Chapter 97: The Power of Soft Water

Gu Duxing searched his mind for all the words he could think of, but found none that could describe Chu Yang! This had already transcended the realm of "human"!

The higher the martial artist rank, the harder it becomes! Each major rank is divided into nine levels; within each level, there are high, middle, and low. Throughout history, who hasn't taken one step at a time, accumulating bit by bit, and then breaking through?

A martial artist... is indeed very low. It's not uncommon for someone to advance several martial artist ranks after consuming a spirit medicine! But without consuming spirit medicine, to cultivate and improve like this; throughout history, the fastest to advance was Liu Yongxiang, the peerless blade of the Upper Three Days, a living legend! In his youth, when he was advancing through the martial artist ranks, he once set a record of advancing one rank every three days!

No one has ever broken this record throughout history!

But today, Gu Duxing witnessed with his own eyes a freak who broke through one level in just a short hour! He witnessed the miracle happen!

Gu Duxing groaned, feeling extremely inferior for a moment...

Oh, heavens, it's not over yet... Gu Duxing's eyes widened again because he felt another slight fluctuation in Chu Yang's aura...

He reached the middle of the Fifth Rank of Martial Artist!

Even a bolt of lightning in a clear sky couldn't describe Gu Duxing's feelings at this moment; he was already numb!

The Fifth Rank of Martial Artist is high...

He reached the peak of the Fifth Rank of Martial Artist...

He reached the Sixth Rank...

He reached the middle of the Sixth Rank...

Oh... Heavens and earth, it finally stopped. If it didn't stop, I would have spat blood... It stopped at the peak of the Sixth Rank! Gu Duxing hit his head against the ground, silently praying: Being with this freak is too damaging to one's self-esteem!

I... I am also a genius... But compared to him, I... I might as well slit my throat...

In less than two hours, he advanced two ranks! Gu Duxing felt like he was in a dream: an unbelievable, bizarre, and incomprehensible dream!

Chu Yang finally woke up from that wondrous state.

Almost as soon as he woke up, the voice of the Nine Tribulations Sword sounded in his mind: "You have finally comprehended the power of heaven and earth once!" This voice was filled with satisfaction.

"Power of heaven and earth?" Chu Yang was puzzled: "Is this the power of heaven and earth?"

"Of course, this is far from the true power of heaven and earth. This is a very insignificant part of it. Since you were by the lake, you naturally comprehended the soft water power of the lake. This can be considered a stroke of luck. In your previous life, you were blinded by hatred and obsession, and could not comprehend anything. I didn't expect you to comprehend this so early in this life."

"Oh?"

"Water has both tangible and intangible power. Tangible power includes the roaring power of the sea, the destructive power of a mountain flood, the nourishing power of heaven, and the violent power of heaven. The power you comprehended is the gentle power among the tangible powers."

"What use does this power have?"

"To overcome hardness with softness." The voice said: "How to use it is up to you. In the Nine Tribulations and the Nine Heavens, no power is useless."

"Oh, so the mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, earth, wind, thunder, rain, snow, clouds, and stars are all different powers?" Chu Yang asked thoughtfully.

"Cannot be said. If you can comprehend it, it is your fortune; if you cannot, no matter what I say, you still won't comprehend it! This is fate... and your insight." The voice became ethereal and slowly disappeared.

"Then your existence is not to guide me to this opportunity?" Chu Yang asked.

The voice did not answer, as if it had fallen asleep.

But Chu Yang already understood; the Nine Tribulations Sword is not omnipotent! To reach the peak, one must rely on oneself! Whether it's the Nine Tribulations Sword or the Nine Tribulations and Nine Heavens divine skill, although they have souls, they are not you.

Only when your efforts reach a certain point will the Nine Tribulations Sword give you appropriate hints. If you don't put in the effort, then even if you possess the most miraculous thing in the world, you will still be a waste!

Chu Yang pondered. However, this little hint was enough! Because this hint opened up an infinitely vast sky of martial arts for Chu Yang!

Originally, Chu Yang's cultivation only showed one path. Now, he could see the vast heavens and earth, the universe and the cosmos!

Heaving a comfortable sigh, Chu Yang stood up, feeling his joints crackle. Looking at the sky, Chu Yang was somewhat surprised: He had only sat for less than two hours, so why did he feel this way? He wasn't tired, but the cracking of his joints was something that usually only happened after sitting all night.

However, when he usually felt this cracking after sitting all night, he would often feel tired. But today, he felt incredibly relaxed, as if a certain shackle had been removed, making his body feel light and as if he could fly. It felt like he had had a deep sleep all night rather than practicing all night...

He tried to gather his qi, and the energy in his dantian suddenly surged up, circulating through his meridians in an instant. Chu Yang suddenly felt something was wrong and quickly ran another cycle. He opened his mouth wide in surprise: The two acupoints that his primordial energy usually couldn't reach were now completely unobstructed!

Did I break through without realizing it?

Chu Yang couldn't help but feel greatly excited: Could it be that I only practiced for two hours and actually advanced two ranks? This... This is too incredible!

Just as he was secretly rejoicing, a face suddenly appeared in front of him. Opening his eyes, he saw Gu Duxing with a haggard face, bloodshot eyes, and a fierce look. His expression was so ferocious that it was completely different from his usual cold, zombie-like face!

"Um, you... What's wrong?" Chu Yang was very surprised.

"What, what, what?!" Gu Duxing gritted his teeth and growled lowly: "What, what, what?!"

Chu Yang scratched his head, completely at a loss, and asked in confusion: "What's going on?"

Gu Duxing went crazy, jumping up and roaring: "How did you do it?"

"How did I do what?" Chu Yang was completely puzzled.

"You, you, you... you!" Gu Duxing stood up, pacing around in a frenzy, then lowered his head, his nose almost touching Chu Yang's: "You, you... will you tell me? How did you do it? Two hours, two ranks! Aaah..."

Gu Duxing was almost in tears: This guy was still pretending to be clueless!

"Oh, you mean this." Chu Yang scratched his head innocently: "To be honest, I don't know myself. I woke up this morning and found I had advanced two ranks, and I was secretly rejoicing..."

You don't know yourself? Secretly rejoicing? Gu Duxing felt stars dancing in front of his eyes and was completely flustered by the lake. He groaned, rolled his eyes several times, stomped his feet, took a few deep breaths, and tried to suppress the surging emotions. Only then did he realize that the person involved might really not know.

Especially someone like Chu Yang, who was still at the martial artist level, would be even less likely to know. This was a great opportunity! And it could only happen unconsciously. If Chu Yang had a clear sense of it...

"I really don't know!" Chu Yang said innocently: "I just practiced, and then I leveled up..."