Chapter 35

Night.

Qiming Community.

At home.

Li Hao opened the *Nine-Forged Power*, and beside him, the black panther sat on the sofa, also stretching its dog head to read the book.

Li Hao didn’t push it away. He didn’t believe that a dog could understand human language, let alone read. If the black panther could recognize this, Li Hao would call it Master!

"Warrior, upon reaching the Tenth Slash Realm, the inner power surges, bones and tendons resonate... The power is limited, distributed throughout the body, and the power difference between warriors of the same realm is minimal..."

This book was written by Liu Long’s father, but it wasn’t the original.

From the book, it can be known that Liu Long’s father, Liu Hao, was already a peak hundred warrior back then, a very powerful warrior. Yuan Shuo said that the other party treated him like a grandson... which might be a bit exaggerated.

A peak hundred warrior and the young Yuan Shuo were about equally matched in strength.

Moreover, Liu Hao was particularly skilled in offense.

The spear, the king of all weapons!

Warriors who use spears mostly only attack, never defend, and never retreat.

Liu Hao, with the *Nine-Forged Power*, thrust his spear nine times, making a name for himself in the Silver Moon Province’s warrior community, known as Silver Spear Liu Hao, one of the three spear kings of Silver Moon Province.

There were actually many peak hundred warriors back then, but Liu Hao could make a name for himself, naturally not being an ordinary person.

The main reason was this *Nine-Forged Power*.

With the same power, Liu Hao’s spear thrust nine times. Although he wasn’t comprehensive in other aspects, his offensive power was the best among the three spear kings back then!

However, Liu Hao’s strengths were very prominent, but so were his weaknesses. His speed and physical condition were lacking... the nine-layered power was too damaging to the body. By middle age, Liu Hao’s arms were almost useless.

This was also one of the reasons why Liu Hao took Liu Long to apprentice under Yuan Shuo when he was young.

The Liu family’s spear was famous, but Liu Hao knew that the *Nine-Forged Power* was too damaging to the body. Most peak hundred warriors could still fight at 70, but the Liu family’s members rapidly declined after 40, even becoming completely useless.

If Liu Long hadn’t absorbed the mysterious energy and strengthened his physique, he might have been crippled long ago at his age, with constant battles.

"Nine layers of power!"

Li Hao was a bit moved. He didn’t fully understand the value of this secret technique, but he knew how powerful it would be after nine layers of power.

The power of the *Nine-Forged Power* didn’t come out of nowhere.

It mainly focused on the application of power, concentrating the power from other parts of the body into the arms, layer by layer. This not only tested one’s control over their own power but also the resilience and strength of the arms.

"Is three layers the limit at the Tenth Slash Realm?"

According to the book, at the Tenth Slash Realm, three layers of power were the limit; otherwise, the arms could easily break, leaving irreversible injuries.

For peak hundred warriors, it was best not to exceed six layers.

Liu Hao once faced a strong enemy and used the nine-layered power. Although he killed the enemy, he also severely injured himself, almost crippling his arms. He soon retired from the martial world, and the Silver Spear of the three spears of Silver Moon Province was sealed, and he passed away a few years later.

"The advantages of the *Nine-Forged Power* are obvious, but so are the disadvantages... Once the power is layered, you can hardly move, and any movement will dissipate the power..."

This was the disadvantage!

And the biggest disadvantage of the *Nine-Forged Power*!

After extracting power from the entire body, you couldn’t move too much, or the power would dissipate and might even harm yourself.

So, the *Nine-Forged Power* was well-known, but some old warriors knew the severity of its issues.

"Unless you have a strong physique and don’t care about the extraction of power..."

This was probably why Liu Long passed it on to Li Hao.

Because Li Hao’s physique seemed very good. Even before reaching the Tenth Slash Realm, he showed a strong physique.

After the blood transfusion, his physique was even stronger.

With such a physique, Li Hao could likely avoid the disadvantage of not being able to move. Even if he moved, Li Hao might still have the strength to maintain the layered power.

Also, the probability of self-harm would be greatly reduced.

Li Hao read for a while. Besides the description and the method of exerting power, the key to the *Nine-Forged Power* was actually a special breathing technique.

Yes, almost every secret technique comes with a special breathing technique.

Different secret techniques have different core breathing techniques.

Because different secret techniques have different methods of exerting power.

If Li Hao used the *Five Animal Breathing Technique* to cultivate the *Nine-Forged Power*, it might lead to a misalignment of power, harming himself.

So, the secret technique itself wasn’t too important, but the matching breathing technique was the most crucial.

This time, Liu Long even included the breathing technique.

It was clearly a separate piece of paper, inserted into the yellowed book.

...

