puff” sounds.

In the briefest moment, Dongbo Xueying had already withdrawn his spear.

“So fast! Xueying, your spear technique is so fast I couldn’t even block it,” Tong San was awestruck by the speed of Dongbo Xueying’s spearplay. Then he looked at the alchemical dummy and widened his eyes even more—the dummy was riddled with countless holes. Many of these holes formed three words—”Amazing, right?”

“You pierced holes in it?” Tong San stared wide-eyed.

This alchemical dummy was impervious to any attack below Star Rank!

“Let me show you something even more impressive!” Dongbo Xueying suddenly unleashed the hidden power within his body. Red currents faintly appeared around him, a fierce and mighty aura surging into the sky, making Tong San feel alarmed. Dongbo Xueying swung the long spear in his hand, striking the alchemical dummy. The spear shaft bent into an exaggerated arc.

“Boom~~~” The first loud explosion sounded as the dummy trembled and cracked. “Boom~~~” The second explosion rang out, and the dummy’s body shattered into pieces, flying off in all directions, leaving only its lower half still fixed to the ground.

“Boom!” The third explosion came as the spear struck the base of the alchemical dummy.

Snap!

The entire spear broke, and the lower half of the dummy also shattered into pieces.

Dongbo Xueying looked at the broken spear in his hand, stunned. He had used this spear for a long time, and he never expected it to break under the force.

“Big brother, I’m back!” Qing Shi’s clear voice echoed from afar.

Dongbo Xueying looked up at the darkening sky.

“Copper Uncle, Qing Shi and Uncle Zong are back. Let’s go have dinner first. After dinner, I’ll tell you and Uncle Zong everything,” Dongbo Xueying smiled. If it were someone else encountering such an event, they would probably still be completely confused. Fortunately, he had read enough books, and one of them even contained a very brief account of such a phenomenon.