Chapter 3: Sudden Enlightenment

"Bang... Bang... Bang..." Six acupoints on Shen Chen's head were suddenly opened by the surging blood energy!

The ear gate, Jingming, the philtrum, the voice gate, the wind pool, and the Renying!

Generally, martial artists choose to open acupoints on their hands and feet first, as this immediately enhances their strength, allowing them to advance to higher realms and gain greater power.

However, due to the mysterious mirror, almost all the spiritual energy Shen Chen had cultivated was absorbed by the mirror. Now, after finally obtaining a bit of energy from the mirror, he wanted to open the acupoints on his arms or legs to strengthen himself. Unfortunately, the first to benefit were the acupoints on his head, which other martial artists usually open last.

"Damn..." Shen Chen was speechless.

If this continued, his plan to quickly enhance his strength would be completely disrupted!

"Ah! No matter what, since six acupoints have already been opened, I'll push through and open all nine acupoints on my head in one go! I must improve my strength as soon as possible, or I'll only be waiting for death in three years!" Shen Chen sighed, his face showing determination.

"Raging Bull Fist!" Shen Chen stood up, assumed a horse stance, and began punching the air in front of him, shouting.

In the early spring twilight, the weather was still cool, but as Shen Chen continuously punched, a warm current soon surged through his body, making him feel warm all over.

This warm current was precisely what is commonly known as blood energy!

Those with abundant blood energy are immune to cold and disease, and are full of energy. Conversely, those with weak blood energy often fall ill, lack energy, and appear listless.

Martial artists cultivate by absorbing the free-floating spiritual energy in the world to strengthen their body and tendons, thus stimulating their blood energy to become more vigorous. By connecting the 108 important acupoints in the body, they eventually form a vast sea of energy in the dantian and then integrate the blood energy into their tendons and muscles, even nourishing their bones, making them stronger.

Each time a martial artist opens nine acupoints, they form an independent meridian, which doubles the speed of blood energy stimulation and the power they can exert!

The human body has a total of 108 important acupoints, corresponding to the twelve levels of the Blood Fusion Realm!

When a martial artist opens all 108 acupoints, forms a vast sea of energy in the dantian, and fully integrates the blood energy into their tendons and muscles, they reach the Great Perfection stage of the Blood Fusion Realm.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!..." Shen Chen repeatedly punched forward, stimulating the blood energy in his body. Soon, he was drenched in sweat, and white mist rose from his head.

"Right now! Break through!" Shen Chen suddenly shouted, stomping his right foot and directing all his strength into the ground. At the same time, a surge of blood energy rushed to his head under the force of the counteraction.

The surging blood energy made the white mist on Shen Chen's forehead even thicker, and the veins on his temples bulged as if they were about to burst. His eyes turned blood red!

Even Shen Chen's face turned crimson, almost dripping with blood, as if he were possessed and about to go mad!

"Ah..." Shen Chen clutched his head and howled in pain.

He was too hasty!

Moreover, throughout history, no martial artist had ever dared to open the acupoints on their head at the first level of the Blood Fusion Realm!

"Am I going to die like this? I'm not ready!" Shen Chen thought to himself, clutching his head.

At that moment, the strange mirror floating in Shen Chen's mind suddenly emitted a soft light, enveloping his entire head.

Instantly, Shen Chen felt as if he had plunged into cold water; the originally raging blood energy immediately calmed down, like a red-hot iron sword suddenly immersed in cold water, becoming extremely hard after quenching!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The remaining three acupoints on Shen Chen's head—the Baihui, Shenting, and Taiyang—were instantly connected.

With nine acupoints connected, forming a single meridian, a stream of fresh spiritual energy flowed into Shen Chen's mind through the acupoints and meridians, making him feel refreshed, with greatly enhanced vision and hearing. He could see every hair on an ant's body and hear the rustling sound of its movement clearly.

"Having connected two meridians, I've also broken through to the second level of the Blood Fusion Realm. Let's see how much strength I have now!" Shen Chen felt the surging blood energy in his body, then clenched his fist and punched a nearby pine tree as thick as a bowl.

"Crack!" The pine tree snapped.

Shen Chen retracted his fist, but his face showed no joy. He estimated that the strength of that punch was at most a little over a thousand pounds.

In other words, although Shen Chen had connected another meridian and broken through to the second level of the Blood Fusion Realm, his actual strength was only slightly better than the first level.

However, theoretically, each time a martial artist breaks through a level and connects a meridian, their strength should increase by a thousand pounds!

"Damn! Are the meridians in the head really so useless?" Shen Chen muttered helplessly.