Li Hao spent over an hour, carefully pondering each of the three thousand characters before he began to try cultivating.

First, he adjusted his breathing, using the breathing technique of the *Nine-Forged Power*.

The rhythm of breathing was completely different from before.

Beside him, the black panther stared intently.

Li Hao turned his head and smiled.

This dog was learning again!

"You can only feel the rhythm of breathing, not the differences in the internal organs... You can only learn the surface, not the essence! But you’re just a dog... it’s enough."

The black panther didn’t mind and continued to follow Li Hao.

The breathing gradually developed a unique rhythm.

It wasn’t chaotic, but each breath had a different duration, yet it didn’t feel uncomfortable, a special rhythm with a unique melody.

Because the black panther wanted to learn, Li Hao didn’t deliberately reduce the sound.

Otherwise, the breathing sound would be too weak for others to notice anything.

After adjusting his breathing, Li Hao could now feel the power, or rather, the inner power, in his body.

It was different from the mysterious energy!

The inner power was very special. The mysterious energy felt like an external force, not something born from the body, giving a sense of isolation.

But the inner power truly felt like a force generated from within, from the body.

This power came from the blood, muscles, cells, and bones, as if the entire body was producing this faint power, like vitality, providing stronger energy for a healthy body.

The inner power was intangible but could be clearly felt.

A stream of power flowed through his body.

Li Hao focused his power on his arm, and the muscles on his arm twitched. With a light shake of his hand, a series of popping sounds echoed!

This was the resonance of bones and tendons!

Compared to when he just entered the Tenth Slash Realm a few days ago, Li Hao now seemed to have a better grasp and understanding of the power. With a shake of his arm, a horizontal push sent the black panther flying several meters, crashing into the wall.

The black panther’s eyes were full of innocence!

Of course, it wasn’t injured. This dog had absorbed a bit of blade energy, making its body much stronger than an average person, even comparable to any Tenth Slash Realm warrior.

It was just that the dog wasn’t good at using its strength.

Li Hao didn’t mind. He first experienced the feeling of the inner power surging, and soon, he slapped the coffee table.

The coffee table, made of marble, was brought from the mountains by his father. Over the years, it had developed several cracks.

At this moment, Li Hao lightly slapped the table, but it didn’t react at all.

Just then, the first layer of power went in, and Li Hao hadn’t finished. His arm twitched again, and the second layer of power surged, and his hand lightly pressed on the table, causing it to vibrate suddenly!

Clang, clang, clang!

The table trembled, and there was a faint feeling that it might crack.

Li Hao continued to adjust his breathing, and the third layer of power came from other parts of his body, causing his right arm muscles to twitch, looking quite frightening.

This power was hard to control.

It kept moving in the upper arm, making Li Hao’s muscles ache.

But Li Hao persisted in moving the power down!

This was layering the power!

Of course, it was too slow now. The real *Nine-Forged Power* wouldn’t be this slow. A slap, and the second layer of power took a long time to come, and the third layer was still stuck in the upper arm... If faced with an opponent, you’d be dead before the third layer came out.

Li Hao was just not familiar with it yet.

Under Li Hao’s persistence, the third layer of power finally moved down.

With a pop, a small crack appeared on the table.

Li Hao showed a hint of joy.

Although the process was difficult, it meant he could learn. Of course, he was far from achieving the third layer; he hadn’t even layered once!

The true third layer involved three layers of power, one after another, with no gap in between, that’s what made it the true layered power.

"The book says that the hardest part is the beginning, as it’s too easy to injure the body. Just now, the muscles in my upper arm were slightly strained..."

But... do I care?

Li Hao suddenly smiled.

Stellar Sword Energy!

This thing is the best for the body.

Even the intense impact of the mysterious energy can be neutralized, let alone the inner power. The impact of the inner power, especially on oneself, is far less than that of the mysterious energy.

So, the Stellar Energy can definitely repair this minor injury.

Others might only practice the *Nine-Forged Power* once or twice a day at the beginning, but Li Hao... he didn’t care. He just ran the *Five Animal Breathing Technique*, absorbed a bit of Stellar Energy, and directed the energy to his right arm. In an instant, the slightly strained muscles were healed.

There was no pain at all!

"Good stuff!"

This time, Li Hao again felt the benefits of this energy, it was really good.

This way, he didn’t need any medicinal assistance to cultivate the *Nine-Forged Power*. The Liu family had a special formula to nourish the body while cultivating, to prevent injuries.

Li Hao’s Stellar Energy was much more effective than that formula.

"Fun!"

Yes, Li Hao also found it fun.

Interest is the foundation of cultivation. If you have no interest in cultivation, it’s hard to achieve results in martial arts.

Li Hao treated the *Nine-Forged Power* like a game, a fun game, which greatly increased his interest.

