Chapter Sixteen: The Human Limit

  The Azure Iron Spear pointed straight ahead, and the aura on Shi Qi's body grew stronger. Within three feet, the floating rocks and sand were shattered one after another. Three feet away, Shi Lei's breathing became somewhat stagnant. This was a kind of pressure from the spiritual level. Although Shi Qi only used fifteen Heavenly Veins' worth of cultivation, to Shi Lei, it was irresistible.

  In his heart, it was as if a huge stone had been pressed down, and Xiao Yi also found it hard to breathe. Almost without thinking, he began to visualize the image of the barbarian elephant. In an instant, the shadow of a green-scaled barbarian elephant appeared in his mind's eye. The massive body of the elephant stood tall, its long nose sweeping across the four directions. This was a kind of divine charm, belonging to the spiritual will of the barbarian elephant. Xiao Yi had not yet grasped it, but he could use it to calm his mind and ward off external evils.

  "The Gathering of Wind and Thunder!"

  Shi Qiren let out a loud shout, the tip of his qing tie gun gleaming with a dazzling light as a five-inch-long pure blue aura burst forth, then dissipated and almost enveloped half of the gun body. In an instant, he made his move, a cyan afterimage flashing by, as if what he held in his hand was not a qing tie gun but a wooden stick. A violent thunderclap resounded through the empty air.

  Silently, the green iron spear pierced a wooden stake, Shi Qi Ren withdrew his spear and stood up, leaving a hole on the stake. Shi Lei was stunned, somewhat perplexed, but Xiao Yi's heart stirred, he stared intently at the stake, observing the shape of the spearhead, in this moment, he seemed to grasp something.

  A gentle breeze blew by, and the wooden stakes were blown away like weathered earth and stone, turning into dust.

  "This...!" Shi Lei's mouth was agape, staring at everything in front of him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Shattering the wooden stake into powder was almost two different levels of power, but Shi Qi Ren had only used the strength of fifteen heavenly veins.

  "Do you know why the Blood Refining Small Success must comprehend the realm of lifting heavy as light? The thirty-sixth heavenly pulse and the thirty-fifth heavenly pulse are only a thousand jin apart." Shi Qiren said, speaking while glancing at Xiao Yi with an inexplicable deep meaning.

  Xiao Yi's heart was slightly shaken, he didn't know if this person had seen through something, a strong man of the hundred-man commander level, who had refined his blood to great completion, and had fought for life and death countless times on the vast and desolate land, his eyesight and insight were far beyond what others could compare.

  Shi Lei sank into thought, and after a moment, he shook his head.

  "The human body has its limits, and to grasp a certain kind of power, one must have corresponding limits. This limit is the size of one's spiritual strength. A powerful force without a matching spirit to control it will lead to self-destruction. The thirty-five heavenly meridians are the first limit checkpoint for the human body." Shi Qiren said calmly, "Lifting heavy as light is a spiritual state, and understanding it can strengthen one's spiritual power. The thirty-sixth heavenly meridian, although only a thousand jin apart, represents two different levels. Just like using a knife, there's a huge difference between a naughty child and a strong young man."

  Human Limit, Spiritual Power, Strength!

  Xiao Yi nodded silently, this is easy to understand in the era of technological greatness, just like children playing with fire, it's fundamentally uncontrollable, and even dangerous, but when it falls into the hands of adults, it can be used for cooking, making electricity, and lighting, this is the difference between realms.

  Shi Lei seemed to be thinking deeply, and then said: "How can we improve our spiritual power?"

  "Temper your will!" Shi Qiren threw the Qing Tie gun at him, saying, "If spiritual power is this gun, then willpower is the Qing Tie iron that forges the gun. To comprehend the realm of martial arts, it's like using a large hammer to forge iron. Only when the essence is elevated can there be a major breakthrough."

  Xiao Yi listened intently, and a sense of enlightenment emerged in his heart. Willpower is the foundation for spiritual enhancement. If one possesses strong enough willpower, they can easily comprehend the realm of martial arts, cultivate powerful spiritual energy, and bring their cultivation to its limits. And the reason he could rely on the Stone Mirror to rapidly enhance his martial arts realm and hone his skills was also due to this same principle. Under the tempering of his future self, his willpower almost every day hovered at the edge of life and death, with a condensation speed that was almost astonishing.

  Shi Lei carefully considered his father's words, and suddenly his eyes lit up, bursting with sparkling lights, saying: "To what extent must one's will be refined to comprehend the realm of lifting heavy as light, gathering and expanding spiritual strength."

  "In the ordinary realm, it's just middle grade." Shi Qiren said thoughtfully, "The clan leader once said that willpower can be divided into seven realms: ordinary, extraordinary, heavenly, reincarnation, indestructible, imperishable, and chaos. Each realm has four levels: initial, intermediate, advanced, and peak. Generally, the willpower of ordinary people is only at the initial level of the ordinary realm, while that of a strong Wu Chang is at the intermediate level, a Bai Fu Chang is at the advanced level, and a Qian Fu Chang is at the peak level."

  "As for the clan leader," a hint of reverence flashed in Shi Qiren's eyes, "the clan leader's will has broken free from its shackles and reached the initial stage of transcending the ordinary. He once tempered his body in a three-meter furnace fire, condensing his will, allowing him to unleash 120% of his combat strength."

  When it comes to the tribe leader, Shi Lei also showed a look of reverence. The young generation grew up listening to Shi Zhi Xuan's experiences, and the leader of a tribe is like a myth of a tribe, everything about him is legendary.