"Whatever! I might as well practice the martial technique I just learned!" Shen Chen shook his head helplessly, focused his mind, and began practicing the lower-tier human-grade technique, Tiger Roar Fist, which he had obtained from the Cloud Stream Sect's library.

In the Yunlong Continent where Shen Chen had been transported, martial techniques and cultivation methods are divided into three grades: Heaven, Earth, and Human. Heaven is the highest, and Human is the lowest. Each grade is further divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers, so the cultivation methods in the Yunlong Continent are also called the Three Grades and Nine Tiers.

The Cloud Stream Sect is a very ordinary small sect in the Western Province, one of the nine provinces of the Yunlong Continent. The entire sect, including the elders, has only a few hundred people, and the sect leader is only at the twelfth level of the Blood Fusion Realm.

Therefore, most of the cultivation methods in the Cloud Stream Sect are lower-tier human-grade methods, and the sect leader's cultivation method, the Purple Lightning Cloud Stream Sword, is only an upper-tier human-grade method.

"Ha!" Shen Chen silently circulated the blood energy in his body according to the Tiger Roar Fist technique, punching forward.

Sometimes it was like a young tiger pouncing on a rabbit, and sometimes it was like a fierce tiger descending from a mountain, making quite a spectacle.

Although the Tiger Roar Fist is the lowest-grade human-grade technique, if practiced to perfection, its power is quite formidable. Each punch produces a sound like a tiger's roar, with a terrifying momentum!

If a first-level Blood Fusion Realm martial artist can practice the Tiger Roar Fist to perfection, they can increase their strength by nearly a hundred percent, enough to match a second-level Blood Fusion Realm martial artist!

However, although the Tiger Roar Fist is of a low tier, it is impossible to practice it to perfection in less than a year. Therefore, unless a poor child cannot find any other cultivation method, few people would put in the effort to practice the Tiger Roar Fist to perfection.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Shen Chen punched repeatedly, the blood energy in his acupoints surging and flowing according to the Tiger Roar Fist technique, bursting with powerful force with each punch.

"Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!" Shen Chen's punches became faster, each one causing intense friction with the air, producing a whistling sound.

At this moment, Shen Chen seemed to enter a highly spiritual state, thinking of nothing and not deliberately following the moves of the Tiger Roar Fist, but rather swinging his fists randomly.

However, if someone observed carefully, they would find that although Shen Chen's punches were unstructured, they subtly aligned with some indescribable laws, making them look not only harmonious but also naturally beautiful.

If an experienced martial artist saw Shen Chen's performance, they would immediately recognize the state he was in.

Sudden Enlightenment! It is extremely rare, and many people never experience it in their entire lives.

In the state of sudden enlightenment, the martial artist's soul and the environment merge in a subtle way. At this moment, Shen Chen seemed to resonate with the surrounding environment, making his every move feel perfectly harmonious, natural, and in unity with heaven and earth.

"Roar!" A large tiger-head-shaped vortex exploded from Shen Chen's fist, producing a loud roar.

"Boom!" A pine tree as thick as an adult's thigh was instantly broken in half and fell to the ground with a loud crash.

The loud noise and the impact of the falling tree immediately caused the birds and beasts on the hillside to scatter in panic...

"Uh..." At this moment, Shen Chen finally came out of his state of sudden enlightenment, looking at his fist and the fallen tree in disbelief.

"What just happened? Was that the legendary sudden enlightenment? The tiger's roar! Did I really practice the Tiger Roar Fist to perfection in one go?" Shen Chen was initially surprised, but then a surge of joy flooded his heart.

"Great! This must be the effect of the meridians in my head being connected! I knew it, the meridians in the head can't be so useless!" Shen Chen's face was full of joy.

Generally, the cultivation of martial techniques is divided into four levels: basic, minor success, major success, and perfection. To cultivate a technique to perfection usually takes a long time, ranging from several months to several years or even decades.

However, the Tiger Roar Fist, which would normally take a year to practice to perfection, was unexpectedly achieved by Shen Chen in one sudden enlightenment!

Such cultivation talent would not only be top-notch in the Cloud Stream Sect but also among the best in the entire Yun Province.

"Hmph! Since I've practiced the Tiger Roar Fist to perfection, and I'm at least at the second level of the Blood Fusion Realm, I might not lose to Liu Yong next time! I'll make him taste my power!" Shen Chen clenched his fist and said with determination.

"The Tiger Roar Fist is now at perfection! I need to choose another martial technique." Shen Chen thought, then turned and walked towards the library not far down the hill.

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