Chapter Seventy-Five: At Last, Chen Hai Arrives

Having made up his mind, he swiftly set his plans into motion. First, he summoned all the bandits in the stronghold who were skilled in the art of mechanisms, gathering them together. Then he selected a steep mountain peak, and with the combined efforts of the entire stronghold, erected a grand hall atop this perilous crag, naming it the Hall of Lingxiao. Officially, it was declared to be Hu Sanxin's secluded retreat for meditation after the burning of Qingya Pavilion.

During the construction of the Hall of Lingxiao, Hu San personally participated, collaborating with the mechanism experts to set up intricate traps. After a month of effort, eight layers of deadly mechanisms were laid out in succession. The connections between all these traps were orchestrated by Hu San himself; the builders only knew the design of each individual layer but remained oblivious to the greater secret when combined. Nevertheless, once the mechanisms were completed, Hu San, ever cautious, buried those bandits who had constructed them beneath the traps themselves, making them the first batch of test subjects.

Outwardly, it was said that Hu San had dispatched those men elsewhere on a secret mission. Once everything was finished, Hu San checked his work repeatedly. Satisfied that there were no flaws, he devoted all his attention to cultivation.

The threat posed by cultivators was immense. Even with his mechanisms and careful planning, Hu San estimated his odds of victory at no more than fifty-fifty. Now, what he needed most was to enhance his own strength.

At this point, his physical power had reached that of eleven men. With ordinary food, it would be difficult to progress further in the short term. His internal energy had reached the peak of the sixth stage, and he was confident he could break through the barrier, condense his energy into True Qi, and advance to the seventh stage, becoming a first-rate expert.

Then, his chances of survival would surely improve.

Pressed by the threat of death, Hu San had squeezed out every ounce of his potential, cultivating day and night with relentless internal energy, relying on the warmth of the flow within him. Had it been anyone else, they would have long since succumbed to madness and died a thousand deaths.

But as the saying goes, Heaven rewards diligent souls. On this morning, as the sun rose, Hu San, meditating in his secret chamber, slowly drew in a stream of warm energy. At that moment, his internal energy began to surge wildly.

It contracted and gathered at his dantian, draining his meridians completely. Hu San felt the pressure in his dantian mounting, threatening to burst, but his body was strong and he cared little, continuing to store the pressure.

When it reached its limit, Hu San sensed a crack deep within his mind, as if something in his body had undergone a profound transformation. Looking again, he saw that the endless stream of energy in his dantian had compressed into liquid form.

A small, misty droplet of azure liquid spun ceaselessly, surrounded by powerful currents, intertwining and gradually forming a stable cycle.

A sudden crackling sound echoed.

The droplet, fully formed, surged along Hu San’s meridians, and in the next instant, where emptiness once reigned, a gentle flow of internal energy appeared.

This energy was pure azure, no longer gaseous but filled with countless tiny droplets, like a stream flowing gently through Hu San’s veins.

With a thought, he felt the energy expand, resonating faintly with a certain primordial force in the air, drawn forth in a thunderous rush.

This surge was nothing like the breakthrough to the fourth stage. The force was so fierce, so grand, that even with Hu San’s powerful body, he could not help but grunt and spit out a mouthful of blood.

When the internal energy burst through the limitations of his body and merged with a certain energy in the air, a visible layer of azure armor swiftly formed around him, floating two inches from his skin.

“Is this True Qi?” Hu San breathed softly, opened his eyes, and examined the layer of energy with curiosity.

He found he could control it at will. He gently pressed his arm to the ground, and without using any force, his hand sank in as if through tofu.

“Hiss... such formidable innate True Qi. Yet something feels off; Chen Ce’s True Qi was never this powerful. Could it be that the Azure Wood Manual I cultivate truly has a mysterious origin?”

Hu San raised his hand and looked at the black hole on the ground, frowning slightly.

“No matter, I’ll set it aside for now. The pressing issue must be dealt with first. Now that I’ve reached the seventh stage of internal energy, my odds should be higher, right?”

“This breakthrough seems to have tempered my body, raising its strength to that of fifteen men. I wonder how I’ll fare against a true cultivator.”

He clenched his fists, more delighted by his enhanced physical power than his increased internal energy, for most of his challenges had been overcome through sheer bodily strength.

Hu San blinked, feeling little joy at reaching the True Qi realm, stood up, and pushed open the chamber door. The breakthrough had drained much of his energy; he needed food.

