Chapter 59

After acquiring inner strength, Hao Qi found that relying on the subtle perception and adjustment of inner strength, the speed of practicing the martial arts loaded by the system would significantly increase. Since leaving the Blue Shadow Republic, he had been traveling for several months, then stayed in the Hundred Grass Kingdom for several months, and sailed for more than two months. During this time, the practice speed only significantly decreased while sailing in the Blue Sea, but it did not completely stagnate. Before boarding the ship, Hao Qi's Heavenly Net Palm had already reached level four, almost at the fifth level. Although progress was slow during the days on the ship, he gradually advanced toward the fifth level.

After that, the ship docked, and Hao Qi and Zhang Heng arrived at the western part of the Blue Sea. After landing, Hao Qi and Zhang Heng, who had been in the cramped room of the ship for more than two months, naturally stretched their bodies with great pleasure. In the few days Hao Qi spent with Su Shiyi, he directly advanced the Heavenly Net Palm to the fifth level.

Of course, the difference between the fourth and fifth levels of the Heavenly Net Palm was not significant. The difference would only be noticeable if one reached the tenth level of mastery or the pinnacle of perfection. Otherwise, the gap between each level was actually very small.

However, Hao Qi had been waiting for the Heavenly Net Palm to reach the fifth level because once it did, he could load the second internal skill in the system, which he had already chosen—the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill!

The Arhat Demon Subduing Skill was one of the skills in Hao Qi's system. Regardless of its effects in the original story, the skill's effects in the system were extremely powerful. Of course, in the original game, it might have been ordinary, and many players might not have chosen it. However, after Hao Qi's穿越 (穿越 means "穿越" in this context, but it can be translated as "transmigration" or "穿越" depending on the context), the skill's effects were simply heaven-defying. The effect of this skill was... to heal.

Yes, to heal. In the original game, after learning the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill, the character would recover fifty points of health each turn. This might not seem significant in the game, and it might even seem useless. However, if this effect were applied to the real world, it would be a heaven-defying existence. It would allow one to recover health automatically, and as long as there was a breath left, with the passage of time and the automatic operation of the skill, one could survive and gradually recover. This effect was truly unimaginably heaven-defying!

This was the effect Hao Qi most desired. Compared to other internal skills that could be learned in the short term, the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill was undoubtedly the most cost-effective. Besides its heaven-defying effect in the real world, the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill had another special effect: when learned, there was a certain chance to use the Arhat Demon Subduing Force during attacks, increasing the attack power. However, Hao Qi considered this effect optional.

Firstly, it was a certain chance. After converting to the real world, either the probability would be low, or it would be like the Prajna Palm, which required energy storage first. In either case, the value would not be significant. The increased force from the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill was not an absolute damage like the Prajna Palm, which would never deal less than fifty points of damage. The increase in force from the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill was merely mentioned in the effect description and was, in Hao Qi's view, just an added bonus.

It wasn't until Hao Qi loaded the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill that he realized he might have been wrong...

The so-called Arhat Demon Subduing Force, after converting to a real-world skill, was not a certain probability as the name suggested. Instead, as long as Hao Qi operated the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill, the Arhat Demon Subduing Force would definitely be generated. This was an additional force that appeared out of nowhere on top of his own strength. By itself, the Arhat Demon Subduing Force was roughly half to one-third of the full power of an inner strength realm. This might seem insignificant and not pose a threat to the inner strength realm, but it was a cumulative effect. When Hao Qi fully unleashed his power, adding half to one-third of an inner strength realm's power, the quantitative change would become a qualitative change. The result was...

The sand dune suddenly exploded, sending a sandstorm about twenty meters high into the air. Before the sandstorm could settle, another loud explosion was heard, and even denser sand rose, reaching higher and covering a wider area.

Everyone's mouths were slightly open, but before they could close them, a faint golden light flickered, and a bit of green light appeared in the sandstorm. Another intense explosion followed, and this time, it was not just the sandstorm rising but the upper part of the sand dune being completely shattered. A thirty-meter-wide, ten-meter-deep hollow appeared on the sand dune, and a figure rolled out from the sandstorm, rolling dozens of meters before standing up with one hand. This person was Su Shiyi.

