Chapter 337: Superior Qi Meridian Everflow (8/8)
Li Xuelian: “There are a few Civil Engineering Department jobs. Should I take them? We might run into acquaintances.”
Yu Xinghan: “Take them.”
Li Xuelian: “You don’t want your classmates to find out you’re doing underground massage, right?”
Yu Xinghan: “Understood. I’ll conceal my identity.”
Looking at Li Xuelian’s message, Yu Xinghan thought to himself, “The Civil Engineering Department must have a huge massage market. How could I possibly pass that up?”
Yu Xinghan recalled his time on the First Layer, when he and Zhang Yu had practiced shape-shifting techniques under True Person Starfire’s guidance. He sighed inwardly, “Master was truly prescient. He knew that when we came to the upper realm, we’d inevitably have to do some shady work.”
Yu Xinghan speculated, “Perhaps he started out as a masseur himself.”
As he examined the job addresses Li Xuelian sent, Yu Xinghan’s form rippled and transformed into that of another stranger.
“Ah, it’s a shame Senior Sister doesn’t like massages.”
Back when he was learning the trade at the massage parlor, Yu Xinghan had constantly wished for his senior sister to give him a massage.
Now that he was an underground masseur himself, he longed to massage her in return, to repay her kindness.
Yu Xinghan thought this might be the mark of a mature man.
Arrive at the destination, clock in, get to work, finish the job…
Finally, Yu Xinghan smiled and said to his client, “Brother, if you’re satisfied, call me again sometime.”
After finishing his part-time job, Yu Xinghan rushed to the underground cemetery to continue his overtime work for the day.
This time, he happened to be assigned to the same area as Zhang Yu. From a distance, he spotted a humanoid Gang Qi figure moving back and forth, diligently working.
“Zhang Yu’s control over his Gang Qi is becoming increasingly refined,” Yu Xinghan mused inwardly.
Just as he was marveling at this, the humanoid Gang Qi figure suddenly charged toward him at full speed.
Zhang Yu’s voice rang out: “It’s rare to bump into you here. Let’s spar for a while, brother!”
Yu Xinghan chuckled. “You think you can take me on with just that single Gang Qi projection? You’re getting cocky, aren’t you?”
In recent times, Yu Xinghan felt he had made significant progress. His part-time massage work had boosted his income, the Third Eye Mystic Power had greatly enhanced his cultivation efficiency, and his cemetery job allowed him to spend extended periods practicing breathing techniques within the Spirit Vein…
Seeing Zhang Yu’s Humanoid Gang Qi rushing toward him, Yu Xinghan let out a low shout and unleashed a palm strike imbued with fierce Gang Qi.
With a thunderous boom, the Humanoid Gang Qi shattered violently.
Just as Yu Xinghan believed he had shattered the Humanoid Gang Qi with his palm strike, a bone-chilling skeletal figure erupted from the shattered remains, its palm striking toward his chest.
“Hmm?”
Yu Xinghan’s eyes widened slightly at this sight.
In his memory, Zhang Yu’s Humanoid Gang Qi, while capable of redirecting force, was never particularly durable. It often shattered easily, requiring Zhang Yu to constantly expend Magic Power to generate new formations.
Yet this skeletal figure radiating icy dread exhibited an unprecedented level of durability.
Amidst a cacophony of crackling explosions, Yu Xinghan and the skeletal figure clashed repeatedly. He found the bones not only incredibly hard but also infused with a bone-chilling cold.
After several exchanges, Zhang Yu reinforced the skeletal figure with surging Gang Qi, reshaping it back into its original Humanoid Gang Qi form.
Through this brief skirmish, Yu Xinghan had gained a rough understanding of Zhang Yu’s strategy.
“That kid Zhang Yu has frozen his Gang Qi, using it as a ‘skeleton’ to reinforce the overall sturdiness of his Humanoid Gang Qi.”
“The outer layer of this ‘skeleton’ is filled with ordinary Gang Qi, forming a layer of ‘flesh’.”
“Even if ordinary attacks shatter the surface ‘flesh,’ they can’t break through the underlying ‘skeleton’ structure.”
“He can then simply replenish the ‘flesh’ with Gang Qi to restore it.”
“His combat tactics are becoming increasingly refined…”
Yu Xinghan immediately understood: to destroy Zhang Yu’s Humanoid Gang Qi, he needed to crush both the ‘flesh’ and the ‘skeleton’ in one strike.
“Heh, let me test out this martial art I recently advanced to Level 15.”
Yu Xinghan suddenly channeled his energy, unleashing the Dragon-Elephant Vajra Palm, a technique derived from the Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm.
Unlike the Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Crushing Palm, which relies solely on physical strength, the Dragon-Elephant Vajra Palm augments physical strength with explosive Gang Qi.
When executing the palm strike, the Gang Qi doesn’t erupt from the body. Instead, it remains contained within, enhancing physical strength and power. This purely close-combat martial art was one of the cultivation arts True Person Starfire had planned for Yu Xinghan’s training.
Yu Xinghan let out a low shout, channeling Gang Qi into every fiber of his right arm, bathing it in a golden glow.
In the next instant, as his palm struck out, a hurricane-force wind roared forth, the air before him seeming to be violently vacuumed away by the force of his strike.
The Humanoid Gang Qi retaliated with a palm strike of its own, channeling the full force of Yu Xinghan’s previous strike into its attack.
With a deafening boom, their palms collided with earth-shattering force.
Under Yu Xinghan’s devastating strike, the Humanoid Gang Qi’s “flesh” shattered inch by inch from the center of its palm outward, its entire body erupting in a thunderous explosion.
The “skeleton” beneath the shattered flesh creaked ominously, spiderwebbed with hairline cracks that seemed poised to shatter it entirely.