Yet he was unaware that the leap from the sixth to the seventh stage had blocked the paths of countless warriors. True Qi, also known as Innate True Qi, marks the first connection between a living being and the heavens, a most critical moment.

Ordinary warriors wishing to break through to the True Qi stage must face two trials. The first is compressing their dantian into liquid internal energy; those with weak bodies will see their dantian burst under the pressure and perish.

In such cases, one must take medicines to stabilize the dantian, but these are not affordable for most warriors, and so the first trial crushes countless dreams.

The second trial is the internal energy, drawn by external primordial force, bursting out of the body. This is far more violent than the leap to the fourth stage; the force of heaven and earth is beyond imagination.

No one dares to attempt the breakthrough without medicine to solidify the body, lest they die from bleeding out.

Only Hu San, with his immense physical strength, could disregard these impacts and even use them to temper his body further, increasing his strength—a feat unimaginable to ordinary people.

Typically, a warrior has only one chance to enhance physical strength, during the leap from the third to the fourth stage. When breaking through to True Qi, everyone takes medicines to solidify the body, fearing it may not withstand the force, and so no one thinks about increasing strength.

These two trials are known in the martial world as the twin gates of life and death, the deadliest hurdles before attaining True Qi, and every established sect warns their disciples countless times about them.

Yet Hu San knew nothing of this, for his tutor was no more than a third-rate expert. Even if he had known, he would not have expected any of these bandits to reach the sixth stage. After all, even in the kingdom, first-rate experts were as rare as phoenix feathers.

As for the unusual nature of Hu San’s True Qi, it is easily explained: True Qi is born from the fusion of internal energy and the primordial force of heaven and earth. This fusion produces varying degrees of purity, divided into many ranks.

The power of True Qi upon advancement depends first on the warrior’s cultivation method, and second on the type and abundance of primordial force in the surrounding environment.

Thus, warriors typically seek a place suited for their advancement before attempting the breakthrough.

Hu San was deep in the Qilian Mountains, an area abundant in trees, naturally rich in wood-type primordial force. It was spring, when all things flourish, and the wood energy was at its peak.

Therefore, warriors who break through in the Qilian Mountains usually manifest wood-type True Qi.

Wood-type True Qi is not especially strong, weaker than some exotic variants, but for Hu San, it was different, for his cultivation method was unique.

He had already fulfilled the second requirement, and the first was the Azure Wood Manual, mysterious and difficult to master. Though its origins were unknown, the name itself indicated it was a method for cultivating wood-type internal energy.

With both factors combined, Hu San’s True Qi was far stronger than that of ordinary warriors, even possessing some unique qualities, thus explaining its formidable power.

Now, upon reaching the third great milestone of a warrior and attaining True Qi, Hu San’s physical strength had surged to the power of fifteen men. Both his internal energy and body had undergone tremendous improvement.

He now faced the coming battle with greater confidence.

Yet to his surprise, he waited and waited, but Chen Hai did not come.

More than a month passed, and late spring arrived. Hu San had fully consolidated his seventh-stage internal energy. His True Qi had grown to over three feet, and the energy in his meridians was now entirely liquid, no longer the half-mist, half-liquid of before. His physical strength had not increased notably, but he had mastered his current power, greatly boosting his combat prowess.

When Hu San grew impatient with waiting and considered going out to hunt, perhaps to capture another monster for nourishment, news of Chen Hai finally arrived.

“You say there’s a young man at the foot of the mountain wanting to enter the stronghold? Claiming to be Chen Hai, the eldest son of former stronghold master Chen Zhou?”

Hu San bit his lip, gazing at the messenger. This was none other than Haizhou, newly appointed.

“He’s just waiting there, not forcing his way up the mountain?”

Haizhou nodded, lowering his voice. “This young master seems quite amiable, dressed in azure robes, nothing like those arrogant kingdom folk. But in my view, he’s proud—proud to the point that mingling with us would lower his status.”

“The kingdom’s people disdain us; he simply ignores us.”

“As expected.” Hu San nodded, then instructed, “Later, I will meet this young master for a banquet in the Hall of Lingxiao. Before the feast begins, you may enter, claiming an urgent guest has arrived and I must leave temporarily. I have a surprise prepared for this young master—he is no ordinary man, and I cannot afford to be careless.”

“If you succeed in this, one of the two stronghold master positions shall be yours in the future. How does that sound?”