"...I lost. Good internal skill, good palm force, good... brutality."

Su Shiyi bowed from a distance, her clear voice loud, but there was a hint of dissatisfaction at the end.

Hao Qi's figure slowly emerged from the sandstorm. He first bowed to Su Shiyi, then laughed, but did not explain the brutality Su Shiyi mentioned. He didn't know how to explain it, as he had only loaded the Arhat Demon Subduing Skill a few days ago and hadn't had time to control and master the increased force.

Seeing Hao Qi's slightly awkward expression, Su Shiyi smiled softly and said nothing more. She turned and walked toward the Su family camp. At this moment, everyone in the Su family was gaping in disbelief, staring at this scene. It wasn't until Hao Qi entered his own tent that everyone returned to their tents.

At the same time, the four inner strength realm members of the Su family were silent. One of them, Su Shiyi's cousin, said in a low voice, "The last... it was a palm strike, although it was blurry, the current state of the sand dune was caused by a single palm strike..."

"That's right, a single palm strike, a simple straight palm, and..." another young man from the Su family said.

Everyone fell silent. After a moment, Su Shiyi's uncle, the one who had thrown the gold coin, said, "The last palm strike did not directly hit the third young lady but hit her side. The force was so great that it prevented her from thrusting her sword and forced her to block, and she was thrown dozens of meters away... The third young lady was not thrown by the palm strike but by the residual force... "

The four of them fell silent again. After a long while, one of Su Shiyi's cousins said resentfully, "The intelligence said he had inner strength for less than a year. This strength... this strength... has already surpassed the old inner strength realm we know. This is already the strength of someone advancing toward the inner qi realm! How is this possible!"

"How is it not possible?" Su Shiyi's other uncle immediately countered. "There are so many geniuses in this world. Without mentioning others, the third young lady... if she hadn't taken the Jade Muscle Pill, she might have become such a genius. And it's said that Hao Qi has a natural constitution, and after reaching the peak of a mediocre martial art, he immediately burst with inner strength. This is a great genius. And geniuses are not rare. Even in our Thousand Mountain Empire, the name of Wu Chizhen is something you've heard since childhood. So... don't belittle yourselves or be overly proud. This world is broader and more wonderful than you imagine. As long as... we can obtain the Golden Bone Pill... As for the third young lady, if the other party is Hao Qi and plans to stay in the Thousand Mountain Empire, no, as long as he stays in the northern part of the Blue Sea, I have no objections."

The other three, including the older uncle, nodded. The two cousins' faces turned pale, and after a long while, they sighed in resignation, saying nothing, which was an acknowledgment.

After this battle, from the next day on, the Su family no longer displayed the same arrogance and indifference. Although they did not deliberately approach Hao Qi and Zhang Heng, the Su family's troops deliberately shortened the distance between them and Hao Qi and Zhang Heng. When setting up camp at night, some of the Su family's non-inner strength members came to help, and they shared the delicious food they brought with Hao Qi and Zhang Heng. Hao Qi and Zhang Heng were not arrogant people, and after a few days, some of the Su family's young members began to ask Hao Qi about martial arts difficulties after setting up camp at night. The relationship between the two sides indeed improved.

A week passed, and the Su family's group had already entered the Death Desert, getting closer to the ruins. However, they did not know that a group was closely following them...

Mingzhen stood far away from the sand dune, watching silently. After a long while, he suddenly leaped up, rising dozens of meters high. As he descended, his palms circled, and just before landing on the sand dune, he struck with both palms, causing a loud explosion. The top of the sand dune burst, and a hollow thirty meters wide and ten meters deep appeared.

After the strike, Mingzhen walked out of the rising sandstorm, laughing wildly as he walked. "Ha ha ha, ha ha ha... A master, a master is here! What an exciting journey! Whoever you are, bring ten people over for me to practice my fists. This trip is not in vain..."

"Not in vain at all!"