He threw a punch, and the power began to layer.

At first, the second layer of power appeared after at least three seconds... in a real fight, it would be too late.

But gradually, as his arm adapted to the power, the second layer of power appeared faster and faster.

Two seconds, one second...

However, at one second, it became difficult for Li Hao to improve. The gap was still too long. One second is enough for several moves in a fight, and an opponent wouldn’t just stand there waiting for you to hit them again.

"Pop, pop, pop!"

That night, Li Hao didn’t cultivate any other secret techniques, focusing solely on the *Nine-Forged Power*.

This might be the easiest way for him to improve at the moment, and the simplest.

With the Stellar Energy, he wasn’t afraid of injuries.

Without any reservations!

He practiced repeatedly, layering the power again and again. The number of times he practiced in one night might exceed what others would do in a year or even five years.

If Liu Long saw him practicing like this, his eyes would probably pop out!

For ordinary people, their arms would probably explode.

But Li Hao was fine. Under the nourishment of the Stellar Energy, his arm muscles became visibly stronger, giving a sense of power.

...

Li Hao was having a great time.

He repeatedly threw punches and palms, and he discovered a secret... not really a secret, but the more he used the *Nine-Forged Power*, the stronger his arm became.

This wasn’t really a secret, but no normal warrior would do this. Who would do this for a day without dying or being crippled?

That night, Li Hao didn’t even think about sleeping.

Until dawn, Li Hao threw a punch... two sounds followed in quick succession!

This time, there was almost no gap, the two sounds seemed to merge into one.

Li Hao was stunned... did he succeed?

He couldn’t believe it. The next moment, he threw another punch at the coffee table... he had already made several dents in it that night.

Pop!

This time, the table cracked and shattered on the ground.

Downstairs, an early-rising auntie suddenly roared: "Li Hao, what are you doing?"

So early in the morning, what are you doing?

Li Hao was actually very careful!

He even laid a blanket under the table, but the punch directly cracked the table, making the blanket useless.

Li Hao was a bit helpless. The place was too small, and there was no place to practice. Even a slight noise would make the auntie roar like a tiger in the forest... maybe his roar in the forest improved because he learned from the auntie.

He had never seen a wild tiger, but the auntie’s lion’s roar in the neighborhood was something he had witnessed countless times. In neighborhood arguments, the auntie was highly combative, and other women in the neighborhood usually couldn’t match her.

Li Hao comforted himself and quickly shouted: "The fridge fell over!"

"Your fridge falls over every day!"

The auntie roared, having heard this many times. How could a paper fridge fall over so easily?

"Next month, I’ll replace the fridge! You can take the old one and sell it for scrap!"

With these words, the auntie quieted down.

Not bad!

A free fridge, even if sold for scrap, would still be worth something.

At this moment, Li Hao didn’t care about these things, a bright smile appeared on his face.

He succeeded!

Second layer of power!

Although it was just the beginning, compared to Liu Long, he was far behind, but in one night, he had achieved the second layer of power... Li Hao fantasized that maybe in a few days, he could achieve the ninth layer!

At that time, he might still be in the Tenth Slash Realm, but with a sudden burst, he might even kill a peak hundred warrior.

"Finally succeeded!"

The first successful attempt meant that the subsequent ones would be easier. Li Hao tried a few more times, and each time he succeeded, but the third layer of power was still difficult, with a long gap.

"It’s the 17th."

Li Hao pulled the curtains and looked outside. The weather had clearly changed today.

In the scorching summer, a cool breeze blew.

The sky seemed to be gathering dark clouds.

"It might rain tomorrow."

It had only been a few days since he figured out that the Red Shadow had killed someone and that the next target was him, but Li Hao felt like he had lived a century.

He had entered the Tenth Slash Realm, joined the Demon Hunting Squad, found the methods to use the energy from the jade sword and stone knife, and learned the *Five Animal Breathing Technique* and the *Nine-Forged Power*.

These were things that ordinary people might never experience in their entire lives.

"Finally, it’s coming!"

At this moment, Li Hao was actually looking forward to the Red Shadow’s arrival.

Although he knew he was weak, the long wait for death was very stressful.

He gently touched the jade sword on his chest.

At this moment, Li Hao still didn’t know how to use this sword, and it was too small. Could he really use this sword to kill someone?

What’s the difference from using a toothpick to stab someone?

"This sword has some effect on the Red Shadow, and it always has some abnormal reactions... but... I can’t possibly use two fingers to stab the Red Shadow with the jade sword, can I?"

This was Li Hao’s greatest frustration.

He wasn’t used to it!

Who would be used to using a toothpick to stab someone?

The Red Shadow was the greatest threat to Li Hao because