  After the fragrance of the half-column, Xiao Yi left. This trip has gained a lot for him, and he has a vague grasp of his cultivation. This grasp is not strength, but direction. Only when you know the direction can you have the possibility of raising your strength to the extreme.

  At night, in the stone house.

  Xiao Yi sat cross-legged on the stone bed, gazing at another stone bed not far away. The hunched figure of Shi Gong was curled up, and even if his body was tall and majestic, it still revealed a hint of decline and decay.

  A resolute glint flashed across his eyes, Xiao Yi slowly closed his eyes, and the war energy stirred the stone mirror. In an instant, his consciousness sank into a vast expanse of land.

  On the vast plain, a mighty blood energy was surging like a furnace, and in the distance, a figure clad in green robes with a spear in hand was radiating an intense aura. Xiao Yi gazed intently at the spearhead, and indeed, as he had thought, anyone who had been observed by him could undergo corresponding training, but it was unknown to what extent they could reach.

  The next moment, the future's hands held a cyan iron spear, with a surging aura that seemed to fill the air. The spearhead burst forth with an ink-like energy that rose nearly ten zhang high. In an instant, a streak of spear energy traversed a hundred zhang of land, and in Xiao Yi's final memory, there was only a dazzling cyan radiance left behind.

  "The storm is brewing!"

  On the stone bed, Xiao Yi opened his eyes, his face was a bit pale, but his eyes were shining with an unprecedented light. It really worked, the first style of gun technique that he had just displayed, was indeed the Wind and Thunder Gun Technique's first style, and it had already reached a state of near perfection. Under the momentum of the Blood Refining Great Perfection, it was thousands of times more terrifying than Shi Qi Ren's.

  One night passed, Xiao Yi moved twice in the future body, comprehending the Wind and Thunder Gun Method. A month passed, his will to live was sublimated between life and death, adding two times during the day, now he can move four times in a day, and at night, he initially mastered two styles of Wind and Thunder Gun Method.

  The dawn breaks.

  Xiao Yi opened his eyes, and two faint cyan crystal lights flashed by. A day had passed, and he felt that his will had become more refined. If the initial will was a stone, then it had already ground off its edges. With the passage of time, it would slowly accumulate and undergo an even deeper transformation.

  This is the foundation of Xiao Yi's cultivation, with a great future body, even if he practices the barbaric elephant's mighty technique, he can quickly advance and catch up with his peers.

  Noon.

  The Bloodstone Tribe is located east, in a desolate and ancient forest thirty miles away, inside a mountain stream.

  Rumble!

  The morning sun shines like fire, on a pool of emerald green water, a hundred-foot waterfall falls like a silver ribbon, splashing up several meters high waves, in the pool, a slender figure stands in it, the pool water submerges half of his body.

  The black gun barrel gleamed with a cold, dark metallic luster. Xiao Yi grasped the gun firmly in his hand, standing stock-still as he emitted an aura of quiet majesty. One breath, two breaths, three breaths passed, and half a stick of incense had burned, yet Xiao Yi's figure remained motionless. However, the aura surrounding him grew increasingly powerful, causing the water surface within several feet around him to ripple with faint waves.

  A drop of water splashed down, appearing in front of Xiao Yi. Through the water droplet, a hundred-meter waterfall cascaded like a heavenly river, vast and majestic. In an instant, Xiao Yi's eyes flashed with an astonishing sharpness. A black broken spear hummed, its pale blue crystalline aura spreading from the spearhead. The five-inch-long aura condensed without dispersing, warping the surrounding air. The next moment, he thrust out his spear like a thunderclap, shattering the pool of water in front of him. He suddenly appeared three meters away, where a black boulder floating on the surface was pierced by his spear, its surroundings riddled with cracks.

  Wind and Thunder Gun Method First Form: Wind Arises, Thunder Moves.

  This is a piece of black rock that has been ground by the waterfall for decades, although it is not in the center of the waterfall and is as hard as gold and iron. However, it was easily pierced by Xiao Yi, without relying on the sharpness of the black broken gun, but only with the simple gun energy and the wind and thunder gun method.

  At this point, Xiao Yi had already mastered the first style of Feng Lei Gun Fa, and even surpassed the initial stage of rough understanding. Although he may not be as good as Shi Lei, in Xiao Yi's opinion, it was only a matter of time. At the same time, Xiao Yi also made some progress in comprehending the first heavy gate of Lian Xue Jing, although he still hadn't fully grasped it. However, he could already grasp the outline and believed that completely mastering it would take only a few months.

  Just as Xiao Yi was about to practice his marksmanship again, he stumbled and gripped his gun tightly.

  "Someone!"

  The dragon's blood energy tempered his physical body, and although Xiao Yi had not yet reached the level of refining his blood to a small degree of completion, his physical transformation was already far superior to that of ordinary people. The mountain valley was very empty, with only one entrance, surrounded by mountains on three sides. Xiao Yi heard that the footsteps had already reached the entrance.

  He took a deep breath, and Xiao Yi exhaled all the air in his lungs. His entire body sank into the pool of water, and he lay flat on the bottom, merging with the dark stones. The black broken spear was also covered by the stones, its luster extinguished.

  Then, two tall figures walked into the mountain stream. Their footsteps were heavy, and with each step, a metallic collision sound was transmitted around them. The sunlight fell on them, shining brightly and bursting out a layer of dazzling green light. There was a faint white mist floating around them, and wherever they passed, there was a strong gust of wind following.