Chapter 7
Inside his cave abode, Li Ming had been practicing the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art] ever since he got out of bed.
Compared to the gentle [Hundred Refinement Diamond Body], this body tempering technique was even more painful.
If he was not careful, his body would be burned by the blazing sun true qi.
However, Li Ming enjoyed this kind of torture.
While torture was torture, this kind of torture had a great effect. As his physique improved, he felt both pain and joy.
Drawing blazing sun true qi into one’s body, which would be dangerous to others, was the bottom line that Li Ming’s body could endure.
In the afternoon, he even continued to carry out stance training under the bright sun.
This was the time when the sun was at its hottest, and he was sweating just by standing out in the open.
Li Ming directly followed the positions described by the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art]. These were not only a great test for his body, but also for his willpower.
As he carried this out, powerful inner strength violently rampaged through his meridians.
At this moment, blazing sun true qi slowly flowed throughout his body. They coursed through his body as if all his acupoints were open. Li Ming’s aura was also accumulating.
His state of mind was so calm that he felt it was somewhat unusual.
“BOOM!”
A thunderous sound rang in his mind.
At the same time, the blazing sun true qi in his body had also accumulated to the peak. No longer being guided by Li Ming, the true qi surged and rushed toward the fourth level of the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art].
Li Ming clenched his fists as he pushed the true qi to surge through the large meridian.
“Fourth level, open!”
He had successfully opened up a new body tempering path in his body, and a stronger true qi had become akin to an extension of his arm.
Li Ming spread out his arms and let the warm sunlight shine down on his body.
As he breathed, he looked inside his body and felt a power that was within his control fill his entire body!
He had reached the fourth level of the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art]!
The effect of the blue entry was indeed powerful as he expected.
His training efficiency rose very quickly, and he reached the fourth level the next day without even having to stop to rest.
The improvement brought about by the fourth level of the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art] was even more surprising.
When he circulated the true qi within his body, his punches and kicks would be accompanied by the scorching aura of the blazing sun true qi and damage his target.
Although he still could not release his true qi out into the air, he already had the embryonic form of a true qi release.
Li Ming opened his palm, and the blazing sun true qi surged, bringing about a scorching heat.
“The damage of the [Five Divine Fists] technique has also been increased to another level.”
…
Over the past few days, whenever Li Ming practiced the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art] and [Five Divine Fists], he did not forget to flip through [Iron Skin] as well.
This was a defensive martial art, and it was a relatively simple one at that.
It was especially effective for skin tempering.
It was often said that one should not bite off more than one can chew when practicing martial arts, but Li Ming’s martial arts skills complemented each other and could even support the other.
Moreover, he had already mastered the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art] and [Five Divine Fists], so it was now time for him to start practicing [Iron Skin] to make up for his shortcoming in skin tempering.
Compared to the [Five Divine Fists], which was extremely beneficial for blood changing, organs refining, and marrow cleansing, [Iron Skin] was a defensive martial art that specialized in skin tempering. At a high level, one could temper the skin on one’s body to be harder than even iron!
Li Ming had trained his body for a long time, so he naturally knew that he should not neglect any of the six basic skills.
The amount of water that a box can hold was determined by the shortest wooden plank.
However, he chose to completely stabilize the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art] before he began to practice [Iron Skin].
According to the training method of [Iron Skin], Li Ming began to guide the blazing sun true qi to the meridians on the surface of his body, washing through every inch of his meridians.
The first time, he had to wash his appearance.
Immediately after, it was countless times of condensation. This process was undoubtedly painful and boring.
Li Ming did not waver and allowed his inner strength to continuously open up new pathways.
It was best not to leave a single weak point for skin tempering.
Therefore, whenever he found a weak point, Li Ming would repeatedly temper it until it met the iron-like requirement of [Iron Skin].
After one afternoon, he had gradually mastered the [Iron Skin] technique.
Every inch of his skin seemed to have become made of iron.
Copper muscles, iron bones, and copper skin were just adjectives, but Li Ming’s [Iron Skin] could easily block ordinary weapons.
Even if he were slashed by a large blade, there would at most only be a white mark left on his skin.
After mastering [Iron Skin], Li Ming repeatedly practiced stance training, skin tempering, bone forging, blood changing, organs refining, and marrow cleansing.
As a body tempering cultivator, Li Ming had practiced these six basic skills countless times before his meridians were all connected.
However, after learning the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art], [Five Divine Fists], and [Iron Skin], Li Ming realized how shallow his previous practice was in comparison.
But then again, without the accumulation of the previous three years, his body would not have been able to withstand his advancements.
A skyscraper was built from the ground. The stronger the foundation, the higher one build.
It was with the good foundation of having all his meridians connected that Li Ming’s cultivation was able to advance by leaps and bounds in the past few days.
…
After dinner, Li Ming came out of seclusion for the first time after a few days of bitter and persistent cultivation.
He arrived at the bamboo forest in front of the cave.
Now, every step he took seemed to be leisurely, but in reality, this was simply a display of the much greater control that he now had over his powerful body.
Like a cheetah, all of his strength was accumulated in his relaxation, waiting for the moment to explode with all the power stored in his body.
“I’ll practice the [Five Divine Fists] first…”
Li Ming began to perform the [Five Divine Fists] that he had now practiced thousands of times.
He did not take a long time to visualize the five divinities like he did before. Now, he could visualize the wind, forest, fire, mountain, and sun divinities in an instant.
The five different fist techniques were extremely sharp under his display.
The [Five Divine Fists] was originally a combination of five fist techniques that could adapt to different scenarios.
Because Li Ming’s internal energy was the [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art], he was most successful in visualizing the Sun God’s sun divine fist.
Although it was nighttime, his punches were still as dazzling as the sun, strong and explosive.
This was also his most powerful attack at the moment.
“Haah!”
Li Ming glanced at a huge rock beside him.
He launched an explosive punch directly at the rock.
The moment he moved, the blazing sun true qi in his body surged, and every part of his body moved to his will.
The strongest explosive force he could muster that appeared to be as powerful as a small sun rushed out of Li Ming’s arm.
It condensed into a fist light and exploded with a fiery aura.
With a deep and thunderous sound, the huge rock instantly broke into countless pieces.
Li Ming shouted in surprise.
“I’ve already mastered the sun meridians!”
This meridian was like a cannon barrel, and the power that it could muster that was equivalent to a cannon firing could not be underestimated.
Moreover, that move of his just now had been enhanced by his [Martial Arts Fanatic] skill.
The overall destructive power was almost comparable to an attack of a qi refining cultivator’s full-power attack.
However, he had not reached the foundation establishment realm in body tempering just yet. The [Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art] was only at the fourth level, and his qi refining was only at the fourth level as well.
Li Ming was very satisfied that he could dish out such strong damage.
As expected of a body cultivator, he was invincible in close combat.
As the early stages passed, the advantages of body refinement gradually manifested.
Qi refining cultivators condensed qi, while body refining cultivators tempered their bodies repeatedly.
As for the path of immortal cultivation, neither of better, but body cultivators definitely had stronger bodies.
After Li Ming stopped, he began pondering on things seriously.
He now had a solid foundation and power built upon in, but in the end, he was still lacking in some things. Unlike qi cultivators, body cultivators required all kinds of magical treasures or weapons.
If he were to fight in an actual battle, he would easily be kited by his opponent.