Chapter 74

The autumn air was crisp and cool, with a gentle breeze bringing a hint of warmth from the high-hanging sun!

The roar of the waterfall still echoed, and through the mist, one could faintly see the figure of a young boy stubbornly persisting inside.

"It's been almost two hours!" Checking the time, a distant, ethereal figure muttered to himself.

Ten days had passed since the divine martial bloodline within Wang Chen's body was awakened. Since then, his body had been further strengthened, and he had been making astonishing progress every day.

Now, he could persist in training under the waterfall for an hour.

No longer just standing firm, he now sat cross-legged under the waterfall to train, a practice whose difficulty Ling Zhan was well aware of.

On one hand, he had to endure the immense impact, and on the other, he had to absorb external elemental energy and simultaneously refine it into true essence, which circulated within his body to resist the external pressure. At this moment, Wang Chen's mental energy had to be divided into three parts, each operating simultaneously.

Finally, after two hours, his figure began to tremble, his veins bulging, as he once again reached the critical point.

Wang Chen did not continue to persist. He took a deep breath, leaped up, and jumped out from under the waterfall, landing on the shore.

Breathing heavily, droplets of dark red blood seeped from his pores, a sign that his body had reached its limit.

After the previous incident, Wang Chen had hoped to use this method to awaken the energy within the divine martial bloodline, but Ling Zhan directly rejected the idea.

Not every attempt would be so lucky, and such a method of forced growth would only harm his body. More importantly, the energy was highly unpredictable, and if it couldn't be awakened, the consequences would be dire.

After a while, Wang Chen gradually calmed down, his complexion returning to normal. He then walked to Ling Zhan's side, and without needing to be told, he went straight to the wooden tub, frowning slightly as he leaped into it.

The deep cold once again invaded his body, each cell resisting. However, with his previous experience, Wang Chen could now deliberately absorb these atoms, strengthening each cell.

After the first day of training, he had a vague sense of the threshold of the ninth stage of Body Tempering. Wang Chen thought he could break through quickly, even believing that with enough energy, he could leap into the ninth stage. However, the past few days of training showed him how naive he had been.

The ninth stage of Body Tempering and the eighth stage were separated by a thin line, but the difference was vast. As his level increased, the energy required for each breakthrough grew exponentially. Despite the seemingly small gap, it took him ten whole days to reach this point.

External elemental energy flowed into his mouth and nose like white mist, then transformed into true essence, which integrated into his meridians. The water in the wooden tub, despite being extremely cold, paradoxically began to boil, steam rising, but it was cold steam, not heat.

"This time it should be about right!" Standing by the wooden tub, Ling Zhan watched quietly, with a hint of anticipation.

After ten whole days, with the help of the cold pond water, he should be close to the critical point for a breakthrough. It was unknown whether he would succeed today.

Inside the wooden tub, the cold pond water brought a chill that ravaged Wang Chen's body, causing his face, which had just regained some color, to turn pale again.

In the extreme cold, Wang Chen's teeth began to chatter, making a sharp sound, and his body trembled slightly.

Each breath he took seemed like swallowing clouds and exhaling mist, a miraculous sight, but the pain was unimaginable.

Finally, the water in the tub began to calm, the silvery color of the cold pond water gradually fading as the energy within was completely absorbed by Wang Chen, and the water settled.

In the next moment, external elemental energy accelerated toward Wang Chen, gathering and spreading around him.

Wang Chen's breathing pattern changed, shifting to the three long, two short breaths he used after each breakthrough.

At this moment, time seemed to freeze. Ling Zhan stood guard, carefully watching to prevent any threats from beasts.

The waiting was always long. After a while, when everything outside had calmed, Wang Chen took a long breath, and Ling Zhan's heart relaxed!

At this moment, Wang Chen exhaled a breath, which turned into a white mist and dissipated in the air.

He then opened his eyes, slowly stood up, and leaped out of the tub, his face filled with excitement.

"Body Tempering ninth stage, the increase in strength is indeed significant!" He placed his palms together and struck forward!

Layer upon layer, his palms became blurred, moving incredibly fast!

"Fifteen layers of waves!" With a light shout, Wang Chen used his full strength, striking the trunk of a large tree in front of him.

Instantly, the tree, which was about a meter in diameter, let out a loud roar. The force reached its peak, and Wang Chen left two hollow palm prints in the tree, with debris flying everywhere.

This was far more difficult than simply breaking the tree. Without sufficient strength and speed, it would be impossible to achieve.

"Nearly four thousand pounds of strength!" Taking a deep breath, Wang Chen turned to Ling Zhan, saying with satisfaction.

After the breakthrough, he could use the Fifteen Layers of Waves technique, and the strength he unleashed could rival that of a second-stage True Martial practitioner, which was four thousand pounds. His own strength had reached three thousand two hundred pounds, surpassing that of a typical first-stage True Martial practitioner.

This progress was terrifying. As one's strength increased, it became increasingly difficult to improve, and any increase in strength came with great difficulty.

"Good, your body's strength should now be nearly two thousand pounds!" After a moment of contemplation, Ling Zhan nodded and added.

The so-called body strength referred to physical resistance, meaning that Wang Chen's body could withstand a force of two thousand pounds without sustaining significant damage. This meant that a typical ninth-stage martial practitioner's full-strength strike would not harm him much, demonstrating the terrifying level of his defense.

Typically, a ninth-stage Body Tempering martial practitioner, even with a strong body, could only achieve a defense of one thousand pounds.

Wang Chen's strength exceeded the norm by a factor of two, a level that would make many people look up in awe and admiration.

All of this was mainly due to the twenty days of waterfall training and the help of the cold pond water. Of course, the residual energy left after the divine martial bloodline's energy burst also played a significant role. With this assistance, Wang Chen's body strength could reach this level.

"There are only ten days left until the monthly assessment. Spend more time earning points in the next few days!" Thinking of the monthly assessment, Ling Zhan said with a sly smile, which made Wang Chen shudder.

Each time, during the plundering, Ling Zhan seemed more excited than Wang Chen, and his expression often made Wang Chen feel like he was being targeted by a big bad wolf.

"Alright, boy, your current ranking is seventy-first, right? That won't do. This month, you must break into the top fifty, do you hear me? Of course, breaking into the top thirty is also fine, don't embarrass me. Remember, I used to be... " Then, as if thinking of something, Ling Zhan became even more excited, shouting at Wang Chen. However, he stopped, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Wang Chen asked, somewhat puzzled by the situation.

"Hehe, what do you know, kid? Just plunder, don't be shy. What's so fun about the outer sect? It's just endless fighting. Get to the inner sect as soon as possible; that's where the real training happens! Spend two-thirds of your time plundering each day. There are ten days left, hehe..." Ling Zhan laughed slyly, completely ignoring Wang Chen's rolling eyes.