Just as Yu Xinghan prepared to unleash another palm strike to obliterate the weakened Humanoid Gang Qi, the fractured skeleton raised its right arm, preparing to unleash the Dragon-Elephant Vajra Palm against him.
Sensing the explosive Gang Qi gathering in the opponent’s palm, Yu Xinghan hastily retreated, shouting, “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
“This fight is too draining. No more, no more.”
Yu Xinghan had no desire to take even a glancing blow from his own Dragon-Elephant Vajra Palm. Any injury, however slight, would be a net loss for him.
He sighed, “Your Nine Heavens Cloud Void Force was already ridiculously annoying. Now, combined with this Humanoid Gang Qi tactic, you can not only fight every exchange as if your life depends on it, but also use your opponent’s force against them while your true body remains safely hidden. What a waste you’re not a security guard.”
Yu Xinghan could already imagine what would happen when someone fought Zhang Yu, thinking they could win by breaking through or bypassing the Humanoid Gang Qi…
“They’d soon realize this guy’s toughness is beyond absurd, and they’d be better off just facing the Gang Qi head-on.”
“The only weakness might be the immense Magic Power required to constantly maintain the Humanoid Gang Qi,” Yu Xinghan mused inwardly.
He concluded silently, “Attacking the true body is pointless; the Humanoid Gang Qi is the real target. But even against the Gang Qi, reckless attacks are futile — they’ll just be turned against you, leaving you injured.”
“So, the best way to fight this guy… is to slowly wear down his Humanoid Gang Qi. Any reckless attacks will only increase my medical bills and Bionic repair costs.”
“But dragging things out… he loses Gang Qi and Magic Power, while I risk my physical body. I’ll still have to clash with him using Gang Qi, which means I’ll expend even more of it.”
“And…” Yu Xinghan thought of another problem: “Who knows what shady deal he made with Le Mulan? Their attacks now carry a chilling frost.”
“If I try to exhaust him, prolonged combat will just lead to a buildup of frost energy within my body…”
“Disgusting.”
The more Yu Xinghan pondered, the more his head ached, his brow furrowing deeper. Every possible strategy against Zhang Yu seemed doomed to fail, his mind flooded with red ink, debts, and costs. The mere thought of it made him sick to his stomach, killing any desire to fight Zhang Yu.
“Good thing he’s my sworn brother — the kind I’ve spent money on and lent money to.”
“If you ever want to disgust someone, just make them fight Zhang Yu.”
Zhang Yu was very satisfied with today’s test. He thought to himself, “Excellent, excellent. After freezing my Humanoid Gang Qi, it can now withstand Yu Xinghan’s full-force palm strike.”
From his initial Gang Qi arm to the Humanoid Gang Qi, and now to this frozen, skeletal Humanoid Gang Qi, his work efficiency had steadily increased. These were all the fruits of Zhang Yu’s recent trials and experiments.
Because it was constructed from the Formless Cloud Gang, he named the simple Humanoid Gang Qi “Formless Warrior.”
The skeletal Humanoid Gang Qi, created with the aid of the Profound Cold Meridian, Zhang Yu named the Profound Cold Warrior.
The Formless Warrior moved faster but had poor Gang Qi conductivity, weak resistance to force, and shattered easily. It could be summoned instantly.
In contrast, the Profound Cold Warrior had superior Gang Qi conductivity and strength capacity but moved more slowly, consumed far more Magic Power, and took longer to materialize, requiring at least five seconds to summon.
Zhang Yu secretly calculated, “With my current Magic Power, if I unleashed it all, I could create about six Formless Warriors or two Profound Cold Warriors.”
“But those would just be for show. To maintain peak performance, I could only sustain one Profound Cold Warrior or three Formless Warriors at most.”
“However, once the Qi Meridian Everflow’s effects are enhanced, these numbers should increase.”
Lost in thought, Zhang Yu smiled slightly at Yu Xinghan and said, “If you’re afraid of getting hurt, let’s try a different training method.”
“I’ll help stimulate your Spirit Root. Your Spirit Root integration level still hasn’t reached 100%, has it?”
With a burst of Gang Qi, Zhang Yu conjured a Formless Warrior, immediately engaging Yu Xinghan in battle once more.
This time, however, their sparring resembled their past training sessions, continuously stimulating Yu Xinghan’s body and Spirit Root to accelerate his cultivation progress.
Over the next few days, Zhang Yu seized the opportunity to assist Yu Xinghan in improving his Spirit Root integration level while they worked in the same area.
On this day, Yu Xinghan let out a thunderous roar, his Third Eye trembling violently, causing every muscle in his body to twitch incessantly.
“My Spirit Root integration level has reached 100%!”
Yu Xinghan focused on his body, feeling an unprecedented clarity in his control over every inch of flesh. Both his physical strength and Magic Power mobilization were now over 10% faster than before.
Zhang Yu nodded in satisfaction beside him, thinking, “To upgrade the Third Eye Mystic Power to Level 2, besides achieving 100% Spirit Root integration level, you also need over 500 units of Magic Power.”
“Yu Xinghan will definitely reach that before the end of the semester.”
Zhang Yu’s only regret was that accumulating Magic Power still largely depended on Yu Xinghan himself. At best, he could occasionally feed him some blood.
As for giving Yu Xinghan money? Giving money was out of the question. Zhang Yu barely had enough for himself; how could he spare any for Yu Xinghan?
As June drew to a close, the cemetery project officially concluded, and Zhang Yu’s Qi Meridian Everflow finally reached its eighth and final level.
Superior Qi Meridian Everflow (8/8): The more breathing techniques you master, the lower the additional consumption of Magic Power and its derivatives during operation.