Chapter 089: [No Rush]

How powerful could the Hundred Steps King Fist be, fueled by sixty years of inner energy cultivation? Su Jingxing decided to find out.

“Brother Goose, let’s catch up later,” he said, leaving those words behind as he rose to his feet. He performed the Eight Steps Ascending Dragon, and with his inner energy surging, his whole body leaped into the air.

Boom!

His energy burst outward as he activated the Hundred Steps King Fist. A fist imprint gathered like lightning before launching straight ahead.

With a muffled roar, the fist imprint shot forth, hurtling forty to fifty meters across the air before exploding mid-flight.

Waves of force swept out, whirlwinds raged, and the air was churned into chaos.

Bang—bang—bang!

Without pause, he kept striking.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

The deafening explosions echoed endlessly through the valley.

Startled and terrified, the creatures and venomous beasts in the valley scattered and hid.

Swish, swish, swish!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

His body moved like a dragon, his fists like tempests. Everywhere Su Jingxing passed, the air was thrown into turmoil, energy currents swirling in wild disarray.

The scant energy left in the world was swept away by the barrage, drifting off into the distance.

He tested the attack power at each stage—starting with three years’ worth of inner energy, then five years, ten, twenty…

When he finally stopped, the air above the valley was as turbulent and roiling as boiling oil, the currents and energies in complete disarray.

Swish!

Su Jingxing descended from the sky, landing back on the platform at the edge of the steep slope, savoring the sensations from his bout of practice.

First, the power of the Hundred Steps King Fist was undeniable—any casual punch rivaled the force of an ordinary bomb.

Second, the consumption of inner energy was far greater than Su Jingxing had expected.

It took ten years’ worth of cultivation to unleash double the normal power.

At thirty years, the power increased fivefold.

At full force, using sixty years of inner energy, the power rose by seven times.

At this rate of consumption, Su Jingxing estimated that to achieve tenfold power, he would need around a hundred and fifty years of cultivation.

And to reach twenty times the power—at least four hundred years!

Only with four hundred years of inner energy could the power be multiplied twentyfold.

He could well imagine how many years of cultivation would be required for a hundredfold increase.

“It seems that to truly unleash the Hundred Steps King Fist’s might, I must reach the Third Grade!”

Su Jingxing murmured.

A Third Grade martial artist has transformed all their inner energy into true essence.

In martial arts, there are nine grades.

Ninth, eighth, and seventh are the lower three grades, where the energy manipulated is inner strength.

Sixth, fifth, and fourth are the middle three, where the energy is inner energy.

Third, second, and first are the upper three, and here, the energy is true essence.

True essence is the liquefied form of inner energy—a transformation from quantity to quality.

To break it down further: the birth of inner energy marks the sixth grade.

When inner energy becomes mist and can be projected for long periods without dissipating, that’s the fifth grade.

When inner energy liquefies and begins to nourish the spirit, that’s the fourth grade.

Going from sixth to fourth grade is a gradual process—there are no shortcuts.

If you try to rush, it becomes extremely difficult to advance to the third grade.

Because advancing from fourth to third grade requires not only the complete transformation of inner energy into true essence but also the birth of martial intent.

Condensing martial intent demands powerful mental strength.

But increasing mental strength is extremely challenging. Although many treasures can help, in most cases it depends on the nourishment from true liquid.

True liquid is the state where inner energy has not yet fully transformed into true essence.

In other words, to go from fourth to third grade, the transformation from inner energy to true essence and the condensation of martial intent must occur simultaneously.

Therefore, the more solid the foundation laid in the sixth grade, the better for advancing to the third grade.

The Sword Immortal Jinghong had especially emphasized this point three times when she told him.

She said many talented martial artists, eager for quick results, advanced rapidly from sixth to fifth and from fifth to fourth grade, relying on abundant resources and high-level inner energy techniques, completing both transitions in just three years.

Then, they became stuck at fourth grade for decades, and died without ever advancing to the third grade.

The reason was that their foundations were not solid enough.

It’s like building a skyscraper—if the foundation is mediocre and the lower levels use ordinary bricks and stone, how could you possibly erect a building of dozens of stories?

The transformation from inner energy to true essence is a change from quantity to quality, requiring years of steady accumulation and careful refinement.

Otherwise, with Su Jingxing’s current sixty years of cultivation, aided by the power of the Nine Steps to Heaven technique, he could reach fourth grade in a month of secluded training.

But what use would such a fourth grade be?

Su Jingxing still wanted to explore the forbidden land mentioned by the Wei family ancestor and find out what treasure could allow a martial artist to leap from first grade to transcendence.

He had no intention of being stuck at the fourth grade for decades—not even for a dozen years!

...

“Repeatedly refining and breaking through with high-level inner energy techniques is certainly good,”

“But wouldn’t it be better if I could heap up a sea of inner energy, turning it into true essence and breaking through that way?”

Su Jingxing narrowed his eyes, feeling a surge of anticipation.

Most people increased their cultivation by consuming large quantities of elixirs and training day and night in places full of energy.

But Su Jingxing was different; he had an advantage.

Any middle three grade martial artist, once dead, had a high chance of leaving behind an inner energy card.

For example, the one he picked up from Elder Zhu contained eight years’ worth of cultivation, which Su Jingxing hadn’t used yet.

Once he activated that card, his cultivation would jump to sixty-eight years.

He was saving it as a backup.

For this reason, Su Jingxing was never short on inner energy. If he could use a vast amount of it to complete the transformation to true essence, advancing to third grade should be easy.

With that in mind, Su Jingxing decided to give it a try, withdrawing his energy and concealing his aura.

“Honk, honk~”

The giant white goose, who had been waiting for quite some time, sensed Su Jingxing returning to normal, and quickly flapped its wings, calling out.

After listening for a moment, Su Jingxing said in surprise, “Brother Goose, you’re saying there are two other places like this, also perfect for my cultivation? And you can take me there?”

“Honk, honk~” The white goose raised its neck and nodded.

Su Jingxing was momentarily speechless.

“All right then.” He laughed in surprise, then added apologetically, “It was my oversight—I forgot there were other places to train. Luckily you arrived in time. Brother Goose, I’m sorry!”

It wasn’t easy for energy to gather in one place. Once it was drained, it was hard to regenerate.

The valley was the white goose’s home, so naturally it didn’t want it reduced to an ordinary glen.

After Su Jingxing apologized, the white goose soon recovered, flapping its wings and honking to lead him to the other two places rich in energy.

“No rush.”

Su Jingxing smiled. “There’s no hurry to move on. There’s something I’d like your help with first, Brother Goose.”

“Honk, honk~” The white goose flapped its wings, signaling Su Jingxing to speak freely.

“Thank you in advance,” said Su Jingxing, taking out a handful of essence pills to feed the goose. Then, through a combination of words and gestures, he asked it to emit a glow.

The white goose, content after eating the pills, stretched comfortably, then released a silvery-white radiance.

Whoosh—

The silvery light chased away the night.

Su Jingxing took out his small wooden sword and held it under the glow.

One by one, the intricate lines and markings appeared vividly before his